Page:The museum, (Jackson, Marget Talbot, 1917).djvu/109

Rh In the use of textiles for wall coverings many museum Directors have been disappointed to find that the color faded very rapidly after being put on the wall. To offset any such misfortune, it is only necessary to cut off a small piece of the material to be used and to expose it to strong sunlight for a week or two. By comparing this small piece with the larger sample a tendency to fade can easily be discovered.

It has generally been conceded that for sculpture in marble a warm darkish tone is much more agreeable than a cold light tone. Here we have to deal with a cold light surface, in which the shadows are all-important. If we can place it in such a way that it will receive a warm light and be surrounded by a color which will make the shadows darker, we shall have best attained our object. Terra cotta figures, on the other hand, already have a considerable amount of warmth and it is not well to place them against too strong a color. Bronzes, being by nature dark, look well against a larger variety of backgrounds than marble or terra cottas, yet here, too, care must be taken that the color is not too light, as otherwise the contrast will be too sharp. The red color used as a background in the Naples Museum in the room of the Farnese Bull has been highly praised as an excellent color for sculpture, its warm and glowing