Nature and Art, February 1, 1867.] 
THE PARIS EXHIBITION, 1867, 
45 
tlie walls ; while in the Industrial Courts velta, or 
awnings of a thin white material, are being placed 
here and there, by way of experiment, over the 
avenues of circulation. It is worthy of remark 
that the stuff of these awnings is rendered fireproof 
by a .chemical process. Looking at what has 
happened at the Crystal Palace, it seems almost a 
crime that any building erected to contain works of 
art, or any other valuables that cannot be replaced, 
should be constructed otherwise than fireproof. The 
Fine Art Galleries of the Paris Exhibition are very 
satisfactory in this respect; the walls are of solid 
stone, and the floor, as already stated, of cement, so 
that a fire is almost impossible. 
This consideration of security naturally leads to 
the modes of closing the Exhibition at night, when 
the grounds, cafes, restaurants, and other establish- 
ments will be blazing with light, and, at times, 
thousands of people enjoying themselves there. 
There are sixteen outer doors to the building ; and 
those of the minor entrances are now being fitted 
with strong iron shutters moved by machinery, like 
those adopted for shops ; there is no doubt that the 
main entrances will be secured in an equally 
efficient manner, so that the outer iron wall of the 
building will be virtually complete. Another pre- 
caution is taken with regard to the Retrospective 
Galleries, each opening of which is being supplied 
with solid oak doors running on iron rods and pro- 
vided with strong locks. This must be rather with 
a view to protect the valuable contents of these 
galleries from peculation than from fire, for the 
walls are all of stone and the floor of oak, and the 
precaution is a wise one. 
The colouring of the various parts of the building 
is proceeding ; the inner side of the iron roof and 
sides of the great Machinery Court, as well as of the 
principal vestibule and avenue, are being painted 
of a light chocolate or cafe au lait colour, and the 
main lines, mouldings, and projections picked out 
and relieved with chocolate, vermillion, and white, 
but the effect is not striking. Something of the 
same kind has been tried on the outside of the 
building, but has not been proceeded with. The 
ironwork of the Industrial Courts is now being 
painted of a dull apple-green, but, with the ex- 
ception of the avenues, there will be scarcely any of 
it visible when the fittings are all up. This remark 
does not, however, apply to the British Department, 
which will be much less enclosed and boxed up. 
The walls of the Picture Galleries are painted of a 
dull Pompeian red, with a broad frieze of a geo- 
metric pattern in grisaille. The ma/rquise around 
the inner garden has blue-grey pillars, mounted on 
bold cream-coloured stone plinths, the lines of the 
columns being relieved with bright chocolate, in 
harmony with the roof ; but the final touch is not 
yet put to this verandah, which will have a good 
effect when the enclosed garden is planted. 
Quitting the central garden, let us take a glance 
at the actual condition of the preparations in the 
three zones of the Fine Arts, Industry, and 
Machinery. 
The first, and inner one, will be filled last, and 
will be ready in ample time. The greater portion 
of the rooms on the French side — for in this part 
of the Exhibition the galleries are broken up into 
salons , in order to afford more wall space — are 
finished or nearly so ; the walls of the rest are 
being lined with wood, which will afterwards be 
covered with paper, and finally coloured. The sun- 
shades are also mostly in their places. The admis- 
sion jury has had great trouble, the space being 
only equal to about one-tenth of the applications ; 
but the first selection, that of known works not 
requiring previous examination, has at length been 
made, though the result is not yet published. The 
mode said to have been adopted for increasing the 
hanging space, is the erection of screens in various 
pai’ts for the smaller pictures ; there is one diffi- 
culty, however, with regard to such a plan, the 
centre of the rooms having been thrown into shade 
by the screens referred to above. There is little 
doubt, however, that room will be found for all the 
pictures that the management is very desirous of 
seeing exhibited, and that our ingenious neighbours 
will see that their treasures are sufficiently il- 
luminated. 
The difficulties which surround the arrangements 
of the Fine Art department have not been enhanced 
by the slightest complaint respecting the composi- 
tion of the juries ; the Imperial Commission, as 
the readers of Nature and Art know, left to the 
artists themselves, or rather to such of them as had 
received first-class medals, to appoint two-thirds of 
their judges; the result has been admirable, the 
juries consist of the elite of the body. This prin- 
ciple of art suffrage, applied previously to the 
annual exhibitions in Paris, has thus received the 
seal of one of the most trying applications that 
could possibly have been made of it, and must be 
regarded by all unprejudiced persons as established 
almost beyond question. Knowing how completely 
unsuccessful was the old system of official and 
academic nomination, we trust that it will be 
gradually banished from all art competitions of a 
general nature. It is not a small matter to relieve 
the world of art from all feeling, or even suspicion, 
of partiality or nepotism ; a feeling which is a prolific 
source of coteries and consequently of cabals. 
The great central zone, or rather series of zones, 
devoted to industrial products of all kinds — from a 
block of coal, to a chronometer — perhaps one of 
the most perfect examples of skill and science 
combined — is in a more advanced state than that 
of its mechanical brother beyond, or than those of 
its artistic sisters of the inner ring. In the French 
department nearly all the courts are formed, and 
several of them are nearly ready for the decorator ; 
the cases in which the gold and silver smith and two 
or three other classes of exhibitors will show the 
products of their cunning arts are in their places, 
and only require glazing and painting ; those which 
are in this forward condition exhibit careful ar- 
rangement, and there is no doubt that our neigh- 
bours will be still more remarkable than ever, on 
the present occasion, for the symmetry of their 
installations as well as for the beauty of their 
