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VI. THE NATURE OF GOTHIC. 223
foliation with as much ease as he would those of a kaleidoscope,
and to produce a building which the present European public
wil) think magnificent, though there may not be, from foundation to coping, one ray of invention, or any other intellectual
merit, in the wholev mass of it. But floral decoration, and the
disposition of mouldings, require some skill and thought; and,
if they are to be agreeable at all, must be verily invented, or
accurately copied. They cannot be drawn altogether at random, without becoming so commonplace as to involve detection : and although, as I have just said, the noblest imagination
may be shown in the dispositions of traceries, there is far
more room for its play and power when those traceries are
associated with floral or animal ornament; and it is probable,
d priori, that, wherever true invention exists, such ornament
will be employed in profusion.
§ c. Now, all Gothic may be divided into two vast schools,
one early, the other late; * of which the former, noble, inventive, and progressive, uses the element of foliation moderately,
that of floral and figure sculpture decoration profusely; the
latter, ignoble, uninventive, and declining, uses foliation immoderately, floral and figure sculpture subordinately. The
two schools touch each other at that instant of momentous
change, dwelt upon in the " Seven Lamps," chap, ii, a period
later or earlier in different districts, but which may be broadly
stated as the middle of the fourteenth century; both styles
being, of course, in their highest excellence at the moment
when they meet, the one ascending to the point of junction,
the one declining from it, but, at first, not in any marked
degree, and only showing the characters which justify its being
above called, generically, ignoble, as its declension reaches
steeper slope.
§ ci. Of these two great schools, the first uses foliation
only in large and simple masses, and covers the minor mem-
* Late, and chiefly confined to Northern countries, so that the two
schools may be opposed either as Early and Late Gothic, or (in the fourteenth century) as Southern and Northern Gothic.
| 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 | 00000251 |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Transcript | VI. THE NATURE OF GOTHIC. 223 foliation with as much ease as he would those of a kaleidoscope, and to produce a building which the present European public wil) think magnificent, though there may not be, from foundation to coping, one ray of invention, or any other intellectual merit, in the wholev mass of it. But floral decoration, and the disposition of mouldings, require some skill and thought; and, if they are to be agreeable at all, must be verily invented, or accurately copied. They cannot be drawn altogether at random, without becoming so commonplace as to involve detection : and although, as I have just said, the noblest imagination may be shown in the dispositions of traceries, there is far more room for its play and power when those traceries are associated with floral or animal ornament; and it is probable, d priori, that, wherever true invention exists, such ornament will be employed in profusion. § c. Now, all Gothic may be divided into two vast schools, one early, the other late; * of which the former, noble, inventive, and progressive, uses the element of foliation moderately, that of floral and figure sculpture decoration profusely; the latter, ignoble, uninventive, and declining, uses foliation immoderately, floral and figure sculpture subordinately. The two schools touch each other at that instant of momentous change, dwelt upon in the " Seven Lamps," chap, ii, a period later or earlier in different districts, but which may be broadly stated as the middle of the fourteenth century; both styles being, of course, in their highest excellence at the moment when they meet, the one ascending to the point of junction, the one declining from it, but, at first, not in any marked degree, and only showing the characters which justify its being above called, generically, ignoble, as its declension reaches steeper slope. § ci. Of these two great schools, the first uses foliation only in large and simple masses, and covers the minor mem- * Late, and chiefly confined to Northern countries, so that the two schools may be opposed either as Early and Late Gothic, or (in the fourteenth century) as Southern and Northern Gothic. |
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