326 THE STONES OF VENICE

§ 59. Such are the principal circumstances to be noted in the external forms and details of the Gothic palaces; of their interior arrangements there is little left unaltered. The gateways which we have been examining almost universally lead, in the earlier palaces, into a long interior court, round which the mass of the palace is built; and in which its first story is reached by a superb external staircase, sustained on four or five pointed arches gradually increasing as they ascend, both in height and span,-this change in their size being, so far as I remember, peculiar to Venice, and visibly a consequence of the habitual admission of arches of different sizes in the Byzantine façades. These staircases are protected by exquisitely carved parapets, like those of the outer balconies, with lions or grotesque heads set on the angels and with true projecting balconies on their landing-places. In the centre of the court there is always a marble well; and these wells furnish some of the most superb examples of Venetian sculpture.¹ I am aware only of one remaining from the Byzantine period; it is octagonal, and treated like the richest of our Norman fonts: but the Gothic wells of every date, from the thirteenth century downwards, are innumerable, and full of beauty, though their form is little varied; they being, in almost every case, treated like colossal capitals of pillars, with foliage at the angles, and the shield of the family upon their sides.

§ 60. The interior apartments always consist of one noble hall on the first story, often on the second also, extending across the entire depth of the house, and lighted in front by the principal groups of its windows, while smaller apartments open from it on either side. The ceilings, where they remain untouched, are of bold horizontal beams, richly carved and gilded; but few of these are left from the true Gothic

¹ [An interesting study of Venetian wells, with numerous illustrations of the sculptures upon them, was contributed by Mr. William Scott to the Universal Review for November 1890; see also Delle sponde Marmoree, e degli Antichi Edificii di Venezia (A. and E. Seguso, Venezia, 1859), and a portfolio of heliotype illustrations of Venetian well-heads, published by F. Ongania (Raccolta delle Vere da Pozzo in Venezia).]

[Version 0.04: March 2008]