=The Decoration of the Walls.=--The decoration of the vaults of the four corridors is distinctly Renaissance in character; the walls beneath, however, are colored and decorated in accordance with a Pompeiian motive. It may seem at first thought illogical thus to join two styles so remote from each other in point of time, but it must be remembered that, in both art and literature, the Renaissance was literally, as has been pointed out, the _new birth_ of Greek and Roman forms, in the course of which the Italian painters adapted to their use and subdued to their style the sort of wall decoration which we know as Pompeiian, from the discovery of so many examples of it in the excavations at Pompeii. The two styles, as used in conjunction in the Library of Congress, not only in these corridors but throughout the building, are perfectly harmonious in color and design; from the explanation just given the visitor will see that they have long ago been brought into a historical unity as well, through the conventions established by the great and authoritative school of the Renaissance artists. [Illustration: AGLAIA.--BY F. W. BENSON.] =Mr. Maynard’s Pompeiian Panels.=--The frequent occurrence of windows, doors, and pilasters cuts the wall into narrow spaces, which, at the north and south, are colored a plain olive, and at the east and west the familiar rich Pompeiian red, ornamented with simple arabesques and, at the ends, with female figures representing _The Virtues_, by Mr. George Willoughby Maynard. There are eight of these figures in all, two in each corner of the hall. Each figure is about five and a half feet high, clad in floating classic drapery, and represented to the spectator as appearing before him in the air, without a support or background other than the deep red of the wall. The style of the paintings is Pompeiian; the general tone is somewhat like that of marble, although touched with color so as to remove any comparison with the marble framing. Beginning at the left in each case, the names and order of the Virtues are as follows: At the northeast corner, _Fortitude_ and _Justice_; at the southeast corner, _Patriotism_ and _Courage_; at the southwest corner, _Temperance_ and _Prudence_; at the northwest corner, _Industry_ and _Concord_. The number of virtues to be represented was determined beforehand, of course, by the number of spaces at the disposal of the painter. The selection, therefore, was necessarily somewhat arbitrary. Each figure is shown with certain characteristic attributes. In the case of _Industry_, _Courage_, and _Patriotism_, Mr. Maynard has himself selected these attributes; in the other five figures he has followed the usual conventions. [Illustration: SPRING.--BY F. W. BENSON.]