The Works of Anthony Raphael Mengs .: Tr. from the Italian

The Works Of Anthony Raphael Mengs.: Tr. From The Italian, by Anton Raphael Mengs. This eighteenth-century theoretical and critical handbook on painting blends liberal-art theory with practical technique. It traces the twofold nature of mastery: technique (mechanical skill) and theory (scientific rules), arguing that the greatest painters fuse these strands. Mengs foregrounds four pillars—design, color, chiaroscuro, and composition—and assesses Raphael, Correggio, and Titian as models whose strengths lie in different pillars, while treating imitation versus ideal beauty as a dynamic tension. The text expands to a broader survey of ancient taste, memory, and method, and includes discussions of other masters, a fragment on Spain’s artistic flourishing, and letters to Falconet. Interleaved with Prefaces, Memoirs, and editorial notes, the work situates painting within Rome’s classical revival and across Europe (Spain, France, Germany). It culminates in programmatic notes on beauty, taste, and the Madrid Academy, offering a theory-informed pedagogy for future painters and architects.