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92 THIRD PERIOD.
II. PRIDE OF STATE.
surrounded now not merely, or not at all, by the Yirtues, but by
allegorical figures of Fame and Yictory, by genii and muses,
by personifications of humbled kingdoms and adoring nations,
and by every circumstance of pomp, and symbol of adulation,
that flattery could suggest, or insolence could claim.
§ lxxxii. As of the intermediate monumental type, so also
of this, the last and most gross, there are unfortunately many
examples in our own country; but the most wonderful, by
far, are still at Yenice. I shall, however, particularize only
two; the first, that of the Doge John Pesaro, in the Frari.
It is to be observed that we have passed over a considerable
interval of time ; we are now in the latter half of the seventeenth century; the progress of corruption has in the meantime been incessant, and sculpture has here lost its taste and
learning as well as its feeling. The monument is a huge accumulation of theatrical scenery in marble: four colossal negro
caryatides, grinning and horrible, with faces of black marble
and white eyes', sustain the first story of it; above this, two
monsters, long-necked, half dog and half dragon, sustain an
ornamental sarcophagus, on the top of which the full-length
statue of the Doge in robes of state stands forward with its
arms expanded, like an actor courting applause, under a huge
canopy of metal, like the roof of a bed, painted crimson and
gold; on each side of him are sitting figures of genii, and
unintelligible personifications gesticulating in Roman armor;
below, between the negro caryatides, are two ghastly figures
in bronze, half corpse, half skeleton, carrying tablets on which
is written the eulogium : but in large letters graven in gold,
the following words are the first and last that strike the eye ;
the first two phrases, one on each side, on tablets in the lower
story, the last under the portrait statue above :
Yixit annos LXX. Devixit anno MDCLIX.
"Hie revixit anno MDCLXIX."
We have here, at last, the horrible images of death in violent'
contrast with the defiant monument, which pretends to bring
| 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 | 00000106 |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Transcript | 92 THIRD PERIOD. II. PRIDE OF STATE. surrounded now not merely, or not at all, by the Yirtues, but by allegorical figures of Fame and Yictory, by genii and muses, by personifications of humbled kingdoms and adoring nations, and by every circumstance of pomp, and symbol of adulation, that flattery could suggest, or insolence could claim. § lxxxii. As of the intermediate monumental type, so also of this, the last and most gross, there are unfortunately many examples in our own country; but the most wonderful, by far, are still at Yenice. I shall, however, particularize only two; the first, that of the Doge John Pesaro, in the Frari. It is to be observed that we have passed over a considerable interval of time ; we are now in the latter half of the seventeenth century; the progress of corruption has in the meantime been incessant, and sculpture has here lost its taste and learning as well as its feeling. The monument is a huge accumulation of theatrical scenery in marble: four colossal negro caryatides, grinning and horrible, with faces of black marble and white eyes', sustain the first story of it; above this, two monsters, long-necked, half dog and half dragon, sustain an ornamental sarcophagus, on the top of which the full-length statue of the Doge in robes of state stands forward with its arms expanded, like an actor courting applause, under a huge canopy of metal, like the roof of a bed, painted crimson and gold; on each side of him are sitting figures of genii, and unintelligible personifications gesticulating in Roman armor; below, between the negro caryatides, are two ghastly figures in bronze, half corpse, half skeleton, carrying tablets on which is written the eulogium : but in large letters graven in gold, the following words are the first and last that strike the eye ; the first two phrases, one on each side, on tablets in the lower story, the last under the portrait statue above : Yixit annos LXX. Devixit anno MDCLIX. "Hie revixit anno MDCLXIX." We have here, at last, the horrible images of death in violent' contrast with the defiant monument, which pretends to bring |
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