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I. EARLY RENAISSANCE. 9
tion of its decay.* Thus, in morals, there is a care for trifles
which proceeds from love and conscience, and is most holy;
and a care for trifles which comes of idleness and frivolity, and
is most base. And so, also, there is a gravity proceeding from
thought, which is most noble; and a gravity proceeding from
dulness and mere incapability of enjoyment, which is most
base. Now, in the various forms assumed by the later Gothic
of Yenice, there are one or two features which, under other
circumstances, would not have been signs of decline; but, in
the particular manner of their occurrence here, indicate the
fatal weariness of decay. Of all these features the most distinctive are its crockets and finials.
§ xiv. There is not to be found a single crocket or finial
upon any part of the Ducal Palace built during the fourteenth
century; and although they occur on contemporary, and on
some much earlier, buildings, they either indicate detached
examples of schools not properly Yenetian, or are signs of
incipient decline.
The reason of this is, that the finial is properly the ornament of gabled architecture; it is the compliance, in the
minor features of the building, with the spirit of its towers
ridged roof, and spires. Yenetian building is not gabled, but
horizontal in its roots and general masses; therefore the finial
is a feature contradictory to its spirit, and adopted only in that
search for morbid excitement which is the infallible indication
of decline. When it occurs earlier, it is on fragments of
true gabled architecture, as, for instance, on the porch of the
Carmini.
In proportion to the unjustifiableness of its introduction
was the extravagance of the form it assumed; becoming,
sometimes, a tuft at the top of the ogee windows, half as high
as the arch itself, and consisting, in the richest examples, of a
human figure, half emergent out of a cup of leafage, as, for
* There is a curious instance of this in the modern imitations of the
Gothic capitals of the Casa d' Oro, employed in its restorations. The old
capitals look like clusters of leaves, the modern ones like kneaded masses
of dough with holes in them.
| Title | The stones of Venice - 3 |
| Creator | Ruskin, John |
| Publisher | J. Wiley |
| Place of Publication | New York |
| Date | 1889 |
| Language | eng |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Title | 00000023 |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Transcript | I. EARLY RENAISSANCE. 9 tion of its decay.* Thus, in morals, there is a care for trifles which proceeds from love and conscience, and is most holy; and a care for trifles which comes of idleness and frivolity, and is most base. And so, also, there is a gravity proceeding from thought, which is most noble; and a gravity proceeding from dulness and mere incapability of enjoyment, which is most base. Now, in the various forms assumed by the later Gothic of Yenice, there are one or two features which, under other circumstances, would not have been signs of decline; but, in the particular manner of their occurrence here, indicate the fatal weariness of decay. Of all these features the most distinctive are its crockets and finials. § xiv. There is not to be found a single crocket or finial upon any part of the Ducal Palace built during the fourteenth century; and although they occur on contemporary, and on some much earlier, buildings, they either indicate detached examples of schools not properly Yenetian, or are signs of incipient decline. The reason of this is, that the finial is properly the ornament of gabled architecture; it is the compliance, in the minor features of the building, with the spirit of its towers ridged roof, and spires. Yenetian building is not gabled, but horizontal in its roots and general masses; therefore the finial is a feature contradictory to its spirit, and adopted only in that search for morbid excitement which is the infallible indication of decline. When it occurs earlier, it is on fragments of true gabled architecture, as, for instance, on the porch of the Carmini. In proportion to the unjustifiableness of its introduction was the extravagance of the form it assumed; becoming, sometimes, a tuft at the top of the ogee windows, half as high as the arch itself, and consisting, in the richest examples, of a human figure, half emergent out of a cup of leafage, as, for * There is a curious instance of this in the modern imitations of the Gothic capitals of the Casa d' Oro, employed in its restorations. The old capitals look like clusters of leaves, the modern ones like kneaded masses of dough with holes in them. |
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