Interior of Milan Cathedral

Pale piers lift a forest of vaulting toward the unseen roof, and light falls in long shafts across the marble floor. Eleanor Fortescue-Brickdale records the interior of Milan Cathedral with her characteristic Pre-Raphaelite exactness. Every arch is counted. Every shadow is placed. The eye climbs the clustered colonnades, cool grey and faintly rose, before settling on the distant altar glow beneath the rose window. Small robed figures gather near the crossing, their scale dwarfed by pillars that dwarf everything else. Brickdale renders the stone grain and the pooled dusk of the side aisles with jewel-toned watercolor precision, warm gold against cool violet. A reading room, a quiet study, or a hallway with tall ceilings gives this architecture the height it asks for.