Page:The museum, (Jackson, Marget Talbot, 1917).djvu/190

160 striped side to the front. The other side will look at least two inches lower.

Pedestals for busts are difficult to proportion properly. They must not be too wide at the top or they look clumsy, and if they are too narrow for their height, must be weighted at the bottom so as not to tip over too easily. Small busts can best be shown on brackets. The height is determined by the position of the eyes, which should be on the level with those of the beholder, if the bust is life size. There are exceptions to this rule, however, and the general appearance of the room as well as the size of the bust must be taken into consideration in planning the pedestals.

The latest experiment, which is being tried in the new classical wing of the Metropolitan Museum, is that of casting pedestals in cement to imitate stone. These have all the properties of stone but are cheaper to build and lighter to handle, being hollow internally. They are substantial in appearance. Their durability has, of course, not yet been tested.

CASTS

A collection of reproductions in plaster to supplement original material is desirable. To simply store such a collection as is done in many European museums is a waste of material. Among