Page:The museum, (Jackson, Marget Talbot, 1917).djvu/122

98 feet all day. He should not use the chair if there are people in the gallery, but there are many hours in the day when he could use it when there is no one present.

There is an art in the arrangement of furniture in a gallery. Brass rods or silken cords to keep people from going too near to objects of value are unsightly and have a bad psychological effect. Children always want to crawl under a rope "just to see what will happen," while grown-ups invariably long to touch objects marked "please do not handle." Skilfully adjusted chairs and tables have the same effect as cords or rods, but seem so naturally a part of the room that no one realizes that they are placed under some valuable tapestry to keep the public from handling it. This is one of the strong arguments in favor of the so-called "period" arrangement of rooms; that is, if you have a notable tapestry or fine painting of renaissance workmanship you can keep the public at a proper distance and at the same time improve the appearance of your gallery by putting a fine chest or an old credenza underneath it. A framed tapestry is much less apt to be handled than one hanging loose. In the case of wooden sculpture, furniture cannot be used to keep the public away. Here, the object must either be placed in a glass case, which is necessary if the