In modern times the French have led in mural painting; no considerable public build ing is erected without providing for interior mural paintings by the greatest artists (Opera House by Baudry; Hotel de Ville by various artists; Sorbonne and Pantheon by Puvis de Chavannes and others). In England there has also been a notable revival in the last 50 years; men like Gambier Parry, Cope, Dice, Lord Leighton, Sir E. J. Poynter, and of late es pecially Frank Brangwyn,, have executed notable decorations in fresco, spirit fresco and oils in both public and private buildings.
In the United States previous to 1876 there was no mural painting worthy of the name, though in the National Capitol a group of second-rate Italian painters had for years been employed in decorating the dome. In 1876 Mr. John LaFarge was commissioned to decorate the interior of Trinity Church, Boston, and gathered about him a group of young artists to assist him, many of whom later reached dis tinction. This was the first work of American artists in this field, and for many years there after it remained almost alone. But in 1891 93 for the Columbian Exhibition at Chicago a number of artists, now well known, were em ployed to paint decorative compositions in the various buildings, and a few years later, in the Boston Public Library and the Congressional Library at Washington, more inspiring oppor tunities were given to artists like E. A. Abbey, J. S. Sargent, E. H. Blashfield, Kenyon Cox, Elihu Vedder, Gari Melchers, W. deL. Dodge, W. H. Low, H. Walker, E. Simmons and others, for permanent and monumentally important works. Since then such opportunities have
been multiplied tenfold in State capitols, courthouses, libraries. theatres, hotels and private houses, and the number and the skill of American mural painters have both increased greatly. See articles INTERIOR DECORATION and PAINTING, also those on particular phases or styles of art and on particular artists, e.g., Giarro, MICHELANGELO, PERUGINO, RAPHAEL, TIEPOLO, TITIAN, CtC.
Bibliography.— The best general accounts of the art of mural painting are by F. Crownin shield, Painting' (Boston 1887), and A. L. Baldry, 'Modern Mural Decoration' (London 1902). For original documents on historic methods and processes, Mrs. Merrifield, 'The Arts of Painting) (London 1849). For early mediaeval painting, N. H. J. Westlake, 'History of Design in Mural Painting . . . to the 12th Century' (London 1915). Consult also W. and G. Audsley, Peinture murale decorative dans le style du moven-age) (Paris 1881) ; J. D. Crace, 'The Art of Colour Decora tion' (London 1912) ; P. Gelis-Didot, Peinture decorative en France) (Paris, n.d.) ; L. Gruner, 'Fresco Decorations and Stuccoes of the 15th and 16th Centuries in Italy' (Lon don 1854) ; J. I. Hittorff, Temple d'Em Woe . . . ou l'architecture polychrome, etc.' (Paris 1851), and for American work, E. H. Blashfield, 'Mural Painting in America) (New York 1913), and in S. Isham, History of American Painting' (chapter XXV, an excel lent brief account of mural painting in America). See also the bibliographies under