PLATE 14

CA’ BERNARDO MOCENIGO

Capital of Window Shafts

BEFORE the Venetian Gothic was corrupted by the Renaissance, it assumed, for a period of about fifty years, a fixed form, perfect in many respects; but in others showing the kind of weakness which would naturally expose it to dangerous innovation. At this period, a kind of capital is used for ordinary service in places not especially conspicuous, of which, from its frequency, it is necessary the reader should be able to form a perfect idea. I have, therefore, drawn the angle leaf of one of them, in this Plate, of the real size.¹ It is from the inner cortile of the Ca’ Bernardo Mocenigo, now well known as the Hotel Danieli.² A form of the common English ball flower is used on the bell between the angle leaves: and occurs also in all capitals of this group, in variously modified conditions, sometimes becoming a conical bud, and sometimes a flat quatrefoil. The general effect of the capital will be seen in many other Plates:³ here I only wish to give a thorough idea of the workmanship and conception of the leaves.

¹ [Here reduced from 18½ x 11½ to 7 x 4¼.]

² [For further particulars of the palace, see below, Venetian Index, p. 395. Ruskin stayed at the Hotel Danieli in the winter of 1849-1850.]

³ [See, for instance, fig. 3 in Plate 2 of Stones of Venice, vol. iii, opposite p. 12 above.]

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[Version 0.04: March 2008]