Art Principles with Special Reference to Painting / Together with Notes on the Illusions Produced by the Painter

The work sets out a systematic account of artistic principles, opening with definitions of art and beauty and a taxonomy of the fine arts, then proposing the Law of Recognition and the Law of General Assent as tests of aesthetic judgment. It surveys modes of expression—ideal, Christian, classical, general—before treating genre-specific concerns in portraiture, landscape, still life, and secondary subjects, and examines colour and degrees of beauty. A later section analyzes painterly illusions, including relief, motion and suspension, with illustrative plates and notes offering references and critical examples to guide a painter’s technical and perceptual decisions.