,,the ,,brochure ,,series ,the ,ducal ,palace3 ,venice ,types of ,italian ,garden ,fountains ,,september1 #aijj ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,lxvii ,,court ,,of ,,the ,,ducal ,,palace ,,the ,,brochure ,,series ,,of ,,architectural ,,illustration4 #aijj4 ,,september ,no4 #i4 ,,the ,,ducal ,,palace3 ,,venice ,considered as the principal representation of the ,venetian school of architecture1 the ,ducal ,palace is the ,parthenon of ,venice1 wrote ,ruskin4 ,to know its history would be to know the entire history of the ,republic1 for it was not alone the residence of her doges1 but at different epochs her senate-house1 her court of justice1 a prison1 and even a place of execution4 ,combining thus in one structure1 as it does1 the greatest architectural and the greatest historical importance1 there is1 perhaps1 no more interesting monument now existing in the world4 ,in his suggestive work upon ,italy1 ,taine has vividly described the effect of a first sight of the ,ducal ,palace4 ,like a magnificent jewel in a brilliant setting1 it effaces its surroundings1 he writes4 ,never has like architecture been seen4 ,all here is novel4 ,you feel yourself drawn out of the conventional2 you realize that there is an entire world outside the ,classic or ,gothic forms which we impose on ourselves and endlessly repeat2 that human invention is illimitable1 and that1 like nature1 it may break all the rules1 and produce a perfect work after a model opposed in every particular to that to which we are instructed to conform4 ,every habit of the eye is reversed2 and1 with surprise and delight1 we here see oriental fancy grafting the full on the empty instead of the empty on the full4 ,a colonnade of robust shafts bears a second and lighter one decorated with ogives and trefoils1 while upon this frail support expands a massive wall of red and white marble1 whose courses interlace in designs and reflect the light4 ,above1 a cornice of open pyramids1 pinnacles1 spiracles and festoons intersects the sky with its border1--a marble vegetation bristling and blooming above the vermilion and pearly tones of the faade4 ,you enter the courtyard1 and immediately your eyes are filled with a new richness4 ,nothing is bare or cold4 ,erudite and critical pedantry has not here intervened1 under the pretext of purity and correctness1 to restrain lively imagination and the craving for visual enjoyment4 ,the builders of ,venice were not austere2 they did not restrict themselves to the prescriptions of books2 they did not make up their minds to yawn admiringly at a faade which had been sanctioned by ,vitruvious2 they wanted an architectural work to delight their whole sentient being4 ,they decked it with ornaments1 columns and statues1 they rendered it luxurious and joyous4 ,they placed colossal pagans like ,mars and ,neptune on it1 and flanked them with biblical figures like ,adam and ,eve2 the sculptors of the fifteenth century enlivened it with their lank realistic effigies1 and those of the sixteenth with their animated and muscular statues4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,lxviii ,,scala ,,dei ,,giganti3 ,,ducal ,,palace ,you mount the princely steps with a sort of timidity and respect1 ashamed of the dull black coat you wear1 and reminded by contrast of the embroidered silk robes1 the pompous sweeping dalmatics1 the ,byzantine tiaras and brodekins1--all that seigniorial magnificence for which these marble stairways were designed4 ,all the genius of the city at its brightest period assembled here to glorify imperial ,venice in the erection of a memorial of her victories and an apotheosis of her grandeur4 ,illustration3 ,,ducal ,,palace#a ,,piazzetta ,,and ,,sea ,,fa,,ades ,the history of the construction of the ,palace is obscure and confusing1--a bald array of senatorial decrees and dates4 ,the original ,doges' ,palace1 probably a small fortified castle1 was built early in the ninth century1 and in the troublous period of early ,venetian history was frequently burned and rebuilt4 ,at the end of the twelfth century ,sebastiano ,ziani restored and enlarged it4 ,the present palace was begun in #acjj by the building of the west faade1 and was a slow growth extending over nearly three centuries1 the older building of ,ziani being gradually pulled down as room was required for the new work4 ,about #acji the arcaded sea-front was begun2 and the design then adopted was accurately followed along the whole external faade4 ,towards the end of the fourteenth century the faade had been carried along the ,piazzetta side as far as the tenth capital4 ,at this point the work seems to have remained stationary for some years1 and a considerable portion of ,ziani's palace was still in existence4 ,in #adbb a decree was passed that the new palace should be extended over the site of ,ziani's building2 and in a few years the remainder of the external faade was completed up to its juncture with the ,church of ,st4 ,mark4 ,the ,porta della ,carta1 which unites the ,palace with the ,church1 was added in #adci4 ,the internal block in the great court1 joining the ,porta della ,carta to the east faade was built about #adfb4 ,in #adgi a fire consumed part of the fourteenth century buildings along the east front1 and this part was then rebuilt1 mostly between #adhj and #aeej4 ,these1 in brief1 are the facts 7for which we are indebted to the account of ,prof4 ,j4 ,h4 ,middleton7 upon which historians have in general come to agree1 though there is still difference of opinion as to the exact portions of the structure to which the various decrees refer4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,lxix ,,scala ,d',,oro3 ,,ducal ,,palace ,an interesting theory concerning the design of the palace1 and incidentally a critical estimate of its architecture1 has been given us by ,mr4 ,george ,edmund ,street in his scholarly treatise upon ,brick and ,marble in the ,middle ,ages4 ,the whole design he writes1 is divided into three stages in height4 ,the upper is nearly equal to the united height of the two lower stages1 and is faced entirely with a delicate diaper of marble cut into small oblong pieces1 which look save in their texture and color1 only too much like bricks4 ,in this marble-faced wall are pierced a number of windows with pointed arches--the tracery of which has been taken out--and in or near the centre of each faade is a much larger window and a balcony1 which look as though they had been subsequently inserted4 ,the lowest stage consists of a long and uniform arcade of very simple pointed arches resting upon circular columns with elaborately carved capitals2 these columns have been shortened by some twenty inches of their old height by the rise of the water and the consequent elevation of the pavement1 to the great damage of their effect4 ,the intermediate stage is a magnificent arcade supporting very vigorous tracery and divided from the stages above and below it by large and pronounced lines of carved and moulded string-courses4 ,illustration3 ,,ducal ,,palace ,,detail ,,of ,,ceiling1 ,,ante ,,chamber ,,of ,,the ,,chapel ,it is important to observe that up to the top of the second string-course the whole of the architecture is of the very best kind of ,venetian pointed1 and is1 ,i believe1 the very best and truest specimen of ,gothic architecture south of the ,alps4 ,above this noble work comes the third stage2 and ,i confess1 to my eye1 with patent marks in every stone of which it is composed that it was designed by some other hand than that which had been so successful below4 ,there is something quite chilling in the great waste of plain1 unbroken wall1 coming above the extreme richness of the arcades which support it2 and moreover this placing of the richer work below and the plainer above is so contrary1 not only to all ordinary canons of architecture1 but just as much to the ordinary practice of the ,venetians1 that ,i feel sure that the impression which ,i have had from my first acquaintance with drawings of it is substantially correct2 viz41 that the line at which alterations and additions have been made is to be looked for rather in a horizontal than in a vertical direction2 that in all probability1 consequently1 the builders of #acji commenced with some portion of the sea-faade1 and gradually carried on the greater part of the building to the height of the two stages1 as we now see them1 leaving the building finished in precisely the same way as the corresponding halls at ,padua and ,vicenza--two stories in height1 with arcades covering the outer walls of the upper as well as of the lower stage2 and that when the council chamber was found to be too small and larger rooms were required1 another architect suggested the advantage of obtaining them by raising an immense story above the others and without destroying much of his predecessor's work providing rooms on the most magnificent scale for the ,doge and his council4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,lxx ,,sala ,,del ,,maggior ,,consiglio3 ,,ducal ,,palace ,no one can examine the building without seeing that there is1 not only in the detail but equally in the general design1 a marked difference between the two lower stages and the upper stage4 ,in place of the extreme boldness which marks every part of the former1 we see mouldings reduced in the latter to the smallest and meanest section possible2 the windows of the upper stage are badly designed1 whilst the traceries of the second stage are as fine as they can possibly be2 the parapet too is not equal in its design to any of the lower work1 and crowns with an insignificant grotesqueness the noble symmetry of the two lower arcades2 and finally the chequer-work of marble1 which forms the whole of the upper wall1 is a mode of construction which ,i have not seen in any early work1 though it is seen in the ,porta della ,carta1 and in other late work4 ,such1 then1 is the ,ducal ,palace1--a building certainly in some respects of almost unequalled beauty1 but at the same time of unequal merit2 its first and second stages quite perfect in their bold and nervous character1 and1 in the almost interminable succession of the same beautiful features in shaft and arch and tracery1 forming one of the grandest proofs in the world of the exceeding value of perfect regularity1 and of a repetition of good features in architecture1 when it is possible to obtain it on a very large scale4 ,the whole ,palace forms three sides of an unsymmetrical hollow square1 the back1 or north side1 abutting upon ,st4 ,mark's ,church4 ,the great internal ,court 7,plate ,,lxvii47 was begun at the end of the fifteenth century1 but then only partially completed4 ,it is surrounded on the south1 east and west sides by ,gothic arcades of very similar style to those on the exterior4 ,even in the sixteenth century portion the same main outline was followed1 though the detail is different4 ,the entrance to the ,courtyard1 at the northwest angle adjoining ,st4 ,mark's1 is through the ,porta della ,carta 7so called because official notices were affixed to it71 which was the last ,gothic work added to the ,palace4 ,across the court and opposite this entrance is a very beautiful staircase in the early-,renaissance style1 built in the middle of the fifteenth century by ,antonio ,ricci4 ,it is called the ,giant's ,staircase 7,plate ,,lxviii47 from its two colossal and rather clumsy statues of ,neptune and ,mars4 ,between these statues the doges stood to be inaugurated4 ,reached by this staircase is a second1 the so-called ,golden ,staircase 7,plate ,,lxix471 which derives its name either from the fact that it was formerly accessible only to those whose names were entered in the ,golden ,book--a list of the ,venetian nobility1--or from the richness of its decoration1 and this leads to the great apartments in the interior4 ,it was designed by ,jacapo ,sansovino1 and completed in #aegg4 ,illustration3 ,,ducal ,,palace ,,fireplace ,,in ,,doge',s ,,bed-,,chamber ,owing to a great fire which gutted a great part of the ,palace in #aegd1 the internal appearance of the council chambers and the state apartments of the doges was completely changed1 and a splendid series of early ,paduan and ,venetian paintings which adorned the walls of the chief rooms was destroyed4 ,the interiors were then redecorated with their present magnificence1 some idea of which may be gained from a mere enumeration of those who shared in the work4 ,as architects there were ,palladio1 ,sansovino1 ,scammozzi1 ,lombardi and ,antonio da ,ponte2 as sculptors and decorators ,vittoria1 ,aspetti1 ,segala1 ,campagna1 ,bombarda and di ,silo2 as painters ,titian1 ,paul ,veronese1 ,tintoret1 ,vivarini1 ,palma1 ,tiepolo1 and many others2 so that each room became1 as ,ruskin has said1 a colossal casket of priceless treasure4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,lxxi ,,sala ,,dello ,,scrutino3 ,,ducal ,,palace ,it will1 however1 be unnecessary to describe in detail each apartment illustrated by our engravings1 even did space permit4 ,intended as spacious audience chambers to afford dignified and magnificent surroundings for the stately scenes which were to be enacted within them1 they are all enriched in the same general style1 with panelling1 carving1 and gilded mouldings of the later ,renaissance2 the architectonic decorations being chiefly designed as a setting for the multitude of noble pictures4 ,the largest and most important of these apartments is the ,hall of the ,great ,council 7,plate ,,lxx471 in which the entire body of the ,venetian nobility met to consider questions of state4 ,this immense room is fifty-five yards long1 twenty-eight yards wide1 and forty-seven feet high4 ,the greatest of the ,venetian masters were employed upon the ceiling2 the entire east wall is occupied by ,tintoretto's ,paradise--said to be the largest oil painting in the world--and the walls are adorned with portraits of the doges and scenes from the history of the republic4 ,in the ,sala dello ,scrutino or ,voting ,hall 7,plate ,,lxxi471 the forty-one nobles were elected by whom the doges were afterwards chosen4 ,opposite the entrance is a representation of the triumphal arch erected by the senate in #afid to commemorate the conquest of ,morea4 ,the ,sala del ,senato 7,plate ,,lxxii471 was the hall in which the full senate assembled in formal session4 ,it is also called the ,sala dei ,pregadi because originally notice was sent to each senator to pregare or summon him to attend the meetings4 ,beyond this room1 to the right of the throne1 is an ante-chamber to the private chapel of the doges4 ,a portion of the ceiling of this ante-chamber1 executed in the seventeenth century1 is shown on page #aci4 ,the ,anticollegio 7,plate ,,lxxiii471 or waiting room for the ambassadors1 was designed by ,scammozzi1 and contains ,paul ,veronese's celebrated painting1 ,the ,rape of ,europa4 ,the ,anticollegio leads to the ,sala del ,collegio 7,plate ,,lxxiv471 in which audiences were granted to foreign emissaries4 ,on the raised platform stood the ,doge's throne1 and in the stall-like seats around it sat the state councillors4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,lxxii ,,sala ,,del ,,senato3 ,,ducal ,,palace #a ,other views of the exterior of the ,ducal ,palace will be found in ,no4 #a1 #ahie and ,no4 #ab1 #ahih of this ,series4 ,a ,change in ,the ,brochure ,series ,beginning with the ,january issue for #aija1 the first issue of its ,seventh ,volume1 two changes will be made in ,,the ,,brochure ,,series4 ,i4 ,the magazine will be enlarged4 ,half as many full-page engravings and half as many illustrated text-pages as are included in the present issues will be added to each number4 ,,ii4 ,the price will be increased to #a4jj a year and to ten cents a copy4 ,in general conduct1 purpose1 and in the character of material presented the magazine will be unchanged4 ,the ,publishers are led to take this step because they believe that the magazine has a value and a field which are all its own1 and that its value in that field will be increased by its enlargement4 ,the value of the magazine in its present form is proved by the fact that its subscription list has shown a constant increase from the first number to the present time1 and was never so large as it is now2 and it is hoped and confidently believed that every present subscriber to ,,the ,,brochure will approve of the change1 for the enlarged form will afford an opportunity to present more material1 to present it more attractively1 and to cover a wider field of interest4 ,brochure ,series ,competition ,p4 ,in answer to inquiries regarding ,competition ,p1 the details of which are announced on an advertising page of this issue1 the editor begs to state that photographic prints of any size may be submitted4 ,small photographs1 provided they are clear and well defined1 can often be as successfully reproduced as large ones4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,lxxiii ,,sala ,,dell' ,,anticollegio3 ,,ducal ,,palace ,types of ,italian ,garden ,fountains ,illustration3 ,,fountain ,,villa ,,medici1 ,,rome4 ,illustration3 ,,fountain ,,by ,,bernini ,,villa ,,borghese1 ,,rome ,illustration3 ,,fountain ,,villa ,,andobrandini1 ,,frascati ,illustration3 ,,fountain ,,gardens ,,of ,,the ,,vatican1 ,,rome ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,lxxiv ,,sala ,,del ,,collegio3 ,,ducal ,,palace ,transcriber's ,note3 ,italics are indicated by underscores4 ,small capitals have been rendered in full capitals4 ,footnote is at the end of chapter4 ,a number of minor spelling errors have been corrected without note4