can make a fair calculation, such as the length of the nave, if the
picture is an altar-piece--or say, half the length; so also with
statuary in niches, friezes, and other architectural ornaments. The
nearer we are to them, and the more we have to look up, the larger will
the upper figures have to be; but if these are on the outside of a
building that can be looked at from a long distance, then it is better
not to have too great a difference.

[Illustration: Fig. 66. 1909.]

These remarks apply also to architecture in a great measure. Buildings
that can only be seen from the street below, as pictures in a narrow
gallery, require a different treatment from those out in the open, that
are to be looked at from a distance. In the former case the same
treatment as the Campanile at Florence is in some cases desirable, but
all must depend upon the taste and judgement of the architect in such
matters. All I venture to do here is to call attention to the subject,
which seems as a rule to be ignored, or not to be considered of
importance. Hence the many mistakes in our buildings, and the
unsatisfactory and mean look of some of our public monuments.

XX

OF PICTURES THAT ARE PAINTED ACCORDING TO THE POSITION
THEY ARE TO OCCUPY

In this double-page illustration of the wall of a picture-gallery,
I have, as it were, hung the pictures in accordance with the style in
which they are painted and the perspective adopted by their painters. It
will be seen that those placed on the line level with the eye have their
horizon lines fairly high up, and are not suited to be placed any
higher. The Giorgione in the centre, the Monna Lisa to the right, and
the Velasquez and Watteau to the left, are all pictures that fit that
position; whereas the grander compositions above them are so designed,
and are so large in conception, that we gain in looking up to them.

Note how grandly the young prince on his pony, by Velasquez, tells out
against the sky, with its low horizon and strong contrast of light and
dark; nor does it lose a bit by being placed where it is, over the
smaller pictures.

The Rembrandt, on the opposite side, with its burgomasters in black hats
and coats and white collars, is evidently intended and painted for a
raised position, and to be looked up to, which is evident from the
perspective of the table. The grand Titian in the centre, an altar-piece
in one of the churches in Venice (here reversed), is also p