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82 in which the background colors are made to harmonize from room to room is much less tiresome than a similar series of rooms in which the backgrounds are all of the same color.

Careful study should be made of the paintings that are to go in any one room before the color is selected. Where the collection is growing rapidly, certain rooms should be devoted to certain schools, and a study should be made of each school with a view to determining the color which will be most successful as a background for that school. In this connection, the environment for which the pictures were painted should be considered, as important hints may be obtained from such a study. If a color characteristic of a period is to be used, however, it must not be too vivid, as otherwise it will clash with the objects, all of which have faded with time.

In studying any treatise on color of backgrounds, it is necessary to consider the fact that the light in the different countries varies in intensity, and therefore a color which is beautiful in Italy is not necessarily equally suitable in the United States. Few of our northern cities have at any time of the year the brilliant, glowing, penetrating sunshine that is a characteristic of Italian weather. Even rainy days in Italy are not as dark as rainy days in the North, and the chief