on: Fig. 61.]

[Illustration: Fig. 62.]

In this square _K_, with the checker pattern, we should not think of
making the top squares smaller than the bottom ones; so it is with
figures.

This subject requires careful study, for, as pointed out in our opening
chapter, there are certain conditions under which we have to modify and
greatly alter this rule in large decorative work.

[Illustration: Fig. 63.]

In Fig. 63 the two statues _A_ and _B_ are the same size. So if traced
through a vertical sheet of glass, _K_, as at _c_ and _d_, they would
also be equal; but as the angle _b_ at which the upper one is seen is
smaller than angle _a_, at which the lower figure or statue is seen, it
will appear smaller to the spectator (_S_) both in reality and in the
picture.

[Illustration: Fig. 64.]

But if we wish them to appear the same size to the spectator who is
viewing them from below, we must make the angles _a_ and _b_ (Fig. 64),
at which they are viewed, both equal. Then draw lines through equal
arcs, as at _c_ and _d_, till they cut the vertical _NO_ (representing
the side of the building where the figures are to be placed). We shall
then obtain the exact size of the figure at that height, which will make
it look the same size as the lower one, _N_. The same rule applies to
the picture _K_, when it is of large proportions. As an example in
painting, take Michelangelo's large altar-piece in the Sistine Chapel,
'The Last Judgement'; here the figures forming the upper group, with our
Lord in judgement surrounded by saints, are about four times the size,
that is, about twice the height, of those at the lower part of the
fresco. The figures on the ceiling of the same chapel are studied not
only according to their height from the pavement, which is 60 ft., but
to suit the arched form of it. For instance, the head of the figure of
Jonah at the end over the altar is thrown back in the design, but owing
to the curvature in the architecture is actually more forward than the
feet. Then again, the prophets and sybils seated round the ceiling,
which are perhaps the grandest figures in the whole range of art, would
be 18 ft. high if they stood up; these, too, are not on a flat surface,
so that it required great knowledge to give them their right effect.

[Illustration: Fig. 65.]

Of course, much depends upon the distance we view these statues or
paintings from. In interiors, such as churches, halls, galleries, &c.,
we