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80 FIRST PERIOD.
of St. Mark's, is the perfection of that color-faculty which few
people ever set themselves seriously to find out whether they
possess or not. For it is on its value as a piece of perfect and
unchangeable coloring, that the claims of this edifice to our respect are finally rested; and a deaf man might as well pretend
to pronounce judgment on the merits of a full orchestra, as an
architect trained in the composition of form only, to discern
the beauty of St. Mark's. It possesses the charm of color in
common with the greater part of the architecture, as well as
of the manufactures, of the East; but the Venetians deserve
especial note as the only European people who appear to have
sympathized to the full with the great instinct of the Eastern
races. They indeed were compelled to bring artists from Constantinople to design the mosaics of the vaults of St. Mark's,
and to group the colors of its porches; but they rapidly took
up and developed, under more masculine conditions, the system of which the Greeks had shown them the example : while
the burghers and barons of the North were building their dark
streets and grisly castles of oak and sandstone, the merchants
of Venice were covering their palaces with porphyry and gold;
and at last, when her mighty painters had created for her a
color more priceless than gold or porphyry, even this, the richest of her treasures, she lavished upon walls whose foundations
were beaten by the sea ; and the strong tide, as it runs beneath
the Rialto, is reddened to this day by the reflection of the frescoes of Giorgione.
§ xxix. If, therefore, the reader does not care for color,
I must protest against his endeavor to form any judgment
whatever of this church of St. Mark's. But, if he both
cares for and loves it, let him remember that the school of
incrusted architecture is the only one in which perfect and
permanent chromatic decoration is possible; and let him
look upon every piece of jasper and alabaster given to the
architect as a cake of very hard color, of which a certain
portion is to be ground down or cut off, to paint the walls
with. Once understand this thoroughly, and accept the condition that the body and availing strength of the edifice are
| 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 | 00000100 |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Transcript | 80 FIRST PERIOD. of St. Mark's, is the perfection of that color-faculty which few people ever set themselves seriously to find out whether they possess or not. For it is on its value as a piece of perfect and unchangeable coloring, that the claims of this edifice to our respect are finally rested; and a deaf man might as well pretend to pronounce judgment on the merits of a full orchestra, as an architect trained in the composition of form only, to discern the beauty of St. Mark's. It possesses the charm of color in common with the greater part of the architecture, as well as of the manufactures, of the East; but the Venetians deserve especial note as the only European people who appear to have sympathized to the full with the great instinct of the Eastern races. They indeed were compelled to bring artists from Constantinople to design the mosaics of the vaults of St. Mark's, and to group the colors of its porches; but they rapidly took up and developed, under more masculine conditions, the system of which the Greeks had shown them the example : while the burghers and barons of the North were building their dark streets and grisly castles of oak and sandstone, the merchants of Venice were covering their palaces with porphyry and gold; and at last, when her mighty painters had created for her a color more priceless than gold or porphyry, even this, the richest of her treasures, she lavished upon walls whose foundations were beaten by the sea ; and the strong tide, as it runs beneath the Rialto, is reddened to this day by the reflection of the frescoes of Giorgione. § xxix. If, therefore, the reader does not care for color, I must protest against his endeavor to form any judgment whatever of this church of St. Mark's. But, if he both cares for and loves it, let him remember that the school of incrusted architecture is the only one in which perfect and permanent chromatic decoration is possible; and let him look upon every piece of jasper and alabaster given to the architect as a cake of very hard color, of which a certain portion is to be ground down or cut off, to paint the walls with. Once understand this thoroughly, and accept the condition that the body and availing strength of the edifice are |
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