ABSTRACT
This is an immense subject, and to do justice to it one would need ample space, copious illustration, wide reading and deep specialized learning. The investigator should take account of painters who were illiterate before and after the arrival first of writing, then of printing, some who were literate but never opened a book, or were casual readers of newspapers and ephemera, some who were constant and critical readers, some who could write lively letters or coherent essays about their art, the few who aspired to writing as a distinct pursuit, and the precious few who succeeded. This investigator would interrogate and poll the painters to the limit allowed by the records, pressing them hard; do you read at all? do you read with attention? do you possess what you read? can you allude to, quote from your reading? do you borrow, buy, amass, collect books? do you sign or annotate your books? do you associate specific texts with specific art-works, your own, or other? are you vitally concerned, or concerned at all, with the subject matter of art? and how much, and how well, do you write, and with how much pleasure and fulfilment? The questions have got out of hand; it is beyond my capacity to answer them. 1
