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VIII. THE DUCAL PALACE. 341
This virtue is, as we have seen, conceived under very different degrees of dignity, from mere worldly prudence up to
heavenly wisdom, being opposed sometimes by Stultitia, sometimes by Ignorantia. I do not find, in any of the representations of her, that her truly distinctive character, namely, forethought, is enough insisted upon: Giotto expresses her vigilance and just measurement or estimate of all things by painting her as Janus-headed, and gazing into a convex mirror,
with compasses in her right hand; the convex mirror showing
her power of looking at many things in small compass. But
forethought or anticipation, by which, independently of greater
or less natural capacities, one man becomes more prudent than
another, is never enough considered or symbolized.
The idea of this virtue oscillates, in the Greek systems,
between Temperance and Heavenly Wisdom.
§ lxxxv. Eighth side. Hope. A figure full of devotional
expression, holding up its hands as in prayer, and looking to a
hand which is extended towards it out of sunbeams. In the
Renaissance copy this hand does not appear.
Of all the virtues, this is the most distinctively Christian (it
could not, of course, enter definitely into any Pagan scheme);
and above all others, it seems to me the testing virtue,—that
by the possession of which we may most certainly determine
whether we are Christians or not; for many men have charity,
that is to say, general kindness of heart, or even a kind of
faith, who have not any habitual hope of, or longing for,
heaven. The Hope of Giotto is represented as winged, rising
in the air, while an angel holds a crown before her. I do not
know if Spenser was the first to introduce our marine virtue,
leaning on an anchor, a symbol as inaccurate as it is vulgar:
for, in the first place, anchors are not for men, but for ships;
and in the second, anchorage is the characteristic not of Hope,
but of Faith. Faith is dependent, but Hope is aspirant.
Spenser, however, introduces Hope twice,—the first time as
the Virtue with the anchor; but afterwards fallacious Hope,
far more beautifully, in the Masque of Cupid:
" She always smyld, and in her hand did hold
An holv-water sprinckle, dipt in deowe."
| 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 | 00000387 |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Transcript | VIII. THE DUCAL PALACE. 341 This virtue is, as we have seen, conceived under very different degrees of dignity, from mere worldly prudence up to heavenly wisdom, being opposed sometimes by Stultitia, sometimes by Ignorantia. I do not find, in any of the representations of her, that her truly distinctive character, namely, forethought, is enough insisted upon: Giotto expresses her vigilance and just measurement or estimate of all things by painting her as Janus-headed, and gazing into a convex mirror, with compasses in her right hand; the convex mirror showing her power of looking at many things in small compass. But forethought or anticipation, by which, independently of greater or less natural capacities, one man becomes more prudent than another, is never enough considered or symbolized. The idea of this virtue oscillates, in the Greek systems, between Temperance and Heavenly Wisdom. § lxxxv. Eighth side. Hope. A figure full of devotional expression, holding up its hands as in prayer, and looking to a hand which is extended towards it out of sunbeams. In the Renaissance copy this hand does not appear. Of all the virtues, this is the most distinctively Christian (it could not, of course, enter definitely into any Pagan scheme); and above all others, it seems to me the testing virtue,—that by the possession of which we may most certainly determine whether we are Christians or not; for many men have charity, that is to say, general kindness of heart, or even a kind of faith, who have not any habitual hope of, or longing for, heaven. The Hope of Giotto is represented as winged, rising in the air, while an angel holds a crown before her. I do not know if Spenser was the first to introduce our marine virtue, leaning on an anchor, a symbol as inaccurate as it is vulgar: for, in the first place, anchors are not for men, but for ships; and in the second, anchorage is the characteristic not of Hope, but of Faith. Faith is dependent, but Hope is aspirant. Spenser, however, introduces Hope twice,—the first time as the Virtue with the anchor; but afterwards fallacious Hope, far more beautifully, in the Masque of Cupid: " She always smyld, and in her hand did hold An holv-water sprinckle, dipt in deowe." |
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