I. EARLY RENAISSANCE 9

century,¹ and fig. 2 from an Italian one of the fifteenth. Observe in the first its stern moderation in curvature; the gradually united lines nearly straight, though none quite straight, used for its main limb, and contrasted with the bold but simple offshoots of its leaves, and the noble spiral from which it shoots, these in their turn opposed by the sharp trefoils and thorny cusps. And see what a reserve of resource there is in the whole; how easy it would have been to make the curves more palpable and the foliage more rich, and how the noble hand has stayed itself, and refused to grant one wave of motion more.

§ 10. Then observe the other example, in which, while the same idea is continually repeated, excitement and interest are sought for by means of violent and continual curvatures wholly unrestrained, and rolling hither and thither in confused wantonness. Compare the character of the separate lines in these two examples carefully, and be assured that wherever this redundant and luxurious curvature shows itself in ornamentation, it is a sign of jaded energy and failing invention. Do not confuse it with fulness or richness. Wealth is not necessarily wantonness: a Gothic moulding may be buried half a foot deep in thorns and leaves, and yet will be chaste in every line; and a late Renaissance moulding may be utterly barren and poverty-stricken, and yet will show the disposition to luxury in every line.

§ 11. Plate 20, in the second volume,² though prepared for the special illustration of the notices of capitals, becomes peculiarly interesting when considered in relation to the points at present under consideration. The four leaves in the upper row are Byzantine; the two middle rows are transitional, all but fig. 11, which is of the formed Gothic; fig. 12 is perfect Gothic of the finest time (Ducal Palace,

¹ [This ornament comes from a Book of Hours, circa 1300, formerly in Ruskin’s library. Its origin, however, is North-East France, somewhere between Saint Omer and Arras. The spray is part of an initial which comes on folio 84b. The Nativity engraved in Modern Painters, vol. iii. (Fig. 1), is from the same manuscript, which is there referred to (ch. iv. § 9 n.). On the subject of “temperance and intemperance” in curves compare Modern Painters, vol. iv. ch. xvii. § 10.]

² [Vol. X., opposite p. 431; for further references to the Plate, see below, p. 276.]

[Version 0.04: March 2008]