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H. PRIDE OF STATE. II. ROMAN RENAISSANCE. 87
priest; a face part of iron and part of clay, with the immobility of the one, and the foulness of the other, double chinned,
blunt-mouthed, bony-cheeked, with its brows drawn down
into meagre lines and wrinkles over the eyelids ; the face of a
man incapable either of joy or sorrow, unless such as may be
caused by the indulgence of passion, or the mortification of
pride. Even had he been such a one, a noble workman would
not have written it so legibly on his tomb ; and I believe it to be
the image of the carver's own mind that is there hewn in the
marble, not that of the Doge Foscari. For the same mind is
visible enough throughout, the traces of it mingled with those
of the evil taste of the whole time and people. There is not
anything so small but it is shown in some portion of its treatment ; for instance, in the placing of the shields at the back of
the great curtain. In earlier times, the shield, as we have
seen, was represented as merely suspended against the tomb by
a thong, or if sustained in any other manner, still its form was
simple and undisguised. Men in those days used their shields
in war, and therefore there was no need to add dignity to their
form by external ornament. That which, through day after
day of mortal danger, had borne back from them the waves
of battle, could neither be degraded by simplicity, nor exalted
by decoration. By its rude leathern thong it seemed to be
fastened to their tombs, and the shield of the mighty was not
cast away, though capable of defending its master no more.
§ lxxv. It was otherwise in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The changed system of warfare was rapidly doing
away with the practical service of the shield; and the chiefs
who directed the battle from a distance, or who passed the
greater part of their lives in the council-chamber, soon came
to regard the shield as nothing more than a field for their
armorial bearings. It then became a principal object of their
Pride of State to increase the conspicuousness of these marks
of family distinction by surrounding them with various and
fantastic ornament, generally scroll or flower, work, which of
course deprived the shield of all appearance of being intended
for a soldier's use. Thus the shield of the Foscari is intro-
| 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 | 00000101 |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Transcript | H. PRIDE OF STATE. II. ROMAN RENAISSANCE. 87 priest; a face part of iron and part of clay, with the immobility of the one, and the foulness of the other, double chinned, blunt-mouthed, bony-cheeked, with its brows drawn down into meagre lines and wrinkles over the eyelids ; the face of a man incapable either of joy or sorrow, unless such as may be caused by the indulgence of passion, or the mortification of pride. Even had he been such a one, a noble workman would not have written it so legibly on his tomb ; and I believe it to be the image of the carver's own mind that is there hewn in the marble, not that of the Doge Foscari. For the same mind is visible enough throughout, the traces of it mingled with those of the evil taste of the whole time and people. There is not anything so small but it is shown in some portion of its treatment ; for instance, in the placing of the shields at the back of the great curtain. In earlier times, the shield, as we have seen, was represented as merely suspended against the tomb by a thong, or if sustained in any other manner, still its form was simple and undisguised. Men in those days used their shields in war, and therefore there was no need to add dignity to their form by external ornament. That which, through day after day of mortal danger, had borne back from them the waves of battle, could neither be degraded by simplicity, nor exalted by decoration. By its rude leathern thong it seemed to be fastened to their tombs, and the shield of the mighty was not cast away, though capable of defending its master no more. § lxxv. It was otherwise in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The changed system of warfare was rapidly doing away with the practical service of the shield; and the chiefs who directed the battle from a distance, or who passed the greater part of their lives in the council-chamber, soon came to regard the shield as nothing more than a field for their armorial bearings. It then became a principal object of their Pride of State to increase the conspicuousness of these marks of family distinction by surrounding them with various and fantastic ornament, generally scroll or flower, work, which of course deprived the shield of all appearance of being intended for a soldier's use. Thus the shield of the Foscari is intro- |
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