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CONSTRUCTION. XIX. SUPERIMPOSITION, 207
one, two, four, and six, with beautiful symmetries of placing,
not at present to our purpose. We may sufficiently exemplify
the general laws of tower building by placing side by side,
drawn to the same scale, a mediaeval tower, in which most of
them are simply and unaffectedly observed, and one of our
own modern towers, in which every one of them is violated,
in small space, convenient for comparison. (Plate VI.)
§ xiv. The old tower is that of St. Mark's at Venice, not a
very perfect example, for its top is Renaissance, but as good
Renaissance as there is in Venice ; and it is fit for our present
purpose, because it owes none of its effect to ornament. It is
built as simply as it well can be to answer its purpose: no
buttresses; no external features whatever, except some huts at
the base, and the loggia, afterwards built, which, on purpose,
I have not drawn ; one bold square mass of brickwork ; doi>
ble walls, with an ascending inclined plane between them, with
apertures as small as possible, and these only in necessary
places, giving just the light required for ascending the stair or
slope, not a ray more ; and the weight of the whole relieved
only by the double pilasters on the sides, sustaining small
arches at the top of the mass, each decorated with the scallop
or cockle shell, presently to be noticed as frequent in Renaissance ornament, and here, for once, thoroughly well applied.
Then, when the necessary height is reached, the belfry is left
open, as in the ordinary Romanesque campanile, only the shafts
more slender, but severe and simple, and the whole crowned
by as much spire as the tower would carry, to render it more
serviceable as a landmark. The arrangement is repeated in
numberless campaniles throughout Italy.
§ xv. The one beside it is one of those of the lately built
college at Edinburgh. I have not taken it as worse than many
others (just as I have not taken the St. Mark's tower as better
than many others); but it happens to compress our British
system of tower building into small space. The Venetian
tower rises 350 feet,* and has no buttresses, though built of
* I have taken Professor Willis's estimate; there being discrepancy
among various statements. I did not take the trouble to measure the
| Title | The stones of Venice - 1 |
| Creator | Ruskin, John |
| Publisher | J. Wiley |
| Place of Publication | New York |
| Date | 1889 |
| Language | eng |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Title | 00000240 |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Transcript | CONSTRUCTION. XIX. SUPERIMPOSITION, 207 one, two, four, and six, with beautiful symmetries of placing, not at present to our purpose. We may sufficiently exemplify the general laws of tower building by placing side by side, drawn to the same scale, a mediaeval tower, in which most of them are simply and unaffectedly observed, and one of our own modern towers, in which every one of them is violated, in small space, convenient for comparison. (Plate VI.) § xiv. The old tower is that of St. Mark's at Venice, not a very perfect example, for its top is Renaissance, but as good Renaissance as there is in Venice ; and it is fit for our present purpose, because it owes none of its effect to ornament. It is built as simply as it well can be to answer its purpose: no buttresses; no external features whatever, except some huts at the base, and the loggia, afterwards built, which, on purpose, I have not drawn ; one bold square mass of brickwork ; doi> ble walls, with an ascending inclined plane between them, with apertures as small as possible, and these only in necessary places, giving just the light required for ascending the stair or slope, not a ray more ; and the weight of the whole relieved only by the double pilasters on the sides, sustaining small arches at the top of the mass, each decorated with the scallop or cockle shell, presently to be noticed as frequent in Renaissance ornament, and here, for once, thoroughly well applied. Then, when the necessary height is reached, the belfry is left open, as in the ordinary Romanesque campanile, only the shafts more slender, but severe and simple, and the whole crowned by as much spire as the tower would carry, to render it more serviceable as a landmark. The arrangement is repeated in numberless campaniles throughout Italy. § xv. The one beside it is one of those of the lately built college at Edinburgh. I have not taken it as worse than many others (just as I have not taken the St. Mark's tower as better than many others); but it happens to compress our British system of tower building into small space. The Venetian tower rises 350 feet,* and has no buttresses, though built of * I have taken Professor Willis's estimate; there being discrepancy among various statements. I did not take the trouble to measure the |
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