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324 SECOND PERIOD.
power of intellect by which they were conceived. The most
noble in literature are, I suppose, those of Dante and Spenser:
and with these we may compare five of the most interesting
series in the early art of Italy'; namely, those of Orcagna,
Giotto, and Simon Memmi, at Florence and Padua, and those
of St. Mark's and the Ducal Palace at'Venice. Of course,
in the richest of these series, the vices are personified together
with the virtues, as in the Ducal Palace; and by the form or
name of opposed vice, we may often ascertain, with much
greater accuracy than would otherwise be possible, the particular idea of the contrary virtue in the mind of the writer
or painter. Thus, when opposed to Prudence, or Prudentia,
on the one side, we find Folly, or Stultitia, on the other, it
shows that the virtue understood by Prudence, is not the
mere guiding or cardinal virtue, but the Heavenly Wisdom,*
opposed to that folly which "hath said in its heart, there is
no God;" and of which it is said, " the thought of foolishness
is sin;" and again, " Such as be foolish shall not stand in thy
sight." This folly is personified, in early painting and illumination, by a half-naked man, greedily eating an apple or other
fruit, and brandishing a club; showing that sensuality and
violence are the two principal characteristics of Foolishness,
and lead into atheism. The figure, in early Psalters, always
forms the letter D, which commences the fifty-third Psalm,
uBixit insipiens"
§ lvii. In reading Dante, this mode of reasoning from
contraries is a great help, for his philosophy of the vices is
the only one which admits of classification; his descriptions
of virtue, while they include the ordinary formal divisions,
are far too profound and extended to be brought under definition. Every line of the "Paradise" is full of the most
exquisite and spiritual expressions of Christian truth; and
that poem is only less read than the "Inferno" because it
requires far greater attention, and, perhaps, for its full enjoyment, a holier heart.
* Uniting the three ideas expressed by the Greek philosophers under the
terms cpporijet, tiocpict, and e7tidr^jut/; and part of the idea of dooppodorq.
| 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 | 00000370 |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Transcript | 324 SECOND PERIOD. power of intellect by which they were conceived. The most noble in literature are, I suppose, those of Dante and Spenser: and with these we may compare five of the most interesting series in the early art of Italy'; namely, those of Orcagna, Giotto, and Simon Memmi, at Florence and Padua, and those of St. Mark's and the Ducal Palace at'Venice. Of course, in the richest of these series, the vices are personified together with the virtues, as in the Ducal Palace; and by the form or name of opposed vice, we may often ascertain, with much greater accuracy than would otherwise be possible, the particular idea of the contrary virtue in the mind of the writer or painter. Thus, when opposed to Prudence, or Prudentia, on the one side, we find Folly, or Stultitia, on the other, it shows that the virtue understood by Prudence, is not the mere guiding or cardinal virtue, but the Heavenly Wisdom,* opposed to that folly which "hath said in its heart, there is no God;" and of which it is said, " the thought of foolishness is sin;" and again, " Such as be foolish shall not stand in thy sight." This folly is personified, in early painting and illumination, by a half-naked man, greedily eating an apple or other fruit, and brandishing a club; showing that sensuality and violence are the two principal characteristics of Foolishness, and lead into atheism. The figure, in early Psalters, always forms the letter D, which commences the fifty-third Psalm, uBixit insipiens" § lvii. In reading Dante, this mode of reasoning from contraries is a great help, for his philosophy of the vices is the only one which admits of classification; his descriptions of virtue, while they include the ordinary formal divisions, are far too profound and extended to be brought under definition. Every line of the "Paradise" is full of the most exquisite and spiritual expressions of Christian truth; and that poem is only less read than the "Inferno" because it requires far greater attention, and, perhaps, for its full enjoyment, a holier heart. * Uniting the three ideas expressed by the Greek philosophers under the terms cpporijet, tiocpict, and e7tidr^jut/; and part of the idea of dooppodorq. |
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