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COLORS USED IN THE DIFFERENT STYLES OF ORNAMENT. 
Egyptian. The Egyptians painted almost everything, and usually 
with good tasle ; their coloring, however, shows no effort to produce 
the effect of shade or shadow, but consists of flat tints entirely. 
The ceilings of their temples were painted blue, with white or gold 
stars. 
"Their granite, of whatever color, was tinted with a red pigment, 
so that the stone might have its proper divine color." 
The colors used were red, blue, yellow, green, black and white. 
Red and blue was a favorite combination; when yellow was used in 
any quantity, black was used with it to balance the effect. 
The colors most generally combined on their monuments were blue, 
red, green, yellow and black. 
Greek. The Greeks used color very generally, their earliest 
statues, which were made partly of wood and partly of stone, were 
painted. Their Doric temples, made of white marble, were painted 
inside and outside with the brightest colors, red, blue and yellow 
being the colors most generally used, with a liberal use of gold on 
the mouldings; when gold was not used on the mouldings the prevail- 
ing colors were red, blue and green, the green being of a very delicate 
bright moss color. 
This combination of colors was also used: "The body of the wall a 
pale yellow or golden color, the triglyphs and modules blue, and metopes 
and tympanum red, and some other portions of the buildings green, 
varied in intensity as the judgment of the artist dictated." 
The Greeks seem to have been the first to grade colors from light 
to dark, and from one color to another; previous to their time the 
colors were used as flat tints. 
Roman. The coloring of the Romans, like their art, offered but 
little that was new or of excellence. "The greater part of the works 
of the schools of Greece, Alexandria and Asia Minor was carried to 
Rome by shiploads, until the number of the marble statues was said 
to equal that of the city's living inhabitants ; and the paintings, 
sculpture and furniture of their palaces were either spoils of foreign 
states, or the work done by their slaves." 
Concerning the painted decorations of the Romans, Owen Jones 
says: "We have not thought it necessary to give any of the painted 
decorations of the Romans, of which remains exist in the Roman 
baths, we had no reliable material at command ; and further, they are 
so similar to those of Pompeii ; and show what to avoid than what to 
follow." 
Byzantine. In style, the Byzantine painting was rigid in outline 
and excessive in coloring. The ground for their interlacing patterns 
was almost always gold. 
The coloring inclined to gaudiness ; gold, silver and other metals 
were often used to add to the brilliancy of the effect. The application 
of various colors in scroll work was optional, but for the representation 
of angels, saints, animals, etc., the colors were prescribed, each color 
having its symbolic meaning. 
Red orange was often used as a ground color for black designs ; 
the design being separated from the ground with a slight band ot 
white. 
Saracenic. Saracenic coloring was strongly marked; it was 
almost gaudy in effect, but was well controlled. 
Red and blue was a typical combination, red for the ground, blue 
for the more shaded portions, and gold for the most highly raised 
parts. A golden yellow was sometimes used instead of gold. 
In Moresque ornamentation purplish violet and yellow green were 
often opposed to each other. Purple, green and orange were also 
used for coloring delicate details. 
Gothic. Red and blue were favorite colors in this style of 
decoration, but it is more difficult to discover definite coloristic prin- 
ciples than in any other style, with the exception perhaps, of the 
Renaissance. This pair of colors has, however, succeeded in 
securing to itself the principal position. 
Renaissance. The decorative works of Raphael, and also those 
of Giulio Romano, show a preference for orange, green and purple, 
but the Renaissance was a style of relief ornament to a great extent, 
and depended as much upon the effect of light and shade as it did 
upon the applied colors; the pure colors were, however, used in many 
of the decorations. 
A process of decoration called sgraffitto was also used for wall 
decorations; it consisted of coats of plaster of different colors, 
through which a design was cut or scraped, — a process of cameo 
work for walls. 
