The vividness of the final effect is always calculated according to the quality and quantity of light by which the picture is destined to be seen.

In very dark halls the force of colour is carried as far as it will go, because it would not otherwise have been visible by the flickering light of lamps and torches.

On outer wall- surfaces and on pylon-fronts, it was as vivid as in the darkest depths of excavated catacombs; and this because, no matter how extreme it might be, the sun would subdue its splendour.

But in half-lighted places, such as the porticoes of temples and the ante-chambers of tombs, colour is so dealt with as to be soft and discreet.

In a word, painting was in Egypt the mere humble servant of architecture and sculpture.