Page:The museum, (Jackson, Marget Talbot, 1917).djvu/146

120 looks of a picture than the way it is framed. The frame is not merely necessary to separate the picture from the background on which it hangs, but is very essentially a part of the impression it gives. Thus, for instance, a Renaissance frame which would be excellent on a picture by Botticelli, let us say, would probably not fit a picture by Rubens. In any period the frame that was used at that time represents the feeling of the age and is much better adapted to paintings of the epoch than is the frame of any other period. Modern artists are turning more and more to the style of frames used in the early Renaissance and adapting types of ancient mouldings to their own pictures. Yet rarely do these express artistic merit and the individuality of the artist to the same degree as do frames which follow the dictates of modern design. The excellence of the old designs was due to the fact that the artist was willing to spend infinite pains to make the frame suit the picture. Modern artists are realizing this and many of them now design their own frames.

The day of heavy gold frames for every picture is past. The frame must now be proportioned to the size of the picture and must conform in tone to the combination of colors in the painting. In the case of old Dutch masters, we note from