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DECORATION. XXV. THE BASE. 285
general a tolerably accurate test of the age of a base, in the
degree of its projection. Thus, in the examples 2, 3, 4, 5, 9,
10, 12, the lower roll is hardly rounded at all, and diametrically opposed to the late Gothic conditions, 24 to 28, in which
it advances gradually, like a wave preparing to break, and at
last is actually seen curling over with the long-backed rush of
surf upon the shore. Yet the Torcello base resembles these
Gothic ones both in expansion beneath and in depth of cavetto
above.
§ vni. There can be no question of the ineffable superiority
of these Gothic bases, in grace of profile, to any ever invented
by the ancients. But they have all two great faults: They
seem, in the first place, to have been designed without sufficient reference to the necessity of their being usually seen
from above; their grace of profile cannot be estimated when
so seen, and their excessive expansion gives them an appearance of flatness and separation from the shaft, as if they had
splashed out under its pressure: in the second place their
cavetto is so deeply cut that it has the appearance of a black
fissure between the members of the base; and in the Lyons
and Bourges shafts, 24 and 26, it is impossible to conquer the
idea suggested by it, that the two stones above and below have
been intended to join close, but that some pebbles have got in
and kept them from fitting; one is always expecting the
pebbles to be crushed, and the shaft to settle into its place with
a thunder-clap.
§ ix. For these reasons, I said that the profile of the pure
classic base had hardly been materially improved; but the
various conditions of it are beautiful or commonplace, in proportion to the variety of proportion among their lines and the
delicacy of their curvatures; that is to say, the expression of
characters like those of the abstract lines in Plate VII.
The five best profiles in Plate X. are 10, 17, 19, 20, 21; 10
is peculiarly beautiful in the opposition between the bold projection of its upper roll, and the delicate leafy curvature of its
lower; and this and 21 may be taken as nearly perfect types,
the one of the steep, the other of the expansive basic profiles.
| 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 | 00000326 |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Transcript | DECORATION. XXV. THE BASE. 285 general a tolerably accurate test of the age of a base, in the degree of its projection. Thus, in the examples 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10, 12, the lower roll is hardly rounded at all, and diametrically opposed to the late Gothic conditions, 24 to 28, in which it advances gradually, like a wave preparing to break, and at last is actually seen curling over with the long-backed rush of surf upon the shore. Yet the Torcello base resembles these Gothic ones both in expansion beneath and in depth of cavetto above. § vni. There can be no question of the ineffable superiority of these Gothic bases, in grace of profile, to any ever invented by the ancients. But they have all two great faults: They seem, in the first place, to have been designed without sufficient reference to the necessity of their being usually seen from above; their grace of profile cannot be estimated when so seen, and their excessive expansion gives them an appearance of flatness and separation from the shaft, as if they had splashed out under its pressure: in the second place their cavetto is so deeply cut that it has the appearance of a black fissure between the members of the base; and in the Lyons and Bourges shafts, 24 and 26, it is impossible to conquer the idea suggested by it, that the two stones above and below have been intended to join close, but that some pebbles have got in and kept them from fitting; one is always expecting the pebbles to be crushed, and the shaft to settle into its place with a thunder-clap. § ix. For these reasons, I said that the profile of the pure classic base had hardly been materially improved; but the various conditions of it are beautiful or commonplace, in proportion to the variety of proportion among their lines and the delicacy of their curvatures; that is to say, the expression of characters like those of the abstract lines in Plate VII. The five best profiles in Plate X. are 10, 17, 19, 20, 21; 10 is peculiarly beautiful in the opposition between the bold projection of its upper roll, and the delicate leafy curvature of its lower; and this and 21 may be taken as nearly perfect types, the one of the steep, the other of the expansive basic profiles. |
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