[M2.137L]                                                             [M2.137]								137
                                                                      
[drawing]                                                             Cortile of Ducal Palace:  Old plan.
                                                                      		The first difficulty is about the mouldings of gateway
                                                                      		facing giant’s stair.  Place the plan with letter A. upright.
                                                                      		then the moulding c p of the great coloured pier is
                                                                      		in question, at first I thought it was only an inaccurate
                                                                      		drawing of the present condition;  but I have now no
                                                                      		doubt it has been altered:  Place the plan with letter A2
                                                                      		upright.  Then the present state of the moulding is given
                                                                      		from C. fig 1 joining a with a2 to p in fig 2.  The whole
                                                                      		group of mouldings from c to a carries the round angle
                                                                      		of the gate way:  it is banded with red and white marble; is
                                                                      		purely Gothic in feeling, though very late:  and of the
                                                                      		finer Bon school (the semicircle b is a spiral of [diagram])
                                                                      		and all this I believe to be the part represented
                                                                      		in the old plan:  The larger shaft p however like in
                                                                      		arrangements to the old plan, is a pure renaissance facing
                                                                      		carried along the whole front of the walls towards Giants
                                                                      		stair:  carrying the curious pinnacles and statues and
                                                                      		abortions of the gateway;  Thus the portions M. M. of the
                                                                      		old plan (A upright) are now as at M. opposite:  the great
                                                                      		cavetto one I doubt not ancient, and carelessly represented
                                                                      		as too deep in the old plan:  but the larger shafts,
                                                                      		correspondent and equal, to the longer shaft at p fig 2
                                                                      		are evidently

[Version 0.05: May 2008]