H ouse and Garden 
of Alexander into Babylon. This famous master¬ 
piece, executed by Thorwaldsen and originally in¬ 
tended for Napoleon’s summer residence in the Quir- 
inal, Rome, was placed in the villa of the Count of 
Sommariva, on the Lake of Como. In 1829 the 
sculptor repeated the frieze in marble for the royal 
palace at C o p e n - 
hagen. 
There are twenty- 
two slabs in the new 
reproduction, twenty- 
four inches in height, 
and they vary from 
twenty-seven inches 
to sixty-three and a 
half inches in length. 
Many of these slabs 
are admirably adapt¬ 
ed for wall decoration. 
The beautiful pas¬ 
toral scene, including 
two of the slabs in 
this series, would 
form a panel twenty- 
four inches by ninety- 
six inches for the 
space over a mantel. 
The composition is 
a shepherd and flock 
of sheep. In the back¬ 
ground are the walls 
of Babylon, over¬ 
shadowed by palms 
and cypress trees. At the right is a group of women 
and a warrior that balances the figure of the shepherd 
on the extreme left. The last group of warriors and 
horses in the reproduction is a superb composition, 
five feet, three and a half inches 
in length, and well adapted for an 
ivory tone or an effect in bronze. 
There are two reliefs, one a 
band of youthful musicians, the 
other a group of Babylonian maid¬ 
ens strewing flowers and wreaths 
on the path of the tnumphator, that 
are suitable for a music room or 
space over a piano. 
The complete series is eighty feet 
in length and if used as a frieze, 
they would require a room of large 
proportions, but the effect obtained 
would be exceedingly rich and 
would cost about one hundred dol¬ 
lars. Mr. William Dodge, a suc¬ 
cessful mural decorator, made use 
several years ago of the reproduc¬ 
tion of the Parthenon groups for a 
panel effect on the gallery leading 
into his study located in the rue Vaugirard, Paris. 
These famous groups are reproduced on small 
slabs and so arranged that they form a long 
line of Grecian warriors, horses, chariots, vestal 
virgins, priests, and musicians extending completely 
around the room. Set just above the wainscot, they 
were held in place by 
a molding covering 
the upper edge. 
When stained with a 
preparation made 
from permanent 
green or other tube 
color mixed with tur¬ 
pentine, these little 
plaster figures be¬ 
come the most fasci- 
n a t i n g antique 
b ronzes. A bi t of 
gold bronze applied 
with a brush and al¬ 
lowed to show here 
and there after the 
color was partly 
wiped from the 
figures, completed the 
effect of metal. 
A reproduction is 
presented here of a 
Florentine frame, an 
imitation plaster from 
some beautif ul wood¬ 
carving. Twenty-five 
cents purchased the cast, a coat of gold paint was ap¬ 
plied with a brush and a little green brushed into the 
recesses of the scrolls. The result was delightfully. 
effective. Among the most charming reproduc¬ 
tions of architectural detail 
are the casts in miniature of 
Gothic niches with the enclosed 
figure of some saint or holy person¬ 
age. These may be stained with 
artists’ colors (using burnt umber, 
Vandyke brown, a little white to 
make the stain opaque, and mixed 
with turpentine) so as to closely 
resemble old worm-eaten wood. 
After the surface coat is applied 
and wiped to get the weathered 
wood tone, the grain of the wood is 
easily indicated by drawing faint 
uneven lines in a slightly darker 
color with a small sable-hair brush. 
The lines must run up and down 
with the length of the Gothic orna¬ 
ment and figure. White mixed with 
ivory black and a little yellow 
ochre will give the effect of stone. 
wjjti 
Gargoyles give a certain dignity and accent to the architectural 
lines of a room 
A miniature plaster bas-relief treated 
so as to resemble old ivory 
246 
