DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.42129#0123
THE CERTOSA, NEAR PAVIA.
53
In the present Plate a point of view has been taken, showing at the
same time the façade and one side of the church with its dome, which
latter part, belonging to the 14th century, combines the stateliness of the
Latin Basilica with the elegance and lightness of the Byzantine architec-
ture, not without a slight admixture of oriental elements. These parts
are also built of a material different from that of the interior and the
façade ; for, while the latter are marble, the buttresses, the wide niches on
the exterior of the transept, and the dome, are of fine brick-work, the neat
execution of which is so peculiar to the Lombard masonry of that epoch.
The front rises from an extensive platform of three steps ; four
pilasters and two square turrets, corresponding with the general internal
arrangement, divide it into five spaces of nearly equal breadth ; upon
these spaces that profusion of sculpture is displayed which forms one of
the principal features and attractions of this edifice. The central portion
is occupied by a richly decorated portico, formed of an arched roof resting
upon four isolated Corinthian columns ; above this is a kind of triforium
of the Tuscan order, extending over the whole front, and serving as a
base to a sort of shrine, on the friese of which is the dedication to the
Madonna “ Mariæ Yirgini Matri filiæ Sponsæ Dei.” A second triforium,
again extending over the whole front, terminates this centre, which, after
all, it appears, was never finished. Thus the otherwise inevitably striking
defect of accumulation of objects is much lessened by openings judiciously
introduced ; and where the play of light and shade, which is the result,
was unattainable, the artist has produced the same effect by stained
marbles.
Each of the pilasters and turrets is adorned with six statues; the
masterpieces, however, of sculpture on this façade are to be found on and
about the portico and the four windows near it : here the exquisite
candelabra serving to support the arches within them are introduced ;
here the still more exquisite bas-reliefs on the walls of the portico,
representing in the centre scenes from the foundation of the order, with
the funeral procession of Jean Galeazzo, and on both sides smaller com-
53
In the present Plate a point of view has been taken, showing at the
same time the façade and one side of the church with its dome, which
latter part, belonging to the 14th century, combines the stateliness of the
Latin Basilica with the elegance and lightness of the Byzantine architec-
ture, not without a slight admixture of oriental elements. These parts
are also built of a material different from that of the interior and the
façade ; for, while the latter are marble, the buttresses, the wide niches on
the exterior of the transept, and the dome, are of fine brick-work, the neat
execution of which is so peculiar to the Lombard masonry of that epoch.
The front rises from an extensive platform of three steps ; four
pilasters and two square turrets, corresponding with the general internal
arrangement, divide it into five spaces of nearly equal breadth ; upon
these spaces that profusion of sculpture is displayed which forms one of
the principal features and attractions of this edifice. The central portion
is occupied by a richly decorated portico, formed of an arched roof resting
upon four isolated Corinthian columns ; above this is a kind of triforium
of the Tuscan order, extending over the whole front, and serving as a
base to a sort of shrine, on the friese of which is the dedication to the
Madonna “ Mariæ Yirgini Matri filiæ Sponsæ Dei.” A second triforium,
again extending over the whole front, terminates this centre, which, after
all, it appears, was never finished. Thus the otherwise inevitably striking
defect of accumulation of objects is much lessened by openings judiciously
introduced ; and where the play of light and shade, which is the result,
was unattainable, the artist has produced the same effect by stained
marbles.
Each of the pilasters and turrets is adorned with six statues; the
masterpieces, however, of sculpture on this façade are to be found on and
about the portico and the four windows near it : here the exquisite
candelabra serving to support the arches within them are introduced ;
here the still more exquisite bas-reliefs on the walls of the portico,
representing in the centre scenes from the foundation of the order, with
the funeral procession of Jean Galeazzo, and on both sides smaller com-