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DECORATION. XXVII. THE CORNICE AND CAPITAL. 317
heaven, and in the face of it, even though some of the leaves
lie in the dust. '
Now, observe. The cornice f. represents Heathenism and
Papistry, animated by the mingling of Christianity and nature.
The good in it, the life of it, the veracity and liberty of it,
such as it has, are Protestantism in its heart; the rigidity and
gaplessness are the Romanism of it. It is the mind of Fra
Angelico in the monk's dress,—Christianity before the Reformation. The cornice g has the Lombardic life element in its
fulness, with only some color and shape of Classicalism mingled with it—the good of classicalism; as much method and
Formalism as are* consistent with life, and fitting for it: The
continence within certain border lines, the unity at the root,
the simplicity of the great profile,—all these are the healthy
classical elements retained: the rest is reformation, new
Strength, and recovered liberty.
§ xxrv. There is one more point about it especially noticeable. The leaves are thoroughly natural in their general character, but they are of no particular species: and after being
something like cabbage-leaves in the beginning, one of them
. suddenly becomes an ivy-leaf in the end. Now I don't know
what to say of this. I know it, indeed, to be a classical character ;—it is eminently characteristic of Southern work; and
markedly distinctive of it from the Northern ornament, which
would have been oak, or ivy, or apple, but not anything, nor
two things in one. It is, I repeat, a clearly classical element;
but whether a good or bad element, I am not sure;—whether
it is the last trace of Centaurism and other monstrosity dying
away; or whether it has a figurative purpose, legitimate in
architecture (though never in painting), and has been rightly
retained by the Christian sculptor, to express the working of
that spirit which grafts one nature upon another, and discerns
a law in its members warring against the law of its mind.
§ xxv. These, then, being the points most noticeable in the
spirit both of the designs and the chiselling, we have now to
return to the question proposed in § xhi., and observe the
modifications of form of profile which resulted from 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 | 00000368 |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Transcript | DECORATION. XXVII. THE CORNICE AND CAPITAL. 317 heaven, and in the face of it, even though some of the leaves lie in the dust. ' Now, observe. The cornice f. represents Heathenism and Papistry, animated by the mingling of Christianity and nature. The good in it, the life of it, the veracity and liberty of it, such as it has, are Protestantism in its heart; the rigidity and gaplessness are the Romanism of it. It is the mind of Fra Angelico in the monk's dress,—Christianity before the Reformation. The cornice g has the Lombardic life element in its fulness, with only some color and shape of Classicalism mingled with it—the good of classicalism; as much method and Formalism as are* consistent with life, and fitting for it: The continence within certain border lines, the unity at the root, the simplicity of the great profile,—all these are the healthy classical elements retained: the rest is reformation, new Strength, and recovered liberty. § xxrv. There is one more point about it especially noticeable. The leaves are thoroughly natural in their general character, but they are of no particular species: and after being something like cabbage-leaves in the beginning, one of them . suddenly becomes an ivy-leaf in the end. Now I don't know what to say of this. I know it, indeed, to be a classical character ;—it is eminently characteristic of Southern work; and markedly distinctive of it from the Northern ornament, which would have been oak, or ivy, or apple, but not anything, nor two things in one. It is, I repeat, a clearly classical element; but whether a good or bad element, I am not sure;—whether it is the last trace of Centaurism and other monstrosity dying away; or whether it has a figurative purpose, legitimate in architecture (though never in painting), and has been rightly retained by the Christian sculptor, to express the working of that spirit which grafts one nature upon another, and discerns a law in its members warring against the law of its mind. § xxv. These, then, being the points most noticeable in the spirit both of the designs and the chiselling, we have now to return to the question proposed in § xhi., and observe the modifications of form of profile which resulted from the |
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