On Thursday, April 3rd, the House of Lords, rightly as
we think, came to the distasteful decision not to accept the panels for the decoration of the Royal Gallery which the late Lord Iveagh commissioned Mr. Brangwyn to paint. The Fine Arts Commission having examined the specimen canvasses which had been placed in position came to the conclusion that Mr. Brangwyn's vivid and fanciful compositions were definitely unsuited to the staid qualities of a building which is the most notable example of the Victorian Gothic revival. This judgment, of course, detracts in no way from the merits of Mr. Brangwyn's work in itself. It is simply a case of the efflorescence of Mr. Brangwyn not fitting in with Barry nor even with the large paintings of Trafalgar and Waterloo by Maclise. It goes very hard to reject a munificent offer, and to lose the work of a very dis- tinguished painter, but though we cannot know what the judgment of posterity may be on the Houses of Parliament, the nation cannot be wrong in securing for posterity that it shall be able to judge Victorian Gothic on its own undiluted claims.
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