KEEPING, in painting, denotes the representa-
tion of objects in the same manner that they appear
to the eye at different distances from it; for which the
painter should have recourse to the rules of perspective.
There are two instances in which the famous Raphael
Urrbin has transgressed these rules: in one of his car-
tons, representing the miraculous draught of fishes, the
men in each of the two boats appear of full size, the
features of their faces being strongly marked; and the
boats are represented so small, and the men so big,
that any one of them appears sufficient to sink either
of the boats by his own bare weight: and the fowls on
the shore are also drawn so big, as to seem very near
the eye of the observer, who could not possibly, in that
case, distinguish the features of the men in the distant
boats. Or, supposing the observer to be in either of
the boats, he could not see the eyes or beaks of the
fowls on the shore. The other instance occurs in his
historical picture of our Saviour's transfiguration on
the mount; where he is represented with those who
were then with him, almost as large as the rest of his
disciples at the foot of the mount, with the father and
mother of the boy whom they brought to be cured; and
the mother, though on her knees, is more than
half as tall as the mount is high. So that the mount
appears only of the size of a little hay-rick, with a few
people on its top, and a greater number at its bottom
on the ground; in which case, a spectator at a little
distance could as well distinguish the features of those
at the top as of those on the ground. But upon any large
eminence, deserving the name of a mount, that would
be quite impossible.