DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.7186#0082
Plates 26 & 27.
FACADE OF THE CHURCH OF SS. FERMO E RUST/CO,
AT CARAVAGGIO.
HAVE failed to discover who was the builder of this church. The
style of its architecture is very elegant, and at the same time fully
developed; and as it bears no trace of either Byzantine or Gothic-
influence, I call it Lombard, and assign it to the fourteenth century. The
workmanship in marble of the well-designed entrance doorway, and the masterly
execution of the terra-cottas, show an advanced stage of decorative art; whilst
the carving of the statues, the arrangement more complicated than is observed in
older buildings, the variety of line and of proportion bear witness to experience
and mature taste. The perspective effect produced by sloping cornices and
pinnacles, one rising above the other, is thoroughly picturesque and pleasing, as
may be judged from our Plates. In my notes on the church of San Francesco,
at Pavia, I have already insisted on the all-importance in building of judicious
design, of just proportion, and, above all, of striking perspective. This church
of San Rustico seen from afar is admirable for its very tapering lines ; whilst
a nearer leisurely inspection brings to light the high finish of its workmanship.
The facade was evidently not commenced and completed by the same artist ;
much of the lower portion, the entrance-door excepted, appears to be by a
different hand, as certain bricks are still visible in the wall apparently prepared
for an arrangement of the windows which was never carried out.
A peculiar feature of frequent occurrence in the architecture of those times
is a huge facade, towering in parts above the roofs of the aisles connected with
it, and presenting, as it were, a vast screening frontage. The idea, doubtless,
FACADE OF THE CHURCH OF SS. FERMO E RUST/CO,
AT CARAVAGGIO.
HAVE failed to discover who was the builder of this church. The
style of its architecture is very elegant, and at the same time fully
developed; and as it bears no trace of either Byzantine or Gothic-
influence, I call it Lombard, and assign it to the fourteenth century. The
workmanship in marble of the well-designed entrance doorway, and the masterly
execution of the terra-cottas, show an advanced stage of decorative art; whilst
the carving of the statues, the arrangement more complicated than is observed in
older buildings, the variety of line and of proportion bear witness to experience
and mature taste. The perspective effect produced by sloping cornices and
pinnacles, one rising above the other, is thoroughly picturesque and pleasing, as
may be judged from our Plates. In my notes on the church of San Francesco,
at Pavia, I have already insisted on the all-importance in building of judicious
design, of just proportion, and, above all, of striking perspective. This church
of San Rustico seen from afar is admirable for its very tapering lines ; whilst
a nearer leisurely inspection brings to light the high finish of its workmanship.
The facade was evidently not commenced and completed by the same artist ;
much of the lower portion, the entrance-door excepted, appears to be by a
different hand, as certain bricks are still visible in the wall apparently prepared
for an arrangement of the windows which was never carried out.
A peculiar feature of frequent occurrence in the architecture of those times
is a huge facade, towering in parts above the roofs of the aisles connected with
it, and presenting, as it were, a vast screening frontage. The idea, doubtless,