§ 17, 18. BRIGHT COLOURS IN NORTHERN CLIMATES. 23 



18. If the reason of our preferring dull to brilliant colours is 

 (as some suppose) attributable to the grey tints of our northern 

 atmosphere, how is it that other northern people use colours 

 as vivid as those of the south ? The Indians of North 

 America, the Eskimos, and the peasants of Northern Russia 

 and Siberia, ornament their fancy trinkets with the same 

 bright combinations as the Arabs. The colours they prefer 

 are the primaries; and brilliant hues hold a conspicuous 

 place in their simple patterns. Nor are those colours ex- 

 cluded from the ornamental works and porcelain of the 

 Chinese; though these last are often deficient in form and 

 elegance of design. It is not our climate which has made us 

 indifferent to the beauty of colour. England, some centuries 

 ago (as Mr. Cutts very properly observes), was not externally 

 so colourless as now. The groups then seen in public on grand 

 occasions were " clad in bright colours : " knights wore " ar- 

 mour of silver scales, covered by a jupon of azure, embroidered 

 with armorial bearings," and were mounted on gaily capa- 

 risoned steeds ; and those who were the spectators at a tour- 

 nament, or who attended any festive meeting, were " gay as a 

 flock of tropical birds ; " while the windows of the castle, or 

 the houses of the towns, were hung with draperies rich in 

 brilliant hues. Public monuments were decorated with 

 painted ornaments, as well as the interiors of houses ; and the 

 church was rich with colour throughout. The brilliant glass 

 window did not then offer an incongruous contrast to white 

 walls, as in our modern churches ; nor did the ceiling, isolated 

 from the rest of a room by whitewash, proclaim a thorough 

 disregard for all agreement with the general effect of the 

 coloured furniture and hangings ; and the painted representa- 

 tions of churches and domestic apartments in those days, as 



gben in PI. xxix. of Grlincr's Fresco in Decorations ; in the Chartreuse at 

 Pavia, PI. ix.; and in the Church of St. Maurice at Milan, PI. xi. 



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