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II I
authorship and in a good state of preservation. These constitute the tangible evidence available for my investigations. It has been my belief that the chemical knowledge of
the old masters was really elementary, and that those of
them who discovered new techniques must have profited,
like all inventors, from accidental discoveries of which they
had known how to take advantage. And this I found to be
true in my own work as well, for I also happened on a number
of discoveries by happy chance. What I really consider to be the most significant result of my researches has been the reconstruction of a medium which the artist who tries it will find corresponds, brush in hand, in all respects (dexterity and genius aside) to that of Rubens. But if time should not prove me to be entirely right in all my conclusions, I know that the essential principles discovered will at least provide a proper basis for further adaptation and discovery on the same lines. |