DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.3847#0014
intermediate spaces being filled up with modern wall, and various windows opened in different places, which I
have not drawn, in order that the reader may at once apprehend the relations of the ancient portions. The
whole are drawn carefully to scale, and there are some remarkable points about the dimensions, noticed in
the explanation of Plate 10.
PLATE 9.
BYZANTINE RUIN, in mo di ca> foscari.
In the last Plate the ancient portions of this ruin were given in their relative positions, but without the modern
features connecting them. That the reader may have some idea of these, I have drawn the central arch on a
larger scale in this Plate, exactly as it appeared in 1849. It was a beautifully picturesque fragment—the archivolt
sculptures being executed in marble—which seemed, in some parts, rather to have gained than lost in whiteness by
its age, and set off by the dark and delicate leaves of the Erba della Madonna, the only pure piece of modern
addition to the old design, all else being foul plaster and withering wood. There is a curious instance, however, in
this drawing, of the difficulty of being absolutely faithful, however earnestly we may desire it. There was no way
of drawing this arch but out of a gondola immediately underneath, in a position from which it was quite impossible
to see the upper portion of the archivolt distinctly. I made the sketch before I fully appreciated the importance
of the building, chiefly for the sake of its picturesqueness; and coming to the piece of archivolt which I could
not clearly discern, drew it carelessly, with what appeared to me to be an upright leaf in its centre. Afterwards,
discovering the great importance of these remains, I went up to examine every piece of them, and found the
supposed upright leaf to be the Byzantine symbol — a hand, between the Sun and Moon, in the attitude of
benediction. This sign is almost always used in the centres of Byzantine arches and crosses : it is properly
inserted in the previous Plate, and will be found also in the upper subject of Plate 11.
PLATE 10.
PALACE IN RIO DI CA' FOSCARI. conjectural restoration.
By referring to Plate 8. the reader may partly see what authority I have for this restoration, though the full
evidence can only be given in the second volume of text, with the sections and minor details of the mouldings.
It will at once, however, be seen in Plate 8. that the bases of the shafts are left all along the foundation, and that
two of their capitals are left above (compare Plate 9.), and a fragment of the inner moulding of the archivolts
remains also in the arch seen on the left in Plate 9. This is enough to establish the original condition of at least
one wing of the building ; and from the arrangements of other and more perfect palaces of the same period, it may
be assumed almost with certainty that the great archivolt was originally in its centre, and that the entire water-
story was composed of nine arches, arranged as in Plate 10. The shafts were in all probability of white marble,
the archivolts richly gilded, perhaps in the hollows of the carving touched with blue : the bands of red marble
intended to relieve the whole, yet remain, and are seen in Plate 8. The whole is evidently of the 12th century :
and in the arrangement of the arches there is one of those subtle and half-concealed varieties in proportion which I
showed, both in the " Seven Lamps" and elsewhere, to be highly characteristic of these early edifices. At the first
glance, the building might be supposed to consist of one large and eight smaller arches : but it will be noticed on
closer examination that the two midmost of the minor arches on each side are wider than the others. From base
to base of their shafts they measure 3 feet 10 inches, the lateral and intermediate arches only 3 feet 8 inches.
The height of the stilted archivolts is also not a little remarkable, even the broad central one being much
higher than a semicircle. It is 9 feet 9 inches wide and 6 feet 8g inches high under the soffit.
UNIVERSITAT8-
BIBLIOTHEK
HEIDELBERG
have not drawn, in order that the reader may at once apprehend the relations of the ancient portions. The
whole are drawn carefully to scale, and there are some remarkable points about the dimensions, noticed in
the explanation of Plate 10.
PLATE 9.
BYZANTINE RUIN, in mo di ca> foscari.
In the last Plate the ancient portions of this ruin were given in their relative positions, but without the modern
features connecting them. That the reader may have some idea of these, I have drawn the central arch on a
larger scale in this Plate, exactly as it appeared in 1849. It was a beautifully picturesque fragment—the archivolt
sculptures being executed in marble—which seemed, in some parts, rather to have gained than lost in whiteness by
its age, and set off by the dark and delicate leaves of the Erba della Madonna, the only pure piece of modern
addition to the old design, all else being foul plaster and withering wood. There is a curious instance, however, in
this drawing, of the difficulty of being absolutely faithful, however earnestly we may desire it. There was no way
of drawing this arch but out of a gondola immediately underneath, in a position from which it was quite impossible
to see the upper portion of the archivolt distinctly. I made the sketch before I fully appreciated the importance
of the building, chiefly for the sake of its picturesqueness; and coming to the piece of archivolt which I could
not clearly discern, drew it carelessly, with what appeared to me to be an upright leaf in its centre. Afterwards,
discovering the great importance of these remains, I went up to examine every piece of them, and found the
supposed upright leaf to be the Byzantine symbol — a hand, between the Sun and Moon, in the attitude of
benediction. This sign is almost always used in the centres of Byzantine arches and crosses : it is properly
inserted in the previous Plate, and will be found also in the upper subject of Plate 11.
PLATE 10.
PALACE IN RIO DI CA' FOSCARI. conjectural restoration.
By referring to Plate 8. the reader may partly see what authority I have for this restoration, though the full
evidence can only be given in the second volume of text, with the sections and minor details of the mouldings.
It will at once, however, be seen in Plate 8. that the bases of the shafts are left all along the foundation, and that
two of their capitals are left above (compare Plate 9.), and a fragment of the inner moulding of the archivolts
remains also in the arch seen on the left in Plate 9. This is enough to establish the original condition of at least
one wing of the building ; and from the arrangements of other and more perfect palaces of the same period, it may
be assumed almost with certainty that the great archivolt was originally in its centre, and that the entire water-
story was composed of nine arches, arranged as in Plate 10. The shafts were in all probability of white marble,
the archivolts richly gilded, perhaps in the hollows of the carving touched with blue : the bands of red marble
intended to relieve the whole, yet remain, and are seen in Plate 8. The whole is evidently of the 12th century :
and in the arrangement of the arches there is one of those subtle and half-concealed varieties in proportion which I
showed, both in the " Seven Lamps" and elsewhere, to be highly characteristic of these early edifices. At the first
glance, the building might be supposed to consist of one large and eight smaller arches : but it will be noticed on
closer examination that the two midmost of the minor arches on each side are wider than the others. From base
to base of their shafts they measure 3 feet 10 inches, the lateral and intermediate arches only 3 feet 8 inches.
The height of the stilted archivolts is also not a little remarkable, even the broad central one being much
higher than a semicircle. It is 9 feet 9 inches wide and 6 feet 8g inches high under the soffit.
UNIVERSITAT8-
BIBLIOTHEK
HEIDELBERG