00000369 |
Previous | 369 of 445 | Next |
|
small (250x250 max)
medium (500x500 max)
Large
Extra Large
large ( > 500x500)
Full Resolution
All (PDF)
|
VIII. THE DUCAL PALACE. 323
declension of its faith exactly marked by the abandonment of
symbolism,* and the profuse employment of personification,—
even to such an extent that the virtues came, at last, to be
confused with the saints; and we find in the later Litanies,
St. Faith, St. Hope, St. Charity, and St. Chastity, invoked immediately after St. Clara and St. Bridget.
§ lvi. Nevertheless, in the hands of its early and earnest
masters, in whom fancy could not overthrow the foundations
of faith, personification is often thoroughly noble and lovely ;
the earlier conditions of it being just as much more spiritual
and vital than the later ones, as the still earlier symbolism was
more spiritual than they. Compare, for instance, Dante's
burning Charity, running and returning at the wheels of the
chariot of God,—
" So ruddy, that her form had scarce
Been known within a furnace of clear flame,"
with Reynolds's Charity, a nurse in a white dress, climbed
upon by three children, f And not only so, but the number
and nature of the virtues differ considerably in the statements
of different poets and painters, according to their own views
of religion, or to the manner of life they had it in mind to
illustrate. Giotto, for instance, arranges his system altogether
differently at Assisi, where he is setting forth the monkish
life, and in the Arena Chapel, where he treats of that of
mankind in general, and where, therefore, he gives only the
go-called theological and cardinal virtues; while, at Assisi,
the three principal virtues are those which are reported to
have appeared in vision to St. Francis, Chastity, Obedience,
and Poverty: Chastity being attended by Fortitude, Purity,
and Penance; Obedience by Prudence and Humility; Poverty
by Hope and Charity. The systems vary with almost every
writer, and in almost every important work of art which
embodies them, being more or less spiritual according to the
* The transformation of a symbol into a reality, observe, as in transub-
stantiation, is as much an abandonment of symbolism as the forgetfulness
of symbolic meaning altogether.
fOn the window of New College, Oxford,
| 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 | 00000369 |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Transcript | VIII. THE DUCAL PALACE. 323 declension of its faith exactly marked by the abandonment of symbolism,* and the profuse employment of personification,— even to such an extent that the virtues came, at last, to be confused with the saints; and we find in the later Litanies, St. Faith, St. Hope, St. Charity, and St. Chastity, invoked immediately after St. Clara and St. Bridget. § lvi. Nevertheless, in the hands of its early and earnest masters, in whom fancy could not overthrow the foundations of faith, personification is often thoroughly noble and lovely ; the earlier conditions of it being just as much more spiritual and vital than the later ones, as the still earlier symbolism was more spiritual than they. Compare, for instance, Dante's burning Charity, running and returning at the wheels of the chariot of God,— " So ruddy, that her form had scarce Been known within a furnace of clear flame," with Reynolds's Charity, a nurse in a white dress, climbed upon by three children, f And not only so, but the number and nature of the virtues differ considerably in the statements of different poets and painters, according to their own views of religion, or to the manner of life they had it in mind to illustrate. Giotto, for instance, arranges his system altogether differently at Assisi, where he is setting forth the monkish life, and in the Arena Chapel, where he treats of that of mankind in general, and where, therefore, he gives only the go-called theological and cardinal virtues; while, at Assisi, the three principal virtues are those which are reported to have appeared in vision to St. Francis, Chastity, Obedience, and Poverty: Chastity being attended by Fortitude, Purity, and Penance; Obedience by Prudence and Humility; Poverty by Hope and Charity. The systems vary with almost every writer, and in almost every important work of art which embodies them, being more or less spiritual according to the * The transformation of a symbol into a reality, observe, as in transub- stantiation, is as much an abandonment of symbolism as the forgetfulness of symbolic meaning altogether. fOn the window of New College, Oxford, |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| B |
|
| C |
|
| G |
|
| H |
|
| M |
|
| T |
|
| U |
|
| Y |
|
|
|
