“A Room of Magic”

“As if by the sweep of a godly hand or the spelling baton of an awful magus, the vast work room, dedicated to laborious and painstaking process, would many times be transformed into a studio sacred to the arts. The scientific apparatus disappeared as though it had been a mirage and, in its place, rose up an indoor field where the spirit might play, forging divine forms from vessels of clay. Now chaise longues of celadon moquette reclined like odalisques beckoning their lovers; urns, Egyptian and Greek, drew one’s attention to the tops of marquetry-inlaid tables; worn but still exquisite Isfahan carpets with meticulous detail and lavish design heated the old, dark, wooden floors with their warm garnets and creams; classical-themed paintings by Renaissance masters transported the viewer’s soul into grottoes, love beds, pastures, and battlefields.”