DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.42129#0137
60
THE CERTOSA, NEAR PAVIA.
PLATE VIII.
DECORATIONS ON THE VAULTS OF THREE OF THE SIDE CHAPELS.
Although all the fourteen side chapels have painted ceilings, only
three of them are entitled, either from their originality or their beauty, to
be pointed out as models. The ceiling marked A, nearly resembles the
vestibule in its decorations, and it is probably by the same artists. Here,
as well as on the ceiling marked C, which is by far the finest of the three,
we find the ecclesiastical branch of decoration displaying its superior
gravity and importance. Those spaces which in the Villa Lante (Plates
19 and 20) are so well employed for poetical subjects, are here dedicated
to the representations of sacred personages.
On the ceiling A, are the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and
Joseph ; on the ceiling C, sitting figures of Carthusians. B, has a kind of
pattern very much in use in the beginning of the sixteenth century,
and well adapted for confined situations : we have some more instances
of it in Plates 30 and XI.
All the borders of these ceilings are peculiarly well suited to the com-
partments to which they belong : they are rich in their details where the
design of the ceiling itself is massy ; they are of a flowing and subdued
character where glaring or isolated ornaments fill the central spaces.
All the ribs are richly painted, the archivolts belonging to each inter-
columniation are of great beauty and variety, and are engraved in
Plate X.
1 The detached patterns given in this Plate are repeated in Plate X.
THE CERTOSA, NEAR PAVIA.
PLATE VIII.
DECORATIONS ON THE VAULTS OF THREE OF THE SIDE CHAPELS.
Although all the fourteen side chapels have painted ceilings, only
three of them are entitled, either from their originality or their beauty, to
be pointed out as models. The ceiling marked A, nearly resembles the
vestibule in its decorations, and it is probably by the same artists. Here,
as well as on the ceiling marked C, which is by far the finest of the three,
we find the ecclesiastical branch of decoration displaying its superior
gravity and importance. Those spaces which in the Villa Lante (Plates
19 and 20) are so well employed for poetical subjects, are here dedicated
to the representations of sacred personages.
On the ceiling A, are the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and
Joseph ; on the ceiling C, sitting figures of Carthusians. B, has a kind of
pattern very much in use in the beginning of the sixteenth century,
and well adapted for confined situations : we have some more instances
of it in Plates 30 and XI.
All the borders of these ceilings are peculiarly well suited to the com-
partments to which they belong : they are rich in their details where the
design of the ceiling itself is massy ; they are of a flowing and subdued
character where glaring or isolated ornaments fill the central spaces.
All the ribs are richly painted, the archivolts belonging to each inter-
columniation are of great beauty and variety, and are engraved in
Plate X.
1 The detached patterns given in this Plate are repeated in Plate X.