Page:Architectural Review and American Builders' Journal, Volume 1, 1869.djvu/265

 1868.J Heraldry. 221 the general appreciation of the harmony of shading-lines to outlines. This would be very reasonable, and yet it would also be an egregious mistake. Those appar- ently chance lines were used by the medalist, in strict conformity with the rules of heraldry, to express blue and red for the parts so lined, and white for the parts left unlined, or blank. The general scheme for the expression of colors by arbitrary lines was invented by Sylvester Petra-Sancta, a cele- brated Italian herald of the seventeenth century, whose work, in Latin, is very scarce. We have, however, had the good fortune to see a copy. Petra- Sancta's paradigm was so happy and useful, that it was adopted with avidity by all the heralds of Europe. There is another method of exhibit- ing colors in outline drawings of coats of arms, left unfilled or unfinished for want of time, by inserting certain con- ventional letters in the various parts, or, if these are too small, by drawing a line from the part to the margin and placing the appropriate letter at the end of the line. This is called Tricking. Both these modes are given, in detail below. Field, in his " Rudiments of the Painter's Art, or a Grammar of Color- ing," remarks : " Heraldry, the most " arbitrary of the sciences, haA'ing no "foundation whatever in nature, has, "nevertheless, emploj r ed colors with "more consistent classification, than the " more natural and legitimate arts, and " being intimately connected with deco- " rative painting in the emblazoning of "arms and the illuminating of missals, " books, deeds and treaties ; and being " also of occasional reference to higher " art, a brief notice of heraldic coloring " and its symbols may be considered a " useful appendage to a work on paint- " ing. The Table may also serve by "the comparison of colors, jewels, &c, " to denote the colors themselves, and " identify their names according to " natural resemblances, as a guide to the "constructing of signals, &c. " The manner of denoting colors by "the scoring and crossing of lines on "escutcheons may be usefully em- " ployed by artists in sketching as " memoranda for painting the accidental "and local colors of objects. Those " who take interest in symbolic coloring " may have ample gratification by re- " ferring to Baron Portal's work* on the " subject, translated from the Prench, "by J. Inman, Esq." The Tinctures. Heraldic Coloring is based upon the general principle of sharp contrast, because arms were originally painted upon flags, banners, or shields, to be dis- tinctly noted afar off and thus serve to distinguish friend from enemy ; and also aid as rallying marks amid the turmoil and obscurity of battle. Many heraldic and literary authors incline to think the heraldic law of colors was settled by degrees ; but the whole affair is so simple, homogeneous and well adapted, that we are forced to think it the necessary beginning. The figures of coats armorial are deemed by some authorities the essen- tial parts ; and the colors the accidental : yet, as exactly the same figures with different colors are held to be entirety- different arms, we submit, that such a position is a fatal error ; the more that the field and figures uncolored could not possibly answer the purpose intended, namely ; the production of an ensign recognizable at any distance it could be seen at all. The heralds use as colors, technically Tinctures, Or, Gold or Yellow, Argent, Silver or White, Gules or Red, Azure or Blue, Sable or Black, Vert or Green, Purpure or Purple, Tenne or Orange, and Sanguine or Murrey. Or and Ar- gent they term Metals; and all the others they call Colors. They do not allow metal upon metal, Egyi>tieus."
 * " Couleurs Symboliques." See also " Symboies des