Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 18.djvu/156

 140 P A I P A I painters the use of opaque or &quot;body&quot; colour was generally considered illegitimate. Turner was the first to break through this restraint, and since his time the use of opaque colour has been carried perhaps to excess, many modern artists wilfully resigning much of the peculiar freshness and brilliancy of pure water colour for the sake of rivalling the richness and depth of oil painting. 3. Brushes. Brown sable is the hair generally used ; but brushes are also made of red sable and squirrel or &quot; camel &quot; hair. The brushes are made by the insertion of the hair into quills, the various sizes of brush being recognized by the names of the birds which supply them eagle, swan, goose, crow, (fee. Flat brushes in German- silver ferules are also used. Perhaps as great a variety of practice exists among water-colour painters as among those working in oils ; each arrives at his own peculiar method by the teach ing of experience. As in the case of oil painting, it would serve little purpose if the attempt Avas made to lay down rules and methods. All men cannot be painters, and a knowledge of the nature of the materials and of the processes employed does not necessarily carry with it ability to paint. Such essentials as a knowledge of com position, drawing, light and shade, and colour are all re quisite, and these can only be obtained after years of study. If possible the guidance of some good master should be sought for at first ; this will shorten the way and prevent the making of some awkward mistakes. (G. RE.) PAINTING, HOUSE. See BUILDING, vol. iv. p. 510 : and MURAL DECORATION. PAISIELLO, or PAESIELLO, GIOVANNI (1741-1815), one of the most talented precursors of Rossini in the Italian school of musical composition, was born at Tarento, May 9, 1741. The beauty of his voice attracted so much attention that, in 1754, he was removed from the Jesuit college at Tarento to the Conservatorio di S. Onofrio at Naples, where he studied under Durante, and in process of time rose to the position of assistant master. For the theatre of the Conservatorio he wrote some intermezzi, one of which attracted so much notice that he was invited to write two operas, La Pupilla and // Mondo al Rovescio, for Bologna, and a third, II Marchese di Tulipano, for Rome. His reputation being now firmly established, he settled for some years at Naples, where, notwithstanding the popularity of Piccini, Cimarosa, and Guglielmi, of whose triumphs he was bitterly jealous, he produced a series of highly successful operas, one of which, L Idolo Cinese, made a deep impression upon the Neapolitan public. In 1776 Paisiello was invited by the empress Catherine II. to St Petersburg, where he remained for eight years, pro ducing, among other charming works, his masterpiece, // Burbiere di Siviglia, which soon attained a European reputation. The fate of this delightful opera marks an epoch in the history of Italian art ; for with it the gentle suavity cultivated by the masters of the 1 8th century died out to make room for the dazzling brilliancy of a later period. When, in 1816, Rossini set the same libretto to music, under the title of Almaviva, it was hissed from the stage ; but it made its way, nevertheless, and under its true title, II Burbiere, is now acknowledged as Rossini s greatest work, while Paisiello s opera is consigned to ob livion, a strange instance of poetical vengeance, since Paisiello himself had many years previously endeavoured to eclipse the fame of Pergolesi by resetting the libretto of his famous intermezzo, La serva padrona. Paisiello quitted Russia in 1784, and, after producing II Re Tcodoro at Vienna, entered the service of Ferdinand IV. at Naples, where he composed many of his best operas, including Nina, and La Molinam. After many vicissi tudes, resulting from political and dynastic changes, he was invited to Paris (1802) by Napoleon, whose favour he had won five years previously by a march composed for the funeral of General Hoche. Napoleon treated him. munificently, while cruelly neglecting two far greater com posers, Cherubini and Mehul, to whom the new favourite transferred the hatred he had formerly borne to Cimarosa, Guglielmi, and Piccini. But he entirely failed to con ciliate the Parisian public, who received his opera Proserpine so coldly that, in 1803, he requested and with some difficulty obtained permission to return to Italy, upon the plea of his wife s ill health. On his arrival at Naples Paisiello was reinstated in his former appointments by Joseph Bonaparte and Murat, but he no longer enjoyed the brilliant reputation for the attain ment of which he had so industriously laboured. He had taxed his genius beyond its strength, and was unable to meet the demands nowmade upon it for new ideas. His prospects, too, were precarious. The power of the Bonaparte family was tottering to its fall ; and Paisiello s fortunes fell with it. The death of his wife, in 1815, tried him severely. His health failed rapidly. His constitutional jealousy of the popularity of others was a continual source of Avorry and vexation. And on June 5, 1815, he died, a dis appointed man, notAvithstanding his extraordinary successes and Avell-earned fame. It is impossible to believe that even the best of Paisiello s operas Avould be listened to at the present moment Avith patience, yet they abound with melodies the graceful beauty of which is still Avarmly appreciated. Perhaps the best knoAvn of these charming airs is the famous Nel cor pm from La Molinara, immortalized by Beethoven s delightful variations. The greatest singers of the time spread the fame of this and other similar effusions throughout the length and breadth of Europe. The part of Nina conduced to one of Pasta s most splendid triumphs ; and of the ninety-four operas which Paisiello is knoAvn to have com posed not one can be said to have been unsuccessful. His church music was very voluminous, comprising one hundred and three masses, besides many smaller Avorks ; he also produced fifty-one instrumental compositions of more or less importance, and many detached pieces. MS. scores of many of his operas were presented to the library of the British Museum by the late Signer Dragonetti. PAISLEY, a municipal and parliamentary burgh of Ren frewshire, Scotland, is situated on both sides of the White Cart, 3 miles from its junction Avith the Clyde, and on the Caledonian and the Glasgow and South- Western Railways, 7 miles Avest-south-Avest of Glasgow and 17 east-south-east of Greenock. In 1791 the river Avas at great expense made navigable to the town for sloops of about 50 tons burden. The old tOAvn, situated on rising ground on the west bank of the river, consists chiefly of long regular streets, and contains the principal warehouses and factories. The new town was begun towards the close of last century, and is built on level ground to the east, at one time form ing the domains of the abbey. Surrounding the town there are extensive suburbs, occupied chiefly by villa resi dences. The river is crossed by a railway viaduct, and three bridges for carriage traffic, two of these being of iron and an old one of stone. The abbey of Paisley Avas founded in 1164, originally as a priory, by Walter, great steward of Scotland. Its lands Avere erected by James II. into a regality of which the abbot was lord, and the abbey formed the mausoleum of the Stuarts until their accession to the throne. The abbey Avas burned in 1307 by the English, and in 1561 by Lord Glencairn. In 1484 the grounds were surrounded by a lofty wall of hewn stone about one mile in circumference. In 1553 Claude Hamil ton, a boy of ten, fourth son of the duke of Chatellerault, was made abbot in commendam, and in 1587 the lands