CHAPTER IX.
SCROLLING: RELIEF AND FLAT SCROLLS—HOW TO LEARN SCROLLING—SCROLLS DONE IN GOLD, ALUMINUM, AND IN COLORS—EXAMPLES OF RELIEF AND FLAT SCROLLS.
Scroll painting is a feature of the trade deserving of more than a passing notice; and while it has been permitted to languish in a state of disuse for a decade or more, as compared to its former popularity, there are evidences abroad which point directly to the generous employment of the art of scrolling in wagon painting ere long.
Perhaps we shall never again observe the return of the fine old Roman scroll, bold and imperial, once so common, but a modification of this noblest Roman of them all, or, rather, a combination of this form of scroll and some other forms requiring less space for attractive display, may be expected. Indeed, the modification is already domiciled in the esteem of business vehicle users, being commonly known under the title of composite scroll.
Scroller's Line of Beauty.
The full Roman scroll, defined as an imitation of carved work in relief, which Raphael and other great masters have so magnificently executed, is of large and shapely proportions, and with its fine sweeps, graceful curves, beautiful examples of leafing, and endless variety of twists and turns, cannot be confined to a restricted space. It is pre-eminently a scroll of stately style, and amid dwarfish surroundings or when reduced to less than its natural size, its identity is lost and its character as one of the earliest forms of ornamentation, completely destroyed. Hence the modification above referred to.
