LETTERS ON “THE SEVEN LAMPS” 277

persuaded that in course of time, this severe truth will give them a value far higher than that which is at present set upon plates of more delicate execution.

Few persons have any idea of the inaccuracy of architectural works generally. That of Gally Knight,¹ for instance, has been frequently referred to authoritatively respecting the architecture of Italy; yet in the plate, in that work, of the church of San Michele of Lucca, the ornaments on the walls between the arches have been drawn entirely out of the draughtsman’s head; flourishes of the pencil being substituted for the monochrome figures. The degree of fidelity of the drawing in Plate VI. of the Seven Lamps of a single arch of this church, I can only illustrate to you by a particular instance. Just above the head of the strange long-eared quadruped at the top of the arch, the sloping border of the block of stone out of which he is cut is seen to become thicker, and to be divided by a line which looks like a mistake. In that place, the block of serpentine above did not fit exactly into its place, and the builder has fitted in a thin wedge-shaped bit of marble to fill up the gap, which is marked by the double line. In like manner, it will be noticed that the partition between this quadruped and the horseman in front of him is double, while all the other partitions are single bars of marble-this also is fact. Such a degree of accuracy as this may perhaps at first appear ludicrous-but I have always held it for a great principle that there are no degrees of truth; and from habit I have made it just as easy to myself to draw a thing truly as falsely. The accuracy of the other plates, excepting those specified as taken from somewhat obscure Daguerreotypes, is not less; and I believe a time will come when even their execution will be thought better of than it is at present. That, however, I contentedly leave to public judgment. One point by-the-bye should be noticed, that, as the plates are all of fragments, I did not think it necessary to risk losing some of their accuracy by reversing them on the steel-and they are therefore reversed in the impression.

I remain, my dear Sir,

Very truly yours,

J. RUSKIN.

¹ [The Ecclesiastical Architecture of Italy from the time of Constantine to the Fifteenth Century, by Henry Gally Knight, F.R.S., F.S.A.; 2 vols., 1842. The illustration of San Michele, Lucca, is Plate 14 in vol. ii.]

[Version 0.04: March 2008]