The composition recedes rather than presses — the eye follows Peronella down the passage, toward light arriving from overhead.

Scale here comes from depth and height rather than compression. The cavern opens upward into a vault hung with stalactites and backward along turquoise water into a misted passage where Dolor waits, light falling the full height of the frame in narrow shafts. Nothing closes; everything draws away. The wall wants run and headroom both — uninterrupted width for the cavern to open across, and enough plaster above the frame that the vault has somewhere to rise rather than stopping short at a ceiling line. Because the action gathers low at the waterline, the lower edge belongs 8–12 inches above the back cushions, close enough that the red gown and the water's edge stay readable from a seated position. Modest sizes hold the gold foliage terracing the left wall, the fringe of stalactites, the small figure in red at the water's edge. Chosen large, the piece stops being a window and becomes the depth the room opens into.

• 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 — 5–8 ft (1.5–2.4 m) close; 8–14 ft (2.4–4.3 m) for the full recession