A Treatise on Painting/Chapter 281
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Chap. CCLXXXI.—Of the Nature of Comparison.
Black draperies will make the flesh of the human figure appear whiter than in reality it is[1]; and white draperies, on the contrary, will make it appear darker. Yellow will render it higher coloured, while red will make it pale.
- ↑ This is evident in many of Vandyke’s portraits, particularly of ladies, many of whom are dressed in black velvet; and this remark will in some measure account for the delicate fairness which he frequently gives to the female complexion.