The composition falls rather than presses — the eye drops with the water to Peronella, then climbs to what waits above.

Scale here comes from height and openness. The cavern lifts into a stalactite vault, the falls come down its full center, and the water spreads wide into open green shallows. Nothing crowds the edges. The wall wants run and headroom both — uninterrupted width for the shallows to open across, and enough plaster above the frame that the vault has somewhere to rise into. Because the action gathers low at the waterline, the lower edge belongs 8–12 inches above the back cushions, keeping the white gown and the crimson cloak readable from a seated position. And the piece hides its subject in the second reading: from across the room the eye takes the drop of the falls and the figure in white at its foot; closer in, the serpent's face separates from the rock and looks back. That reversal is the work of the painting, and the room should permit both positions.

• Lateral Clearance — 12–18 in (30–46 cm) per side for small works; 18–30+ in (46–76+ cm) for large; 6+ in (15 cm) on a glazed wall
• Hang Height — lower edge 8–12 in (20–30 cm) above the back cushions, read from seated and standing
• Artwork Width — 70–85% of the seating beneath it, holding through to a wall that continues past the furniture
• Viewing Distance