vour to fix the sight, instead of seeking to distract it by various objects more or less brilliant, such as ornaments which, by their own splendour, eclipse the ornaments which the painter has represented on his canvas. Let me add that one of the most injurious things to the effect of pictures is their accumulation, their cramming all together; the position they then occupy being so different from that for which the painters destined them, destroys part of the illusion which each would produce if it was in its proper place. It is only the intelligent connoisseur and amateur who, on seeing a picture exhibited in a gallery, experience all the effect which the artist has wished to produce, because they only know the best point of view, and while their attention is fixed upon the work they are observing, they conclude by no longer seeing the surrounding pictures, and not even the frame of the one they contemplate. If a frame is necessary to isolate a picture from strange objects surrounding it, yet we cannot omit to recognise that the contiguity of the frame to the picture is exceedingly destructive to the illusion of perspective and it is this which explains the difference we remark between the effect of a framed picture and the effect of this same picture when viewed through an opening which permits us to see neither frame nor limits: the effect then produced recals all the illusion of the diorama.

ARTICLE 2.

Glyptotheca, or Sculpture Galleries.

(585.) Statues of white marble or stone, as well as plaster casts, stand out well in a gallery, the walls of which are of a pearly-grey colour, and if we would augment the whiteness of the statues by neutralising the red hue the marble, stone, and even the plaster might have, we could then colour the walls with chamois or orange-grey colour.

If, on the contrary, we preferred giving to the statues a warm colour, which many sculptors esteem so highly, the walls must be of blue-grey.

Painted green, they will give to the statues a rosy tint, which is not disagreeable.

As to their tone of colour, it must be lower, the brighter we wish the sculptures to be, other things being equal.

(586.) When there are bronzes, the colour of the walls of the gallery must be determined by that which we wish to predominate in the statues; because, as is very well known, the metallic alloy of which they are formed is susceptible of yielding two very different tints: one green, which is acquired by exposure to the action of the atmosphere; the other the peculiar golden tint which it possesses when not oxidised. If we wish to exalt this green tint, the colour of the walls of the gallery must be red; while they must be blue to bring out the brilliancy of the metallic bronze which has not experienced the action of atmospheric agencies.

(587.) We must not omit to notice that the walls of the gallery must be considered as giving rise to effects of contrast, and not to those of reflection.

ARTICLE 3.

Museums of Natural History.

(588.) If it be allowable to give to the walls of museums a positive colour, to render the aspect of the statues collected therein more agreeable, it will be very objectionable to do so in galleries intended to receive the products of nature; for these latter should appear to the eyes of the naturalist who surveys them for the purpose of studying their physical properties, of the colour peculiar to each individually; consequently the interior of cabinets, glass-cases, and drawers, must necessarily be white, or normal grey very light in tone; for the object is to see the specimens as distinctly as possible, and everything which tends to weaken the light will be contrary to the object we have in view.

(589.) In speaking of museums of natural history, I should reproach myself, if to what precedes I did not add one consideration, which, although foreign to that of colour, belongs nevertheless to my subject, because it treats of the contrast of the simultaneous view of objects which differ greatly in respect to size or volume. We must not place objects of natural history at too great a height, because in such a position it would not be possible to see them easily and distinctly. The conditions for seeing them being fulfilled, it is evident that there must not be too great an interval between the

upper portion of the cases, &c., which contain the objects and the ceiling or roof of the edifice; for without insisting upon the inconvenience of the lost space, too great an extent of surface above the cases will have the additional objection of making the objects appear too small, and of giving rise to the idea that they are only temporarily placed there, for we cannot believe it to be premeditated to establish this disproportion between the objects presented to view and the edifice adapted to receive them.

The objections of which I speak will also be increased by great architectonic objects, such as pillars, pilasters, columns, which, attracting the eye by their regular form and symmetrical position, distract the attention from the collection, and diminish the objects contained in it; for when the eyes are directed to these objects they inevitably bring the mind to compare their bulk with that of the great pillars, pilasters, and columns which so readily influence the mind according to the principles of distinct view, volume, regular and ornamental form, symmetrical arrangement, and repetition, by means of which architecture acts upon us through the medium of sight.

CHAPTER V.

THE CHOICE OF COLOURS FOR A THEATRE.

(590.) FROM the importance given to the lighting of a theatre, we might conclude that light colours would generally predominate; for no one can be ignorant how much light such dark colours as blue and crimson require, in order to become illuminated.

(591.) Under the relation of Colour I distinguish four principal parts in a theatre:

The interior of the boxes,

The fronts of the boxes,
The ceiling,

The drop-scene and the curtain.

R

ARTICLE 1.

Interior of the Boxes.

(592.) The linings of the boxes of a theatre should never be rose-red, wine-red, or light crimson, because these colours have the serious disadvantages of making the skin of the spectators appear more or less green. To be convinced of this truth, it is sufficient to make the following experiment:

Place two half-sheets of paper coloured rose, wine-lees, or light crimson, o, o', and two sheets of paper flesh-coloured, p, p', as represented in fig. 1, Pl. 1; in observing them simultaneously, we perceive that p loses much of its rose relatively to p', and that o has become more violet than o'; finally, o and p injure each other mutually; a result easily understood, since the two colours losing red, p, which has the least, must appear of a greenish-yellow, and o, which has the most, will appear more violet.

(593.) If we replace the half-sheets o and o', by half-sheets of a light green, an effect absolutely contrary to the preceding will be observed; that is to say, p will appear more rose than p', and o will appear of a more intense green, more brilliant than o'. These experiments, repeated by artificial light, give the same result as by daylight.

(594.) We may conclude, then, that, whenever we would enhance the value of rose complexions by means of a coloured ground, the colour least favourable will be rose, and the most favourable pale green.

(595.) I must remark that the height of tone of the green colour exercises an influence upon the result; for a very deep green, acting by contrast of tone, will so enfeeble the tone of the complexion, that the contrast of colour, properly so called, will be insensible: a deep red, by the influence of analogy, blanches the complexion.

ARTICLE 2.

The Fronts of the Boxes.

(596.) There are many reasons why the fronts of the boxes have less influence on the complexion than the interiors, which, being usually of a uniform colour, serve, so to speak,

as a ground to the faces of the persons occupying the boxes; while the fronts, always painted in colours more or less varied, being more distant from the complexions, would lose much of their influence, if care was taken to cover them with green Utrecht velvet, their borders stuffed with hair: though, whatever it may be, it is, I believe, always well not to choose red for the dominant colour, and to be moderate in the gildings, in order that the gold of the toilet may come out better.

ARTICLE 3.

The Ceiling of Theatres.

(597.) The ceiling can only exercise influence upon the audience by reflection. We may put on it, without inconvenience, red paintings and gilding.

ARTICLE 4.

The Drop-scene and the Curtain.

(598.) What I have said of the ceiling is applicable to the drop-scene and the curtain; yet I must remark that the latter being more exposed to sight than the ceiling, if it has a red or rose colour, it presents the objection of disposing the eyes to see green as a consequence of successive contrast (79.). A green curtain, on the contrary, disposes the eyes to see rose, and under this relation is preferable to the first.

In the chapter on the dress of females (see the following section), I shall give some original details respecting the influence which the draperies exercise on the complexion, according as they produce the effects of contrast or of reflection.