The convex forms, 3 and 4, are put lowest in the plate only because they are heaviest; they are the earliest in date, and have already been enough examined.
I have added a plate to this volume ([Plate XII.]), which should have appeared in illustration of the fifth chapter of Vol. II., but was not finished in time. It represents the central capital and two of the lateral ones of the Fondaco de’ Turchi, the central one drawn very large, in order to show the excessive simplicity of its chiselling, together with the care and sharpness of it, each leaf being expressed by a series of sharp furrows and ridges. Some slight errors in the large tracings from which the engraving was made have, however, occasioned a loss of spring in the curves, and the little fig. 4 of [Plate X.] Vol. II. gives a truer idea of the distant effect of the capital.
The profiles given in [Plate X.] Vol. II. are the following:
| 1. | a. Main capitals, upper arcade, Madonnetta House. b. Main capitals, upper arcade, Casa Falier. c. Lateral capitals, upper arcade, Fondaco de’ Turchi. d. Small pillars of St. Mark’s Pulpit. e. Casa Farsetti. f. Inner capitals of arcade of Ducal Palace. g. Plinth of the house[66] at Apostoli. h. Main capitals of house at Apostoli. i. Main capitals, upper arcade, Fondaco de’ Turchi. | |
| [Plate X.] vol. II. | 2. | a. Lower arcade, Fondaco de’ Turchi. b, c. Lower pillars, house at Apostoli. d. San Simeon Grande. e. Restored house on Grand Canal. Three of the old arches left. f. Upper arcade, Ducal Palace. g. Windows of third order, central shaft, Ducal Palace. h. Windows of third order, lateral shaft, Ducal Palace. i. Ducal Palace, main shafts. k. Piazzetta shafts. |
| 3. | a. St. Mark’s Nave. b, c. Lily capitals, St. Mark’s. | |
| 4. | a. Fondaco de’ Turchi, central shaft, upper arcade. b. Murano, upper arcade. c. Murano, lower arcade. d. Tomb of St. Isidore. e. General late Gothic profile. |
The last two sections are convex in effect, though not in reality; the bulging lines being carved into bold flower-work.
The capitals belonging to the groups 1 and 2, in the Byzantine times, have already been illustrated in [Plate VIII.] Vol. II.; we have yet to trace their succession in the Gothic times. This is done in [Plate II.] of this volume, which we will now examine carefully. The following are the capitals represented in that plate:
| [Plate II.] Vol. III. | 1. Small shafts of St. Mark’s Pulpit. 2. From the transitional house in the Calle di Rimedio (conf. Vol. II.). 3. General simplest form of the middle Gothic capital. 4. Nave of San Giacomo de Lorio. 5. Casa Falier. 6. Early Gothic house in Campo Sta. Ma. Mater Domini. 7. House at the Apostoli. 8. Piazzetta shafts. 9. Ducal Palace, upper arcade. 10. Palace of Marco Querini. 11. Fondaco de’ Turchi. 12. Gothic palaces in Campo San Polo. 13. Windows of fourth order, [Plate XVI.] Vol. II. 14. Nave of Church of San Stefano. 15. Late Gothic Palace at the Miracoli. |
The two lateral columns form a consecutive series: the central column is a group of exceptional character, running parallel with both. We will take the lateral ones first. 1. Capital of pulpit of St. Mark’s (representative of the simplest concave forms of the Byzantine period). Look back to [Plate VIII.] Vol. II., and observe that while all the forms in that plate are contemporaneous, we are now going to follow a series consecutive in time, which begins from fig. 1, either in that plate or in this; that is to say, with the simplest possible condition to be found at the time; and which proceeds to develope itself into gradually increasing richness, while the already rich capitals of the old school die at its side. In the forms 14 and 15 ([Plate VIII.]) the Byzantine school expired; but from the Byzantine simple capital (1, [Plate II.] above) which was coexistent with them, sprang another hardy race of capitals, whose succession we have now to trace.
The form 1, [Plate II.] is evidently the simplest conceivable condition of the truncated capital, long ago represented generally in Vol. I., being only rounded a little on its side to fit it to the shaft. The next step was to place a leaf beneath each of the truncations (fig. 4, [Plate II.], San Giacomo de Lorio), the end of the leaf curling over at the top in a somewhat formal spiral, partly connected with the traditional volute of the Corinthian capital. The sides are then enriched by the addition of some ornament, as a shield (fig. 7) or rose (fig. 10), and we have the formed capital of the early Gothic. Fig. 10, being from the palace of Marco Querini, is certainly not later than the middle of the thirteenth century (see Vol. II.), and fig. 7, is, I believe, of the same date; it is one of the bearing capitals of the lower story of the palace at the Apostoli, and is remarkably fine in the treatment of its angle leaves, which are not deeply under-cut, but show their magnificent sweeping under surface all the way down, not as a leaf surface, but treated like the gorget of a helmet, with a curved line across it like that where the gorget meets the mail. I never saw anything finer in simple design. Fig. 10 is given chiefly as a certification of date, and to show the treatment of the capitals of this school on a small scale. Observe the more expansive head in proportion to the diameter of the shaft, the leaves being drawn from the angles, as if gathered in the hand, till their edges meet; and compare the rule given in Vol. I. [Chap. IX.] § XIV. The capitals of the remarkable house, of which a portion is represented in Fig. XXXI. Vol. II., are most curious and pure examples of this condition; with experimental trefoils, roses, and leaves introduced between their volutes. When compared with those of the Querini Palace, they form one of the most important evidences of the date of the building.