visitor may at once step from a carriage across the pavement into a warm hall, instead of having to ascend a flight of steps, and in rainy weather get wet _before_ he reaches even the portico. Four staircases, each stair eight feet wide, will lead from either side of this hall to the galleries above; of which the central one would consist of a tribune, or _salon carré_, of nobler proportions than that at the Louvre. From a deep recess at the sides of this tribune, openings would lead each way into an uninterrupted series of rooms, and by bringing the doorways of these rooms into one line, and increasing them to twelve feet in width, an effective vista the entire length of the building (450 feet) would be obtained, which might be decorated with columns and arches, as in similar openings in the galleries of the Vatican. (See Fig. 5.) By bringing the retired portion of the wings forward to the line of their projecting front, and throwing each wing into two good rooms in line with those above named, it will then be seen that the entire top-lighted area of the building is made available, with the exception of the small spaces actually occupied by the stairs. The saving in space, in square feet, will be apparent from the following table of the floor areas of the top-lighted part of the building as it is at present, and as now proposed:— Total Picture space Space area. top-lighted. lost. As at present (including Royal Academy) 22,540 14,090 8,450 As proposed 23,560 22,488 1,071 From which it appears that while at present the lost space is three-fifths of that reserved for exhibition, in the proposed plan the loss would be reduced to one twenty-second part of the available space; the exhibition area being increased by more than one-half its present quantity. [Illustration: VIEW OF INTERIOR OF NATIONAL GALLERY AS PROPOSED. Fig. 5.] In measuring the superficial contents of wall space for hanging pictures in the present and proposed galleries, the same proportion holds good. The hanging space in the present National Gallery is 10,000 square feet, which would be increased to 20,000 square feet, whilst the 10,000 square feet of the Royal Academy would be increased 10,194 square feet. On the lower floor, the only room now available for exhibition is that in which the Turner drawings are stored away—a room containing 900 square feet of floor area; and from the unfortunate circumstance, not to say absurd arrangement of the entrance _being down a descending_ and dark stair, the public impression has been that the lower rooms were merely a superior kind of cellars. The public will recollect the dismal impression which the Vernon pictures made in these rooms. [Illustration: [_To face_ p. 352.] LONGITUDINAL SECTION THROUGH CENTRAL HALL. Fig. 3. *PRESENT LEVEL OF FLOOR OF CENTRAL HALL.