in pfoneral are no better than necessary evils; for if tliey are requisite to isolate a pic- 

 ture from surrounding ohjetta, yet it must be confessed that the contiguity of the frame 

 to the picture is exceedingly detrimental to the illusion of perspective. It is this which 

 explains the difference between the effect of a framed picture, and the cflect of the 

 same picture when viewed through an opening which allows of our seeinn- neitlier 

 frame nor limits. The effect tlvcn produced recalls all the illusion of the diorama. In 

 the case of not a few pictures, taste is best shown in knowing hoio little frame is neces- 

 sary. The color of the wall, and nature of surrounding objects must be considered in 

 judging of this. "VVe once saw a painting by a Geniian artist, representing the interior 

 of a Gothic ruin, with a snowy landscape visible through the open archway of the 

 door, and some snow, drifted in, lying upon the steps and stone floor inside. The per- 

 spective was exquisite — magical; and the drifted snow upon the steps and floor 

 seemed as if you could lift it off with a knife. The picture was in the possession of 

 an able connoisseur — and how had he treated it? Most people would have put round 

 it a frame proportionate to the value of the picture ; that seems to be the usual way — 

 so many inches of frame to a £20 picture, and so many more to one worth £lOO, Not 

 so with this connoisseur. When we saw it, this gem of a painting had round it a sim- 

 ple, narrow bead of gilding, and was hung upon a wall of an orange-cream color — 

 the unobtrusive frame allowing the exquisite perspective to appear to advantage, while 

 the peculiar color of the wall served to bring out, in all its brilliance, that other fine 

 point in the piece, the snow. 



With this warning against having too much frame — which we cannot, of course, 

 shape into any definite axiom, but which will answer the purpose if it makes people 

 think at all upon the subject — we proceed to consider the relation of color which 

 ought to exist between a frame and the picture which it surrounds. Gilt frames are, 

 of all othei-s, the handsomest and most generally applicable, and are especially suited 

 for large paintings in oil. There is but one exception to the use of gilt frames, and 

 that arises when the picture represents gildings, at least, if so near the frame as to 

 provoke the eye to compare the painted gold with the metal itself. For instance, there 

 is a Gobelins tapestry, after Laurent, representing a genie, armed with a torch, near 

 which is a gilt altar ; but the yellow silk and wool in which this altar is executed, are 

 entirely ecHjJsed by the gilt bronzes profusely spread over the mahogany frame by 

 which the tapestry is enclosed. Bronze frames on the contrary, which have but little 

 yellow brilliancy, do not injure the effect of an oil-painting which represents a scene 

 lighted by artificial light, such as that of candles, torches, a conflagration, &c. When 

 black frames, such as ebony, detach themselves sufficiently from an oil-painting, they 

 are favorable to large subjects ; but when they are used, it is necessary to see if the 

 contiguous browns of the painting or drawing do not lose too much of their vigor. 

 ilany landscape-paintings in oil are well set off by a gray frame, particularly if we 

 take a gray tinted with the complementary (or opposite) of the dominant color of the 

 picture. For black engravings and lithographs, gilt frames suit perfectly, provided 

 a certain breadth of white paper be left round the subject. Frames of yellow Avood, 

 such as BirdVeye Maple, <tc., likewise accord Avell with lithographs ; and it is possible 

 greatly to modify the appearance of the drawing by mounting it on tinted paper, when 

 not desire the effect of a white margin, 

 to the hanging of pictures in a room, we only repeat the general canon when 



