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diff --git a/30755-8.txt b/30755-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1183cc7 --- /dev/null +++ b/30755-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,14836 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Stones of Venice, Volume II (of 3), by +John Ruskin + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: The Stones of Venice, Volume II (of 3) + + +Author: John Ruskin + + + +Release Date: December 31, 2009 [eBook #30755] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STONES OF VENICE, VOLUME II +(OF 3)*** + + +E-text prepared by Marius Masi, Juliet Sutherland, and the Project +Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 30755-h.htm or 30755-h.zip: + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/30755/30755-h/30755-h.htm) + or + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/30755/30755-h.zip) + + + Volumes I and III are available in the Project Gutenberg + Library: + Volume I--see http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/30754 + Volume III--see http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/30756 + + Volume III contains the index for all three volumes. The + index in the html version of Volume III has links to the + the other two volumes. + + +Transcriber's note: + + A few typographical errors have been corrected. They are + listed at the end of the text. + + Characters following a caret were printed as superscript + in the original. For example, St^a; here the "a" is a + superscript. + + + + + +Library Edition + +The Complete Works of John Ruskin + +STONES OF VENICE + +VOLUMES I-II + + + + + + + +National Library Association +New York Chicago + + + + +The Complete Works of John Ruskin + +Volume VIII + +STONES OF VENICE + +VOLUME II + + + + +THE STONES OF VENICE + +VOLUME II. + +The Sea Stories + + + + +ADVERTISEMENT. + + +It was originally intended that this Work should consist of two volumes +only; the subject has extended to three. The second volume, however, +will conclude the account of the ancient architecture of Venice. The +third will embrace the Early, the Roman, and the Grotesque Renaissance; +and an Index, which, as it gives, in alphabetical order, a brief account +of all the buildings in Venice, or references to the places where they +are mentioned in the text, will be found a convenient guide for the +traveller. In order to make it more serviceable, I have introduced some +notices of the pictures which I think most interesting in the various +churches, and in the Scuola di San Rocco. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + FIRST, OR BYZANTINE, PERIOD. + + CHAPTER I. + PAGE + The Throne, 1 + + CHAPTER II. + Torcello, 11 + + CHAPTER III. + Murano, 27 + + CHAPTER IV. + St. Mark's, 57 + + CHAPTER V. + Byzantine Palaces, 118 + + + SECOND, OR GOTHIC, PERIOD. + + CHAPTER VI. + The Nature of Gothic, 151 + + CHAPTER VII. + Gothic Palaces, 231 + + CHAPTER VIII. + The Ducal Palace, 281 + + + APPENDIX. + + 1. The Gondolier's Cry, 375 + 2. Our Lady of Salvation, 378 + 3. Tides of Venice and Measures at Torcello, 378 + 4. Date of the Duomo of Torcello, 380 + 5. Modern Pulpits, 380 + 6. Apse of Murano, 382 + 7. Early Venetian Dress, 383 + 8. Inscriptions at Murano, 384 + 9. Shafts of St. Mark's, 384 + 10. Proper Sense of the Word Idolatry, 388 + 11. Situations of Byzantine Palaces, 391 + 12. Modern Paintings on Glass, 394 + + + + +LIST OF PLATES. + + + Facing Page + Plate 1. Plans of Torcello and Murano, 14 + + " 2. The Acanthus of Torcello, 15 + + " 3. Inlaid Bands of Murano, 40 + + " 4. Sculptures of Murano, 42 + + " 5. Archivolt in the Duomo of Murano, 45 + + " 6. The Vine, Free and in Service, 96 + + " 7. Byzantine Capitals--Convex Group, 131 + + " 8. Byzantine Capitals--Concave Group, 132 + + " 9. Lily Capital of St. Mark's, 136 + + " 10. The Four Venetian Flower Order, 137 + + " 11. Byzantine Sculptures, 138 + + " 12. Linear and Surface Gothic, 224 + + " 13. Balconies, 247 + + " 14. The Orders of Venetian Arches, 248 + + " 15. Windows of the Second Order, 254 + + " 16. Windows of the Fourth Order, 257 + + " 17. Windows of the Early Gothic Palaces, 259 + + " 18. Windows of the Fifth Order, 266 + + " 19. Leafage of the Vine Angle, 308 + + " 20. Leafage of the Venetian Capitals, 368 + + + + + THE + + STONES OF VENICE. + + FIRST, OR BYZANTINE, PERIOD. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE THRONE. + + +§ I. In the olden days of travelling, now to return no more, in which +distance could not be vanquished without toil, but in which that toil +was rewarded, partly by the power of deliberate survey of the countries +through which the journey lay, and partly by the happiness of the +evening hours, when, from the top of the last hill he had surmounted, +the traveller beheld the quiet village where he was to rest, scattered +among the meadows beside its valley stream; or, from the long-hoped-for +turn in the dusty perspective of the causeway, saw, for the first time, +the towers of some famed city, faint in the rays of sunset--hours of +peaceful and thoughtful pleasure, for which the rush of the arrival in +the railway station is perhaps not always, or to all men, an +equivalent,--in those days, I say, when there was something more to be +anticipated and remembered in the first aspect of each successive +halting-place, than a new arrangement of glass roofing and iron girder, +there were few moments of which the recollection was more fondly +cherished by the traveller than that which, as I endeavored to describe +in the close of the last chapter, brought him within sight of Venice, as +his gondola shot into the open lagoon from the canal of Mestre. Not but +that the aspect of the city itself was generally the source of some +slight disappointment, for, seen in this direction, its buildings are +far less characteristic than those of the other great towns of Italy; +but this inferiority was partly disguised by distance, and more than +atoned for by the strange rising of its walls and towers out of the +midst, as it seemed, of the deep sea, for it was impossible that the +mind or the eye could at once comprehend the shallowness of the vast +sheet of water which stretched away in leagues of rippling lustre to the +north and south, or trace the narrow line of islets bounding it to the +east. The salt breeze, the white moaning sea-birds, the masses of black +weed separating and disappearing gradually, in knots of heaving shoal, +under the advance of the steady tide, all proclaimed it to be indeed the +ocean on whose bosom the great city rested so calmly; not such blue, +soft, lake-like ocean as bathes the Neapolitan promontories, or sleeps +beneath the marble rocks of Genoa, but a sea with the bleak power of our +own northern waves, yet subdued into a strange spacious rest, and +changed from its angry pallor into a field of burnished gold, as the sun +declined behind the belfry tower of the lonely island church, fitly +named "St. George of the Seaweed." As the boat drew nearer to the city, +the coast which the traveller had just left sank behind him into one +long, low, sad-colored line, tufted irregularly with brushwood and +willows: but, at what seemed its northern extremity, the hills of Arqua +rose in a dark cluster of purple pyramids, balanced on the bright mirage +of the lagoon; two or three smooth surges of inferior hill extended +themselves about their roots, and beyond these, beginning with the +craggy peaks above Vicenza, the chain of the Alps girded the whole +horizon to the north--a wall of jagged blue, here and there showing +through its clefts a wilderness of misty precipices, fading far back +into the recesses of Cadore, and itself rising and breaking away +eastward, where the sun struck opposite upon its snow, into mighty +fragments of peaked light, standing up behind the barred clouds of +evening, one after another, countless, the crown of the Adrian Sea, +until the eye turned back from pursuing them, to rest upon the nearer +burning of the campaniles of Murano, and on the great city, where it +magnified itself along the waves, as the quick silent pacing of the +gondola drew nearer and nearer. And at last, when its walls were +reached, and the outmost of its untrodden streets was entered, not +through towered gate or guarded rampart, but as a deep inlet between two +rocks of coral in the Indian sea; when first upon the traveller's sight +opened the long ranges of columned palaces,--each with its black boat +moored at the portal,--each with its image cast down, beneath its feet, +upon that green pavement which every breeze broke into new fantasies of +rich tessellation; when first, at the extremity of the bright vista, the +shadowy Rialto threw its colossal curve slowly forth from behind the +palace of the Camerlenghi; that strange curve, so delicate, so +adamantine, strong as a mountain cavern, graceful as a bow just bent; +when first, before its moonlike circumference was all risen, the +gondolier's cry, "Ah! Stalí,"[1] struck sharp upon the ear, and the prow +turned aside under the mighty cornices that half met over the narrow +canal, where the plash of the water followed close and loud, ringing +along the marble by the boat's side; and when at last that boat darted +forth upon the breadth of silver sea, across which the front of the +Ducal palace, flushed with its sanguine veins, looks to the snowy dome +of Our Lady of Salvation,[2] it was no marvel that the mind should be so +deeply entranced by the visionary charm of a scene so beautiful and so +strange, as to forget the darker truths of its history and its being. +Well might it seem that such a city had owed her existence rather to the +rod of the enchanter, than the fear of the fugitive; that the waters +which encircled her had been chosen for the mirror of her state, rather +than the shelter of her nakedness; and that all which in nature was wild +or merciless,--Time and Decay, as well as the waves and tempests,--had +been won to adorn her instead of to destroy, and might still spare, for +ages to come, that beauty which seemed to have fixed for its throne the +sands of the hour-glass as well as of the sea. + +§ II. And although the last few eventful years, fraught with change to +the face of the whole earth, have been more fatal in their influence on +Venice than the five hundred that preceded them; though the noble +landscape of approach to her can now be seen no more, or seen only by a +glance, as the engine slackens its rushing on the iron line; and though +many of her palaces are for ever defaced, and many in desecrated ruins, +there is still so much of magic in her aspect, that the hurried +traveller, who must leave her before the wonder of that first aspect has +been worn away, may still be led to forget the humility of her origin, +and to shut his eyes to the depth of her desolation. They, at least, are +little to be envied, in whose hearts the great charities of the +imagination lie dead, and for whom the fancy has no power to repress the +importunity of painful impressions, or to raise what is ignoble, and +disguise what is discordant, in a scene so rich in its remembrances, so +surpassing in its beauty. But for this work of the imagination there +must be no permission during the task which is before us. The impotent +feelings of romance, so singularly characteristic of this century, may +indeed gild, but never save the remains of those mightier ages to which +they are attached like climbing flowers; and they must be torn away from +the magnificent fragments, if we would see them as they stood in their +own strength. Those feelings, always as fruitless as they are fond, are +in Venice not only incapable of protecting, but even of discerning, the +objects to which they ought to have been attached. The Venice of modern +fiction and drama is a thing of yesterday, a mere efflorescence of +decay, a stage dream which the first ray of daylight must dissipate into +dust. No prisoner, whose name is worth remembering, or whose sorrow +deserved sympathy, ever crossed that "Bridge of Sighs," which is the +centre of the Byronic ideal of Venice; no great merchant of Venice ever +saw that Rialto under which the traveller now passes with breathless +interest: the statue which Byron makes Faliero address as of one of his +great ancestors was erected to a soldier of fortune a hundred and fifty +years after Faliero's death; and the most conspicuous parts of the city +have been so entirely altered in the course of the last three centuries, +that if Henry Dandolo or Francis Foscari could be summoned from their +tombs, and stood each on the deck of his galley at the entrance of the +Grand Canal, that renowned entrance, the painter's favorite subject, the +novelist's favorite scene, where the water first narrows by the steps of +the Church of La Salute,--the mighty Doges would not know in what spot +of the world they stood, would literally not recognize one stone of the +great city, for whose sake, and by whose ingratitude, their grey hairs +had been brought down with bitterness to the grave. The remains of +_their_ Venice lie hidden behind the cumbrous masses which were the +delight of the nation in its dotage; hidden in many a grass-grown court, +and silent pathway, and lightless canal, where the slow waves have +sapped their foundations for five hundred years, and must soon prevail +over them for ever. It must be our task to glean and gather them forth, +and restore out of them some faint image of the lost city, more gorgeous +a thousand-fold than that which now exists, yet not created in the +day-dream of the prince, nor by the ostentation of the noble, but built +by iron hands and patient hearts, contending against the adversity of +nature and the fury of man, so that its wonderfulness cannot be grasped +by the indolence of imagination, but only after frank inquiry into the +true nature of that wild and solitary scene, whose restless tides and +trembling sands did indeed shelter the birth of the city, but long +denied her dominion. + +§ III. When the eye falls casually on a map of Europe, there is no +feature by which it is more likely to be arrested than the strange +sweeping loop formed by the junction of the Alps and Apennines, and +enclosing the great basin of Lombardy. This return of the mountain chain +upon itself causes a vast difference in the character of the +distribution of its débris on its opposite sides. The rock fragments and +sediment which the torrents on the north side of the Alps bear into the +plains are distributed over a vast extent of country, and, though here +and there lodged in beds of enormous thickness, soon permit the firm +substrata to appear from underneath them; but all the torrents which +descend from the southern side of the High Alps, and from the northern +slope of the Apennines, meet concentrically in the recess or mountain +bay which the two ridges enclose; every fragment which thunder breaks +out of their battlements, and every grain of dust which the summer rain +washes from their pastures, is at last laid at rest in the blue sweep of +the Lombardic plain; and that plain must have risen within its rocky +barriers as a cup fills with wine, but for two contrary influences which +continually depress, or disperse from its surface, the accumulation of +the ruins of ages. + +§ IV. I will not tax the reader's faith in modern science by insisting +on the singular depression of the surface of Lombardy, which appears for +many centuries to have taken place steadily and continually; the main +fact with which we have to do is the gradual transport, by the Po and +its great collateral rivers, of vast masses of the finer sediment to the +sea. The character of the Lombardic plains is most strikingly expressed +by the ancient walls of its cities, composed for the most part of large +rounded Alpine pebbles alternating with narrow courses of brick; and was +curiously illustrated in 1848, by the ramparts of these same pebbles +thrown up four or five feet high round every field, to check the +Austrian cavalry in the battle under the walls of Verona. The finer dust +among which these pebbles are dispersed is taken up by the rivers, fed +into continual strength by the Alpine snow, so that, however pure their +waters may be when they issue from the lakes at the foot of the great +chain, they become of the color and opacity of clay before they reach +the Adriatic; the sediment which they bear is at once thrown down as +they enter the sea, forming a vast belt of low land along the eastern +coast of Italy. The powerful stream of the Po of course builds forward +the fastest; on each side of it, north and south, there is a tract of +marsh, fed by more feeble streams, and less liable to rapid change than +the delta of the central river. In one of these tracts is built RAVENNA, +and in the other VENICE. + +§ V. What circumstances directed the peculiar arrangement of this great +belt of sediment in the earliest times, it is not here the place to +inquire. It is enough for us to know that from the mouths of the Adige +to those of the Piave there stretches, at a variable distance of from +three to five miles from the actual shore, a bank of sand, divided into +long islands by narrow channels of sea. The space between this bank and +the true shore consists of the sedimentary deposits from these and other +rivers, a great plain of calcareous mud, covered, in the neighborhood of +Venice, by the sea at high water, to the depth in most places of a foot +or a foot and a half, and nearly everywhere exposed at low tide, but +divided by an intricate network of narrow and winding channels, from +which the sea never retires. In some places, according to the run of the +currents, the land has risen into marshy islets, consolidated, some by +art, and some by time, into ground firm enough to be built upon, or +fruitful enough to be cultivated: in others, on the contrary, it has not +reached the sea-level; so that, at the average low water, shallow +lakelets glitter among its irregularly exposed fields of seaweed. In the +midst of the largest of these, increased in importance by the confluence +of several large river channels towards one of the openings in the sea +bank, the city of Venice itself is built, on a crowded cluster of +islands; the various plots of higher ground which appear to the north +and south of this central cluster, have at different periods been also +thickly inhabited, and now bear, according to their size, the remains of +cities, villages, or isolated convents and churches, scattered among +spaces of open ground, partly waste and encumbered by ruins, partly +under cultivation for the supply of the metropolis. + +§ VI. The average rise and fall of the tide is about three feet (varying +considerably with the seasons[3]); but this fall, on so flat a shore, is +enough to cause continual movement in the waters, and in the main canals +to produce a reflux which frequently runs like a mill stream. At high +water no land is visible for many miles to the north or south of Venice, +except in the form of small islands crowned with towers or gleaming with +villages: there is a channel, some three miles wide, between the city +and the mainland, and some mile and a half wide between it and the sandy +breakwater called the Lido, which divides the lagoon from the Adriatic, +but which is so low as hardly to disturb the impression of the city's +having been built in the midst of the ocean, although the secret of its +true position is partly, yet not painfully, betrayed by the clusters of +piles set to mark the deep-water channels, which undulate far away in +spotty chains like the studded backs of huge sea-snakes, and by the +quick glittering of the crisped and crowded waves that flicker and dance +before the strong winds upon the unlifted level of the shallow sea. But +the scene is widely different at low tide. A fall of eighteen or twenty +inches is enough to show ground over the greater part of the lagoon; and +at the complete ebb the city is seen standing in the midst of a dark +plain of seaweed, of gloomy green, except only where the larger branches +of the Brenta and its associated streams converge towards the port of +the Lido. Through this salt and sombre plain the gondola and the +fishing-boat advance by tortuous channels, seldom more than four or five +feet deep, and often so choked with slime that the heavier keels furrow +the bottom till their crossing tracks are seen through the clear sea +water like the ruts upon a wintry road, and the oar leaves blue gashes +upon the ground at every stroke, or is entangled among the thick weed +that fringes the banks with the weight of its sullen waves, leaning to +and fro upon the uncertain sway of the exhausted tide. The scene is +often profoundly oppressive, even at this day, when every plot of higher +ground bears some fragment of fair building: but, in order to know what +it was once, let the traveller follow in his boat at evening the +windings of some unfrequented channel far into the midst of the +melancholy plain; let him remove, in his imagination, the brightness of +the great city that still extends itself in the distance, and the walls +and towers from the islands that are near; and so wait, until the bright +investiture and sweet warmth of the sunset are withdrawn from the +waters, and the black desert of their shore lies in its nakedness +beneath the night, pathless, comfortless, infirm, lost in dark languor +and fearful silence, except where the salt runlets plash into the +tideless pools, or the sea-birds flit from their margins with a +questioning cry; and he will be enabled to enter in some sort into the +horror of heart with which this solitude was anciently chosen by man for +his habitation. They little thought, who first drove the stakes into the +sand, and strewed the ocean reeds for their rest, that their children +were to be the princes of that ocean, and their palaces its pride; and +yet, in the great natural laws that rule that sorrowful wilderness, let +it be remembered what strange preparation had been made for the things +which no human imagination could have foretold, and how the whole +existence and fortune of the Venetian nation were anticipated or +compelled, by the setting of those bars and doors to the rivers and the +sea. Had deeper currents divided their islands, hostile navies would +again and again have reduced the rising city into servitude; had +stronger surges beaten their shores, all the richness and refinement of +the Venetian architecture must have been exchanged for the walls and +bulwarks of an ordinary sea-port. Had there been no tide, as in other +parts of the Mediterranean, the narrow canals of the city would have +become noisome, and the marsh in which it was built pestiferous. Had the +tide been only a foot or eighteen inches higher in its rise, the +water-access to the doors of the palaces would have been impossible: +even as it is, there is sometimes a little difficulty, at the ebb, in +landing without setting foot upon the lower and slippery steps: and the +highest tides sometimes enter the courtyards, and overflow the entrance +halls. Eighteen inches more of difference between the level of the flood +and ebb would have rendered the doorsteps of every palace, at low water, +a treacherous mass of weeds and limpets, and the entire system of +water-carriage for the higher classes, in their easy and daily +intercourse, must have been done away with. The streets of the city +would have been widened, its network of canals filled up, and all the +peculiar character of the place and the people destroyed. + +§ VII. The reader may perhaps have felt some pain in the contrast +between this faithful view of the site of the Venetian Throne, and the +romantic conception of it which we ordinarily form; but this pain, if he +have felt it, ought to be more than counterbalanced by the value of the +instance thus afforded to us at once of the inscrutableness and the +wisdom of the ways of God. If, two thousand years ago, we had been +permitted to watch the slow settling of the slime of those turbid rivers +into the polluted sea, and the gaining upon its deep and fresh waters of +the lifeless, impassable, unvoyageable plain, how little could we have +understood the purpose with which those islands were shaped out of the +void, and the torpid waters enclosed with their desolate walls of sand! +How little could we have known, any more than of what now seems to us +most distressful, dark, and objectless, the glorious aim which was then +in the mind of Him in whose hand are all the corners of the earth! how +little imagined that in the laws which were stretching forth the gloomy +margins of those fruitless banks, and feeding the bitter grass among +their shallows, there was indeed a preparation, and _the only +preparation possible_, for the founding of a city which was to be set +like a golden clasp on the girdle of the earth, to write her history on +the white scrolls of the sea-surges, and to word it in their thunder, +and to gather and give forth, in worldwide pulsation, the glory of the +West and of the East, from the burning heart of her Fortitude and +Splendor. + + +FOOTNOTES + + [1] Appendix 1, "The Gondolier's Cry." + + [2] Appendix 2, "Our Lady of Salvation." + + [3] Appendix 3, "Tides of Venice." + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +Torcello. + + +§ I. Seven miles to the north of Venice, the banks of sand, which near +the city rise little above low-water mark, attain by degrees a higher +level, and knit themselves at last into fields of salt morass, raised +here and there into shapeless mounds, and intercepted by narrow creeks +of sea. One of the feeblest of these inlets, after winding for some time +among buried fragments of masonry, and knots of sunburnt weeds whitened +with webs of fucus, stays itself in an utterly stagnant pool beside a +plot of greener grass covered with ground ivy and violets. On this mound +is built a rude brick campanile, of the commonest Lombardic type, which +if we ascend towards evening (and there are none to hinder us, the door +of its ruinous staircase swinging idly on its hinges), we may command +from it one of the most notable scenes in this wide world of ours. Far +as the eye can reach, a waste of wild sea moor, of a lurid ashen grey; +not like our northern moors with their jet-black pools and purple heath, +but lifeless, the color of sackcloth, with the corrupted sea-water +soaking through the roots of its acrid weeds, and gleaming hither and +thither through its snaky channels. No gathering of fantastic mists, nor +coursing of clouds across it; but melancholy clearness of space in the +warm sunset, oppressive, reaching to the horizon of its level gloom. To +the very horizon, on the north-east; but, to the north and west, there +is a blue line of higher land along the border of it, and above this, +but farther back, a misty band of mountains, touched with snow. To the +east, the paleness and roar of the Adriatic, louder at momentary +intervals as the surf breaks on the bars of sand; to the south, the +widening branches of the calm lagoon, alternately purple and pale +green, as they reflect the evening clouds or twilight sky; and almost +beneath our feet, on the same field which sustains the tower we gaze +from, a group of four buildings, two of them little larger than cottages +(though built of stone, and one adorned by a quaint belfry), the third +an octagonal chapel, of which we can see but little more than the flat +red roof with its rayed tiling, the fourth, a considerable church with +nave and aisles, but of which, in like manner, we can see little but the +long central ridge and lateral slopes of roof, which the sunlight +separates in one glowing mass from the green field beneath and grey moor +beyond. There are no living creatures near the buildings, nor any +vestige of village or city round about them. They lie like a little +company of ships becalmed on a far-away sea. + +§ II. Then look farther to the south. Beyond the widening branches of +the lagoon, and rising out of the bright lake into which they gather, +there are a multitude of towers, dark, and scattered among square-set +shapes of clustered palaces, a long and irregular line fretting the +southern sky. + +Mother and daughter, you behold them both in their widowhood,--TORCELLO +and VENICE. + +Thirteen hundred years ago, the grey moorland looked as it does this +day, and the purple mountains stood as radiantly in the deep distances +of evening; but on the line of the horizon, there were strange fires +mixed with the light of sunset, and the lament of many human voices +mixed with the fretting of the waves on their ridges of sand. The flames +rose from the ruins of Altinum; the lament from the multitude of its +people, seeking, like Israel of old, a refuge from the sword in the +paths of the sea. + +The cattle are feeding and resting upon the site of the city that they +left; the mower's scythe swept this day at dawn over the chief street of +the city that they built, and the swathes of soft grass are now sending +up their scent into the night air, the only incense that fills the +temple of their ancient worship. Let us go down into that little space +of meadow land. + +§ III. The inlet which runs nearest to the base of the campanile is not +that by which Torcello is commonly approached. Another, somewhat +broader, and overhung by alder copse, winds out of the main channel of +the lagoon up to the very edge of the little meadow which was once the +Piazza of the city, and there, stayed by a few grey stones which present +some semblance of a quay, forms its boundary at one extremity. Hardly +larger than an ordinary English farmyard, and roughly enclosed on each +side by broken palings and hedges of honeysuckle and briar, the narrow +field retires from the water's edge, traversed by a scarcely traceable +footpath, for some forty or fifty paces, and then expanding into the +form of a small square, with buildings on three sides of it, the fourth +being that which opens to the water. Two of these, that on our left and +that in front of us as we approach from the canal, are so small that +they might well be taken for the out-houses of the farm, though the +first is a conventual building, and the other aspires to the title of +the "Palazzo publico," both dating as far back as the beginning of the +fourteenth century; the third, the octagonal church of Santa Fosca, is +far more ancient than either, yet hardly on a larger scale. Though the +pillars of the portico which surrounds it are of pure Greek marble, and +their capitals are enriched with delicate sculpture, they, and the +arches they sustain, together only raise the roof to the height of a +cattle-shed; and the first strong impression which the spectator +receives from the whole scene is, that whatever sin it may have been +which has on this spot been visited with so utter a desolation, it could +not at least have been ambition. Nor will this impression be diminished +as we approach, or enter, the larger church to which the whole group of +building is subordinate. It has evidently been built by men in flight +and distress,[4] who sought in the hurried erection of their island +church such a shelter for their earnest and sorrowful worship as, on the +one hand, could not attract the eyes of their enemies by its splendor, +and yet, on the other, might not awaken too bitter feelings by its +contrast with the churches which they had seen destroyed. There is +visible everywhere a simple and tender effort to recover some of the +form of the temples which they had loved, and to do honor to God by that +which they were erecting, while distress and humiliation prevented the +desire, and prudence precluded the admission, either of luxury of +ornament or magnificence of plan. The exterior is absolutely devoid of +decoration, with the exception only of the western entrance and the +lateral door, of which the former has carved sideposts and architrave, +and the latter, crosses of rich sculpture; while the massy stone +shutters of the windows, turning on huge rings of stone, which answer +the double purpose of stanchions and brackets, cause the whole building +rather to resemble a refuge from Alpine storm than the cathedral of a +populous city; and, internally, the two solemn mosaics of the eastern +and western extremities,--one representing the Last Judgment, the other +the Madonna, her tears falling as her hands are raised to bless,--and +the noble range of pillars which enclose the space between, terminated +by the high throne for the pastor and the semicircular raised seats for +the superior clergy, are expressive at once of the deep sorrow and the +sacred courage of men who had no home left them upon earth, but who +looked for one to come, of men "persecuted but not forsaken, cast down +but not destroyed." + +§ IV. I am not aware of any other early church in Italy which has this +peculiar expression in so marked a degree; and it is so consistent with +all that Christian architecture ought to express in every age (for the +actual condition of the exiles who built the cathedral of Torcello is +exactly typical of the spiritual condition which every Christian ought +to recognize in himself, a state of homelessness on earth, except so far +as he can make the Most High his habitation), that I would rather fix +the mind of the reader on this general character than on the separate +details, however interesting, of the architecture itself. I shall +therefore examine these only so far as is necessary to give a clear idea +of the means by which the peculiar expression of the building is +attained. + +[Illustration: Plate I. + PLANS OF TORCELLO AND MURANO.] + +§ V. On the opposite page, the uppermost figure, 1, is a rude plan +of the church. I do not answer for the thickness and external +disposition of the walls, which are not to our present purpose, and +which I have not carefully examined; but the interior arrangement is +given with sufficient accuracy. The church is built on the usual plan of +the Basilica[5] that is to say, its body divided into a nave and aisles +by two rows of massive shafts, the roof of the nave being raised high +above the aisles by walls sustained on two ranks of pillars, and pierced +with small arched windows. At Torcello the aisles are also lighted in +the same manner, and the nave is nearly twice their breadth.[6] + +[Illustration: Plate II. + THE ACANTHUS OF TORCELLO.] + +The capitals of all the great shafts are of white marble, and are among +the best I have ever seen, as examples of perfectly calculated effect +from every touch of the chisel. Mr. Hope calls them "indifferently +imitated from the Corinthian:"[7] but the expression is as inaccurate as +it is unjust; every one of them is different in design, and their +variations are as graceful as they are fanciful. I could not, except by +an elaborate drawing, give any idea of the sharp, dark, deep +penetrations of the chisel into their snowy marble, but a single example +is given in the opposite plate, fig. 1, of the nature of the changes +effected in them from the Corinthian type. In this capital, although a +kind of acanthus (only with rounded lobes) is indeed used for the upper +range of leaves, the lower range is not acanthus at all, but a kind of +vine, or at least that species of plant which stands for vine in all +early Lombardic and Byzantine work (vide Vol. I. Appendix 8); the leaves +are trefoiled, and the stalks cut clear so that they might be grasped +with the hand, and cast sharp dark shadows, perpetually changing, across +the bell of the capital behind them. I have drawn one of these vine +plants larger in fig. 2, that the reader may see how little imitation +of the Corinthian there is in them, and how boldly the stems of the +leaves are detached from the ground. But there is another circumstance +in this ornament still more noticeable. The band which encircles the +shaft beneath the spring of the leaves is copied from the common +classical wreathed or braided fillet, of which the reader may see +examples on almost every building of any pretensions in modern London. +But the mediæval builders could not be content with the dead and +meaningless scroll: the Gothic energy and love of life, mingled with the +early Christian religious symbolism, were struggling daily into more +vigorous expression, and they turned the wreathed band into a serpent of +three times the length necessary to undulate round the shaft, which, +knotting itself into a triple chain, shows at one side of the shaft its +tail and head, as if perpetually gliding round it beneath the stalks of +the vines. The vine, as is well known, was one of the early symbols of +Christ, and the serpent is here typical either of the eternity of his +dominion, or of the Satanic power subdued. + +[Illustration: FIG. 1.] + +§ VI. Nor even when the builder confines himself to the acanthus leaf +(or to that representation of it, hereafter to be more particularly +examined, constant in Romanesque work) can his imagination allow him to +rest content with its accustomed position. In a common Corinthian +capital the leaves nod forward only, thrown out on every side from the +bell which they surround: but at the base of one of the capitals on the +opposite side of the nave from this of the vines,[8] two leaves are +introduced set with their sides outwards, forming spirals by curling +back, half-closed, in the position shown in fig. 4 in Plate II., there +represented as in a real acanthus leaf; for it will assist our future +inquiries into the ornamentation of capitals that the reader should be +acquainted with the form of the acanthus leaf itself. I have drawn it, +therefore, in the two positions, figs. 3 and 4 in Plate II.; while fig. +5 is the translation of the latter form into marble by the sculptor of +Torcello. It is not very like the acanthus, but much liker than any +Greek work; though still entirely conventional in its cinquefoiled +lobes. But these are disposed with the most graceful freedom of line, +separated at the roots by deep drill holes, which tell upon the eye far +away like beads of jet; and changed, before they become too crowded to +be effective, into a vigorous and simple zigzagged edge, which saves the +designer some embarrassment in the perspective of the terminating +spiral. But his feeling of nature was greater than his knowledge of +perspective; and it is delightful to see how he has rooted the whole +leaf in the strong rounded under-stem, the indication of its closing +with its face inwards, and has thus given organization and elasticity to +the lovely group of spiral lines; a group of which, even in the lifeless +sea-shell, we are never weary, but which becomes yet more delightful +when the ideas of elasticity and growth are joined to the sweet +succession of its involution. + +§ VII. It is not, however, to be expected that either the mute language +of early Christianity (however important a part of the expression of the +building at the time of its erection), or the delicate fancies of the +Gothic leafage springing into new life, should be read, or perceived, by +the passing traveller who has never been taught to expect anything in +architecture except five orders: yet he can hardly fail to be struck by +the simplicity and dignity of the great shafts themselves; by the frank +diffusion of light, which prevents their severity from becoming +oppressive; by the delicate forms and lovely carving of the pulpit and +chancel screen; and, above all, by the peculiar aspect of the eastern +extremity of the church, which, instead of being withdrawn, as in later +cathedrals, into a chapel dedicated to the Virgin, or contributing by +the brilliancy of its windows to the splendor of the altar, and +theatrical effect of the ceremonies performed there, is a simple and +stern semicircular recess, filled beneath by three ranks of seats, +raised one above the other, for the bishop and presbyters, that they +might watch as well as guide the devotions of the people, and discharge +literally in the daily service the functions of bishops or _overseers_ +of the flock of God. + +§ VIII. Let us consider a little each of these characters in succession; +and first (for of the shafts enough has been said already), what is very +peculiar to this church, its luminousness. This perhaps strikes the +traveller more from its contrast with the excessive gloom of the Church +of St. Mark's; but it is remarkable when we compare the Cathedral of +Torcello with any of the contemporary basilicas in South Italy or +Lombardic churches in the North. St. Ambrogio at Milan, St. Michele at +Pavia, St. Zeno at Verona, St. Frediano at Lucca, St. Miniato at +Florence, are all like sepulchral caverns compared with Torcello, where +the slightest details of the sculptures and mosaics are visible, even +when twilight is deepening. And there is something especially touching +in our finding the sunshine thus freely admitted into a church built by +men in sorrow. They did not need the darkness; they could not perhaps +bear it. There was fear and depression upon them enough, without a +material gloom. They sought for comfort in their religion, for tangible +hopes and promises, not for threatenings or mysteries; and though the +subjects chosen for the mosaics on the walls are of the most solemn +character, there are no artificial shadows cast upon them, nor dark +colors used in them: all is fair and bright, and intended evidently to +be regarded in hopefulness, and not with terror. + +§ IX. For observe this choice of subjects. It is indeed possible that +the walls of the nave and aisles, which are now whitewashed, may have +been covered with fresco or mosaic, and thus have supplied a series of +subjects, on the choice of which we cannot speculate. I do not, however, +find record of the destruction of any such works; and I am rather +inclined to believe that at any rate the central division of the +building was originally decorated, as it is now, simply by mosaics +representing Christ, the Virgin, and the apostles, at one extremity, and +Christ coming to judgment at the other. And if so, I repeat, observe the +significance of this choice. Most other early churches are covered with +imagery sufficiently suggestive of the vivid interest of the builders in +the history and occupations of the world. Symbols or representations of +political events, portraits of living persons, and sculptures of +satirical, grotesque, or trivial subjects are of constant occurrence, +mingled with the more strictly appointed representations of scriptural +or ecclesiastical history; but at Torcello even these usual, and one +should have thought almost necessary, successions of Bible events do not +appear. The mind of the worshipper was fixed entirely upon two great +facts, to him the most precious of all facts,--the present mercy of +Christ to His Church, and His future coming to judge the world. That +Christ's mercy was, at this period, supposed chiefly to be attainable +through the pleading of the Virgin, and that therefore beneath the +figure of the Redeemer is seen that of the weeping Madonna in the act of +intercession, may indeed be matter of sorrow to the Protestant beholder, +but ought not to blind him to the earnestness and singleness of the +faith with which these men sought their sea-solitudes; not in hope of +founding new dynasties, or entering upon new epochs of prosperity, but +only to humble themselves before God, and to pray that in His infinite +mercy He would hasten the time when the sea should give up the dead +which were in it, and Death and Hell give up the dead which were in +them, and when they might enter into the better kingdom, "where the +wicked cease from troubling and the weary are at rest." + +§ X. Nor were the strength and elasticity of their minds, even in the +least matters, diminished by thus looking forward to the close of all +things. On the contrary, nothing is more remarkable than the finish and +beauty of all the portions of the building, which seem to have been +actually executed for the place they occupy in the present structure. +The rudest are those which they brought with them from the mainland; the +best and most beautiful, those which appear to have been carved for +their island church: of these, the new capitals already noticed, and the +exquisite panel ornaments of the chancel screen, are the most +conspicuous; the latter form a low wall across the church between the +six small shafts whose places are seen in the plan, and serve to enclose +a space raised two steps above the level of the nave, destined for the +singers, and indicated also in the plan by an open line _a b c d_. The +bas-reliefs on this low screen are groups of peacocks and lions, two +face to face on each panel, rich and fantastic beyond description, +though not expressive of very accurate knowledge either of leonine or +pavonine forms. And it is not until we pass to the back of the stair of +the pulpit, which is connected with the northern extremity of this +screen, that we find evidence of the haste with which the church was +constructed. + +§ XI. The pulpit, however, is not among the least noticeable of its +features. It is sustained on the four small detached shafts marked at +_p_ in the plan, between the two pillars at the north side of the +screen; both pillars and pulpit studiously plain, while the staircase +which ascends to it is a compact mass of masonry (shaded in the plan), +faced by carved slabs of marble; the parapet of the staircase being also +formed of solid blocks like paving-stones, lightened by rich, but not +deep, exterior carving. Now these blocks, or at least those which adorn +the staircase towards the aisle, have been brought from the mainland; +and, being of size and shape not easily to be adjusted to the +proportions of the stair, the architect has cut out of them pieces of +the size he needed, utterly regardless of the subject or symmetry of the +original design. The pulpit is not the only place where this rough +procedure has been permitted: at the lateral door of the church are two +crosses, cut out of slabs of marble, formerly covered with rich +sculpture over their whole surfaces, of which portions are left on the +surface of the crosses; the lines of the original design being, of +course, just as arbitrarily cut by the incisions between the arms, as +the patterns upon a piece of silk which has been shaped anew. The fact +is, that in all early Romanesque work, large surfaces are covered with +sculpture for the sake of enrichment only; sculpture which indeed had +always meaning, because it was easier for the sculptor to work with some +chain of thought to guide his chisel, than without any; but it was not +always intended, or at least not always hoped, that this chain of +thought might be traced by the spectator. All that was proposed appears +to have been the enrichment of surface, so as to make it delightful to +the eye; and this being once understood, a decorated piece of marble +became to the architect just what a piece of lace or embroidery is to a +dressmaker, who takes of it such portions as she may require, with +little regard to the places where the patterns are divided. And though +it may appear, at first sight, that the procedure is indicative of +bluntness and rudeness of feeling, we may perceive, upon reflection, +that it may also indicate the redundance of power which sets little +price upon its own exertion. When a barbarous nation builds its +fortress-walls out of fragments of the refined architecture it has +overthrown, we can read nothing but its savageness in the vestiges of +art which may thus chance to have been preserved; but when the new work +is equal, if not superior, in execution, to the pieces of the older art +which are associated with it, we may justly conclude that the rough +treatment to which the latter have been subjected is rather a sign of +the hope of doing better things, than of want of feeling for those +already accomplished. And, in general, this careless fitting of ornament +is, in very truth, an evidence of life in the school of builders, and of +their making a due distinction between work which is to be used for +architectural effect, and work which is to possess an abstract +perfection; and it commonly shows also that the exertion of design is so +easy to them, and their fertility so inexhaustible, that they feel no +remorse in using somewhat injuriously what they can replace with so +slight an effort. + +§ XII. It appears however questionable in the present instance, whether, +if the marbles had not been carved to his hand, the architect would have +taken the trouble to enrich them. For the execution of the rest of the +pulpit is studiously simple, and it is in this respect that its design +possesses, it seems to me, an interest to the religious spectator +greater than he will take in any other portion of the building. It is +supported, as I said, on a group of four slender shafts; itself of a +slightly oval form, extending nearly from one pillar of the nave to the +next, so as to give the preacher free room for the action of the entire +person, which always gives an unaffected impressiveness to the +eloquence of the southern nations. In the centre of its curved front, a +small bracket and detached shaft sustain the projection of a narrow +marble desk (occupying the place of a cushion in a modern pulpit), which +is hollowed out into a shallow curve on the upper surface, leaving a +ledge at the bottom of the slab, so that a book laid upon it, or rather +into it, settles itself there, opening as if by instinct, but without +the least chance of slipping to the side, or in any way moving beneath +the preacher's hands.[9] Six balls, or rather almonds, of purple marble +veined with white are set round the edge of the pulpit, and form its +only decoration. Perfectly graceful, but severe and almost cold in its +simplicity, built for permanence and service, so that no single member, +no stone of it, could be spared, and yet all are firm and uninjured as +when they were first set together, it stands in venerable contrast both +with the fantastic pulpits of mediæval cathedrals and with the rich +furniture of those of our modern churches. It is worth while pausing for +a moment to consider how far the manner of decorating a pulpit may have +influence on the efficiency of its service, and whether our modern +treatment of this, to us all-important, feature of a church be the best +possible. + +§ XIII. When the sermon is good we need not much concern ourselves about +the form of the pulpit. But sermons cannot always be good; and I believe +that the temper in which the congregation set themselves to listen may +be in some degree modified by their perception of fitness or unfitness, +impressiveness or vulgarity, in the disposition of the place appointed +for the speaker,--not to the same degree, but somewhat in the same way, +that they may be influenced by his own gestures or expression, +irrespective of the sense of what he says. I believe, therefore, in the +first place, that pulpits ought never to be highly decorated; the +speaker is apt to look mean or diminutive if the pulpit is either on a +very large scale or covered with splendid ornament, and if the interest +of the sermon should flag the mind is instantly tempted to wander. I +have observed that in almost all cathedrals, when the pulpits are +peculiarly magnificent, sermons are not often preached from them; but +rather, and especially if for any important purpose, from some temporary +erection in other parts of the building: and though this may often be +done because the architect has consulted the effect upon the eye more +than the convenience of the ear in the placing of his larger pulpit, I +think it also proceeds in some measure from a natural dislike in the +preacher to match himself with the magnificence of the rostrum, lest the +sermon should not be thought worthy of the place. Yet this will rather +hold of the colossal sculptures, and pyramids of fantastic tracery which +encumber the pulpits of Flemish and German churches, than of the +delicate mosaics and ivory-like carving of the Romanesque basilicas, for +when the form is kept simple, much loveliness of color and costliness of +work may be introduced, and yet the speaker not be thrown into the shade +by them. + +§ XIV. But, in the second place, whatever ornaments we admit ought +clearly to be of a chaste, grave, and noble kind; and what furniture we +employ, evidently more for the honoring of God's word than for the ease +of the preacher. For there are two ways of regarding a sermon, either as +a human composition, or a Divine message. If we look upon it entirely as +the first, and require our clergymen to finish it with their utmost care +and learning, for our better delight whether of ear or intellect, we +shall necessarily be led to expect much formality and stateliness in its +delivery, and to think that all is not well if the pulpit have not a +golden fringe round it, and a goodly cushion in front of it, and if the +sermon be not fairly written in a black book, to be smoothed upon the +cushion in a majestic manner before beginning; all this we shall duly +come to expect: but we shall at the same time consider the treatise thus +prepared as something to which it is our duty to listen without +restlessness for half an hour or three quarters, but which, when that +duty has been decorously performed, we may dismiss from our minds in +happy confidence of being provided with another when next it shall be +necessary. But if once we begin to regard the preacher, whatever his +faults, as a man sent with a message to us, which it is a matter of life +or death whether we hear or refuse; if we look upon him as set in charge +over many spirits in danger of ruin, and having allowed to him but an +hour or two in the seven days to speak to them; if we make some endeavor +to conceive how precious these hours ought to be to him, a small vantage +on the side of God after his flock have been exposed for six days +together to the full weight of the world's temptation, and he has been +forced to watch the thorn and the thistle springing in their hearts, and +to see what wheat had been scattered there snatched from the wayside by +this wild bird and the other, and at last, when breathless and weary +with the week's labor they give him this interval of imperfect and +languid hearing, he has but thirty minutes to get at the separate hearts +of a thousand men, to convince them of all their weaknesses, to shame +them for all their sins, to warn them of all their dangers, to try by +this way and that to stir the hard fastenings of those doors where the +Master himself has stood and knocked yet none opened, and to call at the +openings of those dark streets where Wisdom herself hath stretched forth +her hands and no man regarded,--thirty minutes to raise the dead +in,--let us but once understand and feel this, and we shall look with +changed eyes upon that frippery of gay furniture about the place from +which the message of judgment must be delivered, which either breathes +upon the dry bones that they may live, or, if ineffectual, remains +recorded in condemnation, perhaps against the utterer and listener +alike, but assuredly against one of them. We shall not so easily bear +with the silk and gold upon the seat of judgment, nor with ornament of +oratory in the mouth of the messenger: we shall wish that his words may +be simple, even when they are sweetest, and the place from which he +speaks like a marble rock in the desert, about which the people have +gathered in their thirst. + +§ XV. But the severity which is so marked in the pulpit at Torcello is +still more striking in the raised seats and episcopal throne which +occupy the curve of the apse. The arrangement at first somewhat recalls +to the mind that of the Roman amphitheatres; the flight of steps which +lead up to the central throne divides the curve of the continuous steps +or seats (it appears in the first three ranges questionable which were +intended, for they seem too high for the one, and too low and close for +the other), exactly as in an amphitheatre the stairs for access +intersect the sweeping ranges of seats. But in the very rudeness of this +arrangement, and especially in the want of all appliances of comfort +(for the whole is of marble, and the arms of the central throne are not +for convenience, but for distinction, and to separate it more +conspicuously from the undivided seats), there is a dignity which no +furniture of stalls nor carving of canopies ever could attain, and well +worth the contemplation of the Protestant, both as sternly significative +of an episcopal authority which in the early days of the Church was +never disputed, and as dependent for all its impressiveness on the utter +absence of any expression either of pride or self-indulgence. + +§ XVI. But there is one more circumstance which we ought to remember as +giving peculiar significance to the position which the episcopal throne +occupies in this island church, namely, that in the minds of all early +Christians the Church itself was most frequently symbolized under the +image of a ship, of which the bishop was the pilot. Consider the force +which this symbol would assume in the imaginations of men to whom the +spiritual Church had become an ark of refuge in the midst of a +destruction hardly less terrible than that from which the eight souls +were saved of old, a destruction in which the wrath of man had become as +broad as the earth and as merciless as the sea, and who saw the actual +and literal edifice of the Church raised up, itself like an ark in the +midst of the waters. No marvel if with the surf of the Adriatic rolling +between them and the shores of their birth, from which they were +separated for ever, they should have looked upon each other as the +disciples did when the storm came down on the Tiberias Lake, and have +yielded ready and loving obedience to those who ruled them in His name, +who had there rebuked the winds and commanded stillness to the sea. And +if the stranger would yet learn in what spirit it was that the dominion +of Venice was begun, and in what strength she went forth conquering and +to conquer, let him not seek to estimate the wealth of her arsenals or +number of her armies, nor look upon the pageantry of her palaces, nor +enter into the secrets of her councils; but let him ascend the highest +tier of the stern ledges that sweep round the altar of Torcello, and +then, looking as the pilot did of old along the marble ribs of the +goodly temple ship, let him repeople its veined deck with the shadows of +its dead mariners, and strive to feel in himself the strength of heart +that was kindled within them, when first, after the pillars of it had +settled in the sand, and the roof of it had been closed against the +angry sky that was still reddened by the fires of their +homesteads,--first, within the shelter of its knitted walls, amidst the +murmur of the waste of waves and the beating of the wings of the +sea-birds round the rock that was strange to them,--rose that ancient +hymn, in the power of their gathered voices: + + THE SEA IS HIS, AND HE MADE IT: + AND HIS HANDS PREPARED THE DRY LAND. + + +FOOTNOTES + + [4] Appendix 4, "Date of the Duomo of Torcello." + + [5] For a full account of the form and symbolical meaning of the + Basilica, see Lord Lindsay's "Christian Art," vol. i. p. 12. It is + much to be regretted that the Chevalier Bunsen's work on the + Basilicas of Rome is not translated into English. + + [6] The measures are given in Appendix 3. + + [7] Hope's "Historical Essay on Architecture" (third edition, 1840), + chap. ix. p. 95. In other respects Mr. Hope has done justice to this + building, and to the style of the early Christian churches in + general. + + [8] A sketch has been given of this capital in my folio work. + + [9] Appendix 5, "Modern Pulpits." + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +MURANO. + + +§ I. The decay of the city of Venice is, in many respects, like that of +an outwearied and aged human frame; the cause of its decrepitude is +indeed at the heart, but the outward appearances of it are first at the +extremities. In the centre of the city there are still places where some +evidence of vitality remains, and where, with kind closing of the eyes +to signs, too manifest even there, of distress and declining fortune, +the stranger may succeed in imagining, for a little while, what must +have been the aspect of Venice in her prime. But this lingering +pulsation has not force enough any more to penetrate into the suburbs +and outskirts of the city; the frost of death has there seized upon it +irrevocably, and the grasp of mortal disease is marked daily by the +increasing breadth of its belt of ruin. Nowhere is this seen more +grievously than along the great north-eastern boundary, once occupied by +the smaller palaces of the Venetians, built for pleasure or repose; the +nobler piles along the grand canal being reserved for the pomp and +business of daily life. To such smaller palaces some garden ground was +commonly attached, opening to the water-side; and, in front of these +villas and gardens, the lagoon was wont to be covered in the evening by +gondolas: the space of it between this part of the city and the island +group of Murano being to Venice, in her time of power, what its parks +are to London; only gondolas were used instead of carriages, and the +crowd of the population did not come out till towards sunset, and +prolonged their pleasures far into the night, company answering to +company with alternate singing. + +§ II. If, knowing this custom of the Venetians, and with a vision in +his mind of summer palaces lining the shore, and myrtle gardens sloping +to the sea, the traveller now seeks this suburb of Venice, he will be +strangely and sadly surprised to find a new but perfectly desolate quay, +about a mile in length, extending from the arsenal to the Sacca della +Misericordia, in front of a line of miserable houses built in the course +of the last sixty or eighty years, yet already tottering to their ruin; +and not less to find that the principal object in the view which these +houses (built partly in front and partly on the ruins of the ancient +palaces) now command is a dead brick wall, about a quarter of a mile +across the water, interrupted only by a kind of white lodge, the +cheerfulness of which prospect is not enhanced by his finding that this +wall encloses the principal public cemetery of Venice. He may, perhaps, +marvel for a few moments at the singular taste of the old Venetians in +taking their pleasure under a churchyard wall: but, on further inquiry, +he will find that the building on the island, like those on the shore, +is recent, that it stands on the ruins of the Church of St. Cristoforo +della Pace; and that with a singular, because unintended, moral, the +modern Venetians have replaced the Peace of the Christ-bearer by the +Peace of Death, and where they once went, as the sun set daily, to their +pleasure, now go, as the sun sets to each of them for ever, to their +graves. + +§ III. Yet the power of Nature cannot be shortened by the folly, nor her +beauty altogether saddened by the misery, of man. The broad tides still +ebb and flow brightly about the island of the dead, and the linked +conclave of the Alps know no decline from their old pre-eminence, nor +stoop from their golden thrones in the circle of the horizon. So lovely +is the scene still, in spite of all its injuries, that we shall find +ourselves drawn there again and again at evening out of the narrow +canals and streets of the city, to watch the wreaths of the sea-mists +weaving themselves like mourning veils around the mountains far away, +and listen to the green waves as they fret and sigh along the cemetery +shore. + +§ IV. But it is morning now: we have a hard day's work to do at Murano, +and our boat shoots swiftly from beneath the last bridge of Venice, and +brings us out into the open sea and sky. + +The pure cumuli of cloud lie crowded and leaning against one another, +rank beyond rank, far over the shining water, each cut away at its +foundation by a level line, trenchant and clear, till they sink to the +horizon like a flight of marble steps, except where the mountains meet +them, and are lost in them, barred across by the grey terraces of those +cloud foundations, and reduced into one crestless bank of blue, spotted +here and there with strange flakes of wan, aerial, greenish light, +strewed upon them like snow. And underneath is the long dark line of the +mainland, fringed with low trees; and then the wide-waving surface of +the burnished lagoon trembling slowly, and shaking out into forked bands +of lengthening light the images of the towers of cloud above. To the +north, there is first the great cemetery wall, then the long stray +buildings of Murano, and the island villages beyond, glittering in +intense crystalline vermilion, like so much jewellery scattered on a +mirror, their towers poised apparently in the air a little above the +horizon, and their reflections, as sharp and vivid and substantial as +themselves, thrown on the vacancy between them and the sea. And thus the +villages seem standing on the air; and, to the east, there is a cluster +of ships that seem sailing on the land; for the sandy line of the Lido +stretches itself between us and them, and we can see the tall white +sails moving beyond it, but not the sea, only there is a sense of the +great sea being indeed there, and a solemn strength of gleaming light in +sky above. + +§ V. The most discordant feature in the whole scene is the cloud which +hovers above the glass furnaces of Murano; but this we may not regret, +as it is one of the last signs left of human exertion among the ruinous +villages which surround us. The silent gliding of the gondola brings it +nearer to us every moment; we pass the cemetery, and a deep sea-channel +which separates it from Murano, and finally enter a narrow water-street, +with a paved footpath on each side, raised three or four feet above the +canal, and forming a kind of quay between the water and the doors of the +houses. These latter are, for the most part, low, but built with massy +doors and windows of marble or Istrian stone, square-set and barred with +iron; buildings evidently once of no mean order, though now inhabited +only by the poor. Here and there an ogee window of the fourteenth +century, or a doorway deeply enriched with cable mouldings, shows itself +in the midst of more ordinary features; and several houses, consisting +of one story only carried on square pillars, forming a short arcade +along the quay, have windows sustained on shafts of red Verona marble, +of singular grace and delicacy. All now in vain: little care is there +for their delicacy or grace among the rough fishermen sauntering on the +quay with their jackets hanging loose from their shoulders, jacket and +cap and hair all of the same dark-greenish sea-grey. But there is some +life in the scene, more than is usual in Venice: the women are sitting +at their doors knitting busily, and various workmen of the glass-houses +sifting glass dust upon the pavement, and strange cries coming from one +side of the canal to the other, and ringing far along the crowded water, +from venders of figs and grapes, and gourds and shell-fish; cries partly +descriptive of the eatables in question, but interspersed with others of +a character unintelligible in proportion to their violence, and +fortunately so if we may judge by a sentence which is stencilled in +black, within a garland, on the whitewashed walls of nearly every other +house in the street, but which, how often soever written, no one seems +to regard: "Bestemme non più. Lodate Gesù." + +§ VI. We push our way on between large barges laden with fresh water +from Fusina, in round white tubs seven feet across, and complicated +boats full of all manner of nets that look as if they could never be +disentangled, hanging from their masts and over their sides; and +presently pass under a bridge with the lion of St. Mark on its +archivolt, and another on a pillar at the end of the parapet, a small +red lion with much of the puppy in his face, looking vacantly up into +the air (in passing we may note that, instead of feathers, his wings are +covered with hair, and in several other points the manner of his +sculpture is not uninteresting). Presently the canal turns a little to +the left, and thereupon becomes more quiet, the main bustle of the +water-street being usually confined to the first straight reach of it, +some quarter of a mile long, the Cheapside of Murano. We pass a +considerable church on the left, St. Pietro, and a little square +opposite to it with a few acacia trees, and then find our boat suddenly +seized by a strong green eddy, and whirled into the tide-way of one of +the main channels of the lagoon, which divides the town of Murano into +two parts by a deep stream some fifty yards over, crossed only by one +wooden bridge. We let ourselves drift some way down the current, looking +at the low line of cottages on the other side of it, hardly knowing if +there be more cheerfulness or melancholy in the way the sunshine glows +on their ruinous but whitewashed walls, and sparkles on the rushing of +the green water by the grass-grown quay. It needs a strong stroke of the +oar to bring us into the mouth of another quiet canal on the farther +side of the tide-way, and we are still somewhat giddy when we run the +head of the gondola into the sand on the left-hand side of this more +sluggish stream, and land under the east end of the Church of San +Donato, the "Matrice" or "Mother" Church of Murano. + +§ VII. It stands, it and the heavy campanile detached from it a few +yards, in a small triangular field of somewhat fresher grass than is +usual near Venice, traversed by a paved walk with green mosaic of short +grass between the rude squares of its stones, bounded on one side by +ruinous garden walls, on another by a line of low cottages, on the +third, the base of the triangle, by the shallow canal from which we have +just landed. Near the point of the triangular space is a simple well, +bearing date 1502; in its widest part, between the canal and campanile, +is a four-square hollow pillar, each side formed by a separate slab of +stone, to which the iron hasps are still attached that once secured the +Venetian standard. + +The cathedral itself occupies the northern angle of the field, +encumbered with modern buildings, small outhouse-like chapels, and +wastes of white wall with blank square windows, and itself utterly +defaced in the whole body of it, nothing but the apse having been +spared; the original plan is only discoverable by careful examination, +and even then but partially. The whole impression and effect of the +building are irretrievably lost, but the fragments of it are still most +precious. + +We must first briefly state what is known of its history. + +§ VIII. The legends of the Romish Church, though generally more insipid +and less varied than those of Paganism, deserve audience from us on this +ground, if on no other, that they have once been sincerely believed by +good men, and have had no ineffective agency in the foundation of the +existent European mind. The reader must not therefore accuse me of +trifling, when I record for him the first piece of information I have +been able to collect respecting the cathedral of Murano: namely, that +the emperor Otho the Great, being overtaken by a storm on the Adriatic, +vowed, if he were preserved, to build and dedicate a church to the +Virgin, in whatever place might be most pleasing to her; that the storm +thereupon abated; and the Virgin appearing to Otho in a dream showed +him, covered with red lilies, that very triangular field on which we +were but now standing, amidst the ragged weeds and shattered pavement. +The emperor obeyed the vision; and the church was consecrated on the +15th of August, 957. + +§ IX. Whatever degree of credence we may feel disposed to attach to this +piece of history, there is no question that a church was built on this +spot before the close of the tenth century: since in the year 999 we +find the incumbent of the Basilica (note this word, it is of some +importance) di Santa Maria Plebania di Murano taking an oath of +obedience to the Bishop of the Altinat church, and engaging at the same +time to give the said bishop his dinner on the Domenica in Albis, when +the prelate held a confirmation in the mother church, as it was then +commonly called, of Murano. From this period, for more than a century, I +can find no records of any alterations made in the fabric of the church, +but there exist very full details of the quarrels which arose between +its incumbents and those of San Stefano, San Cipriano, San Salvatore, +and the other churches of Murano, touching the due obedience which their +less numerous or less ancient brotherhoods owed to St. Mary's. + +These differences seem to have been renewed at the election of every new +abbot by each of the fraternities, and must have been growing serious +when the patriarch of Grado, Henry Dandolo, interfered in 1102, and, in +order to seal a peace between the two principal opponents, ordered that +the abbot of St. Stephen's should be present at the service in St. +Mary's on the night of the Epiphany, and that the abbot of St. Mary's +should visit him of St. Stephen's on St. Stephen's day; and that then +the two abbots "should eat apples and drink good wine together, in peace +and charity."[10] + +§ X. But even this kindly effort seems to have been without result: the +irritated pride of the antagonists remained unsoothed by the love-feast +of St. Stephen's day; and the breach continued to widen until the abbot +of St. Mary's obtained a timely accession to his authority in the year +1125. The Doge Domenico Michele, having in the second crusade secured +such substantial advantages for the Venetians as might well +counterbalance the loss of part of their trade with the East, crowned +his successes by obtaining possession in Cephalonia of the body of St. +Donato, bishop of Euroea; which treasure he having presented on his +return to the Murano basilica, that church was thenceforward called the +church of Sts. Mary and Donato. Nor was the body of the saint its only +acquisition: St. Donato's principal achievement had been the destruction +of a terrible dragon in Epirus; Michele brought home the bones of the +dragon as well as of the saint; the latter were put in a marble +sarcophagus, and the former hung up over the high altar. + +§ XI. But the clergy of St. Stefano were indomitable. At the very moment +when their adversaries had received this formidable accession of +strength, they had the audacity "ad onta de' replicati giuramenti, e +dell'inveterata consuetudine,"[11] to refuse to continue in the +obedience which they had vowed to their mother church. The matter was +tried in a provincial council; the votaries of St. Stephen were +condemned, and remained quiet for about twenty years, in wholesome dread +of the authority conferred on the abbot of St. Donate, by the Pope's +legate, to suspend any o the clergy of the island from their office if +they refused submission. In 1172, however, they appealed to Pope +Alexander III, and were condemned again: and we find the struggle +renewed at every promising opportunity, during the course of the 12th +and 13th centuries; until at last, finding St. Donate and the dragon +together too strong for him, the abbot of St. Stefano "discovered" in +his church the bodies of two hundred martyrs at once!--a discovery, it +is to be remembered, in some sort equivalent in those days to that of +California in ours. The inscription, however, on the façade of the +church, recorded it with quiet dignity:--"MCCCLXXIV. a di XIV. di +Aprile. Furono trovati nella presente chiesa del protomartire San +Stefano, duecento e più corpi de' Santi Martiri, dal Ven. Prete Matteo +Fradello, piovano della chiesa."[12] Corner, who gives this inscription, +which no longer exists, goes on to explain with infinite gravity, that +the bodies in question, "being of infantile form and stature, are +reported by tradition to have belonged to those fortunate innocents who +suffered martyrdom under King Herod; but that when, or by whom, the +church was enriched with so vast a treasure, is not manifested by any +document."[13] + +§ XII. The issue of the struggle is not to our present purpose. We have +already arrived at the fourteenth century without finding record of any +effort made by the clergy of St. Mary's to maintain their influence by +restoring or beautifying their basilica; which is the only point at +present of importance to us. That great alterations were made in it at +the time of the acquisition of the body of St. Donato is however highly +probable, the mosaic pavement of the interior, which bears its date +inscribed, 1140, being probably the last of the additions. I believe +that no part of the ancient church can be shown to be of more recent +date than this; and I shall not occupy the reader's time by any inquiry +respecting the epochs or authors of the destructive modern restorations; +the wreck of the old fabric, breaking out beneath them here and there, +is generally distinguishable from them at a glance; and it is enough for +the reader to know that none of these truly ancient fragments can be +assigned to a more recent date than 1140, and that some of them may with +probability be looked upon as remains of the shell of the first church, +erected in the course of the latter half of the tenth century. We shall +perhaps obtain some further reason for this belief as we examine these +remains themselves. + +§ XIII. Of the body of the church, unhappily, they are few and obscure; +but the general form and extent of the building, as shown in the plan, +Plate I. fig. 2, are determined, first, by the breadth of the uninjured +east end D E; secondly, by some remains of the original brickwork of the +clerestory, and in all probability of the side walls also, though these +have been refaced; and finally by the series of nave shafts, which are +still perfect. The doors A and B may or may not be in their original +positions; there must of course have been always, as now, a principal +entrance at the west end. The ground plan is composed, like that of +Torcello, of nave and aisles only, but the clerestory has transepts +extending as far as the outer wall of the aisles. The semicircular apse, +thrown out in the centre of the east end, is now the chief feature of +interest in the church, though the nave shafts and the eastern +extremities of the aisles, outside, are also portions of the original +building; the latter having been modernized in the interior, it cannot +now be ascertained whether, as is probable, the aisles had once round +ends as well as the choir. The spaces F G form small chapels, of which G +has a straight terminal wall behind its altar, and F a curved one, +marked by the dotted line; the partitions which divide these chapels +from the presbytery are also indicated by dotted lines, being modern +work. + +§ XIV. The plan is drawn carefully to scale, but the relation in which +its proportions are disposed can hardly be appreciated by the eye. The +width of the nave from shaft to opposite shaft is 32 feet 8 inches: of +the aisles, from the shaft to the wall, 16 feet 2 inches, or allowing 2 +inches for the thickness of the modern wainscot, 16 feet 4 inches, half +the breadth of the nave exactly. The intervals between the shafts are +exactly one fourth of the width of the nave, or 8 feet 2 inches, and the +distance between the great piers which form the pseudo-transept is 24 +feet 6 inches, exactly three times the interval of the shafts. So the +four distances are accurately in arithmetical proportion; i.e. + + Ft. In. + Interval of shafts 8 2 + Width of aisle 16 4 + Width of transept 24 6 + Width of nave 32 8 + +The shafts average 5 feet 4 inches in circumference, as near the base as +they can be got at, being covered with wood; and the broadest sides of +the main piers are 4 feet 7 inches wide, their narrowest sides 3 feet 6 +inches. The distance _a c_ from the outmost angle of these piers to the +beginning of the curve of the apse is 25 feet, and from that point the +apse is nearly semicircular, but it is so encumbered with renaissance +fittings that its form cannot be ascertained with perfect accuracy. It +is roofed by a concha, or semi-dome; and the external arrangement of its +walls provides for the security of this dome by what is, in fact, a +system of buttresses as effective and definite as that of any of the +northern churches, although the buttresses are obtained entirely by +adaptations of the Roman shaft and arch, the lower story being formed by +a thick mass of wall lightened by ordinary semicircular round-headed +niches, like those used so extensively afterwards in renaissance +architecture, each niche flanked by a pair of shafts standing clear of +the wall, and bearing deeply moulded arches thrown over the niche. The +wall with its pillars thus forms a series of massy buttresses (as seen +in the ground plan), on the top of which is an open gallery, backed by a +thinner wall, and roofed by arches whose shafts are set above the pairs +of shafts below. On the heads of these arches rests the roof. We have, +therefore, externally a heptagonal apse, chiefly of rough and common +brick, only with marble shafts and a few marble ornaments; but for that +very reason all the more interesting, because it shows us what may be +done, and what was done, with materials such as are now at our own +command; and because in its proportions, and in the use of the few +ornaments it possesses, it displays a delicacy of feeling rendered +doubly notable by the roughness of the work in which laws so subtle are +observed, and with which so thoughtful ornamentation is associated. + +§ XV. First, for its proportions: I shall have occasion in Chapter V. to +dwell at some length on the peculiar subtlety of the early Venetian +perception for ratios of magnitude; the relations of the sides of this +heptagonal apse supply one of the first and most curious instances of +it. The proportions above given of the nave and aisles might have been +dictated by a mere love of mathematical precision; but those of the apse +could only have resulted from a true love of harmony. + +In fig. 6, Plate I. the plan of this part of the church is given on a +large scale, showing that its seven external sides are arranged on a +line less than a semicircle, so that if the figure were completed, it +would have sixteen sides; and it will be observed also, that the seven +sides are arranged in four magnitudes, the widest being the central one. +The brickwork is so much worn away, that the measures of the arches are +not easily ascertainable, but those of the plinth on which they stand, +which is nearly uninjured, may be obtained accurately. This plinth is +indicated by the open line in the ground plan, and its sides measure +respectively: + + Ft. In. + 1st. _a b_ in plan 6 7 + 2nd. _b c_ 7 7 + 3rd. _c d_ 7 5 + 4th. _d e_ (central) 7 10 + 5th. _e f_ 7 5 + 6th _f g_ 7 8 + 7th. _g h_ 6 10 + +§ XVI. Now observe what subtle feeling is indicated by this delicacy of +proportion. How fine must the perceptions of grace have been in those +builders who could not be content without _some_ change between the +second and third, the fifth and sixth terms of proportion, such as +should oppose the general direction of its cadence, and yet _were_ +content with a diminution of two inches on a breadth of seven feet and a +half! For I do not suppose that the reader will think the curious +lessening of the third and fifth arch a matter of accident, and even if +he did so, I shall be able to prove to him hereafter that it was not, +but that the early builders were always desirous of obtaining some +alternate proportion of this kind. The relations of the numbers are not +easily comprehended in the form of feet and inches, but if we reduce the +first four of them into inches, and then subtract some constant number, +suppose 75, from them all, the remainders 4, 16, 14, 19, will exhibit +the ratio of proportion in a clearer, though exaggerated form. + +§ XVII. The pairs of circular spots at _b_, _c_, _d_, etc., on the +ground plan fig. 6, represent the bearing shafts, which are all of solid +marble as well as their capitals. Their measures and various other +particulars respecting them are given in Appendix 6. "Apse of Murano;" +here I only wish the reader to note the coloring of their capitals. +Those of the two single shafts in the angles (_a_, _h_) are both of deep +purple marble; the two next pairs, _b_ and _g_, are of white marble; the +pairs _c_ and _f_ are of purple, and _d_ and _e_ are of white: thus +alternating with each other on each side; two white meeting in the +centre. Now observe, _the purple capitals are all left plain; the white +are all sculptured_. For the old builders knew that by carving the +purple capitals they would have injured them in two ways: first, they +would have mixed a certain quantity of grey shadow with the surface hue, +and so adulterated the purity of the color; secondly, they would have +drawn away the thoughts from the color, and prevented the mind from +fixing upon it or enjoying it, by the degree of attention which the +sculpture would have required. So they left their purple capitals full +broad masses of color; and sculptured the white ones, which would +otherwise have been devoid of interest. + +§ XVIII. But the feature which is most to be noted in this apse is a +band of ornament, which runs round it like a silver girdle, composed of +sharp wedges of marble, preciously inlaid, and set like jewels into the +brickwork; above it there is another band of triangular recesses in the +bricks, of nearly similar shape, and it seems equally strange that all +the marbles should have fallen from it, or that it should have been +originally destitute of them. The reader may choose his hypothesis; but +there is quite enough left to interest us in the lower band, which is +fortunately left in its original state, as is sufficiently proved by the +curious niceties in the arrangement of its colors, which are assuredly +to be attributed to the care of the first builder. A word or two, in the +first place, respecting the means of color at his disposal. + +§ XIX. I stated that the building was, for the most part, composed of +yellow brick. This yellow is very nearly pure, much more positive and +somewhat darker than that of our English light brick, and the material +of the brick is very good and hard, looking, in places, almost +vitrified, and so compact as to resemble stone. Together with this brick +occurs another of a deep full red, and more porous substance, which is +used for decoration chiefly, while all the parts requiring strength are +composed of the yellow brick. Both these materials are _cast into any +shape and size_ the builder required, either into curved pieces for the +arches, or flat tiles for filling the triangles; and, what is still more +curious, the thickness of the yellow bricks used for the walls varies +considerably, from two inches to four; and their length also, some of +the larger pieces used in important positions being a foot and a half +long. + +With these two kinds of brick, the builder employed five or six kinds of +marble: pure white, and white veined with purple; a brecciated marble of +white and black; a brecciated marble of white and deep green; another, +deep red, or nearly of the color of Egyptian porphyry; and a grey and +black marble, in fine layers. + +§ XX. The method of employing these materials will be understood at once +by a reference to the opposite plate (Plate III.), which represents two +portions of the lower band. I could not succeed in expressing the +variation and chequering of color in marble, by real tints in the print; +and have been content, therefore, to give them in line engraving. The +different triangles are, altogether, of ten kinds: + + a. Pure white marble with sculptured surface (as the third and fifth + in the upper series of Plate III.). + + b. Cast triangle of red brick with a sculptured round-headed piece of + white marble inlaid (as the first and seventh of the upper + series, Plate III.). + + c. A plain triangle of greenish black marble, now perhaps + considerably paler in color than when first employed (as the + second and sixth of the upper series of Plate III.). + + d. Cast red brick triangle, with a diamond inlaid of the + above-mentioned black marble (as the fourth in the upper series + of Plate III.). + + e. Cast white brick, with an inlaid round-headed piece of marble, + variegated with black and yellow, or white and violet (not seen + in the plate). + + f. Occurs only once, a green-veined marble, forming the upper part of + the triangle, with a white piece below. + + g. Occurs only once. A brecciated marble of intense black and pure + white, the centre of the lower range in Plate III. + + h. Sculptured white marble with a triangle of veined purple marble + inserted (as the first, third, fifth, and seventh of the lower + range in Plate III.). + + i. Yellow or white marble veined with purple (as the second and sixth + of the lower range in Plate III.). + + k. Pure purple marble, not seen in this plate. + +[Illustration: Plate III. + INLAID BANDS OF MURANO.] + +§ XXI. The band, then, composed of these triangles, set close to each +other in varied but not irregular relations, is thrown, like a necklace +of precious stones, round the apse and along the ends of the aisles; +each side of the apse taking, of course, as many triangles as its width +permits. If the reader will look back to the measures of the sides of +the apse, given before, p. 42, he will see that the first and seventh of +the series, being much narrower than the rest, cannot take so many +triangles in their band. Accordingly, they have only six each, while the +other five sides have seven. Of these groups of seven triangles each, +that used for the third and fifth sides of the apse is the uppermost in +Plate III.; and that used for the centre of the apse, and of the whole +series, is the lowermost in the same plate; _the piece of black and +white marble being used to emphasize the centre of the chain_, exactly +as a painter would use a dark touch for a similar purpose. + +§ XXII. And now, with a little trouble, we can set before the reader, at +a glance, the arrangement of the groups along the entire extremity of +the church. + +There are thirteen recesses, indicative of thirteen arches, seen in the +ground plan, fig. 2, Plate I. Of these, the second and twelfth arches +rise higher than the rest; so high as to break the decorated band; and +the groups of triangles we have to enumerate are, therefore, only eleven +in number; one above each of the eleven low arches. And of these eleven, +the first and second, tenth and eleventh, are at the ends of the aisles; +while the third to the ninth, inclusive, go round the apse. Thus, in the +following table, the numerals indicate the place of each entire group +(counting from the south to the north side of the church, or from left +to right), and the letters indicate the species of triangle of which it +is composed, as described in the list given above. + + 6. h. i. h. g. h. i. h. + 5. b. c. a. d. a. c. b. 7. b. c. a. d. a. c. b. + 4. b. a. b. c. a. e. a. 8. a. e. a. c. b. a. b. + 3. b. a. b. e. b. a. 9. a. b. e. b. a. b. + 2. a. b. c. 10. a. b. c. b. + 1. a. b. c. b. a. 11. b. a. c. f. a. a. + +The central group is put first, that it may be seen how the series on +the two sides of the apse answer each other. It was a very curious freak +to insert the triangle e, in the outermost place _but one_ of both the +fourth and eighth sides of the apse, and in the outermost _but two_ in +the third and ninth; in neither case having any balance to it in its own +group, and the real balance being only effected on the other side of the +apse, which it is impossible that any one should see at the same time. +This is one of the curious pieces of system which so often occur in +mediæval work, of which the key is now lost. The groups at the ends of +the transepts correspond neither in number nor arrangement; we shall +presently see why, but must first examine more closely the treatment of +the triangles themselves, and the nature of the floral sculpture +employed upon them. + +[Illustration: Plate IV. + SCULPTURES OF MURANO.] + +§ XXIII. As the scale of Plate III. is necessarily small, I have given +three of the sculptured triangles on a larger scale in Plate IV. +opposite. Fig. 3 is one of the four in the lower series of Plate IV., +and figs. 4 and 5 from another group. The forms of the trefoils are here +seen more clearly; they, and all the other portions of the design, are +thrown out in low and flat relief, the intermediate spaces being cut out +to the depth of about a quarter of an inch. I believe these vacant +spaces were originally filled with a black composition, which is used in +similar sculptures at St. Mark's, and of which I found some remains in +an archivolt moulding here, though not in the triangles. The surface of +the whole would then be perfectly smooth, and the ornamental form +relieved by a ground of dark grey; but, even though this ground is lost, +the simplicity of the method insures the visibility of all its parts at +the necessary distance (17 or 18 feet), and the quaint trefoils have a +crispness and freshness of effect which I found it almost impossible to +render in a drawing. Nor let us fail to note in passing how strangely +delightful to the human mind the trefoil always is. We have it here +repeated five or six hundred times in the space of a few yards, and yet +are never weary of it. In fact, there are two mystical feelings at the +root of our enjoyment of this decoration: the one is the love of +trinity in unity, the other that of the sense of fulness with order; of +every place being instantly filled, and yet filled with propriety and +ease; the leaves do not push each other, nor put themselves out of their +own way, and yet whenever there is a vacant space, a leaf is always +ready to step in and occupy it. + +§ XXIV. I said the trefoil was five or six hundred times repeated. It is +so, but observe, it is hardly ever twice of the same size; and this law +is studiously and resolutely observed. In the carvings _a_ and _b_ of +the upper series, Plate III., the diminution of the leaves might indeed +seem merely representative of the growth of the plant. But look at the +lower: the triangles of inlaid purple marble are made much more nearly +equilateral than those of white marble, into whose centres they are set, +so that the leaves may continually diminish in size as the ornament +descends at the sides. The reader may perhaps doubt the accuracy of the +drawing on the smaller scale, but in that given larger, fig. 3, Plate +IV., the angles are all measured, and the _purposeful_ variation of +width in the border therefore admits of no dispute.[14] Remember how +absolutely this principle is that of nature; the same leaf continually +repeated, but never twice of the same size. Look at the clover under +your feet, and then you will see what this Murano builder meant, and +that he was not altogether a barbarian. + +§ XXV. Another point I wish the reader to observe is, the importance +attached to _color_ in the mind of the designer. Note especially--for it +is of the highest importance to see how the great principles of art are +carried out through the whole building--that, as only the white capitals +are sculptured below, only the white triangles are sculptured above. No +colored triangle is touched with sculpture; note also, that in the two +principal groups of the apse, given in Plate III., the centre of the +group is color, not sculpture, and the eye is evidently intended to be +drawn as much to the chequers of the stone, as to the intricacies of the +chiselling. It will be noticed also how much more precious the lower +series, which is central in the apse, is rendered, than the one above it +in the plate, which flanks it: there is no brick in the lower one, and +three kinds of variegated marble are used in it, whereas the upper is +composed of brick, with black and white marble only; and lastly--for +this is especially delightful--see how the workman made his chiselling +finer where it was to go with the variegated marbles, and used a bolder +pattern with the coarser brick and dark stone. The subtlety and +perfection of artistical feeling in all this are so redundant, that in +the building itself the eye can rest upon this colored chain with the +same kind of delight that it has in a piece of the embroidery of Paul +Veronese. + +[Illustration: Fig. II.] + +§ XXVI. Such being the construction of the lower band, that of the upper +is remarkable only for the curious change in its proportions. The two +are separated, as seen in the little woodcut here at the side, by a +string-course composed of two layers of red bricks, of which the +uppermost projects as a cornice, and is sustained by an intermediate +course of irregular brackets, obtained by setting the thick yellow +bricks edgeways, in the manner common to this day. But the wall above is +carried up perpendicularly from this projection, so that the whole upper +band is advanced to the thickness of a brick over the lower one. The +result of this is, of course, that each side of the apse is four or five +inches broader above than below; so that the same number of triangles +which filled a whole side of the lower band, leave an inch or two blank +at each angle in the upper. This would have looked awkward, if there had +been the least appearance of its being an accidental error; so that, in +order to draw the eye to it, and show that it is done on purpose, the +upper triangles are made about two inches higher than the lower ones, so +as to be much more acute in proportion and effect, and actually to +look considerably narrower, though of the same width at the base. By +this means they are made lighter in effect, and subordinated to the +richly decorated series of the lower band, and the two courses, instead +of repeating, unite with each other, and become a harmonious whole. + +[Illustration: Plate V. + Archivolt in the Duomo of Murano.] + +In order, however, to make still more sure that this difference in the +height of the triangles should not escape the eye, another course of +plain bricks is added above their points, increasing the width of the +band by another two inches. There are five courses of bricks in the +lower band, and it measures 1 ft. 6 in. in height: there are seven +courses in the upper (of which six fall between the triangles), and it +measures 1 ft. 10 in. in height, except at the extremity of the northern +aisle, where for some mysterious reason the intermediate cornice is +sloped upwards so as to reduce the upper triangles to the same height as +those below. And here, finally, observe how determined the builder was +that the one series should not be a mere imitation of the other; he +could not now make them acute by additional height--so he here, and here +only, _narrowed their bases_, and we have seven of them above, to six +below. + +§ XXVII. We come now to the most interesting portion of the whole east +end, the archivolt at the end of the northern aisle. + +It was above stated, that the band of triangles was broken by two higher +arches at the ends of the aisles. That, however, on the northern side of +the apse does not entirely interrupt, but lifts it, and thus forms a +beautiful and curious archivolt, drawn opposite, in Plate V. The upper +band of triangles cannot rise together with the lower, as it would +otherwise break the cornice prepared to receive the second story; and +the curious zigzag with which its triangles die away against the sides +of the arch, exactly as waves break upon the sand, is one of the most +curious features in the structure. + +It will be also seen that there is a new feature in the treatment of the +band itself when it turns the arch. Instead of leaving the bricks +projecting between the sculptured or colored stones, reversed triangles +of marble are used, inlaid to an equal depth with the others in the +brickwork, but projecting beyond them so as to produce a sharp dark line +of zigzag at their junctions. Three of these supplementary stones have +unhappily fallen out, so that it is now impossible to determine the full +harmony of color in which they were originally arranged. The central +one, corresponding to the keystone in a common arch, is, however, most +fortunately left, with two lateral ones on the right hand, and one on +the left. + +§ XXVIII. The keystone, if it may be so called, is of white marble, the +lateral voussoirs of purple; and these are the only colored stones in +the whole building which are sculptured; but they are sculptured in a +way which, more satisfactorily proves that the principle above stated +was understood by the builders, than if they had been left blank. The +object, observe, was to make the archivolt as rich as possible; eight of +the white sculptured marbles were used upon it in juxtaposition. Had the +purple marbles been left altogether plain, they would have been out of +harmony with the elaboration of the rest. It became necessary to touch +them with sculpture as a mere sign of carefulness and finish, but at the +same time destroying their colored surface as little as possible. _The +ornament is merely outlined upon them with a fine incision_, as if it +had been etched out on their surface preparatory to being carved. In two +of them it is composed merely of three concentric lines, parallel with +the sides of the triangle; in the third, it is a wreath of beautiful +design, which I have drawn of larger size in fig. 2, Plate V., that the +reader may see how completely the surface is left undestroyed by the +delicate incisions of the chisel, and may compare the method of working +with that employed on the white stones, two of which are given in that +plate, figs. 4 and 5. The keystone, of which we have not yet spoken, is +the only white stone worked with the light incision; its design not +being capable of the kind of workmanship given to the floral ornaments, +and requiring either to be carved in complete relief, or left as we see +it. It is given at fig. 1 of Plate IV. The sun and moon on each side of +the cross are, as we shall see in the fifth Chapter, constantly employed +on the keystones of Byzantine arches. + +§ XXIX. We must not pass without notice the grey and green pieces of +marble inserted at the flanks of the arch. For, observe, there was a +difficulty in getting the forms of the triangle into anything like +reconciliation at this point, and a mediæval artist always delights in a +difficulty: instead of concealing it, he boasts of it; and just as we +saw above that he directed the eye to the difficulty of filling the +expanded sides of the upper band by elongating his triangles, so here, +having to put in a piece of stone of awkward shape, he makes that very +stone the most conspicuous in the whole arch, on both sides, by using in +one case a dark, cold grey; in the other a vigorous green, opposed to +the warm red and purple and white of the stones above and beside it. The +green and white piece on the right is of a marble, as far as I know, +exceedingly rare. I at first thought the white fragments were inlaid, so +sharply are they defined upon their ground. They are indeed inlaid, but +I believe it is by nature; and that the stone is a calcareous breccia of +great mineralogical interest. The white spots are of singular value in +giving piquancy to the whole range of more delicate transitional hues +above. The effect of the whole is, however, generally injured by the +loss of the three large triangles above. I have no doubt they were +purple, like those which remain, and that the whole arch was thus one +zone of white, relieved on a purple ground, encircled by the scarlet +cornices of brick, and the whole chord of color contrasted by the two +precious fragments of grey and green at either side. + +§ XXX. The two pieces of carved stone inserted at each side of the arch, +as seen at the bottom of Plate V., are of different workmanship from the +rest; they do not match each other, and form part of the evidence which +proves that portions of the church had been brought from the mainland. +One bears an inscription, which, as its antiquity is confirmed by the +shapelessness of its letters, I was much gratified by not being able to +read; but M. Lazari, the intelligent author of the latest and best +Venetian guide, with better skill, has given as much of it as remains, +thus: + +[Illustration: T SCEMARIEDIGENETRICISETBEATIESTEFANIMART + IRIEGOINDIGNVSETPECCATURDOMENICUST] + +I have printed the letters as they are placed in the inscription, in +order that the reader may form some idea of the difficulty of reading +such legends when the letters, thus thrown into one heap, are themselves +of strange forms, and half worn away; any gaps which at all occur +between them coming in the wrong places. There is no doubt, however, as +to the reading of this fragment:--"T ... Sancte Marie Domini Genetricis +et beati Estefani martiri ego indignus et peccator Domenicus T." On +these two initial and final T's, expanding one into Templum, the other +into Torcellanus, M. Lazari founds an ingenious conjecture that the +inscription records the elevation of the church under a certain bishop +Dominic of Torcello (named in the Altinat Chronicle), who flourished in +the middle of the ninth century. If this were so, as the inscription +occurs broken off on a fragment inserted scornfully in the present +edifice, this edifice must be of the twelfth century, worked with +fragments taken from the ruins of that built in the ninth. The two T's +are, however, hardly a foundation large enough to build the church upon, +a hundred years before the date assigned to it both by history and +tradition (see above, § VIII.): and the reader has yet to be made aware +of the principal fact bearing on the question. + +§ XXXI. Above the first story of the apse runs, as he knows already, a +gallery under open arches, protected by a light balustrade. This +balustrade is worked on the _outside_ with mouldings, of which I shall +only say at present that they are of exactly the same school as the +greater part of the work of the existing church. But the great +horizontal pieces of stone which form the top of this balustrade are +fragments of an older building turned inside out. They are covered with +sculptures on the back, only to be seen by mounting into the gallery. +They have once had an arcade of low wide arches traced on their surface, +the spandrils filled with leafage, and archivolts enriched with studded +chainwork and with crosses in their centres. These pieces have been used +as waste marble by the architect of the existing apse. The small arches +of the present balustrade are cut mercilessly through the old work, and +the profile of the balustrade is cut out of what was once the back of +the stone; only some respect is shown for the crosses in the old design, +the blocks are cut so that these shall be not only left uninjured, but +come in the centre of the balustrades. + +§ XXXII. Now let the reader observe carefully that this balustrade of +Murano is a fence of other things than the low gallery round the +deserted apse. It is a barrier between two great schools of early +architecture. On one side it was cut by Romanesque workmen of the early +Christian ages, and furnishes us with a distinct type of a kind of +ornament which, as we meet with other examples of it, we shall be able +to describe in generic terms, and to throw back behind this balustrade, +out of our way. The _front_ of the balustrade presents us with a totally +different condition of design, less rich, more graceful, and here shown +in its simplest possible form. From the outside of this bar of marble we +shall commence our progress in the study of existing Venetian +architecture. The only question is, do we begin from the tenth or from +the twelfth century? + +§ XXXIII. I was in great hopes once of being able to determine this +positively; but the alterations in all the early buildings of Venice are +so numerous, and the foreign fragments introduced so innumerable, that I +was obliged to leave the question doubtful. But one circumstance must be +noted, bearing upon it closely. + +In the woodcut on page 50, Fig. III., _b_ is an archivolt of Murano, _a_ +one of St. Mark's; the latter acknowledged by all historians and all +investigators to be of the twelfth century. + +_All_ the twelfth century archivolts in Venice, without exception, are +on the model of _a_, differing only in their decorations and sculpture. +There is not one which resembles that of Murano. + +But the deep mouldings of Murano are almost exactly similar to those of +St. Michele of Pavia, and other Lombard churches built, some as early as +the seventh, others in the eighth, ninth, and tenth centuries. + +On this ground it seems to me probable that the existing apse of Murano +is part of the original earliest church, and that the inscribed +fragments used in it have been brought from the mainland. The +balustrade, however, may still be later than the rest; it will be +examined, hereafter, more carefully.[15] + +I have not space to give any farther account of the exterior of the +building, though one half of what is remarkable in it remains untold. We +must now see what is left of interest within the walls. + +[Illustration: Fig. III.] + +§ XXXIV. All hope is taken away by our first glance; for it falls on a +range of shafts whose bases are concealed by wooden panelling, and which +sustain arches decorated in the most approved style of Renaissance +upholstery, with stucco roses in squares under the soffits, and egg and +arrow mouldings on the architraves, gilded, on a ground of spotty black +and green, with a small pink-faced and black-eyed cherub on every +keystone; the rest of the church being for the most part concealed +either by dirty hangings, or dirtier whitewash, or dim pictures on +warped and wasting canvas; all vulgar, vain, and foul. Yet let us not +turn back, for in the shadow of the apse our more careful glance shows +us a Greek Madonna, pictured on a field of gold; and we feel giddy at +the first step we make on the pavement, for it, also, is of Greek mosaic +waved like the sea, and dyed like a dove's neck. + +§ XXXV. Nor are the original features of the rest of the edifice +altogether indecipherable; the entire series of shafts marked in the +ground plan on each side of the nave, from the western entrance to the +apse, are nearly uninjured; and I believe the stilted arches they +sustain are those of the original fabric, though the masonry is covered +by the Renaissance stucco mouldings. Their capitals, for a wonder, are +left bare, and appear to have sustained no farther injury than has +resulted from the insertion of a large brass chandelier into each of +their abaci, each chandelier carrying a sublime wax candle two inches +thick, fastened with wire to the wall above. The due arrangement of +these appendages, previous to festal days, can only be effected from a +ladder set against the angle of the abacus; and ten minutes before I +wrote this sentence, I had the privilege of watching the candlelighter +at his work, knocking his ladder about the heads of the capitals as if +they had given him personal offence. He at last succeeded in breaking +away one of the lamps altogether, with a bit of the marble of the +abacus; the whole falling in ruin to the pavement, and causing much +consultation and clamor among a tribe of beggars who were assisting the +sacristan with their wisdom respecting the festal arrangements. + +§ XXXVI. It is fortunate that the capitals themselves, being somewhat +rudely cut, can bear this kind of treatment better than most of those in +Venice. They are all founded on the Corinthian type, but the leaves are +in every one different: those of the easternmost capital of the southern +range are the best, and very beautiful, but presenting no feature of +much interest, their workmanship being inferior to most of the +imitations of Corinthian common at the period; much more to the rich +fantasies which we have seen at Torcello. The apse itself, to-day (12th +September, 1851), is not to be described; for just in front of it, +behind the altar, is a magnificent curtain of new red velvet with a +gilt edge and two golden tassels, held up in a dainty manner by two +angels in the upholsterer's service; and above all, for concentration of +effect, a star or sun, some five feet broad, the spikes of which conceal +the whole of the figure of the Madonna except the head and hands. + +§ XXXVII. The pavement is however still left open, and it is of infinite +interest, although grievously distorted and defaced. For whenever a new +chapel has been built, or a new altar erected, the pavement has been +broken up and readjusted so as to surround the newly inserted steps or +stones with some appearance of symmetry; portions of it either covered or +carried away, others mercilessly shattered or replaced by modern +imitations, and those of very different periods, with pieces of the old +floor left here and there in the midst of them, and worked round so as to +deceive the eye into acceptance of the whole as ancient. The portion, +however, which occupies the western extremity of the nave, and the parts +immediately adjoining it in the aisles, are, I believe, in their original +positions, and very little injured: they are composed chiefly of groups +of peacocks, lions, stags, and griffins,--two of each in a group, +drinking out of the same vase, or shaking claws together,--enclosed by +interlacing bands, and alternating with chequer or star patterns, and +here and there an attempt at representation of architecture, all worked +in marble mosaic. The floors of Torcello and of St. Mark's are executed +in the same manner; but what remains at Murano is finer than either, in +the extraordinary play of color obtained by the use of variegated +marbles. At St. Mark's the patterns are more intricate, and the pieces +far more skilfully set together; but each piece is there commonly of one +color: at Murano every fragment is itself variegated, and all are +arranged with a skill and feeling not to be caught, and to be observed +with deep reverence, for that pavement is not dateless, like the rest of +the church; it bears its date on one of its central circles, 1140, and +is, in my mind, one of the most precious monuments in Italy, showing thus +early, and in those rude chequers which the bared knee of the Murano +fisher wears in its daily bending, the beginning of that mighty spirit of +Venetian color, which was to be consummated in Titian. + +§ XXXVIII. But we must quit the church for the present, for its +garnishings are completed; the candles are all upright in their sockets, +and the curtains drawn into festoons, and a paste-board crescent, gay +with artificial flowers, has been attached to the capital of every +pillar, in order, together with the gilt angels, to make the place look +as much like Paradise as possible. If we return to-morrow, we shall find +it filled with woful groups of aged men and women, wasted and +fever-struck, fixed in paralytic supplication, half-kneeling, +half-couched upon the pavement; bowed down, partly in feebleness, partly +in a fearful devotion, with their grey clothes cast far over their +faces, ghastly and settled into a gloomy animal misery, all but the +glittering eyes and muttering lips. + +Fit inhabitants, these, for what was once the Garden of Venice, "a +terrestrial paradise,--a place of nymphs and demi-gods!"[16] + +§ XXXIX. We return, yet once again, on the following day. Worshippers +and objects of worship, the sickly crowd and gilded angels, all are +gone; and there, far in the apse, is seen the sad Madonna standing in +her folded robe, lifting her hands in vanity of blessing. There is +little else to draw away our thoughts from the solitary image. An old +wooden tablet, carved into a rude effigy of San Donato, which occupies +the central niche in the lower part of the tribune, has an interest of +its own, but is unconnected with the history of the older church. The +faded frescoes of saints, which cover the upper tier of the wall of the +apse, are also of comparatively recent date, much more the piece of +Renaissance workmanship, shaft and entablature, above the altar, which +has been thrust into the midst of all, and has cut away part of the feet +of the Madonna. Nothing remains of the original structure but the +semi-dome itself, the cornice whence it springs, which is the same as +that used on the exterior of the church, and the border and face-arch +which surround it. The ground of the dome is of gold, unbroken except by +the upright Madonna, and usual inscription, M R [Greek: Theta] V. The +figure wears a robe of blue, deeply fringed with gold, which seems to be +gathered on the head and thrown back on the shoulders, crossing the +breast, and falling in many folds to the ground. The under robe, shown +beneath it where it opens at the breast, is of the same color; the +whole, except the deep gold fringe, being simply the dress of the women +of the time. "Le donne, anco elle del 1100, vestivano _di turchino con +manti in spalla_, che le coprivano dinanzi e di dietro."[17] + +Round the dome there is a colored mosaic border; and on the edge of its +arch, legible by the whole congregation, this inscription: + + "QUOS EVA CONTRIVIT, PIA VIRGO MARIA REDEMIT; + HANC CUNCTI LAUDENT, QUI CRISTI MUNERE GAUDENT."[18] + +The whole edifice is, therefore, simply a temple to the Virgin: to her +is ascribed the fact of Redemption, and to her its praise. + +§ XL. "And is this," it will be asked of me, "the time, is this the +worship, to which you would have us look back with reverence and +regret?" Inasmuch as redemption is ascribed to the Virgin, No. Inasmuch +as redemption is a thing desired, believed, rejoiced in, Yes,--and Yes a +thousand times. As far as the Virgin is worshipped in place of God, No; +but as far as there is the evidence of worship itself, and of the sense +of a Divine presence, Yes. For there is a wider division of men than +that into Christian and Pagan: before we ask what a man worships, we +have to ask whether he worships at all. Observe Christ's own words on +this head: "God is a spirit; and they that worship Him must worship Him +in spirit, _and_ in truth." The worshipping in spirit comes first, and +it does not necessarily imply the worshipping in truth. Therefore, there +is first the broad division of men into Spirit worshippers and Flesh +worshippers; and then, of the Spirit worshippers, the farther division +into Christian and Pagan,--worshippers in Falsehood or in Truth. I +therefore, for the moment, omit all inquiry how far the Mariolatry of +the early church did indeed eclipse Christ, or what measure of deeper +reverence for the Son of God was still felt through all the grosser +forms of Madonna worship. Let that worship be taken at its worst; let +the goddess of this dome of Murano be looked upon as just in the same +sense an idol as the Athene of the Acropolis, or the Syrian Queen of +Heaven; and then, on this darkest assumption, balance well the +difference between those who worship and those who worship not;--that +difference which there is in the sight of God, in all ages, between the +calculating, smiling, self-sustained, self-governed man, and the +believing, weeping, wondering, struggling, Heaven-governed man;--between +the men who say in their hearts "there is no God," and those who +acknowledge a God at every step, "if haply they might feel after Him and +find Him." For that is indeed the difference which we shall find, in the +end, between the builders of this day and the builders on that sand +island long ago. They _did_ honor something out of themselves; they did +believe in spiritual presence judging, animating, redeeming them; they +built to its honor and for its habitation; and were content to pass away +in nameless multitudes, so only that the labor of their hands might fix +in the sea-wilderness a throne for their guardian angel. In this was +their strength, and there was indeed a Spirit walking with them on the +waters, though they could not discern the form thereof, though the +Masters voice came not to them, "It is I." What their error cost them, +we shall see hereafter; for it remained when the majesty and the +sincerity of their worship had departed, and remains to this day. +Mariolatry is no special characteristic of the twelfth century; on the +outside of that very tribune of San Donato, in its central recess, is an +image of the Virgin which receives the reverence once paid to the blue +vision upon the inner dome. With rouged cheeks and painted brows, the +frightful doll stands in wretchedness of rags, blackened with the smoke +of the votive lamps at its feet; and if we would know what has been lost +or gained by Italy in the six hundred years that have worn the marbles +of Murano, let us consider how far the priests who set up this to +worship, the populace who have this to adore, may be nobler than the men +who conceived that lonely figure standing on the golden field, or than +those to whom it seemed to receive their prayer at evening, far away, +where they only saw the blue clouds rising out of the burning sea. + + +FOOTNOTES + + [10] "Mela, e buon vino, con pace e carità," Memorie Storiche de' + Veneti Primi e Secondi, di Jacopo Filiasi (Padua, 1811), tom. iii. + cap. 23. Perhaps, in the choice of the abbot's cheer, there was some + occult reference to the verse of Solomon's Song: "Stay me with + flagons, comfort me with apples." + + [11] Notizie Storiche delle Chiese di Venezia, illustrate da Flaminio + Corner (Padua, 1758), p. 615. + + [12] "On the 14th day of April, 1374, there were found, in this + church of the first martyr St. Stefano, two hundred and more bodies + of holy martyrs, by the venerable priest, Matthew Fradello, + incumbent of the church." + + [13] Notizie Storiche, p. 620. + + [14] The intention is farther confirmed by the singular variation in + the breadth of the small fillet which encompasses the inner marble. + It is much narrower at the bottom than at the sides, so as to + recover the original breadth in the lower border. + + [15] Its elevation is given to scale in fig. 4, Plate XIII., below. + + [16] "Luogo de' ninfe e de' semidei."--_M. Andrea Calmo_, quoted by + Mutinelli, Annali Urbani di Venezia (Venice, 1841), p. 362. + + [17] "The women, even as far back as 1100, wore dresses of blue, + with mantles on the shoulder, which clothed them before and + behind."--_Sansorino_. + + It would be difficult to imagine a dress more modest and beautiful. + See Appendix 7. + + [18] "Whom Eve destroyed, the pious Virgin Mary redeemed; + All praise her, who rejoice in the Grace of Christ." + + Vide Appendix 8. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +ST. MARK'S. + + +§ I. "And so Barnabas took Mark, and sailed unto Cyprus." If as the +shores of Asia lessened upon his sight, the spirit of prophecy had +entered into the heart of the weak disciple who had turned back when his +hand was on the plough, and who had been judged, by the chiefest of +Christ's captains, unworthy thenceforward to go forth with him to the +work,[19] how wonderful would he have thought it, that by the lion +symbol in future ages he was to be represented among men! how woful, +that the war-cry of his name should so often reanimate the rage of the +soldier, on those very plains where he himself had failed in the courage +of the Christian, and so often dye with fruitless blood that very +Cypriot Sea, over whose waves, in repentance and shame, he was following +the Son of Consolation! + +§ II. That the Venetians possessed themselves of his body in the ninth +century, there appears no sufficient reason to doubt, nor that it was +principally in consequence of their having done so, that they chose him +for their patron saint. There exists, however, a tradition that before +he went into Egypt he had founded the Church at Aquileia, and was thus, +in some sort, the first bishop of the Venetian isles and people. I +believe that this tradition stands on nearly as good grounds as that of +St. Peter having been the first bishop of Rome;[20] but, as usual, it is +enriched by various later additions and embellishments, much resembling +the stories told respecting the church of Murano. Thus we find it +recorded by the Santo Padre who compiled the "Vite de' Santi spettanti +alle Chiese di Venezia,"[21] that "St. Mark having seen the people of +Aquileia well grounded in religion, and being called to Rome by St. +Peter, before setting off took with him the holy bishop Hermagoras, and +went in a small boat to the marshes of Venice. There were at that period +some houses built upon a certain high bank called Rialto, and the boat +being driven by the wind was anchored in a marshy place, when St. Mark, +snatched into ecstasy, heard the voice of an angel saying to him: 'Peace +be to thee, Mark; here shall thy body rest.'" The angel goes on to +foretell the building of "una stupenda, ne più veduta Città;" but the +fable is hardly ingenious enough to deserve farther relation. + +§ III. But whether St. Mark was first bishop of Aquileia or not, St. +Theodore was the first patron of the city; nor can he yet be considered +as having entirely abdicated his early right, as his statue, standing on +a crocodile, still companions the winged lion on the opposing pillar of +the piazzetta. A church erected to this Saint is said to have occupied, +before the ninth century, the site of St. Mark's; and the traveller, +dazzled by the brilliancy of the great square, ought not to leave it +without endeavoring to imagine its aspect in that early time, when it +was a green field cloister-like and quiet,[22] divided by a small canal, +with a line of trees on each side; and extending between the two +churches of St. Theodore and St. Geminian, as the little piazza of +Torcello lies between its "palazzo" and cathedral. + +§ IV. But in the year 813, when the seat of government was finally +removed to the Rialto, a Ducal Palace, built on the spot where the +present one stands, with a Ducal Chapel beside it,[23] gave a very +different character to the Square of St. Mark; and fifteen years later, +the acquisition of the body of the Saint, and its deposition in the +Ducal Chapel, perhaps not yet completed, occasioned the investiture of +that chapel with all possible splendor. St. Theodore was deposed from +his patronship, and his church destroyed, to make room for the +aggrandizement of the one attached to the Ducal Palace, and +thenceforward known as "St. Mark's."[24] + +§ V. This first church was however destroyed by fire, when the Ducal +Palace was burned in the revolt against Candiano, in 976. It was partly +rebuilt by his successor, Pietro Orseolo, on a larger scale; and, with +the assistance of Byzantine architects, the fabric was carried on under +successive Doges for nearly a hundred years; the main building being +completed in 1071, but its incrustation with marble not till +considerably later. It was consecrated on the 8th of October, 1085,[25] +according to Sansovino and the author of the "Chiesa Ducale di S. +Marco," in 1094 according to Lazari, but certainly between 1084 and +1096, those years being the limits of the reign of Vital Falier; I +incline to the supposition that it was soon after his accession to the +throne in 1085, though Sansovino writes, by mistake, Ordelafo instead of +Vital Falier. But, at all events, before the close of the eleventh +century the great consecration of the church took place. It was again +injured by fire in 1106, but repaired; and from that time to the fall of +Venice there was probably no Doge who did not in some slight degree +embellish or alter the fabric, so that few parts of it can be +pronounced boldly to be of any given date. Two periods of interference +are, however, notable above the rest: the first, that in which the +Gothic school, had superseded the Byzantine towards the close of the +fourteenth century, when the pinnacles, upper archivolts, and window +traceries were added to the exterior, and the great screen, with various +chapels and tabernacle-work, to the interior; the second, when the +Renaissance school superseded the Gothic, and the pupils of Titian and +Tintoret substituted, over one half of the church, their own +compositions for the Greek mosaics with which it was originally +decorated;[26] happily, though with no good will, having left enough to +enable us to imagine and lament what they destroyed. Of this irreparable +loss we shall have more to say hereafter; meantime, I wish only to fix +in the reader's mind the succession of periods of alteration as firmly +and simply as possible. + +§ VI. We have seen that the main body of the church may be broadly +stated to be of the eleventh century, the Gothic additions of the +fourteenth, and the restored mosaics of the seventeenth. There is no +difficulty in distinguishing at a glance the Gothic portions from the +Byzantine; but there is considerable difficulty in ascertaining how +long, during the course of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, +additions were made to the Byzantine church, which cannot be easily +distinguished from the work of the eleventh century, being purposely +executed in the same manner. Two of the most important pieces of +evidence on this point are, a mosaic in the south transept, and another +over the northern door of the façade; the first representing the +interior, the second the exterior, of the ancient church. + +§ VII. It has just been stated that the existing building was +consecrated by the Doge Vital Falier. A peculiar solemnity was given to +that act of consecration, in the minds of the Venetian people, by what +appears to have been one of the best arranged and most successful +impostures ever attempted by the clergy of the Romish church. The body +of St. Mark had, without doubt, perished in the conflagration of 976; +but the revenues of the church depended too much upon the devotion +excited by these relics to permit the confession of their loss. The +following is the account given by Corner, and believed to this day by +the Venetians, of the pretended miracle by which it was concealed. + +"After the repairs undertaken by the Doge Orseolo, the place in which +the body of the holy Evangelist rested had been altogether forgotten; so +that the Doge Vital Falier was entirely ignorant of the place of the +venerable deposit. This was no light affliction, not only to the pious +Doge, but to all the citizens and people; so that at last, moved by +confidence in the Divine mercy, they determined to implore, with prayer +and fasting, the manifestation of so great a treasure, which did not now +depend upon any human effort. A general fast being therefore proclaimed, +and a solemn procession appointed for the 25th day of June, while the +people assembled in the church interceded with God in fervent prayers +for the desired boon, they beheld, with as much amazement as joy, a +slight shaking in the marbles of a pillar (near the place where the +altar of the Cross is now), which, presently falling to the earth, +exposed to the view of the rejoicing people the chest of bronze in which +the body of the Evangelist was laid." + +§ VIII. Of the main facts of this tale there is no doubt. They were +embellished afterwards, as usual, by many fanciful traditions; as, for +instance, that, when the sarcophagus was discovered, St. Mark extended +his hand out of it, with a gold ring on one of the fingers, which he +permitted a noble of the Dolfin family to remove; and a quaint and +delightful story was further invented of this ring, which I shall not +repeat here, as it is now as well known as any tale of the Arabian +Nights. But the fast and the discovery of the coffin, by whatever means +effected, are facts; and they are recorded in one of the best-preserved +mosaics of the north transept, executed very certainly not long after +the event had taken place, closely resembling in its treatment that of +the Bayeux tapestry, and showing, in a conventional manner, the +interior of the church, as it then was, filled by the people, first in +prayer, then in thanksgiving, the pillar standing open before them, and +the Doge, in the midst of them, distinguished by his crimson bonnet +embroidered with gold, but more unmistakably by the inscription "Dux" +over his head, as uniformly is the case in the Bayeux tapestry, and most +other pictorial works of the period. The church is, of course, rudely +represented, and the two upper stories of it reduced to a small scale in +order to form a background to the figures; one of those bold pieces of +picture history which we in our pride of perspective, and a thousand +things besides, never dare attempt. We should have put in a column or +two of the real or perspective size, and subdued it into a vague +background: the old workman crushed the church together that he might +get it all in, up to the cupolas; and has, therefore, left us some +useful notes of its ancient form, though any one who is familiar with +the method of drawing employed at the period will not push the evidence +too far. The two pulpits are there, however, as they are at this day, +and the fringe of mosaic flower-work which then encompassed the whole +church, but which modern restorers have destroyed, all but one fragment +still left in the south aisle. There is no attempt to represent the +other mosaics on the roof, the scale being too small to admit of their +being represented with any success; but some at least of those mosaics +had been executed at that period, and their absence in the +representation of the entire church is especially to be observed, in +order to show that we must not trust to any negative evidence in such +works. M. Lazari has rashly concluded that the central archivolt of St. +Mark's _must_ be posterior to the year 1205, because it does not appear +in the representation of the exterior of the church over the northern +door;[27] but he justly observes that this mosaic (which is the other +piece of evidence we possess respecting the ancient form of the +building) cannot itself be earlier than 1205, since it represents the +bronze horses which were brought from Constantinople in that year. And +this one fact renders it very difficult to speak with confidence +respecting the date of any part of the exterior of St. Mark's; for we +have above seen that it was consecrated in the eleventh century, and yet +here is one of its most important exterior decorations assuredly +retouched, if not entirely added, in the thirteenth, although its style +would have led us to suppose it had been an original part of the fabric. +However, for all our purposes, it will be enough for the reader to +remember that the earliest parts of the building belong to the eleventh, +twelfth, and first part of the thirteenth century; the Gothic portions +to the fourteenth; some of the altars and embellishments to the +fifteenth and sixteenth; and the modern portion of the mosaics to the +seventeenth. + +§ IX. This, however, I only wish him to recollect in order that I may +speak generally of the Byzantine architecture of St. Mark's, without +leading him to suppose the whole church to have been built and decorated +by Greek artists. Its later portions, with the single exception of the +seventeenth century mosaics, have been so dexterously accommodated to +the original fabric that the general effect is still that of a Byzantine +building; and I shall not, except when it is absolutely necessary, +direct attention to the discordant points, or weary the reader with +anatomical criticism. Whatever in St. Mark's arrests the eye, or affects +the feelings, is either Byzantine, or has been modified by Byzantine +influence; and our inquiry into its architectural merits need not +therefore be disturbed by the anxieties of antiquarianism, or arrested +by the obscurities of chronology. + +§ X. And now I wish that the reader, before I bring him into St. Mark's +Place, would imagine himself for a little time in a quiet English +cathedral town, and walk with me to the west front of its cathedral. Let +us go together up the more retired street, at the end of which we can +see the pinnacles of one of the towers, and then through the low grey +gateway, with its battlemented top and small latticed window in the +centre, into the inner private-looking road or close, where nothing +goes in but the carts of the tradesmen who supply the bishop and the +chapter, and where there are little shaven grass-plots, fenced in by +neat rails, before old-fashioned groups of somewhat diminutive and +excessively trim houses, with little oriel and bay windows jutting out +here and there, and deep wooden cornices and eaves painted cream color +and white, and small porches to their doors in the shape of +cockle-shells, or little, crooked, thick, indescribable wooden gables +warped a little on one side; and so forward till we come to larger +houses, also old-fashioned, but of red brick, and with gardens behind +them, and fruit walls, which show here and there, among the nectarines, +the vestiges of an old cloister arch or shaft, and looking in front on +the cathedral square itself, laid out in rigid divisions of smooth grass +and gravel walk, yet not uncheerful, especially on the sunny side where +the canons' children are walking with their nurserymaids. And so, taking +care not to tread on the grass, we will go along the straight walk to +the west front, and there stand for a time, looking up at its +deep-pointed porches and the dark places between their pillars where +there were statues once, and where the fragments, here and there, of a +stately figure are still left, which has in it the likeness of a king, +perhaps indeed a king on earth, perhaps a saintly king long ago in +heaven; and so higher and higher up to the great mouldering wall of +rugged sculpture and confused arcades, shattered, and grey, and grisly +with heads of dragons and mocking fiends, worn by the rain and swirling +winds into yet unseemlier shape, and colored on their stony scales by +the deep russet-orange lichen, melancholy gold; and so, higher still, to +the bleak towers, so far above that the eye loses itself among the +bosses of their traceries, though they are rude and strong, and only +sees like a drift of eddying black points, now closing, now scattering, +and now settling suddenly into invisible places among the bosses and +flowers, the crowed of restless birds that fill the whole square with +that strange clangor of theirs, so harsh and yet so soothing, like the +cries of birds on a solitary coast between the cliffs and sea. + +§ XI. Think for a little while of that scene, and the meaning of all its +small formalisms, mixed with its serene sublimity. Estimate its +secluded, continuous, drowsy felicities, and its evidence of the sense +and steady performance of such kind of duties as can be regulated by the +cathedral clock; and weigh the influence of those dark towers on all who +have passed through the lonely square at their feet for centuries, and +on all who have seen them rising far away over the wooded plain, or +catching on their square masses the last rays of the sunset, when the +city at their feet was indicated only by the mist at the bend of the +river. And then let us quickly recollect that we are in Venice, and land +at the extremity of the Calle Lunga San Moisè, which may be considered +as there answering to the secluded street that led us to our English +cathedral gateway. + +§ XII. We find ourselves in a paved alley, some seven feet wide where it +is widest, full of people, and resonant with cries of itinerant +salesmen,--a shriek in their beginning, and dying away into a kind of +brazen ringing, all the worse for its confinement between the high +houses of the passage along which we have to make our way. Over-head an +inextricable confusion of rugged shutters, and iron balconies and +chimney flues pushed out on brackets to save room, and arched windows +with projecting sills of Istrian stone, and gleams of green leaves here +and there where a fig-tree branch escapes over a lower wall from some +inner cortile, leading the eye up to the narrow stream of blue sky high +over all. On each side, a row of shops, as densely set as may be, +occupying, in fact, intervals between the square stone shafts, about +eight feet high, which carry the first floors: intervals of which one is +narrow and serves as a door; the other is, in the more respectable +shops, wainscoted to the height of the counter and glazed above, but in +those of the poorer tradesmen left open to the ground, and the wares +laid on benches and tables in the open air, the light in all cases +entering at the front only, and fading away in a few feet from the +threshold into a gloom which the eye from without cannot penetrate, but +which is generally broken by a ray or two from a feeble lamp at the +back of the shop, suspended before a print of the Virgin. The less pious +shop-keeper sometimes leaves his lamp unlighted, and is contented with a +penny print; the more religious one has his print colored and set in a +little shrine with a gilded or figured fringe, with perhaps a faded +flower or two on each side, and his lamp burning brilliantly. Here at +the fruiterer's, where the dark-green water-melons are heaped upon the +counter like cannon balls, the Madonna has a tabernacle of fresh laurel +leaves; but the pewterer next door has let his lamp out, and there is +nothing to be seen in his shop but the dull gleam of the studded +patterns on the copper pans, hanging from his roof in the darkness. Next +comes a "Vendita Frittole e Liquori," where the Virgin, enthroned in a +very humble manner beside a tallow candle on a back shelf, presides over +certain ambrosial morsels of a nature too ambiguous to be defined or +enumerated. But a few steps farther on, at the regular wine-shop of the +calle, where we are offered "Vino Nostrani a Soldi 28·32," the Madonna +is in great glory, enthroned above ten or a dozen large red casks of +three-year-old vintage, and flanked by goodly ranks of bottles of +Maraschino, and two crimson lamps; and for the evening, when the +gondoliers will come to drink out, under her auspices, the money they +have gained during the day, she will have a whole chandelier. + +§ XIII. A yard or two farther, we pass the hostelry of the Black Eagle, +and, glancing as we pass through the square door of marble, deeply +moulded, in the outer wall, we see the shadows of its pergola of vines +resting on an ancient well, with a pointed shield carved on its side; +and so presently emerge on the bridge and Campo San Moisè, whence to the +entrance into St. Mark's Place, called the Bocca di Piazza (mouth of the +square), the Venetian character is nearly destroyed, first by the +frightful façade of San Moisè, which we will pause at another time to +examine, and then by the modernizing of the shops as they near the +piazza, and the mingling with the lower Venetian populace of lounging +groups of English and Austrians. We will push fast through them into the +shadow of the pillars at the end of the "Bocca di Piazza," and then we +forget them all; for between those pillars there opens a great light, +and, in the midst of it, as we advance slowly, the vast tower of St. +Mark seems to lift itself visibly forth from the level field of +chequered stones; and, on each side, the countless arches prolong +themselves into ranged symmetry, as if the rugged and irregular houses +that pressed together above us in the dark alley had been struck back +into sudden obedience and lovely order, and all their rude casements and +broken walls had been transformed into arches charged with goodly +sculpture, and fluted shafts of delicate stone. + +§ XIV. And well may they fall back, for beyond those troops of ordered +arches there rises a vision out of the earth, and all the great square +seems to have opened from it in a kind of awe, that we may see it far +away;--a multitude of pillars and white domes, clustered into a long low +pyramid of colored light; a treasure-heap, it seems, partly of gold, and +partly of opal and mother-of-pearl, hollowed beneath into five great +vaulted porches, ceiled with fair mosaic, and beset with sculpture of +alabaster, clear as amber and delicate as ivory,--sculpture fantastic +and involved, of palm leaves and lilies, and grapes and pomegranates, +and birds clinging and fluttering among the branches, all twined +together into an endless network of buds and plumes; and, in the midst +of it, the solemn forms of angels, sceptred, and robed to the feet, and +leaning to each other across the gates, their figures indistinct among +the gleaming of the golden ground through the leaves beside them, +interrupted and dim, like the morning light as it faded back among the +branches of Eden, when first its gates were angel-guarded long ago. And +round the walls of the porches there are set pillars of variegated +stones, jasper and porphyry, and deep-green serpentine spotted with +flakes of snow, and marbles, that half refuse and half yield to the +sunshine, Cleopatra-like, "their bluest veins to kiss"--the shadow, as +it steals back from them, revealing line after line of azure undulation, +as a receding tide leaves the waved sand; their capitals rich with +interwoven tracery, rooted knots of herbage, and drifting leaves of +acanthus and vine, and mystical signs, all beginning and ending in the +Cross; and above them, in the broad archivolts, a continuous chain of +language and of life--angels, and the signs of heaven, and the labors of +men, each in its appointed season upon the earth; and above these, +another range of glittering pinnacles, mixed with white arches edged +with scarlet flowers,--a confusion of delight, amidst which the breasts +of the Greek horses are seen blazing in their breadth of golden +strength, and the St. Mark's Lion, lifted on a blue field covered with +stars, until at last, as if in ecstasy, the crests of the arches break +into a marble foam, and toss themselves far into the blue sky in flashes +and wreaths of sculptured spray, as if the breakers on the Lido shore +had been frost-bound before they fell, and the sea-nymphs had inlaid +them with coral and amethyst. + +Between that grim cathedral of England and this, what an interval! There +is a type of it in the very birds that haunt them; for, instead of the +restless crowd, hoarse-voiced and sable-winged, drifting on the bleak +upper air, the St. Mark's porches are full of doves, that nestle among +the marble foliage, and mingle the soft iridescence of their living +plumes, changing at every motion, with the tints, hardly less lovely, +that have stood unchanged for seven hundred years. + +§ XV. And what effect has this splendor on those who pass beneath it? +You may walk from sunrise to sunset, to and fro, before the gateway of +St. Mark's, and you will not see an eye lifted to it, nor a countenance +brightened by it. Priest and layman, soldier and civilian, rich and +poor, pass by it alike regardlessly. Up to the very recesses of the +porches, the meanest tradesmen of the city push their counters; nay, the +foundations of its pillars are themselves the seats--not "of them that +sell doves" for sacrifice, but of the vendors of toys and caricatures. +Round the whole square in front of the church there is almost a +continuous line of cafés, where the idle Venetians of the middle classes +lounge, and read empty journals; in its centre the Austrian bands play +during the time of vespers, their martial music jarring with the organ +notes,--the march drowning the miserere, and the sullen crowd +thickening round them,--a crowd, which, if it had its will, would +stiletto every soldier that pipes to it. And in the recesses of the +porches, all day long, knots of men of the lowest classes, unemployed +and listless, lie basking in the sun like lizards; and unregarded +children,--every heavy glance of their young eyes full of desperation +and stony depravity, and their throats hoarse with cursing,--gamble, +and fight, and snarl, and sleep, hour after hour, clashing their bruised +centesimi upon the marble ledges of the church porch. And the images of +Christ and His angels look down upon it continually. + +That we may not enter the church out of the midst of the horror of this, +let us turn aside under the portico which looks towards the sea, and +passing round within the two massive pillars brought from St. Jean +d'Acre, we shall find the gate of the Baptistery; let us enter there. +The heavy door closes behind us instantly, and the light, and the +turbulence of the Piazzetta, are together shut out by it. + +§ XVI. We are in a low vaulted room; vaulted, not with arches, but with +small cupolas starred with gold, and chequered with gloomy figures: in +the centre is a bronze font charged with rich bas-reliefs, a small +figure of the Baptist standing above it in a single ray of light that +glances across the narrow room, dying as it falls from a window high in +the wall, and the first thing that it strikes, and the only thing that +it strikes brightly, is a tomb. We hardly know if it be a tomb indeed; +for it is like a narrow couch set beside the window, low-roofed and +curtained, so that it might seem, but that it has some height above the +pavement, to have been drawn towards the window, that the sleeper might +be wakened early;--only there are two angels who have drawn the curtain +back, and are looking down upon him. Let us look also, and thank that +gentle light that rests upon his forehead for ever, and dies away upon +his breast. + +The face is of a man in middle life, but there are two deep furrows +right across the forehead, dividing it like the foundations of a tower: +the height of it above is bound by the fillet of the ducal cap. The +rest of the features are singularly small and delicate, the lips sharp, +perhaps the sharpness of death being added to that of the natural lines; +but there is a sweet smile upon them, and a deep serenity upon the whole +countenance. The roof of the canopy above has been blue, filled with +stars; beneath, in the centre of the tomb on which the figure rests, is +a seated figure of the Virgin, and the border of it all around is of +flowers and soft leaves, growing rich and deep, as if in a field in +summer. + +It is the Doge Andrea Dandolo, a man early great among the great of +Venice; and early lost. She chose him for her king in his 36th year; he +died ten years later, leaving behind him that history to which we owe +half of what we know of her former fortunes. + +§ XVII. Look round at the room in which he lies. The floor of it is of +rich mosaic, encompassed by a low seat of red marble, and its walls are +of alabaster, but worn and shattered, and darkly stained with age, +almost a ruin,--in places the slabs of marble have fallen away +altogether, and the rugged brickwork is seen through the rents, but all +beautiful; the ravaging fissures fretting their way among the islands +and channelled zones of the alabaster, and the time-stains on its +translucent masses darkened into fields of rich golden brown, like the +color of seaweed when the sun strikes on it through deep sea. The light +fades away into the recess of the chamber towards the altar, and the eye +can hardly trace the lines of the bas-relief behind it of the baptism of +Christ: but on the vaulting of the roof the figures are distinct, and +there are seen upon it two great circles, one surrounded by the +"Principalities and powers in heavenly places," of which Milton has +expressed the ancient division in the single massy line, + + "Thrones, Dominations, Princedoms, Virtues, Powers," + +and around the other, the Apostles; Christ the centre of both; and upon +the walls, again and again repeated, the gaunt figure of the Baptist, in +every circumstance of his life and death; and the streams of the Jordan +running down between their cloven rocks; the axe laid to the root of a +fruitless tree that springs upon their shore. "Every tree that bringeth +not forth good fruit shall be hewn down, and cast into the fire." Yes, +verily: to be baptized with fire, or to be cast therein; it is the +choice set before all men. The march-notes still murmur through the +grated window, and mingle with the sounding in our ears of the sentence +of judgment, which the old Greek has written on that Baptistery wall. +Venice has made her choice. + +§ XVIII. He who lies under that stony canopy would have taught her +another choice, in his day, if she would have listened to him; but he +and his counsels have long been forgotten by her, and the dust lies upon +his lips. + +Through the heavy door whose bronze network closes the place of his +rest, let us enter the church itself. It is lost in still deeper +twilight, to which the eye must be accustomed for some moments before +the form of the building can be traced; and then there opens before us a +vast cave, hewn out into the form of a Cross, and divided into shadowy +aisles by many pillars. Round the domes of its roof the light enters +only through narrow apertures like large stars; and here and there a ray +or two from some far away casement wanders into the darkness, and casts +a narrow phosphoric stream upon the waves of marble that heave and fall +in a thousand colors along the floor. What else there is of light is +from torches, or silver lamps, burning ceaselessly in the recesses of +the chapels; the roof sheeted with gold, and the polished walls covered +with alabaster, give back at every curve and angle some feeble gleaming +to the flames; and the glories round the heads of the sculptured saints +flash out upon us as we pass them, and sink again into the gloom. Under +foot and over head, a continual succession of crowded imagery, one +picture passing into another, as in a dream; forms beautiful and +terrible mixed together; dragons and serpents, and ravening beasts of +prey, and graceful birds that in the midst of them drink from running +fountains and feed from vases of crystal; the passions and the pleasures +of human life symbolized together, and the mystery of its redemption; +for the mazes of interwoven lines and changeful pictures lead always at +last to the Cross, lifted and carved in every place and upon every +stone; sometimes with the serpent of eternity wrapt round it, sometimes +with doves beneath its arms, and sweet herbage growing forth from its +feet; but conspicuous most of all on the great rood that crosses the +church before the altar, raised in bright blazonry against the shadow of +the apse. And although in the recesses of the aisles and chapels, when +the mist of the incense hangs heavily, we may see continually a figure +traced in faint lines upon their marble, a woman standing with her eyes +raised to heaven, and the inscription above her, "Mother of God," she is +not here the presiding deity. It is the Cross that is first seen, and +always, burning in the centre of the temple; and every dome and hollow +of its roof has the figure of Christ in the utmost height of it, raised +in power, or returning in judgment. + +§ XIX. Nor is this interior without effect on the minds of the people. +At every hour of the day there are groups collected before the various +shrines, and solitary worshippers scattered through the darker places of +the church, evidently in prayer both deep and reverent, and, for the +most part, profoundly sorrowful. The devotees at the greater number of +the renowned shrines of Romanism may be seen murmuring their appointed +prayers with wandering eyes and unengaged gestures; but the step of the +stranger does not disturb those who kneel on the pavement of St. Mark's; +and hardly a moment passes, from early morning to sunset, in which we +may not see some half-veiled figure enter beneath the Arabian porch, +cast itself into long abasement on the floor of the temple, and then +rising slowly with more confirmed step, and with a passionate kiss and +clasp of the arms given to the feet of the crucifix, by which the lamps +burn always in the northern aisle, leave the church, as if comforted. + +§ XX. But we must not hastily conclude from this that the nobler +characters of the building have at present any influence in fostering a +devotional spirit. There is distress enough in Venice to bring many to +their knees, without excitement from external imagery; and whatever +there may be in the temper of the worship offered in St. Mark's more +than can be accounted for by reference to the unhappy circumstances of +the city, is assuredly not owing either to the beauty of its +architecture or to the impressiveness of the Scripture histories +embodied in its mosaics. That it has a peculiar effect, however slight, +on the popular mind, may perhaps be safely conjectured from the number +of worshippers which it attracts, while the churches of St. Paul and the +Frari, larger in size and more central in position, are left +comparatively empty.[28] But this effect is altogether to be ascribed to +its richer assemblage of those sources of influence which address +themselves to the commonest instincts of the human mind, and which, in +all ages and countries, have been more or less employed in the support +of superstition. Darkness and mystery; confused recesses of building; +artificial light employed in small quantity, but maintained with a +constancy which seems to give it a kind of sacredness; preciousness of +material easily comprehended by the vulgar eye; close air loaded with a +sweet and peculiar odor associated only with religious services, solemn +music, and tangible idols or images having popular legends attached to +them,--these, the stage properties of superstition, which have been from +the beginning of the world, and must be to the end of it, employed by +all nations, whether openly savage or nominally civilized, to produce a +false awe in minds incapable of apprehending the true nature of the +Deity, are assembled in St. Mark's to a degree, as far as I know, +unexampled in any other European church. The arts of the Magus and the +Brahmin are exhausted in the animation of a paralyzed Christianity; and +the popular sentiment which these arts excite is to be regarded by us +with no more respect than we should have considered ourselves justified +in rendering to the devotion of the worshippers at Eleusis, Ellora, or +Edfou.[29] + +§ XXI. Indeed, these inferior means of exciting religious emotion were +employed in the ancient Church as they are at this day, but not employed +alone. Torchlight there was, as there is now; but the torchlight +illumined Scripture histories on the walls, which every eye traced and +every heart comprehended, but which, during my whole residence in +Venice, I never saw one Venetian regard for an instant. I never heard +from any one the most languid expression of interest in any feature of +the church, or perceived the slightest evidence of their understanding +the meaning of its architecture; and while, therefore, the English +cathedral, though no longer dedicated to the kind of services for which +it was intended by its builders, and much at variance in many of its +characters with the temper of the people by whom it is now surrounded, +retains yet so much of its religious influence that no prominent feature +of its architecture can be said to exist altogether in vain, we have in +St. Mark's a building apparently still employed in the ceremonies for +which it was designed, and yet of which the impressive attributes have +altogether ceased to be comprehended by its votaries. The beauty which +it possesses is unfelt, the language it uses is forgotten; and in the +midst of the city to whose service it has so long been consecrated, and +still filled by crowds of the descendants of those to whom it owes its +magnificence, it stands, in reality, more desolate than the ruins +through which the sheep-walk passes unbroken in our English valleys; and +the writing on its marble walls is less regarded and less powerful for +the teaching of men, than the letters which the shepherd follows with +his finger, where the moss is lightest on the tombs in the desecrated +cloister. + +§ XXII. It must therefore be altogether without reference to its present +usefulness, that we pursue our inquiry into the merits and meaning of +the architecture of this marvellous building; and it can only be after +we have terminated that inquiry, conducting it carefully on abstract +grounds, that we can pronounce with any certainty how far the present +neglect of St. Mark's is significative of the decline of the Venetian +character, or how far this church is to be considered as the relic of a +barbarous age, incapable of attracting the admiration, or influencing +the feelings of a civilized community. + +The inquiry before us is twofold. Throughout the first volume, I +carefully kept the study of _expression_ distinct from that of abstract +architectural perfection; telling the reader that in every building we +should afterwards examine, he would have first to form a judgment of its +construction and decorative merit, considering it merely as a work of +art; and then to examine farther, in what degree it fulfilled its +expressional purposes. Accordingly, we have first to judge of St. Mark's +merely as a piece of architecture, not as a church; secondly, to +estimate its fitness for its special duty as a place of worship, and the +relation in which it stands, as such, to those northern cathedrals that +still retain so much of the power over the human heart, which the +Byzantine domes appear to have lost for ever. + +§ XXIII. In the two succeeding sections of this work, devoted +respectively to the examination of the Gothic and Renaissance buildings +in Venice, I have endeavored to analyze and state, as briefly as +possible, the true nature of each school,--first in Spirit, then in +Form. I wished to have given a similar analysis, in this section, of the +nature of Byzantine architecture; but could not make my statements +general, because I have never seen this kind of building on its native +soil. Nevertheless, in the following sketch of the principles +exemplified in St. Mark's, I believe that most of the leading features +and motives of the style will be found clearly enough distinguished to +enable the reader to judge of it with tolerable fairness, as compared +with the better known systems of European architecture in the middle +ages. + +§ XXIV. Now the first broad characteristic of the building, and the root +nearly of every other important peculiarity in it, is its confessed +_incrustation_. It is the purest example in Italy of the great school of +architecture in which the ruling principle is the incrustation of brick +with more precious materials; and it is necessary before we proceed to +criticise any one of its arrangements, that the reader should carefully +consider the principles which are likely to have influenced, or might +legitimately influence, the architects of such a school, as +distinguished from those whose designs are to be executed in massive +materials. + +It is true, that among different nations, and at different times, we may +find examples of every sort and degree of incrustation, from the mere +setting of the larger and more compact stones by preference at the +outside of the wall, to the miserable construction of that modern brick +cornice, with its coating of cement, which, but the other day, in +London, killed its unhappy workmen in its fall.[30] But just as it is +perfectly possible to have a clear idea of the opposing characteristics +of two different species of plants or animals, though between the two +there are varieties which it is difficult to assign either to the one or +the other, so the reader may fix decisively in his mind the legitimate +characteristics of the incrusted and the massive styles, though between +the two there are varieties which confessedly unite the attributes of +both. For instance, in many Roman remains, built of blocks of tufa and +incrusted with marble, we have a style, which, though truly solid, +possesses some of the attributes of incrustation; and in the Cathedral +of Florence, built of brick and coated with marble, the marble facing is +so firmly and exquisitely set, that the building, though in reality +incrusted, assumes the attributes of solidity. But these intermediate +examples need not in the least confuse our generally distinct ideas of +the two families of buildings: the one in which the substance is alike +throughout, and the forms and conditions of the ornament assume or prove +that it is so, as in the best Greek buildings, and for the most part in +our early Norman and Gothic; and the other, in which the substance is of +two kinds, one internal, the other external, and the system of +decoration is founded on this duplicity, as pre-eminently in St. Mark's. + +§ XXV. I have used the word duplicity in no depreciatory sense. In +chapter ii. of the "Seven Lamps," § 18, I especially guarded this +incrusted school from the imputation of insincerity, and I must do so +now at greater length. It appears insincere at first to a Northern +builder, because, accustomed to build with solid blocks of freestone, he +is in the habit of supposing the external superficies of a piece of +masonry to be some criterion of its thickness. But, as soon as he gets +acquainted with the incrusted style, he will find that the Southern +builders had no intention to deceive him. He will see that every slab of +facial marble is fastened to the next by a confessed _rivet_, and that +the joints of the armor are so visibly and openly accommodated to the +contours of the substance within, that he has no more right to complain +of treachery than a savage would have, who, for the first time in his +life seeing a man in armor, had supposed him to be made of solid steel. +Acquaint him with the customs of chivalry, and with the uses of the coat +of mail, and he ceases to accuse of dishonesty either the panoply or the +knight. + +These laws and customs of the St. Mark's architectural chivalry it must +be our business to develope. + +§ XXVI. First, consider the natural circumstances which give rise to +such a style. Suppose a nation of builders, placed far from any quarries +of available stone, and having precarious access to the mainland where +they exist; compelled therefore either to build entirely with brick, or +to import whatever stone they use from great distances, in ships of +small tonnage, and for the most part dependent for speed on the oar +rather than the sail. The labor and cost of carriage are just as great, +whether they import common or precious stone, and therefore the natural +tendency would always be to make each shipload as valuable as possible. +But in proportion to the preciousness of the stone, is the limitation of +its possible supply; limitation not determined merely by cost, but by +the physical conditions of the material, for of many marbles, pieces +above a certain size are not to be had for money. There would also be a +tendency in such circumstances to import as much stone as possible ready +sculptured, in order to save weight; and therefore, if the traffic of +their merchants led them to places where there were ruins of ancient +edifices, to ship the available fragments of them home. Out of this +supply of marble, partly composed of pieces of so precious a quality +that only a few tons of them could be on any terms obtained, and partly +of shafts, capitals, and other portions of foreign buildings, the island +architect has to fashion, as best he may, the anatomy of his edifice. It +is at his choice either to lodge his few blocks of precious marble here +and there among his masses of brick, and to cut out of the sculptured +fragments such new forms as may be necessary for the observance of fixed +proportions in the new building; or else to cut the colored stones into +thin pieces, of extent sufficient to face the whole surface of the +walls, and to adopt a method of construction irregular enough to admit +the insertion of fragmentary sculptures; rather with a view of +displaying their intrinsic beauty, than of setting them to any regular +service in the support of the building. + +An architect who cared only to display his own skill, and had no respect +for the works of others, would assuredly have chosen the former +alternative, and would have sawn the old marbles into fragments in order +to prevent all interference with his own designs. But an architect who +cared for the preservation of noble work, whether his own or others', +and more regarded the beauty of his building than his own fame, would +have done what those old builders of St. Mark's did for us, and saved +every relic with which he was entrusted. + +§ XXVII. But these were not the only motives which influenced the +Venetians in the adoption of their method of architecture. It might, +under all the circumstances above stated, have been a question with +other builders, whether to import one shipload of costly jaspers, or +twenty of chalk flints; and whether to build a small church faced with +porphyry and paved with agate, or to raise a vast cathedral in +freestone. But with the Venetians it could not be a question for an +instant; they were exiles from ancient and beautiful cities, and had +been accustomed to build with their ruins, not less in affection than in +admiration: they had thus not only grown familiar with the practice of +inserting older fragments in modern buildings, but they owed to that +practice a great part of the splendor of their city, and whatever charm +of association might aid its change from a Refuge into a Home. The +practice which began in the affections of a fugitive nation, was +prolonged in the pride of a conquering one; and beside the memorials of +departed happiness, were elevated the trophies of returning victory. The +ship of war brought home more marble in triumph than the merchant vessel +in speculation; and the front of St. Mark's became rather a shrine at +which to dedicate the splendor of miscellaneous spoil, than the +organized expression of any fixed architectural law, or religious +emotion. + +§ XXVIII. Thus far, however, the justification of the style of this +church depends on circumstances peculiar to the time of its erection, +and to the spot where it arose. The merit of its method, considered in +the abstract, rests on far broader grounds. + +In the fifth chapter of the "Seven Lamps," § 14, the reader will find +the opinion of a modern architect of some reputation, Mr. Wood, that the +chief thing remarkable in this church "is its extreme ugliness;" and he +will find this opinion associated with another, namely, that the works +of the Caracci are far preferable to those of the Venetian painters. +This second statement of feeling reveals to us one of the principal +causes of the first; namely, that Mr. Wood had not any perception of +color, or delight in it. The perception of color is a gift just as +definitely granted to one person, and denied to another, as an ear for +music; and the very first requisite for true judgment of St. Mark's, is +the perfection of that color-faculty which few people ever set +themselves seriously to find out whether they possess or not. For it is +on its value as a piece of perfect and unchangeable coloring, that the +claims of this edifice to our respect are finally rested; and a deaf man +might as well pretend to pronounce judgment on the merits of a full +orchestra, as an architect trained in the composition of form only, to +discern the beauty of St. Mark's. It possesses the charm of color in +common with the greater part of the architecture, as well as of the +manufactures, of the East; but the Venetians deserve especial note as +the only European people who appear to have sympathized to the full with +the great instinct of the Eastern races. They indeed were compelled to +bring artists from Constantinople to design the mosaics of the vaults of +St. Mark's, and to group the colors of its porches; but they rapidly +took up and developed, under more masculine conditions, the system of +which the Greeks had shown them the example: while the burghers and +barons of the North were building their dark streets and grisly castles +of oak and sandstone, the merchants of Venice were covering their +palaces with porphyry and gold; and at last, when her mighty painters +had created for her a color more priceless than gold or porphyry, even +this, the richest of her treasures, she lavished upon walls whose +foundations were beaten by the sea; and the strong tide, as it runs +beneath the Rialto, is reddened to this day by the reflection of the +frescoes of Giorgione. + +§ XXIX. If, therefore, the reader does not care for color, I must +protest against his endeavor to form any judgment whatever of this +church of St. Mark's. But, if he both cares for and loves it, let him +remember that the school of incrusted architecture is _the only one in +which perfect and permanent chromatic decoration is possible_; and let +him look upon every piece of jasper and alabaster given to the architect +as a cake of very hard color, of which a certain portion is to be ground +down or cut off, to paint the walls with. Once understand this +thoroughly, and accept the condition that the body and availing strength +of the edifice are to be in brick, and that this under muscular power +of brickwork is to be clothed with the defence and the brightness of the +marble, as the body of an animal is protected and adorned by its scales +or its skin, and all the consequent fitnesses and laws of the structure +will be easily discernible: These I shall state in their natural order. + +§ XXX. LAW I. _That the plinths and cornices used for binding the armor +are to be light and delicate._ A certain thickness, at least two or +three inches, must be required in the covering pieces (even when +composed of the strongest stone, and set on the least exposed parts), in +order to prevent the chance of fracture, and to allow for the wear of +time. And the weight of this armor must not be trusted to cement; the +pieces must not be merely glued to the rough brick surface, but +connected with the mass which they protect by binding cornices and +string courses; and with each other, so as to secure mutual support, +aided by the rivetings, but by no means dependent upon them. And, for +the full honesty and straight-forwardness of the work, it is necessary +that these string courses and binding plinths should not be of such +proportions as would fit them for taking any important part in the hard +work of the inner structure, or render them liable to be mistaken for +the great cornices and plinths already explained as essential parts of +the best solid building. They must be delicate, slight, and visibly +incapable of severer work than that assigned to them. + +§ XXXI. LAW II. _Science of inner structure is to be abandoned._ As the +body of the structure is confessedly of inferior, and comparatively +incoherent materials, it would be absurd to attempt in it any expression +of the higher refinements of construction. It will be enough that by its +mass we are assured of its sufficiency and strength; and there is the +less reason for endeavoring to diminish the extent of its surface by +delicacy of adjustment, because on the breadth of that surface we are to +depend for the better display of the color, which is to be the chief +source of our pleasure in the building. The main body of the work, +therefore, will be composed of solid walls and massive piers; and +whatever expression of finer structural science we may require, will be +thrown either into subordinate portions of it, or entirely directed to +the support of the external mail, where in arches or vaults it might +otherwise appear dangerously independent of the material within. + +§ XXXII. LAW III. _All shafts are to be solid._ Wherever, by the +smallness of the parts, we may be driven to abandon the incrusted +structure at all, it must be abandoned altogether. The eye must never be +left in the least doubt as to what is solid and what is coated. Whatever +appears _probably_ solid, must be _assuredly_ so, and therefore it +becomes an inviolable law that no shaft shall ever be incrusted. Not +only does the whole virtue of a shaft depend on its consolidation, but +the labor of cutting and adjusting an incrusted coat to it would be +greater than the saving of material is worth. Therefore the shaft, of +whatever size, is always to be solid; and because the incrusted +character of the rest of the building renders it more difficult for the +shafts to clear themselves from suspicion, they must not, in this +incrusted style, be in any place jointed. No shaft must ever be used but +of one block; and this the more, because the permission given to the +builder to have his walls and piers as ponderous as he likes, renders it +quite unnecessary for him to use shafts of any fixed size. In our Norman +and Gothic, where definite support is required at a definite point, it +becomes lawful to build up a tower of small stones in the shape of a +shaft. But the Byzantine is allowed to have as much support as he wants +from the walls in every direction, and he has no right to ask for +further license in the structure of his shafts. Let him, by generosity +in the substance of his pillars, repay us for the permission we have +given him to be superficial in his walls. The builder in the chalk +valleys of France and England may be blameless in kneading his clumsy +pier out of broken flint and calcined lime; but the Venetian, who has +access to the riches of Asia and the quarries of Egypt, must frame at +least his shafts out of flawless stone. + +§ XXXIII. And this for another reason yet. Although, as we have said, it +is impossible to cover the walls of a large building with color, except +on the condition of dividing the stone into plates, there is always a +certain appearance of meanness and niggardliness in the procedure. It is +necessary that the builder should justify himself from this suspicion; +and prove that it is not in mere economy or poverty, but in the real +impossibility of doing otherwise, that he has sheeted his walls so +thinly with the precious film. Now the shaft is exactly the portion of +the edifice in which it is fittest to recover his honor in this respect. +For if blocks of jasper or porphyry be inserted in the walls, the +spectator cannot tell their thickness, and cannot judge of the +costliness of the sacrifice. But the shaft he can measure with his eye +in an instant, and estimate the quantity of treasure both in the mass of +its existing substance, and in that which has been hewn away to bring it +into its perfect and symmetrical form. And thus the shafts of all +buildings of this kind are justly regarded as an expression of their +wealth, and a form of treasure, just as much as the jewels or gold in +the sacred vessels; they are, in fact, nothing else than large +jewels,[31] the block of precious serpentine or jasper being valued +according to its size and brilliancy of color, like a large emerald or +ruby; only the bulk required to bestow value on the one is to be +measured in feet and tons, and on the other in lines and carats. The +shafts must therefore be, without exception, of one block in all +buildings of this kind; for the attempt in any place to incrust or joint +them would be a deception like that of introducing a false stone among +jewellery (for a number of joints of any precious stone are of course +not equal in value to a single piece of equal weight), and would put an +end at once to the spectator's confidence in the expression of wealth in +any portion of the structure, or of the spirit of sacrifice in those who +raised it. + +§ XXXIV. LAW IV. _The shafts may sometimes be independent of the +construction._ Exactly in proportion to the importance which the shaft +assumes as a large jewel, is the diminution of its importance as a +sustaining member; for the delight which we receive in its abstract +bulk, and beauty of color, is altogether independent of any perception +of its adaptation to mechanical necessities. Like other beautiful things +in this world, its end is to _be_ beautiful; and, in proportion to its +beauty, it receives permission to be otherwise useless. We do not blame +emeralds and rubies because we cannot make them into heads of hammers. +Nay, so far from our admiration of the jewel shaft being dependent on +its doing work for us, it is very possible that a chief part of its +preciousness may consist in a delicacy, fragility, and tenderness of +material, which must render it utterly unfit for hard work; and +therefore that we shall admire it the more, because we perceive that if +we were to put much weight upon it, it would be crushed. But, at all +events, it is very clear that the primal object in the placing of such +shafts must be the display of their beauty to the best advantage, and +that therefore all imbedding of them in walls, or crowding of them into +groups, in any position in which either their real size or any portion +of their surface would be concealed, is either inadmissible altogether, +or objectionable in proportion to their value; that no symmetrical or +scientific arrangements of pillars are therefore ever to be expected in +buildings of this kind, and that all such are even to be looked upon as +positive errors and misapplications of materials: but that, on the +contrary, we must be constantly prepared to see, and to see with +admiration, shafts of great size and importance set in places where +their real service is little more than nominal, and where the chief end +of their existence is to catch the sunshine upon their polished sides, +and lead the eye into delighted wandering among the mazes of their azure +veins. + +§ XXXV. LAW V. _The shafts may be of variable size._ Since the value of +each shaft depends upon its bulk, and diminishes with the diminution of +its mass, in a greater ratio than the size itself diminishes, as in the +case of all other jewellery, it is evident that we must not in general +expect perfect symmetry and equality among the series of shafts, any +more than definiteness of application; but that, on the contrary, an +accurately observed symmetry ought to give us a kind of pain, as proving +that considerable and useless loss has been sustained by some of the +shafts, in being cut down to match with the rest. It is true that +symmetry is generally sought for in works of smaller jewellery; but, +even there, not a perfect symmetry, and obtained under circumstances +quite different from those which affect the placing of shafts in +architecture. First: the symmetry is usually imperfect. The stones that +seem to match each other in a ring or necklace, appear to do so only +because they are so small that their differences are not easily measured +by the eye; but there is almost always such difference between them as +would be strikingly apparent if it existed in the same proportion +between two shafts nine or ten feet in height. Secondly: the quantity of +stones which pass through a jeweller's hands, and the facility of +exchange of such small objects, enable the tradesman to select any +number of stones of approximate size; a selection, however, often +requiring so much time, that perfect symmetry in a group of very fine +stones adds enormously to their value. But the architect has neither the +time nor the facilities of exchange. He cannot lay aside one column in a +corner of his church till, in the course of traffic, he obtain another +that will match it; he has not hundreds of shafts fastened up in +bundles, out of which he can match sizes at his ease; he cannot send to +a brother-tradesman and exchange the useless stones for available ones, +to the convenience of both. His blocks of stone, or his ready hewn +shafts, have been brought to him in limited number, from immense +distances; no others are to be had; and for those which he does not +bring into use, there is no demand elsewhere. His only means of +obtaining symmetry will therefore be, in cutting down the finer masses +to equality with the inferior ones; and this we ought not to desire him +often to do. And therefore, while sometimes in a Baldacchino, or an +important chapel or shrine, this costly symmetry may be necessary, and +admirable in proportion to its probable cost, in the general fabric we +must expect to see shafts introduced of size and proportion continually +varying, and such symmetry as may be obtained among them never +altogether perfect, and dependent for its charm frequently on strange +complexities and unexpected rising and falling of weight and accent in +its marble syllables; bearing the same relation to a rigidly chiselled +and proportioned architecture that the wild lyric rhythm of Æschylus or +Pindar bears to the finished measures of Pope. + +§ XXXVI. The application of the principles of jewellery to the smaller +as well as the larger blocks, will suggest to us another reason for the +method of incrustation adopted in the walls. It often happens that the +beauty of the veining in some varieties of alabaster is so great, that +it becomes desirable to exhibit it by dividing the stone, not merely to +economize its substance, but to display the changes in the disposition +of its fantastic lines. By reversing one of two thin plates successively +taken from the stone, and placing their corresponding edges in contact, +a perfectly symmetrical figure may be obtained, which will enable the +eye to comprehend more thoroughly the position of the veins. And this is +actually the method in which, for the most part, the alabasters of St. +Mark are employed; thus accomplishing a double good,--directing the +spectator, in the first place, to close observation of the nature of the +stone employed, and in the second, giving him a farther proof of the +honesty of intention in the builder: for wherever similar veining is +discovered in two pieces, the fact is declared that they have been cut +from the same stone. It would have been easy to disguise the similarity +by using them in different parts of the building; but on the contrary +they are set edge to edge, so that the whole system of the architecture +may be discovered at a glance by any one acquainted with the nature of +the stones employed. Nay, but, it is perhaps answered me, not by an +ordinary observer; a person ignorant of the nature of alabaster might +perhaps fancy all these symmetrical patterns to have been found in the +stone itself, and thus be doubly deceived, supposing blocks to be solid +and symmetrical which were in reality subdivided and irregular. I grant +it; but be it remembered, that in all things, ignorance is liable to be +deceived, and has no right to accuse anything but itself as the source +of the deception. The style and the words are dishonest, not which are +liable to be misunderstood if subjected to no inquiry, but which are +deliberately calculated to lead inquiry astray. There are perhaps no +great or noble truths, from those of religion downwards, which present +no mistakeable aspect to casual or ignorant contemplation. Both the +truth and the lie agree in hiding themselves at first, but the lie +continues to hide itself with effort, as we approach to examine it; and +leads us, if undiscovered, into deeper lies; the truth reveals itself in +proportion to our patience and knowledge, discovers itself kindly to our +pleading, and leads us, as it is discovered, into deeper truths. + +§ XXXVII. LAW VI. _The decoration must be shallow in cutting._ The +method of construction being thus systematized, it is evident that a +certain style of decoration must arise out of it, based on the primal +condition that over the greater part of the edifice there can be _no +deep cutting_. The thin sheets of covering stones do not admit of it; we +must not cut them through to the bricks; and whatever ornaments we +engrave upon them cannot, therefore, be more than an inch deep at the +utmost. Consider for an instant the enormous differences which this +single condition compels between the sculptural decoration of the +incrusted style, and that of the solid stones of the North, which may be +hacked and hewn into whatever cavernous hollows and black recesses we +choose; struck into grim darknesses and grotesque projections, and +rugged ploughings up of sinuous furrows, in which any form or thought +may be wrought out on any scale,--mighty statues with robes of rock and +crowned foreheads burning in the sun, or venomous goblins and stealthy +dragons shrunk into lurking-places of untraceable shade: think of this, +and of the play and freedom given to the sculptor's hand and temper, to +smite out and in, hither and thither, as he will; and then consider what +must be the different spirit of the design which is to be wrought on +the smooth surface of a film of marble, where every line and shadow must +be drawn with the most tender pencilling and cautious reserve of +resource,--where even the chisel must not strike hard, lest it break +through the delicate stone, nor the mind be permitted in any impetuosity +of conception inconsistent with the fine discipline of the hand. +Consider that whatever animal or human form is to be suggested, must be +projected on a flat surface; that all the features of the countenance, +the folds of the drapery, the involutions of the limbs, must be so +reduced and subdued that the whole work becomes rather a piece of fine +drawing than of sculpture; and then follow out, until you begin to +perceive their endlessness, the resulting differences of character which +will be necessitated in every part of the ornamental designs of these +incrusted churches, as compared with that of the Northern schools. I +shall endeavor to trace a few of them only. + +§ XXXVIII. The first would of course be a diminution of the builder's +dependence upon human form as a source of ornament: since exactly in +proportion to the dignity of the form itself is the loss which it must +sustain in being reduced to a shallow and linear bas-relief, as well as +the difficulty of expressing it at all under such conditions. Wherever +sculpture can be solid, the nobler characters of the human form at once +lead the artist to aim at its representation, rather than at that of +inferior organisms; but when all is to be reduced to outline, the forms +of flowers and lower animals are always more intelligible, and are felt +to approach much more to a satisfactory rendering of the objects +intended, than the outlines of the human body. This inducement to seek +for resources of ornament in the lower fields of creation was powerless +in the minds of the great Pagan nations, Ninevite, Greek, or Egyptian: +first, because their thoughts were so concentrated on their own +capacities and fates, that they preferred the rudest suggestion of human +form to the best of an inferior organism; secondly, because their +constant practice in solid sculpture, often colossal, enabled them to +bring a vast amount of science into the treatment of the lines, whether +of the low relief, the monochrome vase, or shallow hieroglyphic. + +§ XXXIX. But when various ideas adverse to the representation of animal, +and especially of human, form, originating with the Arabs and iconoclast +Greeks, had begun at any rate to direct the builders' minds to seek for +decorative materials in inferior types, and when diminished practice in +solid sculpture had rendered it more difficult to find artists capable +of satisfactorily reducing the high organisms to their elementary +outlines, the choice of subject for surface sculpture would be more and +more uninterruptedly directed to floral organisms, and human and animal +form would become diminished in size, frequency, and general importance. +So that, while in the Northern solid architecture we constantly find the +effect of its noblest features dependent on ranges of statues, often +colossal, and full of abstract interest, independent of their +architectural service, in the Southern incrusted style we must expect to +find the human form for the most part subordinate and diminutive, and +involved among designs of foliage and flowers, in the manner of which +endless examples had been furnished by the fantastic ornamentation of +the Romans, from which the incrusted style had been directly derived. + +§ XL. Farther. In proportion to the degree in which his subject must be +reduced to abstract outline will be the tendency in the sculptor to +abandon naturalism of representation, and subordinate every form to +architectural service. Where the flower or animal can be hewn into bold +relief, there will always be a temptation to render the representation +of it more complete than is necessary, or even to introduce details and +intricacies inconsistent with simplicity of distant effect. Very often a +worse fault than this is committed; and in the endeavor to give vitality +to the stone, the original ornamental purpose of the design is +sacrificed or forgotten. But when nothing of this kind can be attempted, +and a slight outline is all that the sculptor can command, we may +anticipate that this outline will be composed with exquisite grace; and +that the richness of its ornamental arrangement will atone for the +feebleness of its power of portraiture. On the porch of a Northern +cathedral we may seek for the images of the flowers that grow in the +neighboring fields, and as we watch with wonder the grey stones that +fret themselves into thorns, and soften into blossoms, we may care +little that these knots of ornament, as we retire from them to +contemplate the whole building, appear unconsidered or confused. On the +incrusted building we must expect no such deception of the eye or +thoughts. It may sometimes be difficult to determine, from the +involutions of its linear sculpture, what were the natural forms which +originally suggested them: but we may confidently expect that the grace +of their arrangement will always be complete; that there will not be a +line in them which could be taken away without injury, nor one wanting +which could be added with advantage. + +§ XLI. Farther. While the sculptures of the incrusted school will thus +be generally distinguished by care and purity rather than force, and +will be, for the most part, utterly wanting in depth of shadow, there +will be one means of obtaining darkness peculiarly simple and obvious, +and often in the sculptor's power. Wherever he can, without danger, +leave a hollow behind his covering slabs, or use them, like glass, to +fill an aperture in the wall, he can, by piercing them with holes, +obtain points or spaces of intense blackness to contrast with the light +tracing of the rest of his design. And we may expect to find this +artifice used the more extensively, because, while it will be an +effective means of ornamentation on the exterior of the building, it +will be also the safest way of admitting light to the interior, still +totally excluding both rain and wind. And it will naturally follow that +the architect, thus familiarized with the effect of black and sudden +points of shadow, will often seek to carry the same principle into other +portions of his ornamentation, and by deep drill-holes, or perhaps +inlaid portions of black color, to refresh the eye where it may be +wearied by the lightness of the general handling. + +§ XLII. Farther. Exactly in proportion to the degree in which the force +of sculpture is subdued, will be the importance attached to color as a +means of effect or constituent of beauty. I have above stated that the +incrusted style was the only one in which perfect or permanent color +decoration was _possible_. It is also the only one in which a true +system of color decoration was ever likely to be invented. In order to +understand this, the reader must permit me to review with some care the +nature of the principles of coloring adopted by the Northern and +Southern nations. + +§ XLIII. I believe that from the beginning of the world there has never +been a true or fine school of art in which color was despised. It has +often been imperfectly attained and injudiciously applied, but I believe +it to be one of the essential signs of life in a school of art, that it +loves color; and I know it to be one of the first signs of death in the +Renaissance schools, that they despised color. + +Observe, it is not now the question whether our Northern cathedrals are +better with color or without. Perhaps the great monotone grey of Nature +and of Time is a better color than any that the human hand can give; but +that is nothing to our present business. The simple fact is, that the +builders of those cathedrals laid upon them the brightest colors they +could obtain, and that there is not, as far as I am aware, in Europe, +any monument of a truly noble school which has not been either painted +all over, or vigorously touched with paint, mosaic, and gilding in its +prominent parts. Thus far Egyptians, Greeks, Goths, Arabs, and mediæval +Christians all agree: none of them, when in their right senses, ever +think of doing without paint; and, therefore, when I said above that the +Venetians were the only people who had thoroughly sympathized with the +Arabs in this respect, I referred, first, to their intense love of +color, which led them to lavish the most expensive decorations on +ordinary dwelling-houses; and, secondly, to that perfection of the +color-instinct in them, which enabled them to render whatever they did, +in this kind, as just in principle as it was gorgeous in appliance. It +is this principle of theirs, as distinguished from that of the Northern +builders, which we have finally to examine. + +§ XLIV. In the second chapter of the first volume, it was noticed that +the architect of Bourges Cathedral liked hawthorn, and that the porch of +his cathedral was therefore decorated with a rich wreath of it; but +another of the predilections of that architect was there unnoticed, +namely, that he did not at all like _grey_ hawthorn, but preferred it +green, and he painted it green accordingly, as bright as he could. The +color is still left in every sheltered interstice of the foliage. He +had, in fact, hardly the choice of any other color; he might have gilded +the thorns, by way of allegorizing human life, but if they were to be +painted at all, they could hardly be painted any tiling but green, and +green all over. People would have been apt to object to any pursuit of +abstract harmonies of color, which might have induced him to paint his +hawthorn blue. + +§ XLV. In the same way, whenever the subject of the sculpture was +definite, its color was of necessity definite also; and, in the hands of +the Northern builders, it often became, in consequence, rather the means +of explaining and animating the stories of their stone-work, than a +matter of abstract decorative science. Flowers were painted red, trees +green, and faces flesh-color; the result of the whole being often far +more entertaining than beautiful. And also, though in the lines of the +mouldings and the decorations of shafts or vaults, a richer and more +abstract method of coloring was adopted (aided by the rapid development +of the best principles of color in early glass-painting), the vigorous +depths of shadow in the Northern sculpture confused the architect's eye, +compelling him to use violent colors in the recesses, if these were to +be seen as color at all, and thus injured his perception of more +delicate color harmonies; so that in innumerable instances it becomes +very disputable whether monuments even of the best times were improved +by the color bestowed upon them, or the contrary. But, in the South, the +flatness and comparatively vague forms of the sculpture, while they +appeared to call for color in order to enhance their interest, presented +exactly the conditions which would set it off to the greatest advantage; +breadth of surface displaying even the most delicate tints in the +lights, and faintness of shadow joining with the most delicate and +pearly greys of color harmony; while the subject of the design being in +nearly all cases reduced to mere intricacy of ornamental line, might be +colored in any way the architect chose without any loss of rationality. +Where oak-leaves and roses were carved into fresh relief and perfect +bloom, it was necessary to paint the one green and the other red; but in +portions of ornamentation where there was nothing which could be +definitely construed into either an oak-leaf or a rose, but a mere +labyrinth of beautiful lines, becoming here something like a leaf, and +there something like a flower, the whole tracery of the sculpture might +be left white, and grounded with gold or blue, or treated in any other +manner best harmonizing with the colors around it. And as the +necessarily feeble character of the sculpture called for and was ready +to display the best arrangements of color, so the precious marbles in +the architect's hands give him at once the best examples and the best +means of color. The best examples, for the tints of all natural stones +are as exquisite in quality as endless in change; and the best means, +for they are all permanent. + +§ XLVI. Every motive thus concurred in urging him to the study of +chromatic decoration, and every advantage was given him in the pursuit +of it; and this at the very moment when, as presently to be noticed, the +_naïveté_ of barbaric Christianity could only be forcibly appealed to by +the help of colored pictures: so that, both externally and internally, +the architectural construction became partly merged in pictorial effect; +and the whole edifice is to be regarded less as a temple wherein to +pray, than as itself a Book of Common Prayer, a vast illuminated missal, +bound with alabaster instead of parchment, studded with porphyry pillars +instead of jewels, and written within and without in letters of enamel +and gold. + +§ XLVII. LAW VII. _That the impression of the architecture is not to be +dependent on size._ And now there is but one final consequence to be +deduced. The reader understands, I trust, by this time, that the claims +of these several parts of the building upon his attention will depend +upon their delicacy of design, their perfection of color, their +preciousness of material, and their legendary interest. All these +qualities are independent of size, and partly even inconsistent with it. +Neither delicacy of surface sculpture, nor subtle gradations of color, +can be appreciated by the eye at a distance; and since we have seen that +our sculpture is generally to be only an inch or two in depth, and that +our coloring is in great part to be produced with the soft tints and +veins of natural stones, it will follow necessarily that none of the +parts of the building can be removed far from the eye, and therefore +that the whole mass of it cannot be large. It is not even desirable that +it should be so; for the temper in which the mind addresses itself to +contemplate minute and beautiful details is altogether different from +that in which it submits itself to vague impressions of space and size. +And therefore we must not be disappointed, but grateful, when we find +all the best work of the building concentrated within a space +comparatively small; and that, for the great cliff-like buttresses and +mighty piers of the North, shooting up into indiscernible height, we +have here low walls spread before us like the pages of a book, and +shafts whose capitals we may touch with our hand. + +§ XLVIII. The due consideration of the principles above stated will +enable the traveller to judge with more candor and justice of the +architecture of St. Mark's than usually it would have been possible for +him to do while under the influence of the prejudices necessitated by +familiarity with the very different schools of Northern art. I wish it +were in my power to lay also before the general reader some +exemplification of the manner in which these strange principles are +developed in the lovely building. But exactly in proportion to the +nobility of any work, is the difficulty of conveying a just impression +of it; and wherever I have occasion to bestow high praise, there it is +exactly most dangerous for me to endeavor to illustrate my meaning, +except by reference to the work itself. And, in fact, the principal +reason why architectural criticism is at this day so far behind all +other, is the impossibility of illustrating the best architecture +faithfully. Of the various schools of painting, examples are accessible +to every one, and reference to the works themselves is found sufficient +for all purposes of criticism; but there is nothing like St. Mark's or +the Ducal Palace to be referred to in the National Gallery, and no +faithful illustration of them is possible on the scale of such a volume +as this. And it is exceedingly difficult on any scale. Nothing is so +rare in art, as far as my own experience goes, as a fair illustration of +architecture; _perfect_ illustration of it does not exist. For all good +architecture depends upon the adaptation of its chiselling to the effect +at a certain distance from the eye; and to render the peculiar confusion +in the midst of order, and uncertainty in the midst of decision, and +mystery in the midst of trenchant lines, which are the result of +distance, together with perfect expression of the peculiarities of the +design, requires the skill of the most admirable artist, devoted to the +work with the most severe conscientiousness, neither the skill nor the +determination having as yet been given to the subject. And in the +illustration of details, every building of any pretensions to high +architectural rank would require a volume of plates, and those finished +with extraordinary care. With respect to the two buildings which are the +principal subjects of the present volume, St. Mark's and the Ducal +Palace, I have found it quite impossible to do them the slightest +justice by any kind of portraiture; and I abandoned the endeavor in the +case of the latter with less regret, because in the new Crystal Palace +(as the poetical public insist upon calling it, though it is neither a +palace, nor of crystal) there will be placed, I believe, a noble cast of +one of its angles. As for St. Mark's, the effort was hopeless from the +beginning. For its effect depends not only upon the most delicate +sculpture in every part, but, as we have just stated, eminently on its +color also, and that the most subtle, variable, inexpressible color in +the world,--the color of glass, of transparent alabaster, of polished +marble, and lustrous gold. It would be easier to illustrate a crest of +Scottish mountain, with its purple heather and pale harebells at their +fullest and fairest, or a glade of Jura forest, with its floor of +anemone and moss, than a single portico of St. Mark's. The fragment of +one of its archivolts, given at the bottom of the opposite Plate, is not +to illustrate the thing itself, but to illustrate the impossibility of +illustration. + +§ XLIX. It is left a fragment, in order to get it on a larger scale; and +yet even on this scale it is too small to show the sharp folds and +points of the marble vine-leaves with sufficient clearness. The ground +of it is gold, the sculpture in the spandrils is not more than an inch +and a half deep, rarely so much. It is in fact nothing more than an +exquisite sketching of outlines in marble, to about the same depth as in +the Elgin frieze; the draperies, however, being filled with close folds, +in the manner of the Byzantine pictures, folds especially necessary +here, as large masses could not be expressed in the shallow sculpture +without becoming insipid; but the disposition of these folds is always +most beautiful, and often opposed by broad and simple spaces, like that +obtained by the scroll in the hand of the prophet, seen in the plate. + +[Illustration: Plate VI. + THE VINE TREE, AND IN SERVICE.] + +The balls in the archivolt project considerably, and the interstices +between their interwoven bands of marble are filled with colors like the +illuminations of a manuscript; violet, crimson, blue, gold, and green +alternately: but no green is ever used without an intermixture of blue +pieces in the mosaic, nor any blue without a little centre of pale +green; sometimes only a single piece of glass a quarter of an inch +square, so subtle was the feeling for color which was thus to be +satisfied.[32] The intermediate circles have golden stars set on an +azure ground, varied in the same manner; and the small crosses seen in +the intervals are alternately blue and subdued scarlet, with two small +circles of white set in the golden ground above and beneath them, each +only about half an inch across (this work, remember, being on the +outside of the building, and twenty feet above the eye), while the blue +crosses have each a pale green centre. Of all this exquisitely +mingled hue, no plate, however large or expensive, could give any +adequate conception; but, if the reader will supply in imagination to +the engraving what he supplies to a common woodcut of a group of +flowers, the decision of the respective merits of modern and of +Byzantine architecture may be allowed to rest on this fragment of St. +Mark's alone. + +From the vine-leaves of that archivolt, though there is no direct +imitation of nature in them, but on the contrary a studious subjection +to architectural purpose more particularly to be noticed hereafter, we +may yet receive the same kind of pleasure which we have in seeing true +vine-leaves and wreathed branches traced upon golden light; its stars +upon their azure ground ought to make us remember, as its builder +remembered, the stars that ascend and fall in the great arch of the sky: +and I believe that stars, and boughs, and leaves, and bright colors are +everlastingly lovely, and to be by all men beloved; and, moreover, that +church walls grimly seared with squared lines, are not better nor nobler +things than these. I believe the man who designed and the men who +delighted in that archivolt to have been wise, happy, and holy. Let the +reader look back to the archivolt I have already given out of the +streets of London (Plate XIII. Vol. I.), and see what there is in it to +make us any of the three. Let him remember that the men who design such +work as that call St. Mark's a barbaric monstrosity, and let him judge +between us. + +§ L. Some farther details of the St. Mark's architecture, and especially +a general account of Byzantine capitals, and of the principal ones at +the angles of the church, will be found in the following chapter.[33] +Here I must pass on to the second part of our immediate subject, namely, +the inquiry how far the exquisite and varied ornament of St. Mark's fits +it, as a Temple, for its sacred purpose, and would be applicable in the +churches of modern times. We have here evidently two questions: the +first, that wide and continually agitated one, whether richness of +ornament be right in churches at all; the second, whether the ornament +of St. Mark's be of a truly ecclesiastical and Christian character. + +§ LI. In the first chapter of the "Seven Lamps of Architecture" I +endeavored to lay before the reader some reasons why churches ought to +be richly adorned, as being the only places in which the desire of +offering a portion of all precious things to God could be legitimately +expressed. But I left wholly untouched the question: whether the church, +as such, stood in need of adornment, or would be better fitted for its +purposes by possessing it. This question I would now ask the reader to +deal with briefly and candidly. + +The chief difficulty in deciding it has arisen from its being always +presented to us in an unfair form. It is asked of us, or we ask of +ourselves, whether the sensation which we now feel in passing from our +own modern dwelling-house, through a newly built street, into a +cathedral of the thirteenth century, be safe or desirable as a +preparation for public worship. But we never ask whether that sensation +was at all calculated upon by the builders of the cathedral. + +§ LII. Now I do not say that the contrast of the ancient with the modern +building, and the strangeness with which the earlier architectural forms +fall upon the eye, are at this day disadvantageous. But I do say, that +their effect, whatever it may be, was entirely uncalculated upon by the +old builder. He endeavored to make his work beautiful, but never +expected it to be strange. And we incapacitate ourselves altogether from +fair judgment of its intention, if we forget that, when it was built, it +rose in the midst of other work fanciful and beautiful as itself; that +every dwelling-house in the middle ages was rich with the same ornaments +and quaint with the same grotesques which fretted the porches or +animated the gargoyles of the cathedral; that what we now regard with +doubt and wonder, as well as with delight, was then the natural +continuation, into the principal edifice of the city, of a style which +was familiar to every eye throughout all its lanes and streets; and that +the architect had often no more idea of producing a peculiarly +devotional impression by the richest color and the most elaborate +carving, than the builder of a modern meeting-house has by his +whitewashed walls and square-cut casements.[34] + +§ LIII. Let the reader fix this great fact well in his mind, and then +follow out its important corollaries. We attach, in modern days, a kind +of sacredness to the pointed arch and the groined roof, because, while +we look habitually out of square windows and live under flat ceilings, +we meet with the more beautiful forms in the ruins of our abbeys. But +when those abbeys were built, the pointed arch was used for every shop +door, as well as for that of the cloister, and the feudal baron and +freebooter feasted, as the monk sang, under vaulted roofs; not because +the vaulting was thought especially appropriate to either the revel or +psalm, but because it was then the form in which a strong roof was +easiest built. We have destroyed the goodly architecture of our cities; +we have substituted one wholly devoid of beauty or meaning; and then we +reason respecting the strange effect upon our minds of the fragments +which, fortunately, we have left in our churches, as if those churches +had always been designed to stand out in strong relief from all the +buildings around them, and Gothic architecture had always been, what it +is now, a religious language, like Monkish Latin. Most readers know, if +they would arouse their knowledge, that this was not so; but they take +no pains to reason the matter out: they abandon themselves drowsily to +the impression that Gothic is a peculiarly ecclesiastical style; and +sometimes, even, that richness in church ornament is a condition or +furtherance of the Romish religion. Undoubtedly it has become so in +modern times: for there being no beauty in our recent architecture, and +much in the remains of the past, and these remains being almost +exclusively ecclesiastical, the High Church and Romanist parties have +not been slow in availing themselves of the natural instincts which were +deprived of all food except from this source; and have willingly +promulgated the theory, that because all the good architecture that is +now left is expressive of High Church or Romanist doctrines, all good +architecture ever has been and must be so,--a piece of absurdity from +which, though here and there a country clergyman may innocently believe +it, I hope the common sense of the nation will soon manfully quit +itself. It needs but little inquiry into the spirit of the past, to +ascertain what, once for all, I would desire here clearly and forcibly +to assert, that wherever Christian church architecture has been good and +lovely, it has been merely the perfect development of the common +dwelling-house architecture of the period; that when the pointed arch +was used in the street, it was used in the church; when the round arch +was used in the street, it was used in the church; when the pinnacle was +set over the garret window, it was set over the belfry tower; when the +flat roof was used for the drawing-room, it was used for the nave. There +is no sacredness in round arches, nor in pointed; none in pinnacles, nor +in buttresses; none in pillars, nor in traceries. Churches were larger +than most other buildings, because they had to hold more people; they +were more adorned than most other buildings, because they were safer +from violence, and were the fitting subjects of devotional offering: but +they were never built in any separate, mystical, and religious style; +they were built in the manner that was common and familiar to everybody +at the time. The flamboyant traceries that adorn the façade of Rouen +Cathedral had once their fellows in every window of every house in the +market-place; the sculptures that adorn the porches of St. Mark's had +once their match on the walls of every palace on the Grand Canal; and +the only difference between the church and the dwelling-house was, that +there existed a symbolical meaning in the distribution of the parts of +all buildings meant for worship, and that the painting or sculpture was, +in the one case, less frequently of profane subject than in the other. A +more severe distinction cannot be drawn: for secular history was +constantly introduced into church architecture; and sacred history or +allusion generally formed at least one half of the ornament of the +dwelling-house. + +§ LIV. This fact is so important, and so little considered, that I must +be pardoned for dwelling upon it at some length, and accurately marking +the limits of the assertion I have made. I do not mean that every +dwelling-house of mediæval cities was as richly adorned and as exquisite +in composition as the fronts of their cathedrals, but that they +presented features of the same kind, often in parts quite as beautiful; +and that the churches were not separated by any change of style from the +buildings round them, as they are now, but were merely more finished and +full examples of a universal style, rising out of the confused streets +of the city as an oak tree does out of an oak copse, not differing in +leafage, but in size and symmetry. Of course the quainter and smaller +forms of turret and window necessary for domestic service, the inferior +materials, often wood instead of stone, and the fancy of the +inhabitants, which had free play in the design, introduced oddnesses, +vulgarities, and variations into house architecture, which were +prevented by the traditions, the wealth, and the skill of the monks and +freemasons; while, on the other hand, conditions of vaulting, +buttressing, and arch and tower building, were necessitated by the mere +size of the cathedral, of which it would be difficult to find examples +elsewhere. But there was nothing more in these features than the +adaptation of mechanical skill to vaster requirements; there was nothing +intended to be, or felt to be, especially ecclesiastical in any of the +forms so developed; and the inhabitants of every village and city, when +they furnished funds for the decoration of their church, desired merely +to adorn the house of God as they adorned their own, only a little more +richly, and with a somewhat graver temper in the subjects of the +carving. Even this last difference is not always clearly discernible: +all manner of ribaldry occurs in the details of the ecclesiastical +buildings of the North, and at the time when the best of them were +built, every man's house was a kind of temple; a figure of the Madonna, +or of Christ, almost always occupied a niche over the principal door, +and the Old Testament histories were curiously interpolated amidst the +grotesques of the brackets and the gables. + +§ LV. And the reader will now perceive that the question respecting +fitness of church decoration rests in reality on totally different +grounds from those commonly made foundations of argument. So long as our +streets are walled with barren brick, and our eyes rest continually, in +our daily life, on objects utterly ugly, or of inconsistent and +meaningless design, it may be a doubtful question whether the faculties +of eye and mind which are capable of perceiving beauty, having been left +without food during the whole of our active life, should be suddenly +feasted upon entering a place of worship; and color, and music, and +sculpture should delight the senses, and stir the curiosity of men +unaccustomed to such appeal, at the moment when they are required to +compose themselves for acts of devotion;--this, I say, may be a doubtful +question: but it cannot be a question at all, that if once familiarized +with beautiful form and color, and accustomed to see in whatever human +hands have executed for us, even for the lowest services, evidence of +noble thought and admirable skill, we shall desire to see this evidence +also in whatever is built or labored for the house of prayer; that the +absence of the accustomed loveliness would disturb instead of assisting +devotion; and that we should feel it as vain to ask whether, with our +own house full of goodly craftsmanship, we should worship God in a house +destitute of it, as to ask whether a pilgrim whose day's journey had led +him through fair woods and by sweet waters, must at evening turn aside +into some barren place to pray. + +§ LVI. Then the second question submitted to us, whether the ornament of +St. Mark's be truly ecclesiastical and Christian, is evidently +determined together with the first; for, if not only the permission of +ornament at all, but the beautiful execution of it, be dependent on our +being familiar with it in daily life, it will follow that no style of +noble architecture _can_ be exclusively ecclesiastical. It must be +practised in the dwelling before it be perfected in the church, and it +is the test of a noble style that it shall be applicable to both; for if +essentially false and ignoble, it may be made to fit the dwelling-house, +but never can be made to fit the church: and just as there are many +principles which will bear the light of the world's opinion, yet will +not bear the light of God's word, while all principles which will bear +the test of Scripture will also bear that of practice, so in +architecture there are many forms which expediency and convenience may +apparently justify, or at least render endurable, in daily use, which +will yet be found offensive the moment they are used for church service; +but there are none good for church service, which cannot bear daily use. +Thus the Renaissance manner of building is a convenient style for +dwelling-houses, but the natural sense of all religious men causes them +to turn from it with pain when it has been used in churches; and this +has given rise to the popular idea that the Roman style is good for +houses and the Gothic for churches. This is not so; the Roman style is +essentially base, and we can bear with it only so long as it gives us +convenient windows and spacious rooms; the moment the question of +convenience is set aside, and the expression or beauty of the style is +tried by its being used in a church, we find it fail. But because the +Gothic and Byzantine styles are fit for churches they are not therefore +less fit for dwellings. They are in the highest sense fit and good for +both, nor were they ever brought to perfection except where they were +used for both. + +§ LVII. But there is one character of Byzantine work which, according to +the time at which it was employed, may be considered as either fitting +or unfitting it for distinctly ecclesiastical purposes; I mean the +essentially pictorial character of its decoration. We have already seen +what large surfaces it leaves void of bold architectural features, to be +rendered interesting merely by surface ornament or sculpture. In this +respect Byzantine work differs essentially from pure Gothic styles, +which are capable of filling every vacant space by features purely +architectural, and may be rendered, if we please, altogether independent +of pictorial aid. A Gothic church may be rendered impressive by mere +successions of arches, accumulations of niches, and entanglements of +tracery. But a Byzantine church requires expression and interesting +decoration over vast plane surfaces,--decoration which becomes noble +only by becoming pictorial; that is to say, by representing natural +objects,--men, animals, or flowers. And, therefore, the question whether +the Byzantine style be fit for church service in modern days, becomes +involved in the inquiry, what effect upon religion has been or may yet +be produced by pictorial art, and especially by the art of the +mosaicist? + +§ LVIII. The more I have examined the subject the more dangerous I have +found it to dogmatize respecting the character of the art which is +likely, at a given period, to be most useful to the cause of religion. +One great fact first meets me. I cannot answer for the experience of +others, but I never yet met with a Christian whose heart was thoroughly +set upon the world to come, and, so far as human judgment could +pronounce, perfect and right before God, who cared about art at all. I +have known several very noble Christian men who loved it intensely, but +in them there was always traceable some entanglement of the thoughts +with the matters of this world, causing them to fall into strange +distresses and doubts, and often leading them into what they themselves +would confess to be errors in understanding, or even failures in duty. I +do not say that these men may not, many of them, be in very deed nobler +than those whose conduct is more consistent; they may be more tender in +the tone of all their feelings, and farther-sighted in soul, and for +that very reason exposed to greater trials and fears, than those whose +hardier frame and naturally narrower vision enable them with less effort +to give their hands to God and walk with Him. But still, the general +fact is indeed so, that I have never known a man who seemed altogether +right and calm in faith, who seriously cared about art; and when +casually moved by it, it is quite impossible to say beforehand by what +class of art this impression will on such men be made. Very often it is +by a theatrical commonplace, more frequently still by false sentiment. I +believe that the four painters who have had, and still have, the most +influence, such as it is, on the ordinary Protestant Christian mind, are +Carlo Dolci, Guercino, Benjamin West, and John Martin. Raphael, much as +he is talked about, is, I believe in very fact, rarely looked at by +religious people; much less his master, or any of the truly great +religious men of old. But a smooth Magdalen of Carlo Dolci with a tear +on each cheek, or a Guercino Christ or St. John, or a Scripture +illustration of West's, or a black cloud with a flash of lightning in it +of Martin's, rarely fails of being verily, often deeply, felt for the +time. + +§ LIX. There are indeed many very evident reasons for this; the chief +one being that, as all truly great religious painters have been hearty +Romanists, there are none of their works which do not embody, in some +portions of them, definitely Romanist doctrines. The Protestant mind is +instantly struck by these, and offended by them, so as to be incapable +of entering, or at least rendered indisposed to enter, farther into the +heart of the work, or to the discovering those deeper characters of it, +which are not Romanist, but Christian, in the everlasting sense and +power of Christianity. Thus most Protestants, entering for the first +time a Paradise of Angelico, would be irrevocably offended by finding +that the first person the painter wished them to speak to was St. +Dominic; and would retire from such a heaven as speedily as +possible,--not giving themselves time to discover, that whether dressed +in black, or white, or grey, and by whatever name in the calendar they +might be called, the figures that filled that Angelico heaven were +indeed more saintly, and pure, and full of love in every feature, than +any that the human hand ever traced before or since. And thus +Protestantism, having foolishly sought for the little help it requires +at the hand of painting from the men who embodied no Catholic doctrine, +has been reduced to receive it from those who believed neither +Catholicism nor Protestantism, but who read the Bible in search of the +picturesque. We thus refuse to regard the painters who passed their +lives in prayer, but are perfectly ready to be taught by those who spent +them in debauchery. There is perhaps no more popular Protestant picture +than Salvator's "Witch of Endor," of which the subject was chosen by the +painter simply because, under the names of Saul and the Sorceress, he +could paint a captain of banditti, and a Neapolitan hag. + +§ LX. The fact seems to be that strength of religious feeling is capable +of supplying for itself whatever is wanting in the rudest suggestions of +art, and will either, on the one hand, purify what is coarse into +inoffensiveness, or, on the other, raise what is feeble into +impressiveness. Probably all art, as such, is unsatisfactory to it; and +the effort which it makes to supply the void will be induced rather by +association and accident than by the real merit of the work submitted to +it. The likeness to a beloved friend, the correspondence with a habitual +conception, the freedom from any strange or offensive particularity, +and, above all, an interesting choice of incident, will win admiration +for a picture when the noblest efforts of religious imagination would +otherwise fail of power. How much more, when to the quick capacity of +emotion is joined a childish trust that the picture does indeed +represent a fact! it matters little whether the fact be well or ill +told; the moment we believe the picture to be true, we complain little +of its being ill-painted. Let it be considered for a moment, whether the +child, with its colored print, inquiring eagerly and gravely which is +Joseph, and which is Benjamin, is not more capable of receiving a +strong, even a sublime, impression from the rude symbol which it invests +with reality by its own effort, than the connoisseur who admires the +grouping of the three figures in Raphael's "Telling of the Dreams;" and +whether also, when the human mind is in right religious tone, it has not +always this childish power--I speak advisedly, this power--a noble one, +and possessed more in youth than at any period of after life, but +always, I think, restored in a measure by religion--of raising into +sublimity and reality the rudest symbol which is given to it of +accredited truth. + +§ LXI. Ever since the period of the Renaissance, however, the truth has +not been accredited; the painter of religious subject is no longer +regarded as the narrator of a fact, but as the inventor of an idea.[35] +We do not severely criticise the manner in which a true history is +told, but we become harsh investigators of the faults of an invention; +so that in the modern religious mind, the capacity of emotion, which +renders judgment uncertain, is joined with an incredulity which renders +it severe; and this ignorant emotion, joined with ignorant observance of +faults, is the worst possible temper in which any art can be regarded, +but more especially sacred art. For as religious faith renders emotion +facile, so also it generally renders expression simple; that is to say a +truly religious painter will very often be ruder, quainter, simpler, and +more faulty in his manner of working, than a great irreligious one. And +it was in this artless utterance, and simple acceptance, on the part of +both the workman and the beholder, that all noble schools of art have +been cradled; it is in them that they _must_ be cradled to the end of +time. It is impossible to calculate the enormous loss of power in modern +days, owing to the imperative requirement that art shall be methodical +and learned: for as long as the constitution of this world remains +unaltered, there will be more intellect in it than there can be +education; there will be many men capable of just sensation and vivid +invention, who never will have time to cultivate or polish their natural +powers. And all unpolished power is in the present state of society +lost; in other things as well as in the arts, but in the arts +especially: nay, in nine cases out of ten, people mistake the polish for +the power. Until a man has passed through a course of academy +studentship, and can draw in an approved manner with French chalk, and +knows foreshortening, and perspective, and something of anatomy, we do +not think he can possibly be an artist; what is worse, we are very apt +to think that we can _make_ him an artist by teaching him anatomy, and +how to draw with French chalk; whereas the real gift in him is utterly +independent of all such accomplishments: and I believe there are many +peasants on every estate, and laborers in every town, of Europe, who +have imaginative powers of a high order, which nevertheless cannot be +used for our good, because we do not choose to look at anything but what +is expressed in a legal and scientific way. I believe there is many a +village mason who, set to carve a series of Scripture or any other +histories, would find many a strange and noble fancy in his head, and +set it down, roughly enough indeed, but in a way well worth our having. +But we are too grand to let him do this, or to set up his clumsy work +when it is done; and accordingly the poor stone-mason is kept hewing +stones smooth at the corners, and we build our church of the smooth +square stones, and consider ourselves wise. + +§ LXII. I shall pursue this subject farther in another place; but I +allude to it here in order to meet the objections of those persons who +suppose the mosaics of St. Mark's, and others of the period, to be +utterly barbarous as representations of religious history. Let it be +granted that they are so; we are not for that reason to suppose they +were ineffective in religious teaching. I have above spoken of the whole +church as a great Book of Common Prayer; the mosaics were its +illuminations, and the common people of the time were taught their +Scripture history by means of them, more impressively perhaps, though +far less fully, than ours are now by Scripture reading. They had no +other Bible, and--Protestants do not often enough consider this--_could_ +have no other. We find it somewhat difficult to furnish our poor with +printed Bibles; consider what the difficulty must have been when they +could be given only in manuscript. The walls of the church necessarily +became the poor man's Bible, and a picture was more easily read upon the +walls than a chapter. Under this view, and considering them merely as +the Bible pictures of a great nation in its youth, I shall finally +invite the reader to examine the connexion and subjects of these +mosaics; but in the meantime I have to deprecate the idea of their +execution being in any sense barbarous. I have conceded too much to +modern prejudice, in permitting them to be rated as mere childish +efforts at colored portraiture: they have characters in them of a very +noble kind; nor are they by any means devoid of the remains of the +science of the later Roman empire. The character of the features is +almost always fine, the expression stern and quiet, and very solemn, the +attitudes and draperies always majestic in the single figures, and in +those of the groups which are not in violent action;[36] while the +bright coloring and disregard of chiaroscuro cannot be regarded as +imperfections, since they are the only means by which the figures could +be rendered clearly intelligible in the distance and darkness of the +vaulting. So far am I from considering them barbarous, that I believe of +all works of religious art whatsoever, these, and such as these, have +been the most effective. They stand exactly midway between the debased +manufacture of wooden and waxen images which is the support of Romanist +idolatry all over the world, and the great art which leads the mind away +from the religious subject to the art itself. Respecting neither of +these branches of human skill is there, nor can there be, any question. +The manufacture of puppets, however influential on the Romanist mind of +Europe, is certainly not deserving of consideration as one of the fine +arts. It matters literally nothing to a Romanist what the image he +worships is like. Take the vilest doll that is screwed together in a +cheap toy-shop, trust it to the keeping of a large family of children, +let it be beaten about the house by them till it is reduced to a +shapeless block, then dress it in a satin frock and declare it to have +fallen from heaven, and it will satisfactorily answer all Romanist +purposes. Idolatry,[37] it cannot be too often repeated, is no +encourager of the fine arts. But, on the other hand, the highest +branches of the fine arts are no encouragers either of idolatry or of +religion. No picture of Leonardo's or Raphael's, no statue of Michael +Angelo's, has ever been worshipped, except by accident. Carelessly +regarded, and by ignorant persons, there is less to attract in them than +in commoner works. Carefully regarded, and by intelligent persons, they +instantly divert the mind from their subject to their art, so that +admiration takes the place of devotion. I do not say that the Madonna di +S. Sisto, the Madonna del Cardellino, and such others, have not had +considerable religious influence on certain minds, but I say that on the +mass of the people of Europe they have had none whatever; while by far +the greater number of the most celebrated statues and pictures are never +regarded with any other feelings than those of admiration of human +beauty, or reverence for human skill. Effective religious art, +therefore, has always lain, and I believe must always lie, between the +two extremes--of barbarous idol-fashioning on one side, and magnificent +craftsmanship on the other. It consists partly in missal painting, and +such book-illustrations as, since the invention of printing, have taken +its place; partly in glass-painting; partly in rude sculpture on the +outsides of buildings; partly in mosaics; and partly in the frescoes and +tempera pictures which, in the fourteenth century, formed the link +between this powerful, because imperfect, religious art, and the +impotent perfection which succeeded it. + +§ LXIII. But of all these branches the most important are the inlaying +and mosaic of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, represented in a +central manner by these mosaics of St. Mark's. Missal-painting could +not, from its minuteness, produce the same sublime impressions, and +frequently merged itself in mere ornamentation of the page. Modern +book-illustration has been so little skilful as hardly to be worth +naming. Sculpture, though in some positions it becomes of great +importance, has always a tendency to lose itself in architectural +effect; and was probably seldom deciphered, in all its parts, by the +common people, still less the traditions annealed in the purple burning +of the painted window. Finally, tempera pictures and frescoes were often +of limited size or of feeble color. But the great mosaics of the twelfth +and thirteenth centuries covered the walls and roofs of the churches +with inevitable lustre; they could not be ignored or escaped from; their +size rendered them majestic, their distance mysterious, their color +attractive. They did not pass into confused or inferior decorations; +neither were they adorned with any evidences of skill or science, such +as might withdraw the attention from their subjects. They were before +the eyes of the devotee at every interval of his worship; vast +shadowings forth of scenes to whose realization he looked forward, or of +spirits whose presence he invoked. And the man must be little capable of +receiving a religious impression of any kind, who, to this day, does not +acknowledge some feeling of awe, as he looks up at the pale countenances +and ghastly forms which haunt the dark roofs of the Baptisteries of +Parma and Florence, or remains altogether untouched by the majesty of +the colossal images of apostles, and of Him who sent apostles, that look +down from the darkening gold of the domes of Venice and Pisa. + +§ LXIV. I shall, in a future portion of this work, endeavor to discover +what probabilities there are of our being able to use this kind of art +in modern churches; but at present it remains for us to follow out the +connexion of the subjects represented in St. Mark's so as to fulfil our +immediate object, and form an adequate conception of the feelings of its +builders, and of its uses to those for whom it was built. + +Now there is one circumstance to which I must, in the outset, direct the +reader's special attention, as forming a notable distinction between +ancient and modern days. Our eyes are now familiar and wearied with +writing; and if an inscription is put upon a building, unless it be +large and clear, it is ten to one whether we ever trouble ourselves to +decipher it. But the old architect was sure of readers. He knew that +every one would be glad to decipher all that he wrote; that they would +rejoice in possessing the vaulted leaves of his stone manuscript; and +that the more he gave them, the more grateful would the people be. We +must take some pains, therefore, when we enter St. Mark's, to read all +that is inscribed, or we shall not penetrate into the feeling either of +the builder or of his times. + +§ LXV. A large atrium or portico is attached to two sides of the church, +a space which was especially reserved for unbaptized persons and new +converts. It was thought right that, before their baptism, these persons +should be led to contemplate the great facts of the Old Testament +history; the history of the Fall of Man, and of the lives of Patriarchs +up to the period of the Covenant by Moses: the order of the subjects in +this series being very nearly the same as in many Northern churches, but +significantly closing with the Fall of the Manna, in order to mark to +the catechumen the insufficiency of the Mosaic covenant for +salvation,--"Our fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are +dead,"--and to turn his thoughts to the true Bread of which that manna +was the type. + +§ LXVI. Then, when after his baptism he was permitted to enter the +church, over its main entrance he saw, on looking back, a mosaic of +Christ enthroned, with the Virgin on one side and St. Mark on the other, +in attitudes of adoration. Christ is represented as holding a book open +upon his knee, on which is written: "I AM THE DOOR; BY ME IF ANY MAN +ENTER IN, HE SHALL BE SAVED." On the red marble moulding which surrounds +the mosaic is written: "I AM THE GATE OF LIFE; LET THOSE WHO ARE MINE +ENTER BY ME." Above, on the red marble fillet which forms the cornice of +the west end of the church, is written, with reference to the figure of +Christ below: "WHO HE WAS, AND FROM WHOM HE CAME, AND AT WHAT PRICE HE +REDEEMED THEE, AND WHY HE MADE THEE, AND GAVE THEE ALL THINGS, DO THOU +CONSIDER." + +Now observe, this was not to be seen and read only by the catechumen +when he first entered the church; every one who at any time entered, was +supposed to look back and to read this writing; their daily entrance +into the church was thus made a daily memorial of their first entrance +into the spiritual Church; and we shall find that the rest of the book +which was opened for them upon its walls continually led them in the +same manner to regard the visible temple as in every part a type of the +invisible Church of God. + +§ LXVII. Therefore the mosaic of the first dome, which is over the head +of the spectator as soon as he has entered by the great door (that door +being the type of baptism), represents the effusion of the Holy Spirit, +as the first consequence and seal of the entrance into the Church of +God. In the centre of the cupola is the Dove, enthroned in the Greek +manner, as the Lamb is enthroned, when the Divinity of the Second and +Third Persons is to be insisted upon together with their peculiar +offices. From the central symbol of the Holy Spirit twelve streams of +fire descend upon the heads of the twelve apostles, who are represented +standing around the dome; and below them, between the windows which are +pierced in its walls, are represented, by groups of two figures for each +separate people, the various nations who heard the apostles speak, at +Pentecost, every man in his own tongue. Finally, on the vaults, at the +four angles which support the cupola, are pictured four angels, each +bearing a tablet upon the end of a rod in his hand: on each of the +tablets of the three first angels is inscribed the word "Holy;" on that +of the fourth is written "Lord;" and the beginning of the hymn being +thus put into the mouths of the four angels, the words of it are +continued around the border of the dome, uniting praise to God for the +gift of the Spirit, with welcome to the redeemed soul received into His +Church: + + "HOLY, HOLY, HOLY, LORD GOD OF SABAOTH: + HEAVEN AND EARTH ARE FULL OF THY GLORY. + HOSANNA IN THE HIGHEST: + BLESSED IS HE THAT COMETH IN THE NAME OF THE LORD." + +And observe in this writing that the convert is required to regard the +outpouring of the Holy Spirit especially as a work of _sanctification_. +It is the _holiness_ of God manifested in the giving of His Spirit to +sanctify those who had become His children, which the four angels +celebrate in their ceaseless praise; and it is on account of this +holiness that the heaven and earth are said to be full of His glory. + +§ LXVIII. After thus hearing praise rendered to God by the angels for +the salvation of the newly-entered soul, it was thought fittest that the +worshipper should be led to contemplate, in the most comprehensive forms +possible, the past evidence and the future hopes of Christianity, as +summed up in three facts without assurance of which all faith is vain; +namely that Christ died, that He rose again, and that He ascended into +heaven, there to prepare a place for His elect. On the vault between the +first and second cupolas are represented the crucifixion and +resurrection of Christ, with the usual series of intermediate +scenes,--the treason of Judas, the judgment of Pilate, the crowning with +thorns, the descent into Hades, the visit of the women to the sepulchre, +and the apparition to Mary Magdalene. The second cupola itself, which is +the central and principal one of the church, is entirely occupied by the +subject of the Ascension. At the highest point of it Christ is +represented as rising into the blue heaven, borne up by four angels, and +throned upon a rainbow, the type of reconciliation. Beneath him, the +twelve apostles are seen upon the Mount of Olives, with the Madonna, +and, in the midst of them, the two men in white apparel who appeared at +the moment of the Ascension, above whom, as uttered by them, are +inscribed the words, "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into +heaven? This Christ, the Son of God, as He is taken from you, shall so +come, the arbiter of the earth, trusted to do judgment and justice." + +§ LXIX. Beneath the circle of the apostles, between the windows of the +cupola, are represented the Christian virtues, as sequent upon the +crucifixion of the flesh, and the spiritual ascension together with +Christ. Beneath them, on the vaults which support the angles of the +cupola, are placed the four Evangelists, because on their evidence our +assurance of the fact of the ascension rests; and, finally, beneath +their feet, as symbols of the sweetness and fulness of the Gospel which +they declared, are represented the four rivers of Paradise, Pison, +Gihon, Tigris, and Euphrates. + +§ LXX. The third cupola, that over the altar, represents the witness of +the Old Testament to Christ; showing him enthroned in its centre, and +surrounded by the patriarchs and prophets. But this dome was little seen +by the people;[38] their contemplation was intended to be chiefly drawn to +that of the centre of the church, and thus the mind of the worshipper was +at once fixed on the main groundwork and hope of Christianity,--"Christ is +risen," and "Christ shall come." If he had time to explore the minor +lateral chapels and cupolas, he could find in them the whole series of +New Testament history, the events of the Life of Christ, and the +Apostolic miracles in their order, and finally the scenery of the Book +of Revelation;[39] but if he only entered, as often the common people do +to this hour, snatching a few moments before beginning the labor of the +day to offer up an ejaculatory prayer, and advanced but from the main +entrance as far as the altar screen, all the splendor of the glittering +nave and variegated dome, if they smote upon his heart, as they might +often, in strange contrast with his reed cabin among the shallows of the +lagoon, smote upon it only that they might proclaim the two great +messages--"Christ is risen," and "Christ shall come." Daily, as the +white cupolas rose like wreaths of sea-foam in the dawn, while the +shadowy campanile and frowning palace were still withdrawn into the +night, they rose with the Easter Voice of Triumph,--"Christ is risen;" +and daily, as they looked down upon the tumult of the people, deepening +and eddying in the wide square that opened from their feet to the sea, +they uttered above them the sentence of warning,--"Christ shall come." + +§ LXXXI. And this thought may surely dispose the reader to look with +some change of temper upon the gorgeous building and wild blazonry of +that shrine of St. Mark's. He now perceives that it was in the hearts of +the old Venetian people far more than a place of worship. It was at once +a type of the Redeemed Church of God, and a scroll for the written word +of God. It was to be to them, both an image of the Bride, all glorious +within, her clothing of wrought gold; and the actual Table of the Law +and the Testimony, written within and without. And whether honored as +the Church or as the Bible, was it not fitting that neither the gold nor +the crystal should be spared in the adornment of it; that, as the symbol +of the Bride, the building of the wall thereof should be of jasper,[40] +and the foundations of it garnished with all manner of precious stones; +and that, as the channel of the World, that triumphant utterance of the +Psalmist should be true of it,--"I have rejoiced in the way of thy +testimonies, as much as in all riches?" And shall we not look with +changed temper down the long perspective of St. Mark's Place towards the +sevenfold gates and glowing domes of its temple, when we know with what +solemn purpose the shafts of it were lifted above the pavement of the +populous square? Men met there from all countries of the earth, for +traffic or for pleasure; but, above the crowd swaying for ever to and +fro in the restlessness of avarice or thirst of delight, was seen +perpetually the glory of the temple, attesting to them, whether they +would hear or whether they would forbear, that there was one treasure +which the merchantmen might buy without a price, and one delight better +than all others, in the word and the statutes of God. Not in the +wantonness of wealth, not in vain ministry to the desire of the eyes or +the pride of life, were those marbles hewn into transparent strength, +and those arches arrayed in the colors of the iris. There is a message +written in the dyes of them, that once was written in blood; and a sound +in the echoes of their vaults, that one day shall fill the vault of +heaven,--"He shall return, to do judgment and justice." The strength of +Venice was given her, so long as she remembered this: her destruction +found her when she had forgotten this; and it found her irrevocably, +because she forgot it without excuse. Never had city a more glorious +Bible. Among the nations of the North, a rude and shadowy sculpture +filled their temples with confused and hardly legible imagery; but, for +her, the skill and the treasures of the East had gilded every letter, +and illumined every page, till the Book-Temple shone from afar off like +the star of the Magi. In other cities, the meetings of the people were +often in places withdrawn from religious association, subject to +violence and to change; and on the grass of the dangerous rampart, and +in the dust of the troubled street, there were deeds done and counsels +taken, which, if we cannot justify, we may sometimes forgive. But the +sins of Venice, whether in her palace or in her piazza, were done with +the Bible at her right hand. The walls on which its testimony was +written were separated but by a few inches of marble from those which +guarded the secrets of her councils, or confined the victims of her +policy. And when in her last hours she threw off all shame and all +restraint, and the great square of the city became filled with the +madness of the whole earth, be it remembered how much her sin was +greater, because it was done in the face of the House of God, burning +with the letters of His Law. Mountebank and masquer laughed their laugh, +and went their way; and a silence has followed them, not unforetold; for +amidst them all, through century after century of gathering vanity and +festering guilt, that white dome of St. Mark's had uttered in the dead +ear of Venice, "Know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee +into judgment." + + +FOOTNOTES + + [19] Acts, xiii. 13; xv. 38, 39. + + [20] The reader who desires to investigate it may consult Galliciolli, + "Delle Memorie Venete" (Venice, 1795), tom. ii. p. 332, and the + authorities quoted by him. + + [21] Venice, 1761, tom. i. p. 126. + + [22] St. Mark's Place, "partly covered by turf, and planted with a + few trees; and on account of its pleasant aspect called Brollo or + Broglio, that is to say, Garden." The canal passed through it, over + which is built the bridge of the Malpassi, Galliciolli, lib. i. cap. + viii. + + [23] My authorities for this statement are given below, in the chapter + on the Ducal Palace. + + [24] In the Chronicles, "Sancti Marci Ducalis Cappella." + + [25] "To God the Lord, the glorious Virgin Annunciate, and the + Protector St. Mark."--_Corner_, p. 14. It is needless to trouble the + reader with the various authorities for the above statements: I have + consulted the best. The previous inscription once existing on the + church itself: + + "Anno milleno transacto bisque trigeno + Desuper undecimo fuit facta primo," + + is no longer to be seen, and is conjectured by Corner, with much + probability, to have perished "in qualche ristauro." + + [26] Signed Bartolomeus Bozza, 1634, 1647, 1656, &c. + + [27] Guida di Venezia, p. 6. + + [28] The mere warmth of St. Mark's in winter, which is much greater + than that of the other two churches above named, must, however, be + taken into consideration, as one of the most efficient causes of its + being then more frequented. + + [29] I said above that the larger number of the devotees entered by + the "Arabian" porch; the porch, that is to say, on the north side of + the church, remarkable for its rich Arabian archivolt, and through + which access is gained immediately to the northern transept. The + reason is, that in that transept is the chapel of the Madonna, which + has a greater attraction for the Venetians than all the rest of the + church besides. The old builders kept their images of the Virgin + subordinate to those of Christ; but modern Romanism has retrograded + from theirs, and the most glittering portions of the whole church + are the two recesses behind this lateral altar, covered with silver + hearts dedicated to the Virgin. + + [30] Vide "Builder," for October, 1851. + + [31] "Quivi presso si vedi una colonna di tanta bellezza e finezza + che e riputato _piutosto gioia che pietra_."--_Sansovino_, of the + verd-antique pillar in San Jacomo dell' Orio. A remarkable piece of + natural history and moral philosophy, connected with this subject, + will be found in the second chapter of our third volume, quoted from + the work of a Florentine architect of the fifteenth century. + + [32] The fact is, that no two tesseræ of the glass are exactly of + the same tint, the greens being all varied with blues, the blues of + different depths, the reds of different clearness, so that the + effect of each mass of color is full of variety, like the stippled + color of a fruit piece. + + [33] Some illustration, also, of what was said in § XXXIII. above, + respecting the value of the shafts of St. Mark's as large jewels, + will be found in Appendix 9, "Shafts of St. Mark's." + + [34] See the farther notice of this subject in Vol. III. Chap. IV. + + [35] I do not mean that modern Christians believe less in the + _facts_ than ancient Christians, but they do not believe in the + representation of the facts as true. We look upon the picture as + this or that painter's conception; the elder Christians looked upon + it as this or that painter's description of what had actually taken + place. And in the Greek Church all painting is, to this day, + strictly a branch of tradition. See M. Dideron's admirably written + introduction to his Iconographie Chrétienne, p. 7:--"Un de mes + compagnons s'étonnait de retrouver à la Panagia de St. Luc, le saint + Jean Chrysostome qu'il avait dessiné dans le baptistère de St. Marc, + à Venise. Le costume des personnages est partout et en tout temps le + même, non-seulement pour la forme, mais pour la couleur, mais pour + le dessin, mais jusque pour le nombre et l'épaisseur des plis." + + [36] All the effects of Byzantine art to represent violent action + are inadequate, most of them ludicrously so, even when the + sculptural art is in other respects far advanced. The early Gothic + sculptors, on the other hand, fail in all points of refinement, but + hardly ever in expression of action. This distinction is of course + one of the necessary consequences of the difference in all respects + between the repose of the Eastern, and activity of the Western, + mind, which we shall have to trace out completely in the inquiry + into the nature of Gothic. + + [37] Appendix 10, "Proper Sense of the word Idolatry." + + [38] It is also of inferior workmanship, and perhaps later than the + rest. Vide Lord Lindsay, vol. i. p. 124, note. + + [39] The old mosaics from the Revelation have perished, and have been + replaced by miserable work of the seventeenth century. + + [40] Rev. xxi. 18. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +BYZANTINE PALACES. + + +§ I. The account of the architecture of St. Mark's given in the previous +chapter has, I trust, acquainted the reader sufficiently with the spirit +of the Byzantine style: but he has probably, as yet, no clear idea of +its generic forms. Nor would it be safe to define these after an +examination of St. Mark's alone, built as it was upon various models, +and at various periods. But if we pass through the city, looking for +buildings which resemble St. Mark's--first, in the most important +feature of incrustation; secondly, in the character of the +mouldings,--we shall find a considerable number, not indeed very +attractive in their first address to the eye, but agreeing perfectly, +both with each other, and with the earliest portions of St. Mark's, in +every important detail; and to be regarded, therefore, with profound +interest, as indeed the remains of an ancient city of Venice, altogether +different in aspect from that which now exists. From these remains we +may with safety deduce general conclusions touching the forms of +Byzantine architecture, as practised in Eastern Italy, during the +eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries. + +§ II. They agree in another respect, as well as in style. All are either +ruins, or fragments disguised by restoration. Not one of them is +uninjured or unaltered; and the impossibility of finding so much as an +angle or a single story in perfect condition is a proof, hardly less +convincing than the method of their architecture, that they were indeed +raised during the earliest phases of the Venetian power. The mere +fragments, dispersed in narrow streets, and recognizable by a single +capital, or the segment of an arch, I shall not enumerate: but, of +important remains, there are six in the immediate neighborhood of the +Rialto, one in the Rio di Ca' Foscari, and one conspicuously placed +opposite the great Renaissance Palace known as the Vendramin Calerghi, +one of the few palaces still inhabited[41] and well maintained; and +noticeable, moreover, as having a garden beside it, rich with +evergreens, and decorated by gilded railings and white statues that cast +long streams of snowy reflection down into the deep water. The vista of +canal beyond is terminated by the Church of St. Geremia, another but +less attractive work of the Renaissance; a mass of barren brickwork, +with a dull leaden dome above, like those of our National Gallery. So +that the spectator has the richest and meanest of the late architecture +of Venice before him at once: the richest, let him observe, a piece of +private luxury; the poorest, that which was given to God. Then, looking +to the left, he will see the fragment of the work of earlier ages, +testifying against both, not less by its utter desolation than by the +nobleness of the traces that are still left of it. + +§ III. It is a ghastly ruin; whatever is venerable or sad in its wreck +being disguised by attempts to put it to present uses of the basest +kind. It has been composed of arcades borne by marble shafts, and walls +of brick faced with marble: but the covering stones have been torn away +from it like the shroud from a corpse; and its walls, rent into a +thousand chasms, are filled and refilled with fresh brickwork, and the +seams and hollows are choked with clay and whitewash, oozing and +trickling over the marble,--itself blanched into dusty decay by the +frosts of centuries. Soft grass and wandering leafage have rooted +themselves in the rents, but they are not suffered to grow in their own +wild and gentle way, for the place is in a sort inhabited; rotten +partitions are nailed across its corridors, and miserable rooms +contrived in its western wing; and here and there the weeds are +indolently torn down, leaving their haggard fibres to struggle again +into unwholesome growth when the spring next stirs them: and thus, in +contest between death and life, the unsightly heap is festering to its +fall. + +Of its history little is recorded, and that little futile. That it once +belonged to the dukes of Ferrara, and was bought from them in the +sixteenth century, to be made a general receptacle for the goods of the +Turkish merchants, whence it is now generally known as the Fondaco, or +Fontico, de' Turchi, are facts just as important to the antiquary, as +that, in the year 1852, the municipality of Venice allowed its lower +story to be used for a "deposito di Tabacchi." Neither of this, nor of +any other remains of the period, can we know anything but what their own +stones will tell us. + +§ IV. The reader will find in Appendix 11, written chiefly for the +traveller's benefit, an account of the situation and present state of +the other seven Byzantine palaces. Here I shall only give a general +account of the most interesting points in their architecture. + +They all agree in being round-arched and incrusted with marble, but +there are only six in which the original disposition of the parts is +anywise traceable; namely, those distinguished in the Appendix as the +Fondaco de' Turchi, Casa Loredan, Caso Farsetti, Rio-Foscari House, +Terraced House, and Madonnetta House:[42] and these six agree farther in +having continuous arcades along their entire fronts from one angle to +the other, and in having their arcades divided, in each case, into a +centre and wings; both by greater size in the midmost arches, and by the +alternation of shafts in the centre, with pilasters, or with small +shafts, at the flanks. + +§ V. So far as their structure can be traced, they agree also in having +tall and few arches in their lower stories, and shorter and more +numerous arches above: but it happens most unfortunately that in the +only two cases in which the second stories are left the ground floors +are modernized, and in the others where the sea stories are left the +second stories are modernized; so that we never have more than two +tiers of the Byzantine arches, one above the other. These, however, are +quite enough to show the first main point on which I wish to insist, +namely, the subtlety of the feeling for proportion in the Greek +architects; and I hope that even the general reader will not allow +himself to be frightened by the look of a few measurements, for, if he +will only take the little pains necessary to compare them, he will, I am +almost certain, find the result not devoid of interest. + +[Illustration: Fig. IV.] + +§ VI. I had intended originally to give elevations of all these palaces; +but have not had time to prepare plates requiring so much labor and +care. I must, therefore, explain the position of their parts in the +simplest way in my power. + +The Fondaco de' Turchi has sixteen arches in its sea story, and +twenty-six above them in its first story, the whole based on a +magnificent foundation, built of blocks of red marble, some of them +seven feet long by a foot and a half thick, and raised to a height of +about five feet above high-water mark. At this level, the elevation of +one half of the building, from its flank to the central pillars of its +arcades, is rudely given in Fig. IV., in the previous page. It is only +drawn to show the arrangement of the parts, as the sculptures which are +indicated by the circles and upright oblongs between the arches are too +delicate to be shown in a sketch three times the size of this. The +building once was crowned with an Arabian parapet; but it was taken down +some years since, and I am aware of no authentic representation of its +details. The greater part of the sculptures between the arches, +indicated in the woodcut only by blank circles, have also fallen, or +been removed, but enough remain on the two flanks to justify the +representation given in the diagram of their original arrangement. + +And now observe the dimensions. The small arches of the wings in the +ground story, _a_, _a_, _a_, measure, in breadth, from + + Ft. In. + shaft to shaft 4 5 + interval _b_ 7 6½ + interval _c_ 7 11 + intervals _d_, _e_, _f_, &c. 8 1 + +The difference between the width of the arches _b_ and _c_ is +necessitated by the small recess of the cornice on the left hand as +compared with that of the great capitals; but this sudden difference of +half a foot between the two extreme arches of the centre offended the +builder's eye, so he diminished the next one, _unnecessarily_, two +inches, and thus obtained the gradual cadence to the flanks, from eight +feet down to four and a half, in a series of continually increasing +steps. Of course the effect cannot be shown in the diagram, as the first +difference is less than the thickness of its lines. In the upper story +the capitals are all nearly of the same height, and there was no +occasion for the difference between the extreme arches. Its twenty-six +arches are placed, four small ones above each lateral three of the lower +arcade, and eighteen larger above the central ten; thus throwing the +shafts into all manner of relative positions, and completely confusing +the eye in any effort to count them: but there is an exquisite symmetry +running through their apparent confusion; for it will be seen that the +four arches in each flank are arranged in two groups, of which one has a +large single shaft in the centre, and the other a pilaster and two small +shafts. The way in which the large shaft is used as an echo of those in +the central arcade, dovetailing them, as it were, into the system of the +pilasters,--just as a great painter, passing from one tone of color to +another, repeats, over a small space, that which he has left,--is highly +characteristic of the Byzantine care in composition. There are other +evidences of it in the arrangement of the capitals, which will be +noticed below in the seventh chapter. The lateral arches of this upper +arcade measure 3 ft. 2 in. across, and the central 3 ft. 11 in., so that +the arches in the building are altogether of six magnitudes. + +§ VII. Next let us take the Casa Loredan. The mode of arrangement of its +pillars is precisely like that of the Fondaco de' Turchi, so that I +shall merely indicate them by vertical lines in order to be able to +letter the intervals. It has five arches in the centre of the lower +story, and two in each of its wings. + +[Illustration] + + Ft. In. + The midmost interval, _a_, of the central five, is 6 1 + The two on each side, _b_, _b_ 5 2 + The two extremes, _c_, _c_ 4 9 + Inner arches of the wings, _d_, _d_ 4 4 + Outer arches of the wings, _e_, _e_ 4 6 + +The gradation of these dimensions is visible at a glance; the boldest +step being here taken nearest the centre, while in the Fondaco it is +farthest from the centre. The first loss here is of eleven inches, the +second of five, the third of five, and then there is a most subtle +increase of two inches in the extreme arches, as if to contradict the +principle of diminution, and stop the falling away of the building by +firm resistance at its flanks. + +I could not get the measures of the upper story accurately, the palace +having been closed all the time I was in Venice; but it has seven +central arches above the five below, and three at the flanks above the +two below, the groups being separated by double shafts. + +§ VIII. Again, in the Casa Farsetti, the lower story has a centre of +five arches, and wings of two. Referring, therefore, to the last figure, +which will answer for this palace also, the measures of the intervals +are: + + Ft. In. + _a_ 8 0 + _b_ 5 10 + _c_ 5 4 + _d_ and _e_ 5 3 + +It is, however, possible that the interval _c_ and the wing arches may +have been intended to be similar; for one of the wing arches measures 5 +ft. 4 in. We have thus a simpler proportion than any we have hitherto +met with; only two losses taking place, the first of 2 ft. 2 in., the +second of 6 inches. + +The upper story has a central group of seven arches, whose widths are 4 +ft. 1 in. + + Ft. In. + The next arch on each side 3 5 + The three arches of each wing 3 6 + +Here again we have a most curious instance of the subtlety of eye which +was not satisfied without a third dimension, but _could_ be satisfied +with a difference of an inch on three feet and a half. + +§ IX. In the Terraced House, the ground floor is modernized, but the +first story is composed of a centre of five arches, with wings of two, +measuring as follows: + + Ft. In. + Three midmost arches of the central group 4 0 + Outermost arch of the central group 4 6 + Innermost arch of the wing 4 10 + Outermost arch of the wing[43] 5 0 + +Here the greatest step is towards the centre; but the increase, which is +unusual, is towards the outside, the gain being successively six, four, +and two inches. + +I could not obtain the measures of the second story, in which only the +central group is left; but the two outermost arches are visibly larger +than the others, thus beginning a correspondent proportion to the one +below, of which the lateral quantities have been destroyed by +restorations. + +§ X. Finally, in the Rio-Foscari House, the central arch is the +principal feature, and the four lateral ones form one magnificent wing; +the dimensions being from the centre to the side: + + Ft. In. + Central arch 9 9 + Second " 3 8 + Third " 3 10 + Fourth " 3 10 + Fifth " 3 8 + +The difference of two inches on nearly three feet in the two midmost +arches being all that was necessary to satisfy the builder's eye. + +§ XI. I need not point out to the reader that these singular and minute +harmonies of proportion indicate, beyond all dispute, not only that the +buildings in which they are found are of one school, but (so far as +these subtle coincidences of measurement can still be traced in them) in +their original form. No modern builder has any idea of connecting his +arches in this manner, and restorations in Venice are carried on with +too violent hands to admit of the supposition that such refinements +would be even noticed in the progress of demolition, much less imitated +in heedless reproduction. And as if to direct our attention especially +to this character, as indicative of Byzantine workmanship, the most +interesting example of all will be found in the arches of the front of +St. Mark's itself, whose proportions I have not noticed before, in order +that they might here be compared with those of the contemporary palaces. + +[Illustration: Fig. V.] + +§ XII. The doors actually employed for entrance in the western façade +are as usual five, arranged as at _a_ in the annexed woodcut, Fig. V.; +but the Byzantine builder could not be satisfied with so simple a group, +and he introduced, therefore, two minor arches at the extremities, as at +_b_, by adding two small porticos which are of _no use whatever_ except +to consummate the proportions of the façade, and themselves to exhibit +the most exquisite proportions in arrangements of shaft and archivolt +with which I am acquainted in the entire range of European architecture. + +Into these minor particulars I cannot here enter; but observe the +dimensions of the range of arches in the façade, as thus completed by +the flanking porticos: + + Ft. In. + The space of its central archivolt is 31 8 + " the two on each side, about[44] 19 8 + " the two succeeding, about 20 4 + " small arches at flanks, about 6 0 + +[Illustration: Fig. VI.] + +I need not make any comment upon the subtle difference of eight inches +on twenty feet between the second and third dimensions. If the reader +will be at the pains to compare the whole evidence now laid before him, +with that deduced above from the apse of Murano, he cannot but confess +that it amounts to an irrefragable proof of an intense perception of +harmony in the relation of quantities, on the part of the Byzantine +architects; a perception which we have at present lost so utterly as +hardly to be able even to conceive it. And let it not be said, as it was +of the late discoveries of subtle curvature in the Parthenon,[45] that +what is not to be demonstrated without laborious measurement, cannot +have influence on the beauty of the design. The eye is continually +influenced by what it cannot detect; nay, it is not going too far to +say, that it is most influenced by what it detects least. Let the +painter define, if he can, the variations of lines on which depend the +changes of expression in the human countenance. The greater he is, the +more he will feel their subtlety, and the intense difficulty of +perceiving all their relations, or answering for the consequences of a +variation of a hair's breadth in a single curve. Indeed, there is +nothing truly noble either in color or in form, but its power depends on +circumstances infinitely too intricate to be explained, and almost too +subtle to be traced. And as for these Byzantine buildings, we only do +not feel them because we do not _watch_ them; otherwise we should as +much enjoy the variety of proportion in their arches, as we do at +present that of the natural architecture of flowers and leaves. Any of +us can feel in an instant the grace of the leaf group, _b_, in the +annexed figure; and yet that grace is simply owing to its being +proportioned like the façade of St. Mark's; each leaflet answering to an +arch,--the smallest at the root, to those of the porticos. I have tried +to give the proportion quite accurately in _b_; but as the difference +between the second and third leaflets is hardly discernible on so small +a scale, it is somewhat exaggerated in _a_.[46] Nature is often far more +subtle in her proportions. In looking at some of the nobler species of +lilies, full in the front of the flower, we may fancy for a moment that +they form a symmetrical six-petaled star; but on examining them more +closely, we shall find that they are thrown into a group of three +magnitudes by the expansion of two of the inner petals above the stamens +to a breadth greater than any of the four others; while the third inner +petal, on which the stamens rest, contracts itself into the narrowest of +the six, and the three under petals remain of one intermediate +magnitude, as seen in the annexed figure. + +[Illustration: Fig. VII.] + +§ XIII. I must not, however, weary the reader with this subject, which +has always been a favorite one with me, and is apt to lead too far; we +will return to the palaces on the Grand Canal. Admitting, then, that +their fragments are proved, by the minute correspondences of their +arrangement, to be still in their original positions, they indicate to +us a form, whether of palace or dwelling-house, in which there were, +universally, central galleries, or loggias, opening into apartments on +each wing, the amount of light admitted being immense; and the general +proportions of the building, slender, light, and graceful in the utmost +degree, it being in fact little more than an aggregate of shafts and +arches. Of the interior disposition of these palaces there is in no +instance the slightest trace left, nor am I well enough acquainted with +the existing architecture of the East to risk any conjecture on this +subject. I pursue the statement of the facts which still are +ascertainable respecting their external forms. + +§ XIV. In every one of the buildings above mentioned, except the +Rio-Foscari House (which has only one great entrance between its wings), +the central arcades are sustained, at least in one story, and generally +in both, on bold detached cylindrical shafts, with rich capitals, while +the arches of the wings are carried on smaller shafts assisted by +portions of wall, which become pilasters of greater or less width. + +And now I must remind the reader of what was pointed out above (Vol. I. +Chap. XXVII. §§ III. XXXV. XL.), that there are two great orders of +capitals in the world; that one of these is convex in its contour, the +other concave; and that richness of ornament, with all freedom of fancy, +is for the most part found in the one, and severity of ornament, with +stern discipline of the fancy, in the other. + +Of these two families of capitals both occur in the Byzantine period, +but the concave group is the longest-lived, and extends itself into the +Gothic times. In the account which I gave of them in the first volume, +they were illustrated by giving two portions of a simple curve, that of +a salvia leaf. We must now investigate their characters more in detail; +and these may be best generally represented by considering both families +as formed upon the types of flowers,--the one upon that of the +water-lily, the other upon that of the convolvulus. There was no +intention in the Byzantine architects to imitate either one or the other +of these flowers; but, as I have already so often repeated, all +beautiful works of art must either intentionally imitate or accidentally +resemble natural forms; and the direct comparison with the natural forms +which these capitals most resemble, is the likeliest mode of fixing +their distinctions in the reader's mind. + +The one then, the convex family, is modelled according to the commonest +shapes of that great group of flowers which form rounded cups, like that +of the water-lily, the leaves springing horizontally from the stalk, and +closing together upwards. The rose is of this family, but her cup is +filled with the luxuriance of her leaves; the crocus, campanula, +ranunculus, anemone, and almost all the loveliest children of the field, +are formed upon the same type. + +The other family resembles the convolvulus, trumpet-flower, and such +others, in which the lower part of the bell is slender, and the lip +curves outwards at the top. There are fewer flowers constructed on this +than on the convex model; but in the organization of trees and of +clusters of herbage it is seen continually. Of course, both of these +conditions are modified, when applied to capitals, by the enormously +greater thickness of the stalk or shaft, but in other respects the +parallelism is close and accurate; and the reader had better at once fix +the flower outlines in his mind,[47] and remember them as representing +the only two orders of capitals that the world has ever seen, or can +see. + +§ XV. The examples of the concave family in the Byzantine times are +found principally either in large capitals founded on the Greek +Corinthian, used chiefly for the nave pillars of churches, or in the +small lateral shafts of the palaces. It appears somewhat singular that +the pure Corinthian form should have been reserved almost exclusively +for nave pillars, as at Torcello, Murano, and St. Mark's; it occurs, +indeed, together with almost every other form, on the exterior of St. +Mark's also, but never so definitely as in the nave and transept shafts. +Of the conditions assumed by it at Torcello enough has been said; and +one of the most delicate of the varieties occurring in St. Mark's is +given in Plate VIII., fig. 15, remarkable for the cutting of the sharp +thistle-like leaves into open relief, so that the light sometimes shines +through them from behind, and for the beautiful curling of the +extremities of the leaves outwards, joining each other at the top, as in +an undivided flower. + +§ XVI. The other characteristic examples of the concave groups in the +Byzantine times are as simple as those resulting from the Corinthian are +rich. They occur on the _small_ shafts at the flanks of the Fondaco de' +Turchi, the Casa Farsetti, Casa Loredan, Terraced House, and upper +story of the Madonnetta House, in forms so exactly similar that the two +figures 1 and 2 in Plate VIII. may sufficiently represent them all. They +consist merely of portions cut out of the plinths or string-courses +which run along all the faces of these palaces, by four truncations in +the form of arrowy leaves (fig. 1, Fondaco de' Turchi), and the whole +rounded a little at the bottom so as to fit the shaft. When they occur +between two arches they assume the form of the group fig. 2 (Terraced +House). Fig. 3 is from the central arches of the Casa Farsetti, and is +only given because either it is a later restoration or a form absolutely +unique in the Byzantine period. + +[Illustration: Plate VII. + BYZANTINE CAPITALS. CONVEX GROUP.] + +§ XVII. The concave group, however, was not naturally pleasing to the +Byzantine mind. Its own favorite capital was of the bold convex or +cushion shape, so conspicuous in all the buildings of the period that I +have devoted Plate VII., opposite, entirely to its illustration. The +form in which it is first used is practically obtained from a square +block laid on the head of the shaft (fig. 1, Plate VII.), by first +cutting off the lower corners, as in fig. 2, and then rounding the +edges, as in fig. 3; this gives us the bell stone: on this is laid a +simple abacus, as seen in fig. 4, which is the actual form used in the +upper arcade of Murano, and the framework of the capital is complete. +Fig. 5 shows the general manner and effect of its decoration on the same +scale; the other figures, 6 and 7, both from the apse of Murano, 8, from +the Terraced House, and 9, from the Baptistery of St. Mark's, show the +method of chiselling the surfaces in capitals of average richness, such +as occur everywhere, for there is no limit to the fantasy and beauty of +the more elaborate examples. + +§ XVIII. In consequence of the peculiar affection entertained for these +massy forms by the Byzantines, they were apt, when they used any +condition of capital founded on the Corinthian, to modify the concave +profile by making it bulge out at the bottom. Fig. 1, _a_, Plate X., is +the profile of a capital of the pure concave family; and observe, it +needs a fillet or cord round the neck of the capital to show where it +separates from the shaft. Fig. 4, _a_, on the other hand, is the +profile of the pure convex group, which not only needs no such +projecting fillet, but would be encumbered by it; while fig. 2, _a_, is +the profile of one of the Byzantine capitals (Fondaco de' Turchi, lower +arcade) founded on Corinthian, of which the main sweep is concave, but +which bends below into the convex bell-shape, where it joins the shaft. +And, lastly, fig. 3, _a_, is the profile of the nave shafts of St. +Mark's, where, though very delicately granted, the concession to the +Byzantine temper is twofold; first at the spring of the curve from the +base, and secondly the top, where it again becomes convex, though the +expression of the Corinthian bell is still given to it by the bold +concave leaves. + +§ XIX. These, then, being the general modifications of Byzantine +profiles, I have thrown together in Plate VIII., opposite, some of the +most characteristic examples of the decoration of the concave and +transitional types; their localities are given in the note below,[48] +and the following are the principal points to be observed respecting +them. + +The purest concave forms, 1 and 2, were never decorated in the earliest +times, except sometimes by an incision or rib down the centre of their +truncations on the angles. + +[Illustration: Plate VIII. + BYZANTINE CAPITALS. CONCAVE GROUP.] + +Figures 4, 5, 6, and 7 show some of the modes of application of a +peculiarly broad-lobed acanthus leaf, very characteristic of native +Venetian work; 4 and 5 are from the same building, two out of a group of +four, and show the boldness of the variety admitted in the management +even of the capitals most closely derived from the Corinthian. I never +saw one of these Venetian capitals in all respects like another. The +trefoils into which the leaves fall at the extremities are, however, for +the most part similar, though variously disposed, and generally niche +themselves one under the other, as very characteristically in fig. 7. +The form 8 occurs in St. Mark's only, and there very frequently: 9 at +Venice occurs, I think, in St. Mark's only; but it is a favorite early +Lombardic form. 10, 11, and 12 are all highly characteristic. 10 occurs +with more fantastic interweaving upon its sides in the upper stories of +St. Mark's; 11 is derived, in the Casa Loredan, from the great lily +capitals of St. Mark's, of which more presently. 13 and 15 are peculiar +to St. Mark's. 14 is a lovely condition, occurring both there and in the +Fondaco de' Turchi. + +The modes in which the separate portions of the leaves are executed in +these and other Byzantine capitals, will be noticed more at length +hereafter. Here I only wish the reader to observe two things, both with +respect to these and the capitals of the convex family on the former +Plate: first the Life, secondly, the Breadth, of these capitals, as +compared with Greek forms. + +§ XX. I say, first, the Life. Not only is every one of these capitals +differently fancied, but there are many of them which _have no two sides +alike_. Fig. 5, for instance, varies on every side in the arrangement of +the pendent leaf in its centre; fig. 6 has a different plant on each of +its four upper angles. The birds are each cut with a different play of +plumage in figs. 9 and 12, and the vine-leaves are every one varied in +their position in fig. 13. But this is not all. The differences in the +character of ornamentation between them and the Greek capitals, all show +a greater love of nature; the leaves are, every one of them, more +founded on realities, sketched, however rudely, more directly from the +truth; and are continually treated in a manner which shows the mind of +the workman to have been among the living herbage, not among Greek +precedents. The hard outlines in which, for the sake of perfect +intelligibility, I have left this Plate, have deprived the examples of +the vitality of their light and shade; but the reader can nevertheless +observe the _ideas_ of life occurring perpetually: at the top of fig. +4, for instance, the small leaves turned sideways; in fig. 5, the formal +volutes of the old Corinthian transformed into a branching tendril; in +fig. 6, the bunch of grapes thrown carelessly in at the right-hand +corner, in defiance of all symmetry; in fig. 7, the volutes knitted into +wreaths of ivy; in fig. 14, the leaves, drifted, as it were, by a +whirlwind round the capital by which they rise; while figs. 13 and 15 +are as completely living leaves as any of the Gothic time. These designs +may or may not be graceful; what grace or beauty they have is not to be +rendered in mere outline,--but they are indisputably more _natural_ than +any Greek ones, and therefore healthier, and tending to greatness. + +§ XXI. In the second place, note in all these examples, the excessive +breadth of the masses, however afterwards they may be filled with +detail. Whether we examine the contour of the simpler convex bells, or +those of the leaves which bend outwards from the richer and more +Corinthian types, we find they are all outlined by grand and simple +curves, and that the whole of their minute fretwork and thistle-work is +cast into a gigantic mould which subdues all their multitudinous points +and foldings to its own inevitable dominion. And the fact is, that in +the sweeping lines and broad surfaces of these Byzantine sculptures we +obtain, so far as I know, for the first time in the history of art, the +germ of that unity of perfect ease in every separate part, with perfect +subjection to an enclosing form or directing impulse, which was brought +to its most intense expression in the compositions of the two men in +whom the art of Italy consummated itself and expired--Tintoret and +Michael Angelo. + +I would not attach too much importance to the mere habit of working on +the rounded surface of the stone, which is often as much the result of +haste or rudeness as of the desire for breadth, though the result +obtained is not the less beautiful. But in the capital from the Fondaco +de' Turchi, fig. 6, it will be seen that while the sculptor had taken +the utmost care to make his leaves free, graceful, and sharp in effect, +he was dissatisfied with their separation, and could not rest until he +had enclosed them with an unbroken line, like that of a pointed arch; +and the same thing is done in many different ways in other capitals of +the same building, and in many of St. Mark's: but one such instance +would have been enough to prove, if the loveliness of the profiles +themselves did not do so, that the sculptor understood and loved the +laws of generalization; and that the feeling which bound his prickly +leaves, as they waved or drifted round the ridges of his capital, into +those broad masses of unbroken flow, was indeed one with that which made +Michael Angelo encompass the principal figure in his Creation of Adam +with the broad curve of its cloudy drapery. It may seem strange to +assert any connexion between so great a conception and these rudely hewn +fragments of ruined marble; but all the highest principles of art are as +universal as they are majestic, and there is nothing too small to +receive their influence. They rule at once the waves of the mountain +outline, and the sinuosities of the minutest lichen that stains its +shattered stones. + +§ XXII. We have not yet spoken of the three braided and chequered +capitals, numbered 10, 11, and 12. They are representations of a group, +with which many most interesting associations are connected. It was +noticed in the last chapter, that the method of covering the exterior of +buildings with thin pieces of marble was likely to lead to a system of +lighting the interior by minute perforation. In order to obtain both +light and air, without admitting any unbroken body of sunshine, in warm +countries, it became a constant habit of the Arabian architects to +pierce minute and starlike openings in slabs of stone; and to employ the +stones so pierced where the Gothic architects employ traceries. +Internally, the form of stars assumed by the light as it entered[49] +was, in itself, an exquisite decoration; but, externally, it was felt +necessary to add some slight ornament upon the surface of the perforated +stone; and it was soon found that, as the small perforations had a +tendency to look scattered and spotty, the most effective treatment of +the intermediate surfaces would be one which bound them together, and +gave unity and repose to the pierced and disturbed stone: universally, +therefore, those intermediate spaces were carved into the semblance of +interwoven fillets, which alternately sank beneath and rose above each +other as they met. This system of braided or woven ornament was not +confined to the Arabs; it is universally pleasing to the instinct of +mankind. I believe that nearly all early ornamentation is full of +it,--more especially, perhaps, Scandinavian and Anglo-Saxon; and +illuminated manuscripts depend upon it for their loveliest effects of +intricate color, up to the close of the thirteenth century. There are +several very interesting metaphysical reasons for this strange and +unfailing delight, felt in a thing so simple. It is not often that any +idea of utility has power to enhance the true impressions of beauty; but +it is possible that the enormous importance of the art of weaving to +mankind may give some interest, if not actual attractiveness, to any +type or image of the invention to which we owe, at once, our comfort and +our pride. But the more profound reason lies in the innate love of +mystery and unity; in the joy that the human mind has in contemplating +any kind of maze or entanglement, so long as it can discern, through its +confusion, any guiding clue or connecting plan: a pleasure increased and +solemnized by some dim feeling of the setting forth, by such symbols, of +the intricacy, and alternate rise and fall, subjection and supremacy, of +human fortune; the + + "Weave the warp, and weave the woof," + +of Fate and Time. + +[Illustration: Plate IX. + LILY CAPITAL OF ST. MARKS.] + +§ XXIII. But be this as it may, the fact is that we are never tired of +contemplating this woven involution; and that, in some degree, the +sublime pleasure which we have in watching the branches of trees, the +intertwining of the grass, and the tracery of the higher clouds, is +owing to it, not less than that which we receive from the fine meshes of +the robe, the braiding of the hair, and the various glittering of the +linked net or wreathed chain. Byzantine ornamentation, like that of +almost all nations in a state of progress, is full of this kind of work: +but it occurs most conspicuously, though most simply, in the minute +traceries which surround their most solid capitals; sometimes merely in +a reticulated veil, as in the tenth figure in the Plate, sometimes +resembling a basket, on the edges of which are perched birds and other +animals. The diamonded ornament in the eleventh figure is substituted +for it in the Casa Loredan, and marks a somewhat later time and a +tendency to the ordinary Gothic chequer; but the capitals which show it +most definitely are those already so often spoken of as the lily +capitals of St. Mark's, of which the northern one is carefully drawn in +Plate IX. + +[Illustration: Plate X. + THE FOUR VENETIAN FLOWER ORDERS.] + +§ XXIV. These capitals, called barbarous by our architects, are without +exception the most subtle pieces of composition in broad contour which I +have ever met with in architecture. Their profile is given in the +opposite Plate X. fig. 3, _b_; the inner line in the figure being that +of the stone behind the lily, the outer that of the external network, +taken through the side of the capital; while fig. 3, _c_ is the outer +profile at its angle; and the reader will easily understand that the +passing of the one of these lines into the other is productive of the +most exquisite and wonderful series of curvatures possible within such +compass, no two views of the capital giving the same contour. Upon these +profoundly studied outlines, as remarkable for their grace and +complexity as the general mass of the capital is for solid strength and +proportion to its necessary service, the braided work is wrought with +more than usual care; perhaps, as suggested by the Marchese Selvatico, +with some idea of imitating those "nets of chequerwork and wreaths of +chainwork" on the chapiters of Solomon's temple, which are, I suppose, +the first instances on record of an ornamentation of this kind thus +applied. The braided work encloses on each of the four sides of the +capital a flower whose form, derived from that of the lily, though as +usual modified, in every instance of its occurrence, in some minor +particulars, is generally seen as represented in fig. 11 of Plate VIII. +It is never without the two square or oblong objects at the extremity of +the tendrils issuing from its root, set like vessels to catch the dew +from the points of its leaves; but I do not understand their meaning. +The abacus of the capital has already been given at _a_, Plate XVI., +Vol. I.; but no amount of illustrations or eulogium would be enough to +make the reader understand the perfect beauty of the thing itself, as +the sun steals from interstice to interstice of its marble veil, and +touches with the white lustre of its rays at mid-day the pointed leaves +of its thirsty lilies. + +In all the capitals hitherto spoken of, the form of the head of the bell +has been square, and its varieties of outline have been obtained in the +transition from the square of the abacus to the circular outline of the +shafts. A far more complex series of forms results from the division of +the bell by recesses into separate lobes or leaves, like those of a rose +or tulip, which are each in their turn covered with flower-work or +hollowed into reticulation. The example (fig. 10, Plate VII.) from St. +Mark's will give some idea of the simplest of these conditions: perhaps +the most exquisite in Venice, on the whole, is the central capital of +the upper arcade of the Fondaco de' Turchi. + +Such are the principal generic conditions of the Byzantine capital; but +the reader must always remember that the examples given are single +instances, and those not the most beautiful but the most intelligible, +chosen out of thousands: the designs of the capitals of St. Mark's alone +would form a volume. + +[Illustration: Plate XI. + BYZANTINE SCULPTURE.] + +§ XXV. Of the archivolts which these capitals generally sustain, details +are given in the Appendix and in the notice of Venetian doors in Chapter +VII. In the private palaces, the ranges of archivolt are for the most +part very simple, with dentilled mouldings; and all the ornamental +effect is entrusted to pieces of sculpture set in the wall above or +between the arches, in the manner shown in Plate XV., below, Chapter +VII. These pieces of sculpture are either crosses, upright oblongs, or +circles: of all the three forms an example is given in Plate XI. +opposite. The cross was apparently an invariable ornament, placed either +in the centre of the archivolt of the doorway, or in the centre of the +first story above the windows; on each side of it the circular and +oblong ornaments were used in various alternation. In too many instances +the wall marbles have been torn away from the earliest Byzantine +palaces, so that the crosses are left on their archivolts only. The best +examples of the cross set above the windows are found in houses of the +transitional period: one in the Campo St^a M. Formosa; another, in which +a cross is placed between every window, is still well preserved in the +Campo St^a Maria Mater Domini; another, on the Grand Canal, in the +parish of the Apostoli, has two crosses, one on each side of the first +story, and a bas-relief of Christ enthroned in the centre; and finally, +that from which the larger cross in the Plate was taken in the house +once belonging to Marco Polo, at San Giovanni Grisostomo. + +§ XXVI. This cross, though graceful and rich, and given because it +happens to be one of the best preserved, is uncharacteristic in one +respect; for, instead of the central rose at the meeting of the arms, we +usually find a hand raised in the attitude of blessing, between the sun +and moon, as in the two smaller crosses seen in the Plate. In nearly all +representations of the Crucifixion, over the whole of Europe, at the +period in question, the sun and the moon are introduced, one on each +side of the cross,--the sun generally, in paintings, as a red star; but +I do not think with any purpose of indicating the darkness at the time +of the agony; especially because, had this been the intention, the moon +ought not to have been visible, since it could not have been in the +heavens during the day at the time of passover. I believe rather that +the two luminaries are set there in order to express the entire +dependence of the heavens and the earth upon the work of the Redemption: +and this view is confirmed by our frequently finding the sun and moon +set in the same manner beside the figure of Christ, as in the centre of +the great archivolt of St. Mark's, or beside the hand signifying +benediction, without any cross, in some other early archivolts;[50] +while, again, not unfrequently they are absent from the symbol of the +cross itself, and its saving power over the whole of creation is +indicated only by fresh leaves springing from its foot, or doves feeding +beside it; and so also, in illuminated Bibles, we find the series of +pictures representing the Creation terminate in the Crucifixion, as the +work by which all the families of created beings subsist, no less than +that in sympathy with which "the whole creation groaneth and travaileth +in pain together until now." + +§ XXVII. This habit of placing the symbol of the Christian faith in the +centres of their palaces was, as I above said, universal in early +Venice; it does not cease till about the middle of the fourteenth +century. The other sculptures, which were set above or between the +arches, consist almost invariably of groups of birds or beasts; either +standing opposite to each other with a small pillar or spray of leafage +between them, or else tearing and devouring each other. The multitude of +these sculptures, especially of the small ones enclosed in circles, as +figs 5 and 6, Plate XI., which are now scattered through the city of +Venice, is enormous, but they are seldom to be seen in their original +positions. When the Byzantine palaces were destroyed, these fragments +were generally preserved, and inserted again in the walls of the new +buildings, with more or less attempt at symmetry; fragments of friezes +and mouldings being often used in the same manner; so that the mode of +their original employment can only be seen in St. Mark's, the Fondaco +de' Turchi, Braided House, and one or two others. The most remarkable +point about them is, that the groups of beasts or birds on each side of +the small pillars bear the closest possible resemblance to the group of +Lions over the gate of Mycenæ; and the whole of the ornamentation of +that gate, as far as I can judge of it from drawings, is so like +Byzantine sculpture, that I cannot help sometimes suspecting the +original conjecture of the French antiquarians, that it was a work of +the middle ages, to be not altogether indefensible. By far the best +among the sculptures at Venice are those consisting of groups thus +arranged; the first figure in Plate XI. is one of those used on St. +Mark's, and, with its chain of wreathen work round it, is very +characteristic of the finest kind, except that the immediate trunk or +pillar often branches into luxuriant leafage, usually of the vine, so +that the whole ornament seems almost composed from the words of Ezekiel. +"A great eagle with great wings, long-winged, full of feathers, which +had divers colors, came into Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the +cedar: He cropped off the top of his young twigs; and _carried it into a +city of traffic; he set it in a city of merchants_. He took also of the +seed of the land, ... and it grew, and became a spreading vine of low +stature, _whose branches turned towards him, and the roots thereof were +under him_." + +§ XXVIII. The groups of contending and devouring animals are always much +ruder in cutting, and take somewhat the place in Byzantine sculpture +which the lower grotesques do in the Gothic; true, though clumsy, +grotesques being sometimes mingled among them, as four bodies joined to +one head in the centre;[51] but never showing any attempt at variety of +invention, except only in the effective disposition of the light and +shade, and in the vigor and thoughtfulness of the touches which indicate +the plumes of the birds or foldings of the leaves. Care, however, is +always taken to secure variety enough to keep the eye entertained, no +two sides of these Byzantine ornaments being in all respects the same: +for instance, in the chainwork round the first figure in Plate XI. there +are two circles enclosing squares on the left-hand side of the arch at +the top, but two smaller circles and a diamond on the other, enclosing +one square, and two small circular spots or bosses; and in the line of +chain at the bottom there is a circle on the right, and a diamond on the +left, and so down to the working of the smallest details. I have +represented this upper sculpture as dark, in order to give some idea of +the general effect of these ornaments when seen in shadow against light; +an effect much calculated upon by the designer, and obtained by the use +of a golden ground formed of glass mosaic inserted in the hollows of the +marble. Each square of glass has the leaf gold upon its surface +protected by another thin film of glass above it, so that no time or +weather can affect its lustre, until the pieces of glass are bodily torn +from their setting. The smooth glazed surface of the golden ground is +washed by every shower of rain, but the marble usually darkens into an +amber color in process of time; and when the whole ornament is cast into +shadow, the golden surface, being perfectly reflective, refuses the +darkness, and shows itself in bright and burnished light behind the dark +traceries of the ornament. Where the marble has retained its perfect +whiteness, on the other hand, and is seen in sunshine, it is shown as a +snowy tracery on a golden ground; and the alternations and intermingling +of these two effects form one of the chief enchantments of Byzantine +ornamentation. + +§ XXIX. How far the system of grounding with gold and color, universal +in St. Mark's, was carried out in the sculptures of the private palaces, +it is now impossible to say. The wrecks of them which remain, as above +noticed, show few of their ornamental sculptures in their original +position; and from those marbles which were employed in succeeding +buildings, during the Gothic period, the fragments of their mosaic +grounds would naturally rather have been removed than restored. Mosaic, +while the most secure of all decorations if carefully watched and +refastened when it loosens, may, if neglected and exposed to weather, in +process of time disappear so as to leave no vestige of its existence. +However this may have been, the assured facts are, that both the shafts +of the pillars and the facing of the old building were of veined or +variously colored marble: the capitals and sculptures were either, as +they now appear, of pure white marble, relieved upon the veined ground; +or, which is infinitely the more probable, grounded in the richer +palaces with mosaic of gold, in the inferior ones with blue color; and +only the leaves and edges of the sculpture gilded. These brighter hues +were opposed by bands of deeper color, generally alternate russet and +green, in the archivolts,--bands which still remain in the Casa Loredan +and Fondaco de' Turchi, and in a house in the Corte del Remer, near the +Rialto, as well as in St. Mark's; and by circular disks of green +serpentine and porphyry, which, together with the circular sculptures, +appear to have been an ornament peculiarly grateful to the Eastern mind, +derived probably in the first instance from the suspension of shields +upon the wall, as in the majesty of ancient Tyre. "The men of Arvad with +thine army were upon thy walls round about, and the Gammadins were in +thy towers: they hanged their shields upon thy walls round about; they +have made thy beauty perfect."[52] The sweet and solemn harmony of +purple with various green (the same, by the by, to which the hills of +Scotland owe their best loveliness) remained a favorite chord of color +with the Venetians, and was constantly used even in the later palaces; +but never could have been seen in so great perfection as when opposed to +the pale and delicate sculpture of the Byzantine time. + +§ XXX. Such, then, was that first and fairest Venice which rose out of +the barrenness of the lagoon, and the sorrow of her people; a city of +graceful arcades and gleaming walls, veined with azure and warm with +gold, and fretted with white sculpture like frost upon forest branches +turned to marble. And yet, in this beauty of her youth, she was no city +of thoughtless pleasure. There was still a sadness of heart upon her, +and a depth of devotion, in which lay all her strength. I do not insist +upon the probable religious signification of many of the sculptures +which are now difficult of interpretation; but the temper which made the +cross the principal ornament of every building is not to be +misunderstood, nor can we fail to perceive, in many of the minor +sculptural subjects, meanings perfectly familiar to the mind of early +Christianity. The peacock, used in preference to every other bird, is +the well-known symbol of the resurrection; and when drinking from a +fountain (Plate XI. fig. 1) or from a font (Plate XI. fig. 5), is, I +doubt not, also a type of the new life received in faithful baptism. The +vine, used in preference to all other trees, was equally recognized as, +in all cases, a type either of Christ himself[53] or of those who were +in a state of visible or professed union with him. The dove, at its +foot, represents the coming of the Comforter; and even the groups of +contending animals had, probably, a distinct and universally apprehended +reference to the powers of evil. But I lay no stress on these more +occult meanings. The principal circumstance which marks the seriousness +of the early Venetian mind is perhaps the last in which the reader would +suppose it was traceable;--that love of bright and pure color which, in +a modified form, was afterwards the root of all the triumph of the +Venetian schools of painting, but which, in its utmost simplicity, was +characteristic of the Byzantine period only; and of which, therefore, in +the close of our review of that period, it will be well that we should +truly estimate the significance. The fact is, we none of us enough +appreciate the nobleness and sacredness of color. Nothing is more common +than to hear it spoken of as a subordinate beauty,--nay, even as the +mere source of a sensual pleasure; and we might almost believe that we +were daily among men who + + "Could strip, for aught the prospect yields + To them, their verdure from the fields; + And take the radiance from the clouds + With which the sun his setting shrouds." + +But it is not so. Such expressions are used for the most part in +thoughtlessness; and if the speakers would only take the pains to +imagine what the world and their own existence would become, if the blue +were taken from the sky, and the gold from the sunshine, and the verdure +from the leaves, and the crimson from the blood which is the life of +man, the flush from the cheek, the darkness from the eye, the radiance +from the hair,--if they could but see for an instant, white human +creatures living in a white world,--they would soon feel what they owe +to color. The fact is, that, of all God's gifts to the sight of man, +color is the holiest, the most divine, the most solemn. We speak rashly +of gay color, and sad color, for color cannot at once be good and gay. +All good color is in some degree pensive, the loveliest is melancholy, +and the purest and most thoughtful minds are those which love color the +most. + +§ XXXI. I know that this will sound strange in many ears, and will be +especially startling to those who have considered the subject chiefly +with reference to painting; for the great Venetian schools of color are +not usually understood to be either pure or pensive, and the idea of its +pre-eminence is associated in nearly every mind with the coarseness of +Rubens, and the sensualities of Correggio and Titian. But a more +comprehensive view of art will soon correct this impression. It will be +discovered, in the first place, that the more faithful and earnest the +religion of the painter, the more pure and prevalent is the system of +his color. It will be found, in the second place, that where color +becomes a primal intention with a painter otherwise mean or sensual, it +instantly elevates him, and becomes the one sacred and saving element in +his work. The very depth of the stoop to which the Venetian painters and +Rubens sometimes condescend, is a consequence of their feeling +confidence in the power of their color to keep them from falling. They +hold on by it, as by a chain let down from heaven, with one hand, though +they may sometimes seem to gather dust and ashes with the other. And, in +the last place, it will be found that so surely as a painter is +irreligious, thoughtless, or obscene in disposition, so surely is his +coloring cold, gloomy, and valueless. The opposite poles of art in this +respect are Frà Angelico and Salvator Rosa; of whom the one was a man +who smiled seldom, wept often, prayed constantly, and never harbored an +impure thought. His pictures are simply so many pieces of jewellery, the +colors of the draperies being perfectly pure, as various as those of a +painted window, chastened only by paleness, and relieved upon a gold +ground. Salvator was a dissipated jester and satirist, a man who spent +his life in masquing and revelry. But his pictures are full of horror, +and their color is for the most part gloomy grey. Truly it would seem as +if art had so much of eternity in it, that it must take its dye from the +close rather than the course of life:--"In such laughter the heart of +man is sorrowful, and the end of that mirth is heaviness." + +§ XXXII. These are no singular instances. I know no law more severely +without exception than this of the connexion of pure color with profound +and noble thought. The late Flemish pictures, shallow in conception and +obscene in subject, are always sober in color. But the early religious +painting of the Flemings is as brilliant in hue as it is holy in +thought. The Bellinis, Francias, Peruginos painted in crimson, and blue, +and gold. The Caraccis, Guidos, and Rembrandts in brown and grey. The +builders of our great cathedrals veiled their casements and wrapped +their pillars with one robe of purple splendor. The builders of the +luxurious Renaissance left their palaces filled only with cold white +light, and in the paleness of their native stone.[54] + +§ XXXIII. Nor does it seem difficult to discern a noble reason for this +universal law. In that heavenly circle which binds the statutes of color +upon the front of the sky, when it became the sign of the covenant of +peace, the pure hues of divided light were sanctified to the human heart +for ever; nor this, it would seem, by mere arbitrary appointment, but in +consequence of the fore-ordained and marvellous constitution of those +hues into a sevenfold, or, more strictly still, a threefold order, +typical of the Divine nature itself. Observe also, the name Shem, or +Splendor, given to that son of Noah in whom this covenant with mankind +was to be fulfilled, and see how that name was justified by every one of +the Asiatic races which descended from him. Not without meaning was the +love of Israel to his chosen son expressed by the coat "of many colors;" +not without deep sense of the sacredness of that symbol of purity, did +the lost daughter of David tear it from her breast:--"With such robes +were the king's daughters that were virgins apparelled."[55] We know it +to have been by Divine command that the Israelite, rescued from +servitude, veiled the tabernacle with its rain of purple and scarlet, +while the under sunshine flashed through the fall of the color from its +tenons of gold: but was it less by Divine guidance that the Mede, as he +struggled out of anarchy, encompassed his king with the sevenfold +burning of the battlements of Ecbatana?--of which one circle was golden +like the sun, and another silver like the moon; and then came the great +sacred chord of color, blue, purple, and scarlet; and then a circle +white like the day, and another dark, like night; so that the city rose +like a great mural rainbow, a sign of peace amidst the contending of +lawless races, and guarded, with color and shadow, that seemed to +symbolize the great order which rules over Day, and Night, and Time, the +first organization of the mighty statutes,--the law of the Medes and +Persians, that altereth not. + +§ XXXIV. Let us not dream that it is owing to the accidents of tradition +or education that those races possess the supremacy over color which has +always been felt, though but lately acknowledged among men. However +their dominion might be broken, their virtue extinguished, or their +religion defiled, they retained alike the instinct and the power: the +instinct which made even their idolatry more glorious than that of +others, bursting forth in fire-worship from pyramid, cave, and mountain, +taking the stars for the rulers of its fortune, and the sun for the God +of its life; the power which so dazzled and subdued the rough crusader +into forgetfulness of sorrow and of shame, that Europe put on the +splendor which she had learnt of the Saracen, as her sackcloth of +mourning for what she suffered from his sword;--the power which she +confesses to this day, in the utmost thoughtlessness of her pride, or +her beauty, as it treads the costly carpet, or veils itself with the +variegated Cachemire; and in the emulation of the concourse of her +workmen, who, but a few months back, perceived, or at least admitted, +for the first time, the pre-eminence which has been determined from the +birth of mankind, and on whose charter Nature herself has set a +mysterious seal, granting to the Western races, descended from that son +of Noah whose name was Extension, the treasures of the sullen rock, and +stubborn ore, and gnarled forest, which were to accomplish their destiny +across all distance of earth and depth of sea, while she matured the +jewel in the sand, and rounded the pearl in the shell, to adorn the +diadem of him whose name was Splendor. + +§ XXXV. And observe, farther, how in the Oriental mind a peculiar +seriousness is associated with this attribute of the love of color; a +seriousness rising out of repose, and out of the depth and breadth of +the imagination, as contrasted with the activity, and consequent +capability of surprise, and of laughter, characteristic of the Western +mind: as a man on a journey must look to his steps always, and view +things narrowly and quickly; while one at rest may command a wider view, +though an unchanging one, from which the pleasure he receives must be +one of contemplation, rather than of amusement or surprise. Wherever the +pure Oriental spirit manifests itself definitely, I believe its work is +serious; and the meeting of the influences of the Eastern and Western +races is perhaps marked in Europe more by the dying away of the +grotesque laughter of the Goth than by any other sign. I shall have more +to say on this head in other places of this volume; but the point I wish +at present to impress upon the reader is, that the bright hues of the +early architecture of Venice were no sign of gaiety of heart, and that +the investiture with the mantle of many colors by which she is known +above all other cities of Italy and of Europe, was not granted to her in +the fever of her festivity, but in the solemnity of her early and +earnest religion. She became in after times the revel of the earth, the +masque of Italy; and _therefore_ is she now desolate: but her glorious +robe of gold and purple was given her when first she rose a vestal from +the sea, not when she became drunk with the wine of her fornication. + +§ XXXVI. And we have never yet looked with enough reverence upon the +separate gift which was thus bestowed upon her; we have never enough +considered what an inheritance she has left us, in the works of those +mighty painters who were the chief of her children. That inheritance is +indeed less than it ought to have been, and other than it ought to have +been; for before Titian and Tintoret arose,--the men in whom her work +and her glory should have been together consummated,--she had already +ceased to lead her sons in the way of truth and life, and they erred +much, and fell short of that which was appointed for them. There is no +subject of thought more melancholy, more wonderful, than the way in +which God permits so often His best gifts to be trodden under foot of +men, His richest treasures to be wasted by the moth, and the mightiest +influences of His Spirit, given but once in the world's history, to be +quenched and shortened by miseries of chance and guilt. I do not wonder +at what men Suffer, but I wonder often at what they Lose. We may see how +good rises out of pain and evil; but the dead, naked, eyeless loss, what +good comes of that? The fruit struck to the earth before its ripeness; +the glowing life and goodly purpose dissolved away in sudden death; the +words, half spoken, choked upon the lips with clay for ever; or, +stranger than all, the whole majesty of humanity raised to its fulness, +and every gift and power necessary for a given purpose, at a given +moment, centred in one man, and all this perfected blessing permitted to +be refused, perverted, crushed, cast aside by those who need it +most,--the city which is Not set on a hill, the candle that giveth light +to None that are in the house:--these are the heaviest mysteries of this +strange world, and, it seems to me, those which mark its curse the most. +And it is true that the power with which this Venice had been entrusted, +was perverted, when at its highest, in a thousand miserable ways; still, +it was possessed by her alone; to her all hearts have turned which could +be moved by its manifestation, and none without being made stronger and +nobler by what her hand had wrought. That mighty Landscape, of dark +mountains that guard the horizon with their purple towers, and solemn +forests, that gather their weight of leaves, bronzed with sunshine, not +with age, into those gloomy masses fixed in heaven, which storm and +frost have power no more to shake, or shed;--that mighty Humanity, so +perfect and so proud, that hides no weakness beneath the mantle, and +gains no greatness from the diadem; the majesty of thoughtful form, on +which the dust of gold and flame of jewels are dashed as the sea-spray +upon the rock, and still the great Manhood seems to stand bare against +the blue sky;--that mighty Mythology, which fills the daily walks of men +with spiritual companionship, and beholds the protecting angels break +with their burning presence through the arrow-flights of +battle:--measure the compass of that field of creation, weigh the value +of the inheritance that Venice thus left to the nations of Europe, and +then judge if so vast, so beneficent a power could indeed have been +rooted in dissipation or decay. It was when she wore the ephod of the +priest, not the motley of the masquer, that the fire fell upon her from +heaven; and she saw the first rays of it through the rain of her own +tears, when, as the barbaric deluge ebbed from the hills of Italy, the +circuit of her palaces, and the orb of her fortunes, rose together, like +the Iris, painted upon the Cloud. + + +FOOTNOTES + + [41] In the year 1851, by the Duchesse de Berri. + + [42] Of the Braided House and Casa Businello, described in the + Appendix, only the great central arcades remain. + + [43] Only one wing of the first story is left. See Appendix 11. + + [44] I am obliged to give these measures approximately, because, + this front having been studied by the builder with unusual care, not + one of its measures is the same as another; and the symmetries + between the correspondent arches are obtained by changes in the + depth of their mouldings and variations in their heights, far too + complicated for me to enter into here; so that of the two arches + stated as 19 ft. 8 in. in span, one is in reality 19 ft. 6½ in., the + other 19 ft. 10 in., and of the two stated as 20 ft. 4 in., one is + 20 ft. and the other 20 ft. 8 in. + + [45] By Mr. Penrose. + + [46] I am sometimes obliged, unfortunately, to read my woodcuts + backwards owing to my having forgotten to reverse them on the wood. + + [47] Vide Plate X. figs. 1 and 4. + + [48] + 1. Fondaco de' Turehi, lateral 8. St. Mark's. + pillars. 9. St. Mark's. + 2. Terraced House, lateral pillars. 10. Braided House, upper arcade. + 3. Casa Farsetti, central pillars, 11. Casa Loredan, upper arcade. + upper arcade. 12. St. Mark's. + 4. Casa Loredan, lower arcade. 13. St. Mark's. + 5. Casa Loredan, lower arcade. 14. Fondaco de' Turchi, upper + 6. Fondaco de' Turchi, upper arcade. arcade. + 7. Casa Loredan, upper arcade. 15. St. Mark's. + + [49] Compare "Seven Lamps," chap. ii. § 22. + + [50] Two of these are represented in the second number of my folio work + upon Venice. + + [51] The absence of the true grotesque spirit in Byzantine work will be + examined in the third chapter of the third volume. + + [52] Ezekiel, xxvii. 11. + + [53] Perhaps this type is in no place of Scripture more touchingly used + than in Lamentations, i. 12, where the word "afflicted" is rendered in + the Vulgate "vindemiavit," "vintaged." + + [54] Appendix 12, "Modern Painting on Glass." + + [55] 2 Samuel, xiii. 18. + + + + +SECOND, OR GOTHIC, PERIOD. + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE NATURE OF GOTHIC. + + +§ I. If the reader will look back to the division of our subject which +was made in the first chapter of the first volume, he will find that we +are now about to enter upon the examination of that school of Venetian +architecture which forms an intermediate step between the Byzantine and +Gothic forms; but which I find may be conveniently considered in its +connexion with the latter style. In order that we may discern the +tendency of each step of this change, it will be wise in the outset to +endeavor to form some general idea of its final result. We know already +what the Byzantine architecture is from which the transition was made, +but we ought to know something of the Gothic architecture into which it +led. I shall endeavor therefore to give the reader in this chapter an +idea, at once broad and definite, of the true nature of _Gothic_ +architecture, properly so called; not of that of Venice only, but of +universal Gothic: for it will be one of the most interesting parts of +our subsequent inquiry, to find out how far Venetian architecture +reached the universal or perfect type of Gothic, and how far it either +fell short of it, or assumed foreign and independent forms. + +§ II. The principal difficulty in doing this arises from the fact that +every building of the Gothic period differs in some important respect +from every other; and many include features which, if they occurred in +other buildings, would not be considered Gothic at all; so that all we +have to reason upon is merely, if I may be allowed so to express it, a +greater or less degree of _Gothicness_ in each building we examine. And +it is this Gothicness,--the character which, according as it is found +more or less in a building, makes it more or less Gothic,--of which I +want to define the nature; and I feel the same kind of difficulty in +doing so which would be encountered by any one who undertook to explain, +for instance, the nature of Redness, without any actual red thing to +point to, but only orange and purple things. Suppose he had only a piece +of heather and a dead oak-leaf to do it with. He might say, the color +which is mixed with the yellow in this oak-leaf, and with the blue in +this heather, would be red, if you had it separate; but it would be +difficult, nevertheless, to make the abstraction perfectly intelligible: +and it is so in a far greater degree to make the abstraction of the +Gothic character intelligible, because that character itself is made up +of many mingled ideas, and can consist only in their union. That is to +say, pointed arches do not constitute Gothic, nor vaulted roofs, nor +flying buttresses, nor grotesque sculptures; but all or some of these +things, and many other things with them, when they come together so as +to have life. + +§ III. Observe also, that, in the definition proposed, I shall only +endeavor to analyze the idea which I suppose already to exist in the +reader's mind. We all have some notion, most of us a very determined +one, of the meaning of the term Gothic; but I know that many persons +have this idea in their minds without being able to define it: that is +to say, understanding generally that Westminster Abbey is Gothic, and +St. Paul's is not, that Strasburg Cathedral is Gothic, and St. Peter's +is not, they have, nevertheless, no clear notion of what it is that they +recognize in the one or miss in the other, such as would enable them to +say how far the work at Westminster or Strasburg is good and pure of its +kind: still less to say of any non-descript building, like St. James's +Palace or Windsor Castle, how much right Gothic element there is in it, +and how much wanting, And I believe this inquiry to be a pleasant and +profitable one; and that there will be found something more than +usually interesting in tracing out this grey, shadowy, many-pinnacled +image of the Gothic spirit within us; and discerning what fellowship +there is between it and our Northern hearts. And if, at any point of the +inquiry, I should interfere with any of the reader's previously formed +conceptions, and use the term Gothic in any sense which he would not +willingly attach to it, I do not ask him to accept, but only to examine +and understand, my interpretation, as necessary to the intelligibility +of what follows in the rest of the work. + +§ IV. We have, then, the Gothic character submitted to our analysis, +just as the rough mineral is submitted to that of the chemist, entangled +with many other foreign substances, itself perhaps in no place pure, or +ever to be obtained or seen in purity for more than an instant; but +nevertheless a thing of definite and separate nature, however +inextricable or confused in appearance. Now observe: the chemist defines +his mineral by two separate kinds of character; one external, its +crystalline form, hardness, lustre, &c.; the other internal, the +proportions and nature of its constituent atoms. Exactly in the same +manner, we shall find that Gothic architecture has external forms, and +internal elements. Its elements are certain mental tendencies of the +builders, legibly expressed in it; as fancifulness, love of variety, +love of richness, and such others. Its external forms are pointed +arches, vaulted roofs, &c. And unless both the elements and the forms +are there, we have no right to call the style Gothic. It is not enough +that it has the Form, if it have not also the power and life. It is not +enough that it has the Power, if it have not the form. We must therefore +inquire into each of these characters successively; and determine first, +what is the Mental Expression, and secondly, what the Material Form, of +Gothic architecture, properly so called. + +1st. Mental Power or Expression. What characters, we have to discover, +did the Gothic builders love, or instinctively express in their work, as +distinguished from all other builders? + +§ V. Let us go back for a moment to our chemistry, and note that, in +defining a mineral by its constituent parts, it is not one nor another +of them, that can make up the mineral, but the union of all: for +instance, it is neither in charcoal, nor in oxygen, nor in lime, that +there is the making of chalk, but in the combination of all three in +certain measures; they are all found in very different things from +chalk, and there is nothing like chalk either in charcoal or in oxygen, +but they are nevertheless necessary to its existence. + +So in the various mental characters which make up the soul of Gothic. It +is not one nor another that produces it; but their union in certain +measures. Each one of them is found in many other architectures besides +Gothic; but Gothic cannot exist where they are not found, or, at least, +where their place is not in some way supplied. Only there is this great +difference between the composition of the mineral, and of the +architectural style, that if we withdraw one of its elements from the +stone, its form is utterly changed, and its existence as such and such a +mineral is destroyed; but if we withdraw one of its mental elements from +the Gothic style, it is only a little less Gothic than it was before, +and the union of two or three of its elements is enough already to +bestow a certain Gothicness of character, which gains in intensity as we +add the others, and loses as we again withdraw them. + +§ VI. I believe, then, that the characteristic or moral elements of +Gothic are the following, placed in the order of their importance: + + 1. Savageness. + 2. Changefulness. + 3. Naturalism. + 4. Grotesqueness. + 5. Rigidity. + 6. Redundance. + +These characters are here expressed as belonging to the building; as +belonging to the builder, they would be expressed thus:--1. Savageness, +or Rudeness. 2. Love of Change. 3. Love of Nature. 4. Disturbed +Imagination. 5, Obstinacy. 6. Generosity. And I repeat, that the +withdrawal of any one, or any two, will not at once destroy the Gothic +character of a building, but the removal of a majority of them will. I +shall proceed to examine them in their order. + +§ VII. 1. SAVAGENESS. I am not sure when the word "Gothic" was first +generically applied to the architecture of the North; but I presume +that, whatever the date of its original usage, it was intended to imply +reproach, and express the barbaric character of the nations among whom +that architecture arose. It never implied that they were literally of +Gothic lineage, far less that their architecture had been originally +invented by the Goths themselves; but it did imply that they and their +buildings together exhibited a degree of sternness and rudeness, which, +in contradistinction to the character of Southern and Eastern nations, +appeared like a perpetual reflection of the contrast between the Goth +and the Roman in their first encounter. And when that fallen Roman, in +the utmost impotence of his luxury, and insolence of his guilt, became +the model for the imitation of civilized Europe, at the close of the +so-called Dark ages, the word Gothic became a term of unmitigated +contempt, not unmixed with aversion. From that contempt, by the exertion +of the antiquaries and architects of this century, Gothic architecture +has been sufficiently vindicated; and perhaps some among us, in our +admiration of the magnificent science of its structure, and sacredness +of its expression, might desire that the term of ancient reproach should +be withdrawn, and some other, of more apparent honorableness, adopted in +its place. There is no chance, as there is no need, of such a +substitution. As far as the epithet was used scornfully, it was used +falsely; but there is no reproach in the word, rightly understood; on +the contrary, there is a profound truth, which the instinct of mankind +almost unconsciously recognizes. It is true, greatly and deeply true, +that the architecture of the North is rude and wild; but it is not true, +that, for this reason, we are to condemn it, or despise. Far otherwise: +I believe it is in this very character that it deserves our profoundest +reverence. + +§ VIII. The charts of the world which have been drawn up by modern +science have thrown into a narrow space the expression of a vast amount +of knowledge, but I have never yet seen any one pictorial enough to +enable the spectator to imagine the kind of contrast in physical +character which exists between Northern and Southern countries. We know +the differences in detail, but we have not that broad glance and grasp +which would enable us to feel them in their fulness. We know that +gentians grow on the Alps, and olives on the Apennines; but we do not +enough conceive for ourselves that variegated mosaic of the world's +surface which a bird sees in its migration, that difference between the +district of the gentian and of the olive which the stork and the swallow +see far off, as they lean upon the sirocco wind. Let us, for a moment, +try to raise ourselves even above the level of their flight, and imagine +the Mediterranean lying beneath us like an irregular lake, and all its +ancient promontories sleeping in the sun: here and there an angry spot +of thunder, a grey stain of storm, moving upon the burning field; and +here and there a fixed wreath of white volcano smoke, surrounded by its +circle of ashes; but for the most part a great peacefulness of light, +Syria and Greece, Italy and Spain, laid like pieces of a golden pavement +into the sea-blue, chased, as we stoop nearer to them, with bossy beaten +work of mountain chains, and glowing softly with terraced gardens, and +flowers heavy with frankincense, mixed among masses of laurel, and +orange and plumy palm, that abate with their grey-green shadows the +burning of the marble rocks, and of the ledges of porphyry sloping under +lucent sand. Then let us pass farther towards the north, until we see +the orient colors change gradually into a vast belt of rainy green, +where the pastures of Switzerland, and poplar valleys of France, and +dark forests of the Danube and Carpathians stretch from the mouths of +the Loire to those of the Volga, seen through clefts in grey swirls of +rain-cloud and flaky veils of the mist of the brooks, spreading low +along the pasture lands: and then, farther north still, to see the earth +heave into mighty masses of leaden rock and heathy moor, bordering with +a broad waste of gloomy purple that belt of field and wood, and +splintering into irregular and grisly islands amidst the northern seas, +beaten by storm and chilled by ice-drift, and tormented by furious +pulses of contending tide, until the roots of the last forests fail from +among the hill ravines, and the hunger of the north wind bites their +peaks into barrenness; and, at last, the wall of ice, durable like iron, +sets, deathlike, its white teeth against us out of the polar twilight. +And, having once traversed in thought its gradation of the zoned iris of +the earth in all its material vastness, let us go down nearer to it, and +watch the parallel change in the belt of animal life: the multitudes of +swift and brilliant creatures that glance in the air and sea, or tread +the sands of the southern zone; striped zebras and spotted leopards, +glistening serpents, and birds arrayed in purple and scarlet. Let us +contrast their delicacy and brilliancy of color, and swiftness of +motion, with the frost-cramped strength, and shaggy covering, and dusky +plumage of the northern tribes; contrast the Arabian horse with the +Shetland, the tiger and leopard with the wolf and bear, the antelope +with the elk, the bird of paradise with the osprey: and then, +submissively acknowledging the great laws by which the earth and all +that it bears are ruled throughout their being, let us not condemn, but +rejoice at the expression by man of his own rest in the statutes of the +lands that gave him birth. Let us watch him with reverence as he sets +side by side the burning gems, and smoothes with soft sculpture the +jasper pillars, that are to reflect a ceaseless sunshine, and rise into +a cloudless sky: but not with less reverence let us stand by him, when, +with rough strength and hurried stroke, he smites an uncouth animation +out of the rocks which he has torn from among the moss of the moorland, +and heaves into the darkened air the pile of iron buttress and rugged +wall, instinct with work of an imagination as wild and wayward as the +northern sea; creations of ungainly shape and rigid limb, but full of +wolfish life; fierce as the winds that beat, and changeful as the clouds +that shade them. + +There is, I repeat, no degradation, no reproach in this, but all dignity +and honorableness; and we should err grievously in refusing either to +recognise as an essential character of the existing architecture of the +North, or to admit as a desirable character in that which it yet may be, +this wildness of thought, and roughness of work; this look of mountain +brotherhood between the cathedral and the Alp; this magnificence of +sturdy power, put forth only the more energetically because the fine +finger-touch was chilled away by the frosty wind, and the eye dimmed by +the moor-mist, or blinded by the hail; this outspeaking of the strong +spirit of men who may not gather redundant fruitage from the earth, nor +bask in dreamy benignity of sunshine, but must break the rock for bread, +and cleave the forest for fire, and show, even in what they did for +their delight, some of the hard habits of the arm and heart that grew on +them as they swung the axe or pressed the plough. + +§ IX. If, however, the savageness of Gothic architecture, merely as an +expression of its origin among Northern nations, may be considered, in +some sort, a noble character, it possesses a higher nobility still, when +considered as an index, not of climate, but of religious principle. + +In the 13th and 14th paragraphs of Chapter XXI. of the first volume of +this work, it was noticed that the systems of architectural ornament, +properly so called, might be divided into three:--1. Servile ornament, +in which the execution or power of the inferior workman is entirely +subjected to the intellect of the higher:--2. Constitutional ornament, +in which the executive inferior power is, to a certain point, +emancipated and independent, having a will of its own, yet confessing +its inferiority and rendering obedience to higher powers;--and 3. +Revolutionary ornament, in which no executive inferiority is admitted at +all. I must here explain the nature of these divisions at somewhat +greater length. + +Of Servile ornament, the principal schools are the Greek, Ninevite, and +Egyptian; but their servility is of different kinds. The Greek +master-workman was far advanced in knowledge and power above the +Assyrian or Egyptian. Neither he nor those for whom he worked could +endure the appearance of imperfection in anything; and, therefore, what +ornament he appointed to be done by those beneath him was composed of +mere geometrical forms,--balls, ridges, and perfectly symmetrical +foliage,--which could be executed with absolute precision by line and +rule, and were as perfect in their way when completed, as his own figure +sculpture. The Assyrian and Egyptian, on the contrary, less cognizant of +accurate form in anything, were content to allow their figure sculpture +to be executed by inferior workmen, but lowered the method of its +treatment to a standard which every workman could reach, and then +trained him by discipline so rigid, that there was no chance of his +falling beneath the standard appointed. The Greek gave to the lower +workman no subject which he could not perfectly execute. The Assyrian +gave him subjects which he could only execute imperfectly, but fixed a +legal standard for his imperfection. The workman was, in both systems, a +slave.[56] + +§ X. But in the mediæval, or especially Christian, system of ornament, +this slavery is done away with altogether; Christianity having +recognized, in small things as well as great, the individual value of +every soul. But it not only recognizes its value; it confesses its +imperfection, in only bestowing dignity upon the acknowledgment of +unworthiness. That admission of lost power and fallen nature, which the +Greek or Ninevite felt to be intensely painful, and, as far as might be, +altogether refused, the Christian makes daily and hourly, contemplating +the fact of it without fear, as tending, in the end, to God's greater +glory. Therefore, to every spirit which Christianity summons to her +service, her exhortation is: Do what you can, and confess frankly what +you are unable to do; neither let your effort be shortened for fear of +failure, nor your confession silenced for fear of shame. And it is, +perhaps, the principal admirableness of the Gothic schools of +architecture, that they thus receive the results of the labor of +inferior minds; and out of fragments full of imperfection, and betraying +that imperfection in every touch, indulgently raise up a stately and +unaccusable whole. + +§ XI. But the modern English mind has this much in common with that of +the Greek, that it intensely desires, in all things, the utmost +completion or perfection compatible with their nature. This is a noble +character in the abstract, but becomes ignoble when it causes us to +forget the relative dignities of that nature itself, and to prefer the +perfectness of the lower nature to the imperfection of the higher; not +considering that as, judged by such a rule, all the brute animals would +be preferable to man, because more perfect in their functions and kind, +and yet are always held inferior to him, so also in the works of man, +those which are more perfect in their kind are always inferior to those +which are, in their nature, liable to more faults and shortcomings. For +the finer the nature, the more flaws it will show through the clearness +of it; and it is a law of this universe, that the best things shall be +seldomest seen in their best form. The wild grass grows well and +strongly, one year with another; but the wheat is, according to the +greater nobleness of its nature, liable to the bitterer blight. And +therefore, while in all things that we see, or do, we are to desire +perfection, and strive for it, we are nevertheless not to set the meaner +thing, in its narrow accomplishment, above the nobler thing, in its +mighty progress; not to esteem smooth minuteness above shattered +majesty; not to prefer mean victory to honorable defeat; not to lower +the level of our aim, that we may the more surely enjoy the complacency +of success. But, above all, in our dealings with the souls of other men, +we are to take care how we check, by severe requirement or narrow +caution, efforts which might otherwise lead to a noble issue; and, still +more, how we withhold our admiration from great excellences, because +they are mingled with rough faults. Now, in the make and nature of every +man, however rude or simple, whom we employ in manual labor, there are +some powers for better things: some tardy imagination, torpid capacity +of emotion, tottering steps of thought, there are, even at the worst; +and in most cases it is all our own fault that they _are_ tardy or +torpid. But they cannot be strengthened, unless we are content to take +them in their feebleness, and unless we prize and honor them in their +imperfection above the best and most perfect manual skill. And this is +what we have to do with all our laborers; to look for the _thoughtful_ +part of them, and get that out of them, whatever we lose for it, +whatever faults and errors we are obliged to take with it. For the best +that is in them cannot manifest itself, but in company with much error. +Understand this clearly: You can teach a man to draw a straight line, +and to cut one; to strike a curved line, and to carve it; and to copy +and carve any number of given lines or forms, with admirable speed and +perfect precision; and you find his work perfect of its kind: but if you +ask him to think about any of those forms, to consider if he cannot find +any better in his own head, he stops; his execution becomes hesitating; +he thinks, and ten to one he thinks wrong; ten to one he makes a mistake +in the first touch he gives to his work as a thinking being. But you +have made a man of him for all that. He was only a machine before, an +animated tool. + +§ XII. And observe, you are put to stern choice in this matter. You must +either made a tool of the creature, or a man of him. You cannot make +both. Men were not intended to work with the accuracy of tools, to be +precise and perfect in all their actions. If you will have that +precision out of them, and make their fingers measure degrees like +cog-wheels, and their arms strike curves like compasses, you must +unhumanize them. All the energy of their spirits must be given to make +cogs and compasses of themselves. All their attention and strength must +go to the accomplishment of the mean act. The eye of the soul must be +bent upon the finger-point, and the soul's force must fill all the +invisible nerves that guide it, ten hours a day, that it may not err +from its steely precision, and so soul and sight be worn away, and the +whole human being be lost at last--a heap of sawdust, so far as its +intellectual work in this world is concerned; saved only by its Heart, +which cannot go into the form of cogs and compasses, but expands, after +the ten hours are over, into fireside humanity. On the other hand, if +you will make a man of the working creature, you cannot make a tool. Let +him but begin to imagine, to think, to try to do anything worth doing; +and the engine-turned precision is lost at once. Out come all his +roughness, all his dulness, all his incapability; shame upon shame, +failure upon failure, pause after pause: but out comes the whole majesty +of him also; and we know the height of it only, when we see the clouds +settling upon him. And, whether the clouds be bright or dark, there will +be transfiguration behind and within them. + +§ XIII. And now, reader, look round this English room of yours, about +which you have been proud so often, because the work of it was so good +and strong, and the ornaments of it so finished. Examine again all those +accurate mouldings, and perfect polishings, and unerring adjustments of +the seasoned wood and tempered steel. Many a time you have exulted over +them, and thought how great England was, because her slightest work was +done so thoroughly. Alas! if read rightly, these perfectnesses are signs +of a slavery in our England a thousand times more bitter and more +degrading than that of the scourged African, or helot Greek. Men may be +beaten, chained, tormented, yoked like cattle, slaughtered like summer +flies, and yet remain in one sense, and the best sense, free. But to +smother their souls within them, to blight and hew into rotting pollards +the suckling branches of their human intelligence, to make the flesh and +skin which, after the worm's work on it, is to see God, into leathern +thongs to yoke machinery with,--this it is to be slave-masters indeed; +and there might be more freedom in England, though her feudal lords' +lightest words were worth men's lives, and though the blood of the vexed +husbandman dropped in the furrows of her fields, than there is while +the animation of her multitudes is sent like fuel to feed the factory +smoke, and the strength of them is given daily to be wasted into the +fineness of a web, or racked into the exactness of a line. + +§ XIV. And, on the other hand, go forth again to gaze upon the old +cathedral front, where you have smiled so often at the fantastic +ignorance of the old sculptors: examine once more those ugly goblins, +and formless monsters, and stern statues, anatomiless and rigid; but do +not mock at them, for they are signs of the life and liberty of every +workman who struck the stone; a freedom of thought, and rank in scale of +being, such as no laws, no charters, no charities can secure; but which +it must be the first aim of all Europe at this day to regain for her +children. + +§ XV. Let me not be thought to speak wildly or extravagantly. It is +verily this degradation of the operative into a machine, which, more +than any other evil of the times, is leading the mass of the nations +everywhere into vain, incoherent, destructive struggling for a freedom +of which they cannot explain the nature to themselves. Their universal +outcry against wealth, and against nobility, is not forced from them +either by the pressure of famine, or the sting of mortified pride. These +do much, and have done much in all ages; but the foundations of society +were never yet shaken as they are at this day. It is not that men are +ill fed, but that they have no pleasure in the work by which they make +their bread, and therefore look to wealth as the only means of pleasure. +It is not that men are pained by the scorn of the upper classes, but +they cannot endure their own; for they feel that the kind of labor to +which they are condemned is verily a degrading one, and makes them less +than men. Never had the upper classes so much sympathy with the lower, +or charity for them, as they have at this day, and yet never were they +so much hated by them: for, of old, the separation between the noble and +the poor was merely a wall built by law; now it is a veritable +difference in level of standing, a precipice between upper and lower +grounds in the field of humanity and there is pestilential air at the +bottom of it. I know not if a day is ever to come when the nature of +right freedom will be understood, and when men will see that to obey +another man, to labor for him, yield reverence to him or to his place, +is not slavery. It is often the best kind of liberty,--liberty from +care. The man who says to one, Go, and he goeth, and to another, Come, +and he cometh, has, in most cases, more sense of restraint and +difficulty than the man who obeys him. The movements of the one are +hindered by the burden on his shoulder; of the other, by the bridle on +his lips: there is no way by which the burden may be lightened; but we +need not suffer from the bridle if we do not champ at it. To yield +reverence to another, to hold ourselves and our lives at his disposal, +is not slavery; often, it is the noblest state in which a man can live +in this world. There is, indeed, a reverence which is servile, that is +to say, irrational or selfish: but there is also noble reverence, that +is to say, reasonable and loving; and a man is never so noble as when he +is reverent in this kind; nay, even if the feeling pass the bounds of +mere reason, so that it be loving, a man is raised by it. Which had, in +reality, most of the serf nature in him,--the Irish peasant who was +lying in wait yesterday for his landlord, with his musket muzzle thrust +through the ragged hedge; or that old mountain servant, who, 200 years +ago, at Inverkeithing, gave up his own life and the lives of his seven +sons for his chief?[57]--and as each fell, calling forth his brother to +the death, "Another for Hector!" And therefore, in all ages and all +countries, reverence has been paid and sacrifice made by men to each +other, not only without complaint, but rejoicingly; and famine, and +peril, and sword, and all evil, and all shame, have been borne willingly +in the causes of masters and kings; for all these gifts of the heart +ennobled the men who gave, not less than the men who received them, and +nature prompted, and God rewarded the sacrifice. But to feel their souls +withering within them, unthanked, to find their whole being sunk into an +unrecognized abyss, to be counted off into a heap of mechanism, +numbered with its wheels, and weighed with its hammer strokes;--this +nature bade not,--this God blesses not,--this humanity for no long time +is able to endure. + +§ XVI. We have much studied and much perfected, of late, the great +civilized invention of the division of labor; only we give it a false +name. It is not, truly speaking, the labor that is divided; but the +men:--Divided into mere segments of men--broken into small fragments and +crumbs of life; so that all the little piece of intelligence that is +left in a man is not enough to make a pin, or a nail, but exhausts +itself in making the point of a pin, or the head of a nail. Now it is a +good and desirable thing, truly, to make many pins in a day; but if we +could only see with what crystal sand their points were polished,--sand +of human soul, much to be magnified before it can be discerned for what +it is,--we should think there might be some loss in it also. And the +great cry that rises from all our manufacturing cities, louder than +their furnace blast, is all in very deed for this,--that we manufacture +everything there except men; we blanch cotton, and strengthen steel, and +refine sugar, and shape pottery; but to brighten, to strengthen, to +refine, or to form a single living spirit, never enters into our +estimate of advantages. And all the evil to which that cry is urging our +myriads can be met only in one way: not by teaching nor preaching, for +to teach them is but to show them their misery, and to preach to them, +if we do nothing more than preach, is to mock at it. It can be met only +by a right understanding, on the part of all classes, of what kinds of +labor are good for men, raising them, and making them happy; by a +determined sacrifice of such convenience, or beauty, or cheapness as is +to be got only by the degradation of the workman; and by equally +determined demand for the products and results of healthy and ennobling +labor. + +§ XVII. And how, it will be asked, are these products to be recognized, +and this demand to be regulated? Easily: by the observance of three +broad and simple rules: + +1. Never encourage the manufacture of any article not absolutely +necessary, in the production of which _Invention_ has no share. + +2. Never demand an exact finish for its own sake, but only for some +practical or noble end. + +3. Never encourage imitation or copying of any kind, except for the sake +of preserving record of great works. + +The second of these principles is the only one which directly rises out +of the consideration of our immediate subject; but I shall briefly +explain the meaning and extent of the first also, reserving the +enforcement of the third for another place. + +1. Never encourage the manufacture of anything not necessary, in the +production of which invention has no share. + +For instance. Glass beads are utterly unnecessary, and there is no +design or thought employed in their manufacture. They are formed by +first drawing out the glass into rods; these rods are chopped up into +fragments of the size of beads by the human hand, and the fragments are +then rounded in the furnace. The men who chop up the rods sit at their +work all day, their hands vibrating with a perpetual and exquisitely +timed palsy, and the beads dropping beneath their vibration like hail. +Neither they, nor the men who draw out the rods, or fuse the fragments, +have the smallest occasion for the use of any single human faculty; and +every young lady, therefore, who buys glass beads is engaged in the +slave-trade, and in a much more cruel one than that which we have so +long been endeavoring to put down. + +But glass cups and vessels may become the subjects of exquisite +invention; and if in buying these we pay for the invention, that is to +say for the beautiful form, or color, or engraving, and not for mere +finish of execution, we are doing good to humanity. + +§ XVIII. So, again, the cutting of precious stones, in all ordinary +cases, requires little exertion of any mental faculty; some tact and +judgment in avoiding flaws, and so on, but nothing to bring out the +whole mind. Every person who wears cut jewels merely for the sake of +their value is, therefore, a slave-driver. + +But the working of the goldsmith, and the various designing of grouped +jewellery and enamel-work, may become the subject of the most noble +human intelligence. Therefore, money spent in the purchase of +well-designed plate, of precious engraved vases, cameos, or enamels, +does good to humanity; and, in work of this kind, jewels may be employed +to heighten its splendor; and their cutting is then a price paid for the +attainment of a noble end, and thus perfectly allowable. + +§ XIX. I shall perhaps press this law farther elsewhere, but our +immediate concern is chiefly with the second, namely, never to demand an +exact finish, when it does not lead to a noble end. For observe, I have +only dwelt upon the rudeness of Gothic, or any other kind of +imperfectness, as admirable, where it was impossible to get design or +thought without it. If you are to have the thought of a rough and +untaught man, you must have it in a rough and untaught way; but from an +educated man, who can without effort express his thoughts in an educated +way, take the graceful expression, and be thankful. Only _get_ the +thought, and do not silence the peasant because he cannot speak good +grammar, or until you have taught him his grammar. Grammar and +refinement are good things, both, only be sure of the better thing +first. And thus in art, delicate finish is desirable from the greatest +masters, and is always given by them. In some places Michael Angelo, +Leonardo, Phidias, Perugino, Turner, all finished with the most +exquisite care; and the finish they give always leads to the fuller +accomplishment of their noble purposes. But lower men than these cannot +finish, for it requires consummate knowledge to finish consummately, and +then we must take their thoughts as they are able to give them. So the +rule is simple: Always look for invention first, and after that, for +such execution as will help the invention, and as the inventor is +capable of without painful effort, and _no more_. Above all, demand no +refinement of execution where there is no thought, for that is slaves' +work, unredeemed. Rather choose rough work than smooth work, so only +that the practical purpose be answered, and never imagine there is +reason to be proud of anything that may be accomplished by patience and +sandpaper. + +§ XX. I shall only give one example, which however will show the reader +what I mean, from the manufacture already alluded to, that of glass. Our +modern glass is exquisitely clear in its substance, true in its form, +accurate in its cutting. We are proud of this. We ought to be ashamed of +it. The old Venice glass was muddy, inaccurate in all its forms, and +clumsily cut, if at all. And the old Venetian was justly proud of it. +For there is this difference between the English and Venetian workman, +that the former thinks only of accurately matching his patterns, and +getting his curves perfectly true and his edges perfectly sharp, and +becomes a mere machine for rounding curves and sharpening edges, while +the old Venetian cared not a whit whether his edges were sharp or not, +but he invented a new design for every glass that he made, and never +moulded a handle or a lip without a new fancy in it. And therefore, +though some Venetian glass is ugly and clumsy enough, when made by +clumsy and uninventive workmen, other Venetian glass is so lovely in its +forms that no price is too great for it; and we never see the same form +in it twice. Now you cannot have the finish and the varied form too. If +the workman is thinking about his edges, he cannot be thinking of his +design; if of his design, he cannot think of his edges. Choose whether +you will pay for the lovely form or the perfect finish, and choose at +the same moment whether you will make the worker a man or a grindstone. + +§ XXI. Nay, but the reader interrupts me,--"If the workman can design +beautifully, I would not have him kept at the furnace. Let him be taken +away and made a gentleman, and have a studio, and design his glass +there, and I will have it blown and cut for him by common workmen, and +so I will have my design and my finish too." + +All ideas of this kind are founded upon two mistaken suppositions: the +first, that one man's thoughts can be, or ought to be, executed by +another man's hands; the second, that manual labor is a degradation, +when it is governed by intellect. + +On a large scale, and in work determinable by line and rule, it is +indeed both possible and necessary that the thoughts of one man should +be carried out by the labor of others; in this sense I have already +defined the best architecture to be the expression of the mind of +manhood by the hands of childhood. But on a smaller scale, and in a +design which cannot be mathematically defined, one man's thoughts can +never be expressed by another: and the difference between the spirit of +touch of the man who is inventing, and of the man who is obeying +directions, is often all the difference between a great and a common +work of art. How wide the separation is between original and second-hand +execution, I shall endeavor to show elsewhere; it is not so much to our +purpose here as to mark the other and more fatal error of despising +manual labor when governed by intellect; for it is no less fatal an +error to despise it when thus regulated by intellect, than to value it +for its own sake. We are always in these days endeavoring to separate +the two; we want one man to be always thinking, and another to be always +working, and we call one a gentleman, and the other an operative; +whereas the workman ought often to be thinking, and the thinker often to +be working, and both should be gentlemen, in the best sense. As it is, +we make both ungentle, the one envying, the other despising, his +brother; and the mass of society is made up of morbid thinkers, and +miserable workers. Now it is only by labor that thought can be made +healthy, and only by thought that labor can be made happy, and the two +cannot be separated with impunity. It would be well if all of us were +good handicraftsmen in some kind, and the dishonor of manual labor done +away with altogether; so that though there should still be a trenchant +distinction of race between nobles and commoners, there should not, +among the latter, be a trenchant distinction of employment, as between +idle and working men, or between men of liberal and illiberal +professions. All professions should be liberal, and there should be less +pride felt in peculiarity of employment, and more in excellence of +achievement. And yet more, in each several profession, no master should +be too proud to do its hardest work. The painter should grind his own +colors; the architect work in the mason's yard with his men; the +master-manufacturer be himself a more skilful operative than any man in +his mills; and the distinction between one man and another be only in +experience and skill, and the authority and wealth which these must +naturally and justly obtain. + +§ XXII. I should be led far from the matter in hand, if I were to pursue +this interesting subject. Enough, I trust, has been said to show the +reader that the rudeness or imperfection which at first rendered the +term "Gothic" one of reproach is indeed, when rightly understood, one of +the most noble characters of Christian architecture, and not only a +noble but an _essential_ one. It seems a fantastic paradox, but it is +nevertheless a most important truth, that no architecture can be truly +noble which is _not_ imperfect. And this is easily demonstrable. For +since the architect, whom we will suppose capable of doing all in +perfection, cannot execute the whole with his own hands, he must either +make slaves of his workmen in the old Greek, and present English +fashion, and level his work to a slave's capacities, which is to degrade +it; or else he must take his workmen as he finds them, and let them show +their weaknesses together with their strength, which will involve the +Gothic imperfection, but render the whole work as noble as the intellect +of the age can make it. + +§ XXIII. But the principle may be stated more broadly still. I have +confined the illustration of it to architecture, but I must not leave it +as if true of architecture only. Hitherto I have used the words +imperfect and perfect merely to distinguish between work grossly +unskilful, and work executed with average precision and science; and I +have been pleading that any degree of unskilfulness should be admitted, +so only that the laborer's mind had room for expression. But, accurately +speaking, no good work whatever can be perfect, and _the demand for +perfection is always a sign of a misunderstanding of the ends of art_. + +§ XXIV. This for two reasons, both based on everlasting laws. The first, +that no great man ever stops working till he has reached his point of +failure; that is to say, his mind is always far in advance of his +powers of execution, and the latter will now and then give way in trying +to follow it; besides that he will always give to the inferior portions +of his work only such inferior attention as they require; and according +to his greatness he becomes so accustomed to the feeling of +dissatisfaction with the best he can do, that in moments of lassitude or +anger with himself he will not care though the beholder be dissatisfied +also. I believe there has only been one man who would not acknowledge +this necessity, and strove always to reach perfection, Leonardo; the end +of his vain effort being merely that he would take ten years to a +picture, and leave it unfinished. And therefore, if we are to have great +men working at all, or less men doing their best, the work will be +imperfect, however beautiful. Of human work none but what is bad can be +perfect, in its own bad way.[58] + +§ XXV. The second reason is, that imperfection is in some sort essential +to all that we know of life. It is the sign of life in a mortal body, +that is to say, of a state of progress and change. Nothing that lives +is, or can be, rigidly perfect; part of it is decaying, part nascent. +The foxglove blossom,--a third part bud, a third part past, a third part +in full bloom,--is a type of the life of this world. And in all things +that live there are certain, irregularities and deficiencies which are +not only signs of life, but sources of beauty. No human face is exactly +the same in its lines on each side, no leaf perfect in its lobes, no +branch in its symmetry. All admit irregularity as they imply change; and +to banish imperfection is to destroy expression, to check exertion, to +paralyse vitality. All things are literally better, lovelier, and more +beloved for the imperfections which have been divinely appointed, that +the law of human life may be Effort, and the law of human judgment, +Mercy. + +Accept this then for a universal law, that neither architecture nor any +other noble work of man can be good unless it be imperfect; and let us +be prepared for the otherwise strange fact, which we shall discern +clearly as we approach the period of the Renaissance, that the first +cause of the fall of the arts of Europe was a relentless requirement of +perfection, incapable alike either of being silenced by veneration for +greatness, or softened into forgiveness of simplicity. + +Thus far then of the Rudeness or Savageness, which is the first mental +element of Gothic architecture. It is an element in many other healthy +architectures also, as in Byzantine and Romanesque; but true Gothic +cannot exist without it. + +§ XXVI. The second mental element above named was CHANGEFULNESS, or +Variety. + +I have already enforced the allowing independent operation to the +inferior workman, simply as a duty _to him_, and as ennobling the +architecture by rendering it more Christian. We have now to consider +what reward we obtain for the performance of this duty, namely, the +perpetual variety of every feature of the building. + +Wherever the workman is utterly enslaved, the parts of the building must +of course be absolutely like each other; for the perfection of his +execution can only be reached by exercising him in doing one thing, and +giving him nothing else to do. The degree in which the workman is +degraded may be thus known at a glance, by observing whether the several +parts of the building are similar or not; and if, as in Greek work, all +the capitals are alike, and all the mouldings unvaried, then the +degradation is complete; if, as in Egyptian or Ninevite work, though the +manner of executing certain figures is always the same, the order of +design is perpetually varied, the degradation is less total; if, as in +Gothic work, there is perpetual change both in design and execution, the +workman must have been altogether set free. + +§ XXVII. How much the beholder gains from the liberty of the laborer may +perhaps be questioned in England, where one of the strongest instincts +in nearly every mind is that Love of Order which makes us desire that +our house windows should pair like our carriage horses, and allows us +to yield our faith unhesitatingly to architectural theories which fix a +form for everything and forbid variation from it. I would not impeach +love of order: it is one of the most useful elements of the English +mind; it helps us in our commerce and in all purely practical matters; +and it is in many cases one of the foundation stones of morality. Only +do not let us suppose that love of order is love of art. It is true that +order, in its highest sense, is one of the necessities of art, just as +time is a necessity of music; but love of order has no more to do with +our right enjoyment of architecture or painting, than love of +punctuality with the appreciation of an opera. Experience, I fear, +teaches us that accurate and methodical habits in daily life are seldom +characteristic of those who either quickly perceive, or richly possess, +the creative powers of art; there is, however, nothing inconsistent +between the two instincts, and nothing to hinder us from retaining our +business habits, and yet fully allowing and enjoying the noblest gifts +of Invention. We already do so, in every other branch of art except +architecture, and we only do _not_ so there because we have been taught +that it would be wrong. Our architects gravely inform us that, as there +are four rules of arithmetic, there are five orders of architecture; we, +in our simplicity, think that this sounds consistent, and believe them. +They inform us also that there is one proper form for Corinthian +capitals, another for Doric, and another for Ionic. We, considering that +there is also a proper form for the letters A, B, and C, think that this +also sounds consistent, and accept the proposition. Understanding, +therefore, that one form of the said capitals is proper, and no other, +and having a conscientious horror of all impropriety, we allow the +architect to provide us with the said capitals, of the proper form, in +such and such a quantity, and in all other points to take care that the +legal forms are observed; which having done, we rest in forced +confidence that we are well housed. + +§ XXVIII. But our higher instincts are not deceived. We take no pleasure +in the building provided for us, resembling that which we take in a new +book or a new picture. We may be proud of its size, complacent in its +correctness, and happy in its convenience. We may take the same pleasure +in its symmetry and workmanship as in a well-ordered room, or a skilful +piece of manufacture. And this we suppose to be all the pleasure that +architecture was ever intended to give us. The idea of reading a +building as we would read Milton or Dante, and getting the same kind of +delight out of the stones as out of the stanzas, never enters our minds +for a moment. And for good reason:--There is indeed rhythm in the +verses, quite as strict as the symmetries or rhythm of the architecture, +and a thousand times more beautiful, but there is something else than +rhythm. The verses were neither made to order, nor to match, as the +capitals were; and we have therefore a kind of pleasure in them other +than a sense of propriety. But it requires a strong effort of common +sense to shake ourselves quit of all that we have been taught for the +last two centuries, and wake to the perception of a truth just as simple +and certain as it is new: that great art, whether expressing itself in +words, colors, or stones, does _not_ say the same thing over and over +again; that the merit of architectural, as of every other art, consists +in its saying new and different things; that to repeat itself is no more +a characteristic of genius in marble than it is of genius in print; and +that we may, without offending any laws of good taste, require of an +architect, as we do of a novelist, that he should be not only correct, +but entertaining. + +Yet all this is true, and self-evident; only hidden from us, as many +other self-evident things are, by false teaching. Nothing is a great +work of art, for the production of which either rules or models can be +given. Exactly so far as architecture works on known rules, and from +given models, it is not an art, but a manufacture; and it is, of the two +procedures, rather less rational (because more easy) to copy capitals or +mouldings from Phidias, and call ourselves architects, than to copy +heads and hands from Titian, and call ourselves painters. + +§ XXIX. Let us then understand at once, that change or variety is as +much a necessity to the human heart and brain in buildings as in books; +that there is no merit, though there is some occasional use, in +monotony; and that we must no more expect to derive either pleasure or +profit from an architecture whose ornaments are of one pattern, and +whose pillars are of one proportion, than we should out of a universe in +which the clouds were all of one shape, and the trees all of one size. + +§ XXX. And this we confess in deeds, though not in words. All the +pleasure which the people of the nineteenth century take in art, is in +pictures, sculpture, minor objects of virtù, or mediæval architecture, +which we enjoy under the term picturesque: no pleasure is taken anywhere +in modern buildings, and we find all men of true feeling delighting to +escape out of modern cities into natural scenery: hence, as I shall +hereafter show, that peculiar love of landscape which is characteristic +of the age. It would be well, if, in all other matters, we were as ready +to put up with what we dislike, for the sake of compliance with +established law, as we are in architecture. + +§ XXXI. How so debased a law ever came to be established, we shall see +when we come to describe the Renaissance schools: here we have only to +note, as the second most essential element of the Gothic spirit, that it +broke through that law wherever it found it in existence; it not only +dared, but delighted in, the infringement of every servile principle; +and invented a series of forms of which the merit was, not merely that +they were new, but that they were _capable of perpetual novelty_. The +pointed arch was not merely a bold variation from the round, but it +admitted of millions of variations in itself; for the proportions of a +pointed arch are changeable to infinity, while a circular arch is always +the same. The grouped shaft was not merely a bold variation from the +single one, but it admitted of millions of variations in its grouping, +and in the proportions resultant from its grouping. The introduction of +tracery was not only a startling change in the treatment of window +lights, but admitted endless changes in the interlacement of the tracery +bars themselves. So that, while in all living Christian architecture the +love of variety exists, the Gothic schools exhibited that love in +culminating energy; and their influence, wherever it extended itself, +may be sooner and farther traced by this character than by any other; +the tendency to the adoption of Gothic types being always first shown by +greater irregularity and richer variation in the forms of the +architecture it is about to supersede, long before the appearance of the +pointed arch or of any other recognizable _outward_ sign of the Gothic +mind. + +§ XXXII. We must, however, herein note carefully what distinction there +is between a healthy and a diseased love of change; for as it was in +healthy love of change that the Gothic architecture rose, it was partly +in consequence of diseased love of change that it was destroyed. In +order to understand this clearly, it will be necessary to consider the +different ways in which change and monotony are presented to us in +nature; both having their use, like darkness and light, and the one +incapable of being enjoyed without the other: change being most +delightful after some prolongation of monotony, as light appears most +brilliant after the eyes have been for some time closed. + +§ XXXIII. I believe that the true relations of monotony and change may +be most simply understood by observing them in music. We may therein +notice, first, that there is a sublimity and majesty in monotony which +there is not in rapid or frequent variation. This is true throughout all +nature. The greater part of the sublimity of the sea depends on its +monotony; so also that of desolate moor and mountain scenery; and +especially the sublimity of motion, as in the quiet, unchanged fall and +rise of an engine beam. So also there is sublimity in darkness which +there is not in light. + +§ XXXIV. Again, monotony after a certain time, or beyond a certain +degree, becomes either uninteresting or intolerable, and the musician is +obliged to break it in one or two ways: either while the air or passage +is perpetually repeated, its notes are variously enriched and +harmonized; or else, after a certain number of repeated passages, an +entirely new passage is introduced, which is more or less delightful +according to the length of the previous monotony. Nature, of course, +uses both these kinds of variation perpetually. The sea-waves, +resembling each other in general mass, but none like its brother in +minor divisions and curves, are a monotony of the first kind; the great +plain, broken by an emergent rock or clump of trees, is a monotony of +the second. + +§ XXXV. Farther: in order to the enjoyment of the change in either case, +a certain degree of patience is required from the hearer or observer. In +the first case, he must be satisfied to endure with patience the +recurrence of the great masses of sound or form, and to seek for +entertainment in a careful watchfulness of the minor details. In the +second case, he must bear patiently the infliction of the monotony for +some moments, in order to feel the full refreshment of the change. This +is true even of the shortest musical passage in which the element of +monotony is employed. In cases of more majestic monotony, the patience +required is so considerable that it becomes a kind of pain,--a price +paid for the future pleasure. + +§ XXXVI. Again: the talent of the composer is not in the monotony, but +in the changes: he may show feeling and taste by his use of monotony in +certain places or degrees; that is to say, by his _various_ employment +of it; but it is always in the new arrangement or invention that his +intellect is shown, and not in the monotony which relieves it. + +Lastly: if the pleasure of change be too often repeated, it ceases to be +delightful, for then change itself becomes monotonous, and we are driven +to seek delight in extreme and fantastic degrees of it. This is the +diseased love of change of which we have above spoken. + +§ XXXVII. From these facts we may gather generally that monotony is, and +ought to be, in itself painful to us, just as darkness is; that an +architecture which is altogether monotonous is a dark or dead +architecture; and, of those who love it, it may be truly said, "they +love darkness rather than light." But monotony in certain measure, used +in order to give value to change, and, above all, that _transparent_ +monotony which, like the shadows of a great painter, suffers all manner +of dimly suggested form to be seen through the body of it, is an +essential in architectural as in all other composition; and the +endurance of monotony has about the same place in a healthy mind that +the endurance of darkness has: that is to say, as a strong intellect +will have pleasure in the solemnities of storm and twilight, and in the +broken and mysterious lights that gleam among them, rather than in mere +brilliancy and glare, while a frivolous mind will dread the shadow and +the storm; and as a great man will be ready to endure much darkness of +fortune in order to reach greater eminence of power or felicity, while +an inferior man will not pay the price; exactly in like manner a great +mind will accept, or even delight in, monotony which would be wearisome +to an inferior intellect, because it has more patience and power of +expectation, and is ready to pay the full price for the great future +pleasure of change. But in all cases it is not that the noble nature +loves monotony, any more than it loves darkness or pain. But it can bear +with it, and receives a high pleasure in the endurance or patience, a +pleasure necessary to the well-being of this world; while those who will +not submit to the temporary sameness, but rush from one change to +another, gradually dull the edge of change itself, and bring a shadow +and weariness over the whole world from which there is no more escape. + +§ XXXVIII. From these general uses of variety in the economy of the +world, we may at once understand its use and abuse in architecture. The +variety of the Gothic schools is the more healthy and beautiful, because +in many cases it is entirely unstudied, and results, not from the mere +love of change, but from practical necessities. For in one point of view +Gothic is not only the best, but the _only rational_ architecture, as +being that which can fit itself most easily to all services, vulgar or +noble. Undefined in its slope of roof, height of shaft, breadth of arch, +or disposition of ground plan, it can shrink into a turret, expand into +a hall, coil into a staircase, or spring into a spire, with undegraded +grace and unexhausted energy; and whenever it finds occasion for change +in its form or purpose, it submits to it without the slightest sense of +loss either to its unity or majesty,--subtle and flexible like a fiery +serpent, but ever attentive to the voice of the charmer. And it is one +of the chief virtues of the Gothic builders, that they never suffered +ideas of outside symmetries and consistencies to interfere with the real +use and value of what they did. If they wanted a window, they opened +one; a room, they added one; a buttress, they built one; utterly +regardless of any established conventionalities of external appearance, +knowing (as indeed it always happened) that such daring interruptions of +the formal plan would rather give additional interest to its symmetry +than injure it. So that, in the best times of Gothic, a useless window +would rather have been opened in an unexpected place for the sake of the +surprise, than a useful one forbidden for the sake of symmetry. Every +successive architect, employed upon a great work, built the pieces he +added in his own way, utterly regardless of the style adopted by his +predecessors; and if two towers were raised in nominal correspondence at +the sides of a cathedral front, one was nearly sure to be different from +the other, and in each the style at the top to be different from the +style at the bottom.[59] + +§ XXXIX. These marked variations were, however, only permitted as part +of the great system of perpetual change which ran through every member +of Gothic design, and rendered it as endless a field for the beholder's +inquiry, as for the builder's imagination: change, which in the best +schools is subtle and delicate, and rendered more delightful by +intermingling of a noble monotony; in the more barbaric schools is +somewhat fantastic and redundant; but, in all, a necessary and constant +condition of the life of the school. Sometimes the variety is in one +feature, sometimes in another; it may be in the capitals or crockets, in +the niches or the traceries, or in all together, but in some one or +other of the features it will be found always. If the mouldings are +constant, the surface sculpture will change; if the capitals are of a +fixed design, the traceries will change; if the traceries are +monotonous, the capitals will change; and if even, as in some fine +schools, the early English for example, there is the slightest +approximation to an unvarying type of mouldings, capitals, and floral +decoration, the variety is found in the disposition of the masses, and +in the figure sculpture. + +§ XL. I must now refer for a moment, before we quit the consideration of +this, the second mental element of Gothic, to the opening of the third +chapter of the "Seven Lamps of Architecture," in which the distinction +was drawn (§ 2) between man gathering and man governing; between his +acceptance of the sources of delight from nature, and his developement +of authoritative or imaginative power in their arrangement: for the two +mental elements, not only of Gothic, but of all good architecture, which +we have just been examining, belong to it, and are admirable in it, +chiefly as it is, more than any other subject of art, the work of man, +and the expression of the average power of man. A picture or poem is +often little more than a feeble utterance of man's admiration of +something out of himself; but architecture approaches more to a creation +of his own, born of his necessities, and expressive of his nature. It is +also, in some sort, the work of the whole race, while the picture or +statue are the work of one only, in most cases more highly gifted than +his fellows. And therefore we may expect that the first two elements of +good architecture should be expressive of some great truths commonly +belonging to the whole race, and necessary to be understood or felt by +them in all their work that they do under the sun. And observe what they +are: the confession of Imperfection and the confession of Desire of +Change. The building of the bird and the bee needs not express anything +like this. It is perfect and unchanging. But just because we are +something better than birds or bees, our building must confess that we +have not reached the perfection we can imagine, and cannot rest in the +condition we have attained. If we pretend to have reached either +perfection or satisfaction, we have degraded ourselves and our work. +God's work only may express that; but ours may never have that sentence +written upon it,--"And behold, it was very good." And, observe again, +it is not merely as it renders the edifice a book of various knowledge, +or a mine of precious thought, that variety is essential to its +nobleness. The vital principle is not the love of _Knowledge_, but the +love of _Change_. It is that strange _disquietude_ of the Gothic spirit +that is its greatness; that restlessness of the dreaming mind, that +wanders hither and thither among the niches, and flickers feverishly +around the pinnacles, and frets and fades in labyrinthine knots and +shadows along wall and roof, and yet is not satisfied, nor shall be +satisfied. The Greek could stay in his triglyph furrow, and be at peace; +but the work of the Gothic heart is fretwork still, and it can neither +rest in, nor from, its labor, but must pass on, sleeplessly, until its +love of change shall be pacified for ever in the change that must come +alike on them that wake and them that sleep. + +§ XLI. The third constituent element of the Gothic mind was stated to be +NATURALISM; that is to say, the love of natural objects for their own +sake, and the effort to represent them frankly, unconstrained by +artistical laws. + +This characteristic of the style partly follows in necessary connexion +with those named above. For, so soon as the workman is left free to +represent what subjects he chooses, he must look to the nature that is +round him for material, and will endeavor to represent it as he sees it, +with more or less accuracy according to the skill he possesses, and with +much play of fancy, but with small respect for law. There is, however, a +marked distinction between the imaginations of the Western and Eastern +races, even when both are left free; the Western, or Gothic, delighting +most in the representation of facts, and the Eastern (Arabian, Persian, +and Chinese) in the harmony of colors and forms. Each of these +intellectual dispositions has its particular forms of error and abuse, +which, though I have often before stated, I must here again briefly +explain; and this the rather, because the word Naturalism is, in one of +its senses, justly used as a term of reproach, and the questions +respecting the real relations of art and nature are so many and so +confused throughout all the schools of Europe at this day, that I +cannot clearly enunciate any single truth without appearing to admit, in +fellowship with it, some kind of error, unless the reader will bear with +me in entering into such an analysis of the subject as will serve us for +general guidance. + +§ XLII. We are to remember, in the first place, that the arrangement of +colors and lines is an art analogous to the composition[60] of music, +and entirely independent of the representation of facts. Good coloring +does not necessarily convey the image of anything but itself. It +consists in certain proportions and arrangements of rays of light, but +not in likenesses to anything. A few touches of certain greys and +purples laid by a master's hand on white paper, will be good coloring; +as more touches are added beside them, we may find out that they were +intended to represent a dove's neck, and we may praise, as the drawing +advances, the perfect imitation of the dove's neck. But the good +coloring does not consist in that imitation, but in the abstract +qualities and relations of the grey and purple. + +In like manner, as soon as a great sculptor begins to shape his work out +of the block, we shall see that its lines are nobly arranged, and of +noble character. We may not have the slightest idea for what the forms +are intended, whether they are of man or beast, of vegetation or +drapery. Their likeness to anything does not affect their nobleness. +They are magnificent forms, and that is all we need care to know of +them, in order to say whether the workman is a good or bad sculptor. + +§ XLIII. Now the noblest art is an exact unison of the abstract value, +with the imitative power, of forms and colors. It is the noblest +composition, used to express the noblest facts. But the human mind +cannot in general unite the two perfections: it either pursues the fact +to the neglect of the composition, or pursues the composition to the +neglect of the fact. + +§ XLIV. And it is intended by the Deity that it _should_ do this; the +best art is not always wanted. Facts are often wanted without art, as in +a geological diagram; and art often without facts, as in a Turkey +carpet. And most men have been made capable of giving either one or the +other, but not both; only one or two, the very highest, can give both. + +Observe then. Men are universally divided, as respects their artistical +qualifications, into three great classes; a right, a left, and a centre. +On the right side are the men of facts, on the left the men of +design,[61] in the centre the men of both. + +The three classes of course pass into each other by imperceptible +gradations. The men of facts are hardly ever altogether without powers +of design; the men of design are always in some measure cognizant of +facts; and as each class possesses more or less of the powers of the +opposite one, it approaches to the character of the central class. Few +men, even in that central rank, are so exactly throned on the summit of +the crest that they cannot be perceived to incline in the least one way +or the other, embracing both horizons with their glance. Now each of +these classes has, as I above said, a healthy function in the world, and +correlative diseases or unhealthy functions; and, when the work of +either of them is seen in its morbid condition, we are apt to find fault +with the class of workmen, instead of finding fault only with the +particular abuse which has perverted their action. + +§ XLV. Let us first take an instance of the healthy action of the three +classes on a simple subject, so as fully to understand the distinction +between them, and then we shall more easily examine the corruptions to +which they are liable. Fig. 1 in Plate VI. is a spray of vine with a +bough of cherry-tree, which I have outlined from nature as accurately as +I could, without in the least endeavoring to compose or arrange the +form. It is a simple piece of fact-work, healthy and good as such, and +useful to any one who wanted to know plain truths about tendrils of +vines, but there is no attempt at design in it. Plate XIX., below, +represents a branch of vine used to decorate the angle of the Ducal +Palace. It is faithful as a representation of vine, and yet so designed +that every leaf serves an architectural purpose, and could not be spared +from its place without harm. This is central work; fact and design +together. Fig. 2 in Plate VI. is a spandril from St. Mark's, in which +the forms of the vine are dimly suggested, the object of the design +being merely to obtain graceful lines and well proportioned masses upon +the gold ground. There is not the least attempt to inform the spectator +of any facts about the growth of the vine; there are no stalks or +tendrils,--merely running bands with leaves emergent from them, of which +nothing but the outline is taken from the vine, and even that +imperfectly. This is design, unregardful of facts. + +Now the work is, in all these three cases, perfectly healthy. Fig. 1 is +not bad work because it has not design, nor Fig. 2 bad work because it +has not facts. The object of the one is to give pleasure through truth, +and of the other to give pleasure through composition. And both are +right. + +What, then, are the diseased operations to which the three classes of +workmen are liable? + +§ XLVI. Primarily, two; affecting the two inferior classes: + +1st, When either of those two classes Despises the other: + +2nd, When either of the two classes Envies the other; producing, +therefore, four forms of dangerous error. + +First, when the men of facts despise design. This is the error of the +common Dutch painters, of merely imitative painters of still life, +flowers, &c., and other men who, having either the gift of accurate +imitation or strong sympathies with nature, suppose that all is done +when the imitation is perfected or sympathy expressed. A large body of +English landscapists come into this class, including most clever +sketchers from nature, who fancy that to get a sky of true tone, and a +gleam of sunshine or sweep of shower faithfully expressed, is all that +can be required of art. These men are generally themselves answerable +for much of their deadness of feeling to the higher qualities of +composition. They probably have not originally the high gifts of design, +but they lose such powers as they originally possessed by despising, and +refusing to study, the results of great power of design in others. Their +knowledge, as far as it goes, being accurate, they are usually +presumptuous and self-conceited, and gradually become incapable of +admiring anything but what is like their own works. They see nothing in +the works of great designers but the faults, and do harm almost +incalculable in the European society of the present day by sneering at +the compositions of the greatest men of the earlier ages,[62] because +they do not absolutely tally with their own ideas of "Nature." + +§ XLVII. The second form of error is when the men of design despise +facts. All noble design must deal with facts to a certain extent, for +there is no food for it but in nature. The best colorist invents best by +taking hints from natural colors; from birds, skies, or groups of +figures. And if, in the delight of inventing fantastic color and form +the truths of nature are wilfully neglected, the intellect becomes +comparatively decrepit, and that state of art results which we find +among the Chinese. The Greek designers delighted in the facts of the +human form, and became great in consequence; but the facts of lower +nature were disregarded by them, and their inferior ornament became, +therefore, dead and valueless. + +§ XLVIII. The third form of error is when the men of facts envy design: +that is to say, when, having only imitative powers, they refuse to +employ those powers upon the visible world around them; but, having been +taught that composition is the end of art, strive to obtain the +inventive powers which nature has denied them, study nothing but the +works of reputed designers, and perish in a fungous growth of plagiarism +and laws of art. + +Here was the great error of the beginning of this century; it is the +error of the meanest kind of men that employ themselves in painting, and +it is the most fatal of all, rendering those who fall into it utterly +useless, incapable of helping the world with either truth or fancy, +while, in all probability, they deceive it by base resemblances of both, +until it hardly recognizes truth or fancy when they really exist. + +§ XLIX. The fourth form of error is when the men of design envy facts; +that is to say, when the temptation of closely imitating nature leads +them to forget their own proper ornamental function, and when they lose +the power of the composition for the sake of graphic truth; as, for +instance, in the hawthorn moulding so often spoken of round the porch of +Bourges Cathedral, which, though very lovely, might perhaps, as we saw +above, have been better, if the old builder, in his excessive desire to +make it look like hawthorn, had not painted it green. + +§ L. It is, however, carefully to be noted, that the two morbid +conditions to which the men of facts are liable are much more dangerous +and harmful than those to which the men of design are liable. The morbid +state of men of design injures themselves only; that of the men of facts +injures the whole world. The Chinese porcelain-painter is, indeed, not +so great a man as he might be, but he does not want to break everything +that is not porcelain; but the modern English fact-hunter, despising +design, wants to destroy everything that does not agree with his own +notions of truth, and becomes the most dangerous and despicable of +iconoclasts, excited by egotism instead of religion. Again: the Bourges +sculptor, painting his hawthorns green, did indeed somewhat hurt the +effect of his own beautiful design, but did not prevent any one from +loving hawthorn: but Sir George Beaumont, trying to make Constable paint +grass brown _instead_ of green, was setting himself between Constable +and nature, blinding the painter, and blaspheming the work of God. + +§ LI. So much, then, of the diseases of the inferior classes, caused by +their envying or despising each other. It is evident that the men of the +central class cannot be liable to any morbid operation of this kind, +they possessing the powers of both. + +But there is another order of diseases which affect all the three +classes, considered with respect to their pursuit of facts. For observe, +all the three classes are in some degree pursuers of facts; even the men +of design not being in any case altogether independent of external +truth. Now, considering them _all_ as more or less searchers after +truth, there is another triple division to be made of them. Everything +presented to them in nature has good and evil mingled in it: and +artists, considered as searchers after truth, are again to be divided +into three great classes, a right, a left, and a centre. Those on the +right perceive, and pursue, the good, and leave the evil: those in the +centre, the greatest, perceive and pursue the good and evil together, +the whole thing as it verily is: those on the left perceive and pursue +the evil, and leave the good. + +§ LII. The first class, I say, take the good and leave the evil. Out of +whatever is presented to them, they gather what it has of grace, and +life, and light, and holiness, and leave all, or at least as much as +possible, of the rest undrawn. The faces of their figures express no +evil passions; the skies of their landscapes are without storm; the +prevalent character of their color is brightness, and of their +chiaroscuro fulness of light. The early Italian and Flemish painters, +Angelico and Hemling, Perugino, Francia, Raffaelle in his best time, +John Bellini, and our own Stothard, belong eminently to this class. + +§ LIII. The second, or greatest class, render all that they see in +nature unhesitatingly, with a kind of divine grasp and government of the +whole, sympathizing with all the good, and yet confessing, permitting, +and bringing good out of the evil also. Their subject is infinite as +nature, their color equally balanced between splendor and sadness, +reaching occasionally the highest degrees of both, and their chiaroscuro +equally balanced between light and shade. + +The principal men of this class are Michael Angelo, Leonardo, Giotto, +Tintoret, and Turner. Raffaelle in his second time, Titian, and Rubens +are transitional; the first inclining to the eclectic, and the last two +to the impure class, Raffaelle rarely giving all the evil, Titian and +Rubens rarely all the good. + +§ LIV. The last class perceive and imitate evil only. They cannot draw +the trunk of a tree without blasting and shattering it, nor a sky except +covered with stormy clouds: they delight in the beggary and brutality of +the human race; their color is for the most part subdued or lurid, and +the greatest spaces of their pictures are occupied by darkness. + +Happily the examples of this class are seldom seen in perfection. +Salvator Rosa and Caravaggio are the most characteristic: the other men +belonging to it approach towards the central rank by imperceptible +gradations, as they perceive and represent more and more of good. But +Murillo, Zurbaran, Camillo Procaccini, Rembrandt, and Teniers, all +belong naturally to this lower class. + +§ LV. Now, observe: the three classes into which artists were previously +divided, of men of fact, men of design, and men of both, are all of +Divine institution; but of these latter three, the last is in no wise of +Divine institution. It is entirely human, and the men who belong to it +have sunk into it by their own faults. They are, so far forth, either +useless or harmful men. It is indeed good that evil should be +occasionally represented, even in its worst forms, but never that it +should be taken delight in: and the mighty men of the central class will +always give us all that is needful of it; sometimes, as Hogarth did, +dwelling upon it bitterly as satirists,--but this with the more effect, +because they will neither exaggerate it, nor represent it mercilessly, +and without the atoning points that all evil shows to a Divinely guided +glance, even at its deepest. So then, though the third class will +always, I fear, in some measure exist, the two necessary classes are +only the first two; and this is so far acknowledged by the general sense +of men, that the basest class has been confounded with the second; and +painters have been divided commonly only into two ranks, now known, I +believe, throughout Europe by the names which they first received in +Italy, "Puristi and Naturalisti." Since, however, in the existing state +of things, the degraded or evil-loving class, though less defined than +that of the Puristi, is just as vast as it is indistinct, this division +has done infinite dishonor to the great faithful painters of nature: and +it has long been one of the objects I have had most at heart to show +that, in reality, the Purists, in their sanctity, are less separated +from these natural painters than the Sensualists in their foulness; and +that the difference, though less discernible, is in reality greater, +between the man who pursues evil for its own sake, and him who bears +with it for the sake of truth, than between this latter and the man who +will not endure it at all. + +§ LVI. Let us, then, endeavor briefly to mark the real relations of +these three vast ranks of men, whom I shall call, for convenience in +speaking of them, Purists, Naturalists, and Sensualists; not that these +terms express their real characters, but I know no word, and cannot coin +a convenient one, which would accurately express the opposite of Purist; +and I keep the terms Purist and Naturalist in order to comply, as far as +possible, with the established usage of language on the Continent. Now, +observe: in saying that nearly everything presented to us in nature has +mingling in it of good and evil, I do not mean that nature is +conceivably improvable, or that anything that God has made could be +called evil, if we could see far enough into its uses, but that, with +respect to immediate effects or appearances, it may be so, just as the +hard rind or bitter kernel of a fruit may be an evil to the eater, +though in the one is the protection of the fruit, and in the other its +continuance. The Purist, therefore, does not mend nature, but receives +from nature and from God that which is good for him; while the +Sensualist fills himself "with the husks that the swine did eat." + +The three classes may, therefore, be likened to men reaping wheat, of +which the Purists take the fine flour, and the Sensualists the chaff and +straw, but the Naturalists take all home, and make their cake of the +one, and their couch of the other. + +§ LVII. For instance. We know more certainly every day that whatever +appears to us harmful in the universe has some beneficent or necessary +operation; that the storm which destroys a harvest brightens the +sunbeams for harvests yet unsown, and that the volcano which buries a +city preserves a thousand from destruction. But the evil is not for the +time less fearful, because we have learned it to be necessary; and we +easily understand the timidity or the tenderness of the spirit which +would withdraw itself from the presence of destruction, and create in +its imagination a world of which the peace should be unbroken, in which +the sky should not darken nor the sea rage, in which the leaf should not +change nor the blossom wither. That man is greater, however, who +contemplates with an equal mind the alternations of terror and of +beauty; who, not rejoicing less beneath the sunny sky, can bear also to +watch the bars of twilight narrowing on the horizon; and, not less +sensible to the blessing of the peace of nature, can rejoice in the +magnificence of the ordinances by which that peace is protected and +secured. But separated from both by an immeasurable distance would be +the man who delighted in convulsion and disease for their own sake; who +found his daily food in the disorder of nature mingled with the +suffering of humanity; and watched joyfully at the right hand of the +Angel whose appointed work is to destroy as well as to accuse, while the +corners of the House of feasting were struck by the wind from the +wilderness. + +§ LVIII. And far more is this true, when the subject of contemplation is +humanity itself. The passions of mankind are partly protective, partly +beneficent, like the chaff and grain of the corn; but none without their +use, none without nobleness when seen in balanced unity with the rest +of the spirit which they are charged to defend. The passions of which +the end is the continuance of the race; the indignation which is to arm +it against injustice, or strengthen it to resist wanton injury; and the +fear[63] which lies at the root of prudence, reverence, and awe, are all +honorable and beautiful, so long as man is regarded in his relations to +the existing world. The religious Purist, striving to conceive him +withdrawn from those relations, effaces from the countenance the traces +of all transitory passion, illumines it with holy hope and love, and +seals it with the serenity of heavenly peace; he conceals the forms of +the body by the deep-folded garment, or else represents them under +severely chastened types, and would rather paint them emaciated by the +fast, or pale from the torture, than strengthened by exertion, or +flushed by emotion. But the great Naturalist takes the human being in +its wholeness, in its mortal as well as its spiritual strength. Capable +of sounding and sympathizing with the whole range of its passions, he +brings one majestic harmony out of them all; he represents it fearlessly +in all its acts and thoughts, in its haste, its anger, its sensuality, +and its pride, as well as in its fortitude or faith, but makes it noble +in them all; he casts aside the veil from the body, and beholds the +mysteries of its form like an angel looking down on an inferior +creature: there is nothing which he is reluctant to behold, nothing that +he is ashamed to confess; with all that lives, triumphing, falling, or +suffering, he claims kindred, either in majesty or in mercy, yet +standing, in a sort, afar off, unmoved even in the deepness of his +sympathy; for the spirit within him is too thoughtful to be grieved, too +brave to be appalled, and too pure to be polluted. + +§ LIX. How far beneath these two ranks of men shall we place, in the +scale of being, those whose pleasure is only in sin or in suffering; who +habitually contemplate humanity in poverty or decrepitude, fury or +sensuality; whose works are either temptations to its weakness, or +triumphs over its ruin, and recognize no other subjects for thought or +admiration than the subtlety of the robber, the rage of the soldier, or +the joy of the Sybarite. It seems strange, when thus definitely stated, +that such a school should exist. Yet consider a little what gaps and +blanks would disfigure our gallery and chamber walls, in places that we +have long approached with reverence, if every picture, every statue, +were removed from them, of which the subject was either the vice or the +misery of mankind, portrayed without any moral purpose: consider the +innumerable groups having reference merely to various forms of passion, +low or high; drunken revels and brawls among peasants, gambling or +fighting scenes among soldiers, amours and intrigues among every class, +brutal battle pieces, banditti subjects, gluts of torture and death in +famine, wreck, or slaughter, for the sake merely of the +excitement,--that quickening and suppling of the dull spirit that cannot +be gained for it but by bathing it in blood, afterward to wither back +into stained and stiffened apathy; and then that whole vast false heaven +of sensual passion, full of nymphs, satyrs, graces, goddesses, and I +know not what, from its high seventh circle in Correggio's Antiope, down +to the Grecized ballet-dancers and smirking Cupids of the Parisian +upholsterer. Sweep away all this, remorselessly, and see how much art we +should have left. + +§ LX. And yet these are only the grossest manifestations of the tendency +of the school. There are subtler, yet not less certain, signs of it in +the works of men who stand high in the world's list of sacred painters. +I doubt not that the reader was surprised when I named Murillo among the +men of this third rank. Yet, go into the Dulwich Gallery, and meditate +for a little over that much celebrated picture of the two beggar boys, +one eating lying on the ground, the other standing beside him. We have +among our own painters one who cannot indeed be set beside Murillo as a +painter of Madonnas, for he is a pure Naturalist, and, never having seen +a Madonna, does not paint any; but who, as a painter of beggar or +peasant boys, may be set beside Murillo, or any one else,--W. Hunt. He +loves peasant boys, because he finds them more roughly and picturesquely +dressed, and more healthily colored, than others. And he paints all +that he sees in them fearlessly; all the health and humor, and +freshness, and vitality, together with such awkwardness and stupidity, +and what else of negative or positive harm there may be in the creature; +but yet so that on the whole we love it, and find it perhaps even +beautiful, or if not, at least we see that there is capability of good +in it, rather than of evil; and all is lighted up by a sunshine and +sweet color that makes the smock-frock as precious as cloth of gold. But +look at those two ragged and vicious vagrants that Murillo has gathered +out of the street. You smile at first, because they are eating so +naturally, and their roguery is so complete. But is there anything else +than roguery there, or was it well for the painter to give his time to +the painting of those repulsive and wicked children? Do you feel moved +with any charity towards children as you look at them? Are we the least +more likely to take any interest in ragged schools, or to help the next +pauper child that comes in our way, because the painter has shown us a +cunning beggar feeding greedily? Mark the choice of the act. He might +have shown hunger in other ways, and given interest to even this act of +eating, by making the face wasted, or the eye wistful. But he did not +care to do this. He delighted merely in the disgusting manner of eating, +the food filling the cheek; the boy is not hungry, else he would not +turn round to talk and grin as he eats. + +§ LXI. But observe another point in the lower figure. It lies so that +the sole of the foot is turned towards the spectator; not because it +would have lain less easily in another attitude, but that the painter +may draw, and exhibit, the grey dust engrained in the foot. Do not call +this the painting of nature: it is mere delight in foulness. The lesson, +if there be any, in the picture, is not one whit the stronger. We all +know that a beggar's bare foot cannot be clean; there is no need to +thrust its degradation into the light, as if no human imagination were +vigorous enough for its conception. + +§ LXII. The position of the Sensualists, in treatment of landscape, is +less distinctly marked than in that of the figure: because even the +wildest passions of nature are noble: but the inclination is manifested +by carelessness in marking generic form in trees and flowers: by their +preferring confused and irregular arrangements of foliage or foreground +to symmetrical and simple grouping; by their general choice of such +picturesqueness as results from decay, disorder, and disease, rather +than of that which is consistent with the perfection of the things in +which it is found; and by their imperfect rendering of the elements of +strength and beauty in all things. I propose to work out this subject +fully in the last volume of "Modern Painters;" but I trust that enough +has been here said to enable the reader to understand the relations of +the three great classes of artists, and therefore also the kinds of +morbid condition into which the two higher (for the last has no other +than a morbid condition) are liable to fall. For, since the function of +the Naturalists is to represent, as far as may be, the whole of nature, +and the Purists to represent what is absolutely good for some special +purpose or time, it is evident that both are liable to error from +shortness of sight, and the last also from weakness of judgment. I say, +in the first place, both may err from shortness of sight, from not +seeing all that there is in nature; seeing only the outsides of things, +or those points of them which bear least on the matter in hand. For +instance, a modern continental Naturalist sees the anatomy of a limb +thoroughly, but does not see its color against the sky, which latter +fact is to a painter far the more important of the two. And because it +is always easier to see the surface than the depth of things, the full +sight of them requiring the highest powers of penetration, sympathy, and +imagination, the world is full of vulgar Naturalists: not Sensualists, +observe, not men who delight in evil; but men who never see the deepest +good, and who bring discredit on all painting of Nature by the little +that they discover in her. And the Purist, besides being liable to this +same shortsightedness, is liable also to fatal errors of judgment; for +he may think that good which is not so, and that the highest good which +is the least. And thus the world is full of vulgar Purists,[64] who +bring discredit on all selection by the silliness of their choice; and +this the more, because the very becoming a Purist is commonly indicative +of some slight degree of weakness, readiness to be offended, or +narrowness of understanding of the ends of things: the greatest men +being, in all times of art, Naturalists, without any exception; and the +greatest Purists being those who approach nearest to the Naturalists, as +Benozzo Gozzoli and Perugino. Hence there is a tendency in the +Naturalists to despise the Purists, and in the Purists to be offended +with the Naturalists (not understanding them, and confounding them with +the Sensualists); and this is grievously harmful to both. + +§ LXIII. Of the various forms of resultant mischief it is not here the +place to speak: the reader may already be somewhat wearied with a +statement which has led us apparently so far from our immediate subject. +But the digression was necessary, in order that I might clearly define +the sense in which I use the word Naturalism when I state it to be the +third most essential characteristic of Gothic architecture. I mean that +the Gothic builders belong to the central or greatest rank in _both_ the +classifications of artists which we have just made; that, considering +all artists as either men of design, men of facts, or men of both, the +Gothic builders were men of both; and that again, considering all +artists as either Purists, Naturalists, or Sensualists, the Gothic +builders were Naturalists. + +§ LXIV. I say first, that the Gothic builders were of that central class +which unites fact with design; but that the part of the work which was +more especially their own was the truthfulness. Their power of +artistical invention or arrangement was not greater than that of +Romanesque and Byzantine workmen: by those workmen they were taught the +principles, and from them received their models, of design; but to the +ornamental feeling and rich fancy of the Byzantine the Gothic builder +added a love of _fact_ which is never found in the South. Both Greek and +Roman used conventional foliage in their ornament, passing into +something that was not foliage at all, knotting itself into strange +cup-like buds or clusters, and growing out of lifeless rods instead of +stems; the Gothic sculptor received these types, at first, as things +that ought to be, just as we have a second time received them; but he +could not rest in them. He saw there was no veracity in them, no +knowledge, no vitality. Do what he would, he could not help liking the +true leaves better; and cautiously, a little at a time, he put more of +nature into his work, until at last it was all true, retaining, +nevertheless, every valuable character of the original well-disciplined +and designed arrangement.[65] + +§ LXV. Nor is it only in external and visible subject that the Gothic +workman wrought for truth: he is as firm in his rendering of imaginative +as of actual truth; that is to say, when an idea would have been by a +Roman, or Byzantine, symbolically represented, the Gothic mind realizes +it to the utmost. For instance, the purgatorial fire is represented in +the mosaic of Torcello (Romanesque) as a red stream, longitudinally +striped like a riband, descending out of the throne of Christ, and +gradually extending itself to envelope the wicked. When we are once +informed what this means, it is enough for its purpose; but the Gothic +inventor does not leave the sign in need of interpretation. He makes the +fire as like real fire as he can; and in the porch of St. Maclou at +Rouen the sculptured flames burst out of the Hades gate, and flicker up, +in writhing tongues of stone, through the interstices of the niches, as +if the church itself were on fire. This is an extreme instance, but it +is all the more illustrative of the entire difference in temper and +thought between the two schools of art, and of the intense love of +veracity which influenced the Gothic design. + +§ LXVI. I do not say that this love of veracity is always healthy in its +operation. I have above noticed the errors into which it falls from +despising design; and there is another kind of error noticeable in the +instance just given, in which the love of truth is too hasty, and seizes +on a surface truth instead of an inner one. For in representing the +Hades fire, it is not the mere _form_ of the flame which needs most to +be told, but its unquenchableness, its Divine ordainment and limitation, +and its inner fierceness, not physical and material, but in being the +expression of the wrath of God. And these things are not to be told by +imitating the fire that flashes out of a bundle of sticks. If we think +over his symbol a little, we shall perhaps find that the Romanesque +builder told more truth in that likeness of a blood-red stream, flowing +between definite shores and out of God's throne, and expanding, as if +fed by a perpetual current, into the lake wherein the wicked are cast, +than the Gothic builder in those torch-flickerings about his niches. But +this is not to our immediate purpose; I am not at present to insist upon +the faults into which the love of truth was led in the later Gothic +times, but on the feeling itself, as a glorious and peculiar +characteristic of the Northern builders. For, observe, it is not, even +in the above instance, love of truth, but want of thought, which +_causes_ the fault. The love of truth, as such, is good, but when it is +misdirected by thoughtlessness or over-excited by vanity, and either +seizes on facts of small value, or gathers them chiefly that it may +boast of its grasp and apprehension, its work may well become dull or +offensive. Yet let us not, therefore, blame the inherent love of facts, +but the incautiousness of their selection, and impertinence of their +statement. + +§ LXVII. I said, in the second place, that Gothic work, when referred to +the arrangement of all art, as purist, naturalist, or sensualist, was +naturalist. This character follows necessarily on its extreme love of +truth, prevailing over the sense of beauty, and causing it to take +delight in portraiture of every kind, and to express the various +characters of the human countenance and form, as it did the varieties of +leaves and the ruggedness of branches. And this tendency is both +increased and ennobled by the same Christian humility which we saw +expressed in the first character of Gothic work, its rudeness. For as +that resulted from a humility which confessed the imperfection of the +_workman_, so this naturalist portraiture is rendered more faithful by +the humility which confesses the imperfection of the _subject_. The +Greek sculptor could neither bear to confess his own feebleness, nor to +tell the faults of the forms that he portrayed. But the Christian +workman, believing that all is finally to work together for good, freely +confesses both, and neither seeks to disguise his own roughness of work, +nor his subject's roughness of make. Yet this frankness being joined, +for the most part, with depth of religious feeling in other directions, +and especially with charity, there is sometimes a tendency to Purism in +the best Gothic sculpture; so that it frequently reaches great dignity +of form and tenderness of expression, yet never so as to lose the +veracity of portraiture, wherever portraiture is possible: not exalting +its kings into demi-gods, nor its saints into archangels, but giving +what kingliness and sanctity was in them, to the full, mixed with due +record of their faults; and this in the most part with a great +indifference like that of Scripture history, which sets down, with +unmoved and unexcusing resoluteness, the virtues and errors of all men +of whom it speaks, often leaving the reader to form his own estimate of +them, without an indication of the judgment of the historian. And this +veracity is carried out by the Gothic sculptors in the minuteness and +generality, as well as the equity, of their delineation: for they do not +limit their art to the portraiture of saints and kings, but introduce +the most familiar scenes and most simple subjects; filling up the +backgrounds of Scripture histories with vivid and curious +representations of the commonest incidents of daily life, and availing +themselves of every occasion in which, either as a symbol, or an +explanation of a scene or time, the things familiar to the eye of the +workman could be introduced and made of account. Hence Gothic sculpture +and painting are not only full of valuable portraiture of the greatest +men, but copious records of all the domestic customs and inferior arts +of the ages in which it flourished.[66] + +§ LXVIII. There is, however, one direction in which the Naturalism of +the Gothic workmen is peculiarly manifested; and this direction is even +more characteristic of the school than the Naturalism itself; I mean +their peculiar fondness for the forms of Vegetation. In rendering the +various circumstances of daily life, Egyptian and Ninevite sculpture is +as frank and as diffuse as the Gothic. From the highest pomps of state +or triumphs of battle, to the most trivial domestic arts and amusements, +all is taken advantage of to fill the field of granite with the +perpetual interest of a crowded drama; and the early Lombardic and +Romanesque sculpture is equally copious in its description of the +familiar circumstances of war and the chase. But in all the scenes +portrayed by the workmen of these nations, vegetation occurs only as an +explanatory accessory; the reed is introduced to mark the course of the +river, or the tree to mark the covert of the wild beast, or the ambush +of the enemy, but there is no especial interest in the forms of the +vegetation strong enough to induce them to make it a subject of separate +and accurate study. Again, among the nations who followed the arts of +design exclusively, the forms of foliage introduced were meagre and +general, and their real intricacy and life were neither admired nor +expressed. But to the Gothic workman the living foliage became a subject +of intense affection, and he struggled to render all its characters with +as much accuracy as was compatible with the laws of his design and the +nature of his material, not unfrequently tempted in his enthusiasm to +transgress the one and disguise the other. + +§ LXIX. There is a peculiar significancy in this, indicative both of +higher civilization and gentler temperament, than had before been +manifested in architecture. Rudeness, and the love of change, which we +have insisted upon as the first elements of Gothic, are also elements +common to all healthy schools. But here is a softer element mingled with +them, peculiar to the Gothic itself. The rudeness or ignorance which +would have been painfully exposed in the treatment of the human form, +are still not so great as to prevent the successful rendering of the +wayside herbage; and the love of change, which becomes morbid and +feverish in following the haste of the hunter, and the rage of the +combatant, is at once soothed and satisfied as it watches the wandering +of the tendril, and the budding of the flower. Nor is this all: the new +direction of mental interest marks an infinite change in the means and +the habits of life. The nations whose chief support was in the chase, +whose chief interest was in the battle, whose chief pleasure was in the +banquet, would take small care respecting the shapes of leaves and +flowers; and notice little in the forms of the forest trees which +sheltered them, except the signs indicative of the wood which would make +the toughest lance, the closest roof, or the clearest fire. The +affectionate observation of the grace and outward character of +vegetation is the sure sign of a more tranquil and gentle existence, +sustained by the gifts, and gladdened by the splendor, of the earth. In +that careful distinction of species, and richness of delicate and +undisturbed organization, which characterize the Gothic design, there is +the history of rural and thoughtful life, influenced by habitual +tenderness, and devoted to subtle inquiry; and every discriminating and +delicate touch of the chisel, as it rounds the petal or guides the +branch, is a prophecy of the developement of the entire body of the +natural sciences, beginning with that of medicine, of the recovery of +literature, and the establishment of the most necessary principles of +domestic wisdom and national peace. + +§ LXX. I have before alluded to the strange and vain supposition, that +the original conception of Gothic architecture had been derived from +vegetation,--from the symmetry of avenues, and the interlacing of +branches. It is a supposition which never could have existed for a +moment in the mind of any person acquainted with early Gothic; but, +however idle as a theory, it is most valuable as a testimony to the +character of the perfected style. It is precisely because the reverse of +this theory is the fact, because the Gothic did not arise out of, but +develope itself into, a resemblance to vegetation, that this resemblance +is so instructive as an indication of the temper of the builders. It was +no chance suggestion of the form of an arch from the bending of a bough, +but a gradual and continual discovery of a beauty in natural forms which +could be more and more perfectly transferred into those of stone, that +influenced at once the heart of the people, and the form of the edifice. +The Gothic architecture arose in massy and mountainous strength, +axe-hewn, and iron-bound, block heaved upon block by the monk's +enthusiasm and the soldier's force; and cramped and stanchioned into +such weight of grisly wall, as might bury the anchoret in darkness, and +beat back the utmost storm of battle, suffering but by the same narrow +crosslet the passing of the sunbeam, or of the arrow. Gradually, as that +monkish enthusiasm became more thoughtful, and as the sound of war +became more and more intermittent beyond the gates of the convent or the +keep, the stony pillar grew slender and the vaulted roof grew light, +till they had wreathed themselves into the semblance of the summer woods +at their fairest, and of the dead field-flowers, long trodden down in +blood, sweet monumental statues were set to bloom for ever, beneath the +porch of the temple, or the canopy of the tomb. + +§ LXXI. Nor is it only as a sign of greater gentleness or refinement of +mind, but as a proof of the best possible direction of this refinement, +that the tendency of the Gothic to the expression of vegetative life is +to be admired. That sentence of Genesis, "I have given thee every green +herb for meat," like all the rest of the book, has a profound symbolical +as well as a literal meaning. It is not merely the nourishment of the +body, but the food of the soul, that is intended. The green herb is, of +all nature, that which is most essential to the healthy spiritual life +of man. Most of us do not need fine scenery; the precipice and the +mountain peak are not intended to be seen by all men,--perhaps their +power is greatest over those who are unaccustomed to them. But trees, +and fields, and flowers were made for all, and are necessary for all. +God has connected the labor which is essential to the bodily sustenance, +with the pleasures which are healthiest for the heart; and while He made +the ground stubborn, He made its herbage fragrant, and its blossoms +fair. The proudest architecture that man can build has no higher honor +than to bear the image and recall the memory of that grass of the field +which is, at once, the type and the support of his existence; the goodly +building is then most glorious when it is sculptured into the likeness +of the leaves of Paradise; and the great Gothic spirit, as we showed it +to be noble in its disquietude, is also noble in its hold of nature; it +is, indeed, like the dove of Noah, in that she found no rest upon the +face of the waters,--but like her in this also, "LO, IN HER MOUTH WAS AN +OLIVE BRANCH, PLUCKED OFF." + +§ LXXII. The fourth essential element of the Gothic mind was above +stated to be the sense of the GROTESQUE; but I shall defer the endeavor +to define this most curious and subtle character until we have occasion +to examine one of the divisions of the Renaissance schools, which was +morbidly influenced by it (Vol. III. Chap. III.). It is the less +necessary to insist upon it here, because every reader familiar with +Gothic architecture must understand what I mean, and will, I believe, +have no hesitation in admitting that the tendency to delight in +fantastic and ludicrous, as well as in sublime, images, is a universal +instinct of the Gothic imagination. + +§ LXXIII. The fifth element above named was RIGIDITY; and this character +I must endeavor carefully to define, for neither the word I have used, +nor any other that I can think of, will express it accurately. For I +mean, not merely stable, but _active_ rigidity; the peculiar energy +which gives tension to movement, and stiffness to resistance, which +makes the fiercest lightning forked rather than curved, and the stoutest +oak-branch angular rather than bending, and is as much seen in the +quivering of the lance as in the glittering of the icicle. + +§ LXXIV. I have before had occasion (Vol. I. Chap. XIII. § VII.) to note +some manifestations of this energy or fixedness; but it must be still +more attentively considered here, as it shows itself throughout the +whole structure and decoration of Gothic work. Egyptian and Greek +buildings stand, for the most part, by their own weight and mass, one +stone passively incumbent on another: but in the Gothic vaults and +traceries there is a stiffness analogous to that of the bones of a limb, +or fibres of a tree; an elastic tension and communication of force from +part to part, and also a studious expression of this throughout every +visible line of the building. And, in like manner, the Greek and +Egyptian ornament is either mere surface engraving, as if the face of +the wall had been stamped with a seal, or its lines are flowing, lithe, +and luxuriant; in either case, there is no expression of energy in +framework of the ornament itself. But the Gothic ornament stands out in +prickly independence, and frosty fortitude, jutting into crockets, and +freezing into pinnacles; here starting up into a monster, there +germinating into a blossom; anon knitting itself into a branch, +alternately thorny, bossy, and bristly, or writhed into every form of +nervous entanglement; but, even when most graceful, never for an instant +languid, always quickset; erring, if at all, ever on the side of +brusquerie. + +§ LXXV. The feelings or habits in the workman which give rise to this +character in the work, are more complicated and various than those +indicated by any other sculptural expression hitherto named. There is, +first, the habit of hard and rapid working; the industry of the tribes +of the North, quickened by the coldness of the climate, and giving an +expression of sharp energy to all they do (as above noted, Vol. I. Chap. +XIII. § VII.), as opposed to the languor of the Southern tribes, however +much of fire there may be in the heart of that languor, for lava itself +may flow languidly. There is also the habit of finding enjoyment in the +signs of cold, which is never found, I believe, in the inhabitants of +countries south of the Alps. Cold is to them an unredeemed evil, to be +suffered, and forgotten as soon as may be; but the long winter of the +North forces the Goth (I mean the Englishman, Frenchman, Dane, or +German), if he would lead a happy life at all, to find sources of +happiness in foul weather as well as fair, and to rejoice in the +leafless as well as in the shady forest. And this we do with all our +hearts; finding perhaps nearly as much contentment by the Christmas fire +as in the summer sunshine, and gaining health and strength on the +ice-fields of winter, as well as among the meadows of spring. So that +there is nothing adverse or painful to our feelings in the cramped and +stiffened structure of vegetation checked by cold; and instead of +seeking, like the Southern sculptor, to express only the softness of +leafage nourished in all tenderness, and tempted into all luxuriance by +warm winds and glowing rays, we find pleasure in dwelling upon the +crabbed, perverse, and morose animation of plants that have known little +kindness from earth or heaven, but, season after season, have had their +best efforts palsied by frost, their brightest buds buried under snow, +and their goodliest limbs lopped by tempest. + +§ LXXVI. There are many subtle sympathies and affections which join to +confirm the Gothic mind in this peculiar choice of subject; and when we +add to the influence of these, the necessities consequent upon the +employment of a rougher material, compelling the workman to seek for +vigor of effect, rather than refinement of texture or accuracy of form, +we have direct and manifest causes for much of the difference between +the northern and southern cast of conception: but there are indirect +causes holding a far more important place in the Gothic heart, though +less immediate in their influence on design. Strength of will, +independence of character, resoluteness of purpose, impatience of undue +control, and that general tendency to set the individual reason against +authority, and the individual deed against destiny, which, in the +Northern tribes, has opposed itself throughout all ages to the languid +submission, in the Southern, of thought to tradition, and purpose to +fatality, are all more or less traceable in the rigid lines, vigorous +and various masses, and daringly projecting and independent structure of +the Northern Gothic ornament: while the opposite feelings are in like +manner legible in the graceful and softly guided waves and wreathed +bands, in which Southern decoration is constantly disposed; in its +tendency to lose its independence, and fuse itself into the surface of +the masses upon which it is traced; and in the expression seen so often, +in the arrangement of those masses themselves, of an abandonment of +their strength to an inevitable necessity, or a listless repose. + +§ LXXVII. There is virtue in the measure, and error in the excess, of +both these characters of mind, and in both of the styles which they have +created; the best architecture, and the best temper, are those which +unite them both; and this fifth impulse of the Gothic heart is therefore +that which needs most caution in its indulgence. It is more definitely +Gothic than any other, but the best Gothic building is not that which is +_most_ Gothic: it can hardly be too frank in its confession of rudeness, +hardly too rich in its changefulness, hardly too faithful in its +naturalism; but it may go too far in its rigidity, and, like the great +Puritan spirit in its extreme, lose itself either in frivolity of +division, or perversity of purpose.[67] It actually did so in its later +times; but it is gladdening to remember that in its utmost nobleness, +the very temper which has been thought most adverse to it, the +Protestant spirit of self-dependence and inquiry, was expressed in its +every line. Faith and aspiration there were, in every Christian +ecclesiastical building, from the first century to the fifteenth; but +the moral habits to which England in this age owes the kind of greatness +that she has,--the habits of philosophical investigation, of accurate +thought, of domestic seclusion and independence, of stern self-reliance, +and sincere upright searching into religious truth,--were only traceable +in the features which were the distinctive creation of the Gothic +schools, in the veined foliage, and thorny fretwork, and shadowy niche, +and buttressed pier, and fearless height of subtle pinnacle and crested +tower, sent like an "unperplexed question up to Heaven."[68] + +§ LXXVIII. Last, because the least essential, of the constituent +elements of this noble school, was placed that of REDUNDANCE,--the +uncalculating bestowal of the wealth of its labor. There is, indeed, +much Gothic, and that of the best period, in which this element is +hardly traceable, and which depends for its effect almost exclusively on +loveliness of simple design and grace of uninvolved proportion: still, +in the most characteristic buildings, a certain portion of their effect +depends upon accumulation of ornament; and many of those which have most +influence on the minds of men, have attained it by means of this +attribute alone. And although, by careful study of the school, it is +possible to arrive at a condition of taste which shall be better +contented by a few perfect lines than by a whole façade covered with +fretwork, the building which only satisfies such a taste is not to be +considered the best. For the very first requirement of Gothic +architecture being, as we saw above, that it shall both admit the aid, +and appeal to the admiration, of the rudest as well as the most refined +minds, the richness of the work is, paradoxical as the statement may +appear, a part of its humility. No architecture is so haughty as that +which is simple; which refuses to address the eye, except in a few clear +and forceful lines; which implies, in offering so little to our regards, +that all it has offered is perfect; and disdains, either by the +complexity or the attractiveness of its features, to embarrass our +investigation, or betray us into delight. That humility, which is the +very life of the Gothic school, is shown not only in the imperfection, +but in the accumulation, of ornament. The inferior rank of the workman +is often shown as much in the richness, as the roughness, of his work; +and if the co-operation of every hand, and the sympathy of every heart, +are to be received, we must be content to allow the redundance which +disguises the failure of the feeble, and wins the regard of the +inattentive. There are, however, far nobler interests mingling, in the +Gothic heart, with the rude love of decorative accumulation: a +magnificent enthusiasm, which feels as if it never could do enough to +reach the fulness of its ideal; an unselfishness of sacrifice, which +would rather cast fruitless labor before the altar than stand idle in +the market; and, finally, a profound sympathy with the fulness and +wealth of the material universe, rising out of that Naturalism whose +operation we have already endeavored to define. The sculptor who sought +for his models among the forest leaves, could not but quickly and deeply +feel that complexity need not involve the loss of grace, nor richness +that of repose; and every hour which he spent in the study of the minute +and various work of Nature, made him feel more forcibly the barrenness +of what was best in that of man: nor is it to be wondered at, that, +seeing her perfect and exquisite creations poured forth in a profusion +which conception could not grasp nor calculation sum, he should think +that it ill became him to be niggardly of his own rude craftsmanship; +and where he saw throughout the universe a faultless beauty lavished on +measureless spaces of broidered field and blooming mountain, to grudge +his poor and imperfect labor to the few stones that he had raised one +upon another, for habitation or memorial. The years of his life passed +away before his task was accomplished; but generation succeeded +generation with unwearied enthusiasm, and the cathedral front was at +last lost in the tapestry of its traceries, like a rock among the +thickets and herbage of spring. + +§ LXXIX. We have now, I believe, obtained a view approaching to +completeness of the various moral or imaginative elements which composed +the inner spirit of Gothic architecture. We have, in the second place, +to define its outward form. + +Now, as the Gothic spirit is made up of several elements, some of which +may, in particular examples, be wanting, so the Gothic form is made up +of minor conditions of form, some of which may, in particular examples, +be imperfectly developed. + +We cannot say, therefore, that a building is either Gothic or not Gothic +in form, any more than we can in spirit. We can only say that it is more +or less Gothic, in proportion to the number of Gothic forms which it +unites. + +§ LXXX. There have been made lately many subtle and ingenious endeavors +to base the definition of Gothic form entirely upon the roof-vaulting; +endeavors which are both forced and futile: for many of the best Gothic +buildings in the world have roofs of timber, which have no more +connexion with the main structure of the walls of the edifice than a hat +has with that of the head it protects; and other Gothic buildings are +merely enclosures of spaces, as ramparts and walls, or enclosures of +gardens or cloisters, and have no roofs at all, in the sense in which +the word "roof" is commonly accepted. But every reader who has ever +taken the slightest interest in architecture must know that there is a +great popular impression on this matter, which maintains itself stiffly +in its old form, in spite of all ratiocination and definition; namely, +that a flat lintel from pillar to pillar is Grecian, a round arch Norman +or Romanesque, and a pointed arch Gothic. + +And the old popular notion, as far as it goes, is perfectly right, and +can never be bettered. The most striking outward feature in all Gothic +architecture is, that it is composed of pointed arches, as in Romanesque +that it is in like manner composed of round; and this distinction would +be quite as clear, though the roofs were taken off every cathedral in +Europe. And yet, if we examine carefully into the real force and meaning +of the term "roof" we shall perhaps be able to retain the old popular +idea in a definition of Gothic architecture which shall also express +whatever dependence that architecture has upon true forms of roofing. + +§ LXXXI. In Chap. XIII. of the first volume, the reader will remember +that roofs were considered as generally divided into two parts; the roof +proper, that is to say, the shell, vault, or ceiling, internally +visible; and the roof-mask, which protects this lower roof from the +weather. In some buildings these parts are united in one framework; but, +in most, they are more or less independent of each other, and in nearly +all Gothic buildings there is considerable interval between them. + +Now it will often happen, as above noticed, that owing to the nature of +the apartments required, or the materials at hand, the roof proper may +be flat, coved, or domed, in buildings which in their walls employ +pointed arches, and are, in the straitest sense of the word, Gothic in +all other respects. Yet so far forth as the roofing alone is concerned, +they are not Gothic unless the pointed arch be the principal form +adopted either in the stone vaulting or the timbers of the roof proper. + +I shall say then, in the first place, that "Gothic architecture is that +which uses, if possible, the pointed arch in the roof proper." This is +the first step in our definition. + +§ LXXXII. Secondly. Although there may be many advisable or necessary +forms for the lower roof or ceiling, there is, in cold countries exposed +to rain and snow, only one advisable form for the roof-mask, and that is +the gable, for this alone will throw off both rain and snow from all +parts of its surface as speedily as possible. Snow can lodge on the top +of a dome, not on the ridge of a gable. And thus, as far as roofing is +concerned, the gable is a far more essential feature of Northern +architecture than the pointed vault, for the one is a thorough +necessity, the other often a graceful conventionality: the gable occurs +in the timber roof of every dwelling-house and every cottage, but not +the vault; and the gable built on a polygonal or circular plan, is the +origin of the turret and spire;[69] and all the so-called aspiration of +Gothic architecture is, as above noticed (Vol. I. Chap. XII. § VI.), +nothing more than its developement. So that we must add to our +definition another clause, which will be, at present, by far the most +important, and it will stand thus: "Gothic architecture is that which +uses the pointed arch for the roof proper, and the gable for the +roof-mask." + +§ LXXXIII. And here, in passing, let us notice a principle as true in +architecture as in morals. It is not the _compelled_, but the _wilful_, +transgression of law which corrupts the character. Sin is not in the +act, but in the choice. It is a law for Gothic architecture, that it +shall use the pointed arch for its roof proper; but because, in many +cases of domestic building, this becomes impossible for want of room +(the whole height of the apartment being required everywhere), or in +various other ways inconvenient, flat ceilings may be used, and yet the +Gothic shall not lose its purity. But in the roof-mask, there can be no +necessity nor reason for a change of form: the gable is the best; and if +any other--dome, or bulging crown, or whatsoever else--be employed at +all, it must be in pure caprice, and wilful transgression of law. And +wherever, therefore, this is done, the Gothic has lost its character; it +is pure Gothic no more. + +§ LXXXIV. And this last clause of the definition is to be more strongly +insisted upon, because it includes multitudes of buildings, especially +domestic, which are Gothic in spirit, but which we are not in the habit +of embracing in our general conception of Gothic architecture; +multitudes of street dwelling-houses and straggling country farm-houses, +built with little care for beauty, or observance of Gothic laws in +vaults or windows, and yet maintaining their character by the sharp and +quaint gables of the roofs. And, for the reason just given, a house is +far more Gothic which has square windows, and a boldly gabled roof, than +the one which has pointed arches for the windows, and a domed or flat +roof. For it often happened in the best Gothic times, as it must in all +times, that it was more easy and convenient to make a window square than +pointed; not but that, as above emphatically stated, the richness of +church architecture was also found in domestic; and systematically "when +the pointed arch was used in the church it was used in the street," only +in all times there were cases in which men could not build as they +would, and were obliged to construct their doors or windows in the +readiest way; and this readiest way was then, in small work, as it will +be to the end of time, to put a flat stone for a lintel and build the +windows as in Fig. VIII.; and the occurrence of such windows in a +building or a street will not un-Gothicize them, so long as the bold +gable roof be retained, and the spirit of the work be visibly Gothic in +other respects. But if the roof be wilfully and conspicuously of any +other form than the gable,--if it be domed, or Turkish, or Chinese,--the +building has positive corruption mingled with its Gothic elements, in +proportion to the conspicuousness of the roof; and, if not absolutely +un-Gothicized, can maintain its character only by such vigor of vital +Gothic energy in other parts as shall cause the roof to be forgotten, +thrown off like an eschar from the living frame. Nevertheless, we must +always admit that it _may_ be forgotten, and that if the Gothic seal be +indeed set firmly on the walls, we are not to cavil at the forms +reserved for the tiles and leads. For, observe, as our definition at +present stands, being understood of large roofs only, it will allow a +conical glass-furnace to be a Gothic building, but will _not_ allow so +much, either of the Duomo of Florence, or the Baptistery of Pisa. We +must either mend it, therefore, or understand it in some broader sense. + +[Illustration: Fig. VIII.] + +§ LXXXV. And now, if the reader will look back to the fifth paragraph of +Chap. III. Vol. I., he will find that I carefully extended my definition +of a roof so as to include more than is usually understood by the term. +It was there said to be the covering of a space, _narrow or wide_. It +does not in the least signify, with respect to the real nature of the +covering, whether the space protected be two feet wide, or ten; though +in the one case we call the protection an arch, in the other a vault or +roof. But the real point to be considered is, the manner in which this +protection stands, and not whether it is narrow or broad. We call the +vaulting of a bridge "an arch," because it is narrow with respect to the +river it crosses; but if it were built above us on the ground, we should +call it a waggon vault, because then we should feel the breadth of it. +The real question is the nature of the curve, not the extent of space +over which it is carried: and this is more the case with respect to +Gothic than to any other architecture; for, in the greater number of +instances, the form of the roof is entirely dependent on the ribs; the +domical shells being constructed in all kinds of inclinations, quite +undeterminable by the eye, and all that is definite in their character +being fixed by the curves of the ribs. + +[Illustration: Fig. IX.] + +§ LXXXVI. Let us then consider our definition as including the narrowest +arch, or tracery bar, as well as the broadest roof, and it will be +nearly a perfect one. For the fact is, that all good Gothic is nothing +more than the developement, in various ways, and on every conceivable +scale, of the group formed by the _pointed arch for the bearing line_ +below, and _the gable for the protecting line_ above; and from the huge, +gray, shaly slope of the cathedral roof, with its elastic pointed vaults +beneath, to the slight crown-like points that enrich the smallest niche +of its doorway, one law and one expression will be found in all. The +modes of support and of decoration are infinitely various, but the real +character of the building, in all good Gothic, depends upon the single +lines of the gable over the pointed arch, Fig. IX., endlessly rearranged +or repeated. The larger woodcut, Fig. X., represents three +characteristic conditions of the treatment of the group: _a_, from a +tomb at Verona (1328); _b_, one of the lateral porches at Abbeville; +_c_, one of the uppermost points of the great western façade of Rouen +Cathedral; both these last being, I believe, early work of the fifteenth +century. The forms of the pure early English and French Gothic are too +well known to need any notice; my reason will appear presently for +choosing, by way of example, these somewhat rare conditions. + +[Illustration: Fig. X.] + +§ LXXXVII. But, first, let us try whether we cannot get the forms of the +other great architectures of the world broadly expressed by relations of +the same lines into which we have compressed the Gothic. We may easily +do this if the reader will first allow me to remind him of the true +nature of the pointed arch, as it was expressed in § X. Chap. X. of the +first volume. It was said there, that it ought to be called a "curved +gable," for, strictly speaking, an "arch" cannot be "pointed." The +so-called pointed arch ought always to be considered as a gable, with +its sides curved in order to enable them to bear pressure from without. +Thus considering it, there are but three ways in which an interval +between piers can be bridged,--the three ways represented by A, B, and +C, Fig. XI.,[70] on page 213,--A, the lintel; B, the round arch; C, the +gable. All the architects in the world will never discover any other +ways of bridging a space than these three; they may vary the curve of +the arch, or curve the sides of the gable, or break them; but in doing +this they are merely modifying or subdividing, not adding to the generic +forms. + +§ LXXXVIII. Now there are three good architectures in the world, and +there never can be more, correspondent to each of these three simple +ways of covering in a space, which is the original function of all +architectures. And those three architectures are _pure_ exactly in +proportion to the simplicity and directness with which they express the +condition of roofing on which they are founded. They have many +interesting varieties, according to their scale, manner of decoration, +and character of the nations by whom they are practised, but all their +varieties are finally referable to the three great heads:-- + + A, Greek: Architecture of the Lintel. + B, Romanesque: Architecture of the Round Arch. + C, Gothic: Architecture of the Gable. + +[Illustration: Fig. XI.] + +The three names, Greek, Romanesque, and Gothic, are indeed inaccurate +when used in this vast sense, because they imply national limitations; +but the three architectures may nevertheless not unfitly receive their +names from those nations by whom they were carried to the highest +perfections. We may thus briefly state their existing varieties. + +§ LXXXIX. A. GREEK: Lintel Architecture. The worst of the three; and, +considered with reference to stone construction, always in some measure +barbarous. Its simplest type is Stonehenge; its most refined, the +Parthenon; its noblest, the Temple of Karnak. + +In the hands of the Egyptian, it is sublime; in those of the Greek, +pure; in those of the Roman, rich; and in those of the Renaissance +builder, effeminate. + +B. ROMANESQUE: Round-arch Architecture. Never thoroughly developed until +Christian times. It falls into two great branches, Eastern and Western, +or Byzantine and Lombardic; changing respectively in process of time, +with certain helps from each other, into Arabian Gothic and Teutonic +Gothic. Its most perfect Lombardic type is the Duomo of Pisa; its most +perfect Byzantine type (I believe), St. Mark's at Venice. Its highest +glory is, that it has no corruption. It perishes in giving birth to +another architecture as noble as itself. + +C. GOTHIC: Architecture of the Gable. The daughter of the Romanesque; +and, like the Romanesque, divided into two great branches, Western and +Eastern, or pure Gothic and Arabian Gothic; of which the latter is +called Gothic, only because it has many Gothic forms, pointed arches, +vaults, &c., but its spirit remains Byzantine, more especially in the +form of the roof-mask, of which, with respect to these three great +families, we have next to determine the typical form. + +§ XC. For, observe, the distinctions we have hitherto been stating, +depend on the form of the stones first laid from pier to pier; that is +to say, of the simplest condition of roofs proper. Adding the relations +of the roof-mask to these lines, we shall have the perfect type of form +for each school. + +[Illustration: Fig. XII.] + +In the Greek, the Western Romanesque, and Western Gothic, the roof-mask +is the gable: in the Eastern Romanesque, and Eastern Gothic, it is the +dome: but I have not studied the roofing of either of these last two +groups, and shall not venture to generalize them in a diagram. But the +three groups, in the hands of the Western builders, may be thus simply +represented: _a_, Fig. XII., Greek;[71] _b_, Western Romanesque; _c_, +Western, or true, Gothic. + +Now, observe, first, that the relation of the roof-mask to the roof +proper, in the Greek type, forms that pediment which gives its most +striking character to the temple, and is the principal recipient of its +sculptural decoration. The relation of these lines, therefore, is just +as important in the Greek as in the Gothic schools. + +[Illustration: Fig. XIII.] + +§ XCI. Secondly, the reader must observe the difference of steepness in +the Romanesque and Gothic gables. This is not an unimportant +distinction, nor an undecided one. The Romanesque gable does not pass +gradually into the more elevated form; there is a great gulf between the +two; the whole effect of all Southern architecture being dependent upon +the use of the flat gable, and of all Northern upon that of the acute. I +need not here dwell upon the difference between the lines of an Italian +village, or the flat tops of most Italian towers, and the peaked gables +and spires of the North, attaining their most fantastic developement, I +believe, in Belgium: but it may be well to state the law of separation, +namely, that a Gothic gable _must_ have all its angles acute, and a +Romanesque one _must_ have the upper one obtuse: or, to give the reader +a simple practical rule, take any gable, _a_ or _b_, Fig. XIII., and +strike a semicircle on its base; if its top rises above the semicircle, +as at _b_, it is a Gothic gable; if it falls beneath it, a Romanesque +one; but the best forms in each group are those which are distinctly +steep, or distinctly low. In the figure _f_ is, perhaps, the average of +Romanesque slope, and _g_ of Gothic. + +[Illustration: Fig. XIV.] + +§ XCII. But although we do not find a transition from one school into +the other in the slope of the gables, there is often a confusion between +the two schools in the association of the gable with the arch below it. +It has just been stated that the pure Romanesque condition is the round +arch under the low gable, _a_, Fig. XIV., and the pure Gothic condition +is the pointed arch under the high gable, _b_. But in the passage from +one style to the other, we sometimes find the two conditions reversed; +the pointed arch under a low gable, as _d_, or the round arch under a +high gable, as _c_. The form _d_ occurs in the tombs of Verona, and _c_ +in the doors of Venice. + +§ XCIII. We have thus determined the relation of Gothic to the other +architectures of the world, as far as regards the main lines of its +construction; but there is still one word which needs to be added to our +definition of its form, with respect to a part of its decoration, which +rises out of that construction. We have seen that the first condition of +its form is, that it shall have pointed arches. When Gothic is perfect, +therefore, it will follow that the pointed arches must be built in the +strongest possible manner. + +[Illustration: Fig. XV.] + +Now, if the reader will look back to Chapter XI. of Vol. I., he will +find the subject of the masonry of the pointed arch discussed at length, +and the conclusion deduced, that of all possible forms of the pointed +arch (a certain weight of material being given), that generically +represented at _e_, Fig. XV., is the strongest. In fact, the reader can +see in a moment that the weakness of the pointed arch is in its flanks, +and that by merely thickening them gradually at this point all chance of +fracture is removed. Or, perhaps, more simply still:--Suppose a gable +built of stone, as at _a_, and pressed upon from without by a weight in +the direction of the arrow, clearly it would be liable to fall in, as at +_b_. To prevent this, we make a pointed arch of it, as at _c_; and now +it cannot fall inwards, but if pressed upon from above may give way +outwards, as at _d_. But at last we build as at _e_, and now it can +neither fall out nor in. + +§ XCIV. The forms of arch thus obtained, with a pointed projection +called a cusp on each side, must for ever be delightful to the human +mind, as being expressive of the utmost strength and permanency +obtainable with a given mass of material. But it was not by any such +process of reasoning, nor with any reference to laws of construction, +that the cusp was originally invented. It is merely the special +application to the arch of the great ornamental system of FOLIATION; or +the adaptation of the forms of leafage which has been above insisted +upon as the principal characteristic of Gothic Naturalism. This love of +foliage was exactly proportioned, in its intensity, to the increase of +strength in the Gothic spirit: in the Southern Gothic it is _soft_ +leafage that is most loved; in the Northern _thorny_ leafage. And if we +take up any Northern illuminated manuscript of the great Gothic time, we +shall find every one of its leaf ornaments surrounded by a thorny +structure laid round it in gold or in color; sometimes apparently copied +faithfully from the prickly developement of the root of the leaf in the +thistle, running along the stems and branches exactly as the thistle +leaf does along its own stem, and with sharp spines proceeding from the +points, as in Fig. XVI. At other times, and for the most part in work in +the thirteenth century, the golden ground takes the form of pure and +severe cusps, sometimes enclosing the leaves, sometimes filling up the +forks of the branches (as in the example fig. 1, Plate I. Vol. III.), +passing imperceptibly from the distinctly vegetable condition (in which +it is just as certainly representative of the thorn, as other parts of +the design are of the bud, leaf, and fruit) into the crests on the +necks, or the membranous sails of the wings, of serpents, dragons, and +other grotesques, as in Fig. XVII., and into rich and vague fantasies of +curvature; among which, however, the pure cusped system of the pointed +arch is continually discernible, not accidentally, but designedly +indicated, and connecting itself with the literally architectural +portions of the design. + +[Illustration: Fig. XVI.] + +[Illustration: Fig. XVII.] + +§ XCV. The system, then, of what is called Foliation, whether simple, as +in the cusped arch, or complicated, as in tracery, rose out of this love +of leafage; not that the form of the arch is intended to _imitate_ a +leaf, but _to be invested with the same characters of beauty which the +designer had discovered in the leaf_. Observe, there is a wide +difference between these two intentions. The idea that large Gothic +structure, in arches and roofs, was intended to imitate vegetation is, +as above noticed, untenable for an instant in the front of facts. But +the Gothic builder perceived that, in the leaves which he copied for his +minor decorations, there was a peculiar beauty, arising from certain +characters of curvature in outline, and certain methods of subdivision +and of radiation in structure. On a small scale, in his sculptures and +his missal-painting, he copied the leaf or thorn itself; on a large +scale he adopted from it its abstract sources of beauty, and gave the +same kinds of curvatures and the same species of subdivision to the +outline of his arches, so far as was consistent with their strength, +never, in any single instance, suggesting the resemblance to leafage by +_irregularity_ of outline, but keeping the structure perfectly simple, +and, as we have seen, so consistent with the best principles of masonry, +that in the finest Gothic designs of arches, which are always _single_ +cusped (the cinquefoiled arch being licentious, though in early work +often very lovely), it is literally impossible, without consulting the +context of the building, to say whether the cusps have been added for +the sake of beauty or of strength; nor, though in mediæval architecture +they were, I believe, assuredly first employed in mere love of their +picturesque form, am I absolutely certain that their earliest invention +was not a structural effort. For the earliest cusps with which I am +acquainted are those used in the vaults of the great galleries of the +Serapeum, discovered in 1850 by M. Maniette at Memphis, and described by +Colonel Hamilton in a paper read in February last before the Royal +Society of Literature.[72] The roofs of its galleries were admirably +shown in Colonel Hamilton's drawings made to scale upon the spot, and +their profile is a cusped round arch, perfectly pure and simple; but +whether thrown into this form for the sake of strength or of grace, I am +unable to say. + +§ XCVI. It is evident, however, that the structural advantage of the +cusp is available only in the case of arches on a comparatively small +scale. If the arch becomes very large, the projections under the flanks +must become too ponderous to be secure; the suspended weight of stone +would be liable to break off, and such arches are therefore never +constructed with heavy cusps, but rendered secure by general mass of +masonry; and what additional _appearance_ of support may be thought +necessary (sometimes a considerable degree of _actual_ support) is given +by means of tracery. + +[Illustration: Fig. XVIII.] + +§ XCVII. Of what I stated in the second chapter of the "Seven Lamps" +respecting the nature of tracery, I need repeat here only this much, +that it began in the use of penetrations through the stone-work of +windows or walls, cut into forms which looked like stars when seen from +within, and like leaves when seen from without: the name foil or feuille +being universally applied to the separate lobes of their extremities, +and the pleasure received from them being the same as that which we feel +in the triple, quadruple, or other radiated leaves of vegetation, joined +with the perception of a severely geometrical order and symmetry. A few +of the most common forms are represented, unconfused by exterior +mouldings, in Fig. XVIII., and the best traceries are nothing more than +close clusters of such forms, with mouldings following their outlines. + +§ XCVIII. The term "foliated," therefore, is equally descriptive of the +most perfect conditions both of the simple arch and of the traceries by +which, in later Gothic, it is filled; and this foliation is an essential +character of the style. No Gothic is either good or characteristic which +is not foliated either in its arches or apertures. Sometimes the bearing +arches are foliated, and the ornamentation above composed of figure +sculpture; sometimes the bearing arches are plain, and the ornamentation +above them is composed of foliated apertures. But the element of +foliation _must_ enter somewhere, or the style is imperfect. And our +final definition of Gothic will, therefore, stand thus:-- + +"_Foliated_ Architecture, which uses the pointed arch for the roof +proper, and the gable for the roof-mask." + +§ XCIX. And now there is but one point more to be examined, and we have +done. + +[Illustration: Fig. XIX.] + +Foliation, while it is the most distinctive and peculiar, is also the +easiest method of decoration which Gothic architecture possesses; and, +although in the disposition of the proportions and forms of foils, the +most noble imagination may be shown, yet a builder without imagination +at all, or any other faculty of design, can produce some effect upon the +mass of his work by merely covering it with foolish foliation. Throw any +number of crossing lines together at random, as in Fig. XIX., and fill +their squares and oblong openings with quatrefoils and cinquefoils, and +you will immediately have what will stand, with most people, for very +satisfactory Gothic. The slightest possible acquaintance with existing +forms will enable any architect to vary his patterns of foliation with +as much ease as he would those of a kaleidoscope, and to produce a +building which the present European public will think magnificent, +though there may not be, from foundation to coping, one ray of +invention, or any other intellectual merit, in the whole mass of it. But +floral decoration, and the disposition of mouldings, require some skill +and thought; and, if they are to be agreeable at all, must be verily +invented, or accurately copied. They cannot be drawn altogether at +random, without becoming so commonplace as to involve detection: and +although, as I have just said, the noblest imagination may be shown in +the dispositions of traceries, there is far more room for its play and +power when those traceries are associated with floral or animal +ornament; and it is probable, _à priori_, that, wherever true invention +exists, such ornament will be employed in profusion. + +§ C. Now, all Gothic may be divided into two vast schools, one early, +the other late;[73] of which the former, noble, inventive, and +progressive, uses the element of foliation moderately, that of floral +and figure sculpture decoration profusely; the latter, ignoble, +uninventive, and declining, uses foliation immoderately, floral and +figure sculpture subordinately. The two schools touch each other at that +instant of momentous change, dwelt upon in the "Seven Lamps," chap, ii., +a period later or earlier in different districts, but which may be +broadly stated as the middle of the fourteenth century; both styles +being, of course, in their highest excellence at the moment when they +meet, the one ascending to the point of junction, the one declining from +it, but, at first, not in any marked degree, and only showing the +characters which justify its being above called, generically, ignoble, +as its declension reaches steeper slope. + +§ CI. Of these two great schools, the first uses foliation only in large +and simple masses, and covers the minor members, cusps, &c., of that +foliation, with various sculpture. The latter decorates foliation itself +with minor foliation, and breaks its traceries into endless and +lace-like subdivision of tracery. + +A few instances will explain the difference clearly. Fig. 2, Plate XII., +represents half of an eight-foiled aperture from Salisbury; where the +element of foliation is employed in the larger disposition of the starry +form; but in the decoration of the cusp it has entirely disappeared, and +the ornament is floral. + +[Illustration: Plate XII. + LINEAR AND SURFACE GOTHIC.] + +But in fig. 1, which is part of a fringe round one of the later windows +in Rouen Cathedral, the foliation is first carried boldly round the +arch, and then each cusp of it divided into other forms of foliation. +The two larger canopies of niches below, figs. 5 and 6, are respectively +those seen at the flanks of the two uppermost examples of gabled Gothic +in Fig. X., p. 213. Those examples were there chosen in order also to +illustrate the distinction in the character of ornamentation which we +are at present examining; and if the reader will look back to them, and +compare their methods of treatment, he will at once be enabled to fix +that distinction clearly in his mind. He will observe that in the +uppermost the element of foliation is scrupulously confined to the +bearing arches of the gable, and of the lateral niches, so that, on any +given side of the monument, only three foliated arches are discernible. +All the rest of the ornamentation is "bossy sculpture," set on the broad +marble surface. On the point of the gable are set the shield and +dog-crest of the Scalas, with its bronze wings, as of a dragon, thrown +out from it on either side; below, an admirably sculptured oak-tree +fills the centre of the field; beneath it is the death of Abel, Abel +lying dead upon his face on one side, Cain opposite, looking up to +heaven in terror: the border of the arch is formed of various leafage, +alternating with the scala shield; and the cusps are each filled by one +flower, and two broad flowing leaves. The whole is exquisitely relieved +by color; the ground being of pale red Verona marble, and the statues +and foliage of white Carrara marble, inlaid. + +§ CII. The figure below it, _b_, represents the southern lateral door +of the principal church in Abbeville: the smallness of the scale +compelled me to make it somewhat heavier in the lines of its traceries +than it is in reality, but the door itself is one of the most exquisite +pieces of flamboyant Gothic in the world; and it is interesting to see +the shield introduced here, at the point of the gable, in exactly the +same manner as in the upper example, and with precisely the same +purpose,--to stay the eye in its ascent, and to keep it from being +offended by the sharp point of the gable, the reversed angle of the +shield being so energetic as completely to balance the upward tendency +of the great convergent lines. It will be seen, however, as this example +is studied, that its other decorations are altogether different from +those of the Veronese tomb; that, here, the whole effect is dependent on +mere multiplications of similar lines of tracery, sculpture being hardly +introduced except in the seated statue under the central niche, and, +formerly, in groups filling the shadowy hollows under the small niches +in the archivolt, but broken away in the Revolution. And if now we turn +to Plate XII., just passed, and examine the heads of the two lateral +niches there given from each of these monuments on a larger scale, the +contrast will be yet more apparent. The one from Abbeville (fig. 5), +though it contains much floral work of the crisp Northern kind in its +finial and crockets, yet depends for all its effect on the various +patterns of foliation with which its spaces are filled; and it is so cut +through and through that it is hardly stronger than a piece of lace: +whereas the pinnacle from Verona depends for its effect on one broad +mass of shadow, boldly shaped into the trefoil in its bearing arch; and +there is no other trefoil on that side of the niche. All the rest of its +decoration is floral, or by almonds and bosses; and its surface of stone +is unpierced, and kept in broad light, and the mass of it thick and +strong enough to stand for as many more centuries as it has already +stood, scatheless, in the open street of Verona. The figures 3 and 4, +above each niche, show how the same principles are carried out into the +smallest details of the two edifices, 3 being the moulding which +borders the gable at Abbeville, and 4, that in the same position at +Verona; and as thus in all cases the distinction in their treatment +remains the same, the one attracting the eye to broad sculptured +_surfaces_, the other to involutions of intricate _lines_, I shall +hereafter characterize the two schools, whenever I have occasion to +refer to them, the one as Surface-Gothic, the other as Linear-Gothic. + +§ CIII. Now observe: it is not, at present, the question, whether the +form of the Veronese niche, and the design of its flower-work, be as +good as they might have been; but simply, which of the two architectural +principles is the greater and better. And this we cannot hesitate for an +instant in deciding. The Veronese Gothic is strong in its masonry, +simple in its masses, but perpetual in its variety. The late French +Gothic is weak in masonry, broken in mass, and repeats the same idea +continually. It is very beautiful, but the Italian Gothic is the nobler +style. + +§ CIV. Yet, in saying that the French Gothic repeats one idea, I mean +merely that it depends too much upon the foliation of its traceries. The +disposition of the traceries themselves is endlessly varied and +inventive; and indeed, the mind of the French workman was, perhaps, even +richer in fancy than that of the Italian, only he had been taught a less +noble style. This is especially to be remembered with respect to the +subordination of figure sculpture above noticed as characteristic of the +later Gothic. + +It is not that such sculpture is wanting; on the contrary, it is often +worked into richer groups, and carried out with a perfection of +execution, far greater than those which adorn the earlier buildings: +but, in the early work, it is vigorous, prominent, and essential to the +beauty of the whole; in the late work it is enfeebled, and shrouded in +the veil of tracery, from which it may often be removed with little harm +to the general effect.[74] + +[Illustration: Fig. XX.] + +§ CV. Now the reader may rest assured that no principle of art is more +absolute than this,--that a composition from which anything can be +removed without doing mischief is always so far forth inferior. On this +ground, therefore, if on no other, there can be no question, for a +moment, which of the two schools is the greater; although there are many +most noble works in the French traceried Gothic, having a sublimity of +their own dependent on their extreme richness and grace of line, and for +which we may be most grateful to their builders. And, indeed, the +superiority of the Surface-Gothic cannot be completely felt, until we +compare it with the more degraded Linear schools, as, for instance, with +our own English Perpendicular. The ornaments of the Veronese niche, +which we have used for our example, are by no means among the best of +their school, yet they will serve our purpose for such a comparison. +That of its pinnacle is composed of a single upright flowering plant, of +which the stem shoots up through the centres of the leaves, and bears a +pendent blossom, somewhat like that of the imperial lily. The leaves are +thrown back from the stem with singular grace and freedom, and +foreshortened, as if by a skilful painter, in the shallow marble relief. +Their arrangement is roughly shown in the little woodcut at the side +(Fig. XX.); and if the reader will simply try the experiment for +himself,--first, of covering a piece of paper with crossed lines, as if +for accounts, and filling all the interstices with any foliation that +comes into his head, as in Figure XIX. above; and then, of trying to +fill the point of a gable with a piece of leafage like that in Figure +XX. above, putting the figure itself aside,--he will presently find that +more thought and invention are required to design this single minute +pinnacle, than to cover acres of ground with English perpendicular. + +§ CVI. We have now, I believe, obtained a sufficiently accurate +knowledge both of the spirit and form of Gothic architecture; but it +may, perhaps, be useful to the general reader, if, in conclusion, I set +down a few plain and practical rules for determining, in every instance, +whether a given building be good Gothic or not, and, if not Gothic, +whether its architecture is of a kind which will probably reward the +pains of careful examination. + +§ CVII. First. Look if the roof rises in a steep gable, high above the +walls. If it does not do this, there is something wrong; the building is +not quite pure Gothic, or has been altered. + +§ CVIII. Secondly. Look if the principal windows and doors have pointed +arches with gables over them. If not pointed arches, the building is not +Gothic; if they have not any gables over them, it is either not pure, or +not first-rate. + +If, however, it has the steep roof, the pointed arch, and gable all +united, it is nearly certain to be a Gothic building of a very fine +time. + +§ CIX. Thirdly. Look if the arches are cusped, or apertures foliated. If +the building has met the first two conditions, it is sure to be foliated +somewhere; but, if not everywhere, the parts which are unfoliated are +imperfect, unless they are large bearing arches, or small and sharp +arches in groups, forming a kind of foliation by their own multiplicity, +and relieved by sculpture and rich mouldings. The upper windows, for +instance, in the east end of Westminster Abbey are imperfect for want of +foliation. If there be no foliation anywhere, the building is assuredly +imperfect Gothic. + +§ CX. Fourthly. If the building meets all the first three conditions, +look if its arches in general, whether of windows and doors, or of minor +ornamentation, are carried on _true shafts with bases and capitals_. If +they are, then the building is assuredly of the finest Gothic style. It +may still, perhaps, be an imitation, a feeble copy, or a bad example of +a noble style; but the manner of it, having met all these four +conditions, is assuredly first-rate. + +If its apertures have not shafts and capitals, look if they are plain +openings in the walls, studiously simple, and unmoulded at the sides; +as, for instance, the arch in Plate XIX. Vol. I. If so, the building may +still be of the finest Gothic, adapted to some domestic or military +service. But if the sides of the window be moulded, and yet there are no +capitals at the spring of the arch, it is assuredly of an inferior +school. + +This is all that is necessary to determine whether the building be of a +fine Gothic style. The next tests to be applied are in order to discover +whether it be good architecture or not: for it may be very impure +Gothic, and yet very noble architecture; or it may be very pure Gothic, +and yet, if a copy, or originally raised by an ungifted builder, very +bad architecture. + +If it belong to any of the great schools of color, its criticism becomes +as complicated, and needs as much care, as that of a piece of music, and +no general rules for it can be given; but if not-- + +§ CXI. First. See if it looks as if it had been built by strong men; if +it has the sort of roughness, and largeness, and nonchalance, mixed in +places with the exquisite tenderness which seems always to be the +sign-manual of the broad vision, and massy power of men who can see +_past_ the work they are doing, and betray here and there something like +disdain for it. If the building has this character, it is much already +in its favor; it will go hard but it proves a noble one. If it has not +this, but is altogether accurate, minute, and scrupulous in its +workmanship, it must belong to either the very best or the very worst of +schools: the very best, in which exquisite design is wrought out with +untiring and conscientious care, as in the Giottesque Gothic; or the +very worst, in which mechanism has taken the place of design. It is more +likely, in general, that it should belong to the worst than the best: so +that, on the whole, very accurate workmanship is to be esteemed a bad +sign; and if there is nothing remarkable about the building but its +precision, it may be passed at once with contempt. + +§ CXII. Secondly. Observe if it be irregular, its different parts +fitting themselves to different purposes, no one caring what becomes of +them, so that they do their work. If one part always answers accurately +to another part, it is sure to be a bad building; and the greater and +more conspicuous the irregularities, the greater the chances are that it +is a good one. For instance, in the Ducal Palace, of which a rough +woodcut is given in Chap. VIII., the general idea is sternly +symmetrical; but two windows are lower than the rest of the six; and if +the reader will count the arches of the small arcade as far as to the +great balcony, he will find it is not in the centre, but set to the +right-hand side by the whole width of one of those arches. We may be +pretty sure that the building is a good one; none but a master of his +craft would have ventured to do this. + +§ CXIII. Thirdly. Observe if all the traceries, capitals, and other +ornaments are of perpetually varied design. If not, the work is +assuredly bad. + +§ CXIV. Lastly. _Read_ the sculpture. Preparatory to reading it, you +will have to discover whether it is legible (and, if legible, it is +nearly certain to be worth reading). On a good building, the sculpture +is _always_ so set, and on such a scale, that at the ordinary distance +from which the edifice is seen, the sculpture shall be thoroughly +intelligible and interesting. In order to accomplish this, the uppermost +statues will be ten or twelve feet high, and the upper ornamentation +will be colossal, increasing in fineness as it descends, till on the +foundation it will often be wrought as if for a precious cabinet in a +king's chamber; but the spectator will not notice that the upper +sculptures are colossal. He will merely feel that he can see them +plainly, and make them all out at his ease. + +And, having ascertained this, let him set himself to read them. +Thenceforward the criticism of the building is to be conducted precisely +on the same principles as that of a book; and it must depend on the +knowledge, feeling, and not a little on the industry and perseverance of +the reader, whether, even in the case of the best works, he either +perceive them to be great, or feel them to be entertaining. + + +FOOTNOTES + + [56] The third kind of ornament, the Renaissance, is that in which + the inferior detail becomes principal, the executor of every minor + portion being required to exhibit skill and possess knowledge as + great as that which is possessed by the master of the design; and in + the endeavor to endow him with this skill and knowledge, his own + original power is overwhelmed, and the whole building becomes a + wearisome exhibition of well-educated imbecility. We must fully + inquire into the nature of this form of error, when we arrive at the + examination of the Renaissance schools. + + [57] Vide Preface to "Fair Maid of Perth." + + [58] The Elgin marbles are supposed by many persons to be "perfect." + In the most important portions they indeed approach perfection, but + only there. The draperies are unfinished, the hair and wool of the + animals are unfinished, and the entire bas-reliefs of the frieze are + roughly cut. + + [59] In the eighth chapter we shall see a remarkable instance of + this sacrifice of symmetry to convenience in the arrangement of the + windows of the Ducal Palace. + + [60] I am always afraid to use this word "Composition;" it is so + utterly misused in the general parlance respecting art. Nothing is + more common than to hear divisions of art into "form, composition, + and color," or "light and shade and composition," or "sentiment and + composition," or it matters not what else and composition; the + speakers in each case attaching a perfectly different meaning to the + word, generally an indistinct one, and always a wrong one. + Composition is, in plain English, "putting together," and it means + the putting together of lines, of forms, of colors, of shades, or of + ideas. Painters compose in color, compose in thought, compose in + form, and compose in effect: the word being of use merely in order + to express a scientific, disciplined, and inventive arrangement of + any of these, instead of a merely natural or accidental one. + + [61] Design is used in this place as expressive of the power to + arrange lines and colors nobly. By facts, I mean facts perceived by + the eye and mind, not facts accumulated by knowledge. See the + chapter on Roman Renaissance (Vol. III. Chap. II.) for this + distinction. + + [62] "Earlier," that is to say, pre-Raphaelite ages. Men of this + stamp will praise Claude, and such other comparatively debased + artists; but they cannot taste the work of the thirteenth century. + + [63] Not selfish fear, caused by want of trust in God, or of + resolution in the soul. + + [64] I reserve for another place the full discussion of this + interesting subject, which here would have led me too far; but it + must be noted, in passing, that this vulgar Purism, which rejects + truth, not because it is vicious, but because it is humble, and + consists not in choosing what is good, but in disguising what is + rough, extends itself into every species of art. The most definite + instance of it is the dressing of characters of peasantry in an + opera or ballet scene; and the walls of our exhibitions are full of + works of art which "exalt nature" in the same way, not by revealing + what is great in the heart, but by smoothing what is coarse in the + complexion. There is nothing, I believe, so vulgar, so hopeless, so + indicative of an irretrievably base mind, as this species of Purism. + Of healthy Purism carried to the utmost endurable length in this + direction, exalting the heart first, and the features with it, + perhaps the most characteristic instance I can give is Stothard's + vignette to "Jorasse," in Rogers's Italy; at least it would be so if + it could be seen beside a real group of Swiss girls. The poems of + Rogers, compared with those of Crabbe, are admirable instances of + the healthiest Purism and healthiest Naturalism in poetry. The first + great Naturalists of Christian art were Orcagna and Giotto. + + [65] The reader will understand this in a moment by glancing at Plate + XX., the last in this volume, where the series 1 to 12 represents + the change in one kind of leaf, from the Byzantine to the perfect + Gothic. + + [66] The best art either represents the facts of its own day, or, if + facts of the past, expresses them with accessories of the time in + which the work was done. All good art, representing past events, is + therefore full of the most frank anachronism, and always _ought_ to + be. No painter has any business to be an antiquarian. We do not want + his impressions or suppositions respecting things that are past. We + want his clear assertions respecting things present. + + [67] See the account of the meeting at Talla Linns, in 1682, given + in the fourth chapter of the "Heart of Midlothian." At length they + arrived at the conclusion that "they who owned (or allowed) such + names as Monday, Tuesday, January, February, and so forth, served + themselves heirs to the same if not greater punishment than had been + denounced against the idolaters of old." + + [68] See the beautiful description of Florence in Elizabeth Browning's + "Casa Guidi Windows," which is not only a noble poem, but the only + book I have seen which, favoring the Liberal cause in Italy, gives a + just account of the incapacities of the modern Italian. + + [69] Salisbury spire is only a tower with a polygonal gabled roof of + stone, and so also the celebrated spires of Caen and Coutances. + + [70] Or by the shaded portions of Fig. XXIX. Vol. I. + + [71] The reader is not to suppose that Greek architecture had always, + or often, flat ceilings, because I call its lintel the roof proper. + He must remember I always use these terms of the first simple + arrangements of materials that bridge a space; bringing in the real + roof afterwards, if I can. In the case of Greek temples it would be + vain to refer their structure to the real roof, for many were + hypæthral, and without a roof at all. I am unfortunately more + ignorant of Egyptian roofing than even of Arabian, so that I cannot + bring this school into the diagram; but the gable appears to have + been magnificently used for a bearing roof. Vide Mr. Fergusson's + section of the Pyramid of Geezeh, "Principles of Beauty in Art," + Plate I., and his expressions of admiration of Egyptian roof + masonry, page 201. + + [72] See 'Athenæum,' March 5th, 1853. + + [73] Late, and chiefly confined to Northern countries, so that the + two schools may be opposed either as Early and Late Gothic, or (in + the fourteenth century) as Southern and Northern Gothic. + + [74] In many of the best French Gothic churches, the groups of figures + have been all broken away at the Revolution, without much harm to + the picturesqueness, though with grievous loss to the historical + value of the architecture: whereas, if from the niche at Verona we + were to remove its floral ornaments, and the statue beneath it, + nothing would remain but a rude square trefoiled shell, utterly + valueless, or even ugly. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +GOTHIC PALACES. + + +§ I. The buildings out of the remnants of which we have endeavored to +recover some conception of the appearance of Venice during the Byzantine +period, contribute hardly anything at this day to the effect of the +streets of the city. They are too few and too much defaced to attract +the eye or influence the feelings. The charm which Venice still +possesses, and which for the last fifty years has rendered it the +favorite haunt of all the painters of picturesque subject, is owing to +the effect of the palaces belonging to the period we have now to +examine, mingled with those of the Renaissance. + +This effect is produced in two different ways. The Renaissance palaces +are not more picturesque in themselves than the club-houses of Pall +Mall; but they become delightful by the contrast of their severity and +refinement with the rich and rude confusion of the sea life beneath +them, and of their white and solid masonry with the green waves. Remove +from beneath them the orange sails of the fishing boats, the black +gliding of the gondolas, the cumbered decks and rough crews of the +barges of traffic, and the fretfulness of the green water along their +foundations, and the Renaissance palaces possess no more interest than +those of London or Paris. But the Gothic palaces are picturesque in +themselves, and wield over us an independent power. Sea and sky, and +every other accessory might be taken away from them, and still they +would be beautiful and strange. They are not less striking in the +loneliest streets of Padua and Vicenza (where many were built during the +period of the Venetian authority in those cities) than in the most +crowded thoroughfares of Venice itself; and if they could be +transported into the midst of London, they would still not altogether +lose their power over the feelings. + +§ II. The best proof of this is in the perpetual attractiveness of all +pictures, however poor in skill, which have taken for their subject the +principal of these Gothic buildings, the Ducal Palace. In spite of all +architectural theories and teachings, the paintings of this building are +always felt to be delightful; we cannot be wearied by them, though often +sorely tried; but we are not put to the same trial in the case of the +palaces of the Renaissance. They are never drawn singly, or as the +principal subject, nor can they be. The building which faces the Ducal +Palace on the opposite side of the Piazzetta is celebrated among +architects, but it is not familiar to our eyes; it is painted only +incidentally, for the completion, not the subject, of a Venetian scene; +and even the Renaissance arcades of St. Mark's Place, though frequently +painted, are always treated as a mere avenue to its Byzantine church and +colossal tower. And the Ducal Palace itself owes the peculiar charm +which we have hitherto felt, not so much to its greater size as compared +with other Gothic buildings, or nobler design (for it never yet has been +rightly drawn), as to its comparative isolation. The other Gothic +structures are as much injured by the continual juxtaposition of the +Renaissance palaces, as the latter are aided by it; they exhaust their +own life by breathing it into the Renaissance coldness: but the Ducal +Palace stands comparatively alone, and fully expresses the Gothic power. + +[Illustration: Fig. XXI.] + +§ III. And it is just that it should be so seen, for it is the original +of nearly all the rest. It is not the elaborate and more studied +developement of a national style, but the great and sudden invention of +one man, instantly forming a national style, and becoming the model for +the imitation of every architect in Venice for upwards of a century. It +was the determination of this one fact which occupied me the greater +part of the time I spent in Venice. It had always appeared to me most +strange that there should be in no part of the city any incipient or +imperfect types of the form of the Ducal Palace; it was difficult to +believe that so mighty a building had been the conception of one man, +not only in disposition and detail, but in style; and yet impossible, +had it been otherwise, but that some early examples of approximate +Gothic form must exist. There is not one. The palaces built between the +final cessation of the Byzantine style, about 1300, and the date of the +Ducal Palace (1320-1350), are all completely distinct in character, so +distinct that I at first intended the account of them to form a separate +section of this volume; and there is literally _no_ transitional form +between them and the perfection of the Ducal Palace. Every Gothic +building in Venice which resembles the latter is a copy of it. I do not +mean that there was no Gothic in Venice before the Ducal Palace, but +that the mode of its application to domestic architecture had not been +determined. The real root of the Ducal Palace is the apse of the church +of the Frari. The traceries of that apse, though earlier and ruder in +workmanship, are nearly the same in mouldings, and precisely the same in +treatment (especially in the placing of the lions' heads), as those of +the great Ducal Arcade; and the originality of thought in the architect +of the Ducal Palace consists in his having adapted those traceries, in a +more highly developed and finished form, to civil uses. In the apse of +the church they form narrow and tall window lights, somewhat more +massive than those of Northern Gothic, but similar in application: the +thing to be done was to adapt these traceries to the forms of domestic +building necessitated by national usage. The early palaces consisted, as +we have seen, of arcades sustaining walls faced with marble, rather +broad and long than elevated. This form was kept for the Ducal Palace; +but instead of round arches from shaft to shaft, the Frari traceries +were substituted, with two essential modifications. Besides being +enormously increased in scale and thickness, that they might better bear +the superincumbent weight, the quatrefoil, which in the Frari windows is +above the arch, as at _a_, Fig. XXI., on previous page, was, in the +Ducal Palace, put between the arches, as at _b_; the main reason for +this alteration being that the bearing power of the arches, which was +now to be trusted with the weight of a wall forty feet high,[75] was +thus thrown _between_ the quatrefoils, instead of under them, and +thereby applied at far better advantage. And, in the second place, the +joints of the masonry were changed. In the Frari (as often also in St. +John and St. Paul's) the tracery is formed of two simple cross bars or +slabs of stone, pierced into the requisite forms, and separated by a +horizontal joint, just on a level with the lowest cusp of the +quatrefoils, as seen in Fig. XXI., _a_. But at the Ducal Palace the +horizontal joint is in the centre of the quatrefoils, and two others are +introduced beneath it at right angles to the run of the mouldings, as +seen in Fig. XXI., _b_.[76] The Ducal Palace builder was sternly +resolute in carrying out this rule of masonry. In the traceries of the +large upper windows, where the cusps are cut through as in the +quatrefoil Fig. XXII., the lower cusp is left partly solid, as at _a_, +merely that the joint _a b_ may have its right place and direction. + +[Illustration: Fig. XXII.] + +§ IV. The ascertaining the formation of the Ducal Palace traceries from +those of the Frari, and its priority to all other buildings which +resemble it in Venice, rewarded me for a great deal of uninteresting +labor in the examination of mouldings and other minor features of the +Gothic palaces, in which alone the internal evidence of their date was +to be discovered, there being no historical records whatever respecting +them. But the accumulation of details on which the complete proof of the +fact depends, could not either be brought within the compass of this +volume, or be made in anywise interesting to the general reader. I shall +therefore, without involving myself in any discussion, give a brief +account of the developement of Gothic design in Venice, as I believe it +to have taken place. I shall possibly be able at some future period so +to compress the evidence on which my conviction rests, as to render it +intelligible to the public, while, in the meantime, some of the more +essential points of it are thrown together in the Appendix, and in the +history of the Ducal Palace given in the next chapter. + +§ V. According, then, to the statement just made, the Gothic +architecture of Venice is divided into two great periods: one, in which, +while various irregular Gothic tendencies are exhibited, no consistent +type of domestic building was developed; the other, in which a formed +and consistent school of domestic architecture resulted from the direct +imitation of the great design of the Ducal Palace. We must deal with +these two periods separately; the first of them being that which has +been often above alluded to, under the name of the transitional period. + +We shall consider in succession the general form, the windows, doors, +balconies, and parapets, of the Gothic palaces belonging to each of +these periods. + +§ VI. First. General Form. + +We have seen that the wrecks of the Byzantine palaces consisted merely +of upper and lower arcades surrounding cortiles; the disposition of the +interiors being now entirely changed, and their original condition +untraceable. The entrances to these early buildings are, for the most +part, merely large circular arches, the central features of their +continuous arcades: they do not present us with definitely separated +windows and doors. + +But a great change takes place in the Gothic period. These long arcades +break, as it were, into pieces, and coagulate into central and lateral +windows, and small arched doors, pierced in great surfaces of brick +wall. The sea story of a Byzantine palace consists of seven, nine, or +more arches in a continuous line; but the sea story of a Gothic palace +consists of a door and one or two windows on each side, as in a modern +house. The first story of a Byzantine palace consists of, perhaps, +eighteen or twenty arches, reaching from one side of the house to the +other; the first story of a Gothic palace consists of a window of four +or five lights in the centre, and one or two single windows on each +side. The germ, however, of the Gothic arrangement is already found in +the Byzantine, where, as we have seen, the arcades, though continuous, +are always composed of a central mass and two wings of smaller arches. +The central group becomes the door or the middle light of the Gothic +palace, and the wings break into its lateral windows. + +§ VII. But the most essential difference in the entire arrangement, is +the loss of the unity of conception which, regulated Byzantine +composition. How subtle the sense of gradation which disposed the +magnitudes of the early palaces we have seen already, but I have not +hitherto noticed that the Byzantine work was centralized in its +ornamentation as much as in its proportions. Not only were the lateral +capitals and archivolts kept comparatively plain, while the central ones +were sculptured, but the midmost piece of sculpture, whatever it might +be,--capital, inlaid circle, or architrave,--was always made superior to +the rest. In the Fondaco de' Turchi, for instance, the midmost capital +of the upper arcade is the key to the whole group, larger and more +studied than all the rest; and the lateral ones are so disposed as to +answer each other on the opposite sides, thus, A being put for the +central one, + + F E B C +A+ C B E F, + +a sudden break of the system being admitted in one unique capital at the +extremity of the series. + +§ VIII. Now, long after the Byzantine arcades had been contracted into +windows, this system of centralization was more or less maintained; and +in all the early groups of windows of five lights the midmost capital is +different from the two on each side of it, which always correspond. So +strictly is this the case, that whenever the capitals of any group of +windows are not centralized in this manner, but are either entirely like +each other, or all different, so as to show no correspondence, it is a +certain proof, even if no other should exist, of the comparative +lateness of the building. + +In every group of windows in Venice which I was able to examine, and +which were centralized in this manner, I found evidence in their +mouldings of their being _anterior_ to the Ducal Palace. That palace did +away with the subtle proportion and centralization of the Byzantine. Its +arches are of equal width, and its capitals are all different and +ungrouped; some, indeed, are larger than the rest, but this is not for +the sake of proportion, only for particular service when more weight is +to be borne. But, among other evidences of the early date of the sea +façade of that building, is one subtle and delicate concession to the +system of centralization which is finally closed. The capitals of the +upper arcade are, as I said, all different, and show no arranged +correspondence with each other; but _the central one is of pure Parian +marble_, while all the others are of Istrian stone. + +The bold decoration of the central window and balcony above, in the +Ducal Palace, is only a peculiar expression of the principality of the +central window, which was characteristic of the Gothic period not less +than of the Byzantine. In the private palaces the central windows become +of importance by their number of lights; in the Ducal Palace such an +arrangement was, for various reasons, inconvenient, and the central +window, which, so far from being more important than the others, is +every way inferior in design to the two at the eastern extremity of the +façade, was nevertheless made the leading feature by its noble canopy +and balcony. + +§ IX. Such being the principal differences in the general conception of +the Byzantine and Gothic palaces, the particulars in the treatment of +the latter are easily stated. The marble facings are gradually removed +from the walls; and the bare brick either stands forth confessed boldly, +contrasted with the marble shafts and archivolts of the windows, or it +is covered with stucco painted in fresco, of which more hereafter. The +Ducal Palace, as in all other respects, is an exact expression of the +middle point in the change. It still retains marble facing; but instead +of being disposed in slabs as in the Byzantine times, it is applied in +solid bricks or blocks of marble, 11½ inches long, by 6 inches high. + +The stories of the Gothic palaces are divided by string courses, +considerably bolder in projection than those of the Byzantines, and more +highly decorated; and while the angles of the Byzantine palaces are +quite sharp and pure, those of the Gothic palaces are wrought into a +chamfer, filled by small twisted shafts which have capitals under the +cornice of each story. + +§ X. These capitals are little observed in the general effect, but the +shafts are of essential importance in giving an aspect of firmness to +the angle; a point of peculiar necessity in Venice, where, owning to the +various convolutions of the canals, the angles of the palaces are not +only frequent, but often necessarily _acute_, every inch of ground being +valuable. In other cities, the appearance as well as the assurance of +stability can always be secured by the use of massy stones, as in the +fortress palaces of Florence; but it must have been always desirable at +Venice to build as lightly as possible, in consequence of the +comparative insecurity of the foundations. The early palaces were, as we +have seen, perfect models of grace and lightness, and the Gothic, which +followed, though much more massive in the style of its details, never +admitted more weight into its structure than was absolutely necessary +for its strength, Hence, every Gothic palace has the appearance of +enclosing as many rooms, and attaining as much strength, as is possible, +with a minimum quantity of brick and stone. The traceries of the +windows, which in Northern Gothic only support the _glass_, at Venice +support the _building_; and thus the greater ponderousness of the +_traceries_ is only an indication of the greater lightness of the +_structure_. Hence, when the Renaissance architects give their opinions +as to the stability of the Ducal Palace when injured by fire, one of +them, Christofore Sorte, says, that he thinks it by no means laudable +that the "Serenissimo Dominio" of the Venetian senate "should live in a +palace built in the air."[77] And again, Andrea della Valle says, +that[78] "the wall of the saloon is thicker by fifteen inches than the +shafts below it, projecting nine inches within, and six without, +_standing as if in the air_, above the piazza;"[79] and yet this wall is +so nobly and strongly knit together, that Rusconi, though himself +altogether devoted to the Renaissance school, declares that the fire +which had destroyed the whole interior of the palace had done this wall +no more harm than the bite of a fly to an elephant. "Troveremo che el +danno che ha patito queste muraglie sarà conforme alla beccatura d' una +mosca fatta ad un elefante."[80] + +§ XI. And so in all the other palaces built at the time, consummate +strength was joined with a lightness of form and sparingness of material +which rendered it eminently desirable that the eye should be convinced, +by every possible expedient, of the stability of the building; and these +twisted pillars at the angles are not among the least important means +adopted for this purpose, for they seem to bind the walls together as a +cable binds a chest. In the Ducal Palace, where they are carried up the +angle of an unbroken wall forty feet high, they are divided into +portions, gradually diminishing in length towards the top, by circular +bands or rings, set with the nail-head or dog-tooth ornament, vigorously +projecting, and giving the column nearly the aspect of the stalk of a +reed; its diminishing proportions being exactly arranged as they are by +Nature in all jointed plants. At the top of the palace, like the +wheat-stalk branching into the ear of corn, it expands into a small +niche with a pointed canopy, which joins with the fantastic parapet in +at once relieving, and yet making more notable by its contrast, the +weight of massy wall below. The arrangement is seen in the woodcut, +Chap. VIII.; the angle shafts being slightly exaggerated in thickness, +together with their joints, as otherwise they would hardly have been +intelligible on so small a scale. + +The Ducal Palace is peculiar in these niches at the angles, which +throughout the rest of the city appear on churches only; but some may +perhaps have been removed by restorations, together with the parapets +with which they were associated. + +[Illustration: Fig. XXIII.] + +§ XII. Of these roof parapets of Venice, it has been already noticed +that the examples which remain differ from those of all other cities of +Italy in their purely ornamental character. (Chap. I. § XII.) They are +not battlements, properly so-called; still less machicolated cornices, +such as crown the fortress palaces of the great mainland nobles; but +merely adaptations of the light and crown-like ornaments which crest the +walls of the Arabian mosque. Nor are even these generally used on the +main walls of the palaces themselves. They occur on the Ducal Palace, +on the Casa d' Oro, and, some years back, were still standing on the +Fondaco de' Turchi; but the majority of the Gothic Palaces have the +plain dog-tooth cornice under the tiled projecting roof (Vol. I. Chap. +XIV. § IV.); and the highly decorated parapet is employed only on the +tops of walls which surround courts or gardens, and which, without such +decoration, would have been utterly devoid of interest. Fig. XXIII. +represents, at _b_, part of a parapet of this kind which surrounds the +courtyard of a palace in the Calle del Bagatin, between San G. +Grisostomo, and San Canzian: the whole is of brick, and the mouldings +peculiarly sharp and varied; the height of each separate pinnacle being +about four feet, crowning a wall twelve or fifteen feet high: a piece of +the moulding which surrounds the quatrefoil is given larger in the +figure at _a_, together with the top of the small arch below, having the +common Venetian dentil round it, and a delicate little moulding with +dog-tooth ornament to carry the flanks of the arch. The moulding of the +brick is throughout sharp and beautiful in the highest degree. One of +the most curious points about it is the careless way in which the curved +outlines of the pinnacles are cut into the plain brickwork, with no +regard whatever to the places of its joints. The weather of course wears +the bricks at the exposed joints, and jags the outline a little; but the +work has stood, evidently from the fourteenth century, without +sustaining much harm. + +§ XIII. This parapet may be taken as a general type of the +_wall_-parapet of Venice in the Gothic period; some being much less +decorated, and others much more richly: the most beautiful in Venice is +in the little Calle, opening on the Campo and Traghetto San Samuele; it +has delicately carved devices in stone let into each pinnacle. + +The parapets of the palaces themselves were lighter and more fantastic, +consisting of narrow lance-like spires of marble, set between the +broader pinnacles, which were in such cases generally carved into the +form of a fleur-de-lis: the French word gives the reader the best idea +of the form, though he must remember that this use of the lily for the +parapets has nothing to do with France, but is the carrying out of the +Byzantine system of floral ornamentation, which introduced the outline +of the lily everywhere; so that I have found it convenient to call its +most beautiful capitals, the _lily_ capitals of St. Mark's. But the +occurrence of this flower, more distinctly than usual, on the +battlements of the Ducal Palace, was the cause of some curious political +speculation in the year 1511, when a piece of one of these battlements +was shaken down by the great earthquake of that year. Sanuto notes in +his diary that "the piece that fell was just that which bore the lily," +and records sundry sinister anticipations, founded on this important +omen, of impending danger to the adverse French power. As there happens, +in the Ducal Palace, to be a joint in the pinnacles which exactly +separates the "part which bears the lily" from that which is fastened to +the cornice, it is no wonder that the omen proved fallacious. + +§ XIV. The decorations of the parapet were completed by attaching gilded +balls of metal to the extremities of the leaves of the lilies, and of +the intermediate spires, so as literally to form for the wall a diadem +of silver touched upon the points with gold; the image being rendered +still more distinct in the Casa d' Oro, by variation in the height of +the pinnacles, the highest being in the centre of the front. + +Very few of these light roof parapets now remain; they are, of course, +the part of the building which dilapidation first renders it necessary +to remove. That of the Ducal Palace, however, though often, I doubt not, +restored, retains much of the ancient form, and is exceedingly +beautiful, though it has no appearance from below of being intended for +protection, but serves only, by its extreme lightness, to relieve the +eye when wearied by the breadth of wall beneath; it is nevertheless a +most serviceable defence for any person walking along the edge of the +roof. It has some appearance of insecurity, owing to the entire +independence of the pieces of stone composing it, which, though of +course fastened by iron, look as if they stood balanced on the cornice +like the pillars of Stonehenge; but I have never heard of its having +been disturbed by anything short of an earthquake; and, as we have +seen, even the great earthquake of 1511, though it much injured the +Gorne, or battlements at the Casa d' Oro, and threw down several statues +at St. Mark's,[81] only shook one lily from the brow of the Ducal +Palace. + +[Illustration: Fig. XXIV.] + +§ XV. Although, however, these light and fantastic forms appear to have +been universal in the battlements meant primarily for decoration, there +was another condition of parapet altogether constructed for the +protection of persons walking on the roofs or in the galleries of the +churches, and from these more substantial and simple defences, the +BALCONIES, to which the Gothic palaces owe half of their picturesque +effect, were immediately derived; the balcony being, in fact, nothing +more than a portion of such roof parapets arranged round a projecting +window-sill sustained on brackets, as in the central example of the +annexed figure. We must, therefore, examine these defensive balustrades +and the derivative balconies consecutively. + +§ XVI. Obviously, a parapet with an unbroken edge, upon which the arm +may rest (a condition above noticed, Vol. I. p. 157., as essential to +the proper performance of its duty), can be constructed only in one of +three ways. It must either be (1) of solid stone, decorated, if at all, +by mere surface sculpture, as in the uppermost example in Fig. XXIV., +above; or (2) pierced into some kind of tracery, as in the second; or +(3) composed of small pillars carrying a level bar of stone, as in the +third; this last condition being, in a diseased and swollen form, +familiar to us in the balustrades of our bridges.[82] + +§ XVII. (1.) Of these three kinds, the first, which is employed for the +pulpit at Torcello and in the nave of St. Mark's, whence the uppermost +example is taken, is beautiful when sculpture so rich can be employed +upon it; but it is liable to objection, first, because it is heavy and +unlike a parapet when seen from below; and, secondly, because it is +inconvenient in use. The position of leaning over a balcony becomes +cramped and painful if long continued, unless the foot can be sometimes +advanced _beneath_ the ledge on which the arm leans, i. e. between the +balusters or traceries, which of course cannot be done in the solid +parapet: it is also more agreeable to be able to see partially down +through the penetrations, than to be obliged to lean far over the edge. +The solid parapet was rarely used in Venice after the earlier ages. + +§ XVIII. (2.) The Traceried Parapet is chiefly used in the Gothic of the +North, from which the above example, in the Casa Contarini Fasan, is +directly derived. It is, when well designed, the richest and most +beautiful of all forms, and many of the best buildings of France and +Germany are dependent for half their effect upon it; its only fault +being a slight tendency to fantasticism. It was never frankly received +in Venice, where the architects had unfortunately returned to the +Renaissance forms before the flamboyant parapets were fully developed in +the North; but, in the early stage of the Renaissance, a kind of pierced +parapet was employed, founded on the old Byzantine interwoven +traceries; that is to say, the slab of stone was pierced here and there +with holes, and then an interwoven pattern traced on the surface round +them. The difference in system will be understood in a moment by +comparing the uppermost example in the figure at the side, which is a +Northern parapet from the Cathedral of Abbeville, with the lowest, from +a secret chamber in the Casa Foscari. It will be seen that the Venetian +one is far more simple and severe, yet singularly piquant, the black +penetrations telling sharply on the plain broad surface. Far inferior in +beauty, it has yet one point of superiority to that of Abbeville, that +it proclaims itself more definitely to be stone. The other has rather +the look of lace. + +[Illustration: Fig. XXV.] + +The intermediate figure is a panel of the main balcony of the Ducal +Palace, and is introduced here as being an exactly transitional +condition between the Northern and Venetian types. It was built when the +German Gothic workmen were exercising considerable influence over those +in Venice, and there was some chance of the Northern parapet introducing +itself. It actually did so, as above shown, in the Casa Contarini Fasan, +but was for the most part stoutly resisted and kept at bay by the +Byzantine form, the lowest in the last figure, until that form itself +was displaced by the common, vulgar, Renaissance baluster; a grievous +loss, for the severe pierced type was capable of a variety as endless as +the fantasticism of our own Anglo-Saxon manuscript ornamentation. + +§ XIX. (3.) The Baluster Parapet. Long before the idea of tracery had +suggested itself to the minds either of Venetian or any other +architects, it had, of course, been necessary to provide protection for +galleries, edges of roofs, &c.; and the most natural form in which such +protection could be obtained was that of a horizontal bar or hand-rail, +sustained upon short shafts or balusters, as in Fig. XXIV. p. 243. This +form was, above all others, likely to be adopted where variations of +Greek or Roman pillared architecture were universal in the larger masses +of the building; the parapet became itself a small series of columns, +with capitals and architraves; and whether the cross-bar laid upon them +should be simply horizontal, and in contact with their capitals, or +sustained by mimic arches, round or pointed, depended entirely on the +system adopted in the rest of the work. Where the large arches were +round, the small balustrade arches would be so likewise; where those +were pointed, these would become so in sympathy with them. + +§ XX. Unfortunately, wherever a balcony or parapet is used in an +inhabited house, it is, of course, the part of the structure which first +suffers from dilapidation, as well as that of which the security is most +anxiously cared for. The main pillars of a casement may stand for +centuries unshaken under the steady weight of the superincumbent wall, +but the cement and various insetting of the balconies are sure to be +disturbed by the irregular pressures and impulses of the persons leaning +on them; while, whatever extremity of decay may be allowed in other +parts of the building, the balcony, as soon as it seems dangerous, will +assuredly be removed or restored. The reader will not, if he considers +this, be surprised to hear that, among all the remnants of the Venetian +domestic architecture of the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth +centuries, there is not a single instance of the original balconies +being preserved. The palace mentioned below (§ XXXII.), in the piazza of +the Rialto, has, indeed, solid slabs of stone between its shafts, but I +cannot be certain that they are of the same period; if they are, this is +the only existing example of the form of protection employed for +casements during this transitional period, and it cannot be reasoned +from as being the general one. + +§ XXI. It is only, therefore, in the churches of Torcello, Murano, and +St. Mark's, that the ancient forms of gallery defence may still be seen. +At Murano, between the pillars of the apse, a beautiful balustrade is +employed, of which a single arch is given in the Plate opposite, fig. 4, +with its section, fig. 5.; and at St. Mark's, a noble round-arched +parapet, with small pillars of precisely the same form as those of +Murano, but shorter, and bound at the angles into groups of four by the +serpentine knot so often occurring in Lombardic work, runs round the +whole exterior of the lower story of the church, and round great part of +its interior galleries, alternating with the more fantastic form, fig. +6. In domestic architecture, the remains of the original balconies begin +to occur first in the beginning of the fourteenth century, when the +round arch had entirely disappeared; and the parapet consists, almost +without exception, of a series of small trefoiled arches, cut boldly +through a bar of stone which rests upon the shafts, at first very +simple, and generally adorned with a cross at the point of each arch, as +in fig. 7 in the last Plate, which gives the angle of such a balcony on +a large scale; but soon enriched into the beautiful conditions, figs. 2 +and 3, and sustained on brackets formed of lions' heads, as seen in the +central example of their entire effect, fig. 1. + +[Illustration: Plate XIII. + BALCONIES.] + +§ XXII. In later periods, the round arches return; then the interwoven +Byzantine form; and finally, as above noticed, the common English or +classical balustrade; of which, however, exquisite examples, for grace +and variety of outline, are found designed in the backgrounds of Paul +Veronese. I could willingly follow out this subject fully, but it is +impossible to do so without leaving Venice; for the chief city of Italy, +as far as regards the strict effect of the balcony, is Verona; and if we +were once to lose ourselves among the sweet shadows of its lonely +streets, where the falling branches of the flowers stream like fountains +through the pierced traceries of the marble, there is no saying whether +we might soon be able to return to our immediate work. Yet before +leaving the subject of the balcony[83] altogether, I must allude, for a +moment, to the peculiar treatment of the iron-work out of which it is +frequently wrought on the mainland of Italy--never in Venice. The iron +is always wrought, not cast, beaten first into thin leaves, and then cut +either into strips or bands, two or three inches broad, which are bent +into various curves to form the sides of the balcony, or else into +actual leafage, sweeping and free, like the leaves of nature, with which +it is richly decorated. There is no end to the variety of design, no +limit to the lightness and flow of the forms, which the workman can +produce out of iron treated in this manner; and it is very nearly as +impossible for any metal-work, so handled, to be poor, or ignoble in +effect, as it is for cast metal-work to be otherwise. + +§ XXIII. We have next to examine those features of the Gothic palaces in +which the transitions of their architecture are most distinctly +traceable; namely, the arches of the windows and doors. + +It has already been repeatedly stated, that the Gothic style had formed +itself completely on the mainland, while the Byzantines still retained +their influence at Venice; and that the history of early Venetian Gothic +is therefore not that of a school taking new forms independently of +external influence, but the history of the struggle of the Byzantine +manner with a contemporary style quite as perfectly organized as itself, +and far more energetic. And this struggle is exhibited partly in the +gradual change of the Byzantine architecture into other forms, and +partly by isolated examples of genuine Gothic taken prisoner, as it +were, in the contest; or rather entangled among the enemy's forces, and +maintaining their ground till their friends came up to sustain them. Let +us first follow the steps of the gradual change, and then give some +brief account of the various advanced guards and forlorn hopes of the +Gothic attacking force. + +[Illustration: Plate XIV. + THE ORDERS OF VENETIAN ARCHES.] + +§ XXIV. The uppermost shaded series of six forms of windows in Plate +XIV., opposite, represents, at a glance, the modifications of this +feature in Venetian palaces, from the eleventh to the fifteenth century. +Fig. 1 is Byzantine, of the eleventh and twelfth centuries; figs. 2 +and 3 transitional, of the thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries; +figs. 4 and 5 pure Gothic, of the thirteenth, fourteenth and early +fifteenth; and fig. 6. late Gothic, of the fifteenth century, +distinguished by its added finial. Fig. 4 is the longest-lived of all +these forms: it occurs first in the thirteenth century; and, sustaining +modifications only in its mouldings, is found also in the middle of the +fifteenth. + +I shall call these the six orders[84] of Venetian windows, and when I +speak of a window of the fourth, second, or sixth order, the reader will +only have to refer to the numerals at the top of Plate XIV. + +Then the series below shows the principal forms found in each period, +belonging to each several order; except 1 _b_ to 1 _c_, and the two +lower series, numbered 7 to 16, which are types of Venetian doors. + +§ XXV. We shall now be able, without any difficulty, to follow the +course of transition, beginning with the first order, 1 and 1 _a_, in +the second row. The horse-shoe arch, 1 _b_, is the door-head commonly +associated with it, and the other three in the same row occur in St. +Mark's exclusively; 1 _c_ being used in the nave, in order to give a +greater appearance of lightness to its great lateral arcades, which at +first the spectator supposes to be round-arched, but he is struck by a +peculiar grace and elasticity in the curves for which he is unable to +account, until he ascends into the galleries whence the true form of the +arch is discernible. The other two--1 _d_, from the door of the +southern transept, and 1 _c_, from that of the treasury,--sufficiently +represent a group of fantastic forms derived from the Arabs, and of +which the exquisite decoration is one of the most important features in +St. Mark's. Their form is indeed permitted merely to obtain more fantasy +in the curves of this decoration.[85] The reader can see in a moment, +that, as pieces of masonry, or bearing arches, they are infirm or +useless, and therefore never could be employed in any building in which +dignity of structure was the primal object. It is just because structure +is _not_ the primal object in St. Mark's, because it has no severe +weights to bear, and much loveliness of marble and sculpture to exhibit, +that they are therein allowable. They are of course, like the rest of +the building, built of brick and faced with marble, and their inner +masonry, which must be very ingenious, is therefore not discernible. +They have settled a little, as might have been expected, and the +consequence is, that there is in every one of them, except the upright +arch of the treasury, a small fissure across the marble of the flanks. + +[Illustration: Fig. XXVI.] + +§ XXVI. Though, however, the Venetian builders adopted these Arabian +forms of arch where grace of ornamentation was their only purpose, they +saw that such arrangements were unfit for ordinary work; and there is no +instance, I believe, in Venice, of their having used any of them for a +dwelling-house in the truly Byzantine period. But so soon as the Gothic +influence began to be felt, and the pointed arch forced itself upon +them, their first concession to its attack was the adoption, in +preference to the round arch, of the form 3 _a_ (Plate XIV., above); the +point of the Gothic arch forcing itself up, as it were, through the top +of the semicircle which it was soon to supersede. + +§ XXVII. The woodcut above, Fig. XXVI., represents the door and two of +the lateral windows of a house in the Corte del Remer, facing the Grand +Canal, in the parish of the Apostoli. It is remarkable as having its +great entrance on the first floor, attained by a bold flight of steps, +sustained on pure _pointed_ arches wrought in brick. I cannot tell if +these arches are contemporary with the building, though it must always +have had an access of the kind. The rest of its aspect is Byzantine, +except only that the rich sculptures of its archivolt show in combats of +animals, beneath the soffit, a beginning of the Gothic fire and energy. +The moulding of its plinth is of a Gothic profile,[86] and the windows +are pointed, not with a reversed curve, but in a pure straight gable, +very curiously contrasted with the delicate bending of the pieces of +marble armor cut for the shoulders of each arch. There is a two-lighted +window, such as that seen in the vignette, on each side of the door, +sustained in the centre by a basket-worked Byzantine capital: the mode +of covering the brick archivolt with marble, both in the windows and +doorway, is precisely like that of the true Byzantine palaces. + +[Illustration: Fig. XXVII.] + +§ XXVIII. But as, even on a small scale, these arches are weak, if +executed in brickwork, the appearance of this sharp point in the outline +was rapidly accompanied by a parallel change in the method of building; +and instead of constructing the arch of brick and coating it with +marble, the builders formed it of three pieces of hewn stone inserted +in the wall, as in Fig. XXVII. Not, however, at first in this perfect +form. The endeavor to reconcile the grace of the reversed arch with the +strength of the round one, and still to build in brick, ended at first +in conditions such as that represented at _a_, Fig. XXVIII., which is a +window in the Calle del Pistor, close to the church of the Apostoli, a +very interesting and perfect example. Here, observe, the poor round arch +is still kept to do all the hard work, and the fantastic ogee takes its +pleasure above, in the form of a moulding merely, a chain of bricks cast +to the required curve. And this condition, translated into stone-work, +becomes a window of the second order (_b_5, Fig. XXVIII., or 2, in Plate +XIV.); a form perfectly strong and serviceable, and of immense +importance in the transitional architecture of Venice. + +[Illustration: Fig. XXVIII.] + +§ XXIX. At _b_, Fig. XXVIII., as above, is given one of the earliest and +simplest occurrences of the second order window (in a double group, +exactly like the brick transitional form _a_), from a most important +fragment of a defaced house in the Salizzada San Liò, close to the +Merceria. It is associated with a fine _pointed_ brick arch, +indisputably of contemporary work, towards the close of the thirteenth +century, and it is shown to be later than the previous example, _a_, by +the greater developement of its mouldings. The archivolt profile, +indeed, is the simpler of the two, not having the sub-arch; as in the +brick example; but the other mouldings are far more developed. Fig. +XXIX. shows at 1 the arch profiles, at 2 the capital profiles, at 3 the +basic-plinth profiles, of each window, _a_ and _b_. + +[Illustration: Fig. XXIX.] + +§ XXX. But the second order window soon attained nobler developement. At +once simple, graceful, and strong, it was received into all the +architecture of the period, and there is hardly a street in Venice which +does not exhibit some important remains of palaces built with this form +of window in many stories, and in numerous groups. The most extensive +and perfect is one upon the Grand Canal in the parish of the Apostoli, +near the Rialto, covered with rich decoration, in the Byzantine manner, +between the windows of its first story; but not completely +characteristic of the transitional period, because still retaining the +dentil in the arch mouldings, while the transitional houses all have the +simple roll. Of the fully established type, one of the most extensive +and perfect examples is in a court in the Calle di Rimedio, close to the +Ponte dell' Angelo, near St. Mark's Place. Another looks out upon a +small square garden, one of the few visible in the centre of Venice, +close by the Corte Salviati (the latter being known to every cicerone as +that from which Bianca Capello fled). But, on the whole, the most +interesting to the traveller is that of which I have given a vignette +opposite. + +But for this range of windows, the little piazza SS. Apostoli would be +one of the least picturesque in Venice; to those, however, who seek it +on foot, it becomes geographically interesting from the extraordinary +involution of the alleys leading to it from the Rialto. In Venice, the +straight road is usually by water, and the long road by land; but the +difference of distance appears, in this case, altogether inexplicable. +Twenty or thirty strokes of the oar will bring a gondola from the foot +of the Rialto to that of the Ponte SS. Apostoli; but the unwise +pedestrian, who has not noticed the white clue beneath his feet,[87] may +think himself fortunate, if, after a quarter of an hour's wandering +among the houses behind the Fondaco de' Tedeschi, he finds himself +anywhere in the neighborhood of the point he seeks. With much patience, +however, and modest following of the guidance of the marble thread, he +will at last emerge over a steep bridge into the open space of the +Piazza, rendered cheerful in autumn by a perpetual market of +pomegranates, and purple gourds, like enormous black figs; while the +canal, at its extremity, is half-blocked up by barges laden with vast +baskets of grapes as black as charcoal, thatched over with their own +leaves. + +Looking back, on the other side of this canal, he will see the windows +represented in Plate XV., which, with the arcade of pointed arches +beneath them, are the remains of the palace once belonging to the +unhappy doge, Marino Faliero. + +The balcony is, of course, modern, and the series of windows has been of +greater extent, once terminated by a pilaster on the left hand, as well +as on the right; but the terminal arches have been walled up. What +remains, however, is enough, with its sculptured birds and dragons, to +give the reader a very distinct idea of the second order window in its +perfect form. The details of the capitals, and other minor portions, if +these interest him, he will find given in the final Appendix. + +[Illustration: Plate XV. + WINDOWS OF THE SECOND ORDER. + CASA FALIER.] + +§ XXXI. The advance of the Gothic spirit was, for a few years, checked +by this compromise between the round and pointed arch. The truce, +however, was at last broken, in consequence of the discovery that the +keystone would do duty quite as well in the form _b_ as in the form _a_, +Fig. XXX., and the substitution of _b_, at the head of the arch, gives +us the window of the third order, 3 _b_, 3 _d_, and 3 _e_, in Plate XIV. +The forms 3 _a_ and 3 _c_ are exceptional; the first occurring, as we +have seen, in the Corte del Remer, and in one other palace on the Grand +Canal, close to the Church of St. Eustachio; the second only, as far as +I know, in one house on the Canna-Reggio, belonging to the true Gothic +period. The other three examples, 3 _b_, 3 _d_, 3 _e_, are generally +characteristic of the third order; and it will be observed that they +differ not merely in mouldings, but in slope of sides, and this latter +difference is by far the most material. For in the example 3 _b_ there +is hardly any true Gothic expression; it is still the pure Byzantine +arch, with a point thrust up through it: but the moment the flanks +slope, as in 3 _d_, the Gothic expression is definite, and the entire +school of the architecture is changed. + +[Illustration: Fig. XXX.] + +This slope of the flanks occurs, first, in so slight a degree as to be +hardly perceptible, and gradually increases until, reaching the form 3 +_e_ at the close of the thirteenth century, the window is perfectly +prepared for a transition into the fifth order. + +§ XXXII. The most perfect examples of the third order in Venice are the +windows of the ruined palace of Marco Querini, the father-in-law of +Bajamonte Tiepolo, in consequence of whose conspiracy against the +government this palace was ordered to be razed in 1310; but it was only +partially ruined, and was afterwards used as the common shambles. The +Venetians have now made a poultry market of the lower story (the +shambles being removed to a suburb), and a prison of the upper, though +it is one of the most important and interesting monuments in the city, +and especially valuable as giving us a secure date for the central form +of these very rare transitional windows. For, as it was the palace of +the father-in-law of Bajamonte, and the latter was old enough to assume +the leadership of a political faction in 1280,[88] the date of the +accession to the throne of the Doge Pietro Gradenigo, we are secure of +this palace having been built not later than the middle of the +thirteenth century. Another example, less refined in workmanship, but, +if possible, still more interesting, owing to the variety of its +capitals, remains in the little piazza opening to the Rialto, on the St. +Mark's side of the Grand Canal. The house faces the bridge, and its +second story has been built in the thirteenth century, above a still +earlier Byzantine cornice remaining, or perhaps introduced from some +other ruined edifice, in the walls of the first floor. The windows of +the second story are of pure third order; four of them are represented +above, with their flanking pilaster, and capitals varying constantly in +the form of the flower or leaf introduced between their volutes. + +[Illustration: Fig. XXXI.] + +§ XXXIII. Another most important example exists in the lower story of +the Casa Sagredo, on the Grand Canal, remarkable as having the early +upright form (3 _b_, Plate XIV.) with a somewhat late moulding. Many +others occur in the fragmentary ruins in the streets: but the two +boldest conditions which I found in Venice are those of the +Chapter-House of the Frari, in which the Doge Francesco Dandolo was +buried circa 1339; and those of the flank of the Ducal Palace itself +absolutely corresponding with those of the Frari, and therefore of +inestimable value in determining the date of the palace. Of these more +hereafter. + +[Illustration: Plate XVI. + WINDOWS OF THE FOURTH ORDER.] + +[Illustration: Fig. XXXII.] + +§ XXXIV. Contemporarily with these windows of the second and third +orders, those of the fourth (4 _a_ and 4 _b_, in Plate XIV.) occur, at +first in pairs, and with simple mouldings, precisely similar to those of +the second order, but much more rare, as in the example at the side, +Fig. XXXII., from the Salizada San Liò; and then, enriching their +mouldings as shown in the continuous series 4 _c_, 4 _d_, of Plate XIV., +associate themselves with the fifth order windows of the perfect Gothic +period. There is hardly a palace in Venice without some example, either +early or late, of these fourth order windows; but the Plate opposite +(XVI.) represents one of their purest groups at the close of the +thirteenth century, from a house on the Grand Canal, nearly opposite the +Church of the Scalzi. I have drawn it from the side, in order that the +great depth of the arches may be seen, and the clear detaching of the +shafts from the sheets of glass behind. The latter, as well as the +balcony, are comparatively modern; but there is no doubt that if glass +were used in the old window, it was set behind the shafts, at the same +depth. The entire modification of the interiors of all the Venetian +houses by recent work has however prevented me from entering into any +inquiry as to the manner in which the ancient glazing was attached to +the interiors of the windows. + +The fourth order window is found in great richness and beauty at Verona, +down to the latest Gothic times, as well as in the earliest, being then +more frequent than any other form. It occurs, on a grand scale, in the +old palace of the Scaligers, and profusely throughout the streets of the +city. The series 4 _a_ to 4 _e_, Plate XIV., shows its most ordinary +conditions and changes of arch-line: 4 _a_ and 4 _b_ are the early +Venetian forms; 4 _c_, later, is general at Venice; 4 _d_, the best and +most piquant condition, owing to its fantastic and bold projection of +cusp, is common to Venice and Verona; 4 _e_ is early Veronese. + +§ XXXV. The reader will see at once, in descending to the fifth row in +Plate XIV., representing the windows of the fifth order, that they are +nothing more than a combination of the third and fourth. By this union +they become the nearest approximation to a perfect Gothic form which +occurs characteristically at Venice; and we shall therefore pause on the +threshold of this final change, to glance back upon, and gather +together, those fragments of purer pointed architecture which were above +noticed as the forlorn hopes of the Gothic assault. + +[Illustration: Fig. XXXIII.] + +[Illustration: Fig. XXXIV.] + +The little Campiello San Rocco is entered by a sotto-portico behind the +church of the Frari. Looking back, the upper traceries of the +magnificent apse are seen towering above the irregular roofs and +chimneys of the little square; and our lost Prout was enabled to bring +the whole subject into an exquisitely picturesque composition, by the +fortunate occurrence of four quaint trefoiled windows in one of the +houses on the right. Those trefoils are among the most ancient efforts +of Gothic art in Venice. I have given a rude sketch of them in Fig. +XXXIII. They are built entirely of brick, except the central shaft +and capital, which are of Istrian stone. Their structure is the simplest +possible; the trefoils being cut out of the radiating bricks which form +the pointed arch, and the edge or upper limit of that pointed arch +indicated by a roll moulding formed of cast bricks, in length of about a +foot, and ground at the bottom so as to meet in one, as in Fig. XXXIV. +The capital of the shaft is one of the earliest transitional forms;[89] +and observe the curious following out, even in this minor instance, of +the great law of centralization above explained with respect to the +Byzantine palaces. There is a central shaft, a pilaster on each side, +and then the wall. The pilaster has, by way of capital, a square flat +brick, projecting a little, and cast, at the edge, into the form of the +first type of all cornices (_a_, p. 63, Vol. I.; the reader ought to +glance back at this passage, if he has forgotten it); and the shafts and +pilasters all stand, without any added bases, on a projecting plinth of +the same simple profile. These windows have been much defaced; but I +have not the least doubt that their plinths are the original ones: and +the whole group is one of the most valuable in Venice, as showing the +way in which the humblest houses, in the noble times, followed out the +system of the larger palaces, as far as they could, in their rude +materials. It is not often that the dwellings of the lower orders are +preserved to us from the thirteenth century. + +[Illustration: Plate XVII. + WINDOWS OF THE EARLY GOTHIC PALACES.] + +§ XXXVI. In the two upper lines of the opposite Plate (XVII.), I have +arranged some of the more delicate and finished examples of Gothic work +of this period. Of these, fig. 4 is taken from the outer arcade of San +Fermo of Verona, to show the condition of mainland architecture, from +which all these Venetian types were borrowed. This arch, together with +the rest of the arcade, is wrought in fine stone, with a band of inlaid +red brick, the whole chiselled and fitted with exquisite precision, all +Venetian work being coarse in comparison. Throughout the streets of +Verona, arches and windows of the thirteenth century are of continual +occurrence, wrought, in this manner, with brick and stone; sometimes +the brick alternating with the stones of the arch, as in the finished +example given in Plate XIX. of the first volume, and there selected in +preference to other examples of archivolt decoration, because furnishing +a complete type of the master school from which the Venetian Gothic is +derived. + +§ XXXVII. The arch from St. Fermo, however, fig. 4, Plate XVII., +corresponds more closely, in its entire simplicity, with the little +windows from the Campiello San Rocco; and with the type 5 set beside it +in Plate XVII., from a very ancient house in the Corte del Forno at +Santa Marina (all in brick); while the upper examples, 1 and 2, show the +use of the flat but highly enriched architrave, for the connection of +which with Byzantine work see the final Appendix, Vol. III., under the +head "Archivolt." These windows (figs. 1 and 2, Plate XVII.) are from a +narrow alley in a part of Venice now exclusively inhabited by the lower +orders, close to the arsenal;[90] they are entirely wrought in brick, +with exquisite mouldings, not cast, but _moulded in the clay by the +hand_, so that there is not one piece of the arch like another; the +pilasters and shafts being, as usual, of stone. + +§ XXXVIII. And here let me pause for a moment, to note what one should +have thought was well enough known in England,--yet I could not perhaps +touch upon anything less considered,--the real use of brick. Our fields +of good clay were never given us to be made into oblong morsels of one +size. They were given us that we might play with them, and that men who +could not handle a chisel, might knead out of them some expression of +human thought. In the ancient architecture of the clay districts of +Italy, every possible adaptation of the material is found exemplified: +from the coarsest and most brittle kinds, used in the mass of the +structure, to bricks for arches and plinths, cast in the most perfect +curves, and of almost every size, strength, and hardness; and moulded +bricks, wrought into flower-work and tracery as fine as raised patterns +upon china. And, just as many of the finest works of the Italian +sculptors were executed in porcelain, many of the best thoughts of their +architects are expressed in brick, or in the softer material of terra +cotta; and if this were so in Italy, where there is not one city from +whose towers we may not descry the blue outline of Alp or Apennine, +everlasting quarries of granite or marble, how much more ought it to be +so among the fields of England! I believe that the best academy for her +architects, for some half century to come, would be the brick-field; for +of this they may rest assured, that till they know how to use clay, they +will never know how to use marble. + +§ XXXIX. And now observe, as we pass from fig. 2 to fig. 3, and from +fig. 5 to fig. 6, in Plate XVII., a most interesting step of transition. +As we saw above, § XIV., the round arch yielding to the Gothic, by +allowing a point to emerge at its summit, so here we have the Gothic +conceding something to the form which had been assumed by the round; and +itself slightly altering its outline so as to meet the condescension of +the round arch half way. At page 137 of the first volume, I have drawn +to scale one of these minute concessions of the pointed arch, granted at +Verona out of pure courtesy to the Venetian forms, by one of the purest +Gothic ornaments in the world; and the small window here, fig. 6, is a +similar example at Venice itself, from the Campo Santa Maria Mater +Domini, where the reversed curve at the head of the pointed arch is just +perceptible and no more. The other examples, figs. 3 and 7, the first +from a small but very noble house in the Merceria, the second from an +isolated palace at Murano, show more advanced conditions of the reversed +curve, which, though still employing the broad decorated architrave of +the earlier examples, are in all other respects prepared for the +transition to the simple window of the fifth order. + +§ XL. The next example, the uppermost of the three lower series in Plate +XVII., shows this order in its early purity; associated with +intermediate decorations like those of the Byzantines, from a palace +once belonging to the Erizzo family, near the Arsenal. The ornaments +appear to be actually of Greek workmanship (except, perhaps, the two +birds over the central arch, which are bolder, and more free in +treatment), and built into the Gothic fronts; showing, however, the +early date of the whole by the manner of their insertion, corresponding +exactly with that employed in the Byzantine palaces, and by the covering +of the intermediate spaces with sheets of marble, which, however, +instead of being laid over the entire wall, are now confined to the +immediate spaces between and above the windows, and are bounded by a +dentil moulding. + +In the example below this the Byzantine ornamentation has vanished, and +the fifth order window is seen in its generic form, as commonly employed +throughout the early Gothic period. Such arcades are of perpetual +occurrence; the one in the Plate was taken from a small palace on the +Grand Canal, nearly opposite the Casa Foscari. One point in it deserves +especial notice, the increased size of the lateral window as compared +with the rest: a circumstance which occurs in a great number of the +groups of windows belonging to this period, and for which I have never +been able to account. + +§ XLI. Both these figures have been most carefully engraved; and the +uppermost will give the reader a perfectly faithful idea of the general +effect of the Byzantine sculptures, and of the varied alabaster among +which they are inlaid, as well as of the manner in which these pieces +are set together, every joint having been drawn on the spot: and the +transition from the embroidered and silvery richness of this +architecture, in which the Byzantine ornamentation was associated with +the Gothic form of arch, to the simplicity of the pure Gothic arcade as +seen in the lower figure, is one of the most remarkable phenomena in the +history of Venetian art. If it had occurred suddenly, and at an earlier +period, it might have been traced partly to the hatred of the Greeks, +consequent upon the treachery of Manuel Comnenus,[91] and the fatal war +to which it led; but the change takes place gradually, and not till a +much later period. I hoped to have been able to make some careful +inquiries into the habits of domestic life of the Venetians before and +after the dissolution of their friendly relations with Constantinople; +but the labor necessary for the execution of my more immediate task has +entirely prevented this: and I must be content to lay the succession of +the architectural styles plainly before the reader, and leave the +collateral questions to the investigation of others; merely noting this +one assured fact, that _the root of all that is greatest in Christian +art is struck in the thirteenth century_; that the temper of that +century is the life-blood of all manly work thenceforward in Europe; and +I suppose that one of its peculiar characteristics was elsewhere, as +assuredly in Florence, a singular simplicity in domestic life: + + "I saw Bellincion Berti walk abroad + In leathern girdle, and a clasp of bone; + And, with no artful coloring on her cheeks, + His lady leave the glass. The sons I saw + Of Verli and of Vecchio, well content + With unrobed jerkin, and their good dames handling + The spindle and the flax.... + One waked to tend the cradle, hushing it + With sounds that lulled the parents' infancy; + Another, with her maidens, drawing off + The tresses from the distaff, lectured them + Old tales of Troy, and Fesole, and Rome."[92] + +§ XLII. Such, then, is the simple fact at Venice, that from the +beginning of the thirteenth century there is found a singular increase +of simplicity in all architectural ornamentation; the rich Byzantine +capitals giving place to a pure and severe type hereafter to be +described,[93] and the rich sculptures vanishing from the walls, nothing +but the marble facing remaining. One of the most interesting examples of +this transitional state is a palace at San Severo, just behind the Casa +Zorzi. This latter is a Renaissance building, utterly worthless in every +respect, but known to the Venetian Ciceroni; and by inquiring for it, +and passing a little beyond it down the Fondamenta San Severo, the +traveller will see, on the other side of the canal, a palace which the +Ciceroni never notice, but which is unique in Venice for the +magnificence of the veined purple alabasters with which it has been +decorated, and for the manly simplicity of the foliage of its capitals. +Except in these, it has no sculpture whatever, and its effect is +dependent entirely on color. Disks of green serpentine are inlaid on the +field of purple alabaster; and the pillars are alternately of red marble +with white capitals, and of white marble with red capitals. Its windows +appear of the third order; and the back of the palace, in a small and +most picturesque court, shows a group of windows which are, perhaps, the +most superb examples of that order in Venice. But the windows to the +front have, I think, been of the fifth order, and their cusps have been +cut away. + +§ XLIII. When the Gothic feeling began more decidedly to establish +itself, it evidently became a question with the Venetian builders, how +the intervals between the arches, now left blank by the abandonment of +the Byzantine sculptures, should be enriched in accordance with the +principles of the new school. Two most important examples are left of +the experiments made at this period: one at the Ponte del Forner, at San +Cassano, a noble house in which the spandrils of the windows are filled +by the emblems of the four Evangelists, sculptured in deep relief, and +touching the edges of the arches with their expanded wings; the other +now known as the Palazzo Cicogna, near the church of San Sebastiano, in +the quarter called "of the Archangel Raphael," in which a large space of +wall above the windows is occupied by an intricate but rude tracery of +involved quatrefoils. Of both these palaces I purposed to give drawings +in my folio work; but I shall probably be saved the trouble by the +publication of the beautiful calotypes lately made at Venice of both; +and it is unnecessary to represent them here, as they are unique in +Venetian architecture, with the single exception of an unimportant +imitation of the first of them in a little by-street close to the Campo +Sta. Maria Formosa. For the question as to the mode of decorating the +interval between the arches was suddenly and irrevocably determined by +the builder of the Ducal Palace, who, as we have seen, taking his first +idea from the traceries of the Frari, and arranging those traceries as +best fitted his own purpose, designed the great arcade (the lowest of +the three in Plate XVII.), which thenceforward became the established +model for every work of importance in Venice. The palaces built on this +model, however, most of them not till the beginning of the fifteenth +century, belong properly to the time of the Renaissance; and what little +we have to note respecting them may be more clearly stated in connexion +with other facts characteristic of that period. + +§ XLIV. As the examples in Plate XVII. are necessarily confined to the +upper parts of the windows, I have given in the Plate opposite +(XVIII[94]) examples of the fifth order window, both in its earliest and +in its fully developed form, completed from base to keystone. The upper +example is a beautiful group from a small house, never of any size or +pretension, and now inhabited only by the poor, in the Campiello della +Strope, close to the Church of San Giacomo de Lorio. It is remarkable +for its excessive purity of curve, and is of very early date, its +mouldings being simpler than usual.[95] The lower example is from the +second story of a palace belonging to the Priuli family, near San +Lorenzo, and shows one feature to which our attention has not hitherto +been directed, namely, the penetration of the cusp, leaving only a +silver thread of stone traced on the darkness of the window. I need not +say that, in this condition, the cusp ceases to have any constructive +use, and is merely decorative, but often exceedingly beautiful. The +steps of transition from the early solid cusp to this slender thread are +noticed in the final Appendix, under the head "Tracery Bars;" the +commencement of the change being in the thinning of the stone, which is +not cut through until it is thoroughly emaciated. Generally speaking, +the condition in which the cusp is found is a useful test of age, when +compared with other points; the more solid it is, the more ancient: but +the massive form is often found associated with the perforated, as late +as the beginning of the fourteenth century. In the Ducal Palace, the +lower or bearing traceries have the solid cusp, and the upper traceries +of the windows, which are merely decorative., have the perforated cusp, +both with exquisite effect. + +[Illustration: Plate XVIII. + WINDOWS OF THE FIFTH ORDER.] + +§ XLV. The smaller balconies between the great shafts in the lower +example in Plate XVIII. are original and characteristic: not so the +lateral one of the detached window, which has been restored; but by +imagining it to be like that represented in fig. 1, Plate XIII., above, +which is a perfect window of the finest time of the fifth order, the +reader will be enabled to form a complete idea of the external +appearance of the principal apartments in the house of a noble of +Venice, at the beginning of the fourteenth century. + +§ XLVI. Whether noble, or merchant, or, as frequently happened, both, +every Venetian appears, at this time, to have raised his palace or +dwelling-house upon one type. Under every condition of importance, +through every variation of size, the forms and mode of decoration of all +the features were universally alike; not servilely alike, but +fraternally; not with the sameness of coins cast from one mould, but +with the likeness of the members of one family. No fragment of the +period is preserved, in which the windows, be they few or many, a group +of three or an arcade of thirty, have not the noble cusped arch of the +fifth order. And they are especially to be noted by us at this day, +because these refined and richly ornamented forms were used in the +habitations of a nation as laborious, as practical, as brave, and as +prudent as ourselves; and they were built at a time when that nation was +struggling with calamities and changes threatening its existence almost +every hour. And, farther, they are interesting because perfectly +applicable to modern habitation. The refinement of domestic life appears +to have been far advanced in Venice from her earliest days; and the +remains of her Gothic palaces are, at this day, the most delightful +residences in the city, having undergone no change in external form, and +probably having been rather injured than rendered more convenient by the +modifications which poverty and Renaissance taste, contending with the +ravages of time, have introduced in the interiors. So that, in Venice, +and the cities grouped around it, Vicenza, Padua, and Verona, the +traveller may ascertain, by actual experience, the effect which would be +produced upon the comfort or luxury of daily life by the revival of the +Gothic school of architecture. He can still stand upon the marble +balcony in the soft summer air, and feel its smooth surface warm from +the noontide as he leans on it in the twilight; he can still see the +strong sweep of the unruined traceries drawn on the deep serenity of the +starry sky, and watch the fantastic shadows of the clustered arches +shorten in the moonlight on the chequered floor; or he may close the +casements fitted to their unshaken shafts against such wintry winds as +would have made an English house vibrate to its foundation, and, in +either case, compare their influence on his daily home feeling with that +of the square openings in his English wall. + +§ XLVII. And let him be assured, if he find there is more to be enjoyed +in the Gothic window, there is also more to be trusted. It is the best +and strongest building, as it is the most beautiful. I am not now +speaking of the particular form of Venetian Gothic, but of the general +strength of the pointed arch as opposed to that of the level lintel of +the square window; and I plead for the introduction of the Gothic form +into our domestic architecture, not merely because it is lovely, but +because it is the only form of faithful, strong, enduring, and honorable +building, in such materials as come daily to our hands. By increase of +scale and cost, it is possible to build, in any style, what will last +for ages; but only in the Gothic is it possible to give security and +dignity to work wrought with imperfect means and materials. And I trust +that there will come a time when the English people may see the folly of +building basely and insecurely. It is common with those architects +against whose practice my writings have hitherto been directed, to call +them merely theoretical and imaginative. I answer, that there is not a +single principle asserted either in the "Seven Lamps" or here, but is of +the simplest, sternest veracity, and the easiest practicability; that +buildings, raised as I would have them, would stand unshaken for a +thousand years; and the buildings raised by the architects who oppose +them will not stand for one hundred and fifty, they sometimes do not +stand for an hour. There is hardly a week passes without some +catastrophe brought about by the base principles of modern building; +some vaultless floor that drops the staggering crowd through the jagged +rents of its rotten timbers; some baseless bridge that is washed away by +the first wave of a summer flood; some fungous wall of nascent +rottenness that a thunder-shower soaks down with its workmen into a heap +of slime and death.[96] These we hear of, day by day: yet these indicate +but the thousandth part of the evil. The portion of the national income +sacrificed in mere bad building, in the perpetual repairs, and swift +condemnation and pulling down of ill-built shells of houses, passes all +calculation. And the weight of the penalty is not yet felt; it will tell +upon our children some fifty years hence, when the cheap work, and +contract work, and stucco and plaster work, and bad iron work, and all +the other expedients of modern rivalry, vanity, and dishonesty, begin to +show themselves for what they are. + +[Illustration: Fig. XXXV.] + +§ XLVIII. Indeed, dishonesty and false economy will no more build safely +in Gothic than in any other style: but of all forms which we could +possibly employ, to be framed hastily and out of bad materials, the +common square window is the worst; and its level head of brickwork (_a_, +Fig. XXXV.) is the weakest way of covering a space. Indeed, in the +hastily heaped shells of modern houses, there may be seen often even a +worse manner of placing the bricks, as at _b_, supporting them by a bit +of lath till the mortar dries; but even when worked with the utmost +care, and having every brick tapered into the form of a voussoir and +accurately fitted, I have seen such a window-head give way, and a wide +fissure torn through all the brickwork above it, two years after it was +built; while the pointed arch of the Veronese Gothic, wrought in brick +also, occurs at every corner of the streets of the city, untouched since +the thirteenth century, and without a single flaw. + +§ XLIX. Neither can the objection, so often raised against the pointed +arch, that it will not admit the convenient adjustment of modern sashes +and glass, hold for an instant. There is not the smallest necessity, +because the arch is pointed, that the aperture should be so. The work of +the arch is to sustain the building above; when this is once done +securely, the pointed head of it may be filled in any way we choose. In +the best cathedral doors it is always filled by a shield of solid stone; +in many early windows of the best Gothic it is filled in the same +manner, the introduced slab of stone becoming a field for rich +decoration; and there is not the smallest reason why lancet windows, +used in bold groups, with each pointed arch filled by a sculptured +tympanum, should not allow as much light to enter, and in as convenient +a way, as the most luxuriously glazed square windows of our brick +houses. Give the groups of associated lights bold gabled canopies; +charge the gables with sculpture and color; and instead of the base and +almost useless Greek portico, letting the rain and wind enter it at +will, build the steeply vaulted and completely sheltered Gothic porch; +and on all these fields for rich decoration let the common workman carve +what he pleases, to the best of his power, and we may have a school of +domestic architecture in the nineteenth century, which will make our +children grateful to us, and proud of us, till the thirtieth. + +§ L. There remains only one important feature to be examined, the +entrance gate or door. We have already observed that the one seems to +pass into the other, a sign of increased love of privacy rather than of +increased humility, as the Gothic palaces assume their perfect form. In +the Byzantine palaces the entrances appear always to have been rather +great gates than doors, magnificent semicircular arches opening to the +water, and surrounded by rich sculpture in the archivolts. One of these +entrances is seen in the small woodcut above, Fig. XXV., and another has +been given carefully in my folio work: their sculpture is generally of +grotesque animals scattered among leafage, without any definite meaning; +but the great outer entrance of St. Mark's, which appears to have been +completed some time after the rest of the fabric, differs from all +others in presenting a series of subjects altogether Gothic in feeling, +selection, and vitality of execution, and which show the occult entrance +of the Gothic spirit before it had yet succeeded in effecting any +modification of the Byzantine forms. These sculptures represent the +months of the year employed in the avocations usually attributed to them +throughout the whole compass of the middle ages, in Northern +architecture and manuscript calendars, and at last exquisitely versified +by Spenser. For the sake of the traveller in Venice, who should examine +this archivolt carefully, I shall enumerate these sculptures in their +order, noting such parallel representations as I remember in other work. + +§ LI. There are four successive archivolts, one within the other, +forming the great central entrance of St. Mark's. The first is a +magnificent external arch, formed of obscure figures mingled among +masses of leafage, as in ordinary Byzantine work; within this there is a +hemispherical dome, covered with modern mosaic; and at the back of this +recess the other three archivolts follow consecutively, two sculptured, +one plain; the one with which we are concerned is the outermost. + +It is carved both on its front and under-surface or soffit; on the front +are seventeen female figures bearing scrolls, from which the legends are +unfortunately effaced. These figures were once gilded on a dark blue +ground, as may still be seen in Gentile Bellini's picture of St. Mark's +in the Accademia delle Belle Arti. The sculptures of the months are on +the under-surface, beginning at the bottom on the left hand of the +spectator as he enters, and following in succession round the archivolt; +separated, however, into two groups, at its centre, by a beautiful +figure of the youthful Christ, sitting in the midst of a slightly +hollowed sphere covered with stars to represent the firmament, and with +the attendant sun and moon, set one on each side to rule over the day +and over the night. + +§ LII. The months are personified as follows:-- + +1. JANUARY, _Carrying home a noble tree on his shoulders, the leafage of +which nods forwards, and falls nearly to his feet._ Superbly cut. This +is a rare representation of him. More frequently he is represented as +the two-headed Janus, sitting at a table, drinking at one mouth and +eating at the other. Sometimes as an old man, warming his feet at a +fire, and drinking from a bowl; though this type is generally reserved +for February. Spenser, however, gives the same symbol as that on St. +Mark's: + + "Numbd with holding all the day + An hatchet keene, with which he felled wood." + +His sign, Aquarius, is obscurely indicated in the archivolt by some wavy +lines representing water, unless the figure has been broken away. + +2. FEBRUARY. _Sitting in a carved chair, warming his bare feet at a +blazing fire._ Generally, when he is thus represented, there is a pot +hung over the fire, from the top of the chimney. Sometimes he is pruning +trees, as in Spenser: + + "Yet had he by his side + His plough and harnesse fit to till the ground, + And tooles to prune the trees." + +Not unfrequently, in the calendars, this month is represented by a +female figure carrying candles, in honor of the Purification of the +Virgin. + +His sign, Pisces, is prominently carved above him. + +3. MARCH. Here, as almost always in Italy, _a warrior_: the Mars of the +Latins being of course, in mediæval work, made representative of the +military power of the place and period; and thus, at Venice, having the +winged Lion painted upon his shield. In Northern work, however, I think +March is commonly employed in pruning trees; or, at least, he is so +when that occupation is left free for him by February's being engaged +with the ceremonies of Candlemas. Sometimes, also, he is reaping a low +and scattered kind of grain; and by Spenser, who exactly marks the +junction of mediæval and classical feeling, his military and +agricultural functions are united, while also, in the Latin manner, he +is made the first of the months. + + "First sturdy March, with brows full sternly bent, + And armed strongly, rode upon a Ram, + The same which over Hellespontus swam; + Yet in his hand a spade he also bent, + And in a bag all sorts of seeds ysame,[97] + Which on the earth he strowed as he went." + +His sign, the Ram, is very superbly carved above him in the archivolt. + +4. APRIL. Here, _carrying a sheep upon his shoulder_. A rare +representation of him. In Northern work he is almost universally +gathering flowers, or holding them triumphantly in each hand. The +Spenserian mingling of this mediæval image with that of his being wet +with showers, and wanton with love, by turning his zodiacal sign, +Taurus, into the bull of Europa, is altogether exquisite. + + "Upon a Bull he rode, the same which led + Europa floting through the Argolick fluds: + His horns were gilden all with golden studs, + And garnished with garlonds goodly dight + Of all the fairest flowres and freshest buds + Which th' earth brings forth; and _wet he seemed in sight + With waves, through which he waded for his love's delight_." + +5. MAY _is seated, while two young maidens crown him with flowers._ A +very unusual representation, even in Italy; where, as in the North, he +is almost always riding out hunting or hawking, sometimes playing on a +musical instrument. In Spenser, this month is personified as "the +fayrest mayd on ground," borne on the shoulders of the Twins. + +In this archivolt there are only two heads to represent the zodiacal +sign. + +The summer and autumnal months are always represented in a series of +agricultural occupations, which, of course, vary with the locality in +which they occur; but generally in their order only. Thus, if June is +mowing, July is reaping; if July is mowing, August is reaping; and so +on. I shall give a parallel view of some of these varieties presently; +but, meantime, we had better follow the St Mark's series, as it is +peculiar in some respects. + +6. JUNE. _Reaping._ The corn and sickle sculptured with singular care +and precision, in bold relief, and the zodiacal sign, the Crab, above, +also worked with great spirit. Spenser puts plough irons into his hand. +Sometimes he is sheep-shearing; and, in English and northern French +manuscripts, carrying a kind of fagot or barrel, of the meaning of which +I am not certain. + +7. JULY. _Mowing._ A very interesting piece of sculpture, owing to the +care with which the flowers are wrought out among the long grass. I do +not remember ever finding July but either reaping or mowing. Spenser +works him hard, and puts him to both labors: + + "Behinde his backe a sithe, and by his side + Under his belt he bore a sickle circling wide." + +8. AUGUST. Peculiarly represented in this archivolt, _sitting in a +chair, with his head upon his hand, as if asleep; the Virgin_ (the +zodiacal sign) _above him, lifting up her hand_. This appears to be a +peculiarly Italian version of the proper employment of August. In +Northern countries he is generally threshing, or gathering grapes. +Spenser merely clothes him with gold, and makes him lead forth + + "the righteous Virgin, which of old + Lived here on earth, and plenty made abound." + +9. SEPTEMBER. _Bearing home grapes in a basket._ Almost always sowing, +in Northern work. By Spenser, with his usual exquisite ingenuity, +employed in gathering in the general harvest, and _portioning it out +with the Scales_, his zodiacal sign. + +10. OCTOBER. _Wearing a conical hat, and digging busily with a long +spade._ In Northern work he is sometimes a vintager, sometimes beating +the acorns out of an oak to feed swine. When September is vintaging, +October is generally sowing. Spenser employs him in the harvest both of +vine and olive. + +11. NOVEMBER. _Seems to be catching small birds in a net._ I do not +remember him so employed elsewhere. He is nearly always killing pigs; +sometimes beating the oak for them; with Spenser, fatting them. + +12. DECEMBER. _Killing swine._ It is hardly ever that this employment is +not given to one or other of the terminal months of the year. If not so +engaged, December is usually putting new loaves into the oven; sometimes +killing oxen. Spenser properly makes him feasting and drinking instead +of January. + +§ LIII. On the next page I have given a parallel view of the employment +of the months from some Northern manuscripts, in order that they may be +more conveniently compared with the sculptures of St. Mark's, in their +expression of the varieties of climate and agricultural system. Observe +that the letter (f.) in some of the columns, opposite the month of May, +means that he has a falcon on his fist; being, in those cases, +represented as riding out, in high exultation, on a caparisoned white +horse. A series nearly similar to that of St. Mark's occurs on the door +of the Cathedral of Lucca, and on that of the Baptistery of Pisa; in +which, however, if I recollect rightly, February is fishing, and May has +something resembling an umbrella in his hand, instead of a hawk. But, in +all cases, the figures are treated with the peculiar spirit of the +Gothic sculptors; and this archivolt is the first expression of that +spirit which is to be found in Venice. + + SECOND PERIOD + + +---------+--------------+---------------+---------------+---------------+ + | | | MS. French. | MS. French. | MS. French. | + | | St. Mark's. | Late 13th | Late 13th | Late 13th | + | | | Century | Century | Century | + |---------+--------------+---------------+---------------+---------------+ + | | | | | | + |January |Carrying wood.|Janus feasting.|Janus feasting.|Drinking and | + | | | | | stirring fire.| + | | | | | | + |February |Warming feet. |Warming feet. |Warming feet. |Pruning. | + | | | | | | + |March |Going to war. |Pruning. |Pruning. |Striking | + | | | | | with axe. | + | | | | | | + |April |Carrying |Gathering |Gathering |Gathering | + | | sheep. | flowers. | flowers. | flowers. | + | | | | | | + |May |Crowned with |Riding (f.). |Riding (f.). |Playing | + | | flowers. | | | violin. | + | | | | | | + |June |Reaping. |Mowing. |Mowing. |Gathering large| + | | | | | red flowers. | + | | | | | | + |July |Mowing. |Reaping. |Reaping. |Mowing. | + | | | | | | + |August |Asleep. |Threshing. |Gathering |Reaping. | + | | | | grapes. | | + | | | | | | + |September|Carrying |Sowing. |Sowing. |Drinking wine. | + | | grapes. | | | | + | | | | | | + |October |Digging. |Gathering |Beating oak. |Sowing. | + | | | grapes. | | | + | | | | | | + |November |Catching |Beating oak. |Killing swine. |Killing swine. | + | | birds. | | | | + | | | | | | + |December |Killing swine.|Killing swine. |Baking. |Killing oxen. | + +---------+--------------+---------------+---------------+---------------+ + + +---------+-------------------+-------------------+------------------+ + | | MS. French. | MS. English. | MS. Flemish. | + | |Early 14th Century.|Early 15th Century.| 15th Century. | + |---------+-------------------+-------------------+------------------| + | | | | | + |January |Warming feet. | Janus feasting. |Feasting | + | | | | | + | | | | | + |February |Bearing candles. | Warming feet. |Warming hands. | + | | | | | + |March |Pruning. | Carrying candles. |Reaping. | + | | | | | + |April |Gathering flowers. | Pruning. |Gathering flowers.| + | | | | | + |May |Riding (f.). | Riding (f.). |Riding with lady | + | | | | on pillion. | + | | | | | + |June |Carrying (fagots?) | Carrying fagots. |Sheep-shearing. | + | | | | | + | | | | | + |July |Mowing. | Mowing. |Mowing. | + | | | | | + |August |Reaping. | Reaping. |Reaping. | + | | | | | + |September|Threshing. | Threshing. |Sowing. | + | | | | | + |October |Sowing. | Sowing. |Beating oak. | + | | | | | + |November |Killing swine. | Killing swine. |Pressing (grapes?)| + | | | | | + |December |Baking. | Baking. |Killing swine. | + +---------+-------------------+-------------------+------------------+ + +§ LIV. In the private palaces, the entrances soon admitted some +concession to the Gothic form also. They pass through nearly the same +conditions of change as the windows, with these three differences: +first, that no arches of the fantastic fourth order occur in any +doorways; secondly, that the pure pointed arch occurs earlier, and much +oftener, in doorways than in window-heads; lastly, that the entrance +itself, if small, is nearly always square-headed in the earliest +examples, without any arch above, but afterwards the arch is thrown +across above the lintel. The interval between the two, or tympanum, is +filled with sculpture, or closed by iron bars, with sometimes a +projecting gable, to form a porch, thrown over the whole, as in the +perfect example, 7 _a_, Plate XIV., above. The other examples in the two +lower lines, 6 and 7, of that Plate are each characteristic of an +enormous number of doors, variously decorated, from the thirteenth to +the close of the fifteenth century. The particulars of their mouldings +are given in the final Appendix. + +§ LV. It was useless, on the small scale of this Plate, to attempt any +delineation of the richer sculptures with which the arches are filled; +so that I have chosen for it the simplest examples I could find of the +forms to be illustrated: but, in all the more important instances, the +door-head is charged either with delicate ornaments and inlaid patterns +in variously colored brick, or with sculptures, consisting always of the +shield or crest of the family, protected by an angel. Of these more +perfect doorways I have given three examples carefully, in my folio +work; but I must repeat here one part of the account of their subjects +given in its text, for the convenience of those to whom the larger work +may not be accessible. + +§ LVI. "In the earlier ages, all agree thus far, that the name of the +family is told, and together with it there is always an intimation that +they have placed their defence and their prosperity in God's hands; +frequently accompanied with some general expression of benediction to +the person passing over the threshold. This is the general theory of an +old Venetian doorway;--the theory of modern doorways remains to be +explained: it may be studied to advantage in our rows of new-built +houses, or rather of new-built house, changeless for miles together, +from which, to each inhabitant, we allot his proper quantity of windows, +and a Doric portico. The Venetian carried out his theory very simply. In +the centre of the archivolt we find almost invariably, in the older +work, the hand between the sun and moon in the attitude of blessing, +expressing the general power and presence of God, the source of light. +On the tympanum is the shield of the family. Venetian heraldry requires +no beasts for supporters, but usually prefers angels, neither the +supporters nor crests forming any necessary part of Venetian bearings. +Sometimes, however, human figures, or grotesques, are substituted; but, +in that case, an angel is almost always introduced above the shield, +bearing a globe in his left hand, and therefore clearly intended for the +'Angel of the Lord,' or, as it is expressed elsewhere, the 'Angel of His +Presence.' Where elaborate sculpture of this kind is inadmissible, the +shield is merely represented as suspended by a leather thong; and a +cross is introduced above the archivolt. The Renaissance architects +perceived the irrationality of all this, cut away both crosses and +angels, and substituted heads of satyrs, which were the proper presiding +deities of Venice in the Renaissance periods, and which in our own +domestic institutions, we have ever since, with much piety and sagacity, +retained." + +§ LVII. The habit of employing some religious symbol, or writing some +religious legend, over the door of the house, does not entirely +disappear until far into the period of the Renaissance. The words "Peace +be to this house" occur on one side of a Veronese gateway, with the +appropriate and veracious inscription S.P.Q.R., on a Roman standard, on +the other; and "Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord," is +written on one of the doorways of a building added at the flank of the +Casa Barbarigo, in the sixteenth or seventeenth century. It seems to be +only modern Protestantism which is entirely ashamed of _all_ symbols and +words that appear in anywise like a confession of faith. + +§ LVIII. This peculiar feeling is well worthy of attentive analysis. It +indeed, in most cases, hardly deserves the name of a feeling; for the +meaningless doorway is merely an ignorant copy of heathen models: but +yet, if it were at this moment proposed to any of us, by our architects, +to remove the grinning head of a satyr, or other classical or Palladian +ornament, from the keystone of the door, and to substitute for it a +cross, and an inscription testifying our faith, I believe that most +persons would shrink from the proposal with an obscure and yet +overwhelming sense that things would be sometimes done, and thought, +within the house which would make the inscription on its gate a base +hypocrisy. And if so, let us look to it, whether that strong reluctance +to utter a definite religious profession, which so many of us feel, and +which, not very carefully examining into its dim nature, we conclude to +be modesty, or fear of hypocrisy, or other such form of amiableness, be +not, in very deed, neither less nor more than Infidelity; whether +Peter's "I know not the man" be not the sum and substance of all these +misgivings and hesitations; and whether the shamefacedness which we +attribute to sincerity and reverence, be not such shamefacedness as may +at last put us among those of whom the Son of Man shall be ashamed. + +§ LIX. Such are the principal circumstances to be noted in the external +form and details of the Gothic palaces; of their interior arrangements +there is little left unaltered. The gateways which we have been +examining almost universally lead, in the earlier palaces, into a long +interior court, round which the mass of the palace is built; and in +which its first story is reached by a superb external staircase, +sustained on four or five pointed arches gradually increasing as they +ascend, both in height and span,--this change in their size being, so +far as I remember, peculiar to Venice, and visibly a consequence of the +habitual admission of arches of different sizes in the Byzantine +façades. These staircases are protected by exquisitely carved parapets, +like those of the outer balconies, with lions or grotesque heads set on +the angles, and with true projecting balconies on their landing-places. +In the centre of the court there is always a marble well; and these +wells furnish some of the most superb examples of Venetian sculpture. I +am aware only of one remaining from the Byzantine period; it is +octagonal, and treated like the richest of our Norman fonts: but the +Gothic wells of every date, from the thirteenth century downwards, are +innumerable, and full of beauty, though their form is little varied; +they being, in almost every case, treated like colossal capitals of +pillars, with foliage at the angles, and the shield of the family upon +their sides. + +§ LX. The interior apartments always consist of one noble hall on the +first story, often on the second also, extending across the entire depth +of the house, and lighted in front by the principal groups of its +windows, while smaller apartments open from it on either side. The +ceilings, where they remain untouched, are of bold horizontal beams, +richly carved and gilded; but few of these are left from the true Gothic +times, the Venetian interiors having, in almost every case, been +remodelled by the Renaissance architects. This change, _however_, for +once, we cannot regret, as the walls and ceilings, when so altered, were +covered with the noblest works of Veronese, Titian, and Tintoret; nor +the interior walls only, but, as before noticed, often the exteriors +also. Of the color decorations of the Gothic exteriors I have, +therefore, at present taken no notice, as it will be more convenient to +embrace this subject in one general view of the systems of coloring of +the Venetian palaces, when we arrive at the period of its richest +developement.[98] The details, also, of most interest, respecting the +forms and transitional decoration of their capitals, will be given in +the final Appendix to the next volume, where we shall be able to include +in our inquiry the whole extent of the Gothic period; and it remains for +us, therefore, at present, only to review the history, fix the date, and +note the most important particulars in the structure of the building +which at once consummates and embodies the entire system of the Gothic +architecture of Venice,--the DUCAL PALACE. + + +FOOTNOTES + + [75] 38 ft. 2 in., without its cornice, which is 10 inches deep, and + sustains pinnacles of stone 7 feet high. I was enabled to get the + measures by a scaffolding erected in 1851 to repair the front. + + [76] I believe the necessary upper joint is vertical, through the + uppermost lobe of the quatrefoil, as in the figure; but I have lost + my memorandum of this joint. + + [77] "Dice, che non lauda per alcun modo di metter questo Serenissimo + Dominio in tanto pericolo d' habitar un palazzo fabricato in + aria."--_Pareri di XV. Architetti, con illustrazioni dell' Abbate + Giuseppe Cadorin_ (Venice, 1838), p. 104. + + [78] "Il muro della sala è più grosso delle colonne sott' esso piedi + uno e onze tre, et posto in modo che onze sei sta come in aere sopra + la piazza, et onze nove dentro."--_Pareri di XV. Architetti_, p. 47. + + [79] Compare "Seven Lamps," chap. iii. § 7. + + [80] Pareri, above quoted, p. 21. + + [81] It is a curious proof how completely, even so early as the + beginning of the sixteenth century, the Venetians had lost the habit + of _reading_ the religious art of their ancient churches, that + Sanuto, describing this injury, says, that "four of the _Kings_ in + marble fell from their pinnacles above the front, at St. Mark's + church;" and presently afterwards corrects his mistake, and + apologises for it thus: "These were four saints, St. Constantine, + St. Demetrius, St. George, and St. Theodore, all Greek saints. _They + look like Kings_." Observe the perfect, because unintentional, + praise given to the old sculptor. + + I quote the passage from the translation of these precious diaries + of Sanuto, by my friend Mr. Rawdon Brown, a translation which I hope + will some day become a standard book in English libraries. + + [82] I am not speaking here of iron balconies. See below, § XXII. + + [83] A Some details respecting the mechanical structure of the + Venetian balcony are given in the final Appendix. + + [84] I found it convenient in my own memoranda to express them + simply as fourths, seconds, &c. But "order" is an excellent word for + any known group of forms, whether of windows, capitals, bases, + mouldings, or any other architectural feature, provided always that + it be not understood in any wise to imply preëminence or isolation + in these groups. Thus I may rationally speak of the six orders of + Venetian windows, provided I am ready to allow a French architect to + speak of the six or seven, or eight, or seventy or eighty, orders of + Norman windows, if so many are distinguishable; and so also we may + rationally speak, for the sake of intelligibility, of the five + orders of Greek pillars, provided only we understand that there may + be five millions of orders as good or better, of pillars _not_ + Greek. + + [85] Or in their own curves; as, on a small scale, in the balustrade + fig. 6, Plate XIII., above. + + [86] For all details of this kind, the reader is referred to the + final Appendix in Vol. III. + + [87] Two threads of white marble, each about an inch wide, inlaid in + the dark grey pavement, indicate the road to the Rialto from the + farthest extremity of the north quarter of Venice. The peasant or + traveller, lost in the intricacy of the pathway in this portion of + the city, cannot fail, after a few experimental traverses, to cross + these white lines, which thenceforward he has nothing to do but to + follow, though their capricious sinuosities will try his patience + not a little. + + [88] An account of the conspiracy of Bajamonte may be found in + almost any Venetian history; the reader may consult Mutinelli, + Annali Urbani, lib. iii. + + [89] See account of series of capitals in final Appendix. + + [90] If the traveller desire to find them (and they are worth + seeking), let him row from the Fondamenta S. Biagio down the Rio + della Tana, and look, on his right, for a low house with windows in + it like those in the woodcut No. XXXI. above, p. 256. Let him go in + at the door of the portico in the middle of this house, and he will + find himself in a small alley, with the windows in question on each + side of him. + + [91] The bitterness of feeling with which the Venetians must have + remembered this, was probably the cause of their magnificent heroism + in the final siege of the city under Dandolo, and, partly, of the + excesses which disgraced their victory. The conduct of the allied + army of the Crusaders on this occasion cannot, however, be brought + in evidence of general barbarism in the thirteenth century: first, + because the masses of the crusading armies were in great part + composed of the refuse of the nations of Europe; and secondly, + because such a mode of argument might lead us to inconvenient + conclusions respecting ourselves, so long as the horses of the + Austrian cavalry are stabled in the cloister of the convent which + contains the Last Supper of Leonardo da Vinci. See Appendix 3, Vol. + III.: "Austrian Government in Italy." + + [92] It is generally better to read ten lines of any poet in the + original language, however painfully, than ten cantos of a + translation. But an exception may be made in favor of Cary's Dante. + If no poet ever was liable to lose more in translation, none was + ever so carefully translated; and I hardly know whether most to + admire the rigid fidelity, or the sweet and solemn harmony, of + Cary's verse. There is hardly a fault in the fragment quoted above, + except the word "lectured," for Dante's beautiful "favoleggiava;" + and even in this case, joining the first words of the following + line, the translation is strictly literal. It is true that the + conciseness and the rivulet-like melody of Dante must continually be + lost; but if I could only read English, and had to choose, for a + library narrowed by poverty, between Cary's Dante and our own + original Milton, I should choose Cary without an instant's pause. + + [93] See final Appendix, Vol. III., under head "Capitals." + + [94] This Plate is not from a drawing of mine. It has been engraved + by Mr. Armytage, with great skill, from two daguerreotypes. + + [95] Vide final Appendix, under head "Archivolt." + + [96] "On Thursday, the 20th, the front walls of two of the new + houses now building in Victoria Street, Westminster, fell to the + ground.... The roof was on, _and a massive compo cornice_ was put up + at top, as well as dressings to the upper windows. The roof is + formed by girders and 4½-brick arches in cement, covered with + asphalt to form a flat. The failure is attributed _to the quantity + of rain which has fallen_. Others suppose that some of the girders + were defective, and gave way, carrying the walls with + them."--_Builder_, for January 29th, 1853. The rest of this volume + might be filled with such notices, if we sought for them. + + [97] "Ysame," collected together. + + [98] Vol. III. Chap. I. I have had considerable difficulty in the + arrangement of these volumes, so as to get the points bearing upon + each other grouped in consecutive and intelligible order. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE DUCAL PALACE. + + +§ I. It was stated in the commencement of the preceding chapter that the +Gothic art of Venice was separated by the building of the Ducal Palace +into two distinct periods; and that in all the domestic edifices which +were raised for half a century after its completion, their +characteristic and chiefly effective portions were more or less directly +copied from it. The fact is, that the Ducal Palace was the great work of +Venice at this period, itself the principal effort of her imagination, +employing her best architects in its masonry, and her best painters in +its decoration, for a long series of years; and we must receive it as a +remarkable testimony to the influence which it possessed over the minds +of those who saw it in its progress, that, while in the other cities of +Italy every palace and church was rising in some original and daily more +daring form, the majesty of this single building was able to give pause +to the Gothic imagination in its full career; stayed the restlessness of +innovation in an instant, and forbade the powers which had created it +thenceforth to exert themselves in new directions, or endeavor to summon +an image more attractive. + +§ II. The reader will hardly believe that while the architectural +invention of the Venetians was thus lost, Narcissus-like, in +self-contemplation, the various accounts of the progress of the building +thus admired and beloved are so confused as frequently to leave it +doubtful to what portion of the palace they refer; and that there is +actually, at the time being, a dispute between the best Venetian +antiquaries, whether the main façade of the palace be of the fourteenth +or fifteenth century. The determination of this question is of course +necessary before we proceed to draw any conclusions from the style of +the work; and it cannot be determined without a careful review of the +entire history of the palace, and of all the documents relating to it. I +trust that this review may not be found tedious,--assuredly it will not +be fruitless,--bringing many facts before us, singularly illustrative of +the Venetian character. + +§ III. Before, however, the reader can enter upon any inquiry into the +history of this building, it is necessary that he should be thoroughly +familiar with the arrangement and names of its principal parts, as it at +present stands; otherwise he cannot comprehend so much as a single +sentence of any of the documents referring to it. I must do what I can, +by the help of a rough plan and bird's-eye view, to give him the +necessary topographical knowledge: + +Fig. XXXVI. opposite is a rude ground plan of the buildings round St. +Mark's Place; and the following references will clearly explain their +relative positions: + + A. St. Mark's Place. + B. Piazzetta. + P. V. Procuratie Vecchie. + P. N. (opposite) Procuratie Nuove. + P. L. Libreria Vecchia. + I. Piazzetta de' Leoni. + T. Tower of St. Mark. + F F. Great Façade of St. Mark's Church. + M. St. Mark's. (It is so united with the Ducal Palace, that the + separation cannot be indicated in the plan, unless all the walls + had been marked, which would have confused the whole.) + D D D. Ducal Palace. g s. Giant's stair. + C. Court of Ducal Palace. J. Judgment angle. + c. Porta della Carta. a. Fig-tree angle. + p p. Ponte della Paglia (Bridge of Straw). + S. Ponte de' Sospiri (Bridge of Sighs). + R R. Riva de' Schiavoni. + +The reader will observe that the Ducal Palace is arranged somewhat in +the form of a hollow square, of which one side faces the Piazzetta, B, +and another the quay called the Riva de' Schiavoni, R R; the third is on +the dark canal called the "Rio del Palazzo," and the fourth joins the +Church of St. Mark. + +[Illustration: Fig. XXXVI.] + +[Illustration: Fig. XXXVII.] + +Of this fourth side, therefore, nothing can be seen. Of the other three +sides we shall have to speak constantly; and they will be respectively +called, that towards the Piazzetta, the "Piazzetta Façade;" that towards +the Riva de' Schiavoni, the "Sea Façade;" and that towards the Rio del +Palazzo, the "Rio Façade." This Rio, or canal, is usually looked upon by +the traveller with great respect, or even horror, because it passes +under the Bridge of Sighs. It is, however, one of the principal +thoroughfares of the city; and the bridge and its canal together occupy, +in the mind of a Venetian, very much the position of Fleet Street and +Temple Bar in that of a Londoner,--at least, at the time when Temple Bar +was occasionally decorated with human heads. The two buildings closely +resemble each other in form. + +§ IV. We must now proceed to obtain some rough idea of the appearance +and distribution of the palace itself; but its arrangement will be +better understood by supposing ourselves raised some hundred and fifty +feet above the point in the lagoon in front of it, so as to get a +general view of the Sea Façade and Rio Façade (the latter in very steep +perspective), and to look down into its interior court. Fig. XXXVII. +roughly represents such a view, omitting all details on the roofs, in +order to avoid confusion. In this drawing we have merely to notice that, +of the two bridges seen on the right, the uppermost, above the black +canal, is the Bridge of Sighs; the lower one is the Ponte della Paglia, +the regular thoroughfare from quay to quay, and, I believe, called the +Bridge of Straw, because the boats which brought straw from the mainland +used to sell it at this place. The corner of the palace, rising above +this bridge, and formed by the meeting of the Sea Façade and Rio Façade, +will always be called the Vine angle, because it is decorated by a +sculpture of the drunkenness of Noah. The angle opposite will be called +the Fig-tree angle, because it is decorated by a sculpture of the Fall +of Man. The long and narrow range of building, of which the roof is seen +in perspective behind this angle, is the part of the palace fronting the +Piazzetta; and the angle under the pinnacle most to the left of the two +which terminate it will be called, for a reason presently to be stated, +the Judgment angle. Within the square formed by the building is seen its +interior court (with one of its wells), terminated by small and +fantastic buildings of the Renaissance period, which face the Giant's +Stair, of which the extremity is seen sloping down on the left. + +§ V. The great façade which fronts the spectator looks southward. Hence +the two traceried windows lower than the rest, and to the right of the +spectator, may be conveniently distinguished as the "Eastern Windows." +There are two others like them, filled with tracery, and at the same +level, which look upon the narrow canal between the Ponte della Paglia +and the Bridge of Sighs: these we may conveniently call the "Canal +Windows." The reader will observe a vertical line in this dark side of +the palace, separating its nearer and plainer wall from a long +four-storied range of rich architecture. This more distant range is +entirely Renaissance: its extremity is not indicated, because I have no +accurate sketch of the small buildings and bridges beyond it, and we +shall have nothing whatever to do with this part of the palace in our +present inquiry. The nearer and undecorated wall is part of the older +palace, though much defaced by modern opening of common windows, +refittings of the brickwork, &c. + +[Illustration: Fig. XXXVIII.] + +§ VI. It will be observed that the façade is composed of a smooth mass +of wall, sustained on two tiers of pillars, one above the other. The +manner in which these support the whole fabric will be understood at +once by the rough section, fig. XXXVIII., which is supposed to be taken +right through the palace to the interior court, from near the middle of +the Sea Façade. Here _a_ and _d_ are the rows of shafts, both in the +inner court and on the Façade, which carry the main walls; _b_, _c_ are +solid walls variously strengthened with pilasters. A, B, C are the three +stories of the interior of the palace. + +The reader sees that it is impossible for any plan to be more simple, +and that if the inner floors and walls of the stories A, B were +removed, there could be left merely the form of a basilica,--two high +walls, carried on ranges of shafts, and roofed by a low gable. + +The stories A, B are entirely modernized, and divided into confused +ranges of small apartments, among which what vestiges remain of ancient +masonry are entirely undecipherable, except by investigations such as I +have had neither the time nor, as in most cases they would involve the +removal of modern plastering, the opportunity, to make. With the +subdivisions of this story, therefore, I shall not trouble the reader; +but those of the great upper story, C, are highly important. + +§ VII. In the bird's-eye view above, fig. XXXVII., it will be noticed +that the two windows on the right are lower than the other four of the +façade. In this arrangement there is one of the most remarkable +instances I know of the daring sacrifice of symmetry to convenience, +which was noticed in Chap. VII. as one of the chief noblenesses of the +Gothic schools. + +The part of the palace in which the two lower windows occur, we shall +find, was first built, and arranged in four stories in order to obtain +the necessary number of apartments. Owing to circumstances, of which we +shall presently give an account, it became necessary, in the beginning +of the fourteenth century, to provide another large and magnificent +chamber for the meeting of the senate. That chamber was added at the +side of the older building; but, as only one room was wanted, there was +no need to divide the added portion into two stories. The entire height +was given to the single chamber, being indeed not too great for just +harmony with its enormous length and breadth. And then came the question +how to place the windows, whether on a line with the two others, or +above them. + +The ceiling of the new room was to be adorned by the paintings of the +best masters in Venice, and it became of great importance to raise the +light near that gorgeous roof, as well as to keep the tone of +illumination in the Council Chamber serene; and therefore to introduce +light rather in simple masses than in many broken streams. A modern +architect, terrified at the idea of violating external symmetry, would +have sacrificed both the pictures and the peace of the council. He would +have placed the larger windows at the same level with the other two, and +have introduced above them smaller windows, like those of the upper +story in the older building, as if that upper story had been continued +along the façade. But the old Venetian thought of the honor of the +paintings, and the comfort of the senate, before his own reputation. He +unhesitatingly raised the large windows to their proper position with +reference to the interior of the chamber, and suffered the external +appearance to take care of itself. And I believe the whole pile rather +gains than loses in effect by the variation thus obtained in the spaces +of wall above and below the windows. + +§ VIII. On the party wall, between the second and third windows, which +faces the eastern extremity of the Great Council Chamber, is painted the +Paradise of Tintoret; and this wall will therefore be hereafter called +the "Wall of the Paradise." + +In nearly the centre of the Sea Façade, and between the first and second +windows of the Great Council Chamber, is a large window to the ground, +opening on a balcony, which is one of the chief ornaments of the palace, +and will be called in future the "Sea Balcony." + +The façade which looks on the Piazetta is very nearly like this to the +Sea, but the greater part of it was built in the fifteenth century, when +people had become studious of their symmetries. Its side windows are all +on the same level. Two light the west end of the Great Council Chamber, +one lights a small room anciently called the Quarantia Civil Nuova; the +other three, and the central one, with a balcony like that to the Sea, +light another large chamber, called Sala del Scrutinio, or "Hall of +Enquiry," which extends to the extremity of the palace above the Porta +della Carta. + +§ IX. The reader is now well enough acquainted with the topography of +the existing building, to be able to follow the accounts of its history. + + +We have seen above, that there were three principal styles of Venetian +architecture; Byzantine, Gothic, and Renaissance. + +The Ducal Palace, which was the great work of Venice, was built +successively in the three styles. There was a Byzantine Ducal Palace, a +Gothic Ducal Palace, and a Renaissance Ducal Palace. The second +superseded the first totally; a few stones of it (if indeed so much) are +all that is left. But the third superseded the second in part only, and +the existing building is formed by the union of the two. + +We shall review the history of each in succession.[99] + +1st. The BYZANTINE PALACE. + +In the year of the death of Charlemagne, 813,[100] the Venetians +determined to make the island of Rialto the seat of the government and +capital of their state. Their Doge, Angelo or Agnello Participazio, +instantly took vigorous means for the enlargement of the small group of +buildings which were to be the nucleus of the future Venice. He +appointed persons to superintend the raising of the banks of sand, so as +to form more secure foundations, and to build wooden bridges over the +canals. For the offices of religion, he built the Church of St. Mark; +and on, or near, the spot where the Ducal Palace now stands, he built a +palace for the administration of the government.[101] + +The history of the Ducal Palace therefore begins with the birth of +Venice, and to what remains of it, at this day, is entrusted the last +representation of her power. + +§ X. Of the exact position and form of this palace of Participazio +little is ascertained. Sansovino says that it was "built near the Ponte +della Paglia, and answeringly on the Grand Canal,"[102] towards San +Giorgio; that is to say, in the place now occupied by the Sea Façade; +but this was merely the popular report of his day. We know, however, +positively, that it was somewhere upon the site of the existing palace; +and that it had an important front towards the Piazzetta, with which, as +we shall see hereafter, the present palace at one period was +incorporated. We know, also, that it was a pile of some magnificence, +from the account given by Sagornino of the visit paid by the Emperor +Otho the Great, to the Doge Pietro Orseolo II. The chronicler says that +the Emperor "beheld carefully all the beauty of the palace;"[103] and +the Venetian historians express pride in the building's being worthy of +an emperor's examination. This was after the palace had been much +injured by fire in the revolt against Candiano IV.,[104] and just +repaired, and richly adorned by Orseolo himself, who is spoken of by +Sagornino as having also "adorned the chapel of the Ducal Palace" (St. +Mark's) with ornaments of marble and gold.[105] There can be no doubt +whatever that the palace at this period resembled and impressed the +other Byzantine edifices of the city, such as the Fondaco de Turchi, +&c., whose remains have been already described; and that, like them, it +was covered with sculpture, and richly adorned with gold and color. + +§ XI. In the year 1106, it was for the second time injured by fire,[106] +but repaired before 1116, when it received another emperor, Henry V. (of +Germany), and was again honored by imperial praise.[107] Between 1173 +and the close of the century, it seems to have been again repaired and +much enlarged by the Doge Sebastian Ziani. Sansovino says that this Doge +not only repaired it, but "enlarged it in every direction;"[108] and, +after this enlargement, the palace seems to have remained untouched for +a hundred years, until, in the commencement of the fourteenth century, +the works of the Gothic Palace were begun. As, therefore, the old +Byzantine building was, at the time when those works first interfered +with it, in the form given to it by Ziani, I shall hereafter always +speak of it as the _Ziani_ Palace; and this the rather, because the only +chronicler whose words are perfectly clear respecting the existence of +part of this palace so late as the year 1422, speaks of it as built by +Ziani. The old "palace, of which half remains to this day, was built, as +we now see it, by Sebastian Ziani."[109] + +So far, then, of the Byzantine Palace. + +§ XII. 2nd. The GOTHIC PALACE. The reader, doubtless, recollects that +the important change in the Venetian government which gave stability to +the aristocratic power took place about the year 1297,[110] under the +Doge Pietro Gradenigo, a man thus characterized by Sansovino:--"A prompt +and prudent man, of unconquerable determination and great eloquence, who +laid, so to speak, the foundations of the eternity of this republic, by +the admirable regulations which he introduced into the government." + +We may now, with some reason, doubt of their admirableness; but their +importance, and the vigorous will and intellect of the Doge, are not to +be disputed. Venice was in the zenith of her strength, and the heroism +of her citizens was displaying itself in every quarter of the +world.[111] The acquiescence in the secure establishment of the +aristocratic power was an expression, by the people, of respect for the +families which had been chiefly instrumental in raising the commonwealth +to such a height of prosperity. + +The Serrar del Consiglio fixed the numbers of the Senate within certain +limits, and it conferred upon them a dignity greater than they had ever +before possessed. It was natural that the alteration in the character of +the assembly should be attended by some change in the size, arrangement, +or decoration of the chamber in which they sat. + +We accordingly find it recorded by Sansovino, that "in 1301 another +saloon was begun on the Rio del Palazzo, _under the Doge Gradenigo_, and +finished in 1309, _in which year the Grand Council first sat in +it_."[112] In the first year, therefore, of the fourteenth century, the +Gothic Ducal Palace of Venice was begun; and as the Byzantine Palace +was, in its foundation, coeval with that of the state, so the Gothic +Palace was, in its foundation, coeval with that of the aristocratic +power. Considered as the principal representation of the Venetian school +of architecture, the Ducal Palace is the Parthenon of Venice, and +Gradenigo its Pericles. + +§ XIII. Sansovino, with a caution very frequent among Venetian +historians, when alluding to events connected with the Serrar del +Consiglio, does not specially mention the cause for the requirement of +the new chamber; but the Sivos Chronicle is a little more distinct in +expression. "In 1301, it was determined to build a great saloon _for the +assembling_ of the Great Council, and the room was built which is _now_ +called the Sala del Scrutinio."[113] _Now_, that is to say, at the time +when the Sivos Chronicle was written; the room has long ago been +destroyed, and its name given to another chamber on the opposite side of +the palace: but I wish the reader to remember the date 1301, as marking +the commencement of a great architectural epoch, in which took place the +first appliance of the energy of the aristocratic power, and of the +Gothic style, to the works of the Ducal Palace. The operations then +begun were continued, with hardly an interruption, during the whole +period of the prosperity of Venice. We shall see the new buildings +consume, and take the place of, the Ziani Palace, piece by piece: and +when the Ziani Palace was destroyed, they fed upon themselves; being +continued round the square, until, in the sixteenth century, they +reached the point where they had been begun in the fourteenth, and +pursued the track they had then followed some distance beyond the +junction; destroying or hiding their own commencement, as the serpent, +which is the type of eternity, conceals its tail in its jaws. + +§ XIV. We cannot, therefore, _see_ the extremity, wherein lay the sting +and force of the whole creature,--the chamber, namely, built by the Doge +Gradenigo; but the reader must keep that commencement and the date of it +carefully in his mind. The body of the Palace Serpent will soon become +visible to us. + +The Gradenigo Chamber was somewhere on the Rio Façade, behind the +present position of the Bridge of Sighs; i.e. about the point marked on +the roof by the dotted lines in the woodcut; it is not known whether low +or high, but probably on a first story. The great façade of the Ziani +Palace being, as above mentioned, on the Piazzetta, this chamber was as +far back and out of the way as possible; secrecy and security being +obviously the points first considered. + +§ XV. But the newly constituted Senate had need of other additions to +the ancient palace besides the Council Chamber. A short, but most +significant, sentence is added to Sansovino's account of the +construction of that room. "There were, _near_ _it_," he says, "the +Cancellaria, and the _Gheba_ or _Gabbia_, afterwards called the Little +Tower."[114] + +Gabbia means a "cage;" and there can be no question that certain +apartments were at this time added at the top of the palace and on the +Rio Façade, which were to be used as prisons. Whether any portion of the +old Torresella still remains is a doubtful question; but the apartments +at the top of the palace, in its fourth story, were still used for +prisons as late as the beginning of the seventeenth century.[115] I wish +the reader especially to notice that a separate tower or range of +apartments was built for this purpose, in order to clear the government +of the accusations so constantly made against them, by ignorant or +partial historians, of wanton cruelty to prisoners. The stories commonly +told respecting the "piombi" of the Ducal Palace are utterly false. +Instead of being, as usually reported, small furnaces under the leads of +the palace, they were comfortable rooms, with good flat roofs of larch, +and carefully ventilated.[116] The new chamber, then, and the prisons, +being built, the Great Council first sat in their retired chamber on the +Rio in the year 1309. + +§ XVI. Now, observe the significant progress of events. They had no +sooner thus established themselves in power than they were disturbed by +the conspiracy of the Tiepolos, in the year 1310. In consequence of that +conspiracy the Council of Ten was created, still under the Doge +Gradenigo; who, having finished his work and left the aristocracy of +Venice armed with this terrible power, died in the year 1312, some say +by poison. He was succeeded by the Doge Marino Giorgio, who reigned +only one year; and then followed the prosperous government of John +Soranzo. There is no mention of any additions to the Ducal Palace during +his reign, but he was succeeded by that Francesco Dandolo, the +sculptures on whose tomb, still existing in the cloisters of the Salute, +may be compared by any traveller with those of the Ducal Palace. Of him +it is recorded in the Savina Chronicle: "This Doge also had the great +gate built which is at the entry of the palace, above which is his +statue kneeling, with the gonfalon in hand, before the feet of the Lion +of St. Mark's."[117] + +§ XVII. It appears, then, that after the Senate had completed their +Council Chamber and the prisons, they required a nobler door than that +of the old Ziani Palace for their Magnificences to enter by. This door +is twice spoken of in the government accounts of expenses, which are +fortunately preserved,[118] in the following terms:-- + +"1335, June 1. We, Andrew Dandolo and Mark Loredano, procurators of + St. Mark's, have paid to Martin the stone-cutter and his + associates[119] ... for a stone of which the lion is made which is + put over the gate of the palace." + +"1344, November 4. We have paid thirty-five golden ducats for making + gold leaf, to gild the lion which is over the door of the palace + stairs." + +The position of this door is disputed, and is of no consequence to the +reader, the door itself having long ago disappeared, and been replaced +by the Porta della Carta. + +§ XVIII. But before it was finished, occasion had been discovered for +farther improvements. The Senate found their new Council Chamber +inconveniently small, and, about thirty years after its completion, +began to consider where a larger and more magnificent one might be +built. The government was now thoroughly established, and it was +probably felt that there was some meanness in the retired position, as +well as insufficiency in the size, of the Council Chamber on the Rio. +The first definite account which I find of their proceedings, under +these circumstances, is in the Caroldo Chronicle:[120] + +"1340. On the 28th of December, in the preceding year, Master Marco +Erizzo, Nicolo Soranzo, and Thomas Gradenigo, were chosen to examine +where a new saloon might be built in order to assemble therein the +Greater Council.... On the 3rd of June, 1341, the Great Council elected +two procurators of the work of this saloon, with a salary of eighty +ducats a year." + +It appears from the entry still preserved in the Archivio, and quoted by +Cadorin, that it was on the 28th of December, 1340, that the +commissioners appointed to decide on this important matter gave in their +report to the Grand Council, and that the decree passed thereupon for +the commencement of a new Council Chamber on the Grand Canal.[121] + +_The room then begun is the one now in existence_, and its building +involved the building of all that is best and most beautiful in the +present Ducal Palace, the rich arcades of the lower stories being all +prepared for sustaining this Sala del Gran Consiglio. + +§ XIX. In saying that it is the same now in existence, I do not mean +that it has undergone no alterations; as we shall see hereafter, it has +been refitted again and again, and some portions of its walls rebuilt; +but in the place and form in which it first stood, it still stands; and +by a glance at the position which its windows occupy, as shown in fig. +XXXVII. above, the reader will see at once that whatever can be known +respecting the design of the Sea Façade, must be gleaned out of the +entries which refer to the building of this Great Council Chamber. + +Cadorin quotes two of great importance, to which we shall return in due +time, made during the progress of the work in 1342 and 1344; then one of +1349, resolving that the works at the Ducal Palace, which had been +discontinued during the plague, should be resumed; and finally one in +1362, which speaks of the Great Council Chamber as having been neglected +and suffered to fall into "great desolation," and resolves that it shall +be forthwith completed.[122] + +The interruption had not been caused by the plague only, but by the +conspiracy of Faliero, and the violent death of the master builder.[123] +The work was resumed in 1362, and completed within the next three years, +at least so far as that Guariento was enabled to paint his Paradise on +the walls;[124] so that the building must, at any rate, have been roofed +by this time. Its decorations and fittings, however, were long in +completion; the paintings on the roof being only executed in 1400.[125] +They represented the heavens covered with stars,[126] this being, says +Sansovino, the bearings of the Doge Steno. Almost all ceilings and +vaults were at this time in Venice covered with stars, without any +reference to armorial bearings; but Steno claims, under his noble title +of Stellifer, an important share in completing the chamber, in an +inscription upon two square tablets, now inlaid in the walls on each +side of the great window towards the sea: + + "MILLE QUADRINGENTI CURREBANT QUATUOR ANNI + HOC OPUS ILLUSTRIS MICHAEL DUX STELLIFER AUXIT." + +And in fact it is to this Doge that we owe the beautiful balcony of that +window, though the work above it is partly of more recent date; and I +think the tablets bearing this important inscription have been taken out +and reinserted in the newer masonry. The labor of these final +decorations occupied a total period of sixty years. The Grand Council +sat in the finished chamber for the first time in 1423. In that year the +Gothic Ducal Palace of Venice was completed. It had taken, to build it, +the energies of the entire period which I have above described as the +central one of her life. + +§ XX. 3rd. The RENAISSANCE PALACE. I must go back a step or two, in +order to be certain that the reader understands clearly the state of the +palace in 1423. The works of addition or renovation had now been +proceeding, at intervals, during a space of a hundred and twenty-three +years. Three generations at least had been accustomed to witness the +gradual advancement of the form of the Ducal Palace into more stately +symmetry, and to contrast the works of sculpture and painting with which +it was decorated,--full of the life, knowledge, and hope of the +fourteenth century,--with the rude Byzantine chiselling of the palace of +the Doge Ziani. The magnificent fabric just completed, of which the new +Council Chamber was the nucleus, was now habitually known in Venice as +the "Palazzo Nuovo;" and the old Byzantine edifice, now ruinous, and +more manifest in its decay by its contrast with the goodly stones of the +building which had been raised at its side, was of course known as the +"Palazzo Vecchio."[127] That fabric, however, still occupied the +principal position in Venice. The new Council Chamber had been erected +by the side of it towards the Sea; but there was not then the wide quay +in front, the Riva dei Schiavoni, which now renders the Sea Façade as +important as that to the Piazzetta. There was only a narrow walk +between the pillars and the water; and the _old_ palace of Ziani still +faced the Piazzetta, and interrupted, by its decrepitude, the +magnificence of the square where the nobles daily met. Every increase of +the beauty of the new palace rendered the discrepancy between it and the +companion building more painful; and then began to arise in the minds of +all men a vague idea of the necessity of destroying the old palace, and +completing the front of the Piazzetta with the same splendor as the Sea +Façade. But no such sweeping measure of renovation had been contemplated +by the Senate when they first formed the plan of their new Council +Chamber. First a single additional room, then a gateway, then a larger +room; but all considered merely as necessary additions to the palace, +not as involving the entire reconstruction of the ancient edifice. The +exhaustion of the treasury, and the shadows upon the political horizon, +rendered it more than imprudent to incur the vast additional expense +which such a project involved; and the Senate, fearful of itself, and +desirous to guard against the weakness of its own enthusiasm, passed a +decree, like the effort of a man fearful of some strong temptation to +keep his thoughts averted from the point of danger. It was a decree, not +merely that the old palace should not be rebuilt, but that no one should +_propose_ rebuilding it. The feeling of the desirableness of doing so +was too strong to permit fair discussion, and the Senate knew that to +bring forward such a motion was to carry it. + +§ XXI. The decree, thus passed in order to guard against their own +weakness, forbade any one to speak of rebuilding the old palace under +the penalty of a thousand ducats. But they had rated their own +enthusiasm too low: there was a man among them whom the loss of a +thousand ducats could not deter from proposing what he believed to be +for the good of the state. + +Some excuse was given him for bringing forward the motion, by a fire +which occurred in 1419, and which injured both the church of St. Mark's, +and part of the old palace fronting the Piazzetta. What followed, I +shall relate in the words of Sanuto.[128] + +§ XXII. "Therefore they set themselves with all diligence and care to +repair and adorn sumptuously, first God's house; but in the Prince's +house things went on more slowly, _for it did not please the Doge[129] +to restore it in the form in which it was before_; and they could not +rebuild it altogether in a better manner, so great was the parsimony of +these old fathers; because it was forbidden by laws, which condemned in +a penalty of a thousand ducats any one who should propose to throw down +the _old_ palace, and to rebuild it more richly and with greater +expense. But the Doge, who was magnanimous, and who desired above all +things what was honorable to the city, had the thousand ducats carried +into the Senate Chamber, and then proposed that the palace should be +rebuilt; saying: that, 'since the late fire had ruined in great part the +Ducal habitation (not only his own private palace, but all the places +used for public business) this occasion was to be taken for an +admonishment sent from God, that they ought to rebuild the palace more +nobly, and in a way more befitting the greatness to which, by God's +grace, their dominions had reached; and that his motive in proposing +this was neither ambition, nor selfish interest: that, as for ambition, +they might have seen in the whole course of his life, through so many +years, that he had never done anything for ambition, either in the city, +or in foreign business; but in all his actions had kept justice first in +his thoughts, and then the advantage of the state, and the honor of the +Venetian name: and that, as far as regarded his private interest, if it +had not been for this accident of the fire, he would never have thought +of changing anything in the palace into either a more sumptuous or a +more honorable form; and that during the many years in which he had +lived in it, he had never endeavored to make any change, but had always +been content with it, as his predecessors had left it; and that he knew +well that, if they took in hand to build it as he exhorted and besought +them, being now very old, and broken down with many toils, God would +call him to another life before the walls were raised a pace from the +ground. And that therefore they might perceive that he did not advise +them to raise this building for his own convenience, but only for the +honor of the city and its Dukedom; and that the good of it would never +be felt by him, but by his successors.' Then he said, that 'in order, as +he had always done, to observe the laws,... he had brought with him the +thousand ducats which had been appointed as the penalty for proposing +such a measure, so that he might prove openly to all men that it was not +his own advantage that he sought, but the dignity of the state.'" There +was no one (Sanuto goes on to tell us) who ventured, or desired, to +oppose the wishes of the Doge; and the thousand ducats were unanimously +devoted to the expenses of the work. "And they set themselves with much +diligence to the work; and the palace was begun in the form and manner +in which it is at present seen; but, as Mocenigo had prophesied, not +long after, he ended his life, and not only did not see the work brought +to a close, but hardly even begun." + +§ XXIII. There are one or two expressions in the above extracts which, +if they stood alone, might lead the reader to suppose that the whole +palace had been thrown down and rebuilt. We must however remember, that, +at this time, the new Council Chamber, which had been one hundred years +in building, was actually unfinished, the council had not yet sat in it; +and it was just as likely that the Doge should then propose to destroy +and rebuild it, as in this year, 1853, it is that any one should propose +in our House of Commons to throw down the new Houses of Parliament, +under the title of the "old palace," and rebuild _them_. + +§ XXIV. The manner in which Sanuto expresses himself will at once be +seen to be perfectly natural, when it is remembered that although we now +speak of the whole building as the "Ducal Palace," it consisted, in the +minds of the old Venetians, of four distinct buildings. There were in it +the palace, the state prisons, the senate-house, and the offices of +public business; in other words, it was Buckingham Palace, the Tower of +olden days, the Houses of Parliament, and Downing Street, all in one; +and any of these four portions might be spoken of, without involving an +allusion to any other. "Il Palazzo" was the Ducal residence, which, with +most of the public offices, Mocenigo _did_ propose to pull down and +rebuild, and which was actually pulled down and rebuilt. But the new +Council Chamber, of which the whole façade to the Sea consisted, never +entered into either his or Sanuto's mind for an instant, as necessarily +connected with the Ducal residence. + +I said that the new Council Chamber, at the time when Mocenigo brought +forward his measure, had never yet been used. It was in the year +1422[130] that the decree passed to rebuild the palace: Mocenigo died in +the following year,[131] and Francesco Foscari was elected in his room. +The Great Council Chamber was used for the first time on the day when +Foscari entered the Senate as Doge,--the 3rd of April, 1423, according +to the Caroldo Chronicle;[132] the 23rd, which is probably correct, by +an anonymous MS., No. 60, in the Correr Museum;[133]--and, the following +year, on the 27th of March, the first hammer was lifted up against the +old palace of Ziani.[134] + +§ XXV. That hammer stroke was the first act of the period properly +called the "Renaissance." It was the knell of the architecture of +Venice,--and of Venice herself. + +The central epoch of her life was past; the decay had already begun: I +dated its commencement above (Ch. I. Vol. 1.) from the death of +Mocenigo. A year had not yet elapsed since that great Doge had been +called to his account: his patriotism, always sincere, had been in this +instance mistaken; in his zeal for the honor of future Venice, he had +forgotten what was due to the Venice of long ago. A thousand palaces +might be built upon her burdened islands, but none of them could take +the place, or recall the memory, of that which was first built upon her +unfrequented shore. It fell; and, as if it had been the talisman of her +fortunes, the city never flourished again. + +§ XXVI. I have no intention of following out, in their intricate +details, the operations which were begun under Foscari and continued +under succeeding Doges till the palace assumed its present form, for I +am not in this work concerned, except by occasional reference, with the +architecture of the fifteenth century: but the main facts are the +following. The palace of Ziani was destroyed; the existing façade to the +Piazzetta built, so as both to continue and to resemble, in most +particulars, the work of the Great Council Chamber. It was carried back +from the Sea as far as the Judgment angle; beyond which is the Porta +della Carta, begun in 1439, and finished in two years, under the Doge +Foscari;[135] the interior buildings connected with it were added by the +Doge Christopher Moro (the Othello of Shakspeare)[136] in 1462. + +§ XXVII. By reference to the figure the reader will see that we have now +gone the round of the palace, and that the new work of 1462 was close +upon the first piece of the Gothic palace, the _new_ Council Chamber of +1301. Some remnants of the Ziani Palace were perhaps still left between +the two extremities of the Gothic Palace; or, as is more probable, the +last stones of it may have been swept away after the fire of 1419, and +replaced by new apartments for the Doge. But whatever buildings, old or +new, stood on this spot at the time of the completion of the Porta della +Carta were destroyed by another great fire in 1479, together with so +much of the palace on the Rio that, though the saloon of Gradenigo, then +known as the Sala de' Pregadi, was not destroyed, it became necessary to +reconstruct the entire façades of the portion of the palace behind the +Bridge of Sighs, both towards the court and canal. This work was +entrusted to the best Renaissance architects of the close of the +fifteenth and opening of the sixteenth centuries; Antonio Ricci +executing the Giant's staircase, and on his absconding with a large sum +of the public money, Pietro Lombardo taking his place. The whole work +must have been completed towards the middle of the sixteenth century. +The architects of the palace, advancing round the square and led by +fire, had more than reached the point from which they had set out; and +the work of 1560 was joined to the work of 1301-1340, at the point +marked by the conspicuous vertical line in Figure XXXVII. on the Rio +Façade. + +§ XXVIII. But the palace was not long permitted to remain in this +finished form. Another terrific fire, commonly called the great fire, +burst out in 1574, and destroyed the inner fittings and all the precious +pictures of the Great Council Chamber, and of all the upper rooms on the +Sea Façade, and most of those on the Rio Façade, leaving the building a +mere shell, shaken and blasted by the flames. It was debated in the +Great Council whether the ruin should not be thrown down, and an +entirely new palace built in its stead. The opinions of all the leading +architects of Venice were taken, respecting the safety of the walls, or +the possibility of repairing them as they stood. These opinions, given +in writing, have been preserved, and published by the Abbé Cadorin, in +the work already so often referred to; and they form one of the most +important series of documents connected with the Ducal Palace. + +I cannot help feeling some childish pleasure in the accidental +resemblance to my own name in that of the architect whose opinion was +first given in favor of the ancient fabric, Giovanni Rusconi. Others, +especially Palladio, wanted to pull down the old palace, and execute +designs of their own; but the best architects in Venice, and to his +immortal honor, chiefly Francesco Sansovino, energetically pleaded for +the Gothic pile, and prevailed. It was successfully repaired, and +Tintoret painted his noblest picture on the wall from which the Paradise +of Guariento had withered before the flames. + +§ XXIX. The repairs necessarily undertaken at this time were however +extensive, and interfere in many directions with the earlier work of the +palace: still the only serious alteration in its form was the +transposition of the prisons, formerly at the top of the palace, to the +other side of the Rio del Palazzo; and the building of the Bridge of +Sighs, to connect them with the palace, by Antonio da Ponte. The +completion of this work brought the whole edifice into its present form; +with the exception of alterations in doors, partitions, and staircases +among the inner apartments, not worth noticing, and such barbarisms and +defacements as have been suffered within the last fifty years, by, I +suppose, nearly every building of importance in Italy. + +§ XXX. Now, therefore, we are liberty to examine some of the details of +the Ducal Palace, without any doubt about their dates. I shall not, +however, give any elaborate illustrations of them here, because I could +not do them justice on the scale of the page of this volume, or by means +of line engraving. I believe a new era is opening to us in the art of +illustration,[137] and that I shall be able to give large figures of the +details of the Ducal Palace at a price which will enable every person +who is interested in the subject to possess them; so that the cost and +labor of multiplying illustrations here would be altogether wasted. I +shall therefore direct the reader's attention only to points of interest +as can be explained in the text. + +§ XXXI. First, then, looking back to the woodcut at the beginning of +this chapter, the reader will observe that, as the building was very +nearly square on the ground plan, a peculiar prominence and importance +were given to its angles, which rendered it necessary that they should +be enriched and softened by sculpture. I do not suppose that the fitness +of this arrangement will be questioned; but if the reader will take the +pains to glance over any series of engravings of church towers or other +four-square buildings in which great refinement of form has been +attained, he will at once observe how their effect depends on some +modification of the sharpness of the angle, either by groups of +buttresses, or by turrets and niches rich in sculpture. It is to be +noted also that this principle of breaking the angle is peculiarly +Gothic, arising partly out of the necessity of strengthening the flanks +of enormous buildings, where composed of imperfect materials, by +buttresses or pinnacles; partly out of the conditions of Gothic warfare, +which generally required a tower at the angle; partly out of the natural +dislike of the meagreness of effect in buildings which admitted large +surfaces of wall, if the angle were entirely unrelieved. The Ducal +Palace, in its acknowledgment of this principle, makes a more definite +concession to the Gothic spirit than any of the previous architecture of +Venice. No angle, up to the time of its erection, had been otherwise +decorated than by a narrow fluted pilaster of red marble, and the +sculpture was reserved always, as in Greek and Roman work, for the plane +surfaces of the building, with, as far as I recollect, two exceptions +only, both in St. Mark's; namely, the bold and grotesque gargoyle on its +north-west angle, and the angels which project from the four inner +angles under the main cupola; both of these arrangements being plainly +made under Lombardic influence. And if any other instances occur, which +I may have at present forgotten, I am very sure the Northern influence +will always be distinctly traceable in them. + +§ XXXII. The Ducal Palace, however, accepts the principle in its +completeness, and throws the main decoration upon its angles. The +central window, which looks rich and important in the woodcut, was +entirely restored in the Renaissance time, as we have seen, under the +Doge Steno; so that we have no traces of its early treatment; and the +principal interest of the older palace is concentrated in the angle +sculpture, which is arranged in the following manner. The pillars of the +two bearing arcades are much enlarged in thickness at the angles, and +their capitals increased in depth, breadth, and fulness of subject; +above each capital, on the angle of the wall, a sculptural subject is +introduced, consisting, in the great lower arcade, of two or more +figures of the size of life; in the upper arcade, of a single angel +holding a scroll: above these angels rise the twisted pillars with their +crowning niches, already noticed in the account of parapets in the +seventh chapter; thus forming an unbroken line of decoration from the +ground to the top of the angle. + +§ XXXIII. It was before noticed that one of the corners of the palace +joins the irregular outer buildings connected with St. Mark's, and is +not generally seen. There remain, therefore, to be decorated, only the +three angles, above distinguished as the Vine angle, the Fig-tree angle, +and the Judgment angle; and at these we have, according to the +arrangement just explained,-- + +First, Three great bearing capitals (lower arcade). + +Secondly, Three figure subjects of sculpture above them (lower arcade). + +Thirdly, Three smaller bearing capitals (upper arcade). + +Fourthly, Three angels above them (upper arcade). + +Fifthly, Three spiral shafts with niches. + +§ XXXIV. I shall describe the bearing capitals hereafter, in their +order, with the others of the arcade; for the first point to which the +reader's attention ought to be directed is the choice of subject in the +great figure sculptures above them. These, observe, are the very corner +stones of the edifice, and in them we may expect to find the most +important evidences of the feeling, as well as of the skill, of the +builder. If he has anything to say to us of the purpose with which he +built the palace, it is sure to be said here; if there was any lesson +which he wished principally to teach to those for whom he built, here +it is sure to be inculcated; if there was any sentiment which they +themselves desired to have expressed in the principal edifice of their +city, this is the place in which we may be secure of finding it legibly +inscribed. + +§ XXXV. Now the first two angles, of the Vine and Fig-tree, belong to +the old, or true Gothic, Palace; the third angle belongs to the +Renaissance imitation of it: therefore, at the first two angles, it is +the Gothic spirit which is going to speak to us; and, at the third, the +Renaissance spirit. + +The reader remembers, I trust, that the most characteristic sentiment of +all that we traced in the working of the Gothic heart, was the frank +confession of its own weakness; and I must anticipate, for a moment, the +results of our inquiry in subsequent chapters, so far as to state that +the principal element in the Renaissance spirit, is its firm confidence +in its own wisdom. + +Hear, then, the two spirits speak for themselves. + +The first main sculpture of the Gothic Palace is on what I have called +the angle of the Fig-tree: + +Its subject is the FALL OF MAN. + +The second sculpture is on the angle of the Vine: + +Its subject is the DRUNKENNESS OF NOAH. + +The Renaissance sculpture is on the Judgment angle: + +Its subject is the JUDGMENT OF SOLOMON. + +It is impossible to overstate, or to regard with too much admiration, +the significance of this single fact. It is as if the palace had been +built at various epochs, and preserved uninjured to this day, for the +sole purpose of teaching us the difference in the temper of the two +schools. + +§ XXXVI. I have called the sculpture on the Fig-tree angle the principal +one; because it is at the central bend of the palace, where it turns to +the Piazzetta (the façade upon the Piazzetta being, as we saw above, the +more important one in ancient times). The great capital, which sustains +this Fig-tree angle, is also by far more elaborate than the head of the +pilaster under the Vine angle, marking the preëminence of the former in +the architect's mind. It is impossible to say which was first executed, +but that of the Fig-tree angle is somewhat rougher in execution, and +more stiff in the design of the figures, so that I rather suppose it to +have been the earliest completed. + +[Illustration: Plate XIX. + LEAFAGE OF THE VINE ANGLE.] + +§ XXXVII. In both the subjects, of the Fall and the Drunkenness, the +tree, which forms the chiefly decorative portion of the sculpture,--fig +in the one case, vine in the other,--was a necessary adjunct. Its trunk, +in both sculptures, forms the true outer angle of the palace; boldly cut +separate from the stone-work behind, and branching out above the figures +so as to enwrap each side of the angle, for several feet, with its deep +foliage. Nothing can be more masterly or superb than the sweep of this +foliage on the Fig-tree angle; the broad leaves lapping round the +budding fruit, and sheltering from sight, beneath their shadows, birds +of the most graceful form and delicate plumage. The branches are, +however, so strong, and the masses of stone hewn into leafage so large, +that, notwithstanding the depth of the undercutting, the work remains +nearly uninjured; not so at the Vine angle, where the natural delicacy +of the vine-leaf and tendril having tempted the sculptor to greater +effort, he has passed the proper limits of his art, and cut the upper +stems so delicately that half of them have been broken away by the +casualties to which the situation of the sculpture necessarily exposes +it. What remains is, however, so interesting in its extreme refinement, +that I have chosen it for the subject of the opposite illustration +rather than the nobler masses of the fig-tree, which ought to be +rendered on a larger scale. Although half of the beauty of the +composition is destroyed by the breaking away of its central masses, +there is still enough in the distribution of the variously bending +leaves, and in the placing of the birds on the lighter branches, to +prove to us the power of the designer. I have already referred to this +Plate as a remarkable instance of the Gothic Naturalism; and, indeed, it +is almost impossible for the copying of nature to be carried farther +than in the fibres of the marble branches, and the careful finishing of +the tendrils: note especially the peculiar expression of the knotty +joints of the vine in the light branch which rises highest. Yet only +half the finish of the work can be seen in the Plate: for, in several +cases, the sculptor has shown the under sides of the leaves turned +boldly to the light, and has literally _carved every rib and vein upon +them, in relief_; not merely the main ribs which sustain the lobes of +the leaf, and actually project in nature, but the irregular and sinuous +veins which chequer the membranous tissues between them, and which the +sculptor has represented conventionally as relieved like the others, in +order to give the vine leaf its peculiar tessellated effect upon the +eye. + +§ XXXVIII. As must always be the case in early sculpture, the figures +are much inferior to the leafage; yet so skilful in many respects, that +it was a long time before I could persuade myself that they had indeed +been wrought in the first half of the fourteenth century. Fortunately, +the date is inscribed upon a monument in the Church of San Simeon +Grande, bearing a recumbent statue of the saint, of far finer +workmanship, in every respect, than those figures of the Ducal Palace, +yet so like them, that I think there can be no question that the head of +Noah was wrought by the sculptor of the palace in emulation of that of +the statue of St. Simeon. In this latter sculpture, the face is +represented in death; the mouth partly open, the lips thin and sharp, +the teeth carefully sculptured beneath; the face full of quietness and +majesty, though very ghastly; the hair and beard flowing in luxuriant +wreaths, disposed with the most masterly freedom, yet severity, of +design, far down upon the shoulders; the hands crossed upon the body, +carefully studied, and the veins and sinews perfectly and easily +expressed, yet without any attempt at extreme finish or display of +technical skill. This monument bears date 1317,[138] and its sculptor +was justly proud of it; thus recording his name: + + "CELAVIT MARCUS OPUS HOC INSIGNE ROMANIS, + LAUDIBUS NON PARCUS EST SUA DIGNA MANUS." + +§ XXXIX. The head of the Noah on the Ducal Palace, evidently worked in +emulation of this statue, has the same profusion of flowing hair and +beard, but wrought in smaller and harder curls; and the veins on the +arms and breast are more sharply drawn, the sculptor being evidently +more practised in keen and fine lines of vegetation than in those of the +figure; so that, which is most remarkable in a workman of this early +period, he has failed in telling his story plainly, regret and wonder +being so equally marked on the features of all the three brothers that +it is impossible to say which is intended for Ham. Two of the heads of +the brothers are seen in the Plate; the third figure is not with the +rest of the group, but set at a distance of about twelve feet, on the +other side of the arch which springs from the angle capital. + +§ XL. It may be observed, as a farther evidence of the date of the +group, that, in the figures of all the three youths, the feet are +protected simply by a bandage arranged in crossed folds round the ankle +and lower part of the limb; a feature of dress which will be found in +nearly every piece of figure sculpture in Venice, from the year 1300 to +1380, and of which the traveller may see an example within three hundred +yards of this very group, in the bas-reliefs on the tomb of the Doge +Andrea Dandolo (in St. Mark's), who died in 1354. + +§ XLI. The figures of Adam and Eve, sculptured on each side of the +Fig-tree angle, are more stiff than those of Noah and his sons, but are +better fitted for their architectural service; and the trunk of the +tree, with the angular body of the serpent writhed around it, is more +nobly treated as a terminal group of lines than that of the vine. + +The Renaissance sculptor of the figures of the Judgment of Solomon has +very nearly copied the fig-tree from this angle, placing its trunk +between the executioner and the mother, who leans forward to stay his +hand. But, though the whole group is much more free in design than those +of the earlier palace, and in many ways excellent in itself, so that it +always strikes the eye of a careless observer more than the others, it +is of immeasurably inferior spirit in the workmanship; the leaves of the +tree, though far more studiously varied in flow than those of the +fig-tree from which they are partially copied, have none of its truth to +nature; they are ill set on the stems, bluntly defined on the edges, and +their curves are not those of growing leaves, but of wrinkled drapery. + +§ XLII. Above these three sculptures are set, in the upper arcade, the +statues of the archangels Raphael, Michael, and Gabriel: their positions +will be understood by reference to the lowest figure in Plate XVII., +where that of Raphael above the Vine angle is seen on the right. A +diminutive figure of Tobit follows at his feet, and he bears in his hand +a scroll with this inscription: + + EFICE Q + SOFRE + TUR AFA + EL REVE + RENDE + QUIETU + +i.e. Effice (quæso?) fretum, Raphael reverende, quietum.[139] I could +not decipher the inscription on the scroll borne by the angel Michael; +and the figure of Gabriel, which is by much the most beautiful feature +of the Renaissance portion of the palace, has only in its hand the +Annunciation lily. + +§ XLIII. Such are the subjects of the main sculptures decorating the +angles of the palace; notable, observe, for their simple expression of +two feelings, the consciousness of human frailty, and the dependence +upon Divine guidance and protection: this being, of course, the general +purpose of the introduction of the figures of the angels; and, I +imagine, intended to be more particularly conveyed by the manner in +which the small figure of Tobit follows the steps of Raphael, just +touching the hem of his garment. We have next to examine the course of +divinity and of natural history embodied by the old sculpture in the +great series of capitals which support the lower arcade of the palace; +and which, being at a height of little more than eight feet above the +eye, might be read, like the pages of a book, by those (the noblest men +in Venice) who habitually walked beneath the shadow of this great arcade +at the time of their first meeting each other for morning converse. + +§ XLIV. The principal sculptures of the capitals consist of +personifications of the Virtues and Vices, the favorite subjects of +decorative art, at this period, in all the cities of Italy; and there is +so much that is significant in the various modes of their distinction +and general representation, more especially with reference to their +occurrence as expressions of praise to the dead in sepulchral +architecture, hereafter to be examined, that I believe the reader may +both happily and profitably rest for a little while beneath the first +vault of the arcade, to review the manner in which these symbols of the +virtues were first invented by the Christian imagination, and the +evidence they generally furnish of the state of religious feeling in +those by whom they were recognised. + +§ XLV. In the early ages of Christianity, there was little care taken to +analyze character. One momentous question was heard over the whole +world,--Dost thou believe in the Lord with all thine heart? There was +but one division among men,--the great unatoneable division between the +disciple and adversary. The love of Christ was all, and in all; and in +proportion to the nearness of their memory of His person and teaching, +men understood the infinity of the requirements of the moral law, and +the manner in which it alone could be fulfilled. The early Christians +felt that virtue, like sin, was a subtle universal thing, entering into +every act and thought, appearing outwardly in ten thousand diverse +ways, diverse according to the separate framework of every heart in +which it dwelt; but one and the same always in its proceeding from the +love of God, as sin is one and the same in proceeding from hatred of +God. And in their pure, early, and practical piety, they saw there was +no need for codes of morality, or systems of metaphysics. Their virtue +comprehended everything, entered into everything; it was too vast and +too spiritual to be defined; but there was no need of its definition. +For through faith, working by love, they knew that all human excellence +would be developed in due order; but that, without faith, neither reason +could define, nor effort reach, the lowest phase of Christian virtue. +And therefore, when any of the Apostles have occasion to describe or +enumerate any forms of vice or virtue by name, there is no attempt at +system in their words. They use them hurriedly and energetically, +heaping the thoughts one upon another, in order as far as possible to +fill the reader's mind with a sense of the infinity both of crime and of +righteousness. Hear St. Paul describe sin: "Being filled with all +unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; +full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, backbiters, +haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, +disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant breakers, +without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful." There is evidently +here an intense feeling of the universality of sin; and in order to +express it, the Apostle hurries his words confusedly together, little +caring about their order, as knowing all the vices to be indissolubly +connected one with another. It would be utterly vain to endeavor to +arrange his expressions as if they had been intended for the ground of +any system, or to give any philosophical definition of the vices.[140] +So also hear him speaking of virtue: "Rejoice in the Lord. Let your +moderation be known unto all men. Be careful for nothing, but in +everything let your requests be made known unto God; and whatsoever +things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are +pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good +report, if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on +these things." Observe, he gives up all attempt at definition; he leaves +the definition to every man's heart, though he writes so as to mark the +overflowing fulness of his own vision of virtue. And so it is in all +writings of the Apostles; their manner of exhortation, and the kind of +conduct they press, vary according to the persons they address, and the +feeling of the moment at which they write, and never show any attempt at +logical precision. And, although the words of their Master are not thus +irregularly uttered, but are weighed like fine gold, yet, even in His +teaching, there is no detailed or organized system of morality; but the +command only of that faith and love which were to embrace the whole +being of man: "On these two commandments hang all the law and the +prophets." Here and there an incidental warning against this or that +more dangerous form of vice or error, "Take heed and beware of +covetousness," "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees;" here and there a +plain example of the meaning of Christian love, as in the parables of +the Samaritan and the Prodigal, and His own perpetual example: these +were the elements of Christ's constant teaching; for the Beatitudes, +which are the only approximation to anything like a systematic +statement, belong to different conditions and characters of individual +men, not to abstract virtues. And all early Christians taught in the +same manner. They never cared to expound the nature of this or that +virtue; for they knew that the believer who had Christ, had all. Did he +need fortitude? Christ was his rock: Equity? Christ was his +righteousness: Holiness? Christ was his sanctification: Liberty? Christ +was his redemption: Temperance? Christ was his ruler: Wisdom? Christ was +his light: Truthfulness? Christ was the truth: Charity? Christ was love. + +§ XLVI. Now, exactly in proportion as the Christian religion became less +vital, and as the various corruptions which time and Satan brought into +it were able to manifest themselves, the person and offices of Christ +were less dwelt upon, and the virtues of Christians more. The Life of +the Believer became in some degree separated from the Life of Christ; +and his virtue, instead of being a stream flowing forth from the throne +of God, and descending upon the earth, began to be regarded by him as a +pyramid upon earth, which he had to build up, step by step, that from +the top of it he might reach the Heavens. It was not possible to measure +the waves of the water of life, but it was perfectly possible to measure +the bricks of the Tower of Babel; and gradually, as the thoughts of men +were withdrawn from their Redeemer, and fixed upon themselves, the +virtues began to be squared, and counted, and classified, and put into +separate heaps of firsts and seconds; some things being virtuous +cardinally, and other things virtuous only north-north-west. It is very +curious to put in close juxtaposition the words of the Apostles and of +some of the writers of the fifteenth century touching sanctification. +For instance, hear first St. Paul to the Thessalonians: "The very God of +peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and +body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. +Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it." And then the +following part of a prayer which I translate from a MS. of the fifteenth +century: "May He (the Holy Spirit) govern the five Senses of my body; +may He cause me to embrace the Seven Works of Mercy, and firmly to +believe and observe the Twelve Articles of the Faith and the Ten +Commandments of the Law, and defend me from the Seven Mortal Sins, even +to the end." + +§ XLVII. I do not mean that this quaint passage is generally +characteristic of the devotion of the fifteenth century: the very prayer +out of which it is taken is in other parts exceedingly beautiful:[141] +but the passage is strikingly illustrative of the tendency of the later +Romish Church, more especially in its most corrupt condition, just +before the Reformation, to throw all religion into forms and ciphers; +which tendency, as it affected Christian ethics, was confirmed by the +Renaissance enthusiasm for the works of Aristotle and Cicero, from whom +the code of the fifteenth century virtues was borrowed, and whose +authority was then infinitely more revered by all the Doctors of the +Church than that either of St. Paul or St. Peter. + +§ XLVIII. Although, however, this change in the tone of the Christian +mind was most distinctly manifested when the revival of literature +rendered the works of the heathen philosophers the leading study of all +the greatest scholars of the period, it had been, as I said before, +taking place gradually from the earliest ages. It is, as far as I know, +that root of the Renaissance poison-tree, which, of all others, is +deepest struck; showing itself in various measures through the writings +of all the Fathers, of course exactly in proportion to the respect which +they paid to classical authors, especially to Plato, Aristotle, and +Cicero. The mode in which the pestilent study of that literature +affected them may be well illustrated by the examination of a single +passage from the works of one of the best of them, St. Ambrose, and of +the mode in which that passage was then amplified and formulized by +later writers. + +§ XLIX. Plato, indeed, studied alone, would have done no one any harm. +He is profoundly spiritual and capacious in all his views, and embraces +the small systems of Aristotle and Cicero, as the solar system does the +Earth. He seems to me especially remarkable for the sense of the great +Christian virtue of Holiness, or sanctification; and for the sense of +the presence of the Deity in all things, great or small, which always +runs in a solemn undercurrent beneath his exquisite playfulness and +irony; while all the merely moral virtues may be found in his writings +defined in the most noble manner, as a great painter defines his +figures, _without outlines_. But the imperfect scholarship of later ages +seems to have gone to Plato, only to find in him the system of Cicero; +which indeed was very definitely expressed by him. For it having been +quickly felt by all men who strove, unhelped by Christian faith, to +enter at the strait gate into the paths of virtue, that there were four +characters of mind which were protective or preservative of all that was +best in man, namely, Prudence, Justice, Courage, and Temperance,[142] +these were afterwards, with most illogical inaccuracy, called cardinal +_virtues_, Prudence being evidently no virtue, but an intellectual gift: +but this inaccuracy arose partly from the ambiguous sense of the Latin +word "virtutes," which sometimes, in mediæval language, signifies +virtues, sometimes powers (being occasionally used in the Vulgate for +the word "hosts," as in Psalm ciii. 21, cxlviii. 2, &c., while +"fortitudines" and "exercitus" are used for the same word in other +places), so that Prudence might properly be styled a power, though not +properly a virtue; and partly from the confusion of Prudence with +Heavenly Wisdom. The real rank of these four virtues, if so they are to +be called, is however properly expressed by the term "cardinal." They +are virtues of the compass, those by which all others are directed and +strengthened; they are not the greatest virtues, but the restraining or +modifying virtues, thus Prudence restrains zeal, Justice restrains +mercy, Fortitude and Temperance guide the entire system of the passions; +and, thus understood, these virtues properly assumed their peculiar +leading or guiding position in the system of Christian ethics. But in +Pagan ethics, they were not only guiding, but comprehensive. They meant +a great deal more on the lips of the ancients, than they now express to +the Christian mind. Cicero's Justice includes charity, beneficence, and +benignity, truth, and faith in the sense of trustworthiness. His +Fortitude includes courage, self-command, the scorn of fortune and of +all temporary felicities. His Temperance includes courtesy and modesty. +So also, in Plato, these four virtues constitute the sum of education. I +do not remember any more simple or perfect expression of the idea, than +in the account given by Socrates, in the "Alcibiades I.," of the +education of the Persian kings, for whom, in their youth, there are +chosen, he says, four tutors from among the Persian nobles; namely, the +Wisest, the most Just, the most Temperate, and the most Brave of them. +Then each has a distinct duty: "The Wisest teaches the young king the +worship of the gods, and the duties of a king (something more here, +observe, than our 'Prudence!'); the most Just teaches him to speak all +truth, and to act out all truth, through the whole course of his life; +the most Temperate teaches him to allow no pleasure to have the mastery +of him, so that he may be truly free, and indeed a king; and the most +Brave makes him fearless of all things, showing him that the moment he +fears anything, he becomes a slave." + +§ L. All this is exceedingly beautiful, so far as it reaches; but the +Christian divines were grievously led astray by their endeavors to +reconcile this system with the nobler law of love. At first, as in the +passage I am just going to quote from St. Ambrose, they tried to graft +the Christian system on the four branches of the Pagan one; but finding +that the tree would not grow, they planted the Pagan and Christian +branches side by side; adding, to the four cardinal virtues, the three +called by the schoolmen theological, namely, Faith, Hope, and Charity: +the one series considered as attainable by the Heathen, but the other by +the Christian only. Thus Virgil to Sordello: + + "Loco e laggiù, non tristo da martiri + Ma di tenebre solo, ove i lamenti + Non suonan come guai, ma son sospiri: + + * * * * * + + Quivi sto io, con quei che le tre sante + Virtù non si vestiro, e senza vizio + Conobbei l' altre, e seguir, tutte quante." + + . . . . . "There I with those abide + Who the Three Holy Virtues put not on, + But understood the rest, and without blame + Followed them all." + + CARY. + +§ LI. This arrangement of the virtues was, however, productive of +infinite confusion and error: in the first place, because Faith is +classed with its own fruits,--the gift of God, which is the root of the +virtues, classed simply as one of them; in the second, because the words +used by the ancients to express the several virtues had always a +different meaning from the same expressions in the Bible, sometimes a +more extended, sometimes a more limited one. Imagine, for instance, the +confusion which must have been introduced into the ideas of a student +who read St. Paul and Aristotle alternately; considering that the word +which the Greek writer uses for Justice, means, with St. Paul, +Righteousness. And lastly, it is impossible to overrate the mischief +produced in former days, as well as in our own, by the mere habit of +reading Aristotle, whose system is so false, so forced, and so +confused, that the study of it at our universities is quite enough to +occasion the utter want of accurate habits of thought which so often +disgraces men otherwise well-educated. In a word, Aristotle mistakes the +Prudence or Temperance which must regulate the operation of the virtues, +for the essence of the virtues themselves; and, striving to show that +all virtues are means between two opposite vices, torments his wit to +discover and distinguish as many pairs of vices as are necessary to the +completion of his system, not disdaining to employ sophistry where +invention fails him. + +And, indeed, the study of classical literature, in general, not only +fostered in the Christian writers the unfortunate love of systematizing, +which gradually degenerated into every species of contemptible +formulism, but it accustomed them to work out their systems by the help +of any logical quibble, or verbal subtlety, which could be made +available for their purpose, and this not with any dishonest intention, +but in a sincere desire to arrange their ideas in systematical groups, +while yet their powers of thought were not accurate enough, nor their +common sense stern enough, to detect the fallacy, or disdain the +finesse, by which these arrangements were frequently accomplished. + +§ LII. Thus St. Ambrose, in his commentary on Luke vi. 20, is resolved +to transform the four Beatitudes there described into rewards of the +four cardinal Virtues, and sets himself thus ingeniously to the task: + +"'Blessed be ye poor.' Here you have Temperance. 'Blessed are ye that +hunger now.' He who hungers, pities those who are an-hungered; in +pitying, he gives to them, and in giving he becomes just (largiendo fit +Justus). 'Blessed are ye that weep now, for ye shall laugh.' Here you +have Prudence, whose part it is to weep, so far as present things are +concerned, and to seek things which are eternal. 'Blessed are ye when +men shall hate you.' Here you have Fortitude." + +§ LIII. As a preparation for this profitable exercise of wit, we have +also a reconciliation of the Beatitudes as stated by St. Matthew, with +those of St. Luke, on the ground that "in those eight are these four, +and in these four are those eight;" with sundry remarks on the mystical +value of the number eight, with which I need not trouble the reader. +With St. Ambrose, however, this puerile systematization is quite +subordinate to a very forcible and truthful exposition of the real +nature of the Christian life. But the classification he employs +furnishes ground for farther subtleties to future divines; and in a MS. +of the thirteenth century I find some expressions in this commentary on +St. Luke, and in the treatise on the duties of bishops, amplified into a +treatise on the "Steps of the Virtues: by which every one who perseveres +may, by a straight path, attain to the heavenly country of the Angels." +("Liber de Gradibus Virtutum: quibus ad patriam angelorum supernam +itinere recto ascenditur ab omni perseverante.") These Steps are thirty +in number (one expressly for each day of the month), and the curious +mode of their association renders the list well worth quoting:-- + +§ LIV. Primus gradus est Fides Recta. Unerring faith. + Secundus " Spes firma. Firm hope. + Tertius " Caritas perfecta. Perfect charity. + 4. " Patientia vera. True patience. + 5. " Humilitas sancta. Holy humility. + 6. " Mansuetudo. Meekness. + 7. " Intelligentia. Understanding. + 8. " Compunctio cordis. Contrition of heart. + 9. " Oratio. Prayer. + 10. " Confessio pura. Pure confession. + 11. " Penitentia digna. Fitting penance.[143] + 12. " Abstinentia. Abstinence (fasting). + 13. " Timor Dei. Fear of God. + 14. " Virginitas. Virginity. + 15. " Justicia. Justice. + 16. " Misericordia. Mercy. + 17. " Elemosina. Almsgiving. + 18. " Hospitalitas. Hospitality. + 19. " Honor parentum. Honoring of parents. + 20. " Silencium. Silence. + 21. " Consilium bonum. Good counsel. + 22. " Judicium rectum. Right judgment. + 23. " Exemplum bonum. Good example. + 24. " Visitatio infirmorum. Visitation of the sick. + 25. " Frequentatio Companying with saints. + sanctorum. + 26. " Oblatio justa. Just oblations. + 27. " Decimas Deo solvere. Paying tithes to God. + 28. " Sapientia. Wisdom. + 29. " Voluntas bona. Goodwill. + 30. " Perseverantia. Perseverance. + +§ LV. The reader will note that the general idea of Christian virtue +embodied in this list is true, exalted, and beautiful; the points of +weakness being the confusion of duties with virtues, and the vain +endeavor to enumerate the various offices of charity as so many separate +virtues; more frequently arranged as seven distinct works of mercy. This +general tendency to a morbid accuracy of classification was associated, +in later times, with another very important element of the Renaissance +mind, the love of personification; which appears to have reached its +greatest vigor in the course of the sixteenth century, and is expressed +to all future ages, in a consummate manner, in the poem of Spenser. It +is to be noted that personification is, in some sort, the reverse of +symbolism, and is far less noble. Symbolism is the setting forth of a +great truth by an imperfect and inferior sign (as, for instance, of the +hope of the resurrection by the form of the phoenix); and it is almost +always employed by men in their most serious moods of faith, rarely in +recreation. Men who use symbolism forcibly are almost always true +believers in what they symbolize. But Personification is the bestowing +of a human or living form upon an abstract idea: it is, in most cases, a +mere recreation of the fancy, and is apt to disturb the belief in the +reality of the thing personified. Thus symbolism constituted the entire +system of the Mosaic dispensation: it occurs in every word of Christ's +teaching; it attaches perpetual mystery to the last and most solemn act +of His life. But I do not recollect a single instance of personification +in any of His words. And as we watch, thenceforward, the history of the +Church, we shall find the declension of its faith exactly marked by the +abandonment of symbolism,[144] and the profuse employment of +personification,--even to such an extent that the virtues came, at last, +to be confused with the saints; and we find in the later Litanies, St. +Faith, St. Hope, St. Charity, and St. Chastity, invoked immediately +after St. Clara and St. Bridget. + +§ LVI. Nevertheless, in the hands of its early and earnest masters, in +whom fancy could not overthrow the foundations of faith, personification +is, often thoroughly noble and lovely; the earlier conditions of it +being just as much more spiritual and vital than the later ones, as the +still earlier symbolism was more spiritual than they. Compare, for +instance, Dante's burning Charity, running and returning at the wheels +of the chariot of God,-- + + "So ruddy, that her form had scarce + Been known within a furnace of clear flame," + +with Reynolds's Charity, a nurse in a white dress, climbed upon by three +children.[145] And not only so, but the number and nature of the virtues +differ considerably in the statements of different poets and painters, +according to their own views of religion, or to the manner of life they +had it in mind to illustrate. Giotto, for instance, arranges his system +altogether differently at Assisi, where he is setting forth the monkish +life, and in the Arena Chapel, where he treats of that of mankind in +general, and where, therefore, he gives only the so-called theological +and cardinal virtues; while, at Assisi, the three principal virtues are +those which are reported to have appeared in vision to St. Francis, +Chastity, Obedience, and Poverty: Chastity being attended by Fortitude, +Purity, and Penance; Obedience by Prudence and Humility; Poverty by Hope +and Charity. The systems vary with almost every writer, and in almost +every important work of art which embodies them, being more or less +spiritual according to the power of intellect by which they were +conceived. The most noble in literature are, I suppose, those of Dante +and Spenser: and with these we may compare five of the most interesting +series in the early art of Italy; namely, those of Orcagna, Giotto, and +Simon Memmi, at Florence and Padua, and those of St. Mark's and the +Ducal Palace at Venice. Of course, in the richest of these series, the +vices are personified together with the virtues, as in the Ducal Palace; +and by the form or name of opposed vice, we may often ascertain, with +much greater accuracy than would otherwise be possible, the particular +idea of the contrary virtue in the mind of the writer or painter. Thus, +when opposed to Prudence, or Prudentia, on the one side, we find Folly, +or Stultitia, on the other, it shows that the virtue understood by +Prudence, is not the mere guiding or cardinal virtue, but the Heavenly +Wisdom,[146] opposed to that folly which "hath said in its heart, there +is no God;" and of which it is said, "the thought of foolishness is +sin;" and again, "Such as be foolish shall not stand in thy sight." This +folly is personified, in early painting and illumination, by a +half-naked man, greedily eating an apple or other fruit, and brandishing +a club; showing that sensuality and violence are the two principal +characteristics of Foolishness, and lead into atheism. The figure, in +early Psalters, always forms the letter D, which commences the +fifty-third Psalm, "_Dixit insipiens_." + +§ LVII. In reading Dante, this mode of reasoning from contraries is a +great help, for his philosophy of the vices is the only one which admits +of classification; his descriptions of virtue, while they include the +ordinary formal divisions, are far too profound and extended to be +brought under definition. Every line of the "Paradise" is full of the +most exquisite and spiritual expressions of Christian truth; and that +poem is only less read than the "Inferno" because it requires far +greater attention, and, perhaps, for its full enjoyment, a holier heart. + + +§ LVIII. His system in the "Inferno" is briefly this. The whole nether +world is divided into seven circles, deep within deep, in each of which, +according to its depth, severer punishment is inflicted. These seven +circles, reckoning them downwards, are thus allotted: + + 1. To those who have lived virtuously, but knew not Christ. + 2. To Lust. + 3. To Gluttony. + 4. To Avarice and Extravagance. + 5. To Anger and _Sorrow_. + 6. To Heresy. + 7. To Violence and Fraud. + +This seventh circle is divided into two parts; of which the first, +reserved for those who have been guilty of Violence, is again divided +into three, apportioned severally to those who have committed, or +desired to commit, violence against their neighbors, against themselves, +or against God. + +The lowest hell, reserved for the punishment of Fraud, is itself divided +into ten circles, wherein are severally punished the sins of,-- + + 1. Betraying women. + 2. Flattery. + 3. Simony. + 4. False prophecy. + 5. Peculation. + 6. Hypocrisy. + 7. Theft. + 8. False counsel. + 9. Schism and Imposture. + 10. Treachery to those who repose entire trust in the traitor. + +§ LIX. There is, perhaps, nothing more notable in this most interesting +system than the profound truth couched under the attachment of so +terrible a penalty to sadness or sorrow. It is true that Idleness does +not elsewhere appear in the scheme, and is evidently intended to be +included in the guilt of sadness by the word "accidioso;" but the main +meaning of the poet is to mark the duty of rejoicing in God, according +both to St. Paul's command, and Isaiah's promise, "Thou meetest him that +rejoiceth and worketh righteousness."[147] I do not know words that +might with more benefit be borne with us, and set in our hearts +momentarily against the minor regrets and rebelliousnesses of life, than +these simple ones: + + "Tristi fummo + Nel aer dolce, che del sol s' allegra, + Or ci attristiam, nella belletta negra." + + "We once were sad, + In the sweet air, made gladsome by the sun, + Now in these murky settlings are we sad."[148] CARY. + +The virtue usually opposed to this vice of sullenness is Alacritas, +uniting the sense of activity and cheerfulness. Spenser has cheerfulness +simply, in his description, never enough to be loved or praised, of the +virtues of Womanhood; first feminineness or womanhood in specialty; +then,-- + + "Next to her sate goodly Shamefastnesse, + Ne ever durst, her eyes from ground upreare, + Ne ever once did looke up from her desse,[149] + As if some blame of evill she did feare + That in her cheekes made roses oft appeare: + And her against sweet Cherefulnesse was placed, + Whose eyes, like twinkling stars in evening cleare, + Were deckt with smyles that all sad humours chaced. + + "And next to her sate sober Modestie, + Holding her hand upon her gentle hart; + And her against, sate comely Curtesie, + _That unto every person knew her part_; + And her before was seated overthwart + Soft Silence, and submisse Obedience, + Both linckt together never to dispart." + +§ LX. Another notable point in Dante's system is the intensity of +uttermost punishment given to treason, the peculiar sin of Italy, and +that to which, at this day, she attributes her own misery with her own +lips. An Italian, questioned as to the causes of the failure of the +campaign of 1848, always makes one answer, "We were betrayed;" and the +most melancholy feature of the present state of Italy is principally +this, that she does not see that, of all causes to which failure might +be attributed, this is at once the most disgraceful, and the most +hopeless. In fact, Dante seems to me to have written almost +prophetically, for the instruction of modern Italy, and chiefly so in +the sixth canto of the "Purgatorio." + +§ LXI. Hitherto we have been considering the system of the "Inferno" +only. That of the "Purgatorio" is much simpler, it being divided into +seven districts, in which the souls are severally purified from the sins +of Pride, Envy, Wrath, Indifference, Avarice, Gluttony, and Lust; the +poet thus implying in opposition, and describing in various instances, +the seven virtues of Humility, Kindness,[150] Patience, Zeal, Poverty, +Abstinence, and Chastity, as adjuncts of the Christian character, in +which it may occasionally fail, while the essential group of the three +theological and four cardinal virtues are represented as in direct +attendance on the chariot of the Deity; and all the sins of Christians +are in the seventeenth canto traced to the deficiency or aberration of +Affection. + +§ LXII. The system of Spenser is unfinished, and exceedingly +complicated, the same vices and virtues occurring under different forms +in different places, in order to show their different relations to each +other. I shall not therefore give any general sketch of it, but only +refer to the particular personification of each virtue in order to +compare it with that of the Ducal Palace.[151] The peculiar superiority +of his system is in its exquisite setting forth of Chastity under the +figure of Britomart; not monkish chastity, but that of the purest Love. +In completeness of personification no one can approach him; not even in +Dante do I remember anything quite so great as the description of the +Captain of the Lusts of the Flesh: + + "As pale and wan as ashes was his looke; + His body lean and meagre as a rake; + And skin all withered like a dryed rooke; + Thereto as cold and drery as a snake; + That seemed to tremble evermore, and quake: + _All in a canvas thin he was bedight, + And girded with a belt of twisted brake_: + Upon his head he wore an helmet light, + Made of a dead man's skull." + +He rides upon a tiger, and in his hand is a bow, bent; + + "And many arrows under his right side, + Headed with flint, and fethers bloody dide." + +The horror and the truth of this are beyond everything that I know, out +of the pages of Inspiration. Note the heading of the arrows with flint, +because sharper and more subtle in the edge than steel, and because +steel might consume away with rust, but flint not; and consider in the +whole description how the wasting away of body and soul together, and +the _coldness_ of the heart, which unholy fire has consumed into ashes, +and the loss of all power, and the kindling of all terrible impatience, +and the implanting of thorny and inextricable griefs, are set forth by +the various images, the belt of brake, the tiger steed, and the _light_ +helmet, girding the head with death. + +§ LXIII. Perhaps the most interesting series of the Virtues expressed in +Italian art are those above mentioned of Simon Memmi in the Spanish +chapel at Florence, of Ambrogio di Lorenzo in the Palazzo Publico of +Pisa, of Orcagna in Or San Michele at Florence, of Giotto at Padua and +Assisi, in mosaic on the central cupola of St. Mark's, and in sculpture +on the pillars of the Ducal Palace. The first two series are carefully +described by Lord Lindsay; both are too complicated for comparison with +the more simple series of the Ducal Palace; the other four of course +agree in giving first the cardinal and evangelical virtues; their +variations in the statement of the rest will be best understood by +putting them in a parallel arrangement. + + ST. MARK'S. ORCAGNA. GIOTTO. DUCAL PALACE. + + Constancy. Perseverance. Constancy. + Modesty. Modesty. + Chastity. Virginity Chastity. Chastity. + Patience. Patience. Patience. + Mercy. + Abstinence. Abstinence? + Piety.[152] Devotion. + Benignity. + Humility. Humility. Humility. Humility. + Obedience. Obedience. Obedience. + Docility. + Caution. + Poverty. _Honesty._ + Liberality. + _Alacrity_. + +§ LXIV. It is curious, that in none of these lists do we find either +_Honesty_ or _Industry_ ranked as a virtue, except in the Venetian one, +where the latter is implied in Alacritas, and opposed not only by +"Accidia" or sloth, but by a whole series of eight sculptures on another +capital, illustrative, as I believe, of the temptations to idleness; +while various other capitals, as we shall see presently, are devoted to +the representation of the active trades. Industry, in Northern art and +Northern morality, assumes a very principal place. I have seen in French +manuscripts the virtues reduced to these seven, Charity, Chastity, +Patience, Abstinence, Humility, Liberality, and Industry: and I doubt +whether, if we were but to add Honesty (or Truth), a wiser or shorter +list could be made out. + +§ LXV. We will now take the pillars of the Ducal Palace in their order. +It has already been mentioned (Vol. I. Chap. I. § XLVI.) that there are, +in all, thirty-six great pillars supporting the lower story; and that +these are to be counted from right to left, because then the more +ancient of them come first: and that, thus arranged, the first, which is +not a shaft, but a pilaster, will be the support of the Vine angle; the +eighteenth will be the great shaft of the Fig-tree angle; and the +thirty-sixth, that of the Judgment angle. + +§ LXVI. All their capitals, except that of the first, are octagonal, and +are decorated by sixteen leaves, differently enriched in every capital, +but arranged in the same way; eight of them rising to the angles, and +there forming volutes; the eight others set between them, on the sides, +rising half-way up the bell of the capital; there nodding forward, and +showing above them, rising out of their luxuriance, the groups or single +figures which we have to examine.[153] In some instances, the +intermediate or lower leaves are reduced to eight sprays of foliage; and +the capital is left dependent for its effect on the bold position of the +figures. In referring to the figures on the octagonal capitals, I shall +call the outer side, fronting either the Sea or the Piazzetta, the first +side; and so count round from left to right; the fourth side being thus, +of course, the innermost. As, however, the first five arches were walled +up after the great fire, only three sides of their capitals are left +visible, which we may describe as the front and the eastern and western +sides of each. + +§ LXVII. FIRST CAPITAL: i.e. of the pilaster at the Vine angle. + +In front, towards the Sea. A child holding a bird before him, with its +wings expanded, covering his breast. + +On its eastern side. Children's heads among leaves. + +On its western side. A child carrying in one hand a comb; in the other, +a pair of scissors. + +It appears curious, that this, the principal pilaster of the façade, +should have been decorated only by these graceful grotesques, for I can +hardly suppose them anything more. There may be meaning in them, but I +will not venture to conjecture any, except the very plain and practical +meaning conveyed by the last figure to all Venetian children, which it +would be well if they would act upon. For the rest, I have seen the comb +introduced in grotesque work as early as the thirteenth century, but +generally for the purpose of ridiculing too great care in dressing the +hair, which assuredly is not its purpose here. The children's heads are +very sweet and full of life, but the eyes sharp and small. + +§ LXVIII. SECOND CAPITAL. Only three sides of the original work are left +unburied by the mass of added wall. Each side has a bird, one +web-footed, with a fish, one clawed, with a serpent, which opens its +jaws, and darts its tongue at the bird's breast; the third pluming +itself, with a feather between the mandibles of its bill. It is by far +the most beautiful of the three capitals decorated with birds. + +THIRD CAPITAL. Also has three sides only left. They have three heads, +large, and very ill cut; one female, and crowned. + +FOURTH CAPITAL. Has three children. The eastern one is defaced: the one +in front holds a small bird, whose plumage is beautifully indicated, in +its right hand; and with its left holds up half a walnut, showing the +nut inside: the third holds a fresh fig, cut through, showing the seeds. + +The hair of all the three children is differently worked: the first has +luxuriant flowing hair, and a double chin; the second, light flowing +hair falling in pointed locks on the forehead; the third, crisp curling +hair, deep cut with drill holes. + +This capital has been copied on the Renaissance side of the palace, only +with such changes in the ideal of the children as the workman thought +expedient and natural. It is highly interesting to compare the child of +the fourteenth with the child of the fifteenth century. The early heads +are full of youthful life, playful, humane, affectionate, beaming with +sensation and vivacity, but with much manliness and firmness, also, not +a little cunning, and some cruelty perhaps, beneath all; the features +small and hard, and the eyes keen. There is the making of rough and +great men in them. But the children of the fifteenth century are dull +smooth-faced dunces, without a single meaning line in the fatness of +their stolid cheeks; and, although, in the vulgar sense, as handsome as +the other children are ugly, capable of becoming nothing but perfumed +coxcombs. + +FIFTH CAPITAL. Still three sides only left, bearing three half-length +statues of kings; this is the first capital which bears any inscription. +In front, a king with a sword in his right hand points to a handkerchief +embroidered and fringed, with a head on it, carved on the cavetto of the +abacus. His name is written above, "TITUS VESPASIAN IMPERATOR" +(contracted [Illustration: IPAT.]). + +On eastern side, "TRAJANUS IMPERATOR." Crowned, a sword in right hand, +and sceptre in left. + +On western, "(OCT)AVIANUS AUGUSTUS IMPERATOR." The "OCT" is broken away. +He bears a globe in his right hand, with "MUNDUS PACIS" upon it; a +sceptre in his left, which I think has terminated in a human figure. He +has a flowing beard, and a singularly high crown; the face is much +injured, but has once been very noble in expression. + +SIXTH CAPITAL. Has large male and female heads, very coarsely cut, hard, +and bad. + +§ LXIX. SEVENTH CAPITAL. This is the first of the series which is +complete; the first open arch of the lower arcade being between it and +the sixth. It begins the representation of the Virtues. + +_First side_. Largitas, or Liberality: always distinguished from the +higher Charity. A male figure, with his lap full of money, which he +pours out of his hand. The coins are plain, circular, and smooth; there +is no attempt to mark device upon them. The inscription above is, +"LARGITAS ME ONORAT." + +In the copy of this design on the twenty-fifth capital, instead of +showering out the gold from his open hand, the figure holds it in a +plate or salver, introduced for the sake of disguising the direct +imitation. The changes thus made in the Renaissance pillars are always +injuries. + +This virtue is the proper opponent of Avarice; though it does not occur +in the systems of Orcagna or Giotto, being included in Charity. It was a +leading virtue with Aristotle and the other ancients. + +§ LXX. _Second side_. Constancy; not very characteristic. An armed man +with a sword in his hand, inscribed, "CONSTANTIA SUM, NIL TIMENS." + +This virtue is one of the forms of fortitude, and Giotto therefore sets +as the vice opponent to Fortitude, "Inconstantia," represented as a +woman in loose drapery, falling from a rolling globe. The vision seen in +the interpreter's house in the Pilgrim's Progress, of the man with a +very bold countenance, who says to him who has the writer's ink-horn by +his side, "Set down my name," is the best personification of the +Venetian "Constantia" of which I am aware in literature. It would be +well for us all to consider whether we have yet given the order to the +man with the ink-horn, "Set down my name." + +§ LXXI. _Third side_. Discord; holding up her finger, but needing the +inscription above to assure us of her meaning, "DISCORDIA SUM, +DISCORDANS." In the Renaissance copy she is a meek and nun-like person +with a veil. + +She is the Atë of Spenser; "mother of debate," thus described in the +fourth book: + + "Her face most fowle and filthy was to see, + With squinted eyes contrarie wayes intended; + And loathly mouth, unmeete a mouth to bee, + That nought but gall and venim comprehended, + And wicked wordes that God and man offended: + Her lying tongue was in two parts divided, + And both the parts did speake, and both contended; + And as her tongue, so was her hart discided, + That never thoght one thing, but doubly stil was guided." + +Note the fine old meaning of "discided," cut in two; it is a great pity +we have lost this powerful expression. We might keep "determined" for +the other sense of the word. + +§ LXXII. _Fourth side._ Patience. A female figure, very expressive and +lovely, in a hood, with her right hand on her breast, the left extended, +inscribed "PATIENTIA MANET MECUM." + +She is one of the principal virtues in all the Christian systems: a +masculine virtue in Spenser, and beautifully placed as the _Physician_ +in the House of Holinesse. The opponent vice, Impatience, is one of the +hags who attend the Captain of the Lusts of the Flesh; the other being +Impotence. In like manner, in the "Pilgrim's Progress," the opposite of +Patience is Passion; but Spenser's thought is farther carried. His two +hags, Impatience and Impotence, as attendant upon the evil spirit of +Passion, embrace all the phenomena of human conduct, down even to the +smallest matters, according to the adage, "More haste, worse speed." + +§ LXXIII. _Fifth side._ Despair. A female figure thrusting a dagger into +her throat, and tearing her long hair, which flows down among the leaves +of the capital below her knees. One of the finest figures of the series; +inscribed "DESPERACIO MÔS (mortis?) CRUDELIS." In the Renaissance copy +she is totally devoid of expression, and appears, instead of tearing her +hair, to be dividing it into long curls on each side. + +This vice is the proper opposite of Hope. By Giotto she is represented +as a woman hanging herself, a fiend coming for her soul. Spenser's +vision of Despair is well known, it being indeed currently reported that +this part of the Faerie Queen was the first which drew to it the +attention of Sir Philip Sidney. + +§ LXXIV. _Sixth side._ Obedience: with her arms folded; meek, but rude +and commonplace, looking at a little dog standing on its hind legs and +begging, with a collar round its neck. Inscribed "OBEDIENTI * *;" the +rest of the sentence is much defaced, but looks like [Illustration: +Graphic signs]. I suppose the note of contraction above the final A has +disappeared and that the inscription was "Obedientiam domino exhibeo." + +This virtue is, of course, a principal one in the monkish systems; +represented by Giotto at Assisi as "an angel robed in black, placing the +finger of his left hand on his mouth, and passing the yoke over the head +of a Franciscan monk kneeling at his feet."[154] + +Obedience holds a less principal place in Spenser. We have seen her +above associated with the other peculiar virtues of womanhood. + +§ LXXV. _Seventh side._ Infidelity. A man in a turban, with a small +image in his hand, or the image of a child. Of the inscription nothing +but "INFIDELITATE * * *" and some fragmentary letters, "ILI, CERO," +remain. + +By Giotto Infidelity is most nobly symbolized as a woman helmeted, the +helmet having a broad rim which keeps the light from her eyes. She is +covered with heavy drapery, stands infirmly as if about to fall, is +_bound by a cord round her neck to an image_ which she carries in her +hand, and has flames bursting forth at her feet. + +In Spenser, Infidelity is the Saracen knight Sans Foy,-- + + "Full large of limbe and every joint + He was, and cared not for God or man a point." + +For the part which he sustains in the contest with Godly Fear, or the +Red-cross knight, see Appendix 2, Vol. III. + +§ LXXVI. _Eighth side_. Modesty; bearing a pitcher. (In the Renaissance +copy, a vase like a coffee-pot.) Inscribed "MODESTIA [Illustration: +Graphic signs]." + +I do not find this virtue in any of the Italian series, except that of +Venice. In Spenser she is of course one of those attendant on +Womanhood, but occurs as one of the tenants of the Heart of Man, thus +portrayed in the second book: + + "Straunge was her tyre, and all her garment blew, + Close rownd about her tuckt with many a plight: + Upon her fist the bird which shonneth vew. + + * * * * * + + And ever and anone with rosy red + The bashfull blood her snowy cheekes did dye, + That her became, as polisht yvory + Which cunning craftesman hand hath overlayd + With fayre vermilion or pure castory." + +§ LXXVII. EIGHTH CAPITAL. It has no inscriptions, and its subjects are +not, by themselves, intelligible; but they appear to be typical of the +degradation of human instincts. + +_First side._ A caricature of Arion on his dolphin; he wears a cap +ending in a long proboscis-like horn, and plays a violin with a curious +twitch of the bow and wag of the head, very graphically expressed, but +still without anything approaching to the power of Northern grotesque. +His dolphin has a goodly row of teeth, and the waves beat over his back. + +_Second side._ A human figure, with curly hair and the legs of a bear; +the paws laid, with great sculptural skill, upon the foliage. It plays a +violin, shaped like a guitar, with a bent double-stringed bow. + +_Third side._ A figure with a serpent's tail and a monstrous head, +founded on a Negro type, hollow-cheeked, large-lipped, and wearing a cap +made of a serpent's skin, holding a fir-cone in its hand. + +_Fourth side._ A monstrous figure, terminating below in a tortoise. It +is devouring a gourd, which it grasps greedily with both hands; it wears +a cap ending in a hoofed leg. + +_Fifth side._ A centaur wearing a crested helmet, and holding a curved +sword. + +_Sixth side._ A knight, riding a headless horse, and wearing chain +armor, with a triangular shield flung behind his back, and a two-edged +sword. + +_Seventh side._ A figure like that on the fifth, wearing a round +helmet, and with the legs and tail of a horse. He bears a long mace with +a top like a fir-cone. + +_Eighth side._ A figure with curly hair, and an acorn in its hand, +ending below in a fish. + +§ LXXVIII. Ninth Capital. _First side._ Faith. She has her left hand on +her breast, and the cross on her right. Inscribed "FIDES OPTIMA IN DEO." +The Faith of Giotto holds the cross in her right hand; in her left, a +scroll with the Apostles' Creed. She treads upon cabalistic books, and +has a key suspended to her waist. Spenser's Faith (Fidelia) is still +more spiritual and noble: + + "She was araied all in lilly white, + And in her right hand bore a cup of gold, + With wine and water fild up to the hight, + In which a serpent did himselfe enfold, + That horrour made to all that did behold; + But she no whitt did chaunge her constant mood: + And in her other hand she fast did hold + A booke, that was both signd and seald with blood; + Wherein darke things were writt, hard to be understood." + +§ LXXIX. _Second side._ Fortitude. A long-bearded man [Samson?] tearing +open a lion's jaw. The inscription is illegible, and the somewhat vulgar +personification appears to belong rather to Courage than Fortitude. On +the Renaissance copy it is inscribed "FORTITUDO SUM VIRILIS." The Latin +word has, perhaps, been received by the sculptor as merely signifying +"Strength," the rest of the perfect idea of this virtue having been +given in "Constantia" previously. But both these Venetian symbols +together do not at all approach the idea of Fortitude as given generally +by Giotto and the Pisan sculptors; clothed with a lion's skin, knotted +about her neck, and falling to her feet in deep folds; drawing back her +right hand, with the sword pointed towards her enemy; and slightly +retired behind her immovable shield, which, with Giotto, is square, and +rested on the ground like a tower, covering her up to above her +shoulders; bearing on it a lion, and with broken heads of javelins +deeply infixed. + +Among the Greeks, this is, of course, one of the principal virtues; +apt, however, in their ordinary conception of it to degenerate into mere +manliness or courage. + +§ LXXX. _Third side._ Temperance; bearing a pitcher of water and a cup. +Inscription, illegible here, and on the Renaissance copy nearly so, +"TEMPERANTIA SUM" (INOM' L^s)? only left. In this somewhat vulgar and +most frequent conception of this virtue (afterwards continually +repeated, as by Sir Joshua in his window at New College) temperance is +confused with mere abstinence, the opposite of Gula, or gluttony; +whereas the Greek Temperance, a truly cardinal virtue, is the moderator +of _all_ the passions, and so represented by Giotto, who has placed a +bridle upon her lips, and a sword in her hand, the hilt of which she is +binding to the scabbard. In his system, she is opposed among the vices, +not by Gula or Gluttony, but by Ira, Anger. So also the Temperance of +Spenser, or Sir Guyon, but with mingling of much sternness: + + "A goodly knight, all armd in harnesse meete, + That from his head no place appeared to his feete, + His carriage was full comely and upright; + His countenance demure and temperate; + But yett so sterne and terrible in sight, + That cheard his friendes, and did his foes amate." + +The Temperance of the Greeks, [Greek: sôphrosynê], involves the idea of +Prudence, and is a most noble virtue, yet properly marked by Plato as +inferior to sacred enthusiasm, though necessary for its government. He +opposes it, under the name "Mortal Temperance" or "the Temperance which +is of men," to divine madness, [Greek: mania], or inspiration; but he +most justly and nobly expresses the general idea of it under the term +[Greek: hubris], which, in the "Phædrus," is divided into various +intemperances with respect to various objects, and set forth under the +image of a black, vicious, diseased and furious horse, yoked by the side +of Prudence or Wisdom (set forth under the figure of a white horse with +a crested and noble head, like that which we have among the Elgin +Marbles) to the chariot of the Soul. The system of Aristotle, as above +stated, is throughout a mere complicated blunder, supported by +sophistry, the laboriously developed mistake of Temperance for the +essence of the virtues which it guides. Temperance in the mediæval +systems is generally opposed by Anger, or by Folly, or Gluttony: but her +proper opposite is Spenser's Acrasia, the principal enemy of Sir Guyon, +at whose gates we find the subordinate vice "Excesse," as the +introduction to Intemperance; a graceful and feminine image, necessary +to illustrate the more dangerous forms of subtle intemperance, as +opposed to the brutal "Gluttony" in the first book. She presses grapes +into a cup, because of the words of St. Paul, "Be not drunk with wine, +wherein is excess;" but always delicately, + + "Into her cup she scruzd with daintie breach + Of her fine fingers, without fowle empeach, + That so faire winepresse made the wine more sweet." + +The reader will, I trust, pardon these frequent extracts from Spenser, +for it is nearly as necessary to point out the profound divinity and +philosophy of our great English poet, as the beauty of the Ducal Palace. + +§ LXXXI. _Fourth side._ Humility; with a veil upon her head, carrying a +lamp in her lap. Inscribed in the copy, "HUMILITAS HABITAT IN ME." + +This virtue is of course a peculiarly Christian one, hardly recognized +in the Pagan systems, though carefully impressed upon the Greeks in +early life in a manner which at this day it would be well if we were to +imitate, and, together with an almost feminine modesty, giving an +exquisite grace to the conduct and bearing of the well-educated Greek +youth. It is, of course, one of the leading virtues in all the monkish +systems, but I have not any notes of the manner of its representation. + +§ LXXXII. _Fifth side._ Charity. A woman with her lap full of loaves(?), +giving one to a child, who stretches his arm out for it across a broad +gap in the leafage of the capital. + +Again very far inferior to the Giottesque rendering of this virtue. In +the Arena Chapel she is distinguished from all the other virtues by +having a circular glory round her head, and a cross of fire; she is +crowned with flowers, presents with her right hand a vase of corn and +fruit, and with her left receives treasure from Christ, who appears +above her, to provide her with the means of continual offices of +beneficence, while she tramples under foot the treasures of the earth. + +The peculiar beauty of most of the Italian conceptions of Charity, is in +the subjection of mere munificence to the glowing of her love, always +represented by flames; here in the form of a cross round her head; in +Oreagna's shrine at Florence, issuing from a censer in her hand; and, +with Dante, inflaming her whole form, so that, in a furnace of clear +fire, she could not have been discerned. + +Spenser represents her as a mother surrounded by happy children, an idea +afterwards grievously hackneyed and vulgarized by English painters and +sculptors. + +§ LXXXIII. _Sixth side._ Justice. Crowned, and with sword. Inscribed in +the copy, "REX SUM JUSTICIE." + +This idea was afterwards much amplified and adorned in the only good +capital of the Renaissance series, under the Judgment angle. Giotto has +also given his whole strength to the painting of this virtue, +representing her as enthroned under a noble Gothic canopy, holding +scales, not by the beam, but one in each hand; a beautiful idea, showing +that the equality of the scales of Justice is not owing to natural laws, +but to her own immediate weighing the opposed causes in her own hands. +In one scale is an executioner beheading a criminal; in the other an +angel crowning a man who seems (in Selvatico's plate) to have been +working at a desk or table. + +Beneath her feet is a small predella, representing various persons +riding securely in the woods, and others dancing to the sound of music. + +Spenser's Justice, Sir Artegall, is the hero of an entire book, and the +betrothed knight of Britomart, or chastity. + +§ LXXXIV. _Seventh side._ Prudence. A man with a book and a pair of +compasses, wearing the noble cap, hanging down towards the shoulder, and +bound in a fillet round the brow, which occurs so frequently during the +fourteenth century in Italy in the portraits of men occupied in any +civil capacity. + +This virtue is, as we have seen, conceived under very different degrees +of dignity, from mere worldly prudence up to heavenly wisdom, being +opposed sometimes by Stultitia, sometimes by Ignorantia. I do not find, +in any of the representations of her, that her truly distinctive +character, namely, _forethought_, is enough insisted upon: Giotto +expresses her vigilance and just measurement or estimate of all things +by painting her as Janus-headed, and gazing into a convex mirror, with +compasses in her right hand; the convex mirror showing her power of +looking at many things in small compass. But forethought or +anticipation, by which, independently of greater or less natural +capacities, one man becomes more _prudent_ than another, is never enough +considered or symbolized. + +The idea of this virtue oscillates, in the Greek systems, between +Temperance and Heavenly Wisdom. + +§ LXXXV. _Eighth side._ Hope. A figure full of devotional expression, +holding up its hands as in prayer, and looking to a hand which is +extended towards it out of sunbeams. In the Renaissance copy this hand +does not appear. + +Of all the virtues, this is the most distinctively Christian (it could +not, of course, enter definitely into any Pagan scheme); and above all +others, it seems to me the _testing_ virtue,--that by the possession of +which we may most certainly determine whether we are Christians or not; +for many men have charity, that is to say, general kindness of heart, or +even a kind of faith, who have not any habitual _hope_ of, or longing +for, heaven. The Hope of Giotto is represented as winged, rising in the +air, while an angel holds a crown before her. I do not know if Spenser +was the first to introduce our marine virtue, leaning on an anchor, a +symbol as inaccurate as it is vulgar: for, in the first place, anchors +are not for men, but for ships; and in the second, anchorage is the +characteristic not of Hope, but of Faith. Faith is dependent, but Hope +is aspirant. Spenser, however, introduces Hope twice,--the first time as +the Virtue with the anchor; but afterwards fallacious Hope, far more +beautifully, in the Masque of Cupid: + + "She always smyld, and in her hand did hold + An holy-water sprinckle, dipt in deowe." + +§ LXXXVI. Tenth Capital. _First side._ Luxury (the opposite of chastity, +as above explained). A woman with a jewelled chain across her forehead, +smiling as she looks into a mirror, exposing her breast by drawing down +her dress with one hand. Inscribed "LUXURIA SUM IMENSA." + +These subordinate forms of vice are not met with so frequently in art as +those of the opposite virtues, but in Spenser we find them all. His +Luxury rides upon a goat: + + "In a greene gowne he clothed was full faire, + Which underneath did hide his filthinesse, + And in his hand a burning hart he bare." + +But, in fact, the proper and comprehensive expression of this vice is +the Cupid of the ancients; and there is not any minor circumstance more +indicative of the _intense_ difference between the mediæval and the +Renaissance spirit, than the mode in which this god is represented. + +I have above said, that all great European art is rooted in the +thirteenth century; and it seems to me that there is a kind of central +year about which we may consider the energy of the middle ages to be +gathered; a kind of focus of time which, by what is to my mind a most +touching and impressive Divine appointment, has been marked for us by +the greatest writer of the middle ages, in the first words he utters; +namely, the year 1300, the "mezzo del cammin" of the life of Dante. Now, +therefore, to Giotto, the contemporary of Dante, and who drew Dante's +still existing portrait in this very year, 1300, we may always look for +the central mediæval idea in any subject: and observe how he represents +Cupid; as one of three, a terrible trinity, his companions being Satan +and Death; and he himself "a lean scarecrow, with bow, quiver, and +fillet, and feet ending in claws,"[155] thrust down into Hell by +Penance, from the presence of Purity and Fortitude. Spenser, who has +been so often noticed as furnishing the exactly intermediate type of +conception between the mediæval and the Renaissance, indeed represents +Cupid under the form of a beautiful winged god, and riding on a lion, +but still no plaything of the Graces, but full of terror: + + "With that the darts which his right hand did straine + Full dreadfully he shooke, that all did quake, + And clapt on hye his coloured winges twaine, + That all his many it afraide did make." + +His _many_, that is to say, his company; and observe what a company it +is. Before him go Fancy, Desire, Doubt, Danger, Fear, Fallacious Hope, +Dissemblance, Suspicion, Grief, Fury, Displeasure, Despite, and Cruelty. +After him, Reproach, Repentance, Shame, + + "Unquiet Care, and fond Unthriftyhead, + Lewd Losse of Time, and Sorrow seeming dead, + Inconstant Chaunge, and false Disloyalty, + Consuming Riotise, and guilty Dread + Of heavenly vengeaunce; faint Infirmity, + Vile Poverty, and lastly Death with infamy." + +Compare these two pictures of Cupid with the Love-god of the +Renaissance, as he is represented to this day, confused with angels, in +every faded form of ornament and allegory, in our furniture, our +literature, and our minds. + +§ LXXXVII. _Second side._ Gluttony. A woman in a turban, with a jewelled +cup in her right hand. In her left, the clawed limb of a bird, which she +is gnawing. Inscribed "GULA SINE ORDINE SUM." + +Spenser's Gluttony is more than usually fine: + + "His belly was upblowne with luxury, + And eke with fatnesse swollen were his eyne, + And like a crane his necke was long and fyne, + Wherewith he swallowed up excessive feast, + For want whereof poore people oft did pyne." + +He rides upon a swine, and is clad in vine-leaves, with a garland of +ivy. Compare the account of Excesse, above, as opposed to Temperance. + +§ LXXXVIII. _Third side._ Pride. A knight, with a heavy and stupid face, +holding a sword with three edges: his armor covered with ornaments in +the form of roses, and with two ears attached to his helmet. The +inscription indecipherable, all but "SUPERBIA." + +Spenser has analyzed this vice with great care. He first represents it +as the Pride of life; that is to say, the pride which runs in a deep +under current through all the thoughts and acts of men. As such, it is a +feminine vice, directly opposed to Holiness, and mistress of a castle +called the House of Pryde, and her chariot is driven by Satan, with a +team of beasts, ridden by the mortal sins. In the throne chamber of her +palace she is thus described: + + "So proud she shyned in her princely state, + Looking to Heaven, for Earth she did disdayne; + And sitting high, for lowly she did hate: + Lo, underneath her scornefull feete was layne + A dreadfull dragon with an hideous trayne; + And in her hand she held a mirrhour bright, + Wherein her face she often vewed fayne" + +The giant Orgoglio is a baser species of pride, born of the Earth and +Eolus; that is to say, of sensual and vain conceits. His foster-father +and the keeper of his castle is Ignorance. (Book I. canto VIII.) + +Finally, Disdain is introduced, in other places, as the form of pride +which vents itself in insult to others. + +§ LXXXIX. _Fourth side._ Anger. A woman tearing her dress open at her +breast. Inscription here undecipherable; but in the Renaissance copy it +is "IRA CRUDELIS EST IN ME." + +Giotto represents this vice under the same symbol; but it is the weakest +of all the figures in the Arena Chapel. The "Wrath" of Spenser rides upon +a lion, brandishing a fire-brand, his garments stained with blood. Rage, +or Furor, occurs subordinately in other places. It appears to me very +strange that neither Giotto nor Spenser should have given any +representation of the _restrained_ Anger, which is infinitely the most +terrible; both of them make him violent. + +§ XC. _Fifth side._ Avarice. An old woman with a veil over her forehead, +and a bag of money in each hand. A figure very marvellous for power of +expression. The throat is all made up of sinews with skinny channels +deep between them, strained as by anxiety, and wasted by famine; the +features hunger-bitten, the eyes hollow, the look glaring and intense, +yet without the slightest: caricature. Inscribed in the Renaissance +copy, "AVARITIA IMPLETOR." + +Spenser's Avarice (the vice) is much feebler than this; but the god +Mammon and his kingdom have been described by him with his usual power. +Note the position of the house of Richesse: + + "Betwixt them both was but a little stride, + That did the House of Richesse from Hell-mouth divide." + +It is curious that most moralists confuse avarice with covetousness, +although they are vices totally different in their operation on the +human heart, and on the frame of society. The love of money, the sin of +Judas and Ananias, is indeed the root of all evil in the hardening of +the heart; but "covetousness, which is idolatry," the sin of Ahab, that +is, the inordinate desire of some seen or recognized good,--thus +destroying peace of mind,--is probably productive of much more misery in +heart, and error in conduct, than avarice itself, only covetousness is +not so inconsistent with Christianity: for covetousness may partly +proceed from vividness of the affections and hopes, as in David, and be +consistent with, much charity; not so avarice. + +§ XCI. _Sixth side_. Idleness. Accidia. A figure much broken away, +having had its arms round two branches of trees. + +I do not know why Idleness should be represented as among trees, unless, +in the Italy of the fourteenth century, forest country was considered as +desert, and therefore the domain of Idleness. Spenser fastens this vice +especially upon the clergy,-- + + "Upon a slouthfull asse he chose to ryde, + Arayd in habit blacke, and amis thin, + Like to an holy monck, the service to begin. + And in his hand his portesse still he bare, + That much was worne, but therein little redd." + +And he properly makes him the leader of the train of the vices: + + "May seem the wayne was very evil ledd, + When such an one had guiding of the way" + +Observe that subtle touch of truth in the "wearing" of the portesse, +indicating the abuse of books by idle readers, so thoroughly +characteristic of unwilling studentship from the schoolboy upwards. + +§ XCII. _Seventh side._ Vanity. She is smiling complacently as she looks +into a mirror in her lap. Her robe is embroidered with roses, and roses +form her crown. Undecipherable. + +There is some confusion in the expression of this vice, between pride in +the personal appearance and lightness of purpose. The word Vanitas +generally, I think, bears, in the mediæval period, the sense given it in +Scripture. "Let not him that is deceived trust in Vanity, for Vanity +shall be his recompense." "Vanity of Vanities." "The Lord knoweth the +thoughts of the wise, that they are vain." It is difficult to find this +sin,--which, after Pride, is the most universal, perhaps the most fatal, +of all, fretting the whole depth of our humanity into storm "to waft a +feather or to drown a fly,"--definitely expressed in art. Even Spenser, +I think, has only partially expressed it under the figure of Phædria, +more properly Idle Mirth, in the second book. The idea is, however, +entirely worked out in the Vanity Fair of the "Pilgrim's Progress." + +§ XCIII. _Eighth side._ Envy. One of the noblest pieces of expression in +the series. She is pointing malignantly with her finger; a serpent is +wreathed about her head like a cap, another forms the girdle of her +waist, and a dragon rests in her lap. + +Giotto has, however, represented her, with still greater subtlety, as +having her fingers terminating in claws, and raising her right hand with +an expression partly of impotent regret, partly of involuntary grasping; +a serpent, issuing from her mouth, is about to bite her between the +eyes; she has long membranous ears, horns on her head, and flames +consuming her body. The Envy of Spenser is only inferior to that of +Giotto, because the idea of folly and quickness of hearing is not +suggested by the size of the ear: in other respects it is even finer, +joining the idea of fury, in the wolf on which he rides, with that of +corruption on his lips, and of discoloration or distortion in the whole +mind: + + "Malicious Envy rode + Upon a ravenous wolfe, and still did chaw + Between his cankred teeth a venemous tode, + That all the poison ran about his jaw. + _All in a kirtle of discolourd say + He clothed was, ypaynted full of eies_, + And in his bosome secretly there lay + An hatefull snake, the which his taile uptyes + In many folds, and mortall sting implyes." + +He has developed the idea in more detail, and still more loathsomely, in +the twelfth canto of the fifth book. + +§ XCIV. ELEVENTH CAPITAL. Its decoration is composed of eight birds, +arranged as shown in Plate V. of the "Seven Lamps," which, however, was +sketched from the Renaissance copy. These birds are all varied in form +and action, but not so as to require special description. + +§ XCV. TWELFTH CAPITAL. This has been very interesting, but is +grievously defaced, four of its figures being entirely broken away, and +the character of two others quite undecipherable. It is fortunate that +it has been copied in the thirty-third capital of the Renaissance +series, from which we are able to identify the lost figures. + +_First side._ Misery. A man with a wan face, seemingly pleading with a +child who has its hands crossed on its breast. There is a buckle at his +own breast in the shape of a cloven heart. Inscribed "MISERIA." + +The intention of this figure is not altogether apparent, as it is by no +means treated as a vice; the distress seeming real, and like that of a +parent in poverty mourning over his child. Yet it seems placed here as +in direct opposition to the virtue of Cheerfulness, which follows next +in order; rather, however, I believe, with the intention of illustrating +human life, than the character of the vice which, as we have seen, Dante +placed in the circle of hell. The word in that case would, I think, have +been "Tristitia," the "unholy Griefe" of Spenser-- + + "All in sable sorrowfully clad, + Downe hanging his dull head with heavy chere: + + * * * * * + + A pair of pincers in his hand he had, + With which he pinched people to the heart." + +He has farther amplified the idea under another figure in the fifth +canto of the fourth book: + + "His name was Care; a blacksmith by his trade, + That neither day nor night from working spared; + But to small purpose yron wedges made: + Those be unquiet thoughts that carefull minds invade. + Rude was his garment, and to rags all rent, + Ne better had he, ne for better cared; + With blistered hands among the cinders brent." + +It is to be noticed, however, that in the Renaissance copy this figure +is stated to be, not Miseria, but "Misericordia." The contraction is a +very moderate one, Misericordia being in old MS. written always as +"Mia." If this reading be right, the figure is placed here rather as the +companion, than the opposite, of Cheerfulness; unless, indeed, it is +intended to unite the idea of Mercy and Compassion with that of Sacred +Sorrow. + +§ XCVI. _Second side._ Cheerfulness. A woman with long flowing hair, +crowned with roses, playing on a tambourine, and with open lips, as +singing. Inscribed " ALACRITAS." + +We have already met with this virtue among those especially set by +Spenser to attend on Womanhood. It is inscribed in the Renaissance copy, +"ALACHRITAS CHANIT MECUM." Note the gutturals of the rich and fully +developed Venetian dialect now affecting the Latin, which is free from +them in the earlier capitals. + +§ XCVII. _Third side._ Destroyed; but, from the copy, we find it has +been Stultitia, Folly; and it is there represented simply as a man +_riding_, a sculpture worth the consideration of the English residents +who bring their horses to Venice. Giotto gives Stultitia a feather, cap, +and club. In early manuscripts he is always eating with one hand, and +striking with the other; in later ones he has a cap and bells, or cap +crested with a cock's head, whence the word "coxcomb." + +§ XCVIII. _Fourth side._ Destroyed, all but a book, which identifies it +with the "Celestial Chastity" of the Renaissance copy; there represented +as a woman pointing to a book (connecting the convent life with the +pursuit of literature?). + +Spenser's Chastity, Britomart, is the most exquisitely wrought of all +his characters; but, as before noticed, she is not the Chastity of the +convent, but of wedded life. + +§ XCIX. _Fifth side._ Only a scroll is left; but, from the copy, we find +it has been Honesty or Truth. Inscribed "HONESTATEM DILIGO." It is very +curious, that among all the Christian systems of the virtues which we +have examined, we should find this one in Venice only. + +The Truth of Spenser, Una, is, after Chastity, the most exquisite +character in the "Faerie Queen." + +§ C. _Sixth side._ Falsehood. An old woman leaning on a crutch; and +inscribed in the copy, "FALSITAS IN ME SEMPER EST." The Fidessa of +Spenser, the great enemy of Una, or Truth, is far more subtly conceived, +probably not without special reference to the Papal deceits. In her true +form she is a loathsome hag, but in her outward aspect, + + "A goodly lady, clad in scarlot red, + Purfled with gold and pearle;... + Her wanton palfrey all was overspred + With tinsell trappings, woven like a wave, + Whose bridle rung with golden bels and bosses brave." + +Dante's Fraud, Geryon, is the finest personification of all, but the +description (Inferno, canto XVII.) is too long to be quoted. + +§ CI. _Seventh side._ Injustice. An armed figure holding a halbert; so +also in the copy. The figure used by Giotto with the particular +intention of representing unjust government, is represented at the gate +of an embattled castle in a forest, between rocks, while various deeds +of violence are committed at his feet. Spenser's "Adicia" is a furious +hag, at last transformed into a tiger. + +_Eighth side._ A man with a dagger looking sorrowfully at a child, who +turns its back to him. I cannot understand this figure. It is inscribed +in the copy, "ASTINECIA (Abstinentia?) OPITIMA." + +§ CII. THIRTEENTH CAPITAL. It has lions' heads all round, coarsely cut. + +FOURTEENTH CAPITAL. It has various animals, each sitting on its +haunches. Three dogs, one a greyhound, one long-haired, one short-haired +with bells about its neck; two monkeys, one with fan-shaped hair +projecting on each side of its face; a noble boar, with its tusks, +hoofs, and bristles sharply cut; and a lion and lioness. + +§ CIII. FIFTEENTH CAPITAL. The pillar to which it belongs is thicker +than the rest, as well as the one over it in the upper arcade. + +The sculpture of this capital is also much coarser, and seems to me +later than that of the rest; and it has no inscription, which is +embarrassing, as its subjects have had much meaning; but I believe +Selvatico is right in supposing it to have been intended for a general +illustration of Idleness. + +_First side._ A woman with a distaff; her girdle richly decorated, and +fastened by a buckle. + +_Second side._ A youth in a long mantle, with a rose in his hand. + +_Third side._ A woman in a turban stroking a puppy which she holds by +the haunches. + +_Fourth side._ A man with a parrot. + +_Fifth side._ A woman in very rich costume, with braided hair, and dress +thrown into minute folds, holding a rosary(?) in her left hand, her +right on her breast. + +_Sixth side._ A man with a very thoughtful face, laying his hand upon +the leaves of the capital. + +_Seventh side._ A crowned lady, with a rose in her hand. + +_Eighth side._ A boy with a ball in his left hand, and his right laid on +his breast. + +§ CIV. SIXTEENTH CAPITAL. It is decorated with eight large heads, partly +intended to be grotesque,[156] and very coarse and bad, except only +that in the sixth side, which is totally different from all the rest, +and looks like a portrait. It is thin, thoughtful, and dignified; +thoroughly fine in every way. It wears a cap surmounted by two winged +lions; and, therefore, I think Selvatico must have inaccurately written +the list given in the note, for this head is certainly meant to express +the superiority of the Venetian character over that of other nations. +Nothing is more remarkable in all early sculpture, than its appreciation +of the signs of dignity of character in the features, and the way in +which it can exalt the principal figure in any subject by a few touches. + +§ CV. SEVENTEENTH CAPITAL. This has been so destroyed by the sea wind, +which sweeps at this point of the arcade round the angle of the palace, +that its inscriptions are no longer legible, and great part of its +figures are gone. Selvatico states them as follows: Solomon, the wise; +Priscian, the grammarian; Aristotle, the logician; Tully, the orator; +Pythagoras, the philosopher; Archimedes, the mechanic; Orpheus, the +musician; Ptolemy, the astronomer. The fragments actually remaining are +the following: + +_First side._ A figure with two books, in a robe richly decorated with +circles of roses. Inscribed "SALOMON (SAP)IENS." + +_Second side._ A man with one book, poring over it: he has had a long +stick or reed in his hand. Of inscription only the letters "GRAMMATIC" +remain. + +_Third side._ "ARISTOTLE:" so inscribed. He has a peaked double beard +and a flat cap, from under which his long hair falls down his back. + +_Fourth side._ Destroyed. + +_Fifth side._ Destroyed, all but a board with three (counters?) on it. + +_Sixth side._ A figure with compasses. Inscribed "GEOMET * *" + +_Seventh side._ Nothing is left but a guitar with its handle wrought +into a lion's head. + +_Eighth side._ Destroyed. + +§ CVI. We have now arrived at the EIGHTEENTH CAPITAL, the most +interesting and beautiful of the palace. It represents the planets, and +the sun and moon, in those divisions of the zodiac known to astrologers +as their "houses;" and perhaps indicates, by the position in which they +are placed, the period of the year at which this great corner-stone was +laid. The inscriptions above have been in quaint Latin rhyme, but are +now decipherable only in fragments, and that with the more difficulty +because the rusty iron bar that binds the abacus has broken away, in its +expansion, nearly all the upper portions of the stone, and with them the +signs of contraction, which are of great importance. I shall give the +fragments of them that I could decipher; first as the letters actually +stand (putting those of which I am doubtful in brackets, with a note of +interrogation), and then as I would read them. + +§ CVII. It should be premised that, in modern astrology, the houses of +the planets are thus arranged: + + The house of the Sun, is Leo. + " Moon, " Cancer. + " of Mars, " Aries and Scorpio. + " Venus, " Taurus and Libra. + " Mercury, " Gemini and Virgo. + " Jupiter, " Sagittarius and Pisces. + " Saturn, " Capricorn. + " Herschel, " Aquarius. + +The Herschel planet being of course unknown to the old astrologers, we +have only the other six planetary powers, together with the sun; and +Aquarius is assigned to Saturn as his house. I could not find Capricorn +at all; but this sign may have been broken away, as the whole capital is +grievously defaced. The eighth side of the capital, which the Herschel +planet would now have occupied, bears a sculpture of the Creation of +Man: it is the most conspicuous side, the one set diagonally across the +angle; or the eighth in our usual mode of reading the capitals, from +which I shall not depart. + +§ CVIII. _The first side_, then, or that towards the Sea, has Aquarius, +as the house of Saturn, represented as a seated figure beautifully +draped, pouring a stream of water out of an amphora over the leaves of +the capital. His inscription is: + + "ET SATURNE DOMUS (ECLOCERUNT?) 1^s 7BRE." + +§ CIX. _Second side._ Jupiter, in his houses Sagittarius and Pisces, +represented throned, with an upper dress disposed in radiating folds +about his neck, and hanging down upon his breast, ornamented by small +pendent trefoiled studs or bosses. He wears the drooping bonnet and long +gloves; but the folds about the neck, shot forth to express the rays of +the star, are the most remarkable characteristic of the figure. He +raises his sceptre in his left hand over Sagittarius, represented as the +centaur Chiron; and holds two thunnies in his right. Something rough, +like a third fish, has been broken away below them; the more easily +because this part of the group is entirely undercut, and the two fish +glitter in the light, relieved on the deep gloom below the leaves. The +inscription is: + + "INDE JOVI'[157] DONA PISES SIMUL ATQ^s CIRONA." + +Or, + + "Inde Jovis dona + Pisces simul atque Chirona." + +Domus is, I suppose, to be understood before Jovis: "Then the house of +Jupiter gives (or governs?) the fishes and Chiron." + +§ CX. _Third side._ Mars, in his houses Aries and Scorpio. Represented +as a very ugly knight in chain mail, seated sideways on the ram, whose +horns are broken away, and having a large scorpion in his left hand, +whose tail is broken also, to the infinite injury of the group, for it +seems to have curled across to the angle leaf, and formed a bright line +of light, like the fish in the hand of Jupiter. The knight carries a +shield, on which fire and water are sculptured, and bears a banner upon +his lance, with the word "DEFEROSUM," which puzzled me for some time. It +should be read, I believe, "De ferro sum;" which would be good +_Venetian_ Latin for "I am of iron." + +§ CXI. _Fourth side._ The Sun, in his house Leo. Represented under the +figure of Apollo, sitting on the Lion, with rays shooting from his head, +and the world in his hand. The inscription: + + "TU ES DOMU' SOLIS (QUO *?) SIGNE LEONI." + +I believe the first phrase is, "Tunc est Domus solis;" but there is a +letter gone after the "quo," and I have no idea what case of signum +"signe" stands for. + +§ CXII. _Fifth side._ Venus, in her houses Taurus and Libra. The most +beautiful figure of the series. She sits upon the bull, who is deep in +the dewlap, and better cut than most of the animals, holding a mirror in +her right hand, and the scales in her left. Her breast is very nobly and +tenderly indicated under the folds of her drapery, which is exquisitely +studied in its fall. What is left of the inscription, runs: + + "LIBRA CUM TAURO DOMUS * * * PURIOR AUR *." + +§ CXIII. _Sixth side._ Mercury, represented as wearing a pendent cap, +and holding a book: he is supported by three children in reclining +attitudes, representing his houses Gemini and Virgo. But I cannot +understand the inscription, though more than usually legible. + + "OCCUPAT ERIGONE STIBONS GEMINUQ' LACONE." + +§ CXIV. _Seventh side._ The Moon, in her house Cancer. This sculpture, +which is turned towards the Piazzetta, is the most picturesque of the +series. The moon is represented as a woman in a boat, upon the sea, who +raises the crescent in her right hand, and with her left draws a crab +out of the waves, up the boat's side. The moon was, I believe, +represented in Egyptian sculptures as in a boat; but I rather think the +Venetian was not aware of this, and that he meant to express the +peculiar sweetness of the moonlight at Venice, as seen across the +lagoons. Whether this was intended by putting the planet in the boat, +may be questionable, but assuredly the idea was meant to be conveyed by +the dress of the figure. For all the draperies of the other figures on +this capital, as well as on the rest of the façade, are disposed in +severe but full folds, showing little of the forms beneath them; but the +moon's drapery _ripples_ down to her feet, so as exactly to suggest the +trembling of the moonlight on the waves. This beautiful idea is highly +characteristic of the thoughtfulness of the early sculptors: five +hundred men may be now found who could have cut the drapery, as such, +far better, for one who would have disposed its folds with this +intention. The inscription is: + + "LUNE CANCER DOMU T. PBET IORBE SIGNORU." + +§ CXV. _Eighth side._ God creating Man. Represented as a throned figure, +with a glory round the head, laying his left hand on the head of a naked +youth, and sustaining him with his right hand. The inscription puzzled +me for a long time; but except the lost r and m of "formavit," and a +letter quite undefaced, but to me unintelligible, before the word Eva, +in the shape of a figure of 7, I have safely ascertained the rest. + + "DELIMO DSADA DECO STAFO * * AVIT7EVA." + +Or + + "De limo Dominus Adam, de costa fo(rm) avit Evam;" + From the dust the Lord made Adam, and from the rib Eve. + +I imagine the whole of this capital, therefore--the principal one of the +old palace,--to have been intended to signify, first, the formation of +the planets for the service of man upon the earth; secondly, the entire +subjection of the fates and fortune of man to the will of God, as +determined from the time when the earth and stars were made, and, in +fact, written in the volume of the stars themselves. + +Thus interpreted, the doctrines of judicial astrology were not only +consistent with, but an aid to, the most spiritual and humble +Christianity. + +In the workmanship and grouping of its foliage, this capital is, on the +whole, the finest I know in Europe. The sculptor has put his whole +strength into it. I trust that it will appear among the other Venetian +casts lately taken for the Crystal Palace; but if not, I have myself +cast all its figures, and two of its leaves, and I intend to give +drawings of them on a large scale in my folio work. + +§ CXVI. NINETEENTH CAPITAL. This is, of course, the second counting from +the Sea, on the Piazzetta side of the palace, calling that of the +Fig-tree angle the first. + +It is the most important capital, as a piece of evidence in point of +dates, in the whole palace. Great pains have been taken with it, and in +some portion of the accompanying furniture or ornaments of each of its +figures a small piece of colored marble has been inlaid, with peculiar +significance: for the capital represents the _arts of sculpture and +architecture_; and the inlaying of the colored stones (which are far too +small to be effective at a distance, and are found in this one capital +only of the whole series) is merely an expression of the architect's +feeling of the essential importance of this art of inlaying, and of the +value of color generally in his own art. + +§ CXVII. _First side._ "ST. SIMPLICIUS": so inscribed. A figure working +with a pointed chisel on a small oblong block of green serpentine, about +four inches long by one wide, inlaid in the capital. The chisel is, of +course, in the left hand, but the right is held up open, with the palm +outwards. + +_Second side._ A crowned figure, carving the image of a child on a small +statue, with a ground of red marble. The sculptured figure is highly +finished, and is in type of head much like the Ham or Japheth at the +Vine angle. Inscription effaced. + +_Third side._ An old man, uncrowned, but with curling hair, at work on a +small column, with its capital complete, and a little shaft of dark red +marble, spotted with paler red. The capital is precisely of the form of +that found in the palace of the Tiepolos and the other thirteenth +century work of Venice. This one figure would be quite enough, without +any other evidence whatever, to determine the date of this flank of the +Ducal Palace as not later, at all events, than the first half of the +fourteenth century. Its inscription is broken away, all but "DISIPULO." + +_Fourth side._ A crowned figure; but the object on which it has been +working is broken away, and all the inscription except "ST. E(N?)AS." + +_Fifth side._ A man with a turban, and a sharp chisel, at work on a kind +of panel or niche, the back of which is of red marble. + +_Sixth side._ A crowned figure, with hammer and chisel, employed _on a +little range of windows of the fifth order_, having roses set, instead +of orbicular ornaments, between the spandrils, with a rich cornice, and +a band of marble inserted above. This sculpture assures us of the date +of the fifth order window, which it shows to have been universal in the +early fourteenth century. + +There are also five arches in the block on which the sculptor is +working, marking the frequency of the number five in the window groups +of the time. + +_Seventh side._ A figure at work on a pilaster, with Lombardic +thirteenth century capital (for account of the series of forms in +Venetian capitals, see the final Appendix of the next volume), the shaft +of dark red spotted marble. + +_Eighth side._ A figure with a rich open crown, working on a delicate +recumbent statue, the head of which is laid on a pillow covered with a +rich chequer pattern; the whole supported on a block of dark red marble. +Inscription broken away, all but "ST. SYM. (Symmachus?) TV * * ANVS." +There appear, therefore, altogether to have been five saints, two of +them popes, if Simplicius is the pope of that name (three in front, two +on the fourth and sixth sides), alternating with the three uncrowned +workmen in the manual labor of sculpture. I did not, therefore, insult +our present architects in saying above that they "ought to work in the +mason's yard with their men." It would be difficult to find a more +interesting expression of the devotional spirit in which all great work +was undertaken at this time. + +§ CXVIII. TWENTIETH CAPITAL. It is adorned with heads of animals, and is +the finest of the whole series in the broad massiveness of its effect; +so simply characteristic, indeed, of the grandeur of style in the +entire building, that I chose it for the first Plate in my folio work. +In spite of the sternness of its plan, however, it is wrought with great +care in surface detail; and the ornamental value of the minute chasing +obtained by the delicate plumage of the birds, and the clustered bees on +the honeycomb in the bear's mouth, opposed to the strong simplicity of +its general form, cannot be too much admired. There are also more grace, +life, and variety in the sprays of foliage on each side of it, and under +the heads, than in any other capital of the series, though the earliness +of the workmanship is marked by considerable hardness and coldness in +the larger heads. A Northern Gothic workman, better acquainted with +bears and wolves than it was possible to become in St. Mark's Place, +would have put far more life into these heads, but he could not have +composed them more skilfully. + +§ CXIX. _First side._ A lion with a stag's haunch in his mouth. Those +readers who have the folio plate, should observe the peculiar way in +which the ear is cut into the shape of a ring, jagged or furrowed on the +edge; an archaic mode of treatment peculiar, in the Ducal Palace, to the +lions' heads of the fourteenth century. The moment we reach the +Renaissance work, the lions' ears are smooth. Inscribed simply, "LEO." + +_Second side._ A wolf with a dead bird in his mouth, its body +wonderfully true in expression of the passiveness of death. The feathers +are each wrought with a central quill and radiating filaments. Inscribed +"LUPUS." + +_Third side._ A fox, not at all like one, with a dead cock in his mouth, +its comb and pendent neck admirably designed so as to fall across the +great angle leaf of the capital, its tail hanging down on the other +side, its long straight feathers exquisitely cut. Inscribed "(VULP?)IS." + +_Fourth side._ Entirely broken away. + +_Fifth side_. "APER." Well tusked, with a head of maize in his mouth; at +least I suppose it to be maize, though shaped like a pine-cone. + +_Sixth side._ "CHANIS." With a bone, very ill cut; and a bald-headed +species of dog, with ugly flap ears. + +_Seventh side._ "MUSCIPULUS." With a rat (?) in his mouth. + +_Eighth side._ "URSUS." With a honeycomb, covered with large bees. + +§ CXX. TWENTY-FIRST CAPITAL. Represents the principal inferior +professions. + +_First side._ An old man, with his brow deeply wrinkled, and very +expressive features, beating in a kind of mortar with a hammer. +Inscribed "LAPICIDA SUM." + +_Second side._ I believe, a goldsmith; he is striking a small flat bowl +or patera, on a pointed anvil, with a light hammer. The inscription is +gone. + +_Third side._ A shoemaker with a shoe in his hand, and an instrument for +cutting leather suspended beside him. Inscription undecipherable. + +_Fourth side._ Much broken. A carpenter planing a beam resting on two +horizontal logs. Inscribed "CARPENTARIUS SUM." + +_Fifth side._ A figure shovelling fruit into a tub; the latter very +carefully carved from what appears to have been an excellent piece of +cooperage. Two thin laths cross each other over the top of it. The +inscription, now lost, was, according to Selvatico, "MENSURATOR"? + +_Sixth side._ A man, with a large hoe, breaking the ground, which lies +in irregular furrows and clods before him. Now undecipherable, but +according to Selvatico, "AGRICHOLA." + +_Seventh side._ A man, in a pendent cap, writing on a large scroll which +falls over his knee. Inscribed "NOTARIUS SUM." + +_Eighth side._ A man forging a sword, or scythe-blade: he wears a large +skull-cap; beats with a large hammer on a solid anvil; and is inscribed +"FABER SUM." + +§ CXXI. TWENTY-SECOND CAPITAL. The Ages of Man; and the influence of the +planets on human life. + +_First side._ The moon, governing infancy for four years, according to +Selvatico. I have no note of this side, having, I suppose, been +prevented from raising the ladder against it by some fruit-stall or +other impediment in the regular course of my examination; and then +forgotten to return to it. + +_Second side._ A child with a tablet, and an alphabet inscribed on it. +The legend above is + + "MECUREU^s DNT. PUERICIE PAN. X." + +Or, "Mercurius dominatur pueritiæ per annos X." (Selvatico reads VII.) +"Mercury governs boyhood for ten (or seven) years." + +_Third side._ An older youth, with another tablet, but broken. Inscribed + + "ADOLOSCENCIE * * * P. AN. VII." + +Selvatico misses this side altogether, as I did the first, so that the +lost planet is irrecoverable, as the inscription is now defaced. Note +the o for e in adolescentia; so also we constantly find u for o; +showing, together with much other incontestable evidence of the same +kind, how full and deep the old pronunciation of Latin always remained, +and how ridiculous our English mincing of the vowels would have sounded +to a Roman ear. + +_Fourth side._ A youth with a hawk on his fist. + + "IUVENTUTI DNT SOL. P. AN. XIX." + The son governs youth for nineteen years. + +_Fifth side._ A man sitting, helmed, with a sword over his shoulder. +Inscribed + + "SENECTUTI DNT MARS. P. AN. XV." + Mars governs manhood for fifteen years. + +_Sixth side._ A very graceful and serene figure, in the pendent cap, +reading. + + "SENICIE DNT JUPITER, P. ANN. XII." + Jupiter governs age for twelve years. + +_Seventh side._ An old man in a skull-cap, praying. + + "DECREPITE DNT SATN UQ^s ADMOTE." (Saturnus usque ad mortem.) + Saturn governs decrepitude until death. + +_Eighth side._ The dead body lying on a mattress. + + "ULTIMA EST MORS PENA PECCATI." + Last comes death, the penalty of sin. + +§ CXXII. Shakspeare's Seven Ages are of course merely the expression of +this early and well known system. He has deprived the dotage of its +devotion; but I think wisely, as the Italian system would imply that +devotion was, or should be, always delayed until dotage. + +TWENTY-THIRD CAPITAL. I agree with Selvatico in thinking this has been +restored. It is decorated with large and vulgar heads. + +§ CXXIII. TWENTY-FOURTH CAPITAL. This belongs to the large shaft which +sustains the great party wall of the Sala del Gran Consiglio. The shaft +is thicker than the rest; but the capital, though ancient, is coarse and +somewhat inferior in design to the others of the series. It represents +the history of marriage: the lover first seeing his mistress at a +window, then addressing her, bringing her presents; then the bridal, the +birth and the death of a child. But I have not been able to examine +these sculptures properly, because the pillar is encumbered by the +railing which surrounds the two guns set before the Austrian +guard-house. + +§ CXXIV. TWENTY-FIFTH CAPITAL. We have here the employments of the +months, with which we are already tolerably acquainted. There are, +however, one or two varieties worth noticing in this series. + +_First side._ March. Sitting triumphantly in a rich dress, as the +beginning of the year. + +_Second side._ April and May. April with a lamb: May with a feather fan +in her hand. + +_Third side._ June. Carrying cherries in a basket. + +I did not give this series with the others in the previous chapter, +because this representation of June is peculiarly Venetian. It is called +"the month of cherries," mese delle ceriese, in the popular rhyme on the +conspiracy of Tiepolo, quoted above, Vol. I. + +The cherries principally grown near Venice are of a deep red color, and +large, but not of high flavor, though refreshing. They are carved upon +the pillar with great care, all their stalks undercut. + +_Fourth side._ July and August. The first reaping; the _leaves_ of the +straw being given, shooting out from the tubular stalk. August, +opposite, beats (the grain?) in a basket. + +_Fifth side._ September. A woman standing in a wine-tub, and holding a +branch of vine. Very beautiful. + +_Sixth side._ October and November. I could not make out their +occupation; they seem to be roasting or boiling some root over a fire. + +_Seventh side._ December. Killing pigs, as usual. + +_Eighth side._ January warming his feet, and February frying fish. This +last employment is again as characteristic of the Venetian winter as the +cherries are of the Venetian summer. + +The inscriptions are undecipherable, except a few letters here and +there, and the words MARCIUS, APRILIS, and FEBRUARIUS. + +This is the last of the capitals of the early palace; the next, or +twenty-sixth capital, is the first of those executed in the fifteenth +century under Foscari; and hence to the Judgment angle the traveller has +nothing to do but to compare the base copies of the earlier work with +their originals, or to observe the total want of invention in the +Renaissance sculptor, wherever he has depended on his own resources. +This, however, always with the exception of the twenty-seventh and of +the last capital, which are both fine. + +I shall merely enumerate the subjects and point out the plagiarisms of +these capitals, as they are not worth description. + +§ CXXV. TWENTY-SIXTH CAPITAL. Copied from the fifteenth, merely changing +the succession of the figures. + +TWENTY-SEVENTH CAPITAL. I think it possible that this may be part of the +old work displaced in joining the new palace with the old; at all +events, it is well designed, though a little coarse. It represents eight +different kinds of fruit, each in a basket; the characters well given, +and groups well arranged, but without much care or finish. The names are +inscribed above, though somewhat unnecessarily, and with certainly as +much disrespect to the beholder's intelligence as the sculptor's art, +namely, ZEREXIS, PIRI, CHUCUMERIS, PERSICI, ZUCHE, MOLONI, FICI, HUVA. +Zerexis (cherries) and Zuche (gourds) both begin with the same letter, +whether meant for z, s, or c I am not sure. The Zuche are the common +gourds, divided into two protuberances, one larger than the other, like +a bottle compresed near the neck; and the Moloni are the long +water-melons, which, roasted, form a staple food of the Venetians to +this day. + +§ CXXVI. TWENTY-EIGHTH CAPITAL. Copied from the seventh. + +TWENTY-NINTH CAPITAL. Copied from the ninth. + +THIRTIETH CAPITAL. Copied from the tenth. The "Accidia" is noticeable as +having the inscription complete, "ACCIDIA ME STRINGIT;" and the +"Luxuria" for its utter want of expression, having a severe and calm +face, a robe up to the neck, and her hand upon her breast. The +inscription is also different: "LUXURIA SUM STERC^S (?) INFERI" (?). + +THIRTY-FIRST CAPITAL. Copied from the eighth. + +THIRTY-SECOND CAPITAL. Has no inscription, only fully robed figures +laying their hands, without any meaning, on their own shoulders, heads, +or chins, or on the leaves around them. + +THIRTY-THIRD CAPITAL. Copied from the twelfth. + +THIRTY-FOURTH CAPITAL. Copied from the eleventh. + +THIRTY-FIFTH CAPITAL. Has children, with birds or fruit, pretty in +features, and utterly inexpressive, like the cherubs of the eighteenth +century. + +§ CXXVII. THIRTY-SIXTH CAPITAL. This is the last of the Piazzetta +façade, the elaborate one under the Judgment angle. Its foliage is +copied from the eighteenth at the opposite side, with an endeavor on the +part of the Renaissance sculptor to refine upon it, by which he has +merely lost some of its truth and force. This capital will, however, be +always thought, at first, the most beautiful of the whole series: and +indeed it is very noble; its groups of figures most carefully studied, +very graceful, and much more pleasing than those of the earlier work, +though with less real power in them; and its foliage is only inferior to +that of the magnificent Fig-tree angle. It represents, on its front or +first side, Justice enthroned, seated on two lions; and on the seven +other sides examples of acts of justice or good government, or figures +of lawgivers, in the following order: + +_Second side._ Aristotle, with two pupils, giving laws. Inscribed: + + "ARISTOT * * CHE DIE LEGE." + Aristotle who declares laws. + +_Third side._ I have mislaid my note of this side: Selvatico and Lazari +call it "Isidore" (?).[158] + +_Fourth side._ Solon with his pupils. Inscribed: + + "SAL^O UNO DEI SETE SAVI DI GRECIA CHE DIE LEGE." + Solon, one of the seven sages of Greece, who declares laws. + +Note, by the by, the pure Venetian dialect used in this capital, instead +of the Latin in the more ancient ones. One of the seated pupils in this +sculpture is remarkably beautiful in the sweep of his flowing drapery. + +_Fifth side._ The chastity of Scipio. Inscribed: + + "ISIPIONE A CHASTITA CH * * * E LA FIA (e la figlia?) * * ARE." + +A soldier in a plumed bonnet presents a kneeling maiden to the seated +Scipio, who turns thoughtfully away. + +_Sixth side._ Numa Pompilius building churches. + + "NUMA POMPILIO IMPERADOR EDIFICHADOR DI TEMPI E CHIESE." + +Numa, in a kind of hat with a crown above it, directing a soldier in +Roman armor (note this, as contrasted with the mail of the earlier +capitals). They point to a tower of three stories filled with tracery. + +_Seventh side._ Moses receiving the law. Inscribed: + + "QUANDO MOSE RECEVE LA LEGE I SUL MONTE." + +Moses kneels on a rock, whence springs a beautifully fancied tree, with +clusters of three berries in the centre of three leaves, sharp and +quaint, like fine Northern Gothic. The half figure of the Deity comes +out of the abacus, the arm meeting that of Moses, both at full stretch, +with the stone tablets between. + +_Eighth side._ Trajan doing justice to the Widow. + + "TRAJANO IMPERADOR CHE FA JUSTITIA A LA VEDOVA." + +He is riding spiritedly, his mantle blown out behind: the widow kneeling +before his horse. + +§ CXXVIII. The reader will observe that this capital is of peculiar +interest in its relation to the much disputed question of the character +of the later government of Venice. It is the assertion by that +government of its belief that Justice only could be the foundation of +its stability; as these stones of Justice and Judgment are the +foundation of its halls of council. And this profession of their faith +may be interpreted in two ways. Most modern historians would call it, in +common with the continual reference to the principles of justice in the +political and judicial language of the period,[159] nothing more than a +cloak for consummate violence and guilt; and it may easily be proved to +have been so in myriads of instances. But in the main, I believe the +expression of feeling to be genuine. I do not believe, of the majority +of the leading Venetians of this period whose portraits have come down +to us, that they were deliberately and everlastingly hypocrites. I see +no hypocrisy in their countenances. Much capacity of it, much subtlety, +much natural and acquired reserve; but no meanness. On the contrary, +infinite grandeur, repose, courage, and the peculiar unity and +tranquillity of expression which come of sincerity or _wholeness_ of +heart, and which it would take much demonstration to make me believe +could by any possibility be seen on the countenance of an insincere man. +I trust, therefore, that these Venetian nobles of the fifteenth century +did, in the main, desire to do judgment and justice to all men; but, as +the whole system of morality had been by this time undermined by the +teaching of the Romish Church, the idea of justice had become separated +from that of truth, so that dissimulation in the interest of the state +assumed the aspect of duty. We had, perhaps, better consider, with some +carefulness, the mode in which our own government is carried on, and the +occasional difference between parliamentary and private morality, before +we judge mercilessly of the Venetians in this respect. The secrecy with +which their political and criminal trials were conducted, appears to +modern eyes like a confession of sinister intentions; but may it not +also be considered, and with more probability, as the result of an +endeavor to do justice in an age of violence?--the only means by which +Law could establish its footing in the midst of feudalism. Might not +Irish juries at this day justifiably desire to conduct their proceedings +with some greater approximation to the judicial principles of the +Council of Ten? Finally, if we examine, with critical accuracy, the +evidence on which our present impressions of Venetian government are +founded, we shall discover, in the first place, that two-thirds of the +traditions of its cruelties are romantic fables: in the second, that the +crimes of which it can be proved to have been guilty, differ only from +those committed by the other Italian powers in being done less wantonly, +and under profounder conviction of their political expediency: and +lastly, that the final degradation of the Venetian power appears owing +not so much to the principles of its government, as to their being +forgotten in the pursuit of pleasure. + +§ CXXIX. We have now examined the portions of the palace which contain +the principal evidence of the feeling of its builders. The capitals of +the upper arcade are exceedingly various in their character; their +design is formed, as in the lower series, of eight leaves, thrown into +volutes at the angles, and sustaining figures at the flanks; but these +figures have no inscriptions, and though evidently not without meaning, +cannot be interpreted without more knowledge than I possess of ancient +symbolism. Many of the capitals toward the Sea appear to have been +restored, and to be rude copies of the ancient ones; others, though +apparently original, have been somewhat carelessly wrought; but those of +them, which are both genuine and carefully treated, are even finer in +composition than any, except the eighteenth, in the lower arcade. The +traveller in Venice ought to ascend into the corridor, and examine with +great care the series of capitals which extend on the Piazzetta side +from the Fig-tree angle to the pilaster which carries the party wall of +the Sala del Gran Consiglio. As examples of graceful composition in +massy capitals meant for hard service and distant effect, these are +among the finest things I know in Gothic art; and that above the +fig-tree is remarkable for its sculptures of the four winds; each on the +side turned towards the wind represented. Levante, the east wind; a +figure with rays round its head, to show that it is always clear weather +when that wind blows, raising the sun out of the sea: Hotro, the south +wind; crowned, holding the sun in its right hand; Ponente, the west +wind; plunging the sun into the sea: and Tramontana, the north wind; +looking up at the north star. This capital should be carefully examined, +if for no other reason than to attach greater distinctness of idea to +the magnificent verbiage of Milton: + + "Thwart of these, as fierce, + Forth rush the Levant and the Ponent winds, + Eurus, and Zephyr; with their lateral noise, + Sirocco and Libecchio." + +I may also especially point out the bird feeding its three young ones on +the seventh pillar on the Piazzetta side; but there is no end to the +fantasy of these sculptures; and the traveller ought to observe them all +carefully, until he comes to the great Pilaster or complicated pier +which sustains the party wall of the Sala del Consiglio; that is to say, +the forty-seventh capital of the whole series, counting from the +pilaster of the Vine angle inclusive, as in the series of the lower +arcade. The forty-eighth, forty-ninth, and fiftieth are bad work, but +they are old; the fifty-first is the first Renaissance capital of the +upper arcade: the first new lion's head with smooth ears, cut in the +time of Foscari, is over the fiftieth capital; and that capital, with +its shaft, stands on the apex of the eighth arch from the Sea, on the +Piazzetta side, of which one spandril is masonry of the fourteenth and +the other of the fifteenth century. + +§ CXXX. The reader who is not able to examine the building on the spot +may be surprised at the definiteness with which the point of junction is +ascertainable; but a glance at the lowest range of leaves in the +opposite Plate (XX.) will enable him to judge of the grounds on which +the above statement is made. Fig. 12 is a cluster of leaves from the +capital of the Four Winds; early work of the finest time. Fig. 13 is a +leaf from the great Renaissance capital at the Judgment angle, worked in +imitation of the older leafage. Fig. 14 is a leaf from one of the +Renaissance capitals of the upper arcade, which are all worked in the +natural manner of the period. It will be seen that it requires no great +ingenuity to distinguish between such design as that of fig. 12 and that +of fig. 14. + +[Illustration: Plate XX. + LEAFAGE OF THE VENETIAN CAPITALS.] + +§ CXXXI. It is very possible that the reader may at first like fig. 14 +the best. I shall endeavor, in the next chapter, to show why he should +not; but it must also be noted, that fig. 12 has lost, and fig. 14 +gained, both largely, under the hands of the engraver. All the bluntness +and coarseness of feeling in the workmanship of fig. 14 have disappeared +on this small scale, and all the subtle refinements in the broad masses +of fig. 12 have vanished. They could not, indeed, be rendered in line +engraving, unless by the hand of Albert Durer; and I have, therefore, +abandoned, for the present, all endeavor to represent any more important +mass of the early sculpture of the Ducal Palace: but I trust that, in a +few months, casts of many portions will be within the reach of the +inhabitants of London, and that they will be able to judge for +themselves of their perfect, pure, unlabored naturalism; the freshness, +elasticity, and softness of their leafage, united with the most noble +symmetry and severe reserve,--no running to waste, no loose or +experimental lines, no extravagance, and no weakness. Their design is +always sternly architectural; there is none of the wildness or +redundance of natural vegetation, but there is all the strength, +freedom, and tossing flow of the breathing leaves, and all the +undulation of their surfaces, rippled, as they grew, by the summer +winds, as the sands are by the sea. + +§ CXXXII. This early sculpture of the Ducal Palace, then, represents the +state of Gothic work in Venice at its central and proudest period, i.e. +circa 1350. After this time, all is decline,--of what nature and by what +steps, we shall inquire in the ensuing chapter; for as this +investigation, though still referring to Gothic architecture, introduces +us to the first symptoms of the Renaissance influence, I have considered +it as properly belonging to the third division of our subject. + +§ CXXXIII. And as, under the shadow of these nodding leaves, we bid +farewell to the great Gothic spirit, here also we may cease our +examination of the details of the Ducal Palace; for above its upper +arcade there are only the four traceried windows,[160] and one or two of +the third order on the Rio Façade, which can be depended upon as +exhibiting the original workmanship of the older palace. I examined the +capitals of the four other windows on the façade, and of those on the +Piazzetta, one by one, with great care, and I found them all to be of +far inferior workmanship to those which retain their traceries: I +believe the stone framework of these windows must have been so cracked +and injured by the flames of the great fire, as to render it necessary +to replace it by new traceries; and that the present mouldings and +capitals are base imitations of the original ones. The traceries were at +first, however, restored in their complete form, as the holes for the +bolts which fastened the bases of their shafts are still to be seen in +the window-sills, as well as the marks of the inner mouldings on the +soffits. How much the stone facing of the façade, the parapets, and the +shafts and niches of the angles, retain of their original masonry, it is +also impossible to determine; but there is nothing in the workmanship +of any of them demanding especial notice; still less in the large +central windows on each façade, which are entirely of Renaissance +execution. All that is admirable in these portions of the building is +the disposition of their various parts and masses, which is without +doubt the same as in the original fabric, and calculated, when seen from +a distance, to produce the same impression. + +§ CXXXIV. Not so in the interior. All vestige of the earlier modes of +decoration was here, of course, destroyed by the fires; and the severe +and religious work of Guariento and Bellini has been replaced by the +wildness of Tintoret and the luxury of Veronese. But in this case, +though widely different in temper, the art of the renewal was at least +intellectually as great as that which had perished: and though the halls +of the Ducal Palace are no more representative of the character of the +men by whom it was built, each of them is still a colossal casket of +priceless treasure; a treasure whose safety has till now depended on its +being despised, and which at this moment, and as I write, is piece by +piece being destroyed for ever. + +§ CXXXV. The reader will forgive my quitting our more immediate subject, +in order briefly to explain the causes and the nature of this +destruction; for the matter is simply the most important of all that can +be brought under our present consideration respecting the state of art +in Europe. + +The fact is, that the greater number of persons or societies throughout +Europe, whom wealth, or chance, or inheritance has put in possession of +valuable pictures, do not know a good picture from a bad one,[161] and +have no idea in what the value of a picture really consists. The +reputation of certain works is raised, partly by accident, partly by the +just testimony of artists, partly by the various and generally bad taste +of the public (no picture, that I know of, has ever, in modern times, +attained popularity, in the full sense of the term, without having some +exceedingly bad qualities mingled with its good ones), and when this +reputation has once been completely established, it little matters to +what state the picture may be reduced: few minds are so completely +devoid of imagination as to be unable to invest it with the beauties +which they have heard attributed to it. + +§ CXXXVI. This being so, the pictures that are most valued are for the +most part those by masters of established renown, which are highly or +neatly finished, and of a size small enough to admit of their being +placed in galleries or saloons, so as to be made subjects of +ostentation, and to be easily seen by a crowd. For the support of the +fame and value of such pictures, little more is necessary than that they +should be kept bright, partly by cleaning, which is incipient +destruction, and partly by what is called "restoring," that is, painting +over, which is of course total destruction. Nearly all the gallery +pictures in modern Europe have been more or less destroyed by one or +other of these operations, generally exactly in proportion to the +estimation in which they are held; and as, originally, the smaller and +more highly finished works of any great master are usually his worst, +the contents of many of our most celebrated galleries are by this time, +in reality, of very small value indeed. + +§ CXXXVII. On the other hand, the most precious works of any noble +painter are usually those which have been done quickly, and in the heat +of the first thought, on a large scale, for places where there was +little likelihood of their being well seen, or for patrons from whom +there was little prospect of rich remuneration. In general, the best +things are done in this way, or else in the enthusiasm and pride of +accomplishing some great purpose, such as painting a cathedral or a +camposanto from one end to the other, especially when the time has been +short, and circumstances disadvantageous. + +§ CXXXVIII. Works thus executed are of course despised, on account of +their quantity, as well as their frequent slightness, in the places +where they exist; and they are too large to be portable, and too vast +and comprehensive to be read on the spot, in the hasty temper of the +present age. They are, therefore, almost universally neglected, +whitewashed by custodes, shot at by soldiers, suffered to drop from the +walls piecemeal in powder and rags by society in general; but, which is +an advantage more than counterbalancing all this evil, they are not +often "restored." What is left of them, however fragmentary, however +ruinous, however obscured and defiled, is almost always _the real +thing_; there are no fresh readings: and therefore the greatest +treasures of art which Europe at this moment possesses are pieces of old +plaster on ruinous brick walls, where the lizards burrow and bask, and +which few other living creatures ever approach; and torn sheets of dim +canvas, in waste corners of churches; and mildewed stains, in the shape +of human figures, on the walls of dark chambers, which now and then an +exploring traveller causes to be unlocked by their tottering custode, +looks hastily round, and retreats from in a weary satisfaction at his +accomplished duty. + +§ CXXXIX. Many of the pictures on the ceilings and walls of the Ducal +Palace, by Paul Veronese and Tintoret, have been more or less reduced, +by neglect, to this condition. Unfortunately they are not altogether +without reputation, and their state has drawn the attention of the +Venetian authorities and academicians. It constantly happens, that +public bodies who will not pay five pounds to preserve a picture, will +pay fifty to repaint it:[162] and when I was at Venice in 1846, there +were two remedial operations carrying on, at one and the same time, in +the two buildings which contain the pictures of greatest value in the +city (as pieces of color, of greatest value in the world), curiously +illustrative of this peculiarity in human nature. Buckets were set on +the floor of the Scuola di San Rocco, in every shower, to catch the rain +which came through the pictures of Tintoret on the ceiling; while in the +Ducal Palace, those of Paul Veronese were themselves laid on the floor +to be repainted; and I was myself present at the re-illumination of the +breast of a white horse, with a brush, at the end of a stick five feet +long, luxuriously dipped in a common house-painter's vessel of paint. + +This was, of course, a large picture. The process has already been +continued in an equally destructive, though somewhat more delicate +manner, over the whole of the humbler canvases on the ceiling of the +Sala del Gran Consiglio; and I heard it threatened when I was last in +Venice (1851-2) to the "Paradise" at its extremity, which is yet in +tolerable condition,--the largest work of Tintoret, and the most +wonderful piece of pure, manly, and masterly oil-painting in the world. + +§ CXL. I leave these facts to the consideration of the European patrons +of art. Twenty years hence they will be acknowledged and regretted; at +present, I am well aware, that it is of little use to bring them +forward, except only to explain the present impossibility of stating +what pictures _are_, and what _were_, in the interior of the Ducal +Palace. I can only say, that in the winter of 1851, the "Paradise" of +Tintoret was still comparatively uninjured, and that the Camera di +Collegio, and its antechamber, and the Sala de' Pregadi were full of +pictures by Veronese and Tintoret, that made their walls as precious as +so many kingdoms; so precious indeed, and so full of majesty, that +sometimes when walking at evening on the Lido, whence the great chain of +the Alps, crested with silver clouds, might be seen rising above the +front of the Ducal Palace, I used to feel as much awe in gazing on the +building as on the hills, and could believe that God had done a greater +work in breathing into the narrowness of dust the mighty spirits by +whom its haughty walls had been raised, and its burning legends written, +than in lifting the rocks of granite higher than the clouds of heaven, +and veiling them with their various mantle of purple flower and shadowy +pine. + + +FOOTNOTES + + [99] The reader will find it convenient to note the following + editions of the printed books which have been principally consulted + in the following inquiry. The numbers of the manuscripts referred to + in the Marcian Library are given with the quotations. + + Sansovino. Venetia Descritta. 4to, Venice, 1663. + Sansovino. Lettera intorno al Palazzo Ducale. 8vo, Venice, 1829. + Temanza. Antica Pianta di Venezia, with text. Venice, 1780. + Cadorin. Pareri di XV. Architetti. 8vo, Venice, 1838. + Filiasi. Memorie storiche. 8vo, Padua, 1811. + Bettio. Lettera discorsiva del Palazzo Ducale. 8vo, Venice, 1837. + Selvatico. Architettura di Venezia. 8vo, Venice, 1847. + + [100] The year commonly given is 810, as in the Savina Chronicle + (Cod. Marcianus), p. 13. "Del 810 fece principiar el pallazzo Ducal + nel luogo ditto Bruolo in confin di S. Moisè, et fece riedificar la + isola di Eraclia." The Sagornin Chronicle gives 804; and Filiasi, + vol. vi. chap. 1, corrects this date to 813. + + [101] "Ampliò la città, fornilla di casamenti, _e per il culto d' + Iddio e l' amministrazione della giustizia_ eresse la cappella di S. + Marco, e il palazzo di sua residenza."--Pareri, p. 120. Observe, + that piety towards God, and justice towards man, have been at least + the nominal purposes of every act and institution of ancient Venice. + Compare also Temanza, p. 24. "Quello che abbiamo di certo si è che + il suddetto Agnello lo incominciò da fondamenti, e cost pure la + cappella ducale di S. Marco." + + [102] What I call the Sea, was called "the Grand Canal" by the + Venetians, as well as the great water street of the city; but I + prefer calling it "the Sea," in order to distinguish between that + street and the broad water in front of the Ducal Palace, which, + interrupted only by the island of San Giorgio, stretches for many + miles to the south, and for more than two to the boundary of the + Lido. It was the deeper channel, just in front of the Ducal Palace, + continuing the line of the great water street itself which the + Venetians spoke of as "the Grand Canal." The words of Sansovino are: + "Fu cominciato dove si vede, vicino al ponte della paglia, et + rispondente sul canal grande." Filiasi says simply: "The palace was + built where it now is." "Il palazio fu fatto dove ora pure + esiste."--Vol. iii. chap. 27. The Savina Chronicle, already quoted, + says: "In the place called the Bruolo (or Broglio), that is to say, + on the Piazzetta." + + [103] "Omni decoritate illius perlustrata."--Sagornino, quoted by + Cadorin and Temanza. + + [104] There is an interesting account of this revolt in Monaci, p. + 68. Some historians speak of the palace as having been destroyed + entirely; but, that it did not even need important restorations, + appears from Sagornino's expression, quoted by Cadorin and Temanza. + Speaking of the Doge Participazio, he says: "Qui Palatii hucusque + manentis fuerit fabricator." The reparations of the palace are + usually attributed to the successor of Candiano, Pietro Orseolo I.; + but the legend, under the picture of that Doge in the Council + Chamber, speaks only of his rebuilding St. Mark's, and "performing + many miracles." His whole mind seems to have been occupied with + ecclesiastical affairs; and his piety was finally manifested in a + way somewhat startling to the state, by his absconding with a French + priest to St. Michael's, in Gascony, and there becoming a monk. What + repairs, therefore, were necessary to the Ducal Palace, were left to + be undertaken by his son, Orseolo II., above named. + + [105] "Quam non modo marmoreo, verum aureo compsit + ornamento."--_Temanza_, p. 25. + + [106] "L'anno 1106, uscito fuoco d'una casa privata, arse parte del + palazzo."--_Sansovino_. Of the beneficial effect of these fires, + vide Cadorin, p. 121, 123. + + [107] "Urbis situm, ædificiorum decorem, et regiminis æquitatem + multipliciter commendavit."--_Cronaca Dandolo_, quoted by Cadorin. + + [108] "Non solamente rinovò il palazzo, ma lo aggrandì per ogni + verso."--_Sansovino_. Zanotto quotes the Altinat Chronicle for + account of these repairs. + + [109] "El palazzo che anco di mezzo se vede vecchio, per M. + Sebastian Ziani fu fatto compir, come el se vede."--_Chronicle of + Pietro Dolfino_, Cod. Ven. p. 47. This Chronicle is spoken of by + Sansovino as "molto particolare e distinta."--_Sansovino, Venezia + descritta_, p. 593.--It terminates in the year 1422. + + [110] See Vol. I. Appendix 3. + + [111] Vide Sansovino's enumeration of those who flourished in the + reign of Gradenigo, p. 564. + + [112] Sansovino, 324, 1. + + [113] "1301 fu presa parte di fare una sala grande per la riduzione + del gran consiglio, e fu fatta quella che ora si chiama dello + Scrutinio."--_Cronaca Sivos_, quoted by Cadorin. There is another + most interesting entry in the Chronicle of Magno, relating to this + event; but the passage is so ill written, that I am not sure if I + have deciphered it correctly:--"Del 1301 fu preso de fabrichar la + sala fo ruina e fu fata (fatta) quella se adoperava a far el pregadi + e fu adopera per far el Gran Consegio fin 1423, che fu anni 122." + This last sentence, which is of great importance, is luckily + unmistakable:--"The room was used for the meetings of the Great + Council until 1423, that is to say, for 122 years."--_Cod. Ven_. + tom. i. p. 126. The Chronicle extends from 1253 to 1454. + + [114] "Vi era appresso la Cancellaria, e la Gheba o Gabbia, chiamata + poi Torresella."--P. 324. A small square tower is seen above the + Vine angle in the view of Venice dated 1500, and attributed to + Albert Durer. It appears about 25 feet square, and is very probably + the Torresella in question. + + [115] Vide Bettio, Lettera, p. 23. + + [116] Bettio, Lettera, p. 20. "Those who wrote without having seen + them described them as covered with lead; and those who have seen + them know that, between their flat timber roofs and the sloping + leaden roof of the palace, the interval is five metres where it is + least, and nine where it is greatest." + + [117] "Questo Dose anche fese far la porta granda che se al intrar + del Pallazzo, in su la qual vi e la sua statua che sta in + zenocchioni con lo confalon in man, davanti li pie de lo Lion S. + Marco,"--_Savin Chronicle_, Cod. Ven. p. 120. + + [118] These documents I have not examined myself, being satisfied of + the accuracy of Cadorin, from whom I take the passages quoted. + + [119] "Libras tres, soldos 15 grossorum."--_Cadorin_, 189, 1. + + [120] Cod. Ven., No. CXLI. p. 365. + + [121] Sansovino is more explicit than usual in his reference to this + decree: "For it having appeared that the place (the first Council + Chamber) was not capacious enough, the saloon on the Grand Canal was + ordered." "Per cio parendo che il luogo non fosse capace, fu + ordinata la Sala sul Canal Grande."--P. 324. + + [122] Cadorin, 185, 2. The decree of 1342 is falsely given as of 1345 + by the Sivos Chronicle, and by Magno; while Sanuto gives the decree + to its right year, 1342, but speaks of the Council Chamber as only + begun in 1345. + + [123] Calendario. See Appendix 1, Vol. III. + + [124] "Il primo che vi colorisse fu Guariento, il quale l' anno 1365 + vi fece il Paradiso in testa della sala."--_Sansovino._ + + [125] "L' an poi 1400 vi fece il cielo compartita a quadretti d'oro, + ripieni di stelle, ch' era la insegna del Doge Steno."--_Sansovino_, + lib. VIII. + + [126] "In questi tempi si messe in oro il cielo della sala del Gran + Consiglio et si fece il pergolo del finestra grande chi guarda sul + canale, adornato l'uno e l'altro di stelle, ch' erano l'insegne del + Doge."--_Sansovino_, lib. XIII. Compare also Pareri, p. 129. + + [127] Baseggio (Pareri, p. 127) is called the Proto of the _New_ + Palace. Farther notes will be found in Appendix 1, Vol. III. + + [128] Cronaca Sanudo, No. CXXV. in the Marcian Library, p. 568. + + [129] Tomaso Mocenigo. + + [130] Vide notes in Appendix. + + [131] On the 4th of April, 1423, according to the copy of the + Zancarol Chronicle in the Marcian Library, but previously, according + to the Caroldo Chronicle, which makes Foscari enter the Senate as + Doge on the 3rd of April. + + [132] "Nella quale (the Sala del Gran Consiglio) non si fece Gran + Consiglio salvo nell' anno 1423, alli 3 April, et fu il primo giorno + che il Duce Foscari venisse in Gran Consiglio dopo la sua + creatione."--Copy in Marcian Library, p. 365. + + [133] "E a di 23 April (1423, by the context) sequente fo fatto Gran + Conseio in la salla nuovo dovi avanti non esta più fatto Gran + Conseio si che el primo Gran Conseio dopo la sua (Foscari's) + creation, fo fatto in la salla nuova, nel qual conseio fu el + Marchese di Mantoa," &c., p. 426. + + [134] Compare Appendix 1, Vol. III. + + [135] "Tutte queste fatture si compirono sotto il dogado del + Foscari, nel 1441."--_Pareri_, p. 131. + + [136] This identification has been accomplished, and I think + conclusively, by my friend Mr. Rawdon Brown, who has devoted all the + leisure which, during the last twenty years, his manifold offices of + kindness to almost every English visitant of Venice have left him, + in discovering and translating the passages of the Venetian records + which bear upon English history and literature. I shall have + occasion to take advantage hereafter of a portion of his labors, + which I trust will shortly be made public. + + [137] See the last chapter of the third volume. + + [138] "IN XRI--NOIE AMEN ANNINCARNATIONIS MCCCXVII. INESETBR." "In the + name of Christ, Amen, in the year of the incarnation, 1317, in the + month of September," &c. + + [139] "Oh, venerable Raphael, make thou the gulf calm, we beseech + thee." The peculiar office of the angel Raphael is, in general, + according to tradition, the restraining the harmful influences of + evil spirits. Sir Charles Eastlake told me, that sometimes in this + office he is represented bearing the gall of the fish caught by + Tobit; and reminded me of the peculiar superstitions of the + Venetians respecting the raising of storms by fiends, as embodied in + the well-known tale of the Fisherman and St. Mark's ring. + + [140] In the original, the succession of words is evidently suggested + partly by similarity of sound; and the sentence is made weighty by + an alliteration which is quite lost in our translation; but the very + allowance of influence to these minor considerations is a proof how + little any metaphysical order or system was considered necessary in + the statement. + + [141] It occurs in a prayer for the influence of the Holy Spirit, + "That He may keep my soul, and direct my way; compose my bearing, + and form my thoughts in holiness; may He govern my body, and protect + my mind; strengthen me in action, approve my vows, and accomplish my + desires; cause me to lead an honest and honorable life, and give me + good hope, charity and chastity, humility and patience: may He + govern the Five Senses of my body," &c. The following prayer is also + very characteristic of this period. It opens with a beautiful + address to Christ upon the cross; then proceeds thus: "Grant to us, + O Lord, we beseech thee, this day and ever, the use of penitence, of + abstinence, of humility, and chastity; and grant to us light, + judgment, understanding, and true knowledge, even to the end." One + thing I note in comparing old prayers with modern ones, that however + quaint, or however erring, they are always tenfold more condensed, + comprehensive, and to their purpose, whatever that may be. There is + no dilution in them, no vain or monotonous phraseology. They ask for + what is desired plainly and earnestly, and never could be shortened + by a syllable. The following series of ejaculations are deep in + spirituality, and curiously to our present purpose in the + philological quaintness of being built upon prepositions:-- + + "Domine Jesu Christe, sancta cruce tua apud me sis, ut me defendas. + Domine Jesu Christe, pro veneranda cruce tua post me sis, ut me + gubernes. + Domine Jesu Christe, pro benedicta cruce tua intra me sis, ut me + reficeas. + Domine Jesu Christe, pro benedicta cruce tua circa me sis, ut me + conserves. + Domine Jesu Christe, pro gloriosa cruce tua ante me sis, ut me + deduces. + Domine Jesu Christe, pro laudanda cruce tua super me sis, ut + benedicas. + Domine Jesu Christe, pro magnifica cruce tua in me sis, ut me ad + regnum tuum perducas, per D. N. J. C. Amen." + + [142] This arrangement of the cardinal virtues is said to have been + first made by Archytas. See D'Ancarville's illustration of the three + figures of Prudence, Fortitude, and Charity, in Selvatico's + "Cappellina degli Scrovegni," Padua, 1836. + + [143] Or Penitence: but I rather think this is understood only in + Compunctio cordis. + + [144] The transformation of a symbol into a reality, observe, as in + transubstantiation, is as much an abandonment of symbolism as the + forgetfulness of symbolic meaning altogether. + + [145] On the window of New College, Oxford. + + [146] Uniting the three ideas expressed by the Greek philosophers + under the terms [Greek: phronêei], [Greek: sophia], and [Greek: + epistêmê]; and part of the idea of [Greek: sôphrosonê]. + + [147] Isa. lxiv. 5. + + [148] I can hardly think it necessary to point out to the reader the + association between sacred cheerfulness and solemn thought, or to + explain any appearance of contradiction between passages in which + (as above in Chap. V.) I have had to oppose sacred pensiveness to + unholy mirth, and those in which I have to oppose sacred + cheerfulness to unholy sorrow. + + [149] "Desse," seat + + [150] Usually called Charity: but this virtue in its full sense is + one of the attendant spirits by the Throne; the Kindness here meant + is Charity with a special object; or Friendship and Kindness, as + opposed to Envy, which has always, in like manner, a special object. + Hence the love of Orestes and Pylades is given as an instance of the + virtue of Friendship; and the Virgin's, "They have no wine," at + Cana, of general kindness and sympathy with others' pleasure. + + [151] The "Faerie Queen," like Dante's "Paradise," is only half + estimated, because few persons take the pains to think out its + meaning. I have put a brief analysis of the first book in Appendix + 2, Vol. III.; which may perhaps induce the reader to follow out the + subject for himself. No time devoted to profane literature will be + better rewarded than that spent _earnestly_ on Spenser. + + [152] Inscribed, I believe, Pietas, meaning general reverence and + godly fear. + + [153] I have given one of these capitals carefully already in my folio + work, and hope to give most of the others in due time. It was of no + use to draw them here, as the scale would have been too small to + allow me to show the expression of the figures. + + [154] Lord Lindsay, vol. ii. p. 226. + + [155] Lord Lindsay, vol. ii. letter IV. + + [156] Selvatico states that these are intended to be representative + of eight nations, Latins, Tartars, Turks, Hungarians, Greeks, Goths, + Egyptians, and Persians. Either the inscriptions are now defaced or + I have carelessly omitted to note them. + + [157] The comma in these inscriptions stands for a small cuneiform + mark, I believe of contraction, and the small ^s for a zigzag mark + of the same kind. The dots or periods are similarly marked, on the + stone. + + [158] Can they have mistaken the ISIPIONE of the fifth side for the + word Isidore? + + [159] Compare the speech of the Doge Mocenigo, above,--"first justice, + and _then_ the interests of the state:" and see Vol. III. Chap. II. + § LIX. + + [160] Some further details respecting these portions, as well as + some necessary confirmations of my statements of dates, are, + however, given in Appendix 1, Vol. III. I feared wearying the + general reader by introducing them into the text. + + [161] Many persons, capable of quickly sympathizing with any + excellence, when once pointed out to them, easily deceive themselves + into the supposition that they are judges of art. There is only one + real test of such power of judgment. Can they, at a glance, discover + a good picture obscured by the filth, and confused among the + rubbish, of the pawnbroker's or dealer's garret? + + [162] This is easily explained. There are, of course, in every place + and at all periods, bad painters who conscientiously believe that + they can improve every picture they touch; and these men are + generally, in their presumption, the most influential over the + innocence, whether of monarchs or municipalities. The carpenter and + slater have little influence in recommending the repairs of the + roof; but the bad painter has great influence, as well as interest, + in recommending those of the picture. + + + + +APPENDIX. + +1. THE GONDOLIER'S CRY. + + +Most persons are now well acquainted with the general aspect of the +Venetian gondola, but few have taken the pains to understand the cries +of warning uttered by its boatmen, although those cries are peculiarly +characteristic, and very impressive to a stranger, and have been even +very sweetly introduced in poetry by Mr. Monckton Milnes. It may perhaps +be interesting to the traveller in Venice to know the general method of +management of the boat to which he owes so many happy hours. + +A gondola is in general rowed only by one man, _standing_ at the stern; +those of the upper classes having two or more boatmen, for greater speed +and magnificence. In order to raise the oar sufficiently, it rests, not +on the side of the boat, but on a piece of crooked timber like the +branch of a tree, rising about a foot from the boat's side, and called a +"fórcola." The fórcola is of different forms, according to the size and +uses of the boat, and it is always somewhat complicated in its parts and +curvature, allowing the oar various kinds of rests and catches on both +its sides, but perfectly free play in all cases; as the management of +the boat depends on the gondolier's being able in an instant to place +his oar in any position. The fórcola is set on the right-hand side of +the boat, some six feet from the stern: the gondolier stands on a little +flat platform or deck behind it, and throws nearly the entire weight of +his body upon the forward stroke. The effect of this stroke would be +naturally to turn the boat's head round to the left, as well as to send +it forward; but this tendency is corrected by keeping the blade of the +oar under the water on the return stroke, and raising it gradually, as +a full spoon is raised out of any liquid, so that the blade emerges from +the water only an instant before it again plunges. A _downward_ and +lateral pressure upon the fórcola is thus obtained, which entirely +counteracts the tendency given by the forward stroke; and the effort, +after a little practice, becomes hardly conscious, though, as it adds +some labor to the back stroke, rowing a gondola at speed is hard and +breathless work, though it appears easy and graceful to the looker-on. + +If then the gondola is to be turned to the left, the forward impulse is +given without the return stroke; if it is to be turned to the right, the +plunged oar is brought forcibly up to the surface; in either case a +single strong stroke being enough to turn the light and flat-bottomed +boat. But as it has no keel, when the turn is made sharply, as out of +one canal into another very narrow one, the impetus of the boat in its +former direction gives it an enormous lee-way, and it drifts laterally +up against the wall of the canal, and that so forcibly, that if it has +turned at speed, no gondolier can arrest the motion merely by strength +or rapidity of stroke of oar; but it is checked by a strong thrust of +the foot against the wall itself, the head of the boat being of course +turned for the moment almost completely round to the opposite wall, and +greater exertion made to give it, as quickly as possible, impulse in the +new direction. + +The boat being thus guided, the cry "Premi" is the order from one +gondolier to another that he should "press" or thrust forward his oar, +without the back stroke, so as to send the boat's head round _to the +left_; and the cry "Stali" is the order that he should give the return +or upward stroke which sends the boat's head round to the _right_. +Hence, if two gondoliers meet under any circumstances which render it a +matter of question on which side they should pass each other, the +gondolier who has at the moment the least power over his boat, cries to +the other, "Premi," if he wishes the boats to pass with their right-hand +sides to each other, and "Stali," if with their left. Now, in turning a +corner, there is of course risk of collision between boats coming from +opposite sides, and warning is always clearly and loudly given on +approaching an angle of the canals. It is of course presumed that the +boat which gives the warning will be nearer the turn than the one which +receives and answers it; and therefore will not have so much time to +check itself or alter its course. Hence the advantage of the turn, that +is, the outside, which allows the fullest swing and greatest room for +lee-way, is always yielded to the boat which gives warning. Therefore, +if the warning boat is going to turn to the right, as it is to have the +outside position, it will keep its own right-hand side to the boat which +it meets, and the cry of warning is therefore "Premi," twice given; +first as soon as it can be heard round the angle, prolonged and loud, +with the accent on the e, and another strongly accented e added, a kind +of question, "Prémi-é," followed at the instant of turning, with "Ah +Premí," with the accent sharp on the final i. If, on the other hand, the +warning boat is going to turn to the left, it will pass with its +left-hand side to the one it meets; and the warning cry is, "Stáli-é, Ah +Stalí." Hence the confused idea in the mind of the traveller that Stali +means "to the left," and "Premi" to the right; while they mean, in +reality, the direct reverse; the Stali, for instance, being the order to +the unseen gondolier who may be behind the corner, coming from the +left-hand side, that he should hold as much as possible _to his own +right_; this being the only safe order for him, whether he is going to +turn the corner himself, or to go straight on; for as the warning +gondola will always swing right across the canal in turning, a collision +with it is only to be avoided by keeping well within it, and close up to +the corner which it turns. + +There are several other cries necessary in the management of the +gondola, but less frequently, so that the reader will hardly care for +their interpretation; except only the "sciar," which is the order to the +opposite gondolier to stop the boat as suddenly as possible by slipping +his oar in front of the fórcola. The _cry_ is never heard except when +the boatmen have got into some unexpected position, involving a risk of +collision; but the action is seen constantly, when the gondola is rowed +by two or more men (for if performed by the single gondolier it only +swings the boat's head sharp round to the right), in bringing up at a +landing-place, especially when there is any intent of display, the boat +being first urged to its full speed and then stopped with as much foam +about the oar-blades as possible, the effect being much like that of +stopping a horse at speed by pulling him on his haunches. + + +2. OUR LADY OF SALVATION. + +"Santa Maria della Salute," Our Lady of Health, or of Safety, would be a +more literal translation, yet not perhaps fully expressing the force of +the Italian word in this case. The church was built between 1630 and +1680, in acknowledgment of the cessation of the plague;--of course to +the Virgin, to whom the modern Italian has recourse in all his principal +distresses, and who receives his gratitude for all principal +deliverances. + +The hasty traveller is usually enthusiastic in his admiration of this +building; but there is a notable lesson to be derived from it, which is +not often read. On the opposite side of the broad canal of the Giudecca +is a small church, celebrated among Renaissance architects as of +Palladian design, but which would hardly attract the notice of the +general observer, unless on account of the pictures by John Bellini +which it contains, in order to see which the traveller may perhaps +remember having been taken across the Giudecca to the Church of the +"Redentore." But he ought carefully to compare these two buildings with +each other, the one built "to the Virgin," the other "to the Redeemer" +(also a votive offering after the cessation of the plague of 1576); the +one, the most conspicuous church in Venice, its dome, the principal one +by which she is first discerned, rising out of the distant sea: the +other, small and contemptible, on a suburban island, and only becoming +an object of interest because it contains three small pictures! For in +the relative magnitude and conspicuousness of these two buildings, we +have an accurate index of the relative importance of the ideas of the +Madonna and of Christ, in the modern Italian mind. + +Some further account of this church is given in the final Index to the +Venetian buildings at the close of the third Volume. + + +3. TIDES OF VENICE, AND MEASURES AT TORCELLO. + +The lowest and highest tides take place in Venice at different periods, +the lowest during the winter, the highest in the summer and autumn. +During the period of the highest tides, the city is exceedingly +beautiful, especially if, as is not unfrequently the case, the water +rises high enough partially to flood St. Mark's Place. Nothing can be +more lovely or fantastic than the scene, when the Campanile and the +Golden Church are reflected in the calm water, and the lighter gondolas +floating under the very porches of the façade. On the other hand, a +winter residence in Venice is rendered peculiarly disagreeable by the +low tides, which sometimes leave the smaller canals entirely dry, and +large banks of mud beneath the houses, along the borders of even the +Grand Canal. The difference between the levels of the highest and lowest +tides I saw in Venice was 6 ft. 3 in. The average fall rise is from two +to three feet. + + * * * * * + +The measures of Torcello were intended for Appendix 4; but having by a +misprint referred the reader to Appendix 3, I give them here. The entire +breadth of the church within the walls is 70 feet; of which the square +bases of the pillars, 3 feet on each side, occupy 6 feet; and the nave, +from base to base, measures 31 ft. 1 in.; the aisles from base to wall, +16 feet odd inches, not accurately ascertainable on account of the +modern wainscot fittings. The intervals between the bases of the pillars +are 8 feet each, increasing towards the altar to 8 ft. 3 in., in order +to allow for a corresponding diminution in the diameter of the bases +from 3 ft. to 2 ft. 11 in. or 2 ft. 10. in. This subtle diminution of +the bases is in order to prevent the eye from feeling the greater +narrowness of the shafts in that part of the nave, their average +circumference being 6 ft. 10 in.; and one, the second on the north side, +reaching 7 feet, while those at the upper end of the nave vary from 6 +ft. 8 in. to 6 ft. 4 in. It is probable that this diminution in the more +distant pillars adds slightly to the perspective effect of length in the +body of the church, as it is seen from the great entrance: but whether +this was the intention or not, the delicate adaptation of this +diminished base to the diminished shaft is a piece of fastidiousness in +proportion which I rejoice in having detected; and this the more, +because the rude contours of the bases themselves would little induce +the spectator to anticipate any such refinement. + + +4. DATE OF THE DUOMO OF TORCELLO. + +The first flight to the lagoons for shelter was caused by the invasion +of Attila in the fifth century, so that in endeavoring to throw back the +thought of the reader to the former solitude of the islands, I spoke of +them as they must have appeared "1300 years ago." Altinum, however, was +not finally destroyed till the Lombard invasion in 641, when the +episcopal seat was removed to Torcello, and the inhabitants of the +mainland city, giving up all hope of returning to their former homes, +built their Duomo there. It is a disputed point among Venetian +antiquarians, whether the present church be that which was built in the +seventh century, partially restored in 1008, or whether the words of +Sagornino, "ecclesiam jam vetustate consumptam recreare," justify them +in assuming an entire rebuilding of the fabric. I quite agree with the +Marchese Selvatico, in believing the present church to be the earlier +building, variously strengthened, refitted, and modified by subsequent +care; but, in all its main features, preserving its original aspect, +except, perhaps, in the case of the pulpit and chancel screen, which, if +the Chevalier Bunsen's conclusions respecting early pulpits in the Roman +basilicas be correct (see the next article of this Appendix), may +possibly have been placed in their present position in the tenth +century, and the fragmentary character of the workmanship of the latter, +noticed in §§ X. and XI., would in that case have been the result of +innovation, rather than of haste. The question, however, whether they +are of the seventh or eleventh century, does not in the least affect our +conclusions, drawn from the design of these portions of the church, +respecting pulpits in general. + + +5. MODERN PULPITS. + +There is no character of an ordinary modern English church which appears +to me more to be regretted than the peculiar pompousness of the +furniture of the pulpits, contrasted, as it generally is, with great +meagreness and absence of color in the other portions of the church; a +pompousness, besides, altogether without grace or meaning, and dependent +merely on certain applications of upholstery; which, curiously enough, +are always in worse taste than even those of our drawing-rooms. Nor do +I understand how our congregations can endure the aspect of the wooden +sounding-board attached only by one point of its circumference to an +upright pillar behind the preacher; and looking as if the weight of its +enormous leverage must infallibly, before the sermon is concluded, tear +it from its support, and bring it down upon the preacher's head. These +errors in taste and feeling will however, I believe, be gradually +amended as more Gothic churches are built; but the question of the +position of the pulpit presents a more disputable ground of discussion. +I can perfectly sympathise with the feeling of those who wish the +eastern extremity of the church to form a kind of holy place for the +communion table; nor have I often received a more painful impression +than on seeing the preacher at the Scotch church in George Street, +Portman Square, taking possession of a perfect apse; and occupying +therein, during the course of the service, very nearly the same position +which the figure of Christ does in that of the Cathedral of Pisa. But I +nevertheless believe that the Scotch congregation are perfectly right, +and have restored the real arrangement of the primitive churches. The +Chevalier Bunsen informed me very lately, that, in all the early +basilicas he has examined, the lateral pulpits are of more recent date +than the rest of the building; that he knows of none placed in the +position which they now occupy, both in the basilicas and Gothic +cathedrals, before the ninth century; and that there can be no doubt +that the bishop always preached or exhorted, in the primitive times, +from his throne in the centre of the apse, the altar being always set at +the centre of the church, in the crossing of the transepts. His +Excellency found by experiment in Santa Maria Maggiore, the largest of +the Roman basilicas, that the voice could be heard more plainly from the +centre of the apse than from any other spot in the whole church; and, if +this be so, it will be another very important reason for the adoption of +the Romanesque (or Norman) architecture in our churches, rather than of +the Gothic. The reader will find some farther notice of this question in +the concluding chapter of the third volume. + +Before leaving this subject, however, I must be permitted to say one +word to those members of the Scotch Church who are severe in their +requirement of the nominal or apparent extemporization of all addresses +delivered from the pulpit. Whether they do right in giving those among +their ministers who _cannot_ preach extempore, the additional and +useless labor of committing their sermons to memory, may be a disputed +question; but it can hardly be so, that the now not unfrequent habit of +making a desk of the Bible, and reading the sermon stealthily, by +slipping the sheets of it between the sacred leaves, so that the +preacher consults his own notes _on pretence_ of consulting the +Scriptures, is a very unseemly consequence of their over-strictness. + + +6. APSE OF MURANO. + +The following passage succeeded in the original text to § XV. of Chap. +III. Finding it not likely to interest the general reader, I have placed +it here, as it contains matter of some interest to architects. + + "On this plinth, thus carefully studied in relations of magnitude, + the shafts are set at the angles, as close to each other as possible, + as seen in the ground-plan. These shafts are founded on pure Roman + tradition; their bases have no spurs, and the shaft itself is tapered + in a bold curve, according to the classical model. But, in the + adjustment of the bases to each other, we have a most curious + instance of the first beginning of the Gothic principle of + aggregation of shafts. They have a singularly archaic and simple + profile, composed of a single cavetto and roll, which are circular, + on a square plinth. Now when these bases are brought close to each + other at the angles of the apse, their natural position would be as + in fig. 3, Plate I., leaving an awkward fissure between the two + square plinths. This offended the architect's eye; so he cut part of + each of the bases away, and fitted them close to each other, as in + fig. 5, Plate I., which is their actual position. As before this + piece of rough harmonization the circular mouldings reached the sides + of the squares, they were necessarily cut partly away in the course + of the adjustment, and run into each other as in the figure, so as to + give us one of the first Venetian instances of the continuous Gothic + base. + + "The shafts measure on the average 2 ft. 8½ in. in circumference, + at the base, tapering so much that under the lowest fillet of their + necks they measure only 2 feet round, though their height is only 5 + ft. 6 in., losing thus eight inches of girth in five feet and a half + of height. They are delicately curved all the way up; and are 2½ + in. apart from each other where they are nearest, and about 5 in. at + the necks of their capitals." + + +7. EARLY VENETIAN DRESS. + +Sansovino's account of the changes in the dress of the Venetians is +brief, masterly, and full of interest; one or two passages are deserving +of careful notice, especially the introductory sentence. "For the +Venetians from their first origin, having made it their aim to be +peaceful and religious, and to keep on an equality with one another, +that equality might induce stability and concord (as disparity produces +confusion and ruin), made their dress a matter of conscience, ...; and +our ancestors, observant lovers of religion, upon which all their acts +were founded, and desiring that their young men should direct themselves +to virtue, the true soul of all human action, _and above all to peace_, +invented a dress conformable to their gravity, such, that in clothing +themselves with it, they might clothe themselves also with modesty and +honor. And because their mind was bent upon giving no offence to any +one, and living quietly as far as might be permitted them, it seemed +good to them to show to every one, even by external signs, this their +endeavor, by wearing a long dress, which was in no wise convenient for +persons of a quick temperament, or of eager and fierce spirits." + +Respecting the color of the women's dress, it is noticeable that blue is +called "Venetian color" by Cassiodorus, translated "turchino" by +Filiasi, vol. v. chap. iv. It was a very pale blue, as the place in +which the word occurs is the description by Cassiodorus of the darkness +which came over the sun's disk at the time of the Belisarian wars and +desolation of the Gothic kingdom. + + +8. INSCRIPTIONS AT MURANO. + +There are two other inscriptions on the border of the concha; but these, +being written on the soffit of the face arch, which, as before noticed, +is supported by the last two shafts of the chancel, could not be read by +the congregation, and only with difficulty by those immediately +underneath them. One of them is in black, the other in red letters. The +first: + + "Mutat quod sumsit, quod sollat crimina tandit + Et quod sumpsit, vultus vestisq. refulsit." + +The second: + + "Discipuli testes, prophete certa videntes + Et cernunt purum, sibi credunt ese futurum." + +I have found no notice of any of these inscriptions in any Italian +account of the church of Murano, and have seldom seen even Monkish Latin +less intelligible. There is no mistake in the letters, which are all +large and clear; but wrong letters may have been introduced by ignorant +restorers, as has often happened in St. Mark's. + + +9. SHAFTS OF ST. MARK. + +The principal pillars which carry the nave and transepts, fourteen in +number, are of white alabaster veined with grey and amber; each of a +single block, 15 ft. high, and 6 ft. 2 in. round at the base. I in vain +endeavored to ascertain their probable value. Every sculptor whom I +questioned on this subject told me there were no such pieces of +alabaster in the market, and that they were to be considered as without +price. + +On the façade of the church alone are two great ranges of shafts, +seventy-two in the lower range, and seventy-nine in the upper; all of +porphyry, alabaster, and verd-antique or fine marble; the lower about 9 +ft., the upper about 7 ft. high, and of various circumferences, from 4 +ft. 6 in. to 2 ft. round. + +There are now so many published engravings, and, far better than +engravings, calotypes, of this façade, that I may point out one or two +circumstances for the reader's consideration without giving any plate of +it here. And first, we ought to note the relations of the shafts and +wall, the latter being first sheeted with alabaster, and then the +pillars set within two or three inches of it, forming such a grove of +golden marble that the porches open before us as we enter the church +like glades in a deep forest. The reader may perhaps at first question +the propriety of placing the wall so close behind the shafts that the +latter have nearly as little work to do as the statues in a Gothic +porch; but the philosophy of this arrangement is briefly deducible from +the principles stated in the text. The builder had at his disposal +shafts of a certain size only, not fit to sustain the whole weight of +the fabric above. He therefore turns just as much of the wall veil into +shaft as he has strength of marble at his disposal, and leaves the rest +in its massive form. And that there may be no dishonesty in this, nor +any appearance in the shafts of doing more work than is really allotted +to them, many are left visibly with half their capitals projecting +beyond the archivolts they sustain, showing that the wall is very +slightly dependent on their co-operation, and that many of them are +little more than mere bonds or connecting rods between the foundation +and cornices. If any architect ventures to blame such an arrangement, +let him look at our much vaunted early English piers in Salisbury +Cathedral or Westminster Abbey, where the small satellitic shafts are +introduced in the same gratuitous manner, but with far less excuse or +reason: for those small shafts have nothing but their delicacy and +purely theoretical connection with the archivolt mouldings to recommend +them; but the St. Mark's shafts have an intrinsic beauty and value of +the highest order, and the object of the whole system of architecture, +as above stated, is in great part to set forth the beauty and value of +the shaft itself. Now, not only is this accomplished by withdrawing it +occasionally from servile work, but the position here given to it, +within three or four inches of a wall from which it nevertheless stands +perfectly clear all the way up, is exactly that which must best display +its color and quality. When there is much vacant space left behind a +pillar, the shade against which it is relieved is comparatively +indefinite, the eye passes by the shaft, and penetrates into the +vacancy. But when a broad surface of wall is brought near the shaft, its +own shadow is, in almost every effect of sunshine, so sharp and dark as +to throw out its colors with the highest possible brilliancy; if there +be no sunshine, the wall veil is subdued and varied by the most subtle +gradations of delicate half shadow, hardly less advantageous to the +shaft which it relieves. And, as far as regards pure effect in open air +(all artifice of excessive darkness or mystery being excluded), I do not +know anything whatsoever in the whole compass of the European +architecture I have seen, which can for a moment be compared with the +quaint shade and delicate color, like that of Rembrandt and Paul +Veronese united, which the sun brings out, as his rays move from porch +to porch along the St. Mark's façade. + +And, as if to prove that this was indeed the builder's intention, and +that he did not leave his shafts idle merely because he did not know how +to set them to work safely, there are two pieces of masonry at the +extremities of the façade, which are just as remarkable for their frank +trust in the bearing power of the shafts as the rest are for their want +of confidence in them. But, before we come to these, we must say a word +or two respecting the second point named above, the superior position of +the shafts. + +It was assuredly not in the builder's power, even had he been so +inclined, to obtain shafts high enough to sustain the whole external +gallery, as it is sustained in the nave, on one arcade. He had, as above +noticed, a supply of shafts of every sort and size, from which he chose +the largest for his nave shafts; the smallest were set aside for +windows, jambs, balustrades, supports of pulpits, niches, and such other +services, every conceivable size occurring in different portions of the +building; and the middle-sized shafts were sorted into two classes, of +which on the average one was about two-thirds the length of the other, +and out of these the two stories of the façade and sides of the church +are composed, the smaller shafts of course uppermost, and more numerous +than the lower, according to the ordinary laws of superimposition +adopted by all the Romanesque builders, and observed also in a kind of +architecture quite as beautiful as any we are likely to invent, that of +forest trees. + +Nothing is more singular than the way in which this kind of +superimposition (the only right one in the case of shafts) will shock a +professed architect. He has been accustomed to see, in the Renaissance +designs, shaft put on the top of shaft, three or four times over, and he +thinks this quite right; but the moment he is shown a properly +subdivided superimposition, in which the upper shafts diminish in size +and multiply in number, so that the lower pillars would balance them +safely even without cement, he exclaims that it is "against law," as if +he had never seen a tree in his life. + +Not that the idea of the Byzantine superimposition was taken from trees, +any more than that of Gothic arches. Both are simple compliances with +laws of nature, and, therefore, approximations to the forms of nature. + +There is, however, one very essential difference between tree structure +and the shaft structure in question; namely, that the marble branches, +having no vital connexion with the stem, must be provided with a firm +tablet or second foundation whereon to stand. This intermediate plinth +or tablet runs along the whole façade at one level, is about eighteen +inches thick, and left with little decoration as being meant for hard +service. The small porticos, already spoken of as the most graceful +pieces of composition with which I am acquainted, are sustained on +detached clusters of four or five columns, forming the continuation of +those of the upper series, and each of these clusters is balanced on one +grand detached shaft; as much trust being thus placed in the pillars +here, as is withdrawn from them elsewhere. The northern portico has only +one detached pillar at its outer angle, which sustains three shafts and +a square pilaster; of these shafts the one at the outer angle of the +group is the thickest (so as to balance the pilaster on the inner +angle), measuring 3 ft. 2 in. round, while the others measure only 2 ft. +10 in. and 2 ft. 11 in.; and in order to make this increase of diameter, +and the importance of the shaft, more manifest to the eye, the old +builders made the shaft _shorter_ as well as thicker, increasing the +depth both of its capital and the base, with what is to the thoughtless +spectator ridiculous incongruity, and to the observant one a most +beautiful expression of constructive genius. Nor is this all. Observe: +the whole strength of this angle depends on accuracy of _poise_, not on +breadth or strength of foundation. It is a _balanced_, not a propped +structure: if the balance fails, it must fall instantly; if the balance +is maintained, no matter how the lower shaft is fastened into the +ground, all will be safe. And to mark this more definitely, the great +lower shaft _has a different base from all the others of the façade_, +remarkably high in proportion to the shaft, on a circular instead of a +square plinth, and _without spurs_, while all the other bases have spurs +without exception. Glance back at what is said of the spurs at p. 79 of +the first volume, and reflect that all expression of _grasp_ in the foot +of the pillar is here useless, and to be replaced by one of balance +merely, and you will feel what the old builder wanted to say to us, and +how much he desired us to follow him with our understanding as he laid +stone above stone. + +And this purpose of his is hinted to us once more, even by the position +of this base in the ground plan of the foundation of the portico; for, +though itself circular, it sustains a hexagonal plinth _set obliquely to +the walls of the church_, as if expressly to mark to us that it did not +matter how the base was set, so only that the weights were justly +disposed above it. + + +10. PROPER SENSE OF THE WORD IDOLATRY. + +I do not intend, in thus applying the word "Idolatry" to certain +ceremonies of Romanist worship, to admit the propriety of the ordinary +Protestant manner of regarding those ceremonies as distinctively +idolatrous, and as separating the Romanist from the Protestant Church by +a gulf across which we must not look to our fellow-Christians but with +utter reprobation and disdain. The Church of Rome does indeed +distinctively violate the _second_ commandment; but the true force and +weight of the sin of idolatry are in the violation of the first, of +which we are all of us guilty, in probably a very equal degree, +considered only as members of this or that communion, and not as +Christians or unbelievers. Idolatry is, both literally and verily, not +the mere bowing down before sculptures, but the serving or becoming the +slave of any images or imaginations which stand between us and God, and +it is otherwise expressed in Scripture as "walking after the +_Imagination_" of our own hearts. And observe also that while, at least +on one occasion, we find in the Bible an indulgence granted to the mere +external and literal violation of the second commandment, "When I bow +myself in the house of Rimmon, the Lord pardon thy servant in this +thing," we find no indulgence in any instance, or in the slightest +degree, granted to "covetousness, which is idolatry" (Col. iii. 5; no +casual association of terms, observe, but again energetically repeated +in Ephesians, v. 5, "No covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any +inheritance in the kingdom of Christ"); nor any to that denial of God, +idolatry in one of its most subtle forms, following so often on the +possession of that wealth against which Agur prayed so earnestly, "Give +me neither poverty nor riches, lest I be full and deny thee, and say, +'Who is the Lord?'" + +And in this sense, which of us is not an idolater? Which of us has the +right, in the fulness of that better knowledge, in spite of which he +nevertheless is not yet separated from the service of this world, to +speak scornfully of any of his brethren, because, in a guiltless +ignorance, they have been accustomed to bow their knees before a statue? +Which of us shall say that there may not be a spiritual worship in their +apparent idolatry, or that there is not a spiritual idolatry in our own +apparent worship? + +For indeed it is utterly impossible for one man to judge of the feeling +with which another bows down before an image. From that pure reverence +in which Sir Thomas Brown wrote, "I can dispense with my hat at the +sight of a cross, but not with a thought of my Redeemer," to the worst +superstition of the most ignorant Romanist, there is an infinite series +of subtle transitions; and the point where simple reverence and the use +of the image merely to render conception more vivid, and feeling more +intense, change into definite idolatry by the attribution of Power to +the image itself, is so difficultly determinable that we cannot be too +cautions in asserting that such a change has actually taken place in the +case of any individual. Even when it is definite and certain, we shall +oftener find it the consequence of dulness of intellect than of real +alienation of heart from God; and I have no manner of doubt that half of +the poor and untaught Christians who are this day lying prostrate before +crucifixes, Bambinos, and Volto Santos, are finding more acceptance with +God, than many Protestants who idolize nothing but their own opinions or +their own interests. I believe that those who have worshipped the thorns +of Christ's crown will be found at last to have been holier and wiser +than those who worship the thorns of the world's service, and that to +adore the nails of the cross is a less sin than to adore the hammer of +the workman. + +But, on the other hand, though the idolatry of the lower orders in the +Romish Church may thus be frequently excusable, the ordinary subterfuges +by which it is defended are not so. It may be extenuated, but cannot be +denied; and the attribution of power to the image,[163] in which it +consists, is not merely a form of popular feeling, but a tenet of +priestly instruction, and may be proved, over and over again, from any +book of the Romish Church services. Take for instance the following +prayer, which occurs continually at the close of the service of the Holy +Cross: + + "Saincte vraye Croye aourée, + Qui du corps Dieu fu aournée + Et de sa sueur arrousée, + Et de son sanc enluminée, + Par ta vertu, par ta puissance, + Defent mon corps de meschance, + Et montroie moy par ton playsir + Que vray confes puisse mourir." + + "Oh holy, true, and golden Cross, which wast adorned with God's body, + and watered with His sweat, and illuminated with His blood, by thy + healing virtue and thy power, defend my body from mischance; and by + thy good pleasure, let me make a good confession when I die." + +There can be no possible defence imagined for the mere terms in which +this prayer and other such are couched: yet it is always to be +remembered, that in many cases they are rather poetical effusions than +serious prayers; the utterances of imaginative enthusiasm, rather than +of reasonable conviction; and as such, they are rather to be condemned +as illusory and fictitious, than as idolatrous, nor even as such, +condemned altogether, for strong love and faith are often the roots of +them and the errors of affection are better than the accuracies of +apathy. But the unhappy results, among all religious sects, of the habit +of allowing imaginative and poetical belief to take the place of +deliberate, resolute, and prosaic belief, have been fully and admirably +traced by the author of the "Natural History of Enthusiasm." + + +11. SITUATIONS OF BYZANTINE PALACES. + + (1.) _The Terraced House._ + +The most conspicuous pile in the midmost reach of the Grand Canal is the +Casa Grimani, now the Post-Office. Letting his boat lie by the steps of +this great palace, the traveller will see, on the other side of the +canal, a building with a small terrace in front of it, and a little +court with a door to the water, beside the terrace. Half of the house is +visibly modern, and there is a great seam, like the edge of a scar, +between it and the ancient remnant, in which the circular bands of the +Byzantine arches will be instantly recognized. This building not having, +as far as I know, any name except that of its present proprietor, I +shall in future distinguish it simply as the Terraced House. + + + (2.) _Casa Businello._ + +To the left of this edifice (looking from the Post-Office) there is a +modern palace, on the other side of which the Byzantine mouldings appear +again in the first and second stories of a house lately restored. It +might be thought that the shafts and arches had been raised yesterday, +the modern walls having been deftly adjusted to them, and all appearance +of antiquity, together with the ornamentation and proportions of the +fabric, having been entirely destroyed. I cannot, however, speak with +unmixed sorrow of these changes, since, without his being implicated in +the shame of them, they fitted this palace to become the residence of +the kindest friend I had in Venice. It is generally known as the Casa +Businello. + + + (3.) _The Braided House._ + +Leaving the steps of the Casa Grimani, and turning the gondola away from +the Rialto, we will pass the Casa Businello, and the three houses which +succeed it on the right. The fourth is another restored palace, white +and conspicuous, but retaining of its ancient structure only the five +windows in its second story, and an ornamental moulding above them which +appears to be ancient, though it is inaccessible without scaffolding, +and I cannot therefore answer for it. But the five central windows are +very valuable; and as their capitals differ from most that we find +(except in St. Mark's), in their plaited or braided border and +basket-worked sides, I shall call this house, in future, the Braided +House.[164] + + + (4.) _The Madonnetta House._ + +On the other side of this palace is the Traghetto called "Della +Madonnetta;" and beyond this Traghetto, still facing the Grand Canal, a +small palace, of which the front shows mere vestiges of arcades, the old +shafts only being visible, with obscure circular seams in the modern +plaster which covers the arches. The side of it is a curious +agglomeration of pointed and round windows in every possible position, +and of nearly every date from the twelfth to the eighteenth century. It +is the smallest of the buildings we have to examine, but by no means the +least interesting: I shall call it, from the name of its Traghetto, the +Madonnetta House. + + + (5.) _The Rio Foscari House._ + +We must now descend the Grand Canal as far as the Palazzo Foscari, and +enter the narrower canal, called the Rio di Ca' Foscari, at the side of +that palace. Almost immediately after passing the great gateway of the +Foscari courtyard, we shall see on our left, in the ruinous and +time-stricken walls which totter over the water, the white curve of a +circular arch covered with sculpture, and fragments of the bases of +small pillars, entangled among festoons of the Erba della Madonna. I +have already, in the folio plates which accompanied the first volume, +partly illustrated this building. In what references I have to make to +it here, I shall speak of it as the Rio Foscari House. + + + (6.) _Casa Farsetti._ + +We have now to reascend the Grand Canal, and approach the Rialto. As +soon as we have passed the Casa Grimani, the traveller will recognize, +on his right, two rich and extensive masses of building, which form +important objects in almost every picturesque view of the noble bridge. +Of these, the first, that farthest from the Rialto, retains great part +of its ancient materials in a dislocated form. It has been entirely +modernized in its upper stories, but the ground floor and first floor +have nearly all their original shafts and capitals, only they have been +shifted hither and thither to give room for the introduction of various +small apartments, and present, in consequence, marvellous anomalies in +proportion. This building is known in Venice as the Casa Farsetti. + + + (7.) _Casa Loredan._ + +The one next to it, though not conspicuous, and often passed with +neglect, will, I believe, be felt at last, by all who examine it +carefully, to be the most beautiful palace in the whole extent of the +Grand Canal. It has been restored often, once in the Gothic, once in the +Renaissance times,--some writers say, even rebuilt; but, if so, rebuilt +in its old form. The Gothic additions harmonize exquisitely with its +Byzantine work, and it is easy, as we examine its lovely central arcade, +to forget the Renaissance additions which encumber it above. It is known +as the Casa Loredan. + + * * * * * + +The eighth palace is the Fondaco de' Turchi, described in the text. A +ninth existed, more interesting apparently than any of these, near the +Church of San Moisè, but it was thrown down in the course of +"improvements" a few years ago. A woodcut of it is given in M. Lazari's +Guide. + + +12. MODERN PAINTING ON GLASS. + +Of all the various principles of art which, in modern days, we have +defied or forgotten, none are more indisputable, and few of more +practical importance than this, which I shall have occasion again and +again to allege in support of many future deductions: + +"All art, working with given materials, must propose to itself the +objects which, with those materials, are most perfectly attainable; and +becomes illegitimate and debased if it propose to itself any other +objects, better attainable with other materials." + +Thus, great slenderness, lightness, or intricacy of structure,--as in +ramifications of trees, detached folds of drapery, or wreaths of +hair,--is easily and perfectly expressible in metal-work or in painting, +but only with great difficulty and imperfectly expressible in sculpture. +All sculpture, therefore, which professes as its chief end the +expression of such characters, is debased; and if the suggestion of them +be accidentally required of it, that suggestion is only to be given to +an extent compatible with perfect ease of execution in the given +material,--not to the utmost possible extent. For instance: some of the +most delightful drawings of our own water-color painter, Hunt, have been +of birds' nests; of which, in painting, it is perfectly possible to +represent the intricate fibrous or mossy structure; therefore, the +effort is a legitimate one, and the art is well employed. But to carve a +bird's nest out of marble would be physically impossible, and to reach +any approximate expression of its structure would require prolonged and +intolerable labor. Therefore, all sculpture which set itself to carving +birds' nests as an end, or which, if a bird's nest were required of it, +carved it to the utmost possible point of realization, would be debased. +Nothing but the general form, and as much of the fibrous structure as +could be with perfect ease represented, ought to be attempted at all. + +But more than this. The workman has not done his duty, and is not +working on safe principles, unless he even so far _honors_ the materials +with which he is working as to set himself to bring out their beauty, +and to recommend and exalt, as far as lie can, their peculiar qualities. +If he is working in marble, he should insist upon and exhibit its +transparency and solidity; if in iron, its strength and tenacity; if in +gold, its ductility; and he will invariably find the material grateful, +and that his work is all the nobler for being eulogistic of the +substance of which it is made. But of all the arts, the working of glass +is that in which we ought to keep these principles most vigorously in +mind. For we owe it so much, and the possession of it is so great a +blessing, that all our work in it should be completely and forcibly +expressive of the peculiar characters which give it so vast a value. + +These are two, namely, its DUCTILITY when heated, and TRANSPARENCY when +cold, both nearly perfect. In its employment for vessels, we ought +always to exhibit its ductility, and in its employment for windows, its +transparency. All work in glass is bad which does not, with loud voice, +proclaim one or other of these great qualities. + +Consequently, _all cut glass_ is barbarous: for the cutting conceals its +ductility, and confuses it with crystal. Also, all very neat, finished, +and perfect form in glass is barbarous: for this fails in proclaiming +another of its great virtues; namely, the ease with which its light +substance can be moulded or blown into any form, so long as perfect +accuracy be not required. In metal, which, even when heated enough to be +thoroughly malleable, retains yet such weight and consistency as render +it susceptible of the finest handling and retention of the most delicate +form, great precision of workmanship is admissible; but in glass, which +when once softened must be blown or moulded, not hammered, and which is +liable to lose, by contraction or subsidence, the fineness of the forms +given to it, no delicate outlines are to be attempted, but only such +fantastic and fickle grace as the mind of the workman can conceive and +execute on the instant. The more wild, extravagant, and grotesque in +their gracefulness the forms are, the better. No material is so adapted +for giving full play to the imagination, but it must not be wrought with +refinement or painfulness, still less with costliness. For as in +gratitude we are to proclaim its virtues, so in all honesty we are to +confess its imperfections; and while we triumphantly set forth its +transparency, we are also frankly to admit its fragility, and therefore +not to waste much time upon it, nor put any real art into it when +intended for daily use. No workman ought ever to spend more than an hour +in the making of any glass vessel. + +Next in the case of windows, the points which we have to insist upon +are, the transparency of the glass and its susceptibility of the most +brilliant colors; and therefore the attempt to turn painted windows into +pretty pictures is one of the most gross and ridiculous barbarisms of +this pre-eminently barbarous century. It originated, I suppose, with the +Germans, who seem for the present distinguished among European nations +by the loss of the sense of color; but it appears of late to have +considerable chance of establishing itself in England: and it is a +two-edged error, striking in two directions; first at the healthy +appreciation of painting, and then at the healthy appreciation of glass. +Color, ground with oil, and laid on a solid opaque ground, furnishes to +the human hand the most exquisite means of expression which the human +sight and invention can find or require. By its two opposite qualities, +each naturally and easily attainable, of transparency in shadow and +opacity in light, it complies with the conditions of nature; and by its +perfect governableness it permits the utmost possible fulness and +subtlety in the harmonies of color, as well as the utmost perfection in +the drawing. Glass, considered as a material for a picture, is exactly +as bad as oil paint is good. It sets out by reversing the conditions of +nature, by making the lights transparent and the shadows opaque; and the +ungovernableness of its color (changing in the furnace), and its +violence (being always on a high key, because produced by actual light), +render it so disadvantageous in every way, that the result of working in +it for pictorial effect would infallibly be the destruction of all the +appreciation of the noble qualities of pictorial color. + +In the second place, this modern barbarism destroys the true +appreciation of the qualities of glass. It denies, and endeavors as far +as possible to conceal, the transparency, which is not only its great +virtue in a merely utilitarian point of view, but its great spiritual +character; the character by which in church architecture it becomes +most touchingly impressive, as typical of the entrances of the Holy +Spirit into the heart of man; a typical expression rendered specific and +intense by the purity and brilliancy of its sevenfold hues;[165] and +therefore in endeavoring to turn the window into a picture, we at once +lose the sanctity and power of the noble material, and employ it to an +end which is utterly impossible it should ever worthily attain. The true +perfection of a painted window is to be serene, intense, brilliant, like +flaming jewellery; full of easily legible and quaint subjects, and +exquisitely subtle, yet simple, in its harmonies. In a word, this +perfection has been consummated in the designs, never to be surpassed, +if ever again to be approached by human art, of the French windows of +the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. + + +FOOTNOTES + + [163] I do not like to hear Protestants speaking with gross and + uncharitable contempt even of the worship of relics. Elisha once + trusted his own staff too far; nor can I see any reasonable ground + for the scorn, or the unkind rebuke, of those who have been taught + from their youth upwards that to hope even in the hem of the garment + may sometimes be better than to spend the living on physicians. + + [164] Casa Tiepolo (?) in Lazari's Guide. + + [165] I do not think that there is anything more necessary to the + progress of European art in the present day than the complete + understanding of this sanctity of Color. I had much pleasure in + finding it, the other day, fully understood and thus sweetly + expressed in a little volume of poems by a Miss Maynard: + + "For still in every land, though to Thy name + Arose no temple,--still in every age, + Though heedless man had quite forgot Thy praise, + _We_ praised Thee; and at rise and set of sun + Did we assemble duly, and intone + A choral hymn that all the lands might hear. + In heaven, on earth, and in the deep we praised Thee, + Singly, or mingled in sweet sisterhood. + But now, acknowledged ministrants, we come, + Co-worshippers with man in this Thy house, + We, the Seven Daughters of the Light, to praise + Thee, Light of Light! Thee, God of very God!" + + _A Dream of Fair Colors._ + + These poems seem to be otherwise remarkable for a very unobtrusive + and pure religious feeling in subjects connected with art. + + * * * * * + + + + +CORRECTIONS MADE TO THE ORIGINAL TEXT. + +Page 58: 'endeavoring to imagine its aspect' corrected from 'aspeet.' + +Page 84: 'inadmissible altogether, or objectionable' from + 'objecjectionable.' + +Page 179: 'the surface sculpture will' corrected from 'wiil.' + +Page 188: 'central class will always' originally 'aways.' + +Page 191: 'with the rest of the spirit' originally 'spirt.' + +Page 204: 'the heart of that languor' originally 'langour.' + +Page 263: 'merely noting this one assured fact' changed from 'nothing.' + +Footnote 130: Appendi corrected to Appendix. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STONES OF VENICE, VOLUME II (OF +3)*** + + +******* This file should be named 30755-8.txt or 30755-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/0/7/5/30755 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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