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190 179
No 191
circular shafts: The niche is supposed to be drawn in
the architrave pittoresque du moyen age - but the chief
The more I think of these porches, the mo[e]r[n]e I am struck point of it is missed altogether; namely that it is only
with the admirable system of ornamentation in St Ambrozio fastened to the shaft by its top and by props to its
and St Michele; so quiet - masterly and manly in its lines[;] finials (which end in heads) these props are seen in very
every touch telling and not a touch too much - while these rude note fig 1 No 191 as well as the 4 foil already
vain struggles at effect are like Hans, our old needle and marking the transition to Gothic;
pin colonist - compared to Prout, all dot and spot and twit Ornamentation 1 Now, these proches are a perfect study for their
and double line and deep exaggerated shade. It is curious elaborate failure; Everything that the Byzantines did is
that they miss the mark as much in light work as heavy - done; and almost all Verona and St Marks is put together
for there is a Romanesque arch at the Prefecture with and worked with an intention to be more elaborate than
faces and storks on the tym[j]panum and two chased ever work was before, and all kinds of ornaments are tried
round shafts with Byzantine wr[o]eaths and griffins eating one after another - chains of studs and diamonds and
fruit - well designed - excessively involved and of much bosses and roses, and early dentils - one single row
earlier date han anything at the cathedral having no and one from deep lile a cheque: and leaf borders
taint of Gothic whatever; yet all so dead and valueless delicate and classical, and Gothic 4 foils and Lombardic
owing to the lines not being sharp or deep enough, that beasts and Byzantine birds, and chequered pillars.
it is enough ot disgust one with the style - and hardly And all in vain - Everything is overcrowded and misplaced
visible at all at six feet distance - the beasts not in - joyless and valueless. There is no real power of design
the least an admirable example of ill calculated design. and it is in every part what one’s own idle compositions
are, when an ornament is p t after another, witout mean-
ing or purpose - nay, even without felicity. I never saw
any[t]t[y]h[t]ing that after the first surprise of its richness
and antiquity was so painful - so like to the commonest
accumulations of remaissance.
But to return to purer subjects of study. The bases of th
the nave -
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[Version 0.05: May 2008]