Lumen picturae: a classical drawing manual

259 Pages·2011·111.21 MB·English

by  Frederick de Wit

Lumen Picturæ
A Classical Drawing Manual
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Introduction
Human body
Male nudes
Female nudes
Mythological and biblical figures
Quadruped animals
Birds and other animals
About the Author
Copyright
About the Publisher
Introduction
The Lumen picturæ of Frederick de Wit, a seventeenth century work of great
historic value, is reproduced here in its complete version. Believed to have been
initially published between 1660 and 1675, it is a visual guide to classical
drawing and one of the manuals that defined the fundamentals of art and artistic
instruction until the impressionist revolution of the nineteenth century.

Initially designed to “speak with images” to the artist in training, Lumen picturæ
is divided into six chapters to capture the shapes, proportions, and shading
required to create still-life images on canvas. Chapter one breaks down the
human figure, exploring facial features, limbs, and muscles. Chapters two and
three focus, respectively, on male and female figures; both feature nude and
clothed forms, highlighting the stances and gestures of each gender. Chapter four
features mythological and biblical figures, with the clothes and accessories
appropriate for each, along with details of setting, event, and time period.
Chapter five features quadruped animals, both pets and wildlife. Chapter six
features birds, insects, and sea creatures, both everyday and exotic.

Lumen picturæ, true to its title, is a book of luminescent pictures. After the
Greeks invented the concept of classical drawing, the “ideal sketch”—the
product of the cross between mathematical, modular, and proportional
measurements—underwent various transformations as aesthetics evolved. This
book was initially intended to provide artists with visual instruction on the
proper relationship between individual body parts and the whole figure to obtain
perfect proportionality in their work.

The author’s name, Frederick de Wit, was shared by three members of a family
of Dutch engravers and publishers; it is no longer known which Frederick de Wit
was the “official” author of the work. The first Frederick de Wit was the founder
of the de Wit family’s printing office in Amsterdam in 1648. At the time of
Lumen picturæ’s release, the family, having acquired at auction many of the
copper plates of the publishing and engraving houses Blaeu and Jansson,
specialized in cartography. They had released a series of world atlases, urban
maps, nautical charts, a nautical atlas, and regional and wall maps, and were
known around the world for the sophistication of their publications, the
popularity of their topics, and the extensive selection of titles they released. This
held true until the company was sold to Pieter Mortier in 1706.

On its initial publication, the work was considered a highly revered book on
classical drawing. Only a few copies of the book were created, making them
extremely rare and thus painstakingly safeguarded by their owners. Those lucky
enough to see it poured over it, devouring the intricacies of the facial
expressions, gestures, and body positions featured within it. Today, Lumen
picturæ is not just an academic treatise or drawing manual but a work of art
itself. It is praised for its refined strokes, the physical nuances observed in it, the
architecture of the individual compositions, and the author’s selection of images.
It is a point of comparison for analyzing classical paintings and drawings, all art
from the seventeenth century, and art created since then that captures the essence
of a figure or form.
Human body