Fourth Division. Employment of Colours in Architecture
I. On the Employment of Colours in Egyptian Architecture
430. The Egyptians employed various colours, as red, yellow, blue, green, and white, to decorate their monuments.
Lancret remarks, “All who have seen Egyptian paintings, can attest that when seen, even for the first time, they were not disagreeable; and, that if at first the colours appear distributed arbitrarily, it is because observers have not combined a sufficient number of observations, and that it will one day be found that this part of the arts of the Egyptians was, like all the rest, submitted to invariable rules.”
431. Champollion the Younger expresses himself in these terms on the application of colours to Egyptian architecture: “I should like to introduce into the great temple of Ipsamboul, all who refuse to believe in the elegant richness that painted sculpture adds to architecture; in less than a quarter of an hour, I engage that they would perspire away all their prejudices, and that their à priori opinions would quit them through every pore.”
432. The fact of colouring hieroglyphics being once admitted, the colouring of the other figured objects which accompany them appears to have been a necessary consequence, either to bring out certain symbols, or allegories more distinctly and more agreeably, by the effect of their various colours, or because, if the hieroglyphics only were differently coloured, there would be no harmony between them and the other figured objects. No one can mistake the harmony between the hieroglyphics and other painted objects, and we therefore should not see any impropriety in them if we mistook them for figures traced by the capricious imagination of the artist. This harmony clearly justifies Lancret and Champollion the Younger, in the passages quoted above.
II. On the Employment of Colours in Greek Architecture
433. The discovery of Greek temples coloured on the exterior is doubtless a very remarkable fact in archæology; for if any monuments seemed to reject the application of colours to their external decoration, it was assuredly those of the Greeks. At this day, it is impossible not to admit that it was among these people that the alliance of colours with architecture was made, not in the declining epoch but at a period when monuments were erected in the best style; in fact, the ruins of coloured temples discovered by the excavations made in Greece, Italy, and Sicily, in places where many Greek colonies prospered, have this characteristic in a remarkable degree.
434. If we seek the cause which determined the Greek architect to seize upon one of the most powerful means that the painter has of addressing the eye, we shall find it especially, I think, in a taste for colours, rather than in the intention of rendering the various parts of an edifice more distinct from each other; and of substituting painted ornaments for ornaments in relief, whether sculptured or moulded, or of augmenting the relief these ornaments already possessed; indeed, the communication of the Greeks with the Egyptians, may have induced them to imitate the latter in this application of colours to ornaments.
435. In the coloured drawings of Greek monuments which I have been able to procure, I have remarked not only the number of colours employed in these monuments,—white, black, red, yellow, green, and blue,—but also the use which has been made of them under the relation of variety and purity of tint, of distinct view of the parts, and of the harmony of the whole. For instance, the principal lines, as the fillets of the architrave and of the cornice, are red; the mutules blue, and their guttæ white; the triglyphs blue, their channels black, and their guttæ white; and the more extended parts of the frieze and the cornice, as well as the architrave, are of light yellow.
We see that red, a brilliant colour, indicated the greater part of the principal lines; that blue, associated with black in the triglyphs and their channels, formed an harmonious and distinct union of the neighbouring parts: also that the dominant colour, light yellow, produced a much better effect than it would if the most intense or the most sombre colours had predominated. Finally, the colours were distributed in the most intelligent manner possible without being motley, presenting a variety and lightness in the tints, with easy separation of parts.
III. On the Employment of Colours in Gothic Architecture
436. In the great Gothic churches, colour has rarely been employed on the exterior, except in a few cases, and always in a restrained manner, and without injury to the general harmony; for the colour on porches and in niches is altogether insignificant in this point of view; and, besides, there is nothing to show that it was not added long after the erection of the structure on which it is found. One of the things I most admire in these vast edifices is the art, or, if you will, the luck, with which they have succeeded without colour, by having recourse only to architecture and sculpture, in giving to the exterior of the edifice a variety which in no respect injures the imposing effect of the whole.
437. If we now regard the interior of these churches, the magic of the colours of the stained windows will complete the enjoyments the sight can receive from colour allied to architecture—enjoyments which can only strengthen the power of the religious sentiment in all who enter these edifices to address their prayers to God. M. Boiserée, author of a work full of research, as original as profound, on the cathedral of Cologne, thinks that the ceilings of Gothic churches ought, according to a general custom, to represent the celestial vault, and be painted blue, studded with gilt stars.
439. Is it true that the vicinity of stained glass necessarily requires as an effect of harmony, painting on the contiguous walls? Without deciding absolutely in favour of the contrary opinion, I confess that, after reflecting long upon the deep impressions I have received in great Gothic churches where the walls present only the simple effects of light and shade upon a uniform surface of stone, where there are no colours except those transmitted by the stained glass, I say that the sight of more varied effects would have appeared to me an error against the principle of suitability of the place to its destination; and this opinion was especially fortified by seeing, after the coronation of Charles X., the fine vault of the ancient cathedral at Rheims, which had been painted for the occasion blue, sprinkled with fleurs-de-lis. I am reminded of the impression it produced upon me some years before, when it presented to my sight only the uniform colour of the stone.
Application to the Interiors of Edifices
440. I shall treat in succession—
1. On the assortment of stuffs with the wood of seats, &c.
2. On the assortment of frames with the pictures, engravings, and lithographs which they surround.
3. On the general decoration of interiors of churches.
4. On the decoration of museums, galleries, &c.
5. On the decoration of houses, palaces, &c.
On the Assortment of Stuffs With the Wood of Seats
441. There should be between the two parts of the seat—the wood and the stuff—harmony of contrast and harmony of analogy. The beauty of the wood and of the stuff which accompanies it, may mutually enhance each other. From what has been said, it is evident that we must assort violet or blue stuffs with yellow woods, as the root of ash, the yew, satinwood, maple, &c. Green stuffs with rose or red-coloured woods, as mahogany, cherry-tree, rosewood, &c.
Violet, or blue-greys, are equally good with yellow woods, as green-greys are with the red woods.
But to obtain the best possible effect it is necessary to take into consideration the contrast resulting from depth of tone; for a dark blue or violet stuff will not accord so well with a yellow wood as a light tone of the same colours; and it is for this reason that yellow does not assort so well with mahogany, as with a wood of the same, but not so deep a colour.
442. Among the harmonies of contrast of tone that can be made with wood, may be mentioned ebony, the brown colour of which permits its employment with light stuffs to produce contrasts of tone, rather than contrasts of colour. We can use it with very brilliant, intense colours; such as poppy, scarlet, aurora, flame-colour, &c.
443. When we employ painted woods instead of those which retain their natural colour, it is better for a stuff to give the wood such a colour as will best assort with the stuff. For assortments of this kind, I believe we cannot do better than refer to the examples of the assortments of the principal colours with white, black, and grey. (P. 49 et seq.)
444. Ebony wood, on account of its dark colour, be employed with dark stuffs to produce the assortments of analogy. In this case it can be allied with brown tones, and with red, blue, green, and violet. It is scarcely necessary to remark that these assortments prevent our using with ebony, white and yellow inlaying woods, which can be used with more or less advantage in those assortments which enter into the case of harmonies of contrast.
445. Frequent use is made of crimson woollen, velvet, and mahogany. This assortment, which is related to the harmony of analogy, is preferable to many others, only in consideration of the great stability of the colour of the stuff, and therefore independently of every idea of harmony. This induces me to examine it under several relations, that we may make the best possible use of it, according to the particular purpose.
When, in assorting crimson with mahogany, we wish to produce the harmony of analogy, by marking out the lines where the wood and the stuff touch, we can employ a cord or narrow galloon of yellow, or of golden yellow with gilt nails; or, better still, a narrow galloon of green or black, according to our wish to render the border more or less prominent.
When, in assorting these colours, we are guided by the twofold motive of the stability of the crimson colour and of the beauty of the mahogany, we must necessarily increase the distance which separates the stuff from the wood, by making the black or green border wider.
446. As the red woods always lose more or less of their beauty by the juxtaposition of red stuffs, we can never ally mahogany to colours which belong to the vivid reds, such as poppy or cherry; and more particularly to orange-reds, such as scarlet aurora; for these colours are so bright, that, taking away from this wood its peculiar tint, it becomes no better than oak or black walnut.
On the Selection of Frames for Pictures and Engravings
447. If a frame is necessary to a picture, engraving, or drawing, to isolate it from the objects around it, it is always more or less injurious to the illusion the painter or designer has desired to produce, when it occupies its destined place. I only purpose here to examine the relation of colour between the frame and the object it surrounds.
448. Gilt frames accord well with large pictures painted in oil, when the latter do not represent gildings, at least so near the frame as to render it easy for the eye to compare the painted gold with the metal itself.
I will instance a bad effect from such proximity. A Gobelins tapestry, after Laurent, represents a genius armed with a torch, near which is a gilt altar, executed in yellow silk and wool, all of which are entirely eclipsed by the metallic brilliancy of the gilt bronzes profusely spread over the mahogany frame of the tapestry. This may convince us that the richness of a frame may not only be a fault against art, but also against common sense.
449. Bronze frames which have but little yellow brilliancy do not injure the effect of an oil picture which represents a scene lighted by artificial light, such as that of candles, torches, a conflagration, &c.
450. When black frames, such as ebony, detach themselves sufficiently from an oil painting, they are favourable to large subjects; but whenever they are used, it is necessary to see whether the browns of the painting or drawing which are contiguous, do not lose too much of their vigour.
451. A grey frame is favourable to many landscape scenes painted in oil, particularly when the picture having a dominant colour, we take a grey lightly tinted with the complementary of that colour.
452. Gilt frames accord perfectly with black engravings and lithographs, when we take the precaution of leaving a certain extent of white paper round the subject.
453. To conclude. The rule to be followed in assorting a frame to a picture is, that its colour, brightness, and ornaments also, injure neither the colours, nor the shadows, nor the lights of the picture, nor the ornaments which it represents.
When we propose to put a border between the frame and an engraving, plain or coloured, we must take into consideration,—
1. The effect of the height of tone of this border upon the different tones of the design.
2. The effect of the complementary of the colour of the border upon the colour of the design.
3. The intensity of the diffused light which is considered most suitable to light the design. Because for a given border the mutual relations between the browns, the half-tints, the lights and the whites, change with the intensity of the daylight, and change more for a given composition with certain borders than with others.
A composition of small or medium size may be painted so that the artist himself will do well to choose the frame best adapted to it, and to paint up those parts of his picture which are contiguous to it. (See also 483.)
On the General Decoration of the Interiors of Churches
I now resume this subject, no longer to treat of it relatively to a given architectonic form, but to consider it under the most general point of view.
Conformably to the principle enunciated above (346), of judging the productions of art by the rules drawn from the nature of the materials employed, I establish two distinct classes of churches, not according to their form, but to a fundamental consideration which subordinates the interior decoration to the quality of the light, coloured or colourless, diffused through plain or coloured glass.
Stained Glass Windows.
1. From the bad effect of the mutual proximity of white and stained glass (365), it results that where one is employed in a church the other must be excluded, at least from the nave, choir, in a word, from all that the spectator can embrace at one point of view. The colourless glass in some of the chapels of the aisles is of no consequence in the general effect.
2. If pictures be near stained windows, they must be flat, or present subjects as simple as possible, since their effects are entirely sacrificed to those of the stained glass (438).
3. We can place pictures in a large church where the light is transmitted through coloured glass; but, for the view to be satisfactory, they must necessarily encounter such a union of conditions, that they will almost always be found out of place. In fact, if the pictures are not at a certain distance from the glass,—if the coloured lights which emanate from them are not, by their mutual admixture, in the requisite proportions for producing white light, or, at least, a very faintly coloured light—or if this feebly coloured light is insufficient to lighten the interior of the church properly, the pictures will lose their colour, unless they have been executed with reference to the nature of the light from the stained windows; but this is not, to my knowledge, ever realized.
White Glass Windows.
454. Churches with white glass windows harmonize with every ornament we can imagine in the employment of wood, marbles, porphyry, granite, and the metals. Mosaics may ornament the floors and adorn the walls with true pictures, as we see in St. Peter’s at Rome. Painting in fresco, in oil, plain and coloured sculptures, also combine to ornament the interior.
1. In churches of this class, the profusion of riches at the disposal of the decorator, far from being always of advantage to him, may be the cause of difficulties; for, the more varied the objects he has to arrange, the greater the difficulty of presenting only such objects as are in keeping with the place he has to embellish. It is not enough to have precious woods, marbles, metals, pictures; he must also make these objects harmonize. Thus, he must avoid putting coloured marbles contiguous to the white stone of which the walls are constructed; he must also proscribe surrounding bas-reliefs in white stone with slabs or borders of red or green marble.
2. The cathedral of Cologne, for churches with coloured glass, and St. Peter’s at Rome, for those with white glass, are two types which it will be sufficient to mention when we wish to demonstrate that beauty is compatible with different systems.
3. Much as I admire the marvels which the arts have accumulated in churches where white light freely enters, and although I acknowledge the effects which certain pictures of the first order are capable of producing in the Christian mind, yet the churches in which we see these decorations, resemble museums of art more than temples consecrated to prayer; and under this aspect they do not appear to me to fulfil the conditions imposed by the principle of fitness of edifices to their purpose in the same degree as Gothic churches with stained glass windows.
On the Decoration of Museums and Galleries
455. The essential condition which these edifices must fulfil, is, that the light be as white and as vivid as possible; but always diffused and distributed equally and in the most suitable manner upon all the objects exhibited to the spectator, so that they may be seen without fatigue, and distinctly in every part.
Picture Galleries.
456. There is generally a disposition to be prodigal of ornaments and gilding in such buildings. Without pretending that all decoration should be proscribed, yet I believe that there is less disadvantage in erring by deficiency than by excess; in fact, the pictures, &c., are the precious objects, and it is to them that we must attract attention. Let me add, that one of the most injurious things to the effect of pictures is their accumulation—their being crammed all together; the position they then occupy, so different from that for which the painters destined them, diminishes the illusion which each would produce if it were in its proper place. Few, except the intelligent connoisseur and amateur, on seeing a picture exhibited in a gallery, experience all the effect which the artist wished to produce. Even the contiguity of the frame to the picture is destructive of the illusion of perspective: hence the difference between the effect of a framed picture and the effect of the same picture when seen through an opening, which permits us to see neither frame nor limits: it then recalls all the illusion of the diorama.
Sculpture Galleries.
457. 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 neutralizing the red hue which the marble, stone, or plaster might have, we could colour the walls with a chamois or orange-grey tint. 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. Green walls will give to the statues a rosy tint, which is not disagreeable.
The tone of their colour must be lower, the brighter we wish the sculptures to be.
458. 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 yields two very different tints; one green, acquired by exposure to atmosphere; the other the peculiar golden tint which it possesses where it is not oxidized. 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 the atmosphere.
459. The walls of the gallery are considered as giving rise to effects of contrast, and not of reflection.
Museums of Natural History.
460. In these edifices it would be wrong to give the walls any positive colour, for the objects exhibited should appear to the eyes of the naturalist of the colour peculiar to each; consequently the interior of cabinets, glass-cases, and drawers must necessarily be white, or normal grey, very light in tone.
Wainscoting.
461. From the fact that wainscotings are generally concealed by the furniture placed before them, we may conclude that they must be of a dark, rather than of a light colour, and that, if they have ornaments, these must be simple, and not prominent. The wainscoting may be considered as serving as a ground to the furniture, whenever it is not entirely concealed by the latter. We shall see hereafter what colour is necessary to be given them that they may suit their purpose.
Decorations of the Interior of Houses
Hangings.
462. In consequence of an apartment never being too light—for we can always diminish superfluous light—hangings should be of a light colour, that they may reflect, not absorb, light.
463. We proscribe all dark hangings, whatever be their colour, because they absorb too much light; we proscribe also red and violet hangings, because they are exceedingly unfavourable to the colour of the skin. For this latter reason we reject the light tones of the red and violet scales. Orange is a colour that can never be much employed, because it fatigues the eye too much by its great intensity.
1. Among the simple colours, there are scarcely any which are advantageous, except yellow and the light tones of green and of blue. Yellow is lively; it combines well with mahogany, furniture, but not generally with gilding (see 469).
2. Light green is favourable to pale complexions as well as to rosy ones; to mahogany furniture, and to gilding.
3. Light blue is much less favourable than green to rosy complexions, especially in daylight; it is particularly favourable to gilding, it does not injure mahogany, and associates better than green with yellow or orange woods.
4. White or whitish hangings of a light grey (either normal green, blue, or yellow), uniform or with velvet patterns of the colour of the ground, are also very useful.
5. When we would choose hangings upon which to place a picture, their colour must be uniform, and make the greatest contrast possible with that which predominates in the picture, if the hangings are not of a normal grey. I shall return to this assortment (483).
464. Hangings in the best taste are those—
1. Which present designs of a light tone, either normal or coloured grey, upon a white ground, or the reverse, and in which the pattern is at least equal in extent of surface to the ground; for a small pattern has a very poor effect, at least in a large room.
2. Patterns of two or more tones of the same or very near scales assorted conformably to the law of contrast.
465. Hangings of brilliant and varied colours representing real objects, forming patterns more or less complex, do not admit of pictures; and as such hangings should exhibit themselves distinctly, they must not be concealed by the furniture in any of their parts.
466. When we have to adapt a border to a monochromous hanging, or to one presenting a dominant colour, we must first determine whether we can have recourse to a harmony of analogy or to a harmony of contrast; in all cases the border ought to detach itself more or less from the hangings, which it is intended to surround and separate from contiguous objects.
Harmony of contrast is the most suitable to papers of a uniform pure colour, such as yellows, greens, and blues; consequently we recommend for the dominant colour of the border, the complementary of that of the hangings, whether this border represents ornaments, arabesques, flowers, or imitations of fringes or tissues. But, as a contrast of colour ought not generally to offer also a contrast of tone, then the general tone of the border must only surpass that of the hangings so far as to avoid a deadening effect. If a double border be required, the exterior border must be of a much deeper tone than the other, and always narrower.
467. Among the colours suitable for borders we recommend the following as harmonies of contrast:—
1. For yellow hangings, violet and blue mixed with white; if a fringe, of flowers garnished with their leaves, or ornaments.
2. For green hangings, red in all its hues; the painted gilt-yellows upon a dark-red ground; the borders of brass.
3. For white hangings, orange and yellow; the borders of brass or gilt moulding: these are much better on blue than on green.
468. Among the harmonies of analogy, I recommend the following:—
For yellow hangings, a border of brass or gilt moulding.
White or Whitish Hangings of Normal Grey, Pearl Grey, or very pale coloured Grey, of a uniform colour, or with a Velvet Pattern of the Colour of the Ground.
469. Although papers of this kind admit of borders of all colours, yet we must avoid too great a contrast of tone in a border containing pure colours; for the intense tones of blue, violet, red, green, are too crude to combine with these light grounds. Gilt brass borders accord well with these grounds, especially with the pure or grey whites. If a grey present a tint of green, of blue, or of yellow, we may use borders of the complementary of these tints, taken many tones above, or of a grey, deeply tinged with this complementary.
470. Among the harmonies of analogy, we may take for grey hangings, borders of some tones higher, and of a grey contrasting with their tint, but very lightly.
For Borders of Hangings that present a pure Colour with White, or many Tones belonging either to the same Scale or to contiguous Scales (see 466).
For chintzes, we must have analogous borders.
For larger patterns than chintzes, repeated like the latter, a binding of galloon suffices.
Hangings with human figures, landscapes, or other pictures, require a frame either of painted, gilt, or bronzed wood, or, better still, a border imitated by painting.
Colour of the Wainscoting relatively
to the Hangings.
When the Hangings and the
Border make a Contrast of Colour.
471. The dominant colour of the wainscoting must generally be more or less approximating, and may be—
1. The same as that of the border, but a little darker, and especially more or less broken with black.
2. Grey lightly tinted with the colour of the border, and of the same tone, or very near it.
3. The complementary of the colour of the hangings, when the dominant colour of the border is not its complementary. If we employ a complementary lightly broken with black, the moulding must be picked out in brown on the border and on the wainscoting.
4. A grey complementary to the colour of the hangings, when the border is not the complementary of the hangings.
In these cases we bring out upon the colour of the hangings, properly so called, that of the wainscoting, which we always render more or less dull. Thus the colour of the hangings and the wainscoting are agreeably harmonized, and the border suitably separates them.
5. A normal grey of many tones, with which we may combine white.
472. When the colour of the wainscoting is the same as that of the hangings, but duller or deeper, in general it has a poor effect, arising particularly from the fact that the colour of the border, which contrasts with that of the hangings and of the wainscoting, is in too small superficial proportion to the other.
When the Assortment of the Hangings and the Border make either the Harmonies of Contrast of Scale or of Contrast of Hue, or the Harmonies of Analogy.
The dominant colour of the wainscoting may be—
1. The complementary of the colour of the hangings, but more or less broken, and a little deeper.
2. Grey complementary to the colour of the hangings.
3. A colour which, without being complementary, contrasts with that of the hangings.
4. Grey, tinted by a colour which, without being complementary to that of the hangings, contrasts with them.
473. When the hangings are white, or of an extremely feeble tone of colour, and the border does not stand out very strongly by its colour, we may make a harmony of tone or of hue with the tint of the wainscoting. For example, white, or nearly white hangings, with a gilt or brass border, harmonize well with a wainscoting which differs only by some tones more from the colour of the hangings.
Cornice of the Ceiling.
474. The cornice of a white ceiling must be of light colours, and but little varied; not according with those of the hangings, but of the wainscoting. White parts, which may be confounded with the ceiling, must be carefully avoided, as must also whatever will cause too much difference between the parts of the whole. When the hangings are white, or of a very pale grey, with a gilt or brass border, the cornice may present ornaments of the same material, and in this case they may stand upon a white or upon a grey, a little deeper than that of the hangings.
Chairs, Sofas, &c., placed in front
of the Wainscoting or Hangings.
475. The colour of the covering of chairs should be complementary to that of the hangings, properly so called, or, more generally, the same as that of the border, because this may be different from its complementary, and contrast, nevertheless, with the tint of the hangings. We see, then, that the chairs should contrast with the hangings, as may also the wainscoting; but the colour of the chairs being pure, it will also be purified by that of the wainscoting, which, for this reason, we have advised to be deadened.
1. The case of clearest contrast—i.e., when the colours of the hangings and the chairs are complementary—is the most favourable to distinct vision, as well as to successive contrast, whenever we observe first the hangings separately, and afterwards the chairs separately, and vice versâ.
2. When the colour of the hangings and of the chairs contrast without being complementary, we must take into consideration the degree of light in the colour of the hangings. For example, if they are blue, and the border is yellow, the covering of the furniture being a yellow, more golden than citron, this stuff must be of a much higher tone than the blue tone of the hangings; and the tone of the wood of the chairs, &c., must be still higher than the yellow, to avoid a dull appearance.
3. We may border the stuff at the parts contiguous to the wood, either with well-assorted dark colours, or with the same colour as the hangings, but of a higher tone; there is also a means of harmonizing the hangings and the furniture, in uniting the same colours, but in inverse proportion.
4. When, instead of sofas, arm and other chairs, there is a divan which entirely conceals the wainscoting, we must use the complementary colour of the hangings, when it is more advantageous for the colour of the border to form a contrast of scale or of hue with the hangings. In this case, yellow hangings bordered with brass in relief with a violet-coloured divan, will produce an excellent effect, at least by daylight; for we must not forget that yellow and violet lose in artificial light.
5. We regard as a harmony of contrast of colour light hangings of a pure colour with furniture of a grey, tinted with the complementary to that of the hangings.
476. Rooms differing in dimensions, according as they belong to the lively or grave harmonies, will be adapted to very different purposes.
1. In small rooms—such, for example, as boudoirs, where the hangings are bright—a harmony of contrast of hue, of scale, or a harmony of analogy, is generally preferable to a harmony of contrast of colour, if the hangings are uniform, or have a dominant colour. If they have a decided colour allied to white, or if they present patterns of various colours, such as chintzes, the furniture most suitable will be a divan of the same material as the hangings; and it is conformable with the object of boudoirs, or of similar places, to diminish their apparent extent to the eye, by employing only one material for the hangings and the chairs, instead of seeking to fix the eye upon distinct objects.
2. In large rooms there is an arrangement of good effect—viz., white, or very light grey hangings, with furniture of a pure colour, such as red, yellow, green, blue, and violet. When we employ these pure colours, we must heighten the tone only so much as to avoid a faded appearance. Sky-blue is the most suitable for this arrangement; crimson, which is also employed, is too harsh, especially if the room is neither very large nor well lighted.
477. Grave Assortments are adapted to places devoted to quiet meetings, such as libraries, museums, studies, &c. In general, the smaller the place, or the less space there is to receive the hangings, the more the assortment must be that of a harmony of analogy.
The hangings or the pictures must present only normal grey, or a grey of a colour more or less broken; the chairs must be black or of a dark grey, either normal or coloured; and in this case we can take a grey tinted with the complementary of the colour of the grey of the hangings. If more contrast is desired, we can have recourse to the brown tones of this complementary of the colour, which tints the grey of the hangings.
478. Window and Bed-curtains should be similar to each other.
When the Chairs have a decided Colour—such as Red, Yellow, Green, Blue, or Violet—the hangings should be of a pure colour, contrasting favourably with that of the chairs.
The curtains should generally be of the colour of the chairs, and their borders of the colour of the hangings, or of the colour of the hangings bordered with the colour of the chairs.
The Chairs being Grey, or of a very subdued Colour, and the hangings of a decided colour, the curtains should be either,—1. Of the colour of the chairs, with a border of the colour of the hangings: or, 2. Of the complementary of the hangings, or contrasting favourably with them; the colour of the border should be that of the hangings.
The Hangings being of a Grey Colour, or White, the curtains should be,—1. Of the colour of the chairs: or, 2. Of a pure colour, complementary to the grey of the hangings, if the latter do not belong to the scale of normal grey.
479. Doors.—Doors being, by their use, size, and position, relatively to the plane of the wall, absolutely distinct from the wainscoting, should be distinguished from it by their colour, notwithstanding the contrary practice of painters, who make them the same. Their different parts might be painted in many low tones of the same, or of approximating scales, and always according to the harmony of analogy, as the parts of one object are concerned. The colour of the doors should be of normal grey, or of a grey tinged with the colour of the hangings or of its complementary, which will thus always unite with the hangings, either by harmony of analogy, or by harmony of contrast. The door frames should be darker than the door itself.
480. Window Frames should be like the doors, according to a rule which has long been generally observed. The fastenings must be black, bronzed, or of brass.
Carpets.
481. Whatever may be the dominant colours of the subjects represented in their central part, with regard to brilliancy and contrast, they should always be separated from the chairs by a sufficient interval to prevent discord with the colour of the latter.
1. The more numerous and vivid the colours are, the more we must control their brilliancy; and the carpet most suitable will be one of simple colours and pattern. In many cases, an assortment of green and black will have a good effect.
2. If the furniture is of a single colour, or of many tones, either of the same colour or of approximating scales, we can, without disadvantage, employ a carpet of brilliant colours, and thus establish a harmony of contrast between them and the dominant tint of the furniture.
482. But if the furniture is of mahogany, and we wish to bring out its colour, then we must not have either red, scarlet, or orange as a dominant colour in the carpet.
In short, to get the best effect of the colours of the furniture, in the first case, the colours of the carpet, more or less sombre, must enter into the harmonies of analogy; while in the second, where harmony of contrast of colour does not exist in the furniture, we can, if we choose, have recourse to this harmony in the carpet without ill effect.
Pictures
(See 453).
Engravings and plain lithographs must never be placed beside oil paintings, or even coloured drawings.
Pearl grey, or rather deep normal grey, is a good tint to receive engravings and plain lithographs in gilt or yellow wood frames.
484. Yellow hangings can receive with advantage landscapes, in which green grass, and leaves, and a blue sky predominate. The most suitable frames in this case are those of violet ebony, or wood painted grey or black. Gilt frames have not a bad effect on the picture; but the gold of the frame and the yellow of the hangings do not contrast sufficiently to most eyes.
485. Oil-paintings in gilt frames have a good effect on hangings of olive-grey more or less deep, according to the tone of the picture. Carnations and the gold assort well on a similar ground. Papers of a deep green, and even of a deep blue, may also be advantageously employed in many cases.
Are Panelled or Covered With Marble, Stucco, or Painted Wood
ON THE ASSORTMENT OF COLOURS IN INTERIORS, THE
WALLS OF WHICH ARE PANELLED OR COVERED
WITH MARBLE, STUCCO, OR PAINTED WOOD.
Panelled Interiors.
486. Notwithstanding the present taste for decorations, which it is so easy to satisfy by means of paper-hangings, woven fabrics, and other accessories, I think there are in large suites of apartments two rooms for which a paneling more or less finished is very suitable; these are the dining and the billiard rooms; the scene being, as it were, concentrated on the dining or billiard tables, there is no reason to distract the attention by clothing the walls with ornaments. Where an interior is paneled, the floor should be in parquetry; a pavement of tiles, stones, or marbles would be out of keeping.
487. The colour of the curtains, for paneled interiors, must be chosen conformably to the preceding principles. For example—
White curtains will heighten the tone of the woodwork;
Blue curtains will bring out the golden tint of many woods, especially of polished oak.
Interiors covered with Marbles.
488. We can arrange marbles together on the principle of harmony of contrast or of harmony of analogy. Bronze adapts itself to them very well. If granite and porphyry are to be added, the lower courses must be composed of the latter.
Blinds are preferable to curtains, which are not suited to marbles.
Interiors covered with Wood
painted of several Colours.
489. The painting on a wainscot which is not beautiful enough to be seen uncovered has for its object the imitation—1. Of hangings; 2. Of wood more or less costly; 3. Of marble.
490. When we decorate walls of a pale grey ground, which require to be warmed with arabesques, we must endeavour to imitate pictures rather than mosaics.
491. The more carefully arabesques are executed, the more variety they will present in their forms and colours, and the less they should resemble the draperies, with which they are associated. Thus, white curtains with a simple and ample border, or curtains of a slightly-elevated tone of colour, or of an extremely simple design, should have the preference to curtains which are related to arabesques by their vivid colours, their varied patterns, or striking colour; in short, the colour of the curtain, if it has any, must be sacrificed to that of the arabesques.
Notes
438 If painting has from the beginning really concurred with architecture, and even with painted sculpture, in the interior decoration of Gothic churches, it can only have been in a secondary degree and on the system of flat tints, from the time when it had been decided to put in windows of stained glass; for no painting applied upon an opaque body, such as stone, wood, &c., could sustain itself beside the brilliant coloured light transmitted by the glass; and if this painting had been graduated according to the rules of chiaro-’scuro, all its merit would have disappeared, for want of pure and white light, the only kind suitable for illuminating it.
483 Whenever pictures are placed on hangings, the latter must be of a single colour, or of two very similar colours or tones of the same scale. The pattern of these hangings must be as simple as possible. Whenever a picture is placed on coloured hangings, we must always take care that the dominant colour of the hangings be complementary to the dominant colour of the picture.