Colour

An artist in a natural landscape reaches to a rainbow above her to collect colour with her paintbrush. In her other hand she holds a palette with a single daub of white paint. This painting is one of four by Kauffman, each representing one of the four ‘Elements of Art’ – Invention, Composition, Design and Colour. These four elements were laid out by fellow artist Joshua Reynolds in his Discourses on Art, given in lectures at the Royal Academy and later published in 1788. The paintings were commissioned by the RA to be displayed in the ceiling of the new Council Chamber.

In Colour (as well as Design) the figures are physically engaged in the act of creation, whereas in Composition and Invention they’re engaged in reflection. When displayed in the ceiling, the paintings are paired: one practical and one theoretical at each side of the room.

Kauffman created strong female bodies in her work, inspired by examples from the Italian Renaissance. Artists and viewers of art in the 18th century would have been well versed in the many symbols she used. For example, the 16th-century art historian Caesar Ripa wrote a comprehensive and well-read book of symbols used in art (titled Iconologia), in which Colour (or Painting) is described as a person with beautiful with wavy, thick hair holding a palette in one hand and a brush in the other. This description fits Kauffman’s painting, but she seems to be rare in using the rainbow and chameleon as symbols of colour; they were traditionally used to represent Air. It is interesting to note that although tradition may have made some of the symbolic figures male, Kauffman created all female figures.