to find in
an old catalogue at Hampton Court, how pictures of sacred subjects
were thus decently veiled, in the profaner moments of court
gaieties.[470]

Embroidered book coverings were often very beautiful, either as
simply clothing the boards, or when finished with metal-work corners,
backs, and clasps.

I quote the following lines, said to have been written by Tasso on a
case for a book, embroidered for him by Leonora d'Este:--

"Questo prezioso dono,
Ch' ornar coll' ago ad Eleanora piacque,
Lo vidde Aracne, e tacque.
Or se la mano, che la piaga fe al core,
Si bello fe d' amore il dolce laberinto,
Come uscirne potro, se non estinto?"

In the catalogue of Charles V.'s library, the materials used for
bindings are thus named: Soie veluyau, satin damas, taffetas, camelot,
cendal, and drap d'or; and many were embroidered.

Tact, discretion, and knowledge are required when we undertake to
adorn the home to be lived in; and while employing the art of
embroidery to embellish it, we must never forget that harmony, and the
absence of anything startling, tends to the grandiose as well as the
comfortable. Bright bits of colouring should be reserved for pictorial
art, or for small objects, such as cushions and stools. If for the
general tint blue be chosen, let it be either pure pale colour, like
the aether, or a soft one, pale or dark, such as indigo; but the
startling aniline blues should be avoided as being offensive to the
nerves of the eye. If red be the foundation colour, let it be Venetian
red, part scarlet, part crimson; or pure crimson (Tyrian purple), or
pure scarlet (cochineal). Never employ scarlet with a yellow tinge; it
may not affect yourself, but it is blinding to many eyes. Avoid
brickdust, which is simply a dirty mixture of earthy colours. Of green
there are few shades that are not beautiful, soothing, and more or
less fitted for a background to needlework. Olive-green, sea-green,
pea-green, emerald-green, and sage-green,--Nature teaches us how
these harmonize together and with all other colours. Only arsenical
green is impracticable and repulsive. Yellow, pale as a primrose,
glowing as gold, or tender as butter, is always beautiful; but one
tint we would exclude from our list, called "buff," which never can
assimilate with any other colour, and is often the refuge of the
weak-minded man that cannot face the responsibility of choosing an
atmosphere in which he will have to spend