Gruner, Ludwig; Hittorff, Jacques Ignace [Hrsg.]: Fresco decorations and stuccoes of churches & palaces, in Italy, during the fifteenth & sixteenth centuries with descriptions (London, 1844)

4

THE VATICAN.

Of the walls, which have also suffered very much, we shall have
occasion to speak in describing the next Plate. The pavement is com-
posed of thick bricks, and placed edgewise, in a simple but tasteful
pattern ; this is what the Romans called, “ opus spicatum.”

PLATE 2.
SECTION OF PART OF THE FIRST LOGGIA, AND SOME OF THE PRINCIPAL
DECORATIONS IN THE CUPOLAS.
GIOVANNI DA UDINE.
This Plate completes the illustration of Giovanni da Udine’s Loggia ;
it gives what could not be included in the perspective view, viz., the walls
on the inner side of the Loggia, adorned with doors and windows, corre-
sponding with the openings and balustrades towards the Court. It
affords an idea of the delicacy and skill with which Giovanni followed
the architectural arrangement which he had before him; and, by
exhibiting the small cupolas, gives examples of his fancy.
Each of the elegant arabesques round the windows, and above these
and the doors, has but one architectural principle, and yet not two
are alike in detail.
Above the magnificently chiselled door is the name, in gold, of the
Patron to whom we owe the production of this splendid work. The three
domes, represented below, are included in the foregoing Plate, towards
the end of the perspective view.1 2 The separate sections, marked by
letters, are as follows:—
A ... . Section of the cornice in the archi-vaults in stucco.
B, C, and D Sections of the cornice in the vaults themselves.
E . . . . Profile of the marble architrave.
1 It is to be observed, that there are alternatively two cupolas with trellis-work of fruits and flowers,
and one with a geometrical design.
2 For those colours, not explained in the coloured Key, see additional Plate 1, n°. 2.