far from original with the Persians, for they had before their eyes the practice of much more ancient conquerors and builders who committed historical events to woven pictures and then strove to make some of them imperishable by translating them into fixed wall paintings, using either tiles or painted stone. We see how in the European middle ages three important branches of art touched each other and exerted an influence one upon the other, viz. tapestry, mosaic and stained glass. Besides their functions decorative adjuncts to architecture they had their use in the teaching of religion and of history. An example of medieval European hangings teaching history is Queen Matilda's embroidered frieze telling of William the Conqueror's occupation of Southern England-the noted Bayeux tapestry. as So Not only theatres, but many temples in Greece and Rome were open to the air and sun and required tent-like coverings or velaria for the comfort of those who frequented them. It is certain that a large part if not all of the Parthenon was open to the sky, else the statue by Pheidias could not have been seen from the hills and bays round about. at Olympia the head of the scated Zeus could be seen above the temple. Doubtless in private houses the open court with fountain had its suspended covering for shade, which could be raised or lowered, furled away or closely fitted down as the weather demanded. When Pericles had the Odeon built at Athens he is said to have taken as model the huge tent of Xerxes captured from the Persians, and suspended the velarium to masts from captured Asian vessels. So close are theatre and tent, that the Greek word skene, from which we have "scene," means tent. Temple, palace and private house, each was equally dependent on hangings, portières, curtains for comfort and privacy, so that what in modern buildings are dividing walls to form rooms were largely hangings and tapestries hung from pillar to pillar. One sees such interiors in early Italian paintings and many bas-reliefs from the classical ages tell the same story, while Herculaneum and Pompeii show that a similar arrangement was often made in comparatively small houses. Textile origins are to be found in a host of ornaments in religious and secular interiors. Churches offer in the reredos and retable a clear descent of the reliefs in carved stone and wood, above and back and in front of the altar, from hangings similarly decorated with embroidered or woven designs. Here we see the same process of turning perishable into enduring materials going on almost in recent years. The interlacing carved reliefs on Irish crosses may connect by way of Christian Byzantium with the art of the East; but in any case the decorative effect is produced by designs studied from embroidery or woven work, and the same thing is perhaps true of the simple moldings of Romanesque portals in Western Europe during the middle ages. The Alhambra and other Moorish buildings in Spain suggest textile forerunners in their interlaced work and arabesques and their brilliantly painted moldings in plaster. The mosque at Cordoba transformed into a Christian cathedral, like the Christian basilica in Constantinople transformed into a modern mosque, contains abundant evidence of the influence of textiles on the ornamentation, as if the most splendid shawls from Cashmir and Persia had served as inspiration for the workmen in colored tiles. Byzantine architecture affecting the churches of Venetia and other parts of Italy brought much less textile design with it, but more than one finds in the Romanesque and Romantic or Gothic. Yet even so, such edifices as the Cathedral of Rouen, and Saint Maclou in the same old town on the Seine, make one think of lace work. Early stained glass recalls embroidery. Pulpit canopies repeat the tent form. Without proposing to exhaust the subject, I merely wish to call attention to the number of instances in all parts of the world where a textile original may be detected in architecture, and to suggest that lovers of the art might well bear this in mind during their travels. A STVDY THEORETICAL SCIENTIFIC & PRACTICAL VII.--Some Unique Lighting Applications NOTE. In this article the restrictions of direct and indirect lighting are defined. Interiors are shown illustrating methods of lighting which aid architectural expression, and the treatment of artificial light, representing average conditions which are or could be amenable to architectural influence and suggestion. Sketches by the author depict original lighting arrangements. The next articles continue the subject of light in the home.-Editor. ET us have attractive lighting. If every architect would aid in a crusade against commonplace, unattractive lighting effects, by refusing to specify equipment, unless of an original, attractive nature, the mark of progress would soon leave a visible impression in the community. Lighting companies who have unthinkingly allowed themselves to fall in with commonplace conditions. have fostered and engendered the false doctrine of "economy" in the minds of their patrons-the consumer of gas and electricity. The engineer is incompetent to consider the subject of lighting from other than the crude, narrow, "efficiency" viewpoint. This has been demonstrated again and again. An electrician of a testing laboratory writes a treatise on some features of interior lighting-illustrating for residence use, some glassware of the most obnoxious commercial type, and advocating the same, unmodified "white" light of the tungsten lamp which is just as incongruous and undesirable in the home as it is appropriate and desirable for the ware-room or factory. We have discussed the subject of color, only inasmuch as walls and ceiling tints are concerned in the absorption and reflection of light rays incident thereto. The illuminating engineer has always advocated light colored walls and ceilings solely because of their reflective qualities over dark colors and without regard for architectural or decorative considerations. Strictly speaking, I do not regard the side wall as an important utilitarian factor in redirecting light downward into a room, and am inclined to give more attention to its physiological function. Here, again, we are confronted with the axiom that the condition which meets aesthetic requirements --is bound to satisfy physiological demands. Fig. 1 represents an interior, quite light in tone. That sense of monotony which is quite invariably associated with all blank, white surfaces, has been relieved in this instance, by decorative treatment. In other words there is some relief for the eye, in straying upwards from the reading page or bright working surface. I have repeatedly urged the importance of introducing amber tints instead of flat white on ceilings, which serve as diffusing media above indirect lighting equipment to avoid the mortuary aspect attendant upon the dead white effect. With particular reference to interiors devoted to clerical work I have found that the visual function is depressed by too great a lack of contrast in luminosity (surface brightness) between the working page and the perspective (wall). On the other hand, an extremely dark wall affords too abrupt a contrast, which is depressing and bad for the eye. The moderately dark wall suggests "perspec FIG. 1. THE AMOUNT OF USEFUL LIGHT REDIRECTED BY THE SIDEWALLS IS NEGLIGIBLE. GENERAL ILLUMINATION ON LIGHT COLORED WALLS, UNLESS RELIEVED BY DECORATION, IS PRODUCTIVE OF MONOTONY AND OCULAR FATIGUE. or space so large that the light reflected upwards from the small illuminated area beneath the shade, insufficiently illuminates the surroundings to dispel the abrupt contrast between light and shadow. After regarding Fig. 1, look at Fig. 2, which illustrates the various points above discussed. In addition, the polished table top is a warning against the use of glaring lamps in more glaring shades hung above such polished sur visability of depolishing the interior of polished glaring reflectors. Amongst the many letters which the writer has received from architects interested in these articles, several have referred to the subject of church lighting, with reference to restrictions governing the application of indirect lighting. The writers express themselves freely regarding their preferences, and very courteously agree with the author's FIG. 2. A MODERATELY DARK WALL SUGGESTS PERSPECTIVE, AND BY CONTRAST WITH BRIGHT WORKING SURFACES, RELIEVES THE EYE. POLISHED TABLE-TOPS REFLECT EVERYTHING, ESPECIALLY GLARING LIGHT SOURCES PLACED ABOVE THEM. ing installation. That is the placement of fixtures, arrangement of reflectors, hanging heights, and lowering arrangements to facilitate maintenance are considerations of the ordinary every day variety encountered in practical work. This photograph was selected to answer one of the questions propounded i. e. Does indirect lighting, obliterate shadow -particularly in relief work? from different directions. First, from the left (top Fig. 4); second, from below; third, from above, and fourth, an equal quantity of diffused light from all sides a condition never existing with applications of indirect artificial light. It is quite unnecessary to indicate conditions where absence of shadow would be undesirable. Perhaps an indication of one, of countless of instances where it FIG. 3. SHADOW CONTRAST WITH INDIRECT LIGHTING, CONVEYING THE is necessary, might be more apropos and Another question, reverted to the lighting of such churches as represented in Fig. 6, by indirect lighting, reference being made to the dark ceiling and the obvious impossibility or undesirability of changing it in any way. It is certain that with the iminent improvements in illuminants it will soon be possible to disregard the high absorption of dark ceilings for indirect lighting applications. Illuminants will be so much brighter (all the more necessity for concealing them) and so much more economical that, within the same space, a fixture of the future will give much more light. Certainly enough to reveal the architectural expression of an interior beautifully, and if fixtures are to be used as part of the architectural treatment their pictorial value need not be destroyed by excessive luminosity. We will then have reached a stage where an interior, lighted at night, with artificial illuminants, will be a veritable treat to the eye, not a threat to the eyesight-and the day is not far distant. As to the present, it is not possible to light such an interior as that represented by Fig. 6, with indirect lighting, using the ceiling area as a redirecting surface. Neither is it possible to light it directly with any regard for architectural considerations unless some practical restrictions are observed. The ordinary procedure, adopted by those selling equipment, would be to install clusters of bare lamps within any fixture which might be considered appropriate. We will ignore the horrible possibility of drop cords or stems whereon dangle miserably, wash-basin-like affairs of commonplace glass The thing necessary is to drive the light from the illuminants downwards, into the church, and illuminate the glass panels of the fixture sufficiently to give adequate emphasis to it as a relative symbol of decoration. The latter is accomplished by the use of small lamps |