Before the great artists of the Netherlands arise, we must go to the miniatures of early manuscripts in order to form a correct idea of a Mediaeval interior. We usually find a very simple arrangement of furniture, which consists of a bed, a bench, an armchair and some kind of _dressoir_, or sideboard. The floor is tiled, or tessellated; and sometimes the bed stands on a rug or carpet, which also covers part of the adjoining floor space. The windows with small leaded panes are supplied with shutters of two or three wings: these are sometimes covered with leather fastened with large brass-headed nails. The chimney-piece is always wide and high; the funnel shape of this occurs in the earliest examples. The shelf above the opening is usually adorned with glass, plate or earthenware. The armchair stands beside, or near, the bed; the _dressoir_ is close by; and the settle is beside, or sometimes in front of, the fire. The bed is often nothing but a long chest on short legs with a mattress and pillows on top; and this is moved out in front of the fire in case of need. The curtains and canopy are suspended by cords from the rafters, as is also the chandelier. This same arrangement of furniture occurs in a picture of the _Salutation angélique_ in the Louvre, by an unknown Flemish painter: it has been attributed both to Lucas van Leyden and Memling. This room, reproduced in Plate II, is one of the middle class at the end of the fifteenth century. The walls are bare, the ceiling shows open rafters of natural wood, and the floor is tiled. The panes of the windows are leaded, and the inner shutters, which are trebly hinged so as at need to fold into the thickness of the wall, are, moreover, divided in two parts, so that only the top may be opened if needed. The other window has a window seat. The high chimneypiece is furnished with the lateral shelves in use throughout Mediaeval times from the twelfth century onward. The chimney diminishes in size as it rises, like an inverted funnel. In summer time, when the fire was not needed, the fireplace was masked by a wooden screen to prevent draughts. In front of this, with its back to the screen, was placed the high-backed settle, which in winter faced, or was placed laterally to the cheerful blaze of the hearth. The bench shown in this picture is made of plain boards, with a little plain Gothic carving below the seat. For comfort, it is supplied with three red cushions. The bed, which is raised on a low platform, is also furnished with red curtains, bolster and counterpane. The tester is suspended by cords from the ceiling. Beside the head of the bed is a chair, and next to that a credence, which is used as a wash-hand stand. On it are placed a ewer and shallow basin. These, and the brass chandelier hanging above, are of the manufacture of Dinant, a metal ware known all over Europe under the name of _Dinanderie_. The chandelier has six branches, each a grotesque form of some animal, and the top of it is