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DECORATION. XX. THE MATERIAL OF ORNAMENT. 215
of handkerchiefs tied in a stout knot round the middle of them.
This shrewd invention bids fair to become a new order. Multitudes of massy curtains and various upholstery, more or less
in imitation of that of the drawing-room, are carved and gilt,
in wood or stone, about the altars and other theatrical portions
of Romanist churches; but from these coarse and senseless vulgarities we may well turn, in all haste, to note, with respect as
well as regret, one of the errors of the great school of Niccolo
Pisano,—an error §>o full of feeling as to be sometimes all but
redeemed, and altogether forgiven,—the sculpture, namely, of
curtains around the recumbent statues upon tombs, curtains
which angels are represented as withdrawing, to gaze upon the
faces of those who are at rest. For some time the idea was
simply and slightly expressed, and though there was always a
painfulness in finding the shafts of stone, which were felt to be
the real supporters of the canopy, represented as of yielding
drapery, yet the beauty of the angelic figures, and the tenderness of the thought, disarmed all animadversion. But the
scholars of the Pisani, as usual, caricatured when they were
unable to invent; and the quiet curtained canopy became a
huge marble tent, with a pole in the centre of it. Thus vulgarised, the idea itself soon disappeared, to make room for urns,
torches, and weepers, and the other modern paraphernalia of
the churchyard.
§ vni. 3. Shipping. I have allowed this kind of subject to
form a separate head, owing to the importance of rostra in
Roman decoration, and to the continual occurrence of naval
subjects in modern monumental bas-relief. Mr. Fergusson
says, somewhat doubtfully, that he perceives a ukind of
beauty" in a ship : I say, without any manner of doubt, that
a ship is one of the loveliest things man ever made, and one of
the noblest; nor do I know any lines, out of divine work, so
lovely as those of the head of a ship, or even as the sweep of
the timbers of a small boat, not a race boat, a mere floating
chisel, but a broad, strong, sea boat, able to breast a wave and
break it: and yet, with all this beauty, ships cannot be made
subjects of sculpture. No one pauses in particular delight
| 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 | 00000248 |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Transcript | DECORATION. XX. THE MATERIAL OF ORNAMENT. 215 of handkerchiefs tied in a stout knot round the middle of them. This shrewd invention bids fair to become a new order. Multitudes of massy curtains and various upholstery, more or less in imitation of that of the drawing-room, are carved and gilt, in wood or stone, about the altars and other theatrical portions of Romanist churches; but from these coarse and senseless vulgarities we may well turn, in all haste, to note, with respect as well as regret, one of the errors of the great school of Niccolo Pisano,—an error §>o full of feeling as to be sometimes all but redeemed, and altogether forgiven,—the sculpture, namely, of curtains around the recumbent statues upon tombs, curtains which angels are represented as withdrawing, to gaze upon the faces of those who are at rest. For some time the idea was simply and slightly expressed, and though there was always a painfulness in finding the shafts of stone, which were felt to be the real supporters of the canopy, represented as of yielding drapery, yet the beauty of the angelic figures, and the tenderness of the thought, disarmed all animadversion. But the scholars of the Pisani, as usual, caricatured when they were unable to invent; and the quiet curtained canopy became a huge marble tent, with a pole in the centre of it. Thus vulgarised, the idea itself soon disappeared, to make room for urns, torches, and weepers, and the other modern paraphernalia of the churchyard. § vni. 3. Shipping. I have allowed this kind of subject to form a separate head, owing to the importance of rostra in Roman decoration, and to the continual occurrence of naval subjects in modern monumental bas-relief. Mr. Fergusson says, somewhat doubtfully, that he perceives a ukind of beauty" in a ship : I say, without any manner of doubt, that a ship is one of the loveliest things man ever made, and one of the noblest; nor do I know any lines, out of divine work, so lovely as those of the head of a ship, or even as the sweep of the timbers of a small boat, not a race boat, a mere floating chisel, but a broad, strong, sea boat, able to breast a wave and break it: and yet, with all this beauty, ships cannot be made subjects of sculpture. No one pauses in particular delight |
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