There’s a reason painters kept returning to peacocks; rooms still respond. The gold background does the work of a lamp, and the bird’s deep green tail pulls the eye up the wall. Hang it where people slow down: a dining room wall, the turn of a hallway, or above a sideboard in a room with warm lighting. It sits happily with dark wood, velvet seating, brass or gold fittings and deep painted walls. Skip the busy patterned wallpaper directly behind it, and don’t crowd it with several other strong pieces this one wants a little breathing room to read properly. As a canvas the surface stays matt, which keeps the gold looking painted rather than metallic.