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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: Stones of Venice [introductions] + +Author: John Ruskin + +Release Date: February, 2006 [EBook #9804] +First Posted: October 19, 2003 +Last Updated: February 12, 2019 + + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STONES OF VENICE [INTRODUCTIONS] *** + + + + +Etext produced by Anne Soulard, Keren Vergon, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. + +HTML file produced by David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + <div style="height: 8em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h1> + STONES OF VENICE + </h1> + <h2> + By John Ruskin + </h2> + <hr /> + <p> + <b>CONTENTS</b> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> THE STONES OF VENICE: </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_PREF"> PREFACE. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0003"> THE STONES OF VENICE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0001"> CHAPTER I. — THE QUARRY. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0002"> CHAPTER II. — THE THRONE. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0003"> CHAPTER III. — TORCELLO. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0004"> CHAPTER IV. — ST. MARK'S. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0005"> CHAPTER V. — THE DUCAL PALACE. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0009"> NOTE. </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE STONES OF VENICE: + </h2> + <h3> + INTRODUCTORY CHAPTERS AND LOCAL INDICES + </h3> + <h3> + (PRINTED SEPARATELY) + </h3> + <h3> + FOR THE USE OF TRAVELLERS WHILE STAYING IN VENICE AND VERONA. + </h3> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_PREF" id="link2H_PREF"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + PREFACE. + </h2> + <p> + This volume is the first of a series designed by the Author with the + purpose of placing in the hands of the public, in more serviceable form, + those portions of his earlier works which he thinks deserving of a + permanent place in the system of his general teaching. They were at first + intended to be accompanied by photographic reductions of the principal + plates in the larger volumes; but this design has been modified by the + Author's increasing desire to gather his past and present writings into a + consistent body, illustrated by one series of plates, purchasable in + separate parts, and numbered consecutively. Of other prefatory matter, + once intended,—apologetic mostly,—the reader shall be spared + the cumber: and a clear prospectus issued by the publisher of the new + series of plates, as soon as they are in a state of forwardness. + </p> + <p> + The second volume of this edition will contain the most useful matter out + of the third volume of the old one, closed by its topical index, abridged + and corrected. + </p> + <h3> + BRANTWOOD, + </h3> + <p> + <i>3rd May</i>, 1879. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0003" id="link2H_4_0003"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE STONES OF VENICE + </h2> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER I. — THE QUARRY. + </h2> + <h3> + [FIRST OF THE OLD EDITION.] + </h3> + <p> + SECTION I. Since the first dominion of men was asserted over the ocean, + three thrones, of mark beyond all others, have been set upon its sands: + the thrones of Tyre, Venice, and England. Of the First of these great + powers only the memory remains; of the Second, the ruin; the Third, which + inherits their greatness, if it forget their example, may be led through + prouder eminence to less pitied destruction. + </p> + <p> + The exaltation, the sin, and the punishment of Tyre have been recorded for + us, in perhaps the most touching words ever uttered by the Prophets of + Israel against the cities of the stranger. But we read them as a lovely + song; and close our ears to the sternness of their warning: for the very + depth of the Fall of Tyre has blinded us to its reality, and we forget, as + we watch the bleaching of the rocks between the sunshine and the sea, that + they were once "as in Eden, the garden of God." + </p> + <p> + Her successor, like her in perfection of beauty, though less in endurance + of dominion, is still left for our beholding in the final period of her + decline: a ghost upon the sands of the sea, so weak—so quiet,—so + bereft of all but her loveliness, that we might well doubt, as we watched + her faint reflection in the mirage of the lagoon, which was the City, and + which the Shadow. + </p> + <p> + I would endeavor to trace the lines of this image before it be for ever + lost, and to record, as far as I may, the warning which seems to me to be + uttered by every one of the fast-gaining waves, that beat, like passing + bells, against the STONES OF VENICE. + </p> + <p> + SECTION II. It would be difficult to overrate the value of the lessons + which might be derived from a faithful study of the history of this + strange and mighty city: a history which, in spite of the labor of + countless chroniclers, remains in vague and disputable outline,—barred + with brightness and shade, like the far away edge of her own ocean, where + the surf and the sand-bank are mingled with the sky. The inquiries in + which we have to engage will hardly render this outline clearer, but their + results will, in some degree, alter its aspect; and, so far as they bear + upon it at all, they possess an interest of a far higher kind than that + usually belonging to architectural investigations. I may, perhaps, in the + outset, and in few words, enable the general reader to form a clearer idea + of the importance of every existing expression of Venetian character + through Venetian art, and of the breadth of interest which the true + history of Venice embraces, than he is likely to have gleaned from the + current fables of her mystery or magnificence. + </p> + <p> + SECTION III. Venice is usually conceived as an oligarchy: She was so + during a period less than the half of her existence, and that including + the days of her decline; and it is one of the first questions needing + severe examination, whether that decline was owing in any wise to the + change in the form of her government, or altogether as assuredly in great + part, to changes, in the character of the persons of whom it was composed. + </p> + <p> + The state of Venice existed Thirteen Hundred and Seventy-six years, from + the first establishment of a consular government on the island of the + Rialto, [Footnote: Appendix I., "Foundations of Venice."] to the moment + when the General-in-chief of the French army of Italy pronounced the + Venetian republic a thing of the past. Of this period, Two Hundred and + Seventy-six years [Footnote: Appendix II., "Power of the Doges."] were + passed in a nominal subjection to the cities of old Venetia, especially to + Padua, and in an agitated form of democracy, of which the executive + appears to have been entrusted to tribunes, [Footnote: Sismondi, Hist. des + Rép. Ital., vol. i. ch. v.] chosen, one by the inhabitants of each of the + principal islands. For six hundred years, [Footnote: Appendix III., + "Serrar del Consiglio."] during which the power of Venice was continually + on the increase, her government was an elective monarchy, her King or doge + possessing, in early times at least, as much independent authority as any + other European sovereign, but an authority gradually subjected to + limitation, and shortened almost daily of its prerogatives, while it + increased in a spectral and incapable magnificence. The final government + of the nobles, under the image of a king, lasted for five hundred years, + during which Venice reaped the fruits of her former energies, consumed + them,—and expired. + </p> + <p> + SECTION IV. Let the reader therefore conceive the existence of the + Venetian state as broadly divided into two periods: the first of nine + hundred, the second of five hundred years, the separation being marked by + what was called the "Serrar del Consiglio;" that is to say, the final and + absolute distinction of the nobles from the commonalty, and the + establishment of the government in their hands to the exclusion alike of + the influence of the people on the one side, and the authority of the doge + on the other. + </p> + <p> + Then the first period, of nine hundred years, presents us with the most + interesting spectacle of a people struggling out of anarchy into order and + power; and then governed, for the most part, by the worthiest and noblest + man whom they could find among them, [Footnote: "Ha saputo trovar modo che + non uno, non pochi, non molti, signoreggiano, ma molti buoni, pochi + migliori, e insiememente, <i>un ottimo solo</i>." (<i>Sansovino</i>,) Ah, + well done, Venice! Wisdom this, indeed.] called their Doge or Leader, with + an aristocracy gradually and resolutely forming itself around him, out of + which, and at last by which, he was chosen; an aristocracy owing its + origin to the accidental numbers, influence, and wealth of some among the + families of the fugitives from the older Venetia, and gradually organizing + itself, by its unity and heroism, into a separate body. + </p> + <p> + This first period includes the rise of Venice, her noblest achievements, + and the circumstances which determined her character and position among + European powers; and within its range, as might have been anticipated, we + find the names of all her hero princes,—of Pietro Urseolo, Ordalafo + Falier, Domenico Michieli, Sebastiano Ziani, and Enrico Dandolo. + </p> + <p> + SECTION V. The second period opens with a hundred and twenty years, the + most eventful in the career of Venice—the central struggle of her + life—stained with her darkest crime, the murder of Carrara—disturbed + by her most dangerous internal sedition, the conspiracy of Falier—oppressed + by her most fatal war, the war of Chiozza—and distinguished by the + glory of her two noblest citizens (for in this period the heroism of her + citizens replaces that of her monarchs), Vittor Pisani and Carlo Zeno. + </p> + <p> + I date the commencement of the Fall of Venice from the death of Carlo + Zeno, 8th May, 1418; [Footnote: Daru, liv. xii. ch. xii.] the <i>visible</i> + commencement from that of another of her noblest and wisest children, the + Doge Tomaso Mocenigo, who expired five years later. The reign of Foscari + followed, gloomy with pestilence and war; a war in which large + acquisitions of territory were made by subtle or fortunate policy in + Lombardy, and disgrace, significant as irreparable, sustained in the + battles on the Po at Cremona, and in the marshes of Caravaggio. In 1454, + Venice, the first of the states of Christendom, humiliated herself to the + Turk in the same year was established the Inquisition of State, [Footnote: + Daru, liv. xvi. cap. xx. We owe to this historian the discovery of the + statutes of the tribunal and date of its establishment.] and from this + period her government takes the perfidious and mysterious form under which + it is usually conceived. In 1477, the great Turkish invasion spread terror + to the shores of the lagoons; and in 1508 the league of Cambrai marks the + period usually assigned as the commencement of the decline of the Venetian + power; [Footnote: Ominously signified by their humiliation to the Papal + power (as before to the Turkish) in 1509, and their abandonment of their + right of appointing the clergy of their territories.] the commercial + prosperity of Venice in the close of the fifteenth century blinding her + historians to the previous evidence of the diminution of her internal + strength. + </p> + <p> + SECTION VI. Now there is apparently a significative coincidence between + the establishment of the aristocratic and oligarchical powers, and the + diminution of the prosperity of the state. But this is the very question + at issue; and it appears to me quite undetermined by any historian, or + determined by each in accordance with his own prejudices. It is a triple + question: first, whether the oligarchy established by the efforts of + individual ambition was the cause, in its subsequent operation, of the + Fall of Venice; or (secondly) whether the establishment of the oligarchy + itself be not the sign and evidence, rather than the cause, of national + enervation; or (lastly) whether, as I rather think, the history of Venice + might not be written almost without reference to the construction of her + senate or the prerogatives of her Doge. It is the history of a people + eminently at unity in itself, descendants of Roman race, long disciplined + by adversity, and compelled by its position either to live nobly or to + perish:—for a thousand years they fought for life; for three hundred + they invited death: their battle was rewarded, and their call was heard. + </p> + <p> + SECTION VII. Throughout her career, the victories of Venice, and, at + many periods of it, her safety, were purchased by individual heroism; and + the man who exalted or saved her was sometimes (oftenest) her king, + sometimes a noble, sometimes a citizen. To him no matter, nor to her: the + real question is, not so much what names they bore, or with what powers + they were entrusted, as how they were trained; how they were made masters + of themselves, servants of their country, patient of distress, impatient + of dishonor; and what was the true reason of the change from the time when + she could find saviours among those whom she had cast into prison, to that + when the voices of her own children commanded her to sign covenant with + Death. [Footnote: The senate voted the abdication of their authority by a + majority of 512 to 14. (Alison, ch. xxiii.)] + </p> + <p> + SECTION VIII. On this collateral question I wish the reader's mind to be + fixed throughout all our subsequent inquiries. It will give double + interest to every detail: nor will the interest be profitless; for the + evidence which I shall be able to deduce from the arts of Venice will be + both frequent and irrefragable, that the decline of her political + prosperity was exactly coincident with that of domestic and individual + religion. + </p> + <p> + I say domestic and individual; for—and this is the second point + which I wish the reader to keep in mind—the most curious phenomenon + in all Venetian history is the vitality of religion in private life, and + its deadness in public policy. Amidst the enthusiasm, chivalry, or + fanaticism of the other states of Europe, Venice stands, from first to + last, like a masked statue; her coldness impenetrable, her exertion only + aroused by the touch of a secret spring. That spring was her commercial + interest,—this the one motive of all her important political acts, + or enduring national animosities. She could forgive insults to her honor, + but never rivalship in her commerce; she calculated the glory of her + conquests by their value, and estimated their justice by their facility. + The fame of success remains; when the motives of attempt are forgotten; + and the casual reader of her history may perhaps be surprised to be + reminded, that the expedition which was commanded by the noblest of her + princes, and whose results added most to her military glory, was one in + which while all Europe around her was wasted by the fire of its devotion, + she first calculated the highest price she could exact from its piety for + the armament she furnished, and then, for the advancement of her own + private interests, at once broke her faith [Footnote: By directing the + arms of the Crusaders against a Christian prince. (Daru, liv. iv. ch. iv. + viii.)] and betrayed her religion. + </p> + <p> + SECTION IX. And yet, in the midst of this national criminality, we shall + be struck again and again by the evidences of the most noble individual + feeling. The tears of Dandolo were not shed in hypocrisy, though they + could not blind him to the importance of the conquest of Zara. The habit + of assigning to religion a direct influence over all <i>his own</i> + actions, and all the affairs of <i>his own</i> daily life, is remarkable + in every great Venetian during the times of the prosperity of the state; + nor are instances wanting in which the private feeling of the citizens + reaches the sphere of their policy, and even becomes the guide of its + course where the scales of expediency are doubtfully balanced. I sincerely + trust that the inquirer would be disappointed who should endeavor to trace + any more immediate reasons for their adoption of the cause of Alexander + III. against Barbarossa, than the piety which was excited by the character + of their suppliant, and the noble pride which was provoked by the + insolence of the emperor. But the heart of Venice is shown only in her + hastiest councils; her worldly spirit recovers the ascendency whenever she + has time to calculate the probabilities of advantage, or when they are + sufficiently distinct to need no calculation; and the entire subjection of + private piety to national policy is not only remarkable throughout the + almost endless series of treacheries and tyrannies by which her empire was + enlarged and maintained, but symbolized by a very singular circumstance in + the building of the city itself. I am aware of no other city of Europe in + which its cathedral was not the principal feature. But the principal + church in Venice was the chapel attached to the palace of her prince, and + called the "Chiesa Ducale." The patriarchal church, [Footnote: Appendix 4, + "San Pietro di Castello."] inconsiderable in size and mean in decoration, + stands on the outermost islet of the Venetian group, and its name, as well + as its site, is probably unknown to the greater number of travellers + passing hastily through the city. Nor is it less worthy of remark, that + the two most important temples of Venice, next to the ducal chapel, owe + their size and magnificence, not to national effort, but to the energy of + the Franciscan and Dominican monks, supported by the vast organization of + those great societies on the mainland of Italy, and countenanced by the + most pious, and perhaps also, in his generation, the most wise, of all the + princes of Venice, [Footnote: Tomaso Mocenigo, above named, Section V.] + who now rests beneath the roof of one of those very temples, and whose + life is not satirized by the images of the Virtues which a Tuscan sculptor + has placed around his tomb. + </p> + <p> + SECTION X. There are, therefore, two strange and solemn lights in which + we have to regard almost every scene in the fitful history of the Rivo + Alto. We find, on the one hand, a deep, and constant tone of individual + religion characterizing the lives of the citizens of Venice in her + greatness; we find this spirit influencing them in all the familiar and + immediate concerns of life, giving a peculiar dignity to the conduct even + of their commercial transactions, and confessed by them with a simplicity + of faith that may well put to shame the hesitation with which a man of the + world at present admits (even if it be so in reality) that religious + feeling has any influence over the minor branches of his conduct. And we + find as the natural consequence of all this, a healthy serenity of mind + and energy of will expressed in all their actions, and a habit of heroism + which never fails them, even when the immediate motive of action ceases to + be praiseworthy. With the fulness of this spirit the prosperity of the + state is exactly correspondent, and with its failure her decline, and that + with a closeness and precision which it will be one of the collateral + objects of the following essay to demonstrate from such accidental + evidence as the field of its inquiry presents. And, thus far, all is + natural and simple. But the stopping short of this religious faith when it + appears likely to influence national action, correspondent as it is, and + that most strikingly, with several characteristics of the temper of our + present English legislature, is a subject, morally and politically, of the + most curious interest and complicated difficulty; one, however, which the + range of my present inquiry will not permit me to approach, and for the + treatment of which I must be content to furnish materials in the light I + may be able to throw upon the private tendencies of the Venetian + character. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> +SECTION XI. There is, however, another most interesting feature in the +policy of Venice which will be often brought before us; and which a +Romanist would gladly assign as the reason of its irreligion; namely, +the magnificent and successful struggle which she maintained against the +temporal authority of the Church of Rome. It is true that, in a rapid +survey of her career, the eye is at first arrested by the strange drama +to which I have already alluded, closed by that ever memorable scene in +the portico of St. Mark's, [Footnote: + "In that temple porch, + (The brass is gone, the porphyry remains,) + Did BARBAROSSA fling his mantle off, + And kneeling, on his neck receive the foot + Of the proud Pontiff—thus at last consoled + For flight, disguise, and many an aguish shake + On his stony pillow." +</pre> + <p> + I need hardly say whence the lines are taken: Rogers' "Italy" has, I + believe, now a place in the best beloved compartment of all libraries, and + will never be removed from it. There is more true expression of the spirit + of Venice in the passages devoted to her in that poem, than in all else + that has been written of her.] the central expression in most men's + thoughts of the unendurable elevation of the pontifical power; it is true + that the proudest thoughts of Venice, as well as the insignia of her + prince, and the form of her chief festival, recorded the service thus + rendered to the Roman Church. But the enduring sentiment of years more + than balanced the enthusiasm of a moment; and the bull of Clement V., + which excommunicated the Venetians and their doge, likening them to + Dathan, Abiram, Absalom, and Lucifer, is a stronger evidence of the great + tendencies of the Venetian government than the umbrella of the doge or the + ring of the Adriatic. The humiliation of Francesco Dandolo blotted out the + shame of Barbarossa, and the total exclusion of ecclesiastics from all + share in the councils of Venice became an enduring mark of her knowledge + of the spirit of the Church of Rome, and of her defiance of it. + </p> + <p> + To this exclusion of Papal influence from her councils, the Romanist will + attribute their irreligion, and the Protestant their success. [Footnote: + At least, such success as they had. Vide Appendix 5, "The Papal Power in + Venice."] + </p> + <p> + The first may be silenced by a reference to the character of the policy of + the Vatican itself; and the second by his own shame, when he reflects that + the English legislature sacrificed their principles to expose themselves + to the very danger which the Venetian senate sacrificed theirs to avoid. + </p> + <p> + SECTION XII. One more circumstance remains to be noted respecting the + Venetian government, the singular unity of the families composing it,—unity + far from sincere or perfect, but still admirable when contrasted with the + fiery feuds, the almost daily revolutions, the restless successions of + families and parties in power, which fill the annals of the other states + of Italy. That rivalship should sometimes be ended by the dagger, or + enmity conducted to its ends under the mask of law, could not but be + anticipated where the fierce Italian spirit was subjected to so severe a + restraint: it is much that jealousy appears usually unmingled with + illegitimate ambition, and that, for every instance in which private + passion sought its gratification through public danger, there are a + thousand in which it was sacrificed to the public advantage. Venice may + well call upon us to note with reverence, that of all the towers which are + still seen rising like a branchless forest from her islands, there is but + one whose office was other than that of summoning to prayer, and that one + was a watch-tower only [Footnote: Thus literally was fulfilled the promise + to St. Mark,—Pax e.] from first to last, while the palaces of the + other cities of Italy were lifted into sullen fortitudes of rampart, and + fringed with forked battlements for the javelin and the bow, the sands of + Venice never sank under the weight of a war tower, and her roof terraces + were wreathed with Arabian imagery, of golden globes suspended on the + leaves of lilies. [Footnote: The inconsiderable fortifications of the + arsenal are no exception to this statement, as far as it regards the city + itself. They are little more than a semblance of precaution against the + attack of a foreign enemy.] + </p> + <p> + SECTION XIII. These, then, appear to me to be the points of chief + general interest in the character and fate of the Venetian people. I would + next endeavor to give the reader some idea of the manner in which the + testimony of Art bears upon these questions, and of the aspect which the + arts themselves assume when they are regarded in their true connection + with the history of the state. + </p> + <p> + 1st. Receive the witness of Painting. + </p> + <p> + It will be remembered that I put the commencement of the Fall of Venice as + far back as 1418. + </p> + <p> + Now, John Bellini was born in 1423, and Titian in 1480. John Bellini, and + his brother Gentile, two years older than he, close the line of the sacred + painters of Venice. But the most solemn spirit of religious faith animates + their works to the last. There is no religion in any work of Titian's: + there is not even the smallest evidence of religious temper or sympathies + either in himself, or in those for whom he painted. His larger sacred + subjects are merely themes for the exhibition of pictorial rhetoric,—composition + and color. His minor works are generally made subordinate to purposes of + portraiture. The Madonna in the church of the Frari is a mere lay figure, + introduced to form a link of connection between the portraits of various + members of the Pesaro family who surround her. + </p> + <p> + Now this is not merely because John Bellini was a religious man and Titian + was not. Titian and Bellini are each true representatives of the school of + painters contemporary with them; and the difference in their artistic + feeling is a consequence not so much of difference in their own natural + characters as in their early education: Bellini was brought up in faith; + Titian in formalism. Between the years of their births the vital religion + of Venice had expired. + </p> + <p> + SECTION XIV. The <i>vital</i> religion, observe, not the formal. Outward + observance was as strict as ever; and doge and senator still were painted, + in almost every important instance, kneeling before the Madonna or St. + Mark; a confession of faith made universal by the pure gold of the + Venetian sequin. But observe the great picture of Titian's in the ducal + palace, of the Doge Antonio Grimani kneeling before Faith: there is a + curious lesson in it. The figure of Faith is a coarse portrait of one of + Titian's least graceful female models: Faith had become carnal. The eye is + first caught by the flash of the Doge's armor. The heart of Venice was in + her wars, not in her worship. + </p> + <p> + The mind of Tintoret, incomparably more deep and serious than that of + Titian, casts the solemnity of its own tone over the sacred subjects which + it approaches, and sometimes forgets itself into devotion; but the + principle of treatment is altogether the same as Titian's: absolute + subordination of the religious subject to purposes of decoration or + portraiture. + </p> + <p> + The evidence might be accumulated a thousandfold from the works of + Veronese, and of every succeeding painter,—that the fifteenth + century had taken away the religious heart of Venice. + </p> + <p> + SECTION XV. Such is the evidence of Painting. To collect that of + Architecture will be our task through many a page to come; but I must here + give a general idea of its heads. + </p> + <p> + Philippe de Commynes, writing of his entry into Venice in 1495, says,— + </p> + <p> + "Chascun me feit seoir au meillieu de ces deux ambassadeurs qui est + l'honneur d'Italie que d'estre au meillieu; et me menerent au long de la + grant rue, qu'ilz appellent le Canal Grant, et est bien large. Les gallees + y passent à travers et y ay veu navire de quatre cens tonneaux ou plus + pres des maisons: et est la plus belle rue que je croy qui soit en tout le + monde, et la mieulx maisonnee, et va le long de la ville. Les maisons sont + fort grandes et haultes, et de bonne pierre, et les anciennes toutes + painctes; les aul tres faictes depuis cent ans: toutes ont le devant de + marbre blanc, qui leur vient d'Istrie, à cent mils de la, et encores + maincte grant piece de porphire et de sarpentine sur le devant.... C'est + la plus triumphante cité que j'aye jamais veue et qui plus faict d'honneur + à ambassadeurs et estrangiers, et qui plus saigement se gouverne, et où le + service de Dieu est le plus sollennellement faict: et encores qu'il y + peust bien avoir d'aultres faultes, si croy je que Dieu les a en ayde pour + la reverence qu'ilz portent au service de l'Eglise." [Footnote: Mémoires + de Commynes, liv. vii. ch. xviii.] + </p> + <p> + SECTION XVI. This passage is of peculiar interest, for two reasons. + Observe, first, the impression of Commynes respecting the religion of + Venice: of which, as I have above said, the forms still remained with some + glimmering of life in them, and were the evidence of what the real life + had been in former times. But observe, secondly, the impression instantly + made on Commynes' mind by the distinction between the elder palaces and + those built "within this last hundred years; which all have their fronts + of white marble brought from Istria, a hundred miles away, and besides, + many a large piece of porphyry and serpentine upon their fronts." + </p> + <p> + On the opposite page I have given two of the ornaments of the palaces + which so struck the French ambassador. [Footnote: Appendix 6, "Renaissance + Ornaments."] He was right in his notice of the distinction. There had + indeed come a change over Venetian architecture in the fifteenth century; + and a change of some importance to us moderns: we English owe to it our + St. Paul's Cathedral, and Europe in general owes to it the utter + degradation or destruction of her schools of architecture, never since + revived. But that the reader may understand this, it is necessary that he + should have some general idea of the connection of the architecture of + Venice with that of the rest of Europe, from its origin forwards. + </p> + <p> + SECTION XVII. All European architecture, bad and good, old and new, is + derived from Greece through Rome, and colored and perfected from the East. + The history of architecture is nothing but the tracing of the various + modes and directions of this derivation. Understand this, once for all: if + you hold fast this great connecting clue, you may string all the types of + successive architectural invention upon it like so many beads. The Doric + and the Corinthian orders are the roots, the one of all Romanesque, + massy-capitaled buildings—Norman, Lombard, Byzantine, and what else + you can name of the kind; and the Corinthian of all Gothic, Early English, + French, German, and Tuscan. Now observe: those old Greeks gave the shaft; + Rome gave the arch; the Arabs pointed and foliated the arch. The shaft and + arch, the frame-work and strength of architecture, are from the race of + Japheth: the spirituality and sanctity of it from Ismael, Abraham, and + Shem. + </p> + <p> + SECTION XVIII. There is high probability that the Greek received his + shaft system from Egypt; but I do not care to keep this earlier derivation + in the mind of the reader. It is only necessary that he should be able to + refer to a fixed point of origin, when the form of the shaft was first + perfected. But it may be incidently observed, that if the Greeks did + indeed receive their Doric from Egypt, then the three families of the + earth have each contributed their part to its noblest architecture: and + Ham, the servant of the others, furnishes the sustaining or bearing + member, the shaft; Japheth the arch; Shem the spiritualization of both. + </p> + <p> + SECTION XIX. I have said that the two orders, Doric and Corinthian, are + the roots of all European architecture. You have, perhaps, heard of five + orders; but there are only two real orders, and there never can be any + more until doomsday. On one of these orders the ornament is convex: those + are Doric, Norman, and what else you recollect of the kind. On the other + the ornament is concave: those are Corinthian, Early English, Decorated, + and what else you recollect of that kind. The transitional form, in which + the ornamental line is straight, is the centre or root of both. All other + orders are varieties of those, or phantasms and grotesques altogether + indefinite in number and species. [Footnote: Appendix 7, "Varieties of the + Orders."] + </p> + <p> + SECTION XX. This Greek architecture, then, with its two orders, was + clumsily copied and varied by the Romans with no particular result, until + they begun to bring the arch into extensive practical service; except only + that the Doric capital was spoiled in endeavors to mend it, and the + Corinthian much varied and enriched with fanciful, and often very + beautiful imagery. And in this state of things came Christianity: seized + upon the arch as her own; decorated it, and delighted in it; invented a + new Doric capital to replace the spoiled Roman one: and all over the Roman + empire set to work, with such materials as were nearest at hand, to + express and adorn herself as best she could. This Roman Christian + architecture is the exact expression of the Christianity of the time, very + fervid and beautiful—but very imperfect; in many respects ignorant, + and yet radiant with a strong, childlike light of imagination, which + flames up under Constantine, illumines all the shores of the Bosphorus and + the Aegean and the Adriatic Sea, and then gradually, as the people give + themselves up to idolatry, becomes Corpse-light. The architecture sinks + into a settled form—a strange, gilded, and embalmed repose: it, with + the religion it expressed; and so would have remained for ever,—so + <i>does</i> remain, where its languor has been undisturbed. [Footnote: The + reader will find the <i>weak</i> points of Byzantine architecture shrewdly + seized, and exquisitely sketched, in the opening chapter of the most + delightful book of travels I ever opened,— Curzon's "Monasteries of + the Levant."] But rough wakening was ordained. + </p> + <p> + SECTION XXI. This Christian art of the declining empire is divided into + two great branches, western and eastern; one centred at Rome, the other at + Byzantium, of which the one is the early Christian Romanesque, properly so + called, and the other, carried to higher imaginative perfection by Greek + workmen, is distinguished from it as Byzantine. But I wish the reader, for + the present, to class these two branches of art together in his mind, they + being, in points of main importance, the same; that is to say, both of + them a true continuance and sequence of the art of old Rome itself, + flowing uninterruptedly down from the fountain-head, and entrusted always + to the best workmen who could be found—Latins in Italy and Greeks in + Greece; and thus both branches may be ranged under the general term of + Christian Romanesque, an architecture which had lost the refinement of + Pagan art in the degradation of the empire, but which was elevated by + Christianity to higher aims, and by the fancy of the Greek workmen endowed + with brighter forms. And this art the reader may conceive as extending in + its various branches over all the central provinces of the empire, taking + aspects more or less refined, according to its proximity to the seats of + government; dependent for all its power on the vigor and freshness of the + religion which animated it; and as that vigor and purity departed, losing + its own vitality, and sinking into nerveless rest, not deprived of its + beauty, but benumbed and incapable of advance or change. + </p> + <p> + SECTION XXII. Meantime there had been preparation for its renewal. While + in Rome and Constantinople, and in the districts under their immediate + influence, this Roman art of pure descent was practised in all its + refinement, an impure form of it—a patois of Romanesque—was + carried by inferior workmen into distant provinces; and still ruder + imitations of this patois were executed by the barbarous nations on the + skirts of the empire. But these barbarous nations were in the strength of + their youth; and while, in the centre of Europe, a refined and purely + descended art was sinking into graceful formalism, on its confines a + barbarous and borrowed art was organizing itself into strength and + consistency. The reader must therefore consider the history of the work of + the period as broadly divided into two great heads: the one embracing the + elaborately languid succession of the Christian art of Rome; and the + other, the imitations of it executed by nations in every conceivable phase + of early organization, on the edges of the empire, or included in its now + merely nominal extent. + </p> + <p> + SECTION XXIII. Some of the barbaric nations were, of course, not + susceptible of this influence; and when they burst over the Alps, appear, + like the Huns, as scourges only, or mix, as the Ostrogoths, with the + enervated Italians, and give physical strength to the mass with which they + mingle, without materially affecting its intellectual character. But + others, both south and north of the empire, had felt its influence, back + to the beach of the Indian Ocean on the one hand, and to the ice creeks of + the North Sea on the other. On the north and west the influence was of the + Latins; on the south and east, of the Greeks. Two nations, pre-eminent + above all the rest, represent to us the force of derived mind on either + side. As the central power is eclipsed, the orbs of reflected light gather + into their fulness; and when sensuality and idolatry had done their work, + and the religion of the empire was laid asleep in a glittering sepulchre, + the living light rose upon both horizons, and the fierce swords of the + Lombard and Arab were shaken over its golden paralysis. + </p> + <p> + SECTION XXIV. The work of the Lombard was to give hardihood and system + to the enervated body and enfeebled mind of Christendom; that of the Arab + was to punish idolatry, and to proclaim the spirituality of worship. The + Lombard covered every church which he built with the sculptured + representations of bodily exercises—hunting and war. [Footnote: + Appendix 8, "The Northern Energy."] The Arab banished all imagination of + creature form from his temples, and proclaimed from their minarets, "There + is no god but God." Opposite in their character and mission, alike in + their magnificence of energy, they came from the North, and from the + South, the glacier torrent and the lava stream: they met and contended + over the wreck of the Roman empire; and the very centre of the struggle, + the point of pause of both, the dead water of the opposite eddies, charged + with embayed fragments of the Roman wreck, is VENICE. + </p> + <p> + The Ducal palace of Venice contains the three elements in exactly equal + proportions—the Roman, Lombard, and Arab. It is the central building + of the world. + </p> + <p> + SECTION XXV. The reader will now begin to understand something of the + importance of the study of the edifices of a city which includes, within + the circuit of some seven or eight miles, the field of contest between the + three pre-eminent architectures of the world:—each architecture + expressing a condition of religion; each an erroneous condition, yet + necessary to the correction of the others, and corrected by them. + </p> + <p> + SECTION XXVI. It will be part of my endeavor, in the following work, to + mark the various modes in which the northern and southern architectures + were developed from the Roman: here I must pause only to name the + distinguishing characteristics of the great families. The Christian Roman + and Byzantine work is round-arched, with single and well-proportioned + shafts; capitals imitated from classical Roman; mouldings more or less so; + and large surfaces of walls entirely covered with imagery, mosaic, and + paintings, whether of scripture history or of sacred symbols. + </p> + <p> + The Arab school is at first the same in its principal features, the + Byzantine workmen being employed by the caliphs; but the Arab rapidly + introduces characters half Persepolitan, half Egyptian, into the shafts + and capitals: in his intense love of excitement he points the arch and + writhes it into extravagant foliations; he banishes the animal imagery, + and invents an ornamentation of his own (called Arabesque) to replace it: + this not being adapted for covering large surfaces, he concentrates it on + features of interest, and bars his surfaces with horizontal lines of + color, the expression of the level of the Desert. He retains the dome, and + adds the minaret. All is done with exquisite refinement. + </p> + <p> + SECTION XXVII. The changes effected by the Lombard are more curious + still, for they are in the anatomy of the building, more than its + decoration. The Lombard architecture represents, as I said, the whole of + that of the northern barbaric nations. And this I believe was, at first, + an imitation in wood of the Christian Roman churches or basilicas. Without + staying to examine the whole structure of a basilica, the reader will + easily understand thus much of it: that it had a nave and two aisles, the + nave much higher than the aisles; that the nave was separated from the + aisles by rows of shafts, which supported, above, large spaces of flat or + dead wall, rising above the aisles, and forming the upper part of the + nave, now called the clerestory, which had a gabled wooden roof. + </p> + <p> + These high dead walls were, in Roman work, built of stone; but in the + wooden work of the North, they must necessarily have been made of + horizontal boards or timbers attached to uprights on the top of the nave + pillars, which were themselves also of wood. [Footnote: Appendix 9, + "Wooden Churches of the North."] Now, these uprights were necessarily + thicker than the rest of the timbers, and formed vertical square pilasters + above the nave piers. As Christianity extended and civilization increased, + these wooden structures were changed into stone; but they were literally + petrified, retaining the form which had been made necessary by their being + of wood. The upright pilaster above the nave pier remains in the stone + edifice, and is the first form of the great distinctive feature of + Northern architecture—the vaulting shaft. In that form the Lombards + brought it into Italy, in the seventh century, and it remains to this day + in St. Ambrogio of Milan, and St. Michele of Pavia. + </p> + <p> + SECTION XXVIII. When the vaulting shaft was introduced in the clerestory + walls, additional members were added for its support to the nave piers. + Perhaps two or three pine trunks, used for a single pillar, gave the first + idea of the grouped shaft. Be that as it may, the arrangement of the nave + pier in the form of a cross accompanies the superimposition of the + vaulting shaft; together with corresponding grouping of minor shafts in + doorways and apertures of windows. Thus, the whole body of the Northern + architecture, represented by that of the Lombards, may be described as + rough but majestic work, round-arched, with grouped shafts, added vaulting + shafts, and endless imagery of active life and fantastic superstitions. + </p> + <p> + SECTION XXIX. The glacier stream of the Lombards, and the following one + of the Normans, left their erratic blocks, wherever they had flowed; but + without influencing, I think, the Southern nations beyond the sphere of + their own presence. But the lava stream of the Arab, even after it ceased + to flow, warmed the whole of the Northern air; and the history of Gothic + architecture is the history of the refinement and spiritualization of + Northern work under its influence. The noblest buildings of the world, the + Pisan-Romanesque, Tuscan (Giottesque) Gothic, and Veronese Gothic, are + those of the Lombard schools themselves, under its close and direct + influence; the various Gothics of the North are the original forms of the + architecture which the Lombards brought into Italy, changing under the + less direct influence of the Arab. + </p> + <p> + SECTION XXX. Understanding thus much of the formation of the great + European styles, we shall have no difficulty in tracing the succession of + architectures in Venice herself. From what I said of the central character + of Venetian art, the reader is not, of course, to conclude that the Roman, + Northern, and Arabian elements met together and contended for the mastery + at the same period. The earliest element was the pure Christian Roman; but + few, if any, remains of this art exist at Venice; for the present city was + in the earliest times only one of many settlements formed on the chain of + marshy islands which extend from the mouths of the Isonzo to those of the + Adige, and it was not until the beginning of the ninth century that it + became the seat of government; while the cathedral of Torcello, though + Christian Roman in general form, was rebuilt in the eleventh century, and + shows evidence of Byzantine workmanship in many of its details. This + cathedral, however, with the church of Santa Fosca at Torcello, San + Giacomo di Rialto at Venice, and the crypt of St. Mark's, forms a distinct + group of buildings, in which the Byzantine influence is exceedingly + slight; and which is probably very sufficiently representative of the + earliest architecture on the islands. + </p> + <p> + SECTION XXXI. The Ducal residence was removed to Venice in 809, and the + body of St. Mark was brought from Alexandria twenty years later. The first + church of St. Mark's was, doubtless, built in imitation of that destroyed + at Alexandria, and from which the relics of the saint had been obtained. + During the ninth, tenth, and eleventh centuries, the architecture of + Venice seems to have been formed on the same model, and is almost + identical with that of Cairo under the caliphs, [Footnote: Appendix 10, + "Church of Alexandria."] it being quite immaterial whether the reader + chooses to call both Byzantine or both Arabic; the workmen being certainly + Byzantine, but forced to the invention of new forms by their Arabian + masters, and bringing these forms into use in whatever other parts of the + world they were employed. + </p> + <p> + To this first manner of Venetian architecture, together with such vestiges + as remain of the Christian Roman, I shall devote the first division of the + following inquiry. The examples remaining of it consist of three noble + churches (those of Torcello, Murano, and the greater part of St. Mark's), + and about ten or twelve fragments of palaces. + </p> + <p> + SECTION XXXII. To this style succeeds a transitional one, of a character + much more distinctly Arabian: the shafts become more slender, and the + arches consistently pointed, instead of round; certain other changes, not + to be enumerated in a sentence, taking place in the capitals and + mouldings. This style is almost exclusively secular. It was natural for + the Venetians to imitate the beautiful details of the Arabian + dwelling-house, while they would with reluctance adopt those of the mosque + for Christian churches. + </p> + <p> + I have not succeeded in fixing limiting dates for this style. It appears + in part contemporary with the Byzantine manner, but outlives it. Its + position is, however, fixed by the central date, 1180, that of the + elevation of the granite shafts of the Piazetta, whose capitals are the + two most important pieces of detail in this transitional style in Venice. + Examples of its application to domestic buildings exist in almost every + street of the city, and will form the subject of the second division of + the following essay. + </p> + <p> + SECTION XXXIII. The Venetians were always ready to receive lessons in + art from their enemies (else had there been no Arab work in Venice). But + their especial dread and hatred of the Lombards appears to have long + prevented them from receiving the influence of the art which that people + had introduced on the mainland of Italy. Nevertheless, during the practice + of the two styles above distinguished, a peculiar and very primitive + condition of pointed Gothic had arisen in ecclesiastical architecture. It + appears to be a feeble reflection of the Lombard-Arab forms, which were + attaining perfection upon the continent, and would probably, if left to + itself, have been soon merged in the Venetian-Arab school, with which it + had from the first so close a fellowship, that it will be found difficult + to distinguish the Arabian ogives from those which seem to have been built + under this early Gothic influence. The churches of San Giacopo dell' Orio, + San Giovanni in Bragora, the Carmine, and one or two more, furnish the + only important examples of it. But, in the thirteenth century, the + Franciscans and Dominicans introduced from the continent their morality + and their architecture, already a distinct Gothic, curiously developed + from Lombardic and Northern (German?) forms; and the influence of the + principles exhibited in the vast churches of St. Paul and the Frari began + rapidly to affect the Venetian-Arab school. Still the two systems never + became united; the Venetian policy repressed the power of the church, and + the Venetian artists resisted its example; and thenceforward the + architecture of the city becomes divided into ecclesiastical and civil: + the one an ungraceful yet powerful form of the Western Gothic, common to + the whole peninsula, and only showing Venetian sympathies in the adoption + of certain characteristic mouldings; the other a rich, luxuriant, and + entirely original Gothic, formed from the Venetian-Arab by the influence + of the Dominican and Franciscan architecture, and especially by the + engrafting upon the Arab forms of the most novel feature of the Franciscan + work, its traceries. These various forms of Gothic, the <i>distinctive</i> + architecture of Venice, chiefly represented by the churches of St. John + and Paul, the Frari, and San Stefano, on the ecclesiastical side, and by + the Ducal palace, and the other principal Gothic palaces, on the secular + side, will be the subject of the third division of the essay. + </p> + <p> + SECTION XXXIV. Now observe. The transitional (or especially Arabic) + style of the Venetian work is centralized by the date 1180, and is + transformed gradually into the Gothic, which extends in its purity from + the middle of the thirteenth to the beginning of the fifteenth century; + that is to say, over the precise period which I have described as the + central epoch of the life of Venice. I dated her decline from the year + 1418; Foscari became doge five years later, and in his reign the first + marked signs appear in architecture of that mighty change which Philippe + de Commynes notices as above, the change to which London owes St. Paul's, + Rome St. Peter's, Venice and Vicenza the edifices commonly supposed to be + their noblest, and Europe in general the degradation of every art she has + since practised. + </p> + <p> + SECTION XXXV. This change appears first in a loss of truth and vitality + in existing architecture all over the world. (Compare "Seven Lamps," chap. + ii.) + </p> + <p> + All the Gothics in existence, southern or northern, were corrupted at + once: the German and French lost themselves in every species of + extravagance; the English Gothic was confined, in its insanity, by a + strait-waistcoat of perpendicular lines; the Italian effloresced on the + main land into the meaningless ornamentation of the Certosa of Pavia and + the Cathedral of Como, (a style sometimes ignorantly called Italian + Gothic), and at Venice into the insipid confusion of the Porta della Carta + and wild crockets of St. Mark's. This corruption of all architecture, + especially ecclesiastical, corresponded with, and marked the state of + religion over all Europe,—the peculiar degradation of the Romanist + superstition, and of public morality in consequence, which brought about + the Reformation. + </p> + <p> + SECTION XXXVI. Against the corrupted papacy arose two great divisions of + adversaries, Protestants in Germany and England, Rationalists in France + and Italy; the one requiring the purification of religion, the other its + destruction. The Protestant kept the religion, but cast aside the heresies + of Rome, and with them her arts, by which last rejection he injured his + own character, cramped his intellect in refusing to it one of its noblest + exercises, and materially diminished his influence. It may be a serious + question how far the Pausing of the Reformation has been a consequence of + this error. + </p> + <p> + The Rationalist kept the arts and cast aside the religion. This + rationalistic art is the art commonly called Renaissance, marked by a + return to pagan systems, not to adopt them and hallow them for + Christianity, but to rank itself under them as an imitator and pupil. In + Painting it is headed by Giulio Romano and Nicolo Poussin; in Architecture + by Sansovino and Palladio. + </p> + <p> + SECTION XXXVII. Instant degradation followed in every direction,—a + flood of folly and hypocrisy. Mythologies ill understood at first, then + perverted into feeble sensualities, take the place of the representations + of Christian subjects, which had become blasphemous under the treatment of + men like the Caracci. Gods without power, satyrs without rusticity, nymphs + without innocence, men without humanity, gather into idiot groups upon the + polluted canvas, and scenic affectations encumber the streets with + preposterous marble. Lower and lower declines the level of abused + intellect; the base school of landscape [Footnote: Appendix II, + "Renaissance Landscape."] gradually usurps the place of the historical + painting, which had sunk into prurient pedantry,—the Alsatian + sublimities of Salvator, the confectionery idealities of Claude, the dull + manufacture of Gaspar and Canaletto, south of the Alps, and on the north + the patient devotion of besotted lives to delineation of bricks and fogs, + fat cattle and ditchwater. And thus Christianity and morality, courage, + and intellect, and art all crumbling together into one wreck, we are + hurried on to the fall of Italy, the revolution in France, and the + condition of art in England (saved by her Protestantism from severer + penalty) in the time of George II. + </p> + <p> + SECTION XXXVIII. I have not written in vain if I have heretofore done + anything towards diminishing the reputation of the Renaissance landscape + painting. But the harm which has been done by Claude and the Poussins is + as nothing when compared to the mischief effected by Palladio, Scamozzi, + and Sansovino. Claude and the Poussins were weak men, and have had no + serious influence on the general mind. There is little harm in their works + being purchased at high prices: their real influence is very slight, and + they may be left without grave indignation to their poor mission of + furnishing drawing-rooms and assisting stranded conversation. Not so the + Renaissance architecture. Raised at once into all the magnificence of + which it was capable by Michael Angelo, then taken up by men of real + intellect and imagination, such as Scamozzi, Sansovino, Inigo Jones, and + Wren, it is impossible to estimate the extent of its influence on the + European mind; and that the more, because few persons are concerned with + painting, and, of those few, the larger number regard it with slight + attention; but all men are concerned with architecture, and have at some + time of their lives serious business with it. It does not much matter that + an individual loses two or three hundred pounds in buying a bad picture, + but it is to be regretted that a nation should lose two or three hundred + thousand in raising a ridiculous building. Nor is it merely wasted wealth + or distempered conception which we have to regret in this Renaissance + architecture: but we shall find in it partly the root, partly the + expression, of certain dominant evils of modern times—over-sophistication + and ignorant classicalism; the one destroying the healthfulness of general + society, the other rendering our schools and universities useless to a + large number of the men who pass through them. + </p> + <p> + Now Venice, as she was once the most religious, was in her fall the most + corrupt, of European states; and as she was in her strength the centre of + the pure currents of Christian architecture, so she is in her decline the + source of the Renaissance. It was the originality and splendor of the + palaces of Vicenza and Venice which gave this school its eminence in the + eyes of Europe; and the dying city, magnificent in her dissipation, and + graceful in her follies, obtained wider worship in her decrepitude than in + her youth, and sank from the midst of her admirers into the grave. + </p> + <p> + SECTION XXXIX. It is in Venice, therefore, and in Venice only that + effectual blows can be struck at this pestilent art of the Renaissance. + Destroy its claims to admiration there, and it can assert them nowhere + else. This, therefore, will be the final purpose of the following essay. I + shall not devote a fourth section to Palladio, nor weary the reader with + successive chapters of vituperation; but I shall, in my account of the + earlier architecture, compare the forms of all its leading features with + those into which they were corrupted by the Classicalists; and pause, in + the close, on the edge of the precipice of decline, so soon as I have made + its depths discernible. In doing this I shall depend upon two distinct + kinds of evidence:—the first, the testimony borne by particular + incidents and facts to a want of thought or of feeling in the builders; + from which we may conclude that their architecture must be bad:—the + second, the sense, which I doubt not I shall be able to excite in the + reader, of a systematic ugliness in the architecture itself. Of the first + kind of testimony I shall here give two instances, which may be + immediately useful in fixing in the reader's mind the epoch above + indicated for the commencement of decline. + </p> + <p> + SECTION XL. I must again refer to the importance which I have above + attached to the death of Carlo Zeno and the doge Tomaso Mocenigo. The tomb + of that doge is, as I said, wrought by a Florentine; but it is of the same + general type and feeling as all the Venetian tombs of the period, and it + is one of the last which retains it. The classical element enters largely + into its details, but the feeling of the whole is as yet unaffected. Like + all the lovely tombs of Venice and Verona, it is a sarcophagus with a + recumbent figure above, and this figure is a faithful but tender portrait, + wrought as far as it can be without painfulness, of the doge as he lay in + death. He wears his ducal robe and bonnet—his head is laid slightly + aside upon his pillow—his hands are simply crossed as they fall. The + face is emaciated, the features large, but so pure and lordly in their + natural chiselling, that they must have looked like marble even in their + animation. They are deeply worn away by thought and death; the veins on + the temples branched and starting; the skin gathered in sharp folds; the + brow high-arched and shaggy; the eye-ball magnificently large; the curve + of the lips just veiled by the light mustache at the side; the beard + short, double, and sharp-pointed: all noble and quiet; the white + sepulchral dust marking like light the stern angles of the cheek and brow. + </p> + <p> + This tomb was sculptured in 1424, and is thus described by one of the most + intelligent of the recent writers who represent the popular feeling + respecting Venetian art. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Of the Italian school is also the rich but ugly (ricco ma non + bel) sarcophagus in which repose the ashes of Tomaso Mocenigo. + It may be called one of the last links which connect the + declining art of the Middle Ages with that of the Renaissance, + which was in its rise. We will not stay to particularize the + defects of each of the seven figures of the front and sides, + which represent the cardinal and theological virtues; nor will + we make any remarks upon those which stand in the niches above + the pavilion, because we consider them unworthy both of the age + and reputation of the Florentine school, which was then with + reason considered the most notable in Italy." [Footnote: + Selvatico, "Architettura di Venezia," p. 147.] +</pre> + <p> + It is well, indeed, not to pause over these defects; but it might have + been better to have paused a moment beside that noble image of a king's + mortality. + </p> + <p> + SECTION XLI. In the choir of the same church, St. Giov. and Paolo, is + another tomb, that of the Doge Andrea Vendramin. This doge died in 1478, + after a short reign of two years, the most disastrous in the annals of + Venice. He died of a pestilence which followed the ravage of the Turks, + carried to the shores of the lagoons. He died, leaving Venice disgraced by + sea and land, with the smoke of hostile devastation rising in the blue + distances of Friuli; and there was raised to him the most costly tomb ever + bestowed on her monarchs. + </p> + <p> + SECTION XLII. If the writer above quoted was cold beside the statue of + one of the fathers of his country, he atones for it by his eloquence + beside the tomb of the Vendramin. I must not spoil the force of Italian + superlative by translation. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Quando si guarda a quella corretta eleganza di profili e di + proporzioni, a quella squisitezza d'ornamenti, a quel certo + sapore antico che senza ombra d' imitazione traspareda tutta l' + opera"—&c. "Sopra ornatissimo zoccolo fornito di squisiti + intagli s' alza uno stylobate"—&c. "Sotto le colonne, il + predetto stilobate si muta leggiadramente in piedistallo, poi + con bella novita di pensiero e di effetto va coronato da un + fregio il piu gentile che veder si possa"—&c. "Non puossi + lasciar senza un cenno l' <i>arca dove</i> sta chiuso il doge; + capo lavoro di pensiero e di esecuzione," etc. +</pre> + <p> + There are two pages and a half of closely printed praise, of which the + above specimens may suffice; but there is not a word of the statue of the + dead from beginning to end. I am myself in the habit of considering this + rather an important part of a tomb, and I was especially interested in it + here, because Selvatico only echoes the praise of thousands. It is + unanimously declared the chef d'oeuvre of Renaissance sepulchral work, and + pronounced by Cicognara (also quoted by Selvatico). + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Il vertice a cui l'arti Veneziane si spinsero col ministero del + scalpello,"—"The very culminating point to which the Venetian + arts attained by ministry of the chisel." +</pre> + <p> + To this culminating point, therefore, covered with dust and cobwebs, I + attained, as I did to every tomb of importance in Venice, by the ministry + of such ancient ladders as were to be found in the sacristan's keeping. I + was struck at first by the excessive awkwardness and want of feeling in + the fall of the hand towards the spectator, for it is thrown off the + middle of the body in order to show its fine cutting. Now the Mocenigo + hand, severe and even stiff in its articulations, has its veins finely + drawn, its sculptor having justly felt that the delicacy of the veining + expresses alike dignity and age and birth. The Vendramin hand is far more + laboriously cut, but its blunt and clumsy contour at once makes us feel + that all the care has been thrown away, and well it may be, for it has + been entirely bestowed in cutting gouty wrinkles about the joints. Such as + the hand is, I looked for its fellow. At first I thought it had been + broken off, but, on clearing away the dust, I saw the wretched effigy had + only <i>one</i> hand, and was a mere block on the inner side. The face, + heavy and disagreeable in its features, is made monstrous by its + semi-sculpture. One side of the forehead is wrinkled elaborately, the + other left smooth; one side only of the doge's cap is chased; one cheek + only is finished, and the other blocked out and distorted besides; + finally, the ermine robe, which is elaborately imitated to its utmost lock + of hair and of ground hair on the one side, is blocked out only on the + other: it having been supposed throughout the work that the effigy was + only to be seen from below, and from one side. + </p> + <p> + SECTION XLIII. It was indeed to be seen by nearly every one; and I do + not blame—I should, on the contrary, have praised—the sculptor + for regulating his treatment of it by its position; if that treatment had + not involved, first, dishonesty, in giving only half a face, a monstrous + mask, when we demanded true portraiture of the dead; and, secondly, such + utter coldness of feeling, as could only consist with an extreme of + intellectual and moral degradation: Who, with a heart in his breast, could + have stayed his hand as he drew the dim lines of the old man's countenance—unmajestic + once, indeed, but at least sanctified by the solemnities of death—could + have stayed his hand, as he reached the bend of the grey forehead, and + measured out the last veins of it at so much the zecchin. + </p> + <p> + I do not think the reader, if he has feeling, will expect that much talent + should be shown in the rest of his work, by the sculptor of this base and + senseless lie. The whole monument is one wearisome aggregation of that + species of ornamental flourish, which, when it is done with a pen, is + called penmanship, and when done with a chisel, should be called + chiselmanship; the subject of it being chiefly fat-limbed boys sprawling + on dolphins, dolphins incapable of swimming, and dragged along the sea by + expanded pocket-handkerchiefs. + </p> + <p> + But now, reader, comes the very gist and point of the whole matter. This + lying monument to a dishonored doge, this culminating pride of the + Renaissance art of Venice, is at least veracious, if in nothing else, in + its testimony to the character of its sculptor. <i>He was banished from + Venice for forgery</i> in 1487. [Footnote: Selvatico, p. 221.] + </p> + <p> + SECTION XLIV. I have more to say about this convict's work hereafter; + but I pass at present, to the second, slighter, but yet more interesting + piece of evidence, which I promised. + </p> + <p> + The ducal palace has two principal façades; one towards the sea, the other + towards the Piazzetta. The seaward side, and, as far as the seventh main + arch inclusive, the Piazzetta side, is work of the early part of the + fourteenth century, some of it perhaps even earlier; while the rest of the + Piazzetta side is of the fifteenth. The difference in age has been gravely + disputed by the Venetian antiquaries, who have examined many documents on + the subject, and quoted some which they never examined. I have myself + collated most of the written documents, and one document more, to which + the Venetian antiquaries never thought of referring,—the masonry of + the palace itself. + </p> + <p> + SECTION XLV. That masonry changes at the centre of the eighth arch from + the sea angle on the Piazzetta side. It has been of comparatively small + stones up to that point; the fifteenth century work instantly begins with + larger stones, "brought from Istria, a hundred miles away." [Footnote: The + older work is of Istrian stone also, but of different quality.] The ninth + shaft from the sea in the lower arcade, and the seventeenth, which is + above it, in the upper arcade, commence the series of fifteenth century + shafts. These two are somewhat thicker than the others, and carry the + party-wall of the Sala del Scrutinio. Now observe, reader. The face of the + palace, from this point to the Porta della Carta, was built at the + instance of that noble Doge Mocenigo beside whose tomb you have been + standing; at his instance, and in the beginning of the reign of his + successor, Foscari; that is to say, circa 1424. This is not disputed; it + is only disputed that the sea façade is earlier; of which, however, the + proofs are as simple as they are incontrovertible: for not only the + masonry, but the sculpture, changes at the ninth lower shaft, and that in + the capitals of the shafts both of the upper and lower arcade: the + costumes of the figures introduced in the sea façade being purely + Giottesque, correspondent with Giotto's work in the Arena Chapel at Padua, + while the costume on the other capitals is Renaissance-Classic: and the + lions' heads between the arches change at the same point. And there are a + multitude of other evidences in the statues of the angels, with which I + shall not at present trouble the reader. + </p> + <p> + SECTION XLVI. Now, the architect who built under Foscari, in 1424 + (remember my date for the decline of Venice, 1418), was obliged to follow + the principal forms of the older palace. But he had not the wit to invent + new capitals in the same style; he therefore clumsily copied the old ones. + The palace has seventeen main arches on the sea façade, eighteen on the + Piazzetta side, which in all are of course carried by thirty-six pillars; + and these pillars I shall always number from right to left, from the angle + of the palace at the Ponte della Paglia to that next the Porta della + Carta. I number them in this succession, because I thus have the earliest + shafts first numbered. So counted, the 1st, the 18th, and the 36th, are + the great supports of the angles of the palace; and the first of the + fifteenth century series, being, as above stated, the 9th from the sea on + the Piazzetta side, is the 26th of the entire series, and will always in + future be so numbered, so that all numbers above twenty-six indicate + fifteenth century work, and all below it, fourteenth century, with some + exceptional cases of restoration. + </p> + <p> + Then the copied capitals are: the 28th, copied from the 7th; the 29th, + from the 9th; the 30th, from the 10th; the 31st, from the 8th; the 33d, + from the 12th; and the 34th, from the 11th; the others being dull + inventions of the 15th century, except the 36th; which is very nobly + designed. + </p> + <p> + SECTION XLVII. The capitals thus selected from the earlier portion of + the palace for imitation, together with the rest, will be accurately + described hereafter; the point I have here to notice is in the copy of the + ninth capital, which was decorated (being, like the rest, octagonal) with + figures of the eight Virtues:—Faith, Hope, Charity, Justice, + Temperance, Prudence, Humility (the Venetian antiquaries call it + Humanity!), and Fortitude. The Virtues of the fourteenth century are + somewhat hard-featured; with vivid and living expression, and plain + every-day clothes of the time. Charity has her lap full of apples (perhaps + loaves), and is giving one to a little child, who stretches his arm for it + across a gap in the leafage of the capital. Fortitude tears open a lion's + jaws; Faith lays her hand on her breast, as she beholds the Cross; and + Hope is praying, while above her a hand is seen emerging from sunbeams—the + hand of God (according to that of Revelations, "The Lord God giveth them + light"); and the inscription above is, "Spes optima in Deo." + </p> + <p> + SECTION XLVIII. This design, then, is, rudely and with imperfect + chiselling, imitated by the fifteenth century workmen: the Virtues have + lost their hard features and living expression; they have now all got + Roman noses, and have had their hair curled. Their actions and emblems + are, however, preserved until we come to Hope: she is still praying, but + she is praying to the sun only: <i>The hand of God is gone</i>. + </p> + <p> + Is not this a curious and striking type of the spirit which had then + become dominant in the world, forgetting to see God's hand in the light He + gave; so that in the issue, when the light opened into the Reformation on + the one side, and into full knowledge of ancient literature on the other, + the one was arrested and the other perverted? + </p> + <p> + SECTION XLIX. Such is the nature of the accidental evidence on which I + shall depend for the proof of the inferiority of character in the + Renaissance workmen. But the proof of the inferiority of the work itself + is not so easy, for in this I have to appeal to judgments which the + Renaissance work has itself distorted. I felt this difficulty very + forcibly as I read a slight review of my former work, "The Seven Lamps," + in "The Architect:" the writer noticed my constant praise of St. Mark's: + "Mr. Ruskin thinks it a very beautiful building! We," said the Architect, + "think it a very ugly building." I was not surprised at the difference of + opinion, but at the thing being considered so completely a subject of + opinion. My opponents in matters of painting always assume that there <i>is</i> + such a thing as a law of right, and that I do not understand it: but my + architectural adversaries appeal to no law, they simply set their opinion + against mine; and indeed there is no law at present to which either they + or I can appeal. No man can speak with rational decision of the merits or + demerits of buildings: he may with obstinacy; he may with resolved + adherence to previous prejudices; but never as if the matter could be + otherwise decided than by a majority of votes, or pertinacity of + partisanship. I had always, however, a clear conviction that there <i>was</i> + a law in this matter: that good architecture might be indisputably + discerned and divided from the bad; that the opposition in their very + nature and essence was clearly visible; and that we were all of us just as + unwise in disputing about the matter without reference to principle, as we + should be for debating about the genuineness of a coin, without ringing + it. I felt also assured that this law must be universal if it were + conclusive; that it must enable us to reject all foolish and base work, + and to accept all noble and wise work, without reference to style or + national feeling; that it must sanction the design of all truly great + nations and times, Gothic or Greek or Arab; that it must cast off and + reprobate the design of all foolish nations and times, Chinese or Mexican, + or modern European: and that it must be easily applicable to all possible + architectural inventions of human mind. I set myself, therefore, to + establish such a law, in full belief that men are intended, without + excessive difficulty, and by use of their general common sense, to know + good things from bad; and that it is only because they will not be at the + pains required for the discernment, that the world is so widely encumbered + with forgeries and basenesses. I found the work simpler than I had hoped; + the reasonable things ranged themselves in the order I required, and the + foolish things fell aside, and took themselves away so soon as they were + looked in the face. I had then, with respect to Venetian architecture, the + choice, either to establish each division of law in a separate form, as I + came to the features with which it was concerned, or else to ask the + reader's patience, while I followed out the general inquiry first, and + determined with him a code of right and wrong, to which we might together + make retrospective appeal. I thought this the best, though perhaps the + dullest way; and in these first following pages I have therefore + endeavored to arrange those foundations of criticism, on which I shall + rest in my account of Venetian architecture, in a form clear and simple + enough to be intelligible even to those who never thought of architecture + before. To those who have, much of what is stated in them will be well + known or self-evident; but they must not be indignant at a simplicity on + which the whole argument depends for its usefulness. From that which + appears a mere truism when first stated, they will find very singular + consequences sometimes following,—consequences altogether + unexpected, and of considerable importance; I will not pause here to dwell + on their importance, nor on that of the thing itself to be done; for I + believe most readers will at once admit the value of a criterion of right + and wrong in so practical and costly an art as architecture, and will be + apt rather to doubt the possibility of its attainment than dispute its + usefulness if attained. I invite them, therefore, to a fair trial, being + certain that even if I should fail in my main purpose, and be unable to + induce in my reader the confidence of judgment I desire, I shall at least + receive his thanks for the suggestion of consistent reasons, which may + determine hesitating choice, or justify involuntary preference. And if I + should succeed, as I hope, in making the Stones of Venice touchstones, and + detecting, by the mouldering of her marble, poison more subtle than ever + was betrayed by the rending of her crystal; and if thus I am enabled to + show the baseness of the schools of architecture and nearly every other + art, which have for three centuries been predominant in Europe, I believe + the result of the inquiry may be serviceable for proof of a more vital + truth than any at which I have hitherto hinted. For observe: I said the + Protestant had despised the arts, and the Rationalist corrupted them. But + what has the Romanist done meanwhile? He boasts that it was the papacy + which raised the arts; why could it not support them when it was left to + its own strength? How came it to yield to Classicalism which was based on + infidelity, and to oppose no barrier to innovations, which have reduced + the once faithfully conceived imagery of its worship to stage decoration? + [Footnote: Appendix XII., "Romanist Modern Art."] Shall we not rather find + that Romanism, instead of being a promoter of the arts, has never shown + itself capable of a single great conception since the separation of + Protestantism from its side? [Footnote: Perfectly true: but the whole + vital value of the truth was lost by my sectarian ignorance. Protestantism + (so far as it was still Christianity, and did not consist merely in + maintaining one's own opinion for gospel) could not separate itself from + the Catholic Church. The so-called Catholics became themselves sectarians + and heretics in casting them out; and Europe was turned into a mere + cockpit, of the theft and fury of unchristian men of both parties; while + innocent and silent on the hills and fields, God's people in neglected + peace, everywhere and for ever Catholics, lived and died.] So long as, + corrupt though it might be, no clear witness had been borne against it, so + that it still included in its ranks a vast number of faithful Christians, + so long its arts were noble. But the witness was borne—the error + made apparent; and Rome, refusing to hear the testimony or forsake the + falsehood, has been struck from that instant with an intellectual palsy, + which has not only incapacitated her from any further use of the arts + which once were her ministers, but has made her worship the shame of its + own shrines, and her worshippers their destroyers. Come, then, if truths + such as these are worth our thoughts; come, and let us know, before we + enter the streets of the Sea city, whether we are indeed to submit + ourselves to their undistinguished enchantment, and to look upon the last + changes which were wrought on the lifted forms of her palaces, as we + should on the capricious towering of summer clouds in the sunset, ere they + sank into the deep of night; or, whether, rather, we shall not behold in + the brightness of their accumulated marble, pages on which the sentence of + her luxury was to be written until the waves should efface it, as they + fulfilled—"God has numbered thy kingdom, and finished it." + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER II. — THE THRONE. + </h2> + <h3> + [FIRST OF SECOND VOLUME IN OLD EDITION.] + </h3> + <p> + SECTION 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! + Stali," [Footnote: Appendix I, "The Gondolier's Cry."] 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, [Footnote: Appendix II, "Our Lady of + Salvation."] 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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 feeling + 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 of 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 gray hairs had been brought down with + bitterness to the grave. The remains of <i>their</i> 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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 the 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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 clouded 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION VI. The average rise and fall of the tide is about three feet + (varying considerably with the seasons; [Footnote: Appendix III, "Tides of + Venice."]) 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 + seabirds 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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 <i>the only preparation + possible</i>, 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 world-wide pulsation, the glory of the West and of the + East, from the burning heart of her Fortitude and Splendor. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER III. — TORCELLO. + </h2> + <h3> + [SECOND OF SECOND VOLUME IN OLD EDITION.] + </h3> + <p> + SECTION 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 gray; 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 gray 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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. + </p> + <p> + Mother and daughter, you behold them both in their widowhood,—TORCELLO + and VENICE. + </p> + <p> + Thirteen hundred years ago, the gray 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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, [Footnote: Appendix IV, "Date of the + Duomo of Torcello."] 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. + </p> + <p> + 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." + </p> + <p> + SECTION IV. 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." + </p> + <p> + SECTION V. 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 <i>a b c d</i>. 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION VI. The pulpit, however, is not among the least noticeable of + its features. It is sustained on the four small detached shafts marked at + <i>p</i> 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION VII. 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. 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 mediaeval 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. [Footnote: + Appendix V., "Modern Pulpits."] + </p> + <p> + SECTION VIII. 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION IX. 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION X. 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION XI. 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 raked 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: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + THE SEA IS HIS, AND HE MADE IT, + AND HIS HANDS PREPARED THE DRY LAND. +</pre> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IV. — ST. MARK'S. + </h2> + <p> + SECTION 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, [Footnote: Acts, xiii. 13; xv. 38, 39.] 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! + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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; [Footnote: 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.] 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," [Footnote: Venice, 1761, tom. i. p. 126.] 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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, [Footnote: 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.] 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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, [Footnote: My authorities for + this statement are given below, in the chapter on the Ducal Palace.] 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." [Footnote: In the Chronicles, "Sancti Marci Ducalis Cappella."] + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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, [Footnote: "To God + the Lord, the glorious Virgin Annunciate, and the Protector St. Mark."—<i>Corner</i>, + 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: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Anno milleno transacto bisque trigeno + Desuper undecimo fuit facta primo," +</pre> + <p> + is no longer to be seen, and is conjectured by Corner, with much + probability, to have perished "in qualche ristauro."] 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; [Footnote: Signed Bartolomeus Bozza, 1634, 1647, 1656, etc.] + 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION VII. It has just been stated that the existing building was + consecrated by the Doge Vital Falier. A peculiar solemnity was given to + that 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. + </p> + <p> + "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." + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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 flowerwork 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 <i>must</i> be + posterior to the year 1205, because it does not appear in the + representation of the exterior of the church over the northern door; + [Footnote: Guida di Venezia, p. 6. (He is right, however.)] 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 the 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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 gray 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 gray, 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 crowd 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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 + watermelons 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 + denned or enumerated. But a few steps farther on, at the regular wineshop + 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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 cafes, + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Thrones, Dominations, Princedoms, Virtues, Powers," +</pre> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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, the dust lies upon his lips. + </p> + <p> + 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 stonel 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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 dark + 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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. [Footnote: 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.] 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. [Footnote: 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.] + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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. + </p> + <p> + The inquiry before us is twofold. Throughout the first volume, I carefully + kept the study of <i>expression</i> 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION XXIV. Now the first broad characteristic of the building, and + the root nearly of every other important peculiarity in it, is its + confessed <i>incrustation</i>. 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. [Footnote: Vide "Builder," for October, + 1851.] 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION XXV. I have used the word duplicity in no depreciatory sense. In + chapter ii. of the "Seven Lamps," Section 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 <i>rivet</i>, 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. + </p> + <p> + These laws and customs of the St. Mark's architectural chivalry it must be + our business to develop. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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. + </p> + <p> + In the fifth chapter of the "Seven Lamps," Section 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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 <i>the only one in which + perfect and permanent chromatic decoration is possible</i>; 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION XXX. LAW I. <i>That the plinths and cornices used for binding + the armor are to be light and delicate.</i> 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 straightforwardness 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION XXXI. LAW II. <i>Science of inner structure is to be abandoned.</i> + 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION XXXII. LAW III. <i>All shafts are to be solid.</i> 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 <i>probably</i> solid, must be <i>assuredly</i> 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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, [Footnote: "Quivi presso si + vedi una colonna di tanta bellezza e finezza che e riputato <i>piutosto + gioia che pietra</i>,"—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.] 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION XXXIV. LAW IV. <i>The shafts may sometimes be independent of the + construction.</i> 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 <i>be</i> 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 together, 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION XXXV. LAW V. <i>The shafts may be of variable size.</i> 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 Aeschylus or + Pindar bears to the finished measures of Pope. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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 mistakable 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION XXXVII. LAW VI. <i>The decoration must be shallow in cutting.</i> + 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 <i>no + deep cutting</i>. 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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 gray 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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 <i>possible</i>. 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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. + </p> + <p> + Observe, it is not now the question whether our Northern cathedrals are + better with color or without. Perhaps the great monotone gray 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 mediaeval + 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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 <i>gray</i> 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 anything 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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 or + surface displaying even the most delicate tints in the lights, and + faintness of shadow joining with the most delicate and pearly grays 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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 <i>naïveté</i> + 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION XLVII. LAW VII. <i>That the impression of the architecture is + not to be dependent on size.</i> 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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; <i>perfect</i> + 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, out, 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + [Footnote: The fact is, that no two tesserae 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.] 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. + </p> + <p> + 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., Stones of Venice), 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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. + [Footnote: Some illustration, also, of what was said in SECTION 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."] 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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 + meetinghouse has by his white-washed walls and square-cut casements. + [Footnote: See the farther notice of this subject in Vol. III., Chap. IV. + Stones of Venice.] + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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 traceries. Churches were larger than in + 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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 mediaeval 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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 it tried by its being used in a church, we find it + fails. 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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? + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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 rails of being verily, often deeply, felt for the + time. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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 + gray, 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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. + [Footnote: I do not mean that modern Christians believe less in the <i>facts</i> + 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 re trouver 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."] 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 <i>must</i> 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 <i>make</i> 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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—<i>could</i> 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 connection + 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; [Footnote: 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.] 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, [Footnote: Appendix X, "Proper Sense of the + word Idolatry."] 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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 skillful 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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 connection 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 weaned 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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 the manna was the type. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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." + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "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." +</pre> + <p> + And observe in this writing that the convert is required to regard the + outpouring of the Holy Spirit especially as a work of <i>sanctification</i>. + It is the <i>holiness</i> 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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." + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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; [Footnote: It is also of inferior workmanship, + and perhaps later than the rest. Vide Lord Lindsay, vol. i, p. 124, note.] + 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; [Footnote: + The old mosaics from the Revelation have perished, and have been replaced + by miserable work of the seventeenth century.] 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." + </p> + <p> + SECTION LXXI. 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, + [Footnote: Rev. xxi. 18.] 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 masker 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." + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER V. — THE DUCAL PALACE. + </h2> + <p> + SECTION 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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: + </p> + <p> + Opposite is a rude ground plan of the buildings round St. Mark's Place; + and the following references will clearly explain their relative + positions: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> +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. Judgement 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. +</pre> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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. II. 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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, etc. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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. III., which is supposed to be taken right + through the palace to the interior court, from near the middle of the Sea + Façade. Here <i>a</i> and <i>d</i> are the rows of shafts, both in the + inner court and on the Façade, which carry the main walls; <i>b</i>, <i>c</i> + are solid walls variously strengthened with pilasters. A, B, C are the + three stories of the interior of the palace. + </p> + <p> + 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 + would be left merely the form of a basilica,—two high walls, carried + on ranges of shafts, and roofed by a low gable. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION VII. In the bird's-eye view above, Fig. II., 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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." + </p> + <p> + 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." + </p> + <p> + The façade which looks on the Piazzetta 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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. + </p> + <p> + We have seen above, that there were three principal styles of Venetian + architecture; Byzantine, Gothic, and Renaissance. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> +We shall review the history of each in succession. [Footnote: 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. 410, 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. Svo, Venice,1838. + Filiasi. Memorie storiche. 8vo, Padua, 1811. + Bettio. Lettera discorsiva del Palazzo Ducale, 8vo, Venice, 1837. + Selvatico. Architettura di Venezia. 8vo, Venice, 1847.] +</pre> + <p> + 1st. The BYZANTINE PALACE. + </p> + <p> + In the year of the death of Charlemagne, 813, the Venetians determined to + make the island of Rialto the seat of the government and capital of their + state. [Footnote: 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 Brucio in confin di S. Moise, et fece riedificar la + isola di Eraclia." The Sagornin Chronicle gives 804; and Filiasi, vol. vi. + chap. I, corrects this date to 813.] 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. [Footnote: + "Ampliò la città, fornilla di casamenti, <i>e per il culto d' Iddio e l' + amministrazione della giustizia</i> eresse la capella 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 incomminciò da fondamenti, e cosi pure la capella ducale di S. Marco."] + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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," 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. [Footnote: 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."] + </p> + <p> + 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;" [Footnote: "Omni + decoritate illius perlustrata."—Sagornino, quoted by Cadorin and + Temanza.] and the Venetian historians express pride in the buildings being + worthy of an emperor's examination. This was after the palace had been + much injured by fire in the revolt against Candiano IV., [Footnote: 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 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.] 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. [Footnote: "Quam + non modo marmoreo, verum aureo compsit ornamento."—<i>Temanza</i>] + 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION XI. In the year 1106, it was for the second time injured by + fire, [Footnote: "L'anno 1106, uscito fuoco d'una casa privata, arse parte + del palazzo."—<i>Sansovino</i>. Of the beneficial effect of these + fires, vide Cadorin.] but repaired before 1116, when it received another + emperor, Henry V. (of Germany), and was again honored by imperial praise. + [Footnote: "Urbis situm, aedificiorum decorem, et regiminis sequitatem + multipliciter commendavit."—<i>Cronaca Dandolo</i>, quoted by + Cadorin.] + </p> + <p> + 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;" + [Footnote: "Non solamente rinovo il palazzo, ma lo aggrandi per ogni + verso."—<i>Sansovino</i>. Zanotto quotes the Altinat Chronicle for + account of these repairs.] 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 <i>Ziani</i> 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." [Footnote: "El + palazzo che anco di mezzo se vede vecchio, per M. Sebastian Ziani fu fatto + compir, come el se vede."—<i>Chronicle of Pietro Dolfino</i>, Cod. + Ven. p. 47. This Chronicle is spoken of by Sansovino as "molto + particolare, e distinta."—<i>Sansovino, Venezia descritta</i>, p. + 593.—It terminates in the year 1422.] + </p> + <p> + So far, then, of the Byzantine Palace. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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, [Footnote: See + Vol. I. Appendix 3, Stones of Venice.] 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." + </p> + <p> + 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. [Footnote: + Vide Sansovino's enumeration of those who flourished in the reign of + Gradenigo, p. 564.] 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + We accordingly find it recorded by Sansovino, that "in 1301 another saloon + was begun on the Rio del Palazzo, <i>under the Doge Gradenigo</i>, and + finished in 1309, <i>in which year the Grand Council first sat in it</i>." + [Footnote: Sansovino, 324, I.] 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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 <i>for the + assembling</i> of the Great Council, and the room was built which is <i>now</i> + called the Sala del Scrutinio." [Footnote: "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."—<i>Cronaca Sivos</i>, 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 e + 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."—<i>Cod. Ven.</i> tom. i. p. 126. The Chronicle + extends from 1253 to 1454. + </p> + <p> + Abstract 1301 to 1309; Gradenigo's room—1340-42, page 295-1419. New + proposals, p. 298.] <i>Now</i>, 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION XIV. We cannot, therefore, <i>see</i> 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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, <i>near it</i>," he says, "the Cancellaria, and + the <i>Gheba</i> or <i>Gabbia</i>, afterwards called the Little Tower." + [Footnote: "Vi era appresso la Cancellarla, e la Gheba o Gabbia, iniamata + 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.] + </p> + <p> + 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. [Footnote: Vide Bettio, + Lettera, p. 23.] 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. [Footnote: 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."] 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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." [Footnote: "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."—<i>Savin Chronicle</i>, Cod. + Ven. p. 120.] + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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, [Footnote: These documents I have not examined + myself, being satisfied of the accuracy of Cadorin, from whom I take the + passages quoted.] in the following terms:— + </p> + <p> + "1335, June 1. We, Andrew Dandolo and Mark Loredano, procurators of St. + Mark's, have paid to Martin the stone-cutter and his associates.... + [Footnote: "Libras tres, soldeos 15 grossorum."—Cadorin, 189, I.] + for a stone of which the lion is made which is put over the gate of the + palace." + </p> + <p> + "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." + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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: [Footnote: Cod. Ven., No. CXLI. p. 365.] + </p> + <p> + "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." + </p> + <p> + 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. [Footnote: Sansovino is more + explicit than usual in his reference to this decree: "For it having + appeared that the place (the first Council Chamber) is 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.] + </p> + <p> + <i>The room then begun is the one now in existence</i>, 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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 Figure II. + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. [Footnote: 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.] + </p> + <p> + The interruption had not been caused by the plague only, but by the + conspiracy of Faliero, and the violent death of the master builder. + [Footnote: Calendario. See Appendix I., Vol. III.] 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; [Footnote: "II + primo che vi colorisse fu Guariento il quale l'anno 1365 vi fece il + Paradiso in testa della sala."—<i>Sansovino</i>.] 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. [Footnote: "L'an poi 1400 vi fece il ciclo + compartita a quadretti d'oro, ripieni di stelle, ch'era la insegna del + Doge Steno."—<i>Sansovino</i>, lib. viii.] They represented the + heavens covered with stars, [Footnote: "In questi tempi si messe in oro il + ciclo della sala del Gran Consiglio et si fece il pergole del finestra + grande chi guarda sul canale, adornato l'uno e l'altro di stelle, eh' + erano la insegne del Doge."—<i>Sansovino</i>, lib. xiii. Compare + also Pareri, p. 129.] 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: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "MILLE QUADRINGENTI CURREBANT QUATUOR ANNI + HOC OPUS ILLUSTRIS MICHAEL DUX STELLIFER AUXIT." +</pre> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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." [Footnote: Baseggio (Pareri, p. 127) is called the + Proto of the <i>New</i> Palace. Farther notes will be found in Appendix + I., Vol. III.] 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 <i>old</i> 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 <i>propose</i> 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. [Footnote: Cronaca Sanudo, No. cxxv. in the + Marcian Library, p. 568.] + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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, <i>for it did not please the Doge</i> + [Footnote: Tomaso Mocenigo.] <i>to restore it in the form in which it was + before</i>; 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 <i>old</i> 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." + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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 <i>them</i>. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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 <i>did</i> 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + [Footnote: Vide notes in Appendix.] that the decree passed to rebuild the + palace: Mocenigo died in the following year, and Francesco Foscari was + elected in his room. [Footnote: 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.] 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; [Footnote: "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.] the 23rd, which is probably correct, by an anonymous + MS., No. 60, in the Correr Museum; [Footnote: "E a di 23 April (1423, by + the context) sequente fo fatto Gran Conscio in la salla nuovo dovi avanti + non esta piu fatto Gran Conscio si che el primo Gran Conscio dopo la sua + (Foscari's) creation fo fatto in la sala nuova, nel qual conscio fu el + Marchese di Mantoa," &c., p. 426.]—and, the following year, on + the 27th of March, the first hammer was lifted up against the old palace + of Ziani. [Footnote: Compare Appendix I. Vol. III.] + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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. + </p> + <p> + The central epoch of her life was past; the decay had already begun: I + dated its commencement above (Ch. I., Vol. I.) 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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; [Footnote: "Tutte queste + fatture si compirono sotto il dogade del Foscari, nel 1441."—<i>Pareri</i>, + p. 131.] the interior buildings connected with it were added by the Doge + Christopher Moro, (the Othello of Shakspeare) [Footnote: 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 office 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.] in 1462. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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 <i>new</i> 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 II on the Rio Façade. + </p> + <p> + SECTION XVIII. 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION XXIX. The repairs necessarily undertaken at this time were + however extensive, and interfered 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 indoors, 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION XXX. Now, therefore, we are at 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, [Footnote: See the last chapter of the third volume, + Stones of Venice.] 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 such points of interest as + can be explained in the text. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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,— + </p> + <p> + First, Three great bearing capitals (lower arcade). + </p> + <p> + Secondly, Three figure subjects of sculpture above them (lower arcade). + </p> + <p> + Thirdly, Three smaller bearing capitals (upper arcade). + </p> + <p> + Fourthly, Three angels above them (upper arcade). + </p> + <p> + Fifthly, Three spiral, shafts with niches. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + Hear, then, the two spirits speak for themselves. + </p> + <p> + The first main sculpture of the Gothic Palace is on what I have called the + angle of the Fig-tree: + </p> + <p> + Its subject is the FALL OF MAN. + </p> + <p> + The second sculpture is on the angle of the Vine: + </p> + <p> + Its subject is the DRUNKENNESS OF NOAH. + </p> + <p> + The Renaissance sculpture is on the Judgment angle: + </p> + <p> + Its subject is the JUDGMENT OF SOLOMON. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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 Piazetta (the façade upon the Piazetta 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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 stonework 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 first illustration [Footnote: See note at end of + this chapter.] 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 <i>carved every rib and vein upon them, in relief</i>; 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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, [Footnote: "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.] and its sculptor was justly + proud of it; thus recording his name: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "CELAVIT MARCUS OPUS HOC INSIGNE ROMANIS, + LAUDIBUS NON PARCUS EST SUA DIGNA MANUS." +</pre> + <p> + SECTION 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 steins, bluntly defined on the edges, and their curves + are not those of growing leaves, but of wrinkled drapery. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + EFICE Q + SOFRE + TUR AFA + EL REVE + RENDE + QUIETU +</pre> + <p> + i.e. Effice (quseso?) fretum, Raphael reverende, quietum. [Footnote: "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.] 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION XLIV. We will now take the pillars of the Ducal Palace in their + order. It has already been mentioned (Vol. I. Chap. I. Section 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION XLV. 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. [Footnote: 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.] 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION XLVI. FIRST CAPITAL: i.e. of the pilaster at the Vine angle. + </p> + <p> + In front, towards the Sea. A child holding a bird before him, with its + wings expanded, covering his breast. + </p> + <p> + On its eastern side. Children's heads among leaves. + </p> + <p> + On its western side. A child carrying in one hand a comb; in the other, a + pair of scissors. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION XLVII. 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. + </p> + <p> + THIRD CAPITAL. Also has three sides only left. They have three heads, + large, and very ill cut; one female, and crowned. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + IPAT.). + </p> + <p> + On eastern side, "TRAJANUS IMPERATOR." Crowned, a sword in right hand, and + sceptre in left. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + SIXTH CAPITAL. Has large male and female heads, very coarsely cut, hard, + and bad. + </p> + <p> + SECTION XLVIII. 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. + </p> + <p> + <i>First side</i>. 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." + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION XLIX. <i>Second side</i>. Constancy; not very characteristic. An + armed man with a sword in his hand, inscribed, "CONSTANTIA SUM, NIL + TIMENS." + </p> + <p> + 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." + </p> + <p> + SECTION L. <i>Third side</i>. Discord; holding up her finger, but + needing the inscription above to assure us of her meaning, "DISCORDIA SUM, + DISCORDIANS." In the Renaissance copy she is a meek and nun-like person + with a veil. + </p> + <p> + She is the Atë of Spencer; "mother of debate," thus described in the + fourth book: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "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." +</pre> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION LI. <i>Fourth side</i>. 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." + </p> + <p> + She is one of the principal virtues in all the Christian systems: a + masculine virtue in Spenser, and beautifully placed as the <i>PHYSICIAN</i> + 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." + </p> + <p> + SECTION LII. <i>Fifth side</i>. 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION LIII. <i>Sixth side</i>. 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 "A'ONOEXIBEO." + </p> + <p> + I suppose the note of contraction above the final A has disappeared and + that the inscription was "Obedientiam domino exhibeo." + </p> + <p> + 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." [Footnote: Lord Lindsay, vol. + ii. p. 226.] + </p> + <p> + Obedience holds a less principal place in Spenser. We have seen her above + associated with the other peculiar virtues of womanhood. + </p> + <p> + SECTION LIV. <i>Seventh side</i>. 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. + </p> + <p> + 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, <i>is + bound by a cord round her neck to an image</i> which she carries in her + hand, and has flames bursting forth at her feet. + </p> + <p> + In Spenser, Infidelity is the Saracen knight Sans Foy,— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Full large of limbe and every joint + He was, and cared not for God or man a point." +</pre> + <p> + For the part which he sustains in the contest with Godly Fear, or the + Red-cross knight, see Appendix 2, Vol. III. + </p> + <p> + SECTION LV. <i>Eighth side</i>. Modesty; bearing a pitcher. (In the + Renaissance copy, a vase like a coffeepot.) Inscribed "MODESTIA + ROBUOBTINEO." + </p> + <p> + 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: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "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. + +</pre> + <hr /> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + 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." +</pre> + <p> + SECTION LVI. 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. + </p> + <p> + <i>First side</i>. 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. + </p> + <p> + <i>Second side</i>. 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. + </p> + <p> + <i>Third side</i>. 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. + </p> + <p> + <i>Fourth side</i>. 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. + </p> + <p> + <i>Fifth side</i>. A centaur wearing a crested helmet, and holding a + curved sword. + </p> + <p> + <i>Sixth side</i>. A knight, riding a headless horse, and wearing a chain + armor, with a triangular shield flung behind his back, and a two-edged + sword. + </p> + <p> + <i>Seventh side</i>. 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. + </p> + <p> + <i>Eighth side</i>. A figure with curly hair, and an acorn in its hand, + ending below in a fish. + </p> + <p> + SECTION LVII. NINTH CAPITAL. <i>First side</i>. 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: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "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." +</pre> + <p> + SECTION LVIII. <i>Second side</i>. 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION LIX. <i>Third side</i>. 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 <i>all</i> 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: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "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." +</pre> + <p> + The Temperance of the Greeks, [Greek: sophrosunae] 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: + ubris], which, in the "Phaedrus," 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 mediaeval 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, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Into her cup she scruzd with daintie breach + Of her fine fingers, without fowle empeach, + That so faire winepresse made the wine more sweet." +</pre> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION LX. <i>Fourth side</i>. Humility; with a veil upon her head, + carrying a lamp in her lap. Inscribed in the copy, "HUMILITAS HABITAT IN + ME." + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION LXI. <i>Fifth side</i>. 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + Orcagna'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. + </p> + <p> + Spenser represents her as a mother surrounded by happy children, an idea + afterwards grievously hackneyed and vulgarized by English painters and + sculptors. + </p> + <p> + SECTION LXII. <i>Sixth side</i>. Justice. Crowned, and with sword. + Inscribed in the copy, "REX SUM JUSTICIE." + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + Beneath her feet is a small predella, representing various persons riding + securely in the woods, and others dancing to the sound of music. + </p> + <p> + Spenser's Justice, Sir Artegall, is the hero of an entire book, and the + betrothed knight of Britomart, or chastity. + </p> + <p> + SECTION LXIII. <i>Seventh side</i>. 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. + </p> + <p> + 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, + <i>forethought</i>, 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 <i>prudent</i> + than another, is never enough considered or symbolized. + </p> + <p> + The idea of this virtue oscillates, in the Greek systems, between + Temperance and Heavenly Wisdom. + </p> + <p> + SECTION LXIV. <i>Eighth side</i>. 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 <i>testing</i> 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 <i>hope</i> + 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: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "She always smyld, and in her hand did hold + An holy-water sprinckle, dipt in deowe." +</pre> + <p> + SECTION LXV. TENTH CAPITAL. <i>First side</i>. 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." + </p> + <p> + 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: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "In a greene gowne he clothed was full faire, + Which underneath did hide his filthinesse, + And in his hand a burning heart he bare." +</pre> + <p> + 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 <i>intense</i> difference between the mediaeval and the + Renaissance spirit, than the mode in which this god is represented. + </p> + <p> + 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 + mediaeval 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," [Footnote: Lord Lindsay, vol. ii. letter iv.] 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 mediaeval 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: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "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." +</pre> + <p> + 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, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "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." +</pre> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION LXVI. <i>Second side</i>. 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." + </p> + <p> + Spenser's Gluttony is more than usually fine: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "His belly was upblownt 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." +</pre> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION LXVII. <i>Third side</i>. 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." + </p> + <p> + 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: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "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." +</pre> + <p> + 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.) + </p> + <p> + Finally, Disdain is introduced, in other places, as the form of pride + which vents itself in insult to others. + </p> + <p> + SECTION LXVIII. <i>Fourth side</i>. 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." + </p> + <p> + 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 firebrand, 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 <i>restrained</i> Anger, which is infinitely the most terrible; both + of them make him violent. + </p> + <p> + SECTION LXIX. <i>Fifth side</i>. 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." + </p> + <p> + 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: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Betwixt them both was but a little stride, + That did the House of Richesse from Hell-mouth divide." +</pre> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION LXX. <i>Sixth side</i>. Idleness. Accidia. A figure much broken + away, having had its arms round two branches of trees. + </p> + <p> + 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,— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "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." +</pre> + <p> + And he properly makes him the leader of the train of the vices: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "May seem the wayne was very evil ledd, + When such an one had guiding of the way." +</pre> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION LXXI. <i>Seventh side</i>. 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 mediaeval 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 Phaedria, more + properly Idle Mirth, in the second book. The idea is, however, entirely + worked out in the Vanity Fair of the "Pilgrim's Progress." + </p> + <p> + SECTION LXXII. <i>Eighth side</i>. 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. + </p> + <p> + 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: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Malicious Envy rode + Upon a ravenous wolfe, and still did chaw + Between his cankred teeth avenemous tode + That all the poison ran about his jaw. + <i>And in a kirtle of discolourd say + He clothed was, ypaynted full of eies</i>, + And in his bosome secretly there lay + An hatefull snake, the which his taile uptyes + In many folds, and mortali sting implyes." +</pre> + <p> + He has developed the idea in more detail, and still more loathsomely, in + the twelfth canto of the fifth book. + </p> + <p> + SECTION LXXIII. 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION LXXIV. 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. + </p> + <p> + <i>First side</i>. 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." + </p> + <p> + 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— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "All in sable sorrowfully clad, + Downe hanging his dull head with heavy chere: + +</pre> + <hr /> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + A pair of pincers in his hand he had, + With which he pinched people to the heart." +</pre> + <p> + He has farther amplified the idea under another figure in the fifth canto + of the fourth book: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "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." +</pre> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION LXXV. <i>Second side</i>. Cheerfulness. A woman with long + flowing hair, crowned with roses, playing on a tambourine, and with open + lips, as singing. Inscribed "ALACRITAS." + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION LXXVI. <i>Third side</i>. Destroyed; but, from the copy, we find + it has been Stultitia, Folly; and it is there represented simply as a man + <i>riding</i>, 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." + </p> + <p> + SECTION LXXVII. <i>Fourth side</i>. 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?). + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION LXXVIII. <i>Fifth side</i>. 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. + </p> + <p> + The Truth of Spenser, Una, is, after Chastity, the most exquisite + character in the "Faerie Queen." + </p> + <p> + SECTION LXXIX. <i>Sixth side</i>. 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, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "A goodly lady, clad in scarlet 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." +</pre> + <p> + Dante's Fraud, Geryon, is the finest personification of all, but the + description (Inferno, canto XVII.) is too long to be quoted. + </p> + <p> + SECTION LXXX. <i>Seventh side</i>. 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. + </p> + <p> + <i>Eighth side</i>. 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?" + </p> + <p> + SECTION LXXXI. THIRTEENTH CAPITAL. It has lions' heads all round, + coarsely cut. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION LXXXII. FIFTEENTH CAPITAL. The pillar to which it belongs is + thicker than the rest, as well as the one over it in the upper arcade. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <i>First side</i>. A woman with a distaff; her girdle richly decorated, + and fastened by a buckle. + </p> + <p> + <i>Second side</i>. A youth in a long mantle, with a rose in his hand. + </p> + <p> + <i>Third side</i>. A woman in a turban stroking a puppy, which she holds + by the haunches. + </p> + <p> + <i>Fourth side</i>. A man with a parrot. + </p> + <p> + <i>Fifth side</i>. 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. + </p> + <p> + <i>Sixth side</i>. A man with a very thoughtful face, laying his hand upon + the leaves of the capital. + </p> + <p> + <i>Seventh side</i>. A crowned lady, with a rose in her hand. + </p> + <p> + <i>Eighth side</i>. A boy with a ball in his left hand, and his right laid + on his breast. + </p> + <p> + SECTION LXXXIII. SIXTEENTH CAPITAL. It is decorated with eight large + heads, partly intended to be grotesque, [Footnote: 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.] + 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION LXXXIV. 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: + </p> + <p> + <i>First side</i>. A figure with two books, in a robe richly decorated + with circles of roses. Inscribed "SALOMON (SAP) IENS." + </p> + <p> + <i>Second side</i>. 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. + </p> + <p> + <i>Third side</i>. "ARISTOTLE:" so inscribed. He has a peaked double beard + and a flat cap, from under which his long hair falls down his back. + </p> + <p> + <i>Fourth side</i>. Destroyed. + </p> + <p> + <i>Fifth side</i>. Destroyed, all but a board with, three (counters?) on + it. + </p> + <p> + <i>Sixth side</i>. A figure with compasses. Inscribed "GEOMET * *" + </p> + <p> + <i>Seventh side</i>. Nothing is left but a guitar with its handle wrought + into a lion's head. + </p> + <p> + <i>Eighth side</i>. Destroyed. + </p> + <p> + SECTION LXXXV. 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION LXXXVI. It should be premised that, in modern astrology, the + houses of the planets are thus arranged: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> +The house of the Sun, is Leo. + " Moon, " Cancer. + " Mars, " Aries and Scorpio. + " Venus, " Taurus and Libra. + " Mercury, " Gemini and Virgo. + " Jupiter, " Sagittarius and Pisces. + " Saturn, " Capricorn. + " Herschel, " Aquarius. +</pre> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION LXXXVII. <i>The first side</i>, 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: + </p> + <h3> + "ET SATURNE DOMUS (ECLOCERUNT?) I'S 7BRE." + </h3> + <p> + SECTION LXXXVIII. <i>Second side</i>. 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: + </p> + <p> + "INDE JOVI' DONA PISES SIMUL ATQ' CIRONA." [Footnote: The comma in these + inscriptions stands for a small cuneiform mark, I believe of contraction, + and the small for a zigzag mark of the same kind. The dots or periods are + similarly marked on the stone.] + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> +Or, + "Inde Jovis dona + Pisces simul atque Chirona." +</pre> + <p> + Domus is, I suppose, to be understood before Jovis: "Then the house of + Jupiter gives (or governs?) the fishes and Chiron." + </p> + <p> + SECTION LXXXIX. <i>Third side</i>. 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 <i>Venetian</i> Latin for "I am of iron." + </p> + <p> + SECTION XC. <i>Fourth side</i>. 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: + </p> + <h3> + "TU ES DOMU' SOLIS (QUO?) SIGNE LEONI." + </h3> + <p> + I believe the first phrase is, "Tune est Domus solis;" but there is a + letter gone after the "quo," and I have no idea what case of signum + "signe" stands for. + </p> + <p> + SECTION XCI. <i>Fifth side</i>. 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: + </p> + <h3> + "LIBRA CUM TAURO DOMUS * * * PURIOR AUR*." + </h3> + <p> + SECTION XCII. <i>Sixth side</i>. 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. + </p> + <h3> + "OCCUPAT ERIGONE STIBONS GEMINUQ' LAGONE." + </h3> + <p> + SECTION XCIII. <i>Seventh side</i>. 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 <i>ripples</i> + 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: + </p> + <h3> + "LUNE CANCER DOMU T. PBET IORBE SIGNORU." + </h3> + <p> + SECTION XCIV. <i>Eighth side</i>. 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 unintelligble, before + the word Eva, in the shape of a figure of 7, I have safely ascertained the + rest. + </p> + <h3> + "DELIMO DSADA DECO STAFO * * AVIT7EVA." + </h3> + <p> + Or + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "De limo Dominus Adam, de costa fo(rm) avit Evam;" + From the dust the Lord made Adam, and from the rib Eve. +</pre> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + Thus interpreted, the doctrines of judicial astrology were not only + consistent with, but an aid to, the most spiritual and humble + Christianity. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION XCV. 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 <i>arts of sculpture and + architecture</i>; 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION XCVI. <i>First side</i>. "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. + </p> + <p> + <i>Second side</i>. 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. + </p> + <p> + <i>Third side</i>. 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." + </p> + <p> + <i>Fourth side</i>. A crowned figure; but the object on which it has been + working is broken away, and all the inscription except "ST. E(N?)AS." + </p> + <p> + <i>Fifth side</i>. 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. + </p> + <p> + <i>Sixth side</i>. A crowned figure, with hammer and chisel, employed <i>on + a little range of windows of the fifth order</i>, 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <i>Seventh side</i>. 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. + </p> + <p> + <i>Eighth side</i>. 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION XCVII. 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION XCVIII. <i>First side</i>. 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 lion's heads of the fourteenth century. The moment we reach the + Renaissance work, the lion's ears are smooth. Inscribed simply, "LEO." + </p> + <p> + <i>Second side</i>. 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." + </p> + <p> + <i>Third side</i>. 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." + </p> + <p> + <i>Fourth side</i>. Entirely broken away. + </p> + <p> + <i>Fifth side</i>. "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. + </p> + <p> + <i>Sixth side</i>. "CHANIS." With a bone, very ill cut; and a bald-headed + species of dog, with ugly flap ears. + </p> + <p> + <i>Seventh side</i>. "MUSCIPULUS." With a rat (?) in his mouth. + </p> + <p> + <i>Eighth side</i>. "URSUS." With a honeycomb, covered with large bees. + </p> + <p> + SECTION XCIX. TWENTY-FIRST CAPITAL. Represents the principal inferior + professions. + </p> + <p> + <i>First side</i>. An old man, with his brow deeply wrinkled, and very + expressive features, beating in a kind of mortar with a hammer. Inscribed + "LAPICIDA SUM." + </p> + <p> + <i>Second side</i>. 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. + </p> + <p> + <i>Third side</i>. A shoemaker with a shoe in his hand, and an instrument + for cutting leather suspended beside him. Inscription undecipherable. + </p> + <p> + <i>Fourth side</i>. Much broken. A carpenter planing a beam resting on two + horizontal logs. Inscribed "CARPENTARIUS SUM." + </p> + <p> + <i>Fifth side</i>. 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"? + </p> + <p> + <i>Sixth side</i>. 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." + </p> + <p> + <i>Seventh side</i>. A man, in a pendent cap, writing on a large scroll + which falls over his knee. Inscribed "NOTARIUS SUM." + </p> + <p> + <i>Eighth side</i>. 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." + </p> + <p> + SECTION C. TWENTY-SECOND CAPITAL. The Ages of Man; and the influence of + the planets on human life. + </p> + <p> + <i>First side</i>. 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. + </p> + <p> + <i>Second side</i>. A child with a tablet, and an alphabet inscribed on + it. The legend above is + </p> + <h3> + "MECUREU' DNT. PUERICIE PAN. X." + </h3> + <p> + Or, "Mercurius dominatur puerilite per annos X." (Selvatico reads VII.) + "Mercury governs boyhood for ten (or seven) years." + </p> + <p> + <i>Third side</i>. An older youth, with another tablet, but broken. + Inscribed + </p> + <h3> + "ADOLOSCENCIE * * * P. AN. VII." + </h3> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <i>Fourth side</i>. A youth with a hawk on his fist. + </p> + <p> + "IUVENTUTI DNT. SOL. P. AN. XIX." The sue governs youth for nineteen + years. + </p> + <p> + <i>Fifth side</i>. A man sitting, helmed, with a sword over his shoulder. + Inscribed + </p> + <p> + "SENECTUTI DNT MARS. P. AN. XV." Mars governs manhood for fifteen years. + </p> + <p> + <i>Sixth side</i>. A very graceful and serene figure, in the pendent cap, + reading. + </p> + <p> + "SENICIE DNT JUPITER, P. ANN. XII." Jupiter governs age for twelve years. + </p> + <p> + <i>Seventh side</i>. An old man in a skull-cap, praying. + </p> + <p> + "DECREPITE DNT SATN UQ' ADMOTE." (Saturnus usque ad mortem.) Saturn + governs decrepitude until death. + </p> + <p> + <i>Eighth side</i>. The dead body lying on a mattress. + </p> + <p> + "ULTIMA EST MORS PENA PECCATI." Last comes death, the penalty of sin. + </p> + <p> + SECTION CI. Shakespeare'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. + </p> + <p> + TWENTY-THIRD CAPITAL. I agree with Selvatico in thinking this has been + restored. It is decorated with large and vulgar heads. + </p> + <p> + SECTION CII. 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION CIII. 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. + </p> + <p> + <i>First side</i>. March. Sitting triumphantly in a rich dress, as the + beginning of the year. + </p> + <p> + <i>Second side</i>. April and May. April with a lamb: May with a feather + fan in her hand. + </p> + <p> + <i>Third side</i>. June. Carrying cherries in a basket. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <i>Fourth side</i>. 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. + </p> + <p> + <i>Fifth side</i>. September. A woman standing in a wine-tub, and holding + a branch of vine. Very beautiful. + </p> + <p> + <i>Sixth side</i>. October and November. I could not make out their + occupation; they seem to be roasting or boiling some root over a fire. + </p> + <p> + <i>Seventh side</i>. December. Killing pigs, as usual. + </p> + <p> + <i>Eighth side</i>. 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. + </p> + <p> + The inscriptions are undecipherable, except a few letters here and there, + and the words MARCIUS, APRILIS, and FEBRUARIUS. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + I shall merely enumerate the subjects and point out the plagiarisms of + these capitals, as they are not worth description. + </p> + <p> + SECTION CIV. TWENTY-SIXTH CAPITAL. Copied from the fifteenth, merely + changing the succession of the figures. + </p> + <p> + 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 + compressed near the neck; and the Moloni are the long water-melons, which, + roasted, form a staple food of the Venetians to this day. + </p> + <p> + SECTION CV. TWENTY-EIGHTH CAPITAL. Copied from the seventh. + </p> + <p> + TWENTY-NINTH CAPITAL. Copied from the ninth. + </p> + <p> + 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"(?). + </p> + <p> + THIRTY-FIRST CAPITAL. Copied from the eighth. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + THIRTY-THIRD CAPITAL. Copied from the twelfth. + </p> + <p> + THIRTY-FOURTH CAPITAL. Copied from the eleventh. + </p> + <p> + THIRTY-FIFTH CAPITAL. Has children, with birds or fruit, pretty in + features, and utterly inexpressive, like the cherubs of the eighteenth + century. + </p> + <p> + SECTION CVI. 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: + </p> + <p> + <i>Second side</i>. Aristotle, with two pupils, giving laws. Inscribed: + </p> + <p> + "ARISTOT * * CHE DIE LEGE." Aristotle who declares laws. + </p> + <p> + <i>Third side</i>. I have mislaid my note of this side: Selvatico and + Lazari call it "Isidore" (?). [Footnote: Can they have mistaken the + ISIPIONE of the fifth side for the word Isidore?] + </p> + <p> + <i>Fourth side</i>. Solon with his pupils. Inscribed: + </p> + <p> + "SAL'O UNO DEI SETE SAVI DI GRECIA CHE DIE LEGE." Solon, one of the seven + sages of Greece, who declares laws. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <i>Fifth side</i>. The chastity of Scipio. Inscribed: + </p> + <p> + "ISIPIONE A CHASTITA CH * * * E LA FIA (e la figlia?) * * ARE." + </p> + <p> + A soldier in a plumed bonnet presents a kneeling maiden to the seated + Scipio, who turns thoughtfully away. + </p> + <p> + <i>Sixth side</i>. Numa Pompilius building churches. + </p> + <h3> + "NUMA POMPILIO IMPERADOR EDIFICHADOR DI TEMPI E CHIESE." + </h3> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <i>Seventh side</i>. Moses receiving the law. Inscribed: + </p> + <h3> + "QUANDO MOSE RECEVE LA LECE I SUL MONTE." + </h3> + <p> + Moses kneels on a rock, whence springs a beautifully fancied tree, with + clusters of three berries in the centre of the 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. + </p> + <p> + <i>Eighth side</i>. Trajan doing justice to the Widow. + </p> + <h3> + "TRAJANO IMPERADOR CHE FA JUSTITIA A LA VEDOVA." + </h3> + <p> + He is riding spiritedly, his mantle blown out behind; the widow kneeling + before his horse. + </p> + <p> + SECTION CVII. 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, [Footnote: Compare the speech of the Doge + Mocenigo, above,—"first justice, and <i>then</i> the interests of + the state:" and see Vol. III. Chap. II Section LIX.] 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 <i>wholeness</i> 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION CVIII. 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 sculpture 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: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Thwart of these, as fierce, + Forth rush the Levant and the Ponent winds, + Eurus, and Zephyr; with their lateral noise, + Sirocco and Libecchio." +</pre> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION CIX. 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION CX. It is very possible that the reader may at first like fig. + 14 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION CXI. 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION CXII. 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, 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. [Footnote: Some further details + respecting these portions, as well as some necessary confirmations of my + statements of dates, are, however, given in Appendix I., Vol. III. I + feared wearying the general reader by introducing them into the text.] 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION CXIII. 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION CXIV. 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. + </p> + <p> + 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, and have no + idea in what the value of a picture really consists. [Footnote: 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?] The reputation of certain work 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION CXV. 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION CXVI. 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION CXVII. 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 <i>the real thing</i>; 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION CXVIII. 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; [Footnote: 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.] 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + SECTION CXIX. 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 <i>are</i>, and what <i>were</i>, 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. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0009" id="link2H_4_0009"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + NOTE. + </h2> + <p> + I have printed the chapter on the Ducal Palace, quite one of the most + important pieces of work done in my life, without alteration of its + references to the plates of the first edition, because I hope both to + republish some of those plates, and together with them, a few permanent + photographs (both from the sculpture of the Palace itself, and from my own + drawings of its detail), which may be purchased by the possessors of this + smaller edition to bind with the book or not, as they please. This + separate publication I can now soon set in hand; and I believe it will + cause much less confusion to leave for the present the references to the + old plates untouched. The wood-blocks used for the first three figures in + this chapter, are the original ones: that of the Ducal Palace façade was + drawn on the wood by my own hand, and cost me more trouble than it is + worth, being merely given for division and proportion. The greater part of + the first volume, omitted in this edition after "the Quarry," will be + republished in the series of my reprinted works, with its original + wood-blocks. + </p> + <p> + But my mind is mainly set now on getting some worthy illustration of the + St. Mark's mosaics, and of such remains of the old capitals (now for ever + removed, in process of the Palace restoration, from their life in sea wind + and sunlight, and their ancient duty, to a museum-grave) as I have useful + record of, drawn in their native light. The series, both of these and of + the earlier mosaics, of which the sequence is sketched in the preceding + volume, and farther explained in the third number of "St. Mark's Rest," + become to me every hour of my life more precious both for their art and + their meaning; and if any of my readers care to help me, in my old age, to + fulfil my life's work rightly, let them send what pence they can spare for + these objects to my publisher, Mr. Allen, Sunnyside, Orpington, Kent. + </p> + <p> + Since writing the first part of this note, I have received a letter from + Mr. Burne Jones, assuring me of his earnest sympathy in its object, and + giving me hope even of his superintendence of the drawings, which I have + already desired to be undertaken. But I am no longer able to continue work + of this kind at my own cost; and the fulfilment of my purpose must + entirely depend on the money-help given me by my readers. + </p> + <div style="height: 6em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Stones of Venice [introductions], by John Ruskin + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STONES OF VENICE [INTRODUCTIONS] *** + +***** This file should be named 9804-h.htm or 9804-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/9/8/0/9804/ + +Etext produced by Anne Soulard, Keren Vergon, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. + +HTML file produced by David Widger + +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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