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16 FIRST PERIOD.
imitation of the Corinthian there is in them, and how boldly
the stems of the leaves are detached from the ground. But
there is another circumstance in this ornament still more noticeable. The band which encircles the shaft beneath the spring
of the leaves is copied from the common classical wreathed or
braided fillet, of which the reader may see
examples on almost every building of any
pretensions in modern London. But the
fig. i. mediaeval builders could not be content with
the dead and meaningless scroll: the Gothic energy and love
of life, mingled with the early Christian religious symbolism,
were struggling daily into more vigorous expression, and they
turned the wreathed band into a serpent of three times the
length necessary to undulate round the shaft, which, knotting
itself into a triple chain, shows at one side of the shaft its tail
and head, as if perpetually gliding round it beneath the stalks
of the vines. The vine, as is well known, was one of the early
symbols of Christ, and the serpent is here typical either of the
eternity of his dominion, or of the Satanic power subdued.
§ vi. Nor even when the builder confines himself to the
acanthus leaf (or to that representation of it, hereafter to be
more particularly examined, constant in Romanesque work) can
his imagination allow him to rest content with its accustomed
position. In a common Corinthian capital the leaves nod forward only, thrown out on every side from the bell which they
surround: but at the base of one of the capitals on the opposite side of the nave from this of the vines,* two leaves are introduced set with their sides outwards, forming spirals by curling back, half-closed, in the position shown in fig. 4 in Plate
IL, there represented as in a real acanthus leaf; for it will assist our future inquiries into the ornamentation of capitals that
the reader should be acquainted with the form of the acanthus
leaf itself. I have drawn it, therefore, in the two positions,
figs. 3 and 4 in Plate II.; while fig. 5 is the translation of the
latter form into marble by the sculptor of Torcello. It. is not
* A sketch has been given of this capital in my folio work.
| Title | The stones of Venice - 2 |
| Creator | Ruskin, John |
| Publisher | J. Wiley |
| Place of Publication | New York |
| Date | 1889 |
| Language | eng |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Title | 00000029 |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Transcript | 16 FIRST PERIOD. imitation of the Corinthian there is in them, and how boldly the stems of the leaves are detached from the ground. But there is another circumstance in this ornament still more noticeable. The band which encircles the shaft beneath the spring of the leaves is copied from the common classical wreathed or braided fillet, of which the reader may see examples on almost every building of any pretensions in modern London. But the fig. i. mediaeval builders could not be content with the dead and meaningless scroll: the Gothic energy and love of life, mingled with the early Christian religious symbolism, were struggling daily into more vigorous expression, and they turned the wreathed band into a serpent of three times the length necessary to undulate round the shaft, which, knotting itself into a triple chain, shows at one side of the shaft its tail and head, as if perpetually gliding round it beneath the stalks of the vines. The vine, as is well known, was one of the early symbols of Christ, and the serpent is here typical either of the eternity of his dominion, or of the Satanic power subdued. § vi. Nor even when the builder confines himself to the acanthus leaf (or to that representation of it, hereafter to be more particularly examined, constant in Romanesque work) can his imagination allow him to rest content with its accustomed position. In a common Corinthian capital the leaves nod forward only, thrown out on every side from the bell which they surround: but at the base of one of the capitals on the opposite side of the nave from this of the vines,* two leaves are introduced set with their sides outwards, forming spirals by curling back, half-closed, in the position shown in fig. 4 in Plate IL, there represented as in a real acanthus leaf; for it will assist our future inquiries into the ornamentation of capitals that the reader should be acquainted with the form of the acanthus leaf itself. I have drawn it, therefore, in the two positions, figs. 3 and 4 in Plate II.; while fig. 5 is the translation of the latter form into marble by the sculptor of Torcello. It. is not * A sketch has been given of this capital in my folio work. |
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