Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-10-03
An OLD PROCESS REVIVED
DECORATING THE ROBING ROOM
OF THE SUPREME COURT.
Effect of the Artists Scheme Light
and Airy-Size of Apartment
Apparently Increased.

The small robing room of the Supreme
court has just been redecorated preparatory
TO the reassembling of Congress and the
opening of the fall term of tn, court. This
is quite a small and obscure room and pos
sibly would be seen by few visitors at the
Capitol in the course of the year but the
interest in the work lies in the fact tina. it
has been done by new process, or at least
very ancient process. that has never been
used before in Washington. and it may
prove a sort of test, piece that will have d.
clded infu enca on the future decoration of
buildings for the government here.
The work is partly in frcsco and partly by
the old Greek process where a dark ground
is laid on and covered with lighter tint
and the picture then produced by cutting
out the light upper layer and exposing the
background. The who'll work is by Max
Frieder&ns OF New York. The fresco proc
ess has been alluded to in The Star. being
a revival of the old system to weatherproof
frasco ussd by Michael Angelo. Tintorat It'll
and a number of the old masters whose
work has stood the test of centuries The
process has been used in this country for
about two years and has shown that DELI
cate tints will stand exposure to outdoor
weather in the latitude of New York with
out deteriorating.
Aim of the Artist.
The robing room of the Supreme Court
where the work has been DONE Is quite a
small apartment-one of the hardest In the
Capitol to decorate effectively. The artist
has worked with a View to giving an i'm
preston of space rather than excessive dec
Grafton and has succeeded so we'll that the
room looks consid ardbly larger than it
really IS. The chief part of the decorative
scheme Is the ceiling. where there is a rep
resentation of the laws of the universe SYM
bollzed by globe showing the northern
hemisphere surrounded by the stars and
the rays of the sun. Below this on the
arched ceiling the laws Of the states
represented by the national coat of arms
and in the corners the figures of four men,
nude and rartly draped, showing the prog
ress OF the race from primitive man, per-
feet physically, to the dawn of the d .struc-
tive instinct, typ.fied by figure bending
over a sword and a skull
The lunettes below the arch of the ceiling
and above the walls of the room are simply
filled in with shimmering blue cloud effect
coming as near as possible to the sky on a
bright day.
The mural decoration is finished by
frieze of thirtytwo small heads In sepia on
light ground. representing the lawmakers
and philosophers of Greece and Rome. The
walls in plain white, with the columns
brought out In very light marble.
Light and Airy Effect.
The effect of the whole is light and airy,
the tints of the walls and ceiling almost
duplicating the view of the sky and the
trees seen through the windows. The col
oring is SO delicate and the tints SO little
emphasized that 1t gives the impression
that the work must fade after 1t has been
in position for little while. but the artist
expresses his confidence. in view of the out
door tests already made, that the work
will remain in the key in which 1t was first
pitched for an indefinite period.
1t is quite possible that If the work holds,
as previous tests indicate it can. there may
be more of the same process employed in
future government decoration. Before the
work was done samples of this system of
fresco were submitted to tests by hot and
cold water and strong sunlight under which
they stood up without any trouble. The re-
covery of the system from the old records
of Michael Angeles diary makes long
and romantic story and was brought about
through vain efforts to restore the frescoes
in the Vatican some years ago.