,,mornings ,,in ,,florence ,by ,john ,ruskin1 ,m4,a4 ,,mornings ,,in ,,florence4 ,,the ,,first ,,morning4 ,,santa ,,croce4 ,if there is one artist1 more than another1 whose work it is desirable that you should examine in ,florence1 supposing that you care for old art at all1 it is ,giotto4 ,you can1 indeed1 also see work of his at ,assisi2 but it is not likely you will stop there1 to any purpose4 ,at ,padua there is much2 but only of one period4 ,at ,florence1 which is his birthplace1 you can see pictures by him of every date1 and every kind4 ,but you had surely better see1 first1 what is of his best time and of the best kind4 ,he painted very small pictures and very large--painted from the age of twelve to sixty--painted some subjects carelessly which he had little interest in--some carefully with all his heart4 ,you would surely like1 and it would certainly be wise1 to see him first in his strong and earnest work1--to see a painting by him1 if possible1 of large size1 and wrought with his full strength1 and of a subject pleasing to him4 ,and if it were1 also1 a subject interesting to yourself1--better still4 ,now1 if indeed you are interested in old art1 you cannot but know the power of the thirteenth century4 ,you know that the character of it was concentrated in1 and to the full expressed by1 its best king1 ,st4 ,louis4 ,you know ,st4 ,louis was a ,franciscan1 and that the ,franciscans1 for whom ,giotto was continually painting under ,dante's advice1 were prouder of him than of any other of their royal brethren or sisters4 ,if ,giotto ever would imagine anybody with care and delight1 it would be ,st4 ,louis1 if it chanced that anywhere he had ,st4 ,louis to paint4 ,also1 you know that he was appointed to build the ,campanile of the ,duomo1 because he was then the best master of sculpture1 painting1 and architecture in ,florence1 and supposed to be without superior in the world4 ,footnote3 ,cum in universe orbe non reperiri dicatur quenquam qui sufficientior sit in his et aliis multis artibus magistro ,giotto ,bondonis de ,florentia1 pictore1 et accipiendus sit in patri1 velut magnus magister4--7,decree of his appointment1 quoted by ,lord ,lindsay1 vol4 ii41 p4 #bdg47 ,and that this commission was given him late in life1 7of course he could not have designed the ,campanile when he was a boy27 so therefore1 if you find any of his figures painted under pure campanile architecture1 and the architecture by his hand1 you know1 without other evidence1 that the painting must be of his strongest time4 ,so if one wanted to find anything of his to begin with1 especially1 and could choose what it should be1 one would say1 ,a fresco1 life size1 with campanile architecture behind it1 painted in an important place2 and if one might choose one's subject1 perhaps the most interesting saint of all saints--for him to do for us--would be ,st4 ,louis4 ,wait then for an entirely bright morning2 rise with the sun1 and go to ,santa ,croce1 with a good opera-glass in your pocket1 with which you shall for once1 at any rate1 see an opus2 and1 if you have time1 several opera4 ,walk straight to the chapel on the right of the choir 7k in your ,murray's guide74 ,when you first get into it1 you will see nothing but a modern window of glaring glass1 with a red-hot cardinal in one pane--which piece of modern manufacture takes away at least seven-eighths of the light 7little enough before7 by which you might have seen what is worth sight4 ,wait patiently till you get used to the gloom4 ,then1 guarding your eyes from the accursed modern window as best you may1 take your opera-glass and look to the right1 at the uppermost of the two figures beside it4 ,it is ,st4 ,louis1 under campanile architecture1 painted by--,giotto8 or the last ,florentine painter who wanted a job--over ,giotto8 ,that is the first question you have to determine2 as you will have henceforward1 in every case in which you look at a fresco4 ,sometimes there will be no question at all4 ,these two grey frescos at the bottom of the walls on the right and left1 for instance1 have been entirely got up for your better satisfaction1 in the last year or two--over ,giotto's half-effaced lines4 ,but that ,st4 ,louis8 ,re-painted or not1 it is a lovely thing1--there can be no question about that2 and we must look at it1 after some preliminary knowledge gained1 not inattentively4 ,your ,murray's ,guide tells you that this chapel of the ,bardi della ,libert1 in which you stand1 is covered with frescos by ,giotto2 that they were whitewashed1 and only laid bare in #ahec2 that they were painted between #abif and #acjd2 that they represent scenes in the life of ,st4 ,francis2 and that on each side of the window are paintings of ,st4 ,louis of ,toulouse1 ,st4 ,louis king of ,france1 ,st4 ,elizabeth1 of ,hungary1 and ,st4 ,claire1--all much restored and repainted4 ,under such recommendation1 the frescos are not likely to be much sought after2 and accordingly1 as ,i was at work in the chapel this morning1 ,sunday1 #fth ,september1 #ahgd1 two nice-looking ,englishmen1 under guard of their valet de place1 passed the chapel without so much as looking in4 ,you will perhaps stay a little longer in it with me1 good reader1 and find out gradually where you are4 ,namely1 in the most interesting and perfect little ,gothic chapel in all ,italy--so far as ,i know or can hear4 ,there is no other of the great time which has all its frescos in their place4 ,the ,arena1 though far larger1 is of earlier date--not pure ,gothic1 nor showing ,giotto's full force4 ,the lower chapel at ,assisi is not ,gothic at all1 and is still only of ,giotto's middle time4 ,you have here1 developed ,gothic1 with ,giotto in his consummate strength1 and nothing lost1 in form1 of the complete design4 ,by restoration--judicious restoration1 as ,mr4 ,murray usually calls it--there is no saying how much you have lost1 ,putting the question of restoration out of your mind1 however1 for a while1 think where you are1 and what you have got to look at4 ,you are in the chapel next the high altar of the great ,franciscan church of ,florence4 ,a few hundred yards west of you1 within ten minutes' walk1 is the ,baptistery of ,florence4 ,and five minutes' walk west of that is the great ,dominican church of ,florence1 ,santa ,maria ,novella4 ,get this little bit of geography1 and architectural fact1 well into your mind4 ,there is the little octagon ,baptistery in the middle2 here1 ten minutes' walk east of it1 the ,franciscan church of the ,holy ,cross2 there1 five minutes walk west of it1 the ,dominican church of ,st4 ,mary4 ,now1 that little octagon ,baptistery stood where it now stands 7and was finished1 though the roof has been altered since7 in the eighth century4 ,it is the central building of ,etrurian ,christianity1--of ,european ,christianity4 ,from the day it was finished1 ,christianity went on doing her best1 in ,etruria and elsewhere1 for four hundred years1--and her best seemed to have come to very little1--when there rose up two men who vowed to ,god it should come to more4 ,and they made it come to more1 forthwith2 of which the immediate sign in ,florence was that she resolved to have a fine new cross-shaped cathedral instead of her quaint old little octagon one2 and a tower beside it that should beat ,babel3--which two buildings you have also within sight4 ,but your business is not at present with them2 but with these two earlier churches of ,holy ,cross and ,st4 ,mary4 ,the two men who were the effectual builders of these were the two great religious ,powers and ,reformers of the thirteenth century2--,st4 ,francis1 who taught ,christian men how they should behave1 and ,st4 ,dominic1 who taught ,christian men what they should think4 ,in brief1 one the ,apostle of ,works2 the other of ,faith4 ,each sent his little company of disciples to teach and to preach in ,florence3 ,st4 ,francis in #abab2 ,st4 ,dominic in #abbj4 ,the little companies were settled--one1 ten minutes' walk east of the old ,baptistery2 the other five minutes' walk west of it4 ,and after they had stayed quietly in such lodgings as were given them1 preaching and teaching through most of the century2 and had got ,florence1 as it were1 heated through1 she burst out into ,christian poetry and architecture1 of which you have heard much talk3--burst into bloom of ,arnolfo1 ,giotto1 ,dante1 ,orcagna1 and the like persons1 whose works you profess to have come to ,florence that you may see and understand4 ,florence then1 thus heated through1 first helped her teachers to build finer churches4 ,the ,dominicans1 or ,white ,friars the ,teachers of ,faith1 began their church of ,st4 ,mary's in #abgi4 ,the ,franciscans1 or ,black ,friars1 the teachers of ,works1 laid the first stone of this church of the ,holy ,cross in #abid4 ,and the whole city laid the foundations of its new cathedral in #abih4 ,the ,dominicans designed their own building2 but for the ,franciscans and the town worked the first great master of ,gothic art1 ,arnolfo2 with ,giotto at his side1 and ,dante looking on1 and whispering sometimes a word to both4 ,and here you stand beside the high altar of the ,franciscans' church1 under a vault of ,arnolfo's building1 with at least some of ,giotto's colour on it still fresh2 and in front of you1 over the little altar1 is the only reportedly authentic portrait of ,st4 ,francis1 taken from life by ,giotto's master4 ,yet ,i can hardly blame my two ,english friends for never looking in4 ,except in the early morning light1 not one touch of all this art can be seen4 ,and in any light1 unless you understand the relations of ,giotto to ,st4 ,francis1 and of ,st4 ,francis to humanity1 it will be of little interest4 ,observe1 then1 the special character of ,giotto among the great painters of ,italy is his being a practical person4 ,whatever other men dreamed of1 he did4 ,he could work in mosaic2 he could work in marble2 he could paint2 and he could build2 and all thoroughly3 a man of supreme faculty1 supreme common sense4 ,accordingly1 he ranges himself at once among the disciples of the ,apostle of ,works1 and spends most of his time in the same apostleship4 ,now the gospel of ,works1 according to ,st4 ,francis1 lay in three things4 ,you must work without money1 and be poor4 ,you must work without pleasure1 and be chaste4 ,you must work according to orders1 and be obedient4 ,those are ,st4 ,francis's three articles of ,italian opera4 ,by which grew the many pretty things you have come to see here4 ,and now if you will take your opera-glass and look up to the roof above ,arnolfo's building1 you will see it is a pretty ,gothic cross vault1 in four quarters1 each with a circular medallion1 painted by ,giotto4 ,that over the altar has the picture of ,st4 ,francis himself4 ,the three others1 of his ,commanding ,angels4 ,in front of him1 over the entrance arch1 ,poverty4 ,on his right hand1 ,obedience4 ,on his left1 ,chastity4 ,poverty1 in a red patched dress1 with grey wings1 and a square nimbus of glory above her head1 is flying from a black hound1 whose head is seen at the corner of the medallion4 ,chastity1 veiled1 is imprisoned in a tower1 while angels watch her4 ,obedience bears a yoke on her shoulders1 and lays her hand on a book4 ,now1 this same quatrefoil1 of ,st4 ,francis and his three ,commanding ,angels1 was also painted1 but much more elaborately1 by ,giotto1 on the cross vault of the lower church of ,assisi1 and it is a question of interest which of the two roofs was painted first4 ,your ,murray's ,guide tells you the frescos in this chapel were painted between #abif and #acjd4 ,but as they represent1 among other personages1 ,st4 ,louis of ,toulouse1 who was not canonized till #acag1 that statement is not altogether tenable4 ,also1 as the first stone of the church was only laid in #abid1 when ,giotto was a youth of eighteen1 it is little likely that either it would have been ready to be painted1 or he ready with his scheme of practical divinity1 two years later4 ,farther1 ,arnolfo1 the builder of the main body of the church1 died in #acaj4 ,and as ,st4 ,louis of ,toulouse was not a saint till seven years afterwards1 and the frescos therefore beside the window not painted in ,arnolfo's day1 it becomes another question whether ,arnolfo left the chapels or the church at all1 in their present form4 ,on which point--now that ,i have shown you where ,giotto's ,st4 ,louis is--,i will ask you to think awhile1 until you are interested2 and then ,i will try to satisfy your curiosity4 ,there fore1 please leave the little chapel for the moment1 and walk down the nave1 till you come to two sepulchral slabs near the west end1 and then look about you and see what sort of a church ,santa ,croce is4 ,without looking about you at all1 you may find1 in your ,murray1 the useful information that it is a church which consists of a very wide nave and lateral aisles1 separated by seven fine pointed arches4 ,and as you will be--under ordinary conditions of tourist hurry--glad to learn so much1 without looking1 it is little likely to occur to you that this nave and two rich aisles required also1 for your complete present comfort1 walls at both ends1 and a roof on the top4 ,it is just possible1 indeed1 you may have been struck1 on entering1 by the curious disposition of painted glass at the east end2--more remotely possible that1 in returning down the nave1 you may this moment have noticed the extremely small circular window at the west end2 but the chances are a thousand to one that1 after being pulled from tomb to tomb round the aisles and chapels1 you should take so extraordinary an additional amount of pains as to look up at the roof1--unless you do it now1 quietly4 ,it will have had its effect upon you1 even if you don't1 without your knowledge4 ,you will return home with a general impression that ,santa ,croce is1 somehow1 the ugliest ,gothic church you ever were in4 ,well1 that is really so2 and now1 will you take the pains to see why8 ,there are two features1 on which1 more than on any others1 the grace and delight of a fine ,gothic building depends2 one is the springing of its vaultings1 the other the proportion and fantasy of its traceries4 ,this church of ,santa ,croce has no vaultings at all1 but the roof of a farm-house barn4 ,and its windows are all of the same pattern1--the exceedingly prosaic one of two pointed arches1 with a round hole above1 between them4 ,and to make the simplicity of the roof more conspicuous1 the aisles are successive sheds1 built at every arch4 ,in the aisles of the ,campo ,santo of ,pisco1 the unbroken flat roof leaves the eye free to look to the traceries2 but here1 a succession of up-and-down sloping beam and lath gives the impression of a line of stabling rather than a church aisle4 ,and lastly1 while1 in fine ,gothic buildings1 the entire perspective concludes itself gloriously in the high and distant apse1 here the nave is cut across sharply by a line of ten chapels1 the apse being only a tall recess in the midst of them1 so that1 strictly speaking1 the church is not of the form of a cross1 but of a letter ,t4 ,can this clumsy and ungraceful arrangement be indeed the design of the renowned ,arnolfo8 ,yes1 this is purest ,arnolfo-,gothic2 not beautiful by any means2 but deserving1 nevertheless1 our thoughtfullest examination4 ,we will trace its complete character another day2 just now we are only concerned with this pre-,christian form of the letter ,t1 insisted upon in the lines of chapels4 ,respecting which you are to observe1 that the first ,christian churches in the catacombs took the form of a blunt cross naturally2 a square chamber having a vaulted recess on each side2 then the ,byzantine churches were structurally built in the form of an equal cross2 while the heraldic and other ornamental equal-armed crosses are partly signs of glory and victory1 partly of light1 and divine spiritual presence4 ,footnote3 ,see1 on this subject generally1 ,mr4 ,r4 ,st4 ,j4 ,tyrwhitt's ,art-,teaching of the ,primitive ,church4 ,s4 ,p4 ,b4 ,k41 #ahgd4 ,but the ,franciscans and ,dominicans saw in the cross no sign of triumph1 but of trial4,footnote3 ,i have never obtained time for any right study of early ,christian church-discipline1--nor am ,i sure to how many other causes1 the choice of the form of the basilica may be occasionally attributed1 or by what other communities it may be made4 ,symbolism1 for instance1 has most power with the ,franciscans1 and convenience for preaching with the ,dominicans2 but in all cases1 and in all places1 the transition from the close tribune to the brightly-lighted apse1 indicates the change in ,christian feeling between regarding a church as a place for public judgment or teaching1 or a place for private prayer and congregational praise4 ,the following passage from the ,dean of ,westminster's perfect history of his ,abbey ought to be read also in the ,florentine church3--,the nearest approach to ,westminster ,abbey in this aspect is the church of ,santa ,croce at ,florence4 ,there1 as here1 the present destination of the building was no part of the original design1 but was the result of various converging causes4 ,as the church of one of the two great preaching orders1 it had a nave large beyond all proportion to its choir4 ,that order being the ,franciscan1 bound by vows of poverty1 the simplicity of the worship preserved the whole space clear from any adventitious ornaments4 ,the popularity of the ,franciscans1 especially in a convent hallowed by a visit from ,st4 ,francis himself1 drew to it not only the chief civic festivals1 but also the numerous families who gave alms to the friars1 and whose connection with their church was1 for this reason1 in turn encouraged by them4 ,in those graves1 piled with standards und achievements of the noble families of ,florence1 were successively interred--not because of their eminence1 but as members or friends of those families--some of the most illustrious personages of the fifteenth century4 ,thus it came to pass1 as if by accident1 that in the vault of the ,buonarotti was laid ,michael ,angelo2 in the vault of the ,viviani the preceptor of one of their house1 ,galileo4 ,from those two burials the church gradually be same the recognized shrine of ,italian genius4 ,the wounds of their ,master were to be their inheritance4 ,so their first aim was to make what image to the cross their church might present1 distinctly that of the actual instrument of death4 ,and they did this most effectually by using the form of the letter ,t1 that of the ,furca or ,gibbet1--not the sign of peace4 ,also1 their churches were meant for use2 not show1 nor self-glorification1 nor town-glorification4 ,they wanted places for preaching1 prayer1 sacrifice1 burial2 and had no intention of showing how high they could build towers1 or how widely they could arch vaults4 ,strong walls1 and the roof of a barn1--these your ,franciscan asks of his ,arnolfo4 ,these ,arnolfo gives1--thoroughly and wisely built2 the successions of gable roof being a new device for strength1 much praised in its day4 ,this stern humor did not last long4 ,arnolfo himself had other notions2 much more ,cimabue and ,giotto2 most of all1 ,nature and ,heaven4 ,something else had to be taught about ,christ than that ,he was wounded to death4 ,nevertheless1 look how grand this stern form would be1 restored to its simplicity4 ,it is not the old church which is in itself unimpressive4 ,it is the old church defaced by ,vasari1 by ,michael ,angelo1 and by modern ,florence4 ,see those huge tombs on your right hand and left1 at the sides of the aisles1 with their alternate gable and round tops1 and their paltriest of all possible sculpture1 trying to be grand by bigness1 and pathetic by expense4 ,tear them all down in your imagination2 fancy the vast hall with its massive pillars1--not painted calomel-pill colour1 as now1 but of their native stone1 with a rough1 true wood for roof1--and a people praying beneath them1 strong in abiding1 and pure in life1 as their rocks and olive forests ,that was ,arnolfo's ,santa ,croce4 ,nor did his work remain long without grace4 ,that very line of chapels in which we found our ,st4 ,louis shows signs of change in temper4 ,they have no pent-house roofs1 but true ,gothic vaults3 we found our four-square type of ,franciscan ,law on one of them4 ,it is probable1 then1 that these chapels may be later than the rest--even in their stonework4 ,in their decoration1 they are so1 assuredly2 belonging already to the time when the story of ,st4 ,francis was becoming a passionate tradition1 told and painted everywhere with delight4 ,and that high recess1 taking the place of apse1 in the centre1--see how noble it is in the coloured shade surrounding and joining the glow of its windows1 though their form be so simple4 ,you are not to be amused here by patterns in balanced stone1 as a ,french or ,english architect would amuse you1 says ,arnolfo4 ,you are to read and think1 under these severe walls of mine2 immortal hands will write upon them4 ,we will go back1 therefore1 into this line of manuscript chapels presently2 but first1 look at the two sepulchral slabs by which you are standing4 ,that farther of the two from the west end is one of the most beautiful pieces of fourteenth century sculpture in this world2 and it contains simple elements of excellence1 by your understanding of which you may test your power of understanding the more difficult ones you will have to deal with presently4 ,it represents an old man1 in the high deeply-folded cap worn by scholars and gentlemen in ,florence from #acjj--aejj1 lying dead1 with a book in his breast1 over which his hands are folded4 ,at his feet is this inscription3 ,temporibus hic suis phylosophye atq4 medicine culmen fuit ,galileus de ,galileis olim ,bonajutis qui etiam summo in magistratu miro quodam modo rempublicam dilexit1 cujus sancte memorie bene acte vite pie benedictus filius hunc tumulum patri sibi suisq4 posteris edidit4 ,mr4 ,murray tells you that the effigies in low relief 7alas1 yes1 low enough now--worn mostly into flat stones1 with a trace only of the deeper lines left1 but originally in very bold relief17 with which the floor of ,santa ,croce is inlaid1 of which this by which you stand is characteristic1 are interesting from the costume1 but that1 except in the case of ,john ,ketterick1 ,bishop of ,st4 ,david's1 few of the other names have any interest beyond the walls of ,florence4 ,as1 however1 you are at present within the walls of ,florence1 you may perhaps condescend to take some interest in this ancestor or relation of the ,galileo whom ,florence indeed left to be externally interesting1 and would not allow to enter in her walls4 ,footnote3 ,seven years a prisoner at the city gate1 ,let in but his grave-clothes4 ,rogers' ,italy4 ,i am not sure if ,i rightly place or construe the phrase in the above inscription1 cujus sancte memorie bene acte2 but1 in main purport1 the legend runs thus3 ,this ,galileo of the ,galilei was1 in his times1 the head of philosophy and medicine2 who also in the highest magistracy loved the republic marvellously2 whose son1 blessed in inheritance of his holy memory and well-passed and pious life1 appointed this tomb for his father1 for himself1 and for his posterity4 ,there is no date2 but the slab immediately behind it1 nearer the western door1 is of the same style1 but of later and inferior work1 and bears date--,i forget now of what early year in the fifteenth century4 ,but ,florence was still in her pride2 and you may observe1 in this epitaph1 on what it was based4 ,that her philosophy was studied together with useful arts1 and as a part of them2 that the masters in these became naturally the masters in public affairs2 that in such magistracy1 they loved the ,state1 and neither cringed to it nor robbed it2 that the sons honoured their fathers1 and received their fathers' honour as the most blessed inheritance4 ,remember the phrase vite pie bene dictus filius1 to be compared with the nos nequiores of the declining days of all states1--chiefly now in ,florence1 ,france and ,england4 ,thus much for the local interest of name4 ,next for the universal interest of the art of this tomb4 ,it is the crowning virtue of all great art that1 however little is left of it by the injuries of time1 that little will be lovely4 ,as long as you can see anything1 you can see--almost all2--so much the hand of the master will suggest of his soul4 ,and here you are well quit1 for once1 of restoration4 ,no one cares for this sculpture2 and if ,florence would only thus put all her old sculpture and painting under her feet1 and simply use them for gravestones and oilcloth1 she would be more merciful to them than she is now4 ,here1 at least1 what little is left is true4 ,and1 if you look long1 you will find it is not so little4 ,that worn face is still a perfect portrait of the old man1 though like one struck out at a venture1 with a few rough touches of a master's chisel4 ,and that falling drapery of his cap is1 in its few lines1 faultless1 and subtle beyond description4 ,and now1 here is a simple but most useful test of your capacity for understanding ,florentine sculpture or painting4 ,if you can see that the lines of that cap are both right1 and lovely2 that the choice of the folds is exquisite in its ornamental relations of line2 and that the softness and ease of them is complete1--though only sketched with a few dark touches1--then you can understand ,giotto's drawing1 and ,botticelli's2--,donatello's carving and ,luca's4 ,but if you see nothing in this sculpture1 you will see nothing in theirs1 of theirs4 ,where they choose to imitate flesh1 or silk1 or to play any vulgar modern trick with marble--7and they often do7--whatever1 in a word1 is ,french1 or ,american1 or ,cockney1 in their work1 you can see2 but what is ,florentine1 and for ever great--unless you can see also the beauty of this old man in his citizen's cap1--you will see never4 ,there is more in this sculpture1 however1 than its simple portraiture and noble drapery4 ,the old man lies on a piece of embroidered carpet2 and1 protected by the higher relief1 many of the finer lines of this are almost uninjured2 in particular1 its exquisitely-wrought fringe and tassels are nearly perfect4 ,and if you will kneel down and look long at the tassels of the cushion under the head1 and the way they fill the angles of the stone1 you will1--or may--know1 from this example alone1 what noble decorative sculpture is1 and was1 and must be1 from the days of earliest ,greece to those of latest ,italy4 ,exquisitely sculptured fringe6 and you have just been abusing sculptors who play tricks with marble6 ,yes1 and you cannot find a better example1 in all the museums of ,europe1 of the work of a man who does not play tricks with it--than this tomb4 ,try to understand the difference3 it is a point of quite cardinal importance to all your future study of sculpture4 ,i told you1 observe1 that the old ,galileo was lying on a piece of embroidered carpet4 ,i don't think1 if ,i had not told you1 that you would have found it out for yourself4 ,it is not so like a carpet as all that comes to4 ,but had it been a modern trick-sculpture1 the moment you came to the tomb you would have said1 ,dear me6 how wonderfully that carpet is done1--it doesn't look like stone in the least--one longs to take it up and beat it1 to get the dust off4 ,now whenever you feel inclined to speak so of a sculptured drapery1 be assured1 without more ado1 the sculpture is base1 and bad4 ,you will merely waste your time and corrupt your taste by looking at it4 ,nothing is so easy as to imitate drapery in marble4 ,you may cast a piece any day2 and carve it with such subtlety that the marble shall be an absolute image of the folds4 ,but that is not sculpture4 ,that is mechanical manufacture4 ,no great sculptor1 from the beginning of art to the end of it1 has ever carved1 or ever will1 a deceptive drapery4 ,he has neither time nor will to do it4 ,his mason's lad may do that if he likes4 ,a man who can carve a limb or a face never finishes inferior parts1 but either with a hasty and scornful chisel1 or with such grave and strict selection of their lines as you know at once to be imaginative1 not imitative4 ,but if1 as in this case1 he wants to oppose the simplicity of his central subject with a rich background1--a labyrinth of ornamental lines to relieve the severity of expressive ones1--he will carve you a carpet1 or a tree1 or a rose thicket1 with their fringes and leaves and thorns1 elaborated as richly as natural ones2 but always for the sake of the ornamental form1 never of the imitation2 yet1 seizing the natural character in the lines he gives1 with twenty times the precision and clearness of sight that the mere imitator has4 ,examine the tassels of the cushion1 and the way they blend with the fringe1 thoroughly2 you cannot possibly see finer ornamental sculpture4 ,then1 look at the same tassels in the same place of the slab next the west end of the church1 and you will see a scholar's rude imitation of a master's hand1 though in a fine school4 7,notice1 however1 the folds of the drapery at the feet of this figure3 they are cut so as to show the hem of the robe within as well as without1 and are fine47 ,then1 as you go back to ,giotto's chapel1 keep to the left1 and just beyond the north door in the aisle is the much celebrated tomb of ,c4 ,marsuppini1 by ,desiderio of ,settignano4 ,it is very fine of its kind2 but there the drapery is chiefly done to cheat you1 and chased delicately to show how finely the sculptor could chisel it4 ,it is wholly vulgar and mean in cast of fold4 ,under your feet1 as you look at it1 you will tread another tomb of the fine time1 which1 looking last at1 you will recognize the difference between the false and true art1 as far as there is capacity in you at present to do so4 ,and if you really and honestly like the low-lying stones1 and see more beauty in them1 you have also the power of enjoying ,giotto1 into whose chapel we will return to-morrow2--not to-day1 for the light must have left it by this time2 and now that you have been looking at these sculptures on the floor you had better traverse nave and aisle across and across2 and get some idea of that sacred field of stone4 ,in the north transept you will find a beautiful knight1 the finest in chiselling of all these tombs1 except one by the same hand in the south aisle just where it enters the south transept4 ,examine the lines of the ,gothic niches traced above them2 and what is left of arabesque on their armour4 ,they are far more beautiful and tender in chivalric conception than ,donatello's ,st4 ,george1 which is merely a piece of vigorous naturalism founded on these older tombs4 ,if you will drive in the evening to the ,chartreuse in ,val d',ema1 you may see there an uninjured example of this slab-tomb by ,donatello himself2 very beautiful2 but not so perfect as the earlier ones on which it is founded4 ,and you may see some fading light and shade of monastic life1 among which if you stay till the fireflies come out in the twilight1 and thus get to sleep when you come home1 you will be better prepared for to-morrow morning's walk--if you will take another with me--than if you go to a party1 to talk sentiment about ,italy1 and hear the last news from ,london and ,new ,york4 ,,the ,,second ,,morning4 ,,the ,,golden ,,gate4 ,to-day1 as early as you please1 and at all events before doing anything else1 let us go to ,giotto's own parish-church1 ,santa ,maria ,novella4 ,if1 walking from the ,strozzi ,palace1 you look on your right for the ,way of the ,beautiful ,ladies1 it will take you quickly there4 ,do not let anything in the way of acquaintance1 sacristan1 or chance sight1 stop you in doing what ,i tell you4 ,walk straight up to the church1 into the apse of it2--7you may let your eyes rest1 as you walk1 on the glow of its glass1 only mind the step1 half way27--and lift the curtain2 and go in behind the grand marble altar1 giving anybody who follows you anything they want1 to hold their tongues1 or go away4 ,you know1 most probably1 already1 that the frescos on each side of you are ,ghirlandajo's4 ,you have been told they are very fine1 and if you know anything of painting1 you know the portraits in them are so4 ,nevertheless1 somehow1 you don't really enjoy these frescos1 nor come often here1 do you8 ,the reason of which is1 that if you are a nice person1 they are not nice enough for you2 and if a vulgar person1 not vulgar enough4 ,but if you are a nice person1 ,i want you to look carefully1 to-day1 at the two lowest1 next the windows1 for a few minutes1 that you may better feel the art you are really to study1 by its contrast with these4 ,on your left hand is represented the birth of the ,virgin1 ,on your right1 her meeting with ,elizabeth4 ,you can't easily see better pieces--nowhere more pompous pieces--of flat goldsmiths' work4 ,ghirlandajo was to the end of his life a mere goldsmith1 with a gift of portraiture4 ,and here he has done his best1 and has put a long wall in wonderful perspective1 and the whole city of ,florence behind ,elizabeth's house in the hill country2 and a splendid bas-relief1 in the style of ,luca della ,robbia1 in ,st4 ,anne's bedroom2 and he has carved all the pilasters1 and embroidered all the dresses1 and flourished and trumpeted into every corner2 and it is all done1 within just a point1 as well as it can be done2 and quite as well as ,ghirlandajo could do it4 ,but the point in which it just misses being as well as it can be done1 is the vital point4 ,and it is all simply--good for nothing4 ,extricate yourself from the goldsmith's rubbish of it1 and look full at the ,salutation4 ,you will say1 perhaps1 at first1 ,what grand and graceful figures6 ,are you sure they are graceful8 ,look again and you will see their draperies hang from them exactly as they would from two clothes-pegs4 ,now1 fine drapery1 really well drawn1 as it hangs from a clothes-peg1 is always rather impressive1 especially if it be disposed in large breadths and deep folds2 but that is the only grace of their figures4 ,secondly4 ,look at the ,madonna1 carefully4 ,you will find she is not the least meek--only stupid1--as all the other women in the picture are4 ,st4 ,elizabeth1 you think1 is nice8 ,yes2 and she says1 ',whence is this to me1 that the mother of my ,lord should come to me8' really with a great deal of serious feeling8 ,yes1 with a great deal4 ,well1 you have looked enough at those two4 ,now--just for another minute--look at the birth of the ,virgin4 ,a most graceful group1 7your ,murray's ,guide tells you17 in the attendant servants4 ,extremely so4 ,also1 the one holding the child is rather pretty4 ,also1 the servant pouring out the water does it from a great height1 without splashing1 most cleverly4 ,also1 the lady coming to ask for ,st4 ,anne1 and see the baby1 walks majestically and is very finely dressed4 ,and as for that bas-relief in the style of ,luca della ,robbia1 you might really almost think it was ,luca6 ,the very best plated goods1 ,master ,ghirlandajo1 no doubt--always on hand at your shop4 ,well1 now you must ask for the ,sacristan1 who is civil and nice enough1 and get him to let you into the green cloister1 and then go into the less cloister opening out of it on the right1 as you go down the steps2 and you must ask for the tomb of the ,marcheza ,stiozzi ,ridolfi2 and in the recess behind the ,marcheza's tomb--very close to the ground1 and in excellent light1 if the day is fine--you will see two small frescos1 only about four feet wide each1 in odd-shaped bits of wall--quarters of circles2 representing--that on the left1 the ,meeting of ,joachim and ,anna at the ,golden ,gate2 and that on the right1 the ,birth of the ,virgin4 ,no flourish of trumpets here1 at any rate1 you think6 ,no gold on the gate2 and1 for the birth of the ,virgin--is this all6 ,goodness6--nothing to be seen1 whatever1 of bas-reliefs1 nor fine dresses1 nor graceful pourings out of water1 nor processions of visitors8 ,no4 ,there's but one thing you can see1 here1 which you didn't in ,ghirlandajo's fresco1 unless you were very clever and looked hard for it--the ,baby6 ,and you are never likely to see a more true piece of ,giotto's work in this world4 ,a round-faced1 small-eyed little thing1 tied up in a bundle6 ,yes1 ,giotto was of opinion she must have appeared really not much else than that4 ,but look at the servant who has just finished dressing her2--awe-struck1 full of love and wonder1 putting her hand softly on the child's head1 who has never cried4 ,the nurse1 who has just taken her1 is--the nurse1 and no more3 tidy in the extreme1 and greatly proud and pleased3 but would be as much so with any other child4 ,ghirlandajo's ,st4 ,anne 7,i ought to have told you to notice that1--you can afterwards7 is sitting strongly up in bed1 watching1 if not directing1 all that is going on4 ,giotto's lying down on the pillow1 leans her face on her hand2 partly exhausted1 partly in deep thought4 ,she knows that all will be well done for the child1 either by the servants1 or ,god2 she need not look after anything4 ,at the foot of the bed is the midwife1 and a servant who has brought drink for ,st4 ,anne4 ,the servant stops1 seeing her so quiet2 asking the midwife1 ,shall ,i give it her now8 ,the midwife1 her hands lifted under her robe1 in the attitude of thanksgiving1 7with ,giotto distinguishable always1 though one doesn't know how1 from that of prayer17 answers1 with her look1 ,let be--she does not want anything4 ,at the door a single acquaintance is coming in1 to see the child4 ,of ornament1 there is only the entirely simple outline of the vase which the servant carries2 of colour1 two or three masses of sober red1 and pure white1 with brown and gray4 ,that is all4 ,and if you can be pleased with this1 you can see ,florence4 ,but if not1 by all means amuse yourself there1 if you find it amusing1 as long as you like2 you can never see it4 ,but if indeed you are pleased1 ever so little1 with this fresco1 think what that pleasure means4 ,i brought you1 on purpose1 round1 through the richest overture1 and farrago of tweedledum and tweedledee1 ,i could find in ,florence2 and here is a tune of four notes1 on a shepherd's pipe1 played by the picture of nobody2 and yet you like it6 ,you know what music is1 then4 ,here is another little tune1 by the same player1 and sweeter4 ,i let you hear the simplest first4 ,the fresco on the left hand1 with the bright blue sky1 and the rosy figures6 ,why1 anybody might like that6 ,yes2 but1 alas1 all the blue sky is repainted4 ,it was blue always1 however1 and bright too2 and ,i dare say1 when the fresco was first done1 anybody did like it4 ,you know the story of ,joachim and ,anna1 ,i hope8 ,not that ,i do1 myself1 quite in the ins and outs2 and if you don't ,i'm not going to keep you waiting while ,i tell it4 ,all you need know1 and you scarcely1 before this fresco1 need know so much1 is1 that here are an old husband and old wife1 meeting again by surprise1 after losing each other1 and being each in great fear2--meeting at the place where they were told by ,god each to go1 without knowing what was to happen there4 ,so they rushed into one another's arms1 and kissed each other4 ,no1 says ,giotto1--not that4 ,they advanced to meet1 in a manner conformable to the strictest laws of composition2 and with their draperies cast into folds which no one until ,raphael could have arranged better4 ,no1 says ,giotto1--not that4 ,st4 ,anne has moved quickest2 her dress just falls into folds sloping backwards enough to tell you so much4 ,she has caught ,st4 ,joachim by his mantle1 and draws him to her1 softly1 by that4 ,st4 ,joachim lays his hand under her arm1 seeing she is like to faint1 and holds her up4 ,they do not kiss each other--only look into each other's eyes4 ,and ,god's angel lays his hand on their heads4 ,behind them1 there are two rough figures1 busied with their own affairs1--two of ,joachim's shepherds2 one1 bare headed1 the other wearing the wide ,florentine cap with the falling point behind1 which is exactly like the tube of a larkspur or violet2 both carrying game1 and talking to each other about--,greasy ,joan and her pot1 or the like4 ,not at all the sort of persons whom you would have thought in harmony with the scene2--by the laws of the drama1 according to ,racine or ,voltaire4 ,no1 but according to ,shakespeare1 or ,giotto1 these are just the kind of persons likely to be there3 as much as the angel is likely to be there also1 though you will be told nowadays that ,giotto was absurd for putting him into the sky1 of which an apothecary can always produce the similar blue1 in a bottle4 ,and now that you have had ,shakespeare1 and sundry other men of head and heart1 following the track of this shepherd lad1 you can forgive him his grotesques in the corner4 ,but that he should have forgiven them to himself1 after the training he had1 this is the wonder6 ,we have seen simple pictures enough in our day2 and therefore we think that of course shepherd boys will sketch shepherds3 what wonder is there in that8 ,i can show you how in this shepherd boy it was very wonderful indeed1 if you will walk for five minutes back into the church with me1 and up into the chapel at the end of the south transept1--at least if the day is bright1 and you get the ,sacristan to undraw the window-curtain in the transept itself4 ,for then the light of it will be enough to show you the entirely authentic and most renowned work of ,giotto's master2 and you will see through what schooling the lad had gone4 ,a good and brave master he was1 if ever boy had one2 and1 as you will find when you know really who the great men are1 the master is half their life2 and well they know it--always naming themselves from their master1 rather than their families4 ,see then what kind of work ,giotto had been first put to4 ,there is1 literally1 not a square inch of all that panel--some ten feet high by six or seven wide--which is not wrought in gold and colour with the fineness of a ,greek manuscript4 ,there is not such an elaborate piece of ornamentation in the first page of any ,gothic king's missal1 as you will find in that ,madonna's throne2--the ,madonna herself is meant to be grave and noble only2 and to be attended only by angels4 ,and here is this saucy imp of a lad declares his people must do without gold1 and without thrones2 nay1 that the ,golden ,gate itself shall have no gilding that ,st4 ,joachim and ,st4 ,anne shall have only one angel between them3 and their servants shall have their joke1 and nobody say them nay6 ,it is most wonderful2 and would have been impossible1 had ,cimabue been a common man1 though ever so great in his own way4 ,nor could ,i in any of my former thinking understand how it was1 till ,i saw ,cimabue's own work at ,assisi2 in which he shows himself1 at heart1 as independent of his gold as ,giotto1--even more intense1 capable of higher things than ,giotto1 though of none1 perhaps1 so keen or sweet4 ,but to this day1 among all the ,mater ,dolorosas of ,christianity1 ,cimabue's at ,assisi is the noblest2 nor did any painter after him add one link to the chain of thought with which he summed the creation of the earth1 and preached its redemption4 ,he evidently never checked the boy1 from the first day he found him4 ,showed him all he knew3 talked with him of many things he felt himself unable to paint3 made him a workman and a gentleman1--above all1 a ,christian1--yet left him--a shepherd4 ,and ,heaven had made him such a painter1 that1 at his height1 the words of his epitaph are in nowise overwrought3 ,ille ego sum1 per quem pictura extincta revixit4 ,a word or two1 now1 about the repainting by which this pictura extincta has been revived to meet existing taste4 ,the sky is entirely daubed over with fresh blue2 yet it leaves with unusual care the original outline of the descending angel1 and of the white clouds about his body4 ,this idea of the angel laying his hands on the two heads--7as a bishop at ,confirmation does1 in a hurry2 and ,i've seen one sweep four together1 like ,arnold de ,winkelied71--partly in blessing1 partly as a symbol of their being brought together to the same place by ,god1--was afterwards repeated again and again3 there is one beautiful little echo of it among the old pictures in the schools of ,oxford4 ,this is the first occurrence of it that ,i know in pure ,italian painting2 but the idea is ,etruscan-,greek1 and is used by the ,etruscan sculptors of the door of the ,baptistery of ,pisa1 of the evil angel1 who lays the heads together of two very different persons from these--,herodias and her daughter4 ,joachim1 and the shepherd with the larkspur cap1 are both quite safe2 the other shepherd a little reinforced2 the black bunches of grass1 hanging about are retouches4 ,they were once bunches of plants drawn with perfect delicacy and care2 you may see one left1 faint1 with heart-shaped leaves1 on the highest ridge of rock above the shepherds4 ,the whole landscape is1 however1 quite undecipherably changed and spoiled4 ,you will be apt to think at first1 that if anything has been restored1 surely the ugly shepherd's uglier feet have4 ,no1 not at all4 ,restored feet are always drawn with entirely orthodox and academical toes1 like the ,apollo ,belvidere's4 ,you would have admired them very much4 ,these are ,giotto's own doing1 every bit2 and a precious business he has had of it1 trying again and again--in vain4 ,even hands were difficult enough to him1 at this time2 but feet1 and bare legs6 ,well1 he'll have a try1 he thinks1 and gets really a fair line at last1 when you are close to it2 but1 laying the light on the ground afterwards1 he dare not touch this precious and dear-bought outline4 ,stops all round it1 a quarter of an inch off1 ,footnote3 ,perhaps it is only the restorer's white on the ground that stops2 but ,i think a restorer would never have been so wise1 but have gone right up to the outline1 and spoiled all4 with such effect as you see4 ,but if you want to know what sort of legs and feet he can draw1 look at our lambs1 in the corner of the fresco under the arch on your left6 ,and there is one on your right1 though more repainted--the little ,virgin presenting herself at the ,temple1--about which ,i could also say much4 ,the stooping figure1 kissing the hem of her robe without her knowing1 is1 as far as ,i remember1 first in this fresco2 the origin1 itself1 of the main design in all the others you know so well2 7and with its steps1 by the way1 in better perspective already than most of them74 ,this the original one6 you will be inclined to exclaim1 if you have any general knowledge of the subsequent art4 ,this ,giotto6 why it's a cheap rechauff of ,titian6 ,no1 my friend4 ,the boy who tried so hard to draw those steps in perspective had been carried down others1 to his grave1 two hundred years before ,titian ran alone at ,cadore4 ,but1 as surely as ,venice looks on the sea1 ,titian looked upon this1 and caught the reflected light of it forever4 ,what kind of boy is this1 think you1 who can make ,titian his copyist1--,dante his friend8 ,what new power is here which is to change the heart of ,italy8--can you see it1 feel it1 writing before you these words on the faded wall8 ,you shall see things--as they ,are4 ,and the least with the greatest1 because ,god made them4 ,and the greatest with the least1 because ,god made you1 and gave you eyes and a heart4 ,i4 ,you shall see things--as they are4 ,so easy a matter that1 you think8 ,so much more difficult and sublime to paint grand processions and golden thrones1 than ,st4 ,anne faint on her pillow1 and her servant at pause8 ,easy or not1 it is all the sight that is required of you in this world1--to see things1 and men1 and yourself1--as they are4 ,,ii4 ,and the least with the greatest1 because ,god made them1--shepherd1 and flock1 and grass of the field1 no less than the ,golden ,gate4 ,,iii4 ,but also the golden gate of ,heaven itself1 open1 and the angels of ,god coming down from it4 ,these three things ,giotto taught1 and men believed1 in his day4 ,of which ,faith you shall next see brighter work2 only before we leave the cloister1 ,i want to sum for you one or two of the instant and evident technical changes produced in the school of ,florence by this teaching4 ,one of quite the first results of ,giotto's simply looking at things as they were1 was his finding out that a red thing was red1 and a brown thing brown1 and a white thing white--all over4 ,the ,greeks had painted anything anyhow1--gods black1 horses red1 lips and cheeks white2 and when the ,etruscan vase expanded into a ,cimabue picture1 or a ,tafi mosaic1 still1--except that the ,madonna was to have a blue dress1 and everything else as much gold on it as could be managed1--there was very little advance in notions of colour4 ,suddenly1 ,giotto threw aside all the glitter1 and all the conventionalism2 and declared that he saw the sky blue1 the tablecloth white1 and angels1 when he dreamed of them1 rosy4 ,and he simply founded the schools of colour in ,italy--,venetian and all1 as ,i will show you to-morrow morning1 if it is fine4 ,and what is more1 nobody discovered much about colour after him4 ,but a deeper result of his resolve to look at things as they were1 was his getting so heartily interested in them that he couldn't miss their decisive moment4 ,there is a decisive instant in all matters2 and if you look languidly1 you are sure to miss it4 ,nature seems always1 somehow1 trying to make you miss it4 ,i will see that through1 you must say1 with out turning my head2 or you won't see the trick of it at all4 ,and the most significant thing in all his work1 you will find hereafter1 is his choice of moments4 ,i will give you at once two instances in a picture which1 for other reasons1 you should quickly compare with these frescos4 ,return by the ,via delle ,belle ,donne2 keep the ,casa ,strozzi on your right2 and go straight on1 through the market4 ,the ,florentines think themselves so civilized1 forsooth1 for building a nuovo ,lung-,arno1 and three manufactory chimneys opposite it3 and yet sell butchers' meat1 dripping red1 peaches1 and anchovies1 side by side3 it is a sight to be seen4 ,much more1 ,luca della ,robbia's ,madonna in the circle above the chapel door4 ,never pass near the market without looking at it2 and glance from the vegetables underneath to ,luca's leaves and lilies1 that you may see how honestly he was trying to make his clay like the garden-stuff4 ,but to-day1 you may pass quickly on to the ,uffizii1 which will be just open2 and when you enter the great gallery1 turn to the right1 and there1 the first picture you come at will be ,no4 #f1 ,giotto's ,agony in the garden4 ,i used to think it so dull that ,i could not believe it was ,giotto's4 ,that is partly from its dead colour1 which is the boy's way of telling you it is night3--more from the subject being one quite beyond his age1 and which he felt no pleasure in trying at4 ,you may see he was still a boy1 for he not only cannot draw feet yet1 in the least1 and scrupulously hides them therefore2 but is very hard put to it for the hands1 being obliged to draw them mostly in the same position1--all the four fingers together4 ,but in the careful bunches of grass and weeds you will see what the fresco foregrounds were before they got spoiled2 and there are some things he can understand already1 even about that ,agony1 thinking of it in his own fixed way4 ,some things1--not altogether to be explained by the old symbol of the angel with the cup4 ,he will try if he cannot explain them better in those two little pictures below2 which nobody ever looks at2 the great ,roman sarcophagus being put in front of them1 and the light glancing on the new varnish so that you must twist about like a lizard to see anything4 ,nevertheless1 you may make out what ,giotto meant4 ,the cup which my ,father hath given me1 shall ,i not drink it8 ,in what was its bitterness8--thought the boy4 ,crucifixion8--,well1 it hurts1 doubtless2 but the thieves had to bear it too1 and many poor human wretches have to bear worse on our battlefields4 ,but--and he thinks1 and thinks1 and then he paints his two little pictures for the predella4 ,they represent1 of course1 the sequence of the time in ,gethsemane2 but see what choice the youth made of his moments1 having two panels to fill4 ,plenty of choice for him--in pain4 ,the ,flagellation--the ,mocking--the ,bearing of the ,cross2--all habitually given by the ,margheritones1 and their school1 as extremes of pain4 ,no1 thinks ,giotto4 ,there was worse than all that4 ,many a good man has been mocked1 spitefully entreated1 spitted on1 slain4 ,but who was ever so betrayed8 ,who ever saw such a sword thrust in his mother's heart8 ,he paints1 first1 the laying hands on ,him in the garden1 but with only two principal figures1--,judas and ,peter1 of course2 ,judas and ,peter were always principal in the old ,byzantine composition1--,judas giving the kiss--,peter cutting off the servant's ear4 ,but the two are here1 not merely principal1 but almost alone in sight1 all the other figures thrown back2 and ,peter is not at all concerned about the servant1 or his struggle with him4 ,he has got him down1--but looks back suddenly at ,judas giving the kiss4 ,what6--you are the traitor1 then--you6 ,yes1 says ,giotto2 and you1 also1 in an hour more4 ,the other picture is more deeply felt1 still4 ,it is of ,christ brought to the foot of the cross4 ,there is no wringing of hands or lamenting crowd--no haggard signs of fainting or pain in ,his body4 ,scourging or fainting1 feeble knee and torn wound1--he thinks scorn of all that1 this shepherd-boy4 ,one executioner is hammering the wedges of the cross harder down4 ,the other--not ungently--is taking ,christ's red robe off ,his shoulders4 ,and ,st4 ,john1 a few yards off1 is keeping his mother from coming nearer4 ,she looks down1 not at ,christ2 but tries to come4 ,and now you may go on for your day's seeings through the rest of the gallery1 if you will--,fornarina1 and the wonderful cobbler1 and all the rest of it4 ,i don't want you any more till to-morrow morning4 ,but if1 meantime1 you will sit down1--say1 before ,sandro ,botticelli's ,fortitude1 which ,i shall want you to look at1 one of these days2 7,no4 #abii1 innermost room from the ,tribune17 and there read this following piece of one of my ,oxford lectures on the relation of ,cimabue to ,giotto1 you will be better prepared for our work to-morrow morning in ,santa ,croce2 and may find something to consider of1 in the room you are in4 ,where1 by the way1 observe that ,no4 #abhh is a most true early ,lionardo1 of extreme interest3 and the savants who doubt it are--never mind what2 but sit down at present at the feet of ,fortitude1 and read4 ,those of my readers who have been unfortunate enough to interest themselves in that most profitless of studies--the philosophy of art--have been at various times teased or amused by disputes respecting the relative dignity of the contemplative and dramatic schools4 ,contemplative1 of course1 being the term attached to the system of painting things only for the sake of their own niceness--a lady because she is pretty1 or a lion because he is strong3 and the dramatic school being that which cannot be satisfied unless it sees something going on3 which can't paint a pretty lady unless she is being made love to1 or being murdered2 and can't paint a stag or a lion unless they are being hunted1 or shot1 or the one eating the other4 ,you have always heard me--or1 if not1 will expect by the very tone of this sentence to hear me1 now1 on the whole recommend you to prefer the ,contemplative school4 ,but the comparison is always an imperfect and unjust one1 unless quite other terms are introduced4 ,the real greatness or smallness of schools is not in their preference of inactivity to action1 nor of action to inactivity4 ,it is in their preference of worthy things to unworthy1 in rest2 and of kind action to unkind1 in business4 ,a ,dutchman can be just as solemnly and entirely contemplative of a lemon pip and a cheese paring1 as an ,italian of the ,virgin in ,glory4 ,an ,english squire has pictures1 purely contemplative1 of his favorite horse--and a ,parisian lady1 pictures1 purely contemplative1 of the back and front of the last dress proposed to her in ,la ,mode ,artistique4 ,all these works belong to the same school of silent admiration2--the vital question concerning them is1 ,what do you admire8 ,now therefore1 when you hear me so often saying that the ,northern races--,norman and ,lombard1--are active1 or dramatic1 in their art2 and that the ,southern races--,greek and ,arabian1--are contemplative1 you ought instantly to ask farther1 ,active in what8 ,contemplative of what8 ,and the answer is1 ,the active art--,lombardic1--rejoices in hunting and fighting2 the contemplative art--,byzantine1--contemplates the mysteries of the ,christian faith4 ,and at first1 on such answer1 one would be apt at once to conclude--,all grossness must be in the ,lombard2 all good in the ,byzantine4 ,but again we should be wrong1--and extremely wrong4 ,for the hunting and fighting did practically produce strong1 and often virtuous1 men2 while the perpetual and inactive contemplation of what it was impossible to understand1 did not on the whole render the contemplative persons1 stronger1 wiser1 or even more amiable4 ,so that1 in the twelfth century1 while the ,northern art was only in need of direction1 the ,southern was in need of life4 ,the ,north was indeed spending its valour and virtue on ignoble objects2 but the ,south disgracing the noblest objects by its want of valour and virtue4 ,central stood ,etruscan ,florence--her root in the earth1 bound with iron and brass--wet with the dew of heaven4 ,agriculture in occupation1 religious in thought1 she accepted1 like good ground1 the good2 refused1 like the ,rock of ,fesole1 the evil2 directed the industry of the ,northman into the arts of peace2 kindled the dreams of the ,byzantine with the fire of charity4 ,child of her peace1 and exponent of her passion1 her ,cimabue became the interpreter to mankind of the meaning of the ,birth of ,christ4 ,we hear constantly1 and think naturally1 of him as of a man whose peculiar genius in painting suddenly reformed its principles2 who suddenly painted1 out of his own gifted imagination1 beautiful instead of rude pictures2 and taught his scholar ,giotto to carry on the impulse2 which we suppose thenceforward to have enlarged the resources and bettered the achievements of painting continually1 up to our own time1--when the triumphs of art having been completed1 and its uses ended1 something higher is offered to the ambition of mankind2 and ,watt and ,faraday initiate the ,age of ,manufacture and ,science1 as ,cimabue and ,giotto instituted that of ,art and ,imagination4 ,in this conception of the ,history of ,mental and ,physical culture1 we much overrate the influence1 though we cannot overrate the power1 of the men by whom the change seems to have been effected4 ,we cannot overrate their power1--for the greatest men of any age1 those who become its leaders when there is a great march to be begun1 are indeed separated from the average intellects of their day by a distance which is immeasurable in any ordinary terms of wonder4 ,but we far overrate their influence2 because the apparently sudden result of their labour or invention is only the manifested fruit of the toil and thought of many who preceded them1 and of whose names we have never heard4 ,the skill of ,cimabue cannot be extolled too highly2 but no ,madonna by his hand could ever have rejoiced the soul of ,italy1 unless for a thousand years before1 many a nameless ,greek and nameless ,goth had adorned the traditions1 and lived in the love1 of the ,virgin4 ,in like manner1 it is impossible to overrate the sagacity1 patience1 or precision1 of the masters in modern mechanical and scientific discovery4 ,but their sudden triumph1 and the unbalancing of all the world by their words1 may not in any wise be attributed to their own power1 or even to that of the facts they have ascertained4 ,they owe their habits and methods of industry to the paternal example1 no less than the inherited energy1 of men who long ago prosecuted the truths of nature1 through the rage of war1 and the adversity of superstition2 and the universal and overwhelming consequences of the facts which their followers have now proclaimed1 indicate only the crisis of a rapture produced by the offering of new objects of curiosity to nations who had nothing to look at2 and of the amusement of novel motion and action to nations who had nothing to do4 ,nothing to look at6 ,that is indeed--you will find1 if you consider of it--our sorrowful case4 ,the vast extent of the advertising frescos of ,london1 daily refreshed into brighter and larger frescos by its billstickers1 cannot somehow sufficiently entertain the popular eyes4 ,the great ,mrs4 ,allen1 with her flowing hair1 and equally flowing promises1 palls upon repetition1 and that ,madonna of the nineteenth century smiles in vain above many a borgo unrejoiced2 even the excitement of the shop-window1 with its unattainable splendours1 or too easily attainable impostures1 cannot maintain itself in the wearying mind of the populace1 and ,i find my charitable friends inviting the children1 whom the streets educate only into vicious misery1 to entertainments of scientific vision1 in microscope or magic lantern2 thus giving them something to look at1 such as it is2--fleas mostly2 and the stomachs of various vermin2 and people with their heads cut off and set on again2--still something1 to look at4 ,the fame of ,cimabue rests1 and justly1 on a similar charity4 ,he gave the populace of his day something to look at2 and satisfied their curiosity with science of something they had long desired to know4 ,we have continually imagined in our carelessness1 that his triumph consisted only in a new pictorial skill2 recent critical writers1 unable to comprehend how any street populace could take pleasure in painting1 have ended by denying his triumph altogether1 and insisted that he gave no joy to ,florence2 and that the ,joyful quarter was accidentally so named--or at least from no other festivity than that of the procession attending ,charles of ,anjou4 ,i proved to you1 in a former lecture1 that the old tradition was true1 and the delight of the people unquestionable4 ,but that delight was not merely in the revelation of an art they had not known how to practise2 it was delight in the revelation of a ,madonna whom they had not known how to love4 ,again2 what was revelation to them--we suppose farther and as unwisely1 to have been only art in him2 that in better laying of colours1--in better tracing of perspectives--in recovery of principles1 of classic composition--he had manufactured1 as our ,gothic ,firms now manufacture to order1 a ,madonna--in whom he believed no more than they4 ,not so4 ,first of the ,florentines1 first of ,european men--he attained in thought1 and saw with spiritual eyes1 exercised to discern good from evil1--the face of her who was blessed among women2 and with his following hand1 made visible the ,magnificat of his heart4 ,he magnified the ,maid2 and ,florence rejoiced in her ,queen4 ,but it was left for ,giotto to make the queenship better beloved1 in its sweet humiliation4 ,you had the ,etruscan stock in ,florence--,christian1 or at least semi-,christian2 the statue of ,mars still in its streets1 but with its central temple built for ,baptism in the name of ,christ4 ,it was a race living by agriculture2 gentle1 thoughtful1 and exquisitely fine in handiwork4 ,the straw bonnet of ,tuscany--the ,leghorn--is pure ,etruscan art1 young ladies3--only plaited gold of ,god's harvest1 instead of the plaited gold of ,his earth4 ,you had then the ,norman and ,lombard races coming down on this3 kings1 and hunters--splendid in war--insatiable of action4 ,you had the ,greek and ,arabian races flowing from the east1 bringing with them the law of the ,city1 and the dream of the ,desert4 ,cimabue--,etruscan born1 gave1 we saw1 the life of the ,norman to the tradition of the ,greek3 eager action to holy contemplation4 ,and what more is left for his favourite shepherd boy ,giotto to do1 than this1 except to paint with ever-increasing skill8 ,we fancy he only surpassed ,cimabue--eclipsed by greater brightness4 ,not so4 ,the sudden and new applause of ,italy would never have been won by mere increase of the already-kindled light4 ,giotto had wholly another work to do4 ,the meeting of the ,norman race with the ,byzantine is not merely that of action with repose--not merely that of war with religion1--it is the meeting of domestic life with monastic1 and of practical household sense with unpractical ,desert insanity4 ,i have no other word to use than this last4 ,i use it reverently1 meaning a very noble thing2 ,i do not know how far ,i ought to say--even a divine thing4 ,decide that for yourselves4 ,compare the ,northern farmer with ,st4 ,francis2 the palm hardened by stubbing ,thornaby waste1 with the palm softened by the imagination of the wounds of ,christ4 ,to my own thoughts1 both are divine2 decide that for yourselves2 but assuredly1 and without possibility of other decision1 one is1 humanly speaking1 healthy2 the other unhealthy2 one sane1 the other--insane4 ,to reconcile ,drama with ,dream1 ,cimabue's task was comparatively an easy one4 ,but to reconcile ,sense with--,i still use even this following word reverently--,nonsense1 is not so easy2 and he who did it first1--no wonder he has a name in the world4 ,i must lean1 however1 still more distinctly on the word domestic4 ,for it is not ,rationalism and commercial competition--,mr4 ,stuart ,mill's other career for woman than that of wife and mother --which are reconcilable1 by ,giotto1 or by anybody else1 with divine vision4 ,but household wisdom1 labour of love1 toil upon earth according to the law of ,heaven--these are reconcilable1 in one code of glory1 with revelation in cave or island1 with the endurance of desolate and loveless days1 with the repose of folded hands that wait ,heaven's time4 ,domestic and monastic4 ,he was the first of ,italians--the first of ,christians--who equally knew the virtue of both lives2 and who was able to show it in the sight of men of all ranks1--from the prince to the shepherd2 and of all powers1--from the wisest philosopher to the simplest child4 ,for1 note the way in which the new gift of painting1 bequeathed to him by his great master1 strengthened his hands4 ,before ,cimabue1 no beautiful rendering of human form was possible2 and the rude or formal types of the ,lombard and ,byzantine1 though they would serve in the tumult of the chase1 or as the recognized symbols of creed1 could not represent personal and domestic character4 ,faces with goggling eyes and rigid lips might be endured with ready help of imagination1 for gods1 angels1 saints1 or hunters--or for anybody else in scenes of recognized legend1 but would not serve for pleasant portraiture of one's own self--or of the incidents of gentle1 actual life4 ,and even ,cimabue did not venture to leave the sphere of conventionally reverenced dignity4 ,he still painted--though beautifully--only the ,madonna1 and the ,st4 ,joseph1 and the ,christ4 ,these he made living1--,florence asked no more3 and ,credette ,cimabue nella pintura tener lo campo4 ,but ,giotto came from the field1 and saw with his simple eyes a lowlier worth4 ,and he painted--the ,madonna1 and ,st4 ,joseph1 and the ,christ1--yes1 by all means if you choose to call them so1 but essentially1--,mamma1 ,papa1 and the ,baby4 ,and all ,italy threw up its cap1--,ora ha ,giotto il grido4 ,for he defines1 explains1 and exalts1 every sweet incident of human nature2 and makes dear to daily life every mystic imagination of natures greater than our own4 ,he reconciles1 while he intensifies1 every virtue of domestic and monastic thought4 ,he makes the simplest household duties sacred1 and the highest religious passions serviceable and just4 ,,the ,,third ,,morning4 ,,before ,,the ,,soldan4 ,i promised some note of ,sandro's ,fortitude1 before whom ,i asked you to sit and read the end of my last letter2 and ,i've lost my own notes about her1 and forget1 now1 whether she has a sword1 or a mace2--it does not matter4 ,what is chiefly notable in her is--that you would not1 if you had to guess who she was1 take her for ,fortitude at all4 ,everybody else's ,fortitudes announce themselves clearly and proudly4 ,they have tower-like shields1 and lion-like helmets--and stand firm astride on their legs1--and are confidently ready for all comers4 ,yes2--that is your common ,fortitude4 ,very grand1 though common4 ,but not the highest1 by any means4 ,ready for all comers1 and a match for them1--thinks the universal ,fortitude2--no thanks to her for standing so steady1 then6 ,but ,botticelli's ,fortitude is no match1 it may be1 for any that are coming4 ,worn1 somewhat2 and not a little weary1 instead of standing ready for all comers1 she is sitting1--apparently in reverie1 her fingers playing restlessly and idly--nay1 ,i think--even nervously1 about the hilt of her sword4 ,for her battle is not to begin to-day2 nor did it begin yesterday4 ,many a morn and eve have passed since it began--and now--is this to be the ending day of it8 ,and if this--by what manner of end8 ,that is what ,sandro's ,fortitude is thinking4 ,and the playing fingers about the sword-hilt would fain let it fall1 if it might be3 and yet1 how swiftly and gladly will they close on it1 when the far-off trumpet blows1 which she will hear through all her reverie6 ,there is yet another picture of ,sandro's here1 which you must look at before going back to ,giotto3 the small ,judith in the room next the ,tribune1 as you return from this outer one4 ,it is just under ,lionardo's ,medusa4 ,she is returning to the camp of her ,israel1 followed by her maid carrying the head of ,holofernes4 ,and she walks in one of ,botticelli's light dancing actions1 her drapery all on flutter1 and her hand1 like ,fortitude's1 light on the sword-hilt1 but daintily--not nervously1 the little finger laid over the cross of it4 ,and at the first glance--you will think the figure merely a piece of fifteenth-century affectation4 ',judith1 indeed6--say rather the daughter of ,herodias1 at her mincingest4' ,well1 yes--,botticelli is affected1 in the way that all men in that century necessarily were4 ,much euphuism1 much studied grace of manner1 much formal assertion of scholarship1 mingling with his force of imagination4 ,and he likes twisting the fingers of hands about1 just as ,correggio does4 ,but he never does it like ,correggio1 without cause4 ,look at ,judith again1--at her face1 not her drapery1--and remember that when a man is base at the heart1 he blights his virtues into weaknesses2 but when he is true at the heart1 he sanctifies his weaknesses into virtues4 ,it is a weakness of ,botticelli's1 this love of dancing motion and waved drapery2 but why has he given it full flight here8 ,do you happen to know anything about ,judith yourself1 except that she cut off ,holofernes' head2 and has been made the high light of about a million of vile pictures ever since1 in which the painters thought they could surely attract the public to the double show of an execution1 and a pretty woman1--especially with the added pleasure of hinting at previously ignoble sin8 ,when you go home to-day1 take the pains to write out for yourself1 in the connection ,i here place them1 the verses underneath numbered from the book of ,judith2 you will probably think of their meaning more carefully as you write4 ,begin thus3 ,now at that time1 ,judith heard thereof1 which was the daughter of ,merari1 444 the son of ,simeon1 the son of ,israel4 ,and then write out1 consecutively1 these pieces-- ,chapt4 viii41 verses #b to #h4 7,always inclusive17 and read the whole chapter4 ,chapt4 ix41 verses #a and #e to #g1 beginning this piece with the previous sentence1 ,oh ,god1 oh my ,god1 hear me also1 a widow4 ,chapt4 ix41 verses #aa to #ad4 ,chapter x41 verses #a to #e4 ,chapter xiii41 verses #f to #aj4 ,chapter xv41 verses #aa to #ac4 ,chapter xvi41 verses #a to #f4 ,chapter xvi41 verses #aa to #ae4 ,chapter xvi41 verses #ah and #ai4 ,chapter xvi41 verses #bc to #be4 ,now1 as in many other cases of noble history1 apocryphal and other1 ,i do not in the least care how far the literal facts are true4 ,the conception of facts1 and the idea of ,jewish womanhood1 are there1 grand and real as a marble statue1--possession for all ages4 ,and you will feel1 after you have read this piece of history1 or epic poetry1 with honourable care1 that there is somewhat more to be thought of and pictured in ,judith1 than painters have mostly found it in them to show you2 that she is not merely the ,jewish ,delilah to the ,assyrian ,samson2 but the mightiest1 purest1 brightest type of high passion in severe womanhood offered to our human memory4 ,sandro's picture is but slight2 but it is true to her1 and the only one ,i know that is2 and after writing out these verses1 you will see why he gives her that swift1 peaceful motion1 while you read in her face1 only sweet solemnity of dreaming thought4 ,my people delivered1 and by my hand2 and ,god has been gracious to ,his handmaid6 ,the triumph of ,miriam over a fallen host1 the fire of exulting mortal life in an immortal hour1 the purity and severity of a guardian angel--all are here2 and as her servant follows1 carrying indeed the head1 but invisible--7a mere thing to be carried--no more to be so much as thought of7--she looks only at her mistress1 with intense1 servile1 watchful love4 ,faithful1 not in these days of fear only1 but hitherto in all her life1 and afterwards forever4 ,after you have seen it enough1 look also for a little while at ,angelico's ,marriage and ,death of the ,virgin1 in the same room2 you may afterwards associate the three pictures always together in your mind4 ,and1 looking at nothing else to-day in the ,uffizi1 let us go back to ,giotto's chapel4 ,we must begin with this work on our left hand1 the ,death of ,st4 ,francis2 for it is the key to all the rest4 ,let us hear first what ,mr4 ,crowe directs us to think of it4 ,in the composition of this scene1 ,giotto produced a masterpiece1 which served as a model but too often feebly imitated by his successors4 ,good arrangement1 variety of character and expression in the heads1 unity and harmony in the whole1 make this an exceptional work of its kind4 ,as a composition1 worthy of the fourteenth century1 ,ghirlandajo and ,benedetto da ,majano both imitated1 without being able to improve it4 ,no painter ever produced its equal except ,raphael2 nor could a better be created except in so far as regards improvement in the mere rendering of form4 ,to these inspiring observations by the rapturous ,crowe1 more cautious ,cavalcasella ,footnote3 ,i venture to attribute the wiser note to ,signor ,cavalcasella because ,i have every reason to put real confidence in his judgment4 ,but it was impossible for any man1 engaged as he is1 to go over all the ground covered by so extensive a piece of critical work as these three volumes contain1 with effective attention4 appends a refrigerating note1 saying1 ,the ,st4 ,francis in the glory is new1 but the angels are in part preserved4 ,the rest has all been more or less retouched2 and no judgment can be given as to the colour of this--or any other 767--of these works4 ,you are1 therefore--instructed reader--called upon to admire a piece of art which no painter ever produced the equal of except ,raphael2 but it is unhappily deficient1 according to ,crowe1 in the mere rendering of form2 and1 according to ,signor ,cavalcasella1 no opinion can be given as to its colour4 ,warned thus of the extensive places where the ice is dangerous1 and forbidden to look here either for form or colour1 you are to admire the variety of character and expression in the heads4 ,i do not myself know how these are to be given without form or colour2 but there appears to me1 in my innocence1 to be only one head in the whole picture1 drawn up and down in different positions4 ,the unity and harmony of the whole--which make this an exceptional work of its kind--mean1 ,i suppose1 its general look of having been painted out of a scavenger's cart2 and so we are reduced to the last article of our creed according to ,crowe1-- ,in the composition of this scene ,giotto produced a masterpiece4 ,well1 possibly4 ,the question is1 ,what you mean by 'composition4' ,which1 putting modern criticism now out of our way1 ,i will ask the reader to think1 in front of this wreck of ,giotto1 with some care4 ,was it1 in the first place1 to ,giotto1 think you1 the composition of a scene1 or the conception of a fact8 ,you probably1 if a fashionable person1 have seen the apotheosis of ,margaret in ,faust8 ,you know what care is taken1 nightly1 in the composition of that scene1--how the draperies are arranged for it2 the lights turned off1 and on2 the fiddlestrings taxed for their utmost tenderness2 the bassoons exhorted to a grievous solemnity4 ,you don't believe1 however1 that any real soul of a ,margaret ever appeared to any mortal in that manner8 ,here is an apotheosis also4 ,composed6--yes2 figures high on the right and left1 low in the middle1 etc41 etc41 etc4 ,but the important questions seem to me1 ,was there ever a ,st4 ,francis8--did he ever receive stigmata8--didhis soul go up to heaven--did any monk see it rising--and did ,giotto mean to tell us so8 ,if you will be good enough to settle these few small points in your mind first1 the composition will take a wholly different aspect to you1 according to your answer4 ,nor does it seem doubtful to me what your answer1 after investigation made1 must be4 ,there assuredly was a ,st4 ,francis1 whose life and works you had better study than either to-day's ,galignani1 or whatever1 this year1 may supply the place of the ,tichborne case1 in public interest4 ,his reception of the stigmata is1 perhaps1 a marvellous instance of the power of imagination over physical conditions2 perhaps an equally marvellous instance of the swift change of metaphor into tradition2 but assuredly1 and beyond dispute1 one of the most influential1 significant1 and instructive traditions possessed by the ,church of ,christ4 ,and1 that1 if ever soul rose to heaven from the dead body1 his soul did so rise1 is equally sure4 ,and1 finally1 ,giotto believed that all he was called on to represent1 concerning ,st4 ,francis1 really had taken place1 just as surely as you1 if you are a ,christian1 believe that ,christ died and rose again2 and he represents it with all fidelity and passion3 but1 as ,i just now said1 he is a man of supreme common sense2--has as much humour and clearness of sight as ,chaucer1 and as much dislike of falsehood in clergy1 or in professedly pious people3 and in his gravest moments he will still see and say truly that what is fat1 is fat--and what is lean1 lean--and what is hollow1 empty4 ,his great point1 however1 in this fresco1 is the assertion of the reality of the stigmata against all question4 ,there is not only one ,st4 ,thomas to be convinced2 there are five2--one to each wound4 ,of these1 four are intent only on satisfying their curiosity1 and are peering or probing2 one only kisses the hand he has lifted4 ,the rest of the picture never was much more than a grey drawing of a noble burial service2 of all concerned in which1 one monk1 only1 is worthy to see the soul taken up to heaven2 and he is evidently just the monk whom nobody in the convent thought anything of4 7,his face is all repainted2 but one can gather this much1 or little1 out of it1 yet47 ,of the composition1 or unity and harmony of the whole1 as a burial service1 we may better judge after we have looked at the brighter picture of ,st4 ,francis's ,birth--birth spiritual1 that is to say1 to his native heaven2 the uppermost1 namely1 of the three subjects on this side of the chapel4 ,it is entirely characteristic of ,giotto2 much of it by his hand--all of it beautiful4 ,all important matters to be known of ,giotto you may know from this fresco4 ',but we can't see it1 even with our opera-glasses1 but all foreshortened and spoiled4 ,what is the use of lecturing us on this8' ,that is precisely the first point which is essentially ,giottesque in it2 its being so out of the way6 ,it is this which makes it a perfect specimen of the master4 ,i will tell you next something about a work of his which you can see perfectly1 just behind you on the opposite side of the wall2 but that you have half to break your neck to look at this one1 is the very first thing ,i want you to feel4 ,it is a characteristic--7as far as ,i know1 quite a universal one7--of the greatest masters1 that they never expect you to look at them2 seem always rather surprised if you want to2 and not overpleased4 ,tell them you are going to hang their picture at the upper end of the table at the next great ,city dinner1 and that ,mr4 ,so and ,so will make a speech about it2 you produce no impression upon them whatever1 or an unfavourable one4 ,the chances are ten to one they send you the most rubbishy thing they can find in their lumber-room4 ,but send for one of them in a hurry1 and tell him the rats have gnawed a nasty hole behind the parlor door1 and you want it plastered and painted over2--and he does you a masterpiece which the world will peep behind your door to look at for ever4 ,i have no time to tell you why this is so2 nor do ,i know why1 altogether2 but so it is4 ,giotto1 then1 is sent for1 to paint this high chapel3 ,i am not sure if he chose his own subjects from the life of ,st4 ,francis3 ,i think so1--but of course can't reason on the guess securely4 ,at all events1 he would have much of his own way in the matter4 ,now you must observe that painting a ,gothic chapel rightly is just the same thing as painting a ,greek vase rightly4 ,the chapel is merely the vase turned upside-down1 and outside-in4 ,the principles of decoration are exactly the same4 ,your decoration is to be proportioned to the size of your vase2 to be together delightful when you look at the cup1 or chapel1 as a whole2 to be various and entertaining when you turn the cup round2 7you turn yourself round in the chapel27 and to bend its heads and necks of figures about1 as it best can1 over the hollows1 and ins and outs1 so that anyhow1 whether too long or too short-possible or impossible--they may be living1 and full of grace4 ,you will also please take it on my word today--in another morning walk you shall have proof of it--that ,giotto was a pure ,etruscan-,greek of the thirteenth century3 converted indeed to worship ,st4 ,francis instead of ,heracles2 but as far as vase-painting goes1 precisely the ,etruscan he was before4 ,this is nothing else than a large1 beautiful1 coloured ,etruscan vase you have got1 inverted over your heads like a diving-bell4' ,footnote3 ,i observe that recent criticism is engaged in proving all ,etruscan vases to be of late manufacture1 in imitation of archaic ,greek4 ,and ,i therefore must briefly anticipate a statement which ,i shall have to enforce in following letters4 ,etruscan art remains in its own ,italian valleys1 of the ,arno and upper ,tiber1 in one unbroken series of work1 from the seventh century before ,christ1 to this hour1 when the country whitewasher still scratches his plaster in ,etruscan patterns4 ,all ,florentine work of the finest kind--,luca della ,robbia's1 ,ghiberti's1 ,donatello's1 ,filippo ,lippi's1 ,botticelli's1 ,fra ,angelico's--is absolutely pure ,etruscan1 merely changing its subjects1 and representing the ,virgin instead of ,athena1 and ,christ instead of ,jupiter4 ,every line of the ,florentine chisel in the fifteenth century is based on national principles of art which existed in the seventh century before ,christ2 and ,angelico1 in his convent of ,st4 ,dominic1 at the foot of the hill of ,fsole1 is as true an ,etruscan as the builder who laid the rude stones of the wall along its crest--of which modern civilization has used the only arch that remained for cheap building stone4 ,luckily1 ,i sketched it in #ahde4 but alas1 too carelessly1--never conceiving of the brutalities of modern ,italy as possible4 ,accordingly1 after the quatrefoil ornamentation of the top of the bell1 you get two spaces at the sides under arches1 very difficult to cramp one's picture into1 if it is to be a picture only2 but entirely provocative of our old ,etruscan instinct of ornament4 ,and1 spurred by the difficulty1 and pleased by the national character of it1 we put our best work into these arches1 utterly neglectful of the public below1--who will see the white and red and blue spaces1 at any rate1 which is all they will want to see1 thinks ,giotto1 if he ever looks down from his scaffold4 ,take the highest compartment1 then1 on the left1 looking towards the window4 ,it was wholly impossible to get the arch filled with figures1 unless they stood on each other's heads2 so ,giotto ekes it out with a piece of fine architecture4 ,raphael1 in the ,sposalizio1 does the same1 for pleasure4 ,then he puts two dainty little white figures1 bending1 on each flank1 to stop up his corners4 ,but he puts the taller inside on the right1 and outside on the left4 ,and he puts his ,greek chorus of observant and moralizing persons on each side of his main action4 ,then he puts one ,choragus--or leader of chorus1 supporting the main action--on each side4 ,then he puts the main action in the middle--which is a quarrel about that white bone of contention in the centre4 ,choragus on the right1 who sees that the bishop is going to have the best of it1 backs him serenely4 ,choragus on the left1 who sees that his impetuous friend is going to get the worst of it1 is pulling him back1 and trying to keep him quiet4 ,the subject of the picture1 which1 after you are quite sure it is good as a decoration1 but not till then1 you may be allowed to understand1 is the following4 ,one of ,st4 ,francis's three great virtues being ,obedience1 he begins his spiritual life by quarreling with his father4 ,he1 ,i suppose in modern terms ,i should say1 commercially invests some of his father's goods in charity4 ,his father objects to that investment2 on which ,st4 ,francis runs away1 taking what he can find about the house along with him4 ,his father follows to claim his property1 but finds it is all gone1 already2 and that ,st4 ,francis has made friends with the ,bishop of ,assisi4 ,his father flies into an indecent passion1 and declares he will disinherit him2 on which ,st4 ,francis then and there takes all his clothes off1 throws them frantically in his father's face1 and says he has nothing more to do with clothes or father4 ,the good ,bishop1 in tears of admiration1 embraces ,st4 ,francis1 and covers him with his own mantle4 ,i have read the picture to you as1 if ,mr4 ,spurgeon knew anything about art1 ,mr4 ,spurgeon would read it1--that is to say1 from the plain1 common sense1 ,protestant side4 ,if you are content with that view of it1 you may leave the chapel1 and1 as far as any study of history is concerned1 ,florence also2 for you can never know anything either about ,giotto1 or her4 ,yet do not be afraid of my re-reading it to you from the mystic1 nonsensical1 and ,papistical side4 ,i am going to read it to you--if after many and many a year of thought1 ,i am able--as ,giotto meant it2 ,giotto being1 as far as we know1 then the man of strongest brain and hand in ,florence2 the best friend of the best religious poet of the world2 and widely differing1 as his friend did also1 in his views of the world1 from either ,mr4 ,spurgeon1 or ,pius ,,ix4 ,the first duty of a child is to obey its father and mother2 as the first duty of a citizen to obey the laws of his state4 ,and this duty is so strict that ,i believe the only limits to it are those fixed by ,isaac and ,iphigenia4 ,on the other hand1 the father and mother have also a fixed duty to the child--not to provoke it to wrath4 ,i have never heard this text explained to fathers and mothers from the pulpit1 which is curious4 ,for it appears to me that ,god will expect the parents to understand their duty to their children1 better even than children can be expected to know their duty to their parents4 ,but farther4 ,a child's duty is to obey its parents4 ,it is never said anywhere in the ,bible1 and never was yet said in any good or wise book1 that a man's1 or woman's1 is4 ,when1 precisely1 a child becomes a man or a woman1 it can no more be said1 than when it should first stand on its legs4 ,but a time assuredly comes when it should4 ,in great states1 children are always trying to remain children1 and the parents wanting to make men and women of them4 ,in vile states1 the children are always wanting to be men and women1 and the parents to keep them children4 ,it may be--and happy the house in which it is so--that the father's at least equal intellect1 and older experience1 may remain to the end of his life a law to his children1 not of force1 but of perfect guidance1 with perfect love4 ,rarely it is so2 not often possible4 ,it is as natural for the old to be prejudiced as for the young to be presumptuous2 and1 in the change of centuries1 each generation has something to judge of for itself4 ,but this scene1 on which ,giotto has dwelt with so great force1 represents1 not the child's assertion of his independence1 but his adoption of another ,father4 ,you must not confuse the desire of this boy of ,assisi to obey ,god rather than man1 with the desire of your young cockney ,hopeful to have a latch-key1 and a separate allowance4 ,no point of duty has been more miserably warped and perverted by false priests1 in all churches1 than this duty of the young to choose whom they will serve4 ,but the duty itself does not the less exist2 and if there be any truth in ,christianity at all1 there will come1 for all true disciples1 a time when they have to take that saying to heart1 ,he that loveth father or mother more than me1 is not worthy of me4 ',loveth'--observe4 ,there is no talk of disobeying fathers or mothers whom you do not love1 or of running away from a home where you would rather not stay4 ,but to leave the home which is your peace1 and to be at enmity with those who are most dear to you1--this1 if there be meaning in ,christ's words1 one day or other will be demanded of ,his true followers4 ,and there is meaning in ,christ's words4 ,whatever misuse may have been made of them1--whatever false prophets--and ,heaven knows there have been many--have called the young children to them1 not to bless1 but to curse1 the assured fact remains1 that if you will obey ,god1 there will come a moment when the voice of man will be raised1 with all its holiest natural authority1 against you4 ,the friend and the wise adviser--the brother and the sister--the father and the master--the entire voice of your prudent and keen-sighted acquaintance--the entire weight of the scornful stupidity of the vulgar world--for once1 they will be against you1 all at one4 ,you have to obey ,god rather than man4 ,the human race1 with all its wisdom and love1 all its indignation and folly1 on one side1--,god alone on the other4 ,you have to choose4 ,that is the meaning of ,st4 ,francis's renouncing his inheritance2 and it is the beginning of ,giotto's gospel of ,works4 ,unless this hardest of deeds be done first1--this inheritance of mammon and the world cast away1--all other deeds are useless4 ,you cannot serve1 cannot obey1 ,god and mammon4 ,no charities1 no obediences1 no self-denials1 are of any use1 while you are still at heart in conformity with the world4 ,you go to church1 because the world goes4 ,you keep ,sunday1 because your neighbours keep it4 ,but you dress ridiculously1 because your neighbours ask it2 and you dare not do a rough piece of work1 because your neighbours despise it4 ,you must renounce your neighbour1 in his riches and pride1 and remember him in his distress4 ,that is ,st4 ,francis's 'disobedience4' ,and now you can understand the relation of subjects throughout the chapel1 and ,giotto's choice of them4 ,the roof has the symbols of the three virtues of labour--,poverty1 ,chastity1 ,obedience4 ,a4 ,highest on the left side1 looking to the window4 ,the life of ,st4 ,francis begins in his renunciation of the world4 ,b4 ,highest on the right side4 ,his new life is approved and ordained by the authority of the church4 ,c4 ,central on the left side4 ,he preaches to his own disciples4 ,d4 ,central on the right side4 ,he preaches to the heathen4 ,e4 ,lowest on the left side4 ,his burial4 ,f4 ,lowest on the right side4 ,his power after death4 ,besides these six subjects1 there are1 on the sides of the window1 the four great ,franciscan saints1 ,st4 ,louis of ,france1 ,st4 ,louis of ,toulouse1 ,st4 ,clare1 and ,st4 ,elizabeth of ,hungary4 ,so that you have in the whole series this much given you to think of3 first1 the law of ,st4 ,francis's conscience2 then1 his own adoption of it2 then1 the ratification of it by the ,christian ,church2 then1 his preaching it in life2 then1 his preaching it in death2 and then1 the fruits of it in his disciples4 ,i have only been able myself to examine1 or in any right sense to see1 of this code of subjects1 the first1 second1 fourth1 and the ,st4 ,louis and ,elizabeth4 ,i will ask you only to look at two more of them1 namely1 ,st4 ,francis before the ,soldan1 midmost on your right1 and ,st4 ,louis4 ,the ,soldan1 with an ordinary opera-glass1 you may see clearly enough2 and ,i think it will be first well to notice some technical points in it4 ,if the little virgin on the stairs of the temple reminded you of one composition of ,titian's1 this ,soldan should1 ,i think1 remind you of all that is greatest in ,titian2 so forcibly1 indeed1 that for my own part1 if ,i had been told that a careful early fresco by ,titian had been recovered in ,santa ,croce1 ,i could have believed both report and my own eyes1 more quickly than ,i have been able to admit that this is indeed by ,giotto4 ,it is so great that--had its principles been understood-there was in reality nothing more to be taught of art in ,italy2 nothing to be invented afterwards1 except ,dutch effects of light4 ,that there is no 'effect of light' here arrived at1 ,i beg you at once to observe as a most important lesson4 ,the subject is ,st4 ,francis challenging the ,soldan's ,magi1--fire-worshippers--to pass with him through the fire1 which is blazing red at his feet4 ,it is so hot that the two ,magi on the other side of the throne shield their faces4 ,but it is represented simply as a red mass of writhing forms of flame2 and casts no firelight whatever4 ,there is no ruby colour on anybody's nose3 there are no black shadows under anybody's chin2 there are no ,rembrandtesque gradations of gloom1 or glitterings of sword-hilt and armour4 ,is this ignorance1 think you1 in ,giotto1 and pure artlessness8 ,he was now a man in middle life1 having passed all his days in painting1 and professedly1 and almost contentiously1 painting things as he saw them4 ,do you suppose he never saw fire cast firelight8--and he the friend of ,dante6 who of all poets is the most subtle in his sense of every kind of effect of light--though he has been thought by the public to know that of fire only4 ,again and again1 his ghosts wonder that there is no shadow cast by ,dante's body2 and is the poet's friend1 because a painter1 likely1 therefore1 not to have known that mortal substance casts shadow1 and terrestrial flame1 light8 ,nay1 the passage in the ',purgatorio' where the shadows from the morning sunshine make the flames redder1 reaches the accuracy of ,newtonian science2 and does ,giotto1 think you1 all the while1 see nothing of the sort8 ,the fact was1 he saw light so intensely that he never for an instant thought of painting it4 ,he knew that to paint the sun was as impossible as to stop it2 and he was no trickster1 trying to find out ways of seeming to do what he did not4 ,i can paint a rose1--yes2 and ,i will4 ,i can't paint a red-hot coal2 and ,i won't try to1 nor seem to4 ,this was just as natural and certain a process of thinking with him1 as the honesty of it1 and true science1 were impossible to the false painters of the sixteenth century4 ,nevertheless1 what his art can honestly do to make you feel as much as he wants you to feel1 about this fire1 he will do2 and that studiously4 ,that the fire be luminous or not1 is no matter just now4 ,but that the fire is hot1 he would have you to know4 ,now1 will you notice what colours he has used in the whole picture4 ,first1 the blue background1 necessary to unite it with the other three subjects1 is reduced to the smallest possible space4 ,st4 ,francis must be in grey1 for that is his dress2 also the attendant of one of the ,magi is in grey2 but so warm1 that1 if you saw it by itself1 you would call it brown4 ,the shadow behind the throne1 which ,giotto knows he can paint1 and therefore does1 is grey also4 ,the rest of the picture ,footnote3 ,the floor has been repainted2 but though its grey is now heavy and cold1 it cannot kill the splendour of the rest4 in at least six-sevenths of its area--is either crimson1 gold1 orange1 purple1 or white1 all as warm as ,giotto could paint them2 and set off by minute spaces only of intense black1--the ,soldan's fillet at the shoulders1 his eyes1 beard1 and the points necessary in the golden pattern behind4 ,and the whole picture is one glow4 ,a single glance round at the other subjects will convince you of the special character in this2 but you will recognize also that the four upper subjects1 in which ,st4 ,francis's life and zeal are shown1 are all in comparatively warm colours1 while the two lower ones--of the death1 and the visions after it--have been kept as definitely sad and cold4 ,necessarily1 you might think1 being full of monks' dresses4 ,not so4 ,was there any need for ,giotto to have put the priest at the foot of the dead body1 with the black banner stooped over it in the shape of a grave8 ,might he not1 had he chosen1 in either fresco1 have made the celestial visions brighter8 ,might not ,st4 ,francis have appeared in the centre of a celestial glory to the dreaming ,pope1 or his soul been seen of the poor monk1 rising through more radiant clouds8 ,look1 however1 how radiant1 in the small space allowed out of the blue1 they are in reality4 ,you cannot anywhere see a lovelier piece of ,giottesque colour1 though here1 you have to mourn over the smallness of the piece1 and its isolation4 ,for the face of ,st4 ,francis himself is repainted1 and all the blue sky2 but the clouds and four sustaining angels are hardly retouched at all1 and their iridescent and exquisitely graceful wings are left with really very tender and delicate care by the restorer of the sky4 ,and no one but ,giotto or ,turner could have painted them4 ,for in all his use of opalescent and warm colour1 ,giotto is exactly like ,turner1 as1 in his swift expressional power1 he is like ,gainsborough4 ,all the other ,italian religious painters work out their expression with toil2 he only can give it with a touch4 ,all the other great ,italian colourists see only the beauty of colour1 but ,giotto also its brightness4 ,and none of the others1 except ,tintoret1 understood to the full its symbolic power2 but with those--,giotto and ,tintoret--there is always1 not only a colour harmony1 but a colour secret4 ,it is not merely to make the picture glow1 but to remind you that ,st4 ,francis preaches to a fire-worshipping king1 that ,giotto covers the wall with purple and scarlet2--and above1 in the dispute at ,assisi1 the angry father is dressed in red1 varying like passion2 and the robe with which his protector embraces ,st4 ,francis1 blue1 symbolizing the peace of ,heaven1 ,of course certain conventional colours were traditionally employed by all painters2 but only ,giotto and ,tintoret invent a symbolism of their own for every picture4 ,thus in ,tintoret's picture of the fall of the manna1 the figure of ,god the ,father is entirely robed in white1 contrary to all received custom3 in that of ,moses striking the rock1 it is surrounded by a rainbow4 ,of ,giotto's symbolism in colour at ,assisi1 ,i have given account elsewhere4 ,footnote3 ',fors ,clavigera' for ,september1 #ahgd4 ,you are not to think1 therefore1 the difference between the colour of the upper and lower frescos unintentional4 ,the life of ,st4 ,francis was always full of joy and triumph4 ,his death1 in great suffering1 weariness1 and extreme humility4 ,the tradition of him reverses that of ,elijah2 living1 he is seen in the chariot of fire2 dying1 he submits to more than the common sorrow of death4 ,there is1 however1 much more than a difference in colour between the upper and lower frescos4 ,there is a difference in manner which ,i cannot account for2 and above all1 a very singular difference in skill1--indicating1 it seems to me1 that the two lower were done long before the others1 and afterwards united and harmonized with them4 ,it is of no interest to the general reader to pursue this question2 but one point he can notice quickly1 that the lower frescos depend much on a mere black or brown outline of the features1 while the faces above are evenly and completely painted in the most accomplished ,venetian manner3--and another1 respecting the management of the draperies1 contains much interest for us4 ,giotto never succeeded1 to the very end of his days1 in representing a figure lying down1 and at ease4 ,it is one of the most curious points in all his character4 ,just the thing which he could study from nature without the smallest hindrance1 is the thing he never can paint2 while subtleties of form and gesture1 which depend absolutely on their momentariness1 and actions in which no model can stay for an instant1 he seizes with infallible accuracy4 ,not only has the sleeping ,pope1 in the right hand lower fresco1 his head laid uncomfortably on his pillow1 but all the clothes on him are in awkward angles1 even ,giotto's instinct for lines of drapery failing him altogether when he has to lay it on a reposing figure4 ,but look at the folds of the ,soldan's robe over his knees4 ,none could be more beautiful or right2 and it is to me wholly inconceivable that the two paintings should be within even twenty years of each other in date--the skill in the upper one is so supremely greater4 ,we shall find1 however1 more than mere truth in its casts of drapery1 if we examine them4 ,they are so simply right1 in the figure of the ,soldan1 that we do not think of them2--we see him only1 not his dress ,but we see dress first1 in the figures of the discomfited ,magi4 ,very fully draped personages these1 indeed1--with trains1 it appears1 four yards long1 and bearers of them4 ,the one nearest the ,soldan has done his devoir as bravely as he could2 would fain go up to the fire1 but cannot2 is forced to shield his face1 though he has not turned back4 ,giotto gives him full sweeping breadth of fold2 what dignity he can2--a man faithful to his profession1 at all events4 ,the next one has no such courage4 ,collapsed altogether1 he has nothing more to say for himself or his creed4 ,giotto hangs the cloak upon him1 in ,ghirlandajo's fashion1 as from a peg1 but with ludicrous narrowness of fold4 ,literally1 he is a 'shut-up' ,magus--closed like a fan4 ,he turns his head away1 hopelessly4 ,and the last ,magus shows nothing but his back1 disappearing through the door4 ,opposed to them1 in a modern work1 you would have had a ,st4 ,francis standing as high as he could in his sandals1 contemptuous1 denunciatory2 magnificently showing the ,magi the door4 ,no such thing1 says ,giotto4 ,a somewhat mean man2 disappointing enough in presence-even in feature2 ,i do not understand his gesture1 pointing to his forehead--perhaps meaning1 'my life1 or my head1 upon the truth of this4' ,the attendant monk behind him is terror-struck2 but will follow his master4 ,the dark ,moorish servants of the ,magi show no emotion--will arrange their masters' trains as usual1 and decorously sustain their retreat4 ,lastly1 for the ,soldan himself4 ,in a modern work1 you would assuredly have had him staring at ,st4 ,francis with his eyebrows up1 or frowning thunderously at his ,magi1 with them bent as far down as they would go4 ,neither of these aspects does he bear1 according to ,giotto4 ,a perfect gentleman and king1 he looks on his ,magi with quiet eyes of decision2 he is much the noblest person in the room--though an infidel1 the true hero of the scene1 far more than ,st4 ,francis4 ,it is evidently the ,soldan whom ,giotto wants you to think of mainly1 in this picture of ,christian missionary work4 ,he does not altogether take the view of the ,heathen which you would get in an ,exeter ,hall meeting4 ,does not expatiate on their ignorance1 their blackness1 or their nakedness4 ,does not at all think of the ,florentine ,islington and ,pentonville1 as inhabited by persons in every respect superior to the kings of the ,east2 nor does he imagine every other religion but his own to be log-worship4 ,probably the people who really worship logs--whether in ,persia or ,pentonville--will be left to worship logs to their hearts' content1 thinks ,giotto4 ,but to those who worship ,god1 and who have obeyed the laws of heaven written in their hearts1 and numbered the stars of it visible to them1--to these1 a nearer star may rise2 and a higher ,god be revealed4 ,you are to note1 therefore1 that ,giotto's ,soldan is the type of all noblest religion and law1 in countries where the name of ,christ has not been preached4 ,there was no doubt what king or people should be chosen3 the country of the three ,magi had already been indicated by the miracle of ,bethlehem2 and the religion and morality of ,zoroaster were the purest1 and in spirit the oldest1 in the heathen world4 ,therefore1 when ,dante1 in the nineteenth and twentieth books of the ,paradise1 gives his final interpretation of the law of human and divine justice in relation to the gospel of ,christ--the lower and enslaved body of the heathen being represented by ,st4 ,philip's convert1 7,christians like these the ,ethiop shall condemn7--the noblest state of heathenism is at once chosen1 as by ,giotto3 ,what may the ,persians say unto your kings8 ,compare also ,milton1-- ,at the ,soldan's chair1 ,defied the best of ,paynim chivalry4 ,and now1 the time is come for you to look at ,giotto's ,st4 ,louis1 who is the type of a ,christian king4 ,you would1 ,i suppose1 never have seen it at all1 unless ,i had dragged you here on purpose4 ,it was enough in the dark originally--is trebly darkened by the modern painted glass--and dismissed to its oblivion contentedly by ,mr4 ,murray's ,four saints1 all much restored and repainted1 and ,messrs4 ,crowe and ,cavalcasella's serene ,the ,st4 ,louis is quite new4 ,now1 ,i am the last person to call any restoration whatever1 judicious4 ,of all destructive manias1 that of restoration is the frightfullest and foolishest4 ,nevertheless1 what good1 in its miserable way1 it can bring1 the poor art scholar must now apply his common sense to take2 there is no use1 because a great work has been restored1 in now passing it by altogether1 not even looking for what instruction we still may find in its design1 which will be more intelligible1 if the restorer has had any conscience at all1 to the ordinary spectator1 than it would have been in the faded work4 ,when1 indeed1 ,mr4 ,murray's ,guide tells you that a building has been 'magnificently restored1' you may pass the building by in resigned despair2 for that means that every bit of the old sculpture has been destroyed1 and modern vulgar copies put up in its place4 ,but a restored picture or fresco will often be1 to you1 more useful than a pure one2 and in all probability--if an important piece of art--it will have been spared in many places1 cautiously completed in others1 and still assert itself in a mysterious way--as ,leonardo's ,cenacolo does--through every phase of reproduction4 ,footnote3 ,for a test of your feeling in the matter1 having looked well at these two lower frescos in this chapel1 walk round into the next1 and examine the lower one on your left hand as you enter that4 ,you will find in your ,murray that the frescos in this chapel were also till lately1 7#ahfb7 covered with whitewash2 but ,i happen to have a long critique of this particular picture written in the year #ahde1 and ,i see no change in it since then4 ,mr4 ,murray's critic also tells you to observe in it that the daughter of ,herodias playing on a violin is not unlike ,perugino's treatment of similar subjects4 ,by which ,mr4 ,murray's critic means that the male musician playing on a violin1 whom1 without looking either at his dress1 or at the rest of the fresco1 he took for the daughter of ,herodias1 has a broad face4 ,allowing you the full benefit of this criticism--there is still a point or two more to be observed4 ,this is the only fresco near the ground in which ,giotto's work is untouched1 at least1 by the modern restorer4 ,so felicitously safe it is1 that you may learn from it at once and for ever1 what good fresco painting is--how quiet--how delicately clear--how little coarsely or vulgarly attractive--how capable of the most tender light and shade1 and of the most exquisite and enduring colour4 ,in this latter respect1 this fresco stands almost alone among the works of ,giotto2 the striped curtain behind the table being wrought with a variety and fantasy of playing colour which ,paul ,veronese could not better at his best4 ,you will find1 without difficulty1 in spite of the faint tints1 the daughter of ,herodias in the middle of the picture---slowly moving1 not dancing1 to the violin music--she herself playing on a lyre4 ,in the farther corner of the picture1 she gives ,st4 ,john's head to her mother2 the face of ,herodias is almost entirely faded1 which may be a farther guarantee to you of the safety of the rest4 ,the subject of the ,apocalypse1 highest on the right1 is one of the most interesting mythic pictures in ,florence2 nor do ,i know any other so completely rendering the meaning of the scene between the woman in the wilderness1 and the ,dragon enemy4 ,but it cannot be seen from the floor level3 and ,i have no power of showing its beauty in words4 ,but ,i can assure you1 in the first place1 that ,st4 ,louis is by no means altogether new4 ,i have been up at it1 and found most lovely and true colour left in many parts3 the crown1 which you will find1 after our mornings at the ,spanish chapel1 is of importance1 nearly untouched2 the lines of the features and hair1 though all more or less reproduced1 still of definite and notable character2 and the junction throughout of added colour so careful1 that the harmony of the whole1 if not delicate with its old tenderness1 is at least1 in its coarser way1 solemn and unbroken4 ,such as the figure remains1 it still possesses extreme beauty--profoundest interest4 ,and1 as you can see it from below with your glass1 it leaves little to be desired1 and may be dwelt upon with more profit than nine out of ten of the renowned pictures of the ,tribune or the ,pitti4 ,you will enter into the spirit of it better if ,i first translate for you a little piece from the ,fioretti di ,san ,francesco4 ,how ,st4 ,louis1 ,king of ,france1 went personally in the guise of a pilgrim1 to ,perugia1 to visit the holy ,brother ,giles4--,st4 ,louis1 ,king of ,france1 went on pilgrimage to visit the sanctuaries of the world2 and hearing the most great fame of the holiness of ,brother ,giles1 who had been among the first companions of ,st4 ,francis1 put it in his heart1 and determined assuredly that he would visit him personally2 wherefore he came to ,perugia1 where was then staying the said brother4 ,and coming to the gate of the place of the ,brothers1 with few companions1 and being unknown1 he asked with great earnestness for ,brother ,giles1 telling nothing to the porter who he was that asked4 ,the porter1 therefore1 goes to ,brother ,giles1 and says that there is a pilgrim asking for him at the gate4 ,and by ,god it was inspired in him and revealed that it was the ,king of ,france2 whereupon quickly with great fervour he left his cell and ran to the gate1 and without any question asked1 or ever having seen each other before1 kneeling down together with greatest devotion1 they embraced and kissed each other with as much familiarity as if for a long time they had held great friendship2 but all the while neither the one nor the other spoke1 but stayed1 so embraced1 with such signs of charitable love1 in silence4 ,and so having remained for a great while1 they parted from one another1 and ,st4 ,louis went on his way1 and ,brother ,giles returned to his cell4 ,and the ,king being gone1 one of the brethren asked of his companion who he was1 who answered that he was the ,king of ,france4 ,of which the other brothers being told1 were in the greatest melancholy because ,brother ,giles had never said a word to him2 and murmuring at it1 they said1 ',oh1 ,brother ,giles1 wherefore hadst thou so country manners that to so holy a king1 who had come from ,france to see thee and hear from thee some good word1 thou hast spoken nothing8' ,answered ,brother ,giles3 ',dearest brothers1 wonder not ye at this1 that neither ,i to him1 nor he to me1 could speak a word2 for so soon as we had embraced1 the light of the divine wisdom revealed and manifested1 to me1 his heart1 and to him1 mine2 and so by divine operation we looked each in the other's heart on what we would have said to one another1 and knew it better far than if we had spoken with the mouth1 and with more consolation1 because of the defect of the human tongue1 which cannot clearly express the secrets of ,god1 and would have been for discomfort rather than comfort4 ,and know1 therefore1 that the ,king parted from me marvellously content1 and comforted in his mind4' ,of all which story1 not a word1 of course1 is credible by any rational person4 ,certainly not3 the spirit1 nevertheless1 which created the story1 is an entirely indisputable fact in the history of ,italy and of mankind4 ,whether ,st4 ,louis and ,brother ,giles ever knelt together in the street of ,perugia matters not a whit4 ,that a king and a poor monk could be conceived to have thoughts of each other which no words could speak2 and that indeed the ,king's tenderness and humility made such a tale credible to the people1--this is what you have to meditate on here4 ,nor is there any better spot in the world1--whencesoever your pilgrim feet may have journeyed to it1 wherein to make up so much mind as you have in you for the making1 concerning the nature of ,kinghood and ,princedom generally2 and of the forgeries and mockeries of both which are too often manifested in their room4 ,for it happens that this ,christian and this ,persian ,king are better painted here by ,giotto than elsewhere by any one1 so as to give you the best attainable conception of the ,christian and ,heathen powers which have both received1 in the book which ,christians profess to reverence1 the same epithet as the ,king of the ,jews ,himself2 anointed1 or ,christos3--and as the most perfect ,christian ,kinghood was exhibited in the life1 partly real1 partly traditional1 of ,st4 ,louis1 so the most perfect ,heathen ,kinghood was exemplified in the life1 partly real1 partly traditional1 of ,cyrus of ,persia1 and in the laws for human government and education which had chief force in his dynasty4 ,and before the images of these two ,kings ,i think therefore it will be well that you should read the charge to ,cyrus1 written by ,isaiah4 ,the second clause of it1 if not all1 will here become memorable to you--literally illustrating1 as it does1 the very manner of the defeat of the ,zoroastrian ,magi1 on which ,giotto founds his ,triumph of ,faith4 ,i write the leading sentences continuously2 what ,i omit is only their amplification1 which you can easily refer to at home4 7,isaiah xliv4 #bd1 to xlv4 #ac47 ,thus saith the ,lord1 thy ,redeemer1 and he that formed thee from the womb4 ,i the ,lord that maketh all2 that stretcheth forth the heavens1 alone2 that spreadeth abroad the earth1 alone2 that turneth wise men backward1 and maketh their knowledge1 foolish2 that confirmeth the word of his ,servant1 and fulfilleth the counsel of his messengers3 that saith of ,cyrus1 ,he is my ,shepherd1 and shall perform all my pleasure1 even saying to ,jerusalem1 'thou shalt be built1' and to the temple1 'thy foundations shall be laid4 ,thus saith the ,lord to his ,christ2--to ,cyrus1 whose right hand ,i have holden1 to subdue nations before him1 and ,i will loose the loins of ,kings4 ,i will go before thee1 and make the crooked places straight2 ,i will break in pieces the gates of brass1 and cut in sunder the bars of iron2 and ,i will give thee the treasures of darkness1 and hidden riches of secret places1 that thou mayest know that ,i the ,lord1 which call thee by thy name1 am the ,god of ,israel4 ,for ,jacob my servant's sake1 and ,israel mine elect1 ,i have even called thee by thy name2 ,i have surnamed thee1 though thou hast not known me4 ,i am the ,lord1 and there is none else2 there is no ,god beside me4 ,i girded thee1 though thou hast not known me4 ,that they may know1 from the rising of the sun1 and from the west1 that there is none beside me2 ,i am the ,lord and there is none else4 ,i form the light1 and create darkness2 ,i make peace1 and create evil4 ,i the ,lord do all these things4 ,i have raised him up in ,righteousness1 and will direct all his ways2 he shall build my city1 and let go my captives1 not for price nor reward1 saith the ,lord of ,nations4 ,to this last verse1 add the ordinance of ,cyrus in fulfilling it1 that you may understand what is meant by a ,king's being raised up in ,righteousness1 and notice1 with respect to the picture under which you stand1 the ,persian ,king's thought of the ,jewish temple4 ,in the first year of the reign of ,cyrus1 ,footnote3 #ast ,esdras vi4 #bd4 ,king ,cyrus commanded that the house of the ,lord at ,jerusalem should be built again1 where they do service with perpetual fire2 7the italicized sentence is ,darius's1 quoting ,cyrus's decree--the decree itself worded thus71 ,thus saith ,cyrus1 ,king of ,persia3 ,footnote3 ,ezra i4 #c1 and #bnd ,esdras ii4 #c4 ,the ,lord ,god of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth1 and he hath charged me to build him an house at ,jerusalem4 ,who is there among you of all his people8--his ,god be with him1 and let him go up to ,jerusalem which is in ,judah1 and let the men of his place help him with silver and with gold1 and with goods and with beasts4 ,between which bringing the prisoners out of captivity and modern liberty1 free trade1 and anti-slavery eloquence1 there is no small interval4 ,to these two ideals of ,kinghood1 then1 the boy has reached1 since the day he was drawing the lamb on the stone1 as ,cimabue passed by4 ,you will not find two other such1 that ,i know of1 in the west of ,europe2 and yet there has been many a try at the painting of crowned heads1--and ,king ,george ,,iii and ,queen ,charlotte1 by ,sir ,joshua ,reynolds1 are very fine1 no doubt4 ,also your black-muzzled kings of ,velasquez1 and ,vandyke's long-haired and white-handed ones2 and ,rubens' riders--in those handsome boots4 ,pass such shadows of them as you can summon1 rapidly before your memory--then look at this ,st4 ,louis4 ,his face--gentle1 resolute1 glacial-pure1 thin-cheeked2 so sharp at the chin that the entire head is almost of the form of a knight's shield--the hair short on the forehead1 falling on each side in the old ,greek-,etruscan curves of simplest line1 to the neck2 ,i don't know if you can see without being nearer1 the difference in the arrangement of it on the two sides-the mass of it on the right shoulder bending inwards1 while that on the left falls straight4 ,it is one of the pretty changes which a modern workman would never dream of--and which assures me the restorer has followed the old lines rightly4 ,he wears a crown formed by an hexagonal pyramid1 beaded with pearls on the edges3 and walled round1 above the brow1 with a vertical fortress-parapet1 as it were1 rising into sharp pointed spines at the angles3 it is chasing of gold with pearl--beautiful in the remaining work of it2 the ,soldan wears a crown of the same general form2 the hexagonal outline signifying all order1 strength1 and royal economy4 ,we shall see farther symbolism of this kind1 soon1 by ,simon ,memmi1 in the ,spanish chapel4 ,i cannot tell you anything definite of the two other frescos--for ,i can only examine one or two pictures in a day2 and never begin with one till ,i have done with another2 and ,i had to leave ,florence without looking at these--even so far as to be quite sure of their subjects4 ,the central one on the left is either the twelfth subject of ,assisi--,st4 ,francis in ,ecstacy2 ,footnote3 ,represented 7next to ,st4 ,francis before the ,soldan1 at ,assisi7 as seen one night by the brethren1 praying1 elevated from the ground1 his hands extended like the cross1 and surrounded by a shining cloud4--,lord ,lindsay4 or the eighteenth1 the ,apparition of ,st4 ,francis at ,arles2 ,footnote3 ,st4 ,anthony of ,padua was preaching at a general chapter of the order1 held at ,arles1 in #abbd1 when ,st4 ,francis appeared in the midst1 his arms extended1 and in an attitude of benediction4--,lord ,lindsay4 while the lowest on the right may admit choice between two subjects in each half of it3 my own reading of them would be--that they are the twenty-first and twenty-fifth subjects of ,assisi1 the ,dying ,friar ,footnote3 ,a brother of the order1 lying on his deathbed1 saw the spirit of ,st4 ,francis rising to heaven1 and springing forward1 cried1 ',tarry1 ,father1 ,i come with thee6' and fell back dead4--,lord ,lindsay4 and ,vision of ,pope ,gregory ,,ix42 ,footnote3 ,he hesitated1 before canonizing ,st4 ,francis2 doubting the celestial infliction of the stigmata4 ,st4 ,francis appeared to him in a vision1 and with a severe countenance reproving his unbelief1 opened his robe1 and1 exposing the wound in his side1 filled a vial with the blood that flowed from it1 and gave it to the ,pope1 who awoke and found it in his hand4--,lord ,lindsay4 but ,crowe and ,cavalcasella may be right in their different interpretation2 ,footnote3 ,as ,st4 ,francis was carried on his bed of sickness to ,st4 ,maria degli ,angeli1 he stopped at an hospital on the roadside1 and ordering his attendants to turn his head in the direction of ,assisi1 he rose in his litter and said1 ',blessed be thou amongst cities6 may the blessing of ,god cling to thee1 oh holy place1 for by thee shall many souls be saved2' and1 having said this1 he lay down and was carried on to ,st4 ,maria degli ,angeli4 ,on the evening of the #dth of ,october his death was revealed at the very hour to the bishop of ,assisi on ,mount ,sarzana4--,crowe and ,cavalcasella4 in any case1 the meaning of the entire system of work remains unchanged1 as ,i have given it above4 ,,the ,,fourth ,,morning4 ,,the ,,vaulted ,,book4 ,as early as may be this morning1 let us look for a minute or two into the cathedral3--,i was going to say1 entering by one of the side doors of the aisles2--but we can't do anything else1 which perhaps might not strike you unless you were thinking specially of it4 ,there are no transept doors2 and one never wanders round to the desolate front4 ,from either of the side doors1 a few paces will bring you to the middle of the nave1 and to the point opposite the middle of the third arch from the west end2 where you will find yourself--if well in the mid-wave--standing on a circular slab of green porphyry1 which marks the former place of the grave of the bishop ,zenobius4 ,the larger inscription1 on the wide circle of the floor outside of you1 records the translation of his body2 the smaller one round the stone at your feet--quiescimus1 domum hanc quum adimus ultimam--is a painful truth1 ,i suppose1 to travellers like us1 who never rest anywhere now1 if we can help it4 ,resting here1 at any rate1 for a few minutes1 look up to the whitewashed vaulting of the compartment of the roof next the west end4 ,you will see nothing whatever in it worth looking at4 ,nevertheless1 look a little longer4 ,but the longer you look1 the less you will understand why ,i tell you to look4 ,it is nothing but a whitewashed ceiling3 vaulted indeed1--but so is many a tailor's garret window1 for that matter4 ,indeed1 now that you have looked steadily for a minute or so1 and are used to the form of the arch1 it seems to become so small that you can almost fancy it the ceiling of a good-sized lumber-room in an attic4 ,having attained to this modest conception of it1 carry your eyes back to the similar vault of the second compartment1 nearer you4 ,very little further contemplation will reduce that also to the similitude of a moderately-sized attic4 ,and then1 resolving to bear1 if possible--for it is worth while1--the cramp in your neck for another quarter of a minute1 look right up to the third vault1 over your head2 which1 if not1 in the said quarter of a minute1 reducible in imagination to a tailor's garret1 will at least sink1 like the two others1 into the semblance of a common arched ceiling1 of no serious magnitude or majesty4 ,then1 glance quickly down from it to the floor1 and round at the space1 7included between the four pillars71 which that vault covers4 ,it is sixty feet square1,footnote3 ,approximately4 ,thinking ,i could find the dimensions of the duomo anywhere1 ,i only paced it myself1--and cannot1 at this moment1 lay my hand on ,english measurements of it4--four hundred square yards of pavement1--and ,i believe you will have to look up again more than once or twice1 before you can convince yourself that the mean-looking roof is swept indeed over all that twelfth part of an acre4 ,and still less1 if ,i mistake not1 will you1 without slow proof1 believe1 when you turn yourself round towards the east end1 that the narrow niche 7it really looks scarcely more than a niche7 which occupies1 beyond the dome1 the position of our northern choirs1 is indeed the unnarrowed elongation of the nave1 whose breadth extends round you like a frozen lake4 ,from which experiments and comparisons1 your conclusion1 ,i think1 will be1 and ,i am sure it ought to be1 that the most studious ingenuity could not produce a design for the interior of a building which should more completely hide its extent1 and throw away every common advantage of its magnitude1 than this of the ,duomo of ,florence4 ,having arrived at this1 ,i assure you1 quite securely tenable conclusion1 we will quit the cathedral by the western door1 for once1 and as quickly as we can walk1 return to the ,green cloister of ,sta4 ,maria ,novella2 and place ourselves on the south side of it1 so as to see as much as we can of the entrance1 on the opposite side1 to the so-called ',spanish ,chapel4' ,there is1 indeed1 within the opposite cloister1 an arch of entrance1 plain enough4 ,but no chapel1 whatever1 externally manifesting itself as worth entering4 ,no walls1 or gable1 or dome1 raised above the rest of the outbuildings--only two windows with traceries opening into the cloister2 and one story of inconspicuous building above4 ,you can't conceive there should be any effect of magnitude produced in the interior1 however it has been vaulted or decorated4 ,it may be pretty1 but it cannot possibly look large4 ,entering it1 nevertheless1 you will be surprised at the effect of height1 and disposed to fancy that the circular window cannot surely be the same you saw outside1 looking so low1 ,i had to go out again1 myself1 to make sure that it was4 ,and gradually1 as you let the eye follow the sweep of the vaulting arches1 from the small central keystone-boss1 with the ,lamp carved on it1 to the broad capitals of the hexagonal pillars at the angles1--there will form itself in your mind1 ,i think1 some impression not only of vastness in the building1 but of great daring in the builder2 and at last1 after closely following out the lines of a fresco or two1 and looking up and up again to the coloured vaults1 it will become to you literally one of the grandest places you ever entered1 roofed without a central pillar4 ,you will begin to wonder that human daring ever achieved anything so magnificent4 ,but just go out again into the cloister1 and recover knowledge of the facts4 ,it is nothing like so large as the blank arch which at home we filled with brickbats or leased for a gin-shop under the last railway we made to carry coals to ,newcastle4 ,and if you pace the floor it covers1 you will find it is three feet less one way1 and thirty feet less the other1 than that single square of the ,cathedral which was roofed like a tailor's loft1--accurately1 for ,i did measure here1 myself1 the floor of the ,spanish chapel is fifty-seven feet by thirty-two4 ,i hope1 after this experience1 that you will need no farther conviction of the first law of noble building1 that grandeur depends on proportion and design--not1 except in a quite secondary degree1 on magnitude4 ,mere size has1 indeed1 under all disadvantage1 some definite value2 and so has mere splendour4 ,disappointed as you may be1 or at least ought to be1 at first1 by ,st4 ,peter's1 in the end you will feel its size1--and its brightness4 ,these are all you can feel in it--it is nothing more than the pump-room at ,leamington built bigger2--but the bigness tells at last3 and ,corinthian pillars whose capitals alone are ten feet high1 and their acanthus leaves1 three feet six long1 give you a serious conviction of the infallibility of the ,pope1 and the fallibility of the wretched ,corinthians1 who invented the style indeed1 but built with capitals no bigger than hand-baskets4 ,vastness has thus its value4 ,but the glory of architecture is to be--whatever you wish it to be1--lovely1 or grand1 or comfortable1--on such terms as it can easily obtain4 ,grand1 by proportion--lovely1 by imagination--comfortable1 by ingenuity--secure1 by honesty3 with such materials and in such space as you have got to give it4 ,grand--by proportion1 ,i said2 but ought to have said by disproportion4 ,beauty is given by the relation of parts--size1 by their comparison4 ,the first secret in getting the impression of size in this chapel is the disproportion between pillar and arch4 ,you take the pillar for granted1--it is thick1 strong1 and fairly high above your head4 ,you look to the vault springing from it--and it soars away1 nobody knows where4 ,another great1 but more subtle secret is in the inequality and immeasurability of the curved lines2 and the hiding of the form by the colour4 ,to begin1 the room1 ,i said1 is fifty-seven feet wide1 and only thirty-two deep4 ,it is thus nearly one-third larger in the direction across the line of entrance1 which gives to every arch1 pointed and round1 throughout the roof1 a different spring from its neighbours4 ,the vaulting ribs have the simplest of all profiles--that of a chamfered beam4 ,i call it simpler than even that of a square beam2 for in barking a log you cheaply get your chamfer1 and nobody cares whether the level is alike on each side3 but you must take a larger tree1 and use much more work to get a square4 ,and it is the same with stone4 ,and this profile is--fix the conditions of it1 therefore1 in your mind1--venerable in the history of mankind as the origin of all ,gothic tracery-mouldings2 venerable in the history of the ,christian ,church as that of the roof ribs1 both of the lower church of ,assisi1 bearing the scroll of the precepts of ,st4 ,francis1 and here at ,florence1 bearing the scroll of the faith of ,st4 ,dominic4 ,if you cut it out in paper1 and cut the corners off farther and farther1 at every cut1 you will produce a sharper profile of rib1 connected in architectural use with differently treated styles4 ,but the entirely venerable form is the massive one in which the angle of the beam is merely1 as it were1 secured and completed in stability by removing its too sharp edge4 ,well1 the vaulting ribs1 as in ,giotto's vault1 then1 have here1 under their painting1 this rude profile3 but do not suppose the vaults are simply the shells cast over them4 ,look how the ornamental borders fall on the capitals6 ,the plaster receives all sorts of indescribably accommodating shapes--the painter contracting and stopping his design upon it as it happens to be convenient4 ,you can't measure anything2 you can't exhaust2 you can't grasp1--except one simple ruling idea1 which a child can grasp1 if it is interested and intelligent3 namely1 that the room has four sides with four tales told upon them2 and the roof four quarters1 with another four tales told on those4 ,and each history in the sides has its correspondent history in the roof4 ,generally1 in good ,italian decoration1 the roof represents constant1 or essential facts2 the walls1 consecutive histories arising out of them1 or leading up to them4 ,thus here1 the roof represents in front of you1 in its main quarter1 the ,resurrection--the cardinal fact of ,christianity2 opposite 7above1 behind you71 the ,ascension2 on your left hand1 the descent of the ,holy ,spirit2 on your right1 ,christ's perpetual presence with ,his ,church1 symbolized by ,his appearance on the ,sea of ,galilee to the disciples in the storm4 ,the correspondent walls represent3 under the first quarter1 7the ,resurrection71 the story of the ,crucifixion2 under the second quarter1 7the ,ascension71 the preaching after that departure1 that ,christ will return--symbolized here in the ,dominican church by the consecration of ,st4 ,dominic2 under the third quarter1 7the descent of the ,holy ,spirit71 the disciplining power of human virtue and wisdom2 under the fourth quarter1 7,st4 ,peter's ,ship71 the authority and government of the ,state and ,church4 ,the order of these subjects1 chosen by the ,dominican monks themselves1 was sufficiently comprehensive to leave boundless room for the invention of the painter4 ,the execution of it was first intrusted to ,taddeo ,gaddi1 the best architectural master of ,giotto's school1 who painted the four quarters of the roof entirely1 but with no great brilliancy of invention1 and was beginning to go down one of the sides1 when1 luckily1 a man of stronger brain1 his friend1 came from ,siena4 ,taddeo thankfully yielded the room to him2 he joined his own work to that of his less able friend in an exquisitely pretty and complimentary way2 throwing his own greater strength into it1 not competitively1 but gradually and helpfully4 ,when1 however1 he had once got himself well joined1 and softly1 to the more simple work1 he put his own force on with a will and produced the most noble piece of pictorial philosophy ,footnote3 ,there is no philosophy taught either by the school of ,athens or ,michael ,angelo's ',last ,judgment1' and the ',disputa' is merely a graceful assemblage of authorities1 the effects of such authority not being shown4 and divinity existing in ,italy4 ,this pretty1 and1 according to all evidence by me attainable1 entirely true1 tradition has been all but lost1 among the ruins of fair old ,florence1 by the industry of modern mason-critics--who1 without exception1 labouring under the primal 7and necessarily unconscious7 disadvantage of not knowing good work from bad1 and never1 therefore1 knowing a man by his hand or his thoughts1 would be in any case sorrowfully at the mercy of mistakes in a document2 but are tenfold more deceived by their own vanity1 and delight in overthrowing a received idea1 if they can4 ,farther3 as every fresco of this early date has been retouched again and again1 and often painted half over1--and as1 if there has been the least care or respect for the old work in the restorer1 he will now and then follow the old lines and match the old colours carefully in some places1 while he puts in clearly recognizable work of his own in others1--two critics1 of whom one knows the first man's work well1 and the other the last's1 will contradict each other to almost any extent on the securest grounds4 ,and there is then no safe refuge for an uninitiated person but in the old tradition1 which1 if not literally true1 is founded assuredly on some root of fact which you are likely to get at1 if ever1 through it only4 ,so that my general directions to all young people going to ,florence or ,rome would be very short3 ,know your first volume of ,vasari1 and your two first books of ,livy2 look about you1 and don't talk1 nor listen to talking4 ,on those terms1 you may know1 entering this chapel1 that in ,michael ,angelo's time1 all ,florence attributed these frescos to ,taddeo ,gaddi and ,simon ,memmi4 ,i have studied neither of these artists myself with any speciality of care1 and cannot tell you positively1 anything about them or their works4 ,but ,i know good work from bad1 as a cobbler knows leather1 and ,i can tell you positively the quality of these frescos1 and their relation to contemporary panel pictures2 whether authentically ascribed to ,gaddi1 ,memmi1 or any one else1 it is for the ,florentine ,academy to decide4 ,the roof1 and the north side1 down to the feet of the horizontal line of sitting figures1 were originally third-rate work of the school of ,giotto2 the rest of the chapel was originally1 and most of it is still1 magnificent work of the school of ,siena4 ,the roof and north side have been heavily repainted in1 many places2 the rest is faded and injured1 but not destroyed in its most essential qualities4 ,and now1 farther1 you must bear with just a little bit of tormenting history of painters4 ,there were two ,gaddis1 father and son1--,taddeo and ,angelo4 ,and there were two ,memmis1 brothers1--,simon and ,philip4 ,i daresay you will find1 in the modern books1 that ,simon's real name was ,peter1 and ,philip's real name was ,bartholomew2 and ,angelo's real name was ,taddeo1 and ,taddeo's real name was ,angelo2 and ,memmi's real name was ,gaddi1 and ,gaddi's real name was ,memmi4 ,you may find out all that at your leisure1 afterwards1 if you like4 ,what it is important for you to know here1 in the ,spanish ,chapel1 is only this much that follows3--,there were certainly two persons once called ,gaddi1 both rather stupid in religious matters and high art2 but one of them1 ,i don't know or care which1 a true decorative painter of the most exquisite skill1 a perfect architect1 an amiable person1 and a great lover of pretty domestic life4 ,vasari says this was the father1 ,taddeo4 ,he built the ,ponte ,vecchio2 and the old stones of it--which if you ever look at anything on the ,ponte ,vecchio but the shops1 you may still see 7above those wooden pent-houses7 with the ,florentine shield--were so laid by him that they are unshaken to this day4 ,he painted an exquisite series of frescos at ,assisi from the ,life of ,christ2 in which1--just to show you what the man's nature is1--when the ,madonna has given ,christ into ,simeon's arms1 she can't help holding out her own arms to him1 and saying1 7visibly17 ,won't you come back to mamma8 ,the child laughs his answer--,i love you1 mamma2 but ,i'm quite happy just now4 ,well2 he1 or he and his son together1 painted these four quarters of the roof of the ,spanish ,chapel4 ,they were very probably much retouched afterwards by ,antonio ,veneziano1 or whomsoever ,messrs4 ,crowe and ,cavalcasella please2 but that architecture in the descent of the ,holy ,ghost is by the man who painted the north transept of ,assisi1 and there need be no more talk about the matter1--for you never catch a restorer doing his old architecture right again4 ,and farther1 the ornamentation of the vaulting ribs is by the man who painted the ,entombment1 ,no4 #ca in the ,galerie des ,grands ,tableaux1 in the catalogue of the ,academy for #ahgd4 ,whether that picture is ,taddeo ,gaddi's or not1 as stated in the catalogue1 ,i do not know2 but ,i know the vaulting ribs of the ,spanish ,chapel are painted by the same hand4 ,again3 of the two brothers ,memmi1 one or other1 ,i don't know or care which1 had an ugly way of turning the eyes of his figures up and their mouths down2 of which you may see an entirely disgusting example in the four saints attributed to ,filippo ,memmi on the cross wall of the north 7called always in ,murray's guide the south1 because he didn't notice the way the church was built7 transept of ,assisi4 ,you may1 however1 also see the way the mouth goes down in the much repainted1 but still characteristic ,no4 #i in the ,uffizii4 ,footnote3 ,this picture bears the inscription 7,i quote from the ,french catalogue1 not having verified it myself71 ,simon ,martini1 et ,lippus ,memmi de ,senis me pinxerunt4 ,i have no doubt whatever1 myself1 that the two brothers worked together on these frescoes of the ,spanish ,chapel3 but that most of the ,limbo is ,philip's1 and the ,paradise1 scarcely with his interference1 ,simon's4 ,now ,i catch the wring and verjuice of this brother again and again1 among the minor heads of the lower frescoes in this ,spanish ,chapel4 ,the head of the ,queen beneath ,noah1 in the ,limbo1--7see below7 is unmistakable4 ,farther3 one of the two brothers1 ,i don't care which1 had a way of painting leaves2 of which you may see a notable example in the rod in the hand of ,gabriel in that same picture of the ,annunciation in the ,uffizii4 ,no ,florentine painter1 or any other1 ever painted leaves as well as that1 till you get down to ,sandro ,botticelli1 who did them much better4 ,but the man who painted that rod in the hand of ,gabriel1 painted the rod in the right hand of ,logic in the ,spanish ,chapel1--and nobody else in ,florence1 or the world1 could4 ,farther 7and this is the last of the antiquarian business72 you see that the frescoes on the roof are1 on the whole1 dark with much blue and red in them1 the white spaces coming out strongly4 ,this is the characteristic colouring of the partially defunct school of ,giotto1 becoming merely decorative1 and passing into a colourist school which connected itself afterwards with the ,venetians4 ,there is an exquisite example of all its specialities in the little ,annunciation in the ,uffizii1 ,no4 #ad1 attributed to ,angelo ,gaddi1 in which you see the ,madonna is stupid1 and the angel stupid1 but the colour of the whole1 as a piece of painted glass1 lovely2 and the execution exquisite1--at once a painter's and jeweller's2 with subtle sense of chiaroscuro underneath2 7note the delicate shadow of the ,madonna's arm across her breast74 ,the head of this school was 7according to ,vasari7 ,taddeo ,gaddi2 and henceforward1 without further discussion1 ,i shall speak of him as the painter of the roof of the ,spanish ,chapel1--not without suspicion1 however1 that his son ,angelo may hereafter turn out to have been the better decorator1 and the painter of the frescoes from the life of ,christ in the north transept of ,assisi1--with such assistance as his son or scholars might give--and such change or destruction as time1 ,antonio ,veneziano1 or the last operations of the ,tuscan railroad company1 may have effected on them4 ,on the other hand1 you see that the frescos on the walls are of paler colours1 the blacks coming out of these clearly1 rather than the whites2 but the pale colours1 especially1 for instance1 the whole of the ,duomo of ,florence in that on your right1 very tender and lovely4 ,also1 you may feel a tendency to express much with outline1 and draw1 more than paint1 in the most interesting parts2 while in the duller ones1 nasty green and yellow tones come out1 which prevent the effect of the whole from being very pleasant4 ,these characteristics belong1 on the whole1 to the school of ,siena2 and they indicate here the work assuredly of a man of vast power and most refined education1 whom ,i shall call without further discussion1 during the rest of this and the following morning's study1 ,simon ,memmi4 ,and of the grace and subtlety with which he joined his work to that of the ,gaddis1 you may judge at once by comparing the ,christ standing on the fallen gate of the ,limbo1 with the ,christ in the ,resurrection above4 ,memmi has retained the dress and imitated the general effect of the figure in the roof so faithfully that you suspect no difference of mastership--nay1 he has even raised the foot in the same awkward way3 but you will find ,memmi's foot delicately drawn-,taddeo's1 hard and rude3 and all the folds of ,memmi's drapery cast with unbroken grace and complete gradations of shade1 while ,taddeo's are rigid and meagre2 also in the heads1 generally ,taddeo's type of face is square in feature1 with massive and inelegant clusters or volutes of hair and beard2 but ,memmi's delicate and long in feature1 with much divided and flowing hair1 often arranged with exquisite precision1 as in the finest ,greek coins4 ,examine successively in this respect only the heads of ,adam1 ,abel1 ,methuselah1 and ,abraham1 in the ,limbo1 and you will not confuse the two designers any more4 ,i have not had time to make out more than the principal figures in the ,limbo1 of which indeed the entire dramatic power is centred in the ,adam and ,eve4 ,the latter dressed as a nun1 in her fixed gaze on ,christ1 with her hands clasped1 is of extreme beauty3 and however feeble the work of any early painter may be1 in its decent and grave inoffensiveness it guides the imagination unerringly to a certain point4 ,how far you are yourself capable of filling up what is left untold and conceiving1 as a reality1 ,eve's first look on this her child1 depends on no painter's skill1 but on your own understanding4 ,just above ,eve is ,abel1 bearing the lamb3 and behind him1 ,noah1 between his wife and ,shem3 behind them1 ,abraham1 between ,isaac and ,ishmael2 7turning from ,ishmael to ,isaac71 behind these1 ,moses1 between ,aaron and ,david4 ,i have not identified the others1 though ,i find the white-bearded figure behind ,eve called ,methuselah in my notes3 ,i know not on what authority4 ,looking up from these groups1 however1 to the roof painting1 you will at once feel the imperfect grouping and ruder features of all the figures2 and the greater depth of colour4 ,we will dismiss these comparatively inferior paintings at once4 ,the roof and walls must be read together1 each segment of the roof forming an introduction to1 or portion of1 the subject on the wall below4 ,but the roof must first be looked at alone1 as the work of ,taddeo ,gaddi1 for the artistic qualities and failures of it4 ,i4 ,in front1 as you enter1 is the compartment with the subject of the ,resurrection4 ,it is the traditional ,byzantine composition3 the guards sleeping1 and the two angels in white saying to the women1 ,he is not here1 while ,christ is seen rising with the flag of the ,cross4 ,but it would be difficult to find another example of the subject1 so coldly treated--so entirely without passion or action4 ,the faces are expressionless2 the gestures powerless4 ,evidently the painter is not making the slightest effort to conceive what really happened1 but merely repeating and spoiling what he could remember of old design1 or himself supply of commonplace for immediate need4 ,the ,noli me tangere1 on the right1 is spoiled from ,giotto1 and others before him2 a peacock1 woefully plumeless and colourless1 a fountain1 an ill drawn toy-horse1 and two toy-children gathering flowers1 are emaciate remains of ,greek symbols4 ,he has taken pains with the vegetation1 but in vain4 ,yet ,taddeo ,gaddi was a true painter1 a very beautiful designer1 and a very amiable person4 ,how comes he to do that ,resurrection so badly8 ,in the first place1 he was probably tired of a subject which was a great strain to his feeble imagination2 and gave it up as impossible3 doing simply the required figures in the required positions4 ,in the second1 he was probably at the time despondent and feeble because of his master's death4 ,see ,lord ,lindsay1 ,,ii4 #bgc1 where also it is pointed out that in the effect of the light proceeding from the figure of ,christ1 ,taddeo ,gaddi indeed was the first of the ,giottisti who showed true sense of light and shade4 ,but until ,lionardo's time the innovation did not materially affect ,florentine art4 ,,ii4 ,the ,ascension 7opposite the ,resurrection1 and not worth looking at1 except for the sake of making more sure our conclusions from the first fresco74 ,the ,madonna is fixed in ,byzantine stiffness1 without ,byzantine dignity4 ,,iii4 ,the ,descent of the ,holy ,ghost1 on the left hand4 ,the ,madonna and disciples are gathered in an upper chamber3 underneath are the ,parthians1 ,medes1 ,elamites1 etc41 who hear them speak in their own tongues4 ,three dogs are in the foreground--their mythic purpose the same as that of the two verses which affirm the fellowship of the dog in the journey and return of ,tobias3 namely1 to mark the share of the lower animals in the gentleness given by the outpouring of the ,spirit of ,christ4 ,,iv4 ,the ,church sailing on the ,sea of the ,world4 ,st4 ,peter coming to ,christ on the water4 ,i was too little interested in the vague symbolism of this fresco to examine it with care--the rather that the subject beneath1 the literal contest of the ,church with the world1 needed more time for study in itself alone than ,i had for all ,florence4 ,on this1 and the opposite side of the chapel1 are represented1 by ,simon ,memmi's hand1 the teaching power of the ,spirit of ,god1 and the saving power of the ,christ of ,god1 in the world1 according to the understanding of ,florence in his time4 ,we will take the side of ,intellect first1 beneath the pouring forth of the ,holy ,spirit4 ,in the point of the arch beneath1 are the three ,evangelical ,virtues4 ,without these1 says ,florence1 you can have no science4 ,without ,love1 ,faith1 and ,hope--no intelligence4 ,under these are the four ,cardinal ,virtues1 the entire group being thus arranged3-- ,a ,b ,c ,d ,e ,f ,g ,a1 ,charity2 flames issuing from her head and hands4 ,b1 ,faith2 holds cross and shield1 quenching fiery darts4 ,this symbol1 so frequent in modern adaptation from ,st4 ,paul's address to personal faith1 is rare in older art4 ,c1 ,hope1 with a branch of lilies4 ,d1 ,temperance2 bridles a black fish1 on which she stands4 ,e1 ,prudence1 with a book4 ,f1 ,justice1 with crown and baton4 ,g1 ,fortitude1 with tower and sword4 ,under these are the great prophets and apostles2 on the left1,footnote3 ,i can't find my note of the first one on the left2 answering to ,solomon1 opposite4 ,david1 ,st4 ,paul1 ,st4 ,mark1 ,st4 ,john2 on the right1 ,st4 ,matthew1 ,st4 ,luke1 ,moses1 ,isaiah1 ,solomon4 ,in the midst of the ,evangelists1 ,st4 ,thomas ,aquinas1 seated on a ,gothic throne4 ,now observe1 this throne1 with all the canopies below it1 and the complete representation of the ,duomo of ,florence opposite1 are of finished ,gothic of ,orecagna's school--later than ,giotto's ,gothic4 ,but the building in which the apostles are gathered at the ,pentecost is of the early ,romanesque mosaic school1 with a wheel window from the duomo of ,assisi1 and square windows from the ,baptistery of ,florence4 ,and this is always the type of architecture used by ,taddeo ,gaddi3 while the finished ,gothic could not possibly have been drawn by him1 but is absolute evidence of the later hand4 ,under the line of prophets1 as powers summoned by their voices1 are the mythic figures of the seven theological or spiritual1 and the seven geological or natural sciences3 and under the feet of each of them1 the figure of its ,captain-teacher to the world4 ,i had better perhaps give you the names of this entire series of figures from left to right at once4 ,you will see presently why they are numbered in a reverse order4 ,beneath whom #h4 ,civil ,law4 ,the ,emperor ,justinian4 #i4 ,canon ,law4 ,pope ,clement ,v4 #aj4 ,practical ,theology4 ,peter ,lombard4 #aa4 ,contemplative ,theology4 ,dionysius the ,areopagite4 #ab4 ,dogmatic ,theology4 ,boethius4 #ac4 ,mystic ,theology4 ,st4 ,john ,damascene4 #ad4 ,polemic ,theology4 ,st4 ,augustine4 #g4 ,arithmetic4 ,pythagoras4 #f4 ,geometry4 ,euclid4 #e4 ,astronomy4 ,zoroaster4 #d4 ,music4 ,tubalcain4 #c4 ,logic4 ,aristotle4 #b4 ,rhetoric4 ,cicero4 #a4 ,grammar4 ,priscian4 ,here1 then1 you have pictorially represented1 the system of manly education1 supposed in old ,florence to be that necessarily instituted in great earthly kingdoms or republics1 animated by the ,spirit shed down upon the world at ,pentecost4 ,how long do you think it will take you1 or ought to take1 to see such a picture8 ,we were to get to work this morning1 as early as might be3 you have probably allowed half an hour for ,santa ,maria ,novella2 half an hour for ,san ,lorenzo2 an hour for the museum of sculpture at the ,bargello2 an hour for shopping2 and then it will be lunch time1 and you mustn't be late1 because you are to leave by the afternoon train1 and must positively be in ,rome to-morrow morning4 ,well1 of your half-hour for ,santa ,maria ,novella1--after ,ghirlandajo's choir1 ,orcagna's transept1 and ,cimabue's ,madonna1 and the painted windows1 have been seen properly1 there will remain1 suppose1 at the utmost1 a quarter of an hour for the ,spanish ,chapel4 ,that will give you two minutes and a half for each side1 two for the ceiling1 and three for studying ,murray's explanations or mine4 ,two minutes and a half you have got1 then--7and ,i observed1 during my five weeks' work in the chapel1 that ,english visitors seldom gave so much7--to read this scheme given you by ,simon ,memmi of human spiritual education4 ,in order to understand the purport of it1 in any the smallest degree1 you must summon to your memory1 in the course of these two minutes and a half1 what you happen to be acquainted with of the doctrines and characters of ,pythagoras1 ,zoroaster1 ,aristotle1 ,dionysius the ,areopagite1 ,st4 ,augustine1 and the emperor ,justinian1 and having further observed the expressions and actions attributed by the painter to these personages1 judge how far he has succeeded in reaching a true and worthy ideal of them1 and how large or how subordinate a part in his general scheme of human learning he supposes their peculiar doctrines properly to occupy4 ,for myself1 being1 to my much sorrow1 now an old person2 and1 to my much pride1 an old-fashioned one1 ,i have not found my powers either of reading or memory in the least increased by any of ,mr4 ,stephenson's or ,mr4 ,wheatstone's inventions2 and though indeed ,i came here from ,lucca in three hours instead of a day1 which it used to take1 ,i do not think myself able1 on that account1 to see any picture in ,florence in less time than it took formerly1 or even obliged to hurry myself in any investigations connected with it4 ,accordingly1 ,i have myself taken five weeks to see the quarter of this picture of ,simon ,memmi's3 and can give you a fairly good account of that quarter1 and some partial account of a fragment or two of those on the other walls3 but1 alas6 only of their pictorial qualities in either case2 for ,i don't myself know anything whatever1 worth trusting to1 about ,pythagoras1 or ,dionysius the ,areopagite2 and have not had1 and never shall have1 probably1 any time to learn much of them2 while in the very feeblest light only1--in what the ,french would express by their excellent word 'lueur1'--,i am able to understand something of the characters of ,zoroaster1 ,aristotle1 and ,justinian4 ,but this only increases in me the reverence with which ,i ought to stand before the work of a painter1 who was not only a master of his own craft1 but so profound a scholar and theologian as to be able to conceive this scheme of picture1 and write the divine law by which ,florence was to live4 ,which ,law1 written in the northern page of this ,vaulted ,book1 we will begin quiet interpretation of1 if you care to return hither1 to-morrow morning4 ,,the ,,fifth ,,morning4 ,,the ,,strait ,,gate4 ,as you return this morning to ,st4 ,mary's1 you may as well observe--the matter before us being concerning gates1--that the western faade of the church is of two periods4 ,your ,murray refers it all to the latest of these2--,i forget when1 and do not care2--in which the largest flanking columns1 and the entire effective mass of the walls1 with their riband mosaics and high pediment1 were built in front of1 and above1 what the barbarian renaissance designer chose to leave of the pure old ,dominican church4 ,you may see his ungainly jointings at the pedestals of the great columns1 running through the pretty1 parti-coloured base1 which1 with the ',strait' ,gothic doors1 and the entire lines of the fronting and flanking tombs 7where not restored by the ,devil-begotten brood of modern ,florence71 is of pure1 and exquisitely severe and refined1 fourteenth century ,gothic1 with superbly carved bearings on its shields4 ,the small detached line of tombs on the left1 untouched in its sweet colour and living weed ornament1 ,i would fain have painted1 stone by stone3 but one can never draw in front of a church in these republican days2 for all the blackguard children of the neighbourhood come to howl1 and throw stones1 on the steps1 and the ball or stone play against these sculptured tombs1 as a dead wall adapted for that purpose only1 is incessant in the fine days when ,i could have worked4 ,if you enter by the door most to the left1 or north1 and turn immediately to the right1 on the interior of the wall of the faade is an ,annunciation1 visible enough because well preserved1 though in the dark1 and extremely pretty in its way1--of the decorated and ornamental school following ,giotto3--,i can't guess by whom1 nor does it much matter2 but it is well ,to look at it by way of contrast with the delicate1 intense1 slightly decorated design of ,memmi1--in which1 when you return into the ,spanish chapel1 you will feel the dependence for its effect on broad masses of white and pale amber1 where the decorative school would have had mosaic of red1 blue1 and gold4 ,our first business this morning must be to read and understand the writing on the book held open by ,st4 ,thomas ,aquinas1 for that informs us of the meaning of the whole picture4 ,it is this text from the ,book of ,wisdom ,,vii4 #f4 ,optavi1 et datus est mihi sensus4 ,invocavi1 et venit in me ,spiritus ,sapientiae1 ,et preposui illam regnis et sedibus4 ,i willed1 and ,sense was given me4 ,i prayed1 and the ,spirit of ,wisdom came upon me4 ,and ,i set her before1 7preferred her to17 kingdoms and thrones4 ,the common translation in our ,english ,apocrypha loses the entire meaning of this passage1 which--not only as the statement of the experience of ,florence in her own education1 but as universally descriptive of the process of all noble education whatever--we had better take pains to understand4 ,first1 says ,florence ,i willed1 7in sense of resolutely desiring17 and ,sense was given me4 ,you must begin your education with the distinct resolution to know what is true1 and choice of the strait and rough road to such knowledge4 ,this choice is offered to every youth and maid at some moment of their life2--choice between the easy downward road1 so broad that we can dance down it in companies1 and the steep narrow way1 which we must enter alone4 ,then1 and for many a day afterwards1 they need that form of persistent ,option1 and ,will3 but day by day1 the ',sense' of the rightness of what they have done1 deepens on them1 not in consequence of the effort1 but by gift granted in reward of it4 ,and the ,sense of difference between right and wrong1 and between beautiful and unbeautiful things1 is confirmed in the heroic1 and fulfilled in the industrious1 soul4 ,that is the process of education in the earthly sciences1 and the morality connected with them4 ,reward given to faithful ,volition4 ,next1 when ,moral and ,physical senses are perfect1 comes the desire for education in the higher world1 where the senses are no more our ,teachers2 but the ,maker of the senses4 ,and that teaching1 we cannot get by labour1 but only by petition4 ,invocavi1 et venit in me ,spiritus ,sapientiae--,i prayed1 and the ,spirit of ,wisdom1 7not1 you observe1 was given1 ,footnote3 ,i in careless error1 wrote was given in ',fors ,clavigera4 but17 came upon me4 ,the personal power of ,wisdom3 the ,greek3 sophia or ,santa ,sophia1 to whom the first great ,christian temple was dedicated4 ,this higher wisdom1 governing by her presence1 all earthly conduct1 and by her teaching1 all earthly art1 ,florence tells you1 she obtained only by prayer4 ,and these two ,earthly and ,divine sciences are expressed beneath in the symbols of their divided powers2--,seven terrestrial1 ,seven celestial1 whose names have been already indicated to you3--in which figures ,i must point out one or two technical matters1 before touching their interpretation4 ,they are all by ,simon ,memmi originally2 but repainted1 many of them all over1 some hundred years later1--7certainly after the discovery of ,america1 as you will see7--by an artist of considerable power1 and some feeling for the general action of the figures2 but of no refinement or carelessness4 ,he dashes massive paint in huge spaces over the subtle old work1 puts in his own chiaro-oscuro where all had been shadeless1 and his own violent colour where all had been pale1 and repaints the faces so as to make them1 to his notion1 prettier and more human3 some of this upper work has1 however1 come away since1 and the original outline1 at least1 is traceable2 while in the face of the ,logic1 the ,music1 and one or two others1 the original work is very pure4 ,being most interested myself in the earthly sciences1 ,i had a scaffolding put up1 made on a level with them1 and examined them inch by inch1 and the following report will be found accurate until next repainting4 ,for interpretation of them1 you must always take the central figure of the ,science1 with the little medallion above it1 and the figure below1 all together4 ,which ,i proceed to do1 reading first from left to right for the earthly sciences1 and then from right to left the heavenly ones1 to the centre1 where their two highest powers sit1 side by side4 ,we begin1 then1 with the first in the list given above1 7,vaulted ,book1 page #ge73--;,grammar1 in the corner farthest from the window4 #a4 ,,grammar3 more properly ,grammatic1 ,grammatic ,act the ,art of ,letters or ,literature1 or using the word which to some ,english ears will carry most weight with it1--,scripture1 and its use4 ,the ,art of faithfully reading what has been written for our learning2 and of clearly writing what we would make immortal of our thoughts4 ,power which consists first in recognizing letters2 secondly1 in forming them2 thirdly1 in the understanding and choice of words which errorless shall express our thought4 ,severe exercises all1 reaching--very few living persons know1 how far3 beginning properly in childhood1 then only to be truly acquired4 ,it is wholly impossible--this ,i say from too sorrowful experience--to conquer by any effort or time1 habits of the hand 7much more of head and soul7 with which the vase of flesh has been formed and filled in youth1--the law of ,god being that parents shall compel the child in the day of its obedience into habits of hand1 and eye1 and soul1 which1 when it is old1 shall not1 by any strength1 or any weakness1 be departed from4 ,enter ye in1 therefore1 says ,grammatic1 at the ,strait ,gate4 ,she points through it with her rod1 holding a fruit787 for reward1 in her left hand4 ,the gate is very strait indeed--her own waist no less so1 her hair fastened close4 ,she had once a white veil binding it1 which is lost4 ,not a gushing form of literature1 this1--or in any wise disposed to subscribe to ,mudie's1 my ,english friends--or even patronize ,tauchnitz editions of--what is the last new novel you see ticketed up today in ,mr4 ,goodban's window8 ,she looks kindly down1 nevertheless1 to the three children whom she is teaching--two boys and a girl3 7,qy4 ,does this mean that one girl out of every two should not be able to read or write8 ,i am quite willing to accept that inference1 for my own part1--should perhaps even say1 two girls out of three74 ,this girl is of the highest classes1 crowned1 her golden hair falling behind her the ,florentine girdle round her hips--7not waist1 the object being to leave the lungs full play2 but to keep the dress always well down in dancing or running74 ,the boys are of good birth also1 the nearest one with luxuriant curly hair--only the profile of the farther one seen4 ,all reverent and eager4 ,above1 the medallion is of a figure looking at a fountain4 ,underneath1 ,lord ,lindsay says1 ,priscian1 and is1 ,i doubt not1 right4 ,technical ,points4--,the figure is said by ,crowe to be entirely repainted4 ,the dress is so throughout--both the hands also1 and the fruit1 and rod4 ,but the eyes1 mouth1 hair above the forehead1 and outline of the rest1 with the faded veil1 and happily1 the traces left of the children1 are genuine2 the strait gate perfectly so1 in the colour underneath1 though reinforced2 and the action of the entire figure is well preserved3 but there is a curious question about both the rod and fruit4 ,seen close1 the former perfectly assumes the shape of folds of dress gathered up over the raised right arm1 and ,i am not absolutely sure that the restorer has not mistaken the folds--at the same time changing a pen or style into a rod4 ,the fruit also ,i have doubts of1 as fruit is not so rare at ,florence that it should be made a reward4 ,it is entirely and roughly repainted1 and is oval in shape4 ,in ,giotto's ,charity1 luckily not restored1 at ,assisi1 the guide-books have always mistaken the heart she holds for an apple3--and my own belief is that originally1 the ,grammatic of ,simon ,memmi made with her right hand the sign which said1 ,enter ye in at the ,strait ,gate1 and with her left1 the sign which said1 ,my son1 give me thine ,heart4 ,,ii4 ,,rhetoric4 ,next to learning how to read and write1 you are to learn to speak2 and1 young ladies and gentlemen1 observe1--to speak as little as possible1 it is farther implied1 till you have learned4 ,in the streets of ,florence at this day you may hear much of what some people call rhetoric--very passionate speaking indeed1 and quite from the heart--such hearts as the people have got4 ,that is to say1 you never hear a word uttered but in a rage1 either just ready to burst1 or for the most part1 explosive instantly3 everybody--man1 woman1 or child--roaring out their incontinent1 foolish1 infinitely contemptible opinions and wills1 on every smallest occasion1 with flashing eyes1 hoarsely shrieking and wasted voices1--insane hope to drag by vociferation whatever they would have1 out of man and ,god4 ,now consider ,simon ,memmi's ,rhetoric4 ,the ,science of ,speaking1 primarily2 of making oneself heard therefore3 which is not to be done by shouting4 ,she alone1 of all the sciences1 carries a scroll3 and being a speaker gives you something to read4 ,it is not thrust forward at you at all1 but held quietly down with her beautiful depressed right hand2 her left hand set coolly and strongly on her side4 ,and you will find that1 thus1 she alone of all the sciences needs no use of her hands4 ,all the others have some important business for them4 ,she none4 ,she can do all with her lips1 holding scroll1 or bridle1 or what you will1 with her right hand1 her left on her side4 ,again1 look at the talkers in the streets of ,florence1 and see how1 being essentially unable to talk1 they try to make lips of their fingers6 ,how they poke1 wave1 flourish1 point1 jerk1 shake finger and fist at their antagonists--dumb essentially1 all the while1 if they knew it2 unpersuasive and ineffectual1 as the shaking of tree branches in the wind4 ,you will at first think her figure ungainly and stiff4 ,it is so1 partly1 the dress being more coarsely repainted than in any other of the series4 ,but she is meant to be both stout and strong4 ,what she has to say is indeed to persuade you1 if possible2 but assuredly to overpower you4 ,and she has not the ,florentine girdle1 for she does not want to move4 ,she has her girdle broad at the waist--of all the sciences1 you would at first have thought1 the one that most needed breath6 ,no1 says ,simon ,memmi4 ,you want breath to run1 or dance1 or fight with4 ,but to speak6--,if you know how1 you can do your work with few words2 very little of this pure ,florentine air will be enough1 if you shape it rightly4 ,note1 also1 that calm setting of her hand against her side4 ,you think ,rhetoric should be glowing1 fervid1 impetuous8 ,no1 says ,simon ,memmi4 ,above all things1--cool4 ,and now let us read what is written on her scroll3--,mulceo1 dum loquor1 varios induta colores4 ,her chief function1 to melt2 make soft1 thaw the hearts of men with kind fire2 to overpower with peace2 and bring rest1 with rainbow colours4 ,the chief mission of all words that they should be of comfort4 ,you think the function of words is to excite8 ,why1 a red rag will do that1 or a blast through a brass pipe4 ,but to give calm and gentle heat2 to be as the south wind1 and the iridescent rain1 to all bitterness of frost2 and bring at once strength1 and healing4 ,this is the work of human lips1 taught of ,god4 ,one farther and final lesson is given in the medallion above4 ,aristotle1 and too many modern rhetoricians of his school1 thought there could be good speaking in a false cause4 ,but above ,simon ,memmi's ,rhetoric is ,truth1 with her mirror4 ,there is a curious feeling1 almost innate in men1 that though they are bound to speak truth1 in speaking to a single person1 they may lie as much as they please1 provided they lie to two or more people at once4 ,there is the same feeling about killing3 most people would shrink from shooting one innocent man2 but will fire a mitrailleuse contentedly into an innocent regiment4 ,when you look down from the figure of the ,science1 to that of ,cicero1 beneath1 you will at first think it entirely overthrows my conclusion that ,rhetoric has no need of her hands4 ,for ,cicero1 it appears1 has three instead of two4 ,the uppermost1 at his chin1 is the only genuine one4 ,that raised1 with the finger up1 is entirely false4 ,that on the book1 is repainted so as to defy conjecture of its original action4 ,but observe how the gesture of the true one confirms instead of overthrowing what ,i have said above4 ,cicero is not speaking at all1 but profoundly thinking before he speaks4 ,it is the most abstractedly thoughtful face to be found among all the philosophers2 and very beautiful4 ,the whole is under ,solomon1 in the line of ,prophets4 ,technical ,points4--,these two figures have suffered from restoration more than any others1 but the right hand of ,rhetoric is still entirely genuine1 and the left1 except the ends of the fingers4 ,the ear1 and hair just above it1 are quite safe1 the head well set on its original line1 but the crown of leaves rudely retouched1 and then faded4 ,all the lower part of the figure of ,cicero has been not only repainted but changed2 the face is genuine--,i believe retouched1 but so cautiously and skilfully1 that it is probably now more beautiful than at first4 ,,iii4 ,,logic4 ,the science of reasoning1 or more accurately ,reason herself1 or pure intelligence4 ,science to be gained after that of ,expression1 says ,simon ,memmi2 so1 young people1 it appears1 that though you must not speak before you have been taught how to speak1 you may yet properly speak before you have been taught how to think4 ,for indeed1 it is only by frank speaking that you can learn how to think4 ,and it is no matter how wrong the first thoughts you have may be1 provided you express them clearly2--and are willing to have them put right4 ,fortunately1 nearly all of this beautiful figure is practically safe1 the outlines pure everywhere1 and the face perfect3 the prettiest1 as far as ,i know1 which exists in ,italian art of this early date4 ,it is subtle to the extreme in gradations of colour3 the eyebrows drawn1 not with a sweep of the brush1 but with separate cross touches in the line of their growth--exquisitely pure in arch2 the nose straight and fine2 the lips--playful slightly1 proud1 unerringly cut2 the hair flowing in sequent waves1 ordered as if in musical time2 head perfectly upright on the shoulders2 the height of the brow completed by a crimson frontlet set with pearls1 surmounted by a fleur-de-lys4 ,her shoulders were exquisitely drawn1 her white jacket fitting close to soft1 yet scarcely rising breasts2 her arms singularly strong1 at perfect rest2 her hands1 exquisitely delicate4 ,in her right1 she holds a branching and leaf-bearing rod1 7the syllogism72 in her left1 a scorpion with double sting1 7the dilemma7--more generally1 the powers of rational construction and dissolution4 ,beneath her1 ,aristotle1--intense keenness of search in his half-closed eyes4 ,medallion above1 7less expressive than usual7 a man writing1 with his head stooped4 ,the whole under ,isaiah1 in the line of ,prophets4 ,technical ,points4--,the only parts of this figure which have suffered seriously in repainting are the leaves of the rod1 and the scorpion4 ,i have no idea1 as ,i said above1 what the background once was2 it is now a mere mess of scrabbled grey1 carried over the vestiges1 still with care much redeemable1 of the richly ornamental extremity of the rod1 which was a cluster of green leaves on a black ground4 ,but the scorpion is indecipherably injured1 most of it confused repainting1 mixed with the white of the dress1 the double sting emphatic enough still1 but not on the first lines4 ,the ,aristotle is very genuine throughout1 except his hat1 and ,i think that must be pretty nearly on the old lines1 through ,i cannot trace them4 ,they are good lines1 new or old4 ,,iv4 ,,music4 ,after you have learned to reason1 young people1 of course you will be very grave1 if not dull1 you think4 ,no1 says ,simon ,memmi4 ,by no means anything of the kind4 ,after learning to reason1 you will learn to sing2 for you will want to4 ,there is so much reason for singing in the sweet world1 when one thinks rightly of it4 ,none for grumbling1 provided always you have entered in at the strait gate4 ,you will sing all along the road then1 in a little while1 in a manner pleasant for other people to hear4 ,this figure has been one of the loveliest in the series1 an extreme refinement and tender severity being aimed at throughout4 ,she is crowned1 not with laurel1 but with small leaves1--,i am not sure what they are1 being too much injured3 the face thin1 abstracted1 wistful2 the lips not far open in their low singing2 the hair rippling softly on the shoulders4 ,she plays on a small organ1 richly ornamented with ,gothic tracery1 the down slope of it set with crockets like those of ,santa ,maria del ,fiore4 ,simon ,memmi means that all music must be sacred4 ,not that you are never to sing anything but hymns1 but that whatever is rightly called music1 or work of the ,muses1 is divine in help and healing4 ,the actions of both hands are singularly sweet4 ,the right is one of the loveliest things ,i ever saw done in painting4 ,she is keeping down one note only1 with her third finger1 seen under the raised fourth3 the thumb1 just passing under2 all the curves of the fingers exquisite1 and the pale light and shade of the rosy flesh relieved against the ivory white and brown of the notes4 ,only the thumb and end of the forefinger are seen of the left hand1 but they indicate enough its light pressure on the bellows4 ,fortunately1 all these portions of the fresco are absolutely intact4 ,underneath1 ,tubal-,cain4 ,not ,jubal1 as you would expect4 ,jubal is the inventor of musical instruments4 ,tubal-,cain1 thought the old ,florentines1 invented harmony4 ,they1 the best smiths in the world1 knew the differences in tones of hammer strokes on anvil4 ,curiously enough1 the only piece of true part-singing1 done beautifully and joyfully1 which ,i have heard this year in ,italy1 7being south of ,alps exactly six months1 and ranging from ,genoa to ,palermo7 was out of a busy smithy at ,perugia4 ,of bestial howling1 and entirely frantic vomiting up of hopelessly damned souls through their still carnal throats1 ,i have heard more than1 please ,god1 ,i will ever endure the hearing of again in one of ,his summers4 ,you think ,tubal-,cain very ugly8 ,yes4 ,much like a shaggy baboon3 not accidentally1 but with most scientific understanding of baboon character4 ,men must have looked like that1 before they had invented harmony1 or felt that one note differed from another1 says1 and knows ,simon ,memmi4 ,darwinism1 like all widely popular and widely mischievous fallacies1 has many a curious gleam and grain of truth in its tissue4 ,under ,moses4 ,medallion1 a youth drinking4 ,otherwise1 you might have thought only church music meant1 and not feast music also4 ,technical ,points4--,the ,tubal-,cain1 one of the most entirely pure and precious remnants of the old painting1 nothing lost3 nothing but the redder ends of his beard retouched4 ,green dress of ,music1 in the body and over limbs entirely repainted3 it was once beautifully embroidered2 sleeves1 partly genuine1 hands perfect1 face and hair nearly so4 ,leaf crown faded and broken away1 but not retouched4 ,v4 ,,astronomy4 ,properly ,astro-logy1 as 7,theology7 the knowledge of so much of the stars as we can know wisely2 not the attempt to define their laws for them4 ,not that it is unbecoming of us to find out1 if we can1 that they move in ellipses1 and so on2 but it is no business of ours4 ,what effects their rising and setting have on man1 and beast1 and leaf2 what their times and changes are1 seen and felt in this world1 it is our business to know1 passing our nights1 if wakefully1 by that divine candlelight1 and no other4 ,she wears a dark purple robe2 holds in her left hand the hollow globe with golden zodiac and meridians3 lifts her right hand in noble awe4 ,when ,i consider the heavens1 the work of ,thy fingers1 the moon and the stars1 which ,thou hast ordained4 ,crowned with gold1 her dark hair in elliptic waves1 bound with glittering chains of pearl4 ,her eyes dark1 lifted4 ,beneath her1 ,zoroaster1,footnote3 ,atlas6 according to poor ,vasari1 and sundry modern guides4 ,i find ,vasari's mistakes usually of this brightly blundering kind4 ,in matters needing research1 after a while1 ,i find he is right1 usually4 entirely noble and beautiful1 the delicate ,persian head made softer still by the elaborately wreathed silken hair1 twisted into the pointed beard1 and into tapering plaits1 falling on his shoulders4 ,the head entirely thrown back1 he looks up with no distortion of the delicately arched brow3 writing1 as he gazes4 ,for the association of the religion of the ,magi with their own in the mind of the ,florentines of this time1 see ,before the ,soldan4 ,the dress must always have been white1 because of its beautiful opposition to the purple above and that of ,tubal-,cain beside it4 ,but it has been too much repainted to be trusted anywhere1 nothing left but a fold or two in the sleeves4 ,the cast of it from the knees down is entirely beautiful1 and ,i suppose on the old lines2 but the restorer could throw a fold well when he chose4 ,the warm light which relieves the purple of ,zoroaster above1 is laid in by him4 ,i don't know if ,i should have liked it better1 flat1 as it was1 against the dark purple2 it seems to me quite beautiful now4 ,the full red flush on the face of the ,astronomy is the restorer's doing also4 ,she was much paler1 if not quite pale4 ,under ,st4 ,luke4 ,medallion1 a stern man1 with sickle and spade4 ,for the flowers1 and for us1 when stars have risen and set such and such times2--remember4 ,technical ,points4--,left hand globe1 most of the important folds of the purple dress1 eyes1 mouth1 hair in great part1 and crown1 genuine4 ,golden tracery on border of dress lost2 extremity of falling folds from left sleeve altered and confused1 but the confusion prettily got out of4 ,right hand and much of face and body of dress repainted4 ,zoroaster's head quite pure4 ,dress repainted1 but carefully1 leaving the hair untouched4 ,right hand and pen1 now a common feathered quill1 entirely repainted1 but dexterously and with feeling4 ,the hand was once slightly different in position1 and held1 most probably1 a reed4 ,,vi4 ,,geometry4 ,you have now learned1 young ladies and gentlemen1 to read1 to speak1 to think1 to sing1 and to see4 ,you are getting old1 and will have soon to think of being married2 you must learn to build your house1 therefore4 ,here is your carpenter's square for you1 and you may safely and wisely contemplate the ground a little1 and the measures and laws relating to that1 seeing you have got to abide upon it3--and that you have properly looked at the stars2 not before then1 lest1 had you studied the ground first1 you might perchance never have raised your heads from it4 ,this is properly the science of all laws of practical labour1 issuing in beauty4 ,she looks down1 a little puzzled1 greatly interested1 holding her carpenter's square in her left hand1 not wanting that but for practical work2 following a diagram with her right4 ,her beauty1 altogether soft and in curves1 ,i commend to your notice1 as the exact opposite of what a vulgar designer would have imagined for her4 ,note the wreath of hair at the back of her head1 which though fastened by a spiral fillet1 escapes at last1 and flies off loose in a sweeping curve4 ,contemplative ,theology is the only other of the sciences who has such wavy hair4 ,beneath her1 ,euclid1 in white turban4 ,very fine and original work throughout2 but nothing of special interest in him4 ,under ,st4 ,matthew4 ,medallion1 a soldier with a straight sword 7best for science of defence71 octagon shield1 helmet like the beehive of ,canton ,vaud4 ,as the secondary use of music in feasting1 so the secondary use of geometry in war--her noble art being all in sweetest peace--is shown in the medallion4 ,technical ,points4--,it is more than fortunate that in nearly every figure1 the original outline of the hair is safe4 ,geometry's has scarcely been retouched at all1 except at the ends1 once in single knots1 now in confused double ones4 ,the hands1 girdle1 most of her dress1 and her black carpenter's square are original4 ,face and breast repainted4 ,,vii4 ,,arithmetic4 ,having built your house1 young people1 and understanding the light of heaven1 and the measures of earth1 you may marry--and can't do better4 ,and here is now your conclusive science1 which you will have to apply1 all your days1 to all your affairs4 ,the ,science of ,number4 ,infinite in solemnity of use in ,italy at this time2 including1 of course1 whatever was known of the higher abstract mathematics and mysteries of numbers1 but reverenced especially in its vital necessity to the prosperity of families and kingdoms1 and first fully so understood here in commercial ,florence4 ,her hand lifted1 with two fingers bent1 two straight1 solemnly enforcing on your attention her primal law--,two and two are--four1 you observe1--not five1 as those accursed usurers think4 ,under her1 ,pythagoras4 ,above1 medallion of king1 with sceptre and globe1 counting money4 ,have you ever chanced to read carefully ,carlyle's account of the foundation of the existing ,prussian empire1 in economy8 ,you can1 at all events1 consider with yourself a little1 what empire this queen of the terrestrial sciences must hold over the rest1 if they are to be put to good use2 or what depth and breadth of application there is in the brief parables of the counted cost of ,power1 and number of ,armies4 ,to give a very minor1 but characteristic1 instance4 ,i have always felt that with my intense love of the ,alps1 ,i ought to have been able to make a drawing of ,chamouni1 or the vale of ,cluse1 which should give people more pleasure than a photograph2 but ,i always wanted to do it as ,i saw it1 and engrave pine for pine1 and crag for crag1 like ,albert ,drer4 ,i broke my strength down for many a year1 always tiring of my work1 or finding the leaves drop off1 or the snow come on1 before ,i had well begun what ,i meant to do4 ,if ,i had only counted my pines first1 and calculated the number of hours necessary to do them in the manner of ,drer1 ,i should have saved the available drawing time of some five years1 spent in vain effort4 ,but ,turner counted his pines1 and did all that could be done for them1 and rested content with that4 ,so in all the affairs of life1 the arithmetical part of the business is the dominant one4 ,how many and how much have we8 ,how many and how much do we want8 ,how constantly does noble ,arithmetic of the finite lose itself in base ,avarice of the ,infinite1 and in blind imagination of it6 ,in counting of minutes1 is our arithmetic ever solicitous enough8 ,in counting our days1 is she ever severe enough8 ,how we shrink from putting1 in their decades1 the diminished store of them6 ,and if we ever pray the solemn prayer that we may be taught to number them1 do we even try to do it after praying8 ,technical ,points4--,the ,pythagoras almost entirely genuine4 ,the upper figures1 from this inclusive to the outer wall1 ,i have not been able to examine thoroughly1 my scaffolding not extending beyond the ,geometry4 ,here then we have the sum of sciences1--seven1 according to the ,florentine mind--necessary to the secular education of man and woman4 ,of these the modern average respectable ,english gentleman and gentlewoman know usually only a little of the last1 and entirely hate the prudent applications of that3 being unacquainted1 except as they chance here and there to pick up a broken piece of information1 with either grammar1 rhetoric1 music1 ,footnote3 ,being able to play the piano and admire ,mendelssohn is not knowing music4 astronomy1 or geometry2 and are not only unacquainted with logic1 or the use of reason1 themselves1 but instinctively antagonistic to its use by anybody else4 ,we are now to read the series of the ,divine sciences1 beginning at the opposite side1 next the window4 ,,viii4 ,,civil ,,law4 ,civil1 or 'of citizens1' not only as distinguished from ,ecclesiastical1 but from ,local law4 ,she is the universal ,justice of the peaceful relations of men throughout the world1 therefore holds the globe1 with its three quarters1 white1 as being justly governed1 in her left hand4 ,she is also the law of eternal equity1 not erring statute2 therefore holds her sword level across her breast4 ,she is the foundation of all other divine science4 ,to know anything whatever about ,god1 you must begin by being ,just4 ,dressed in red1 which in these frescoes is always a sign of power1 or zeal2 but her face very calm1 gentle and beautiful4 ,her hair bound close1 and crowned by the royal circlet of gold1 with pure thirteenth century strawberry leaf ornament4 ,under her1 the ,emperor ,justinian1 in blue1 with conical mitre of white and gold2 the face in profile1 very beautiful4 ,the imperial staff in his right hand1 the ,institutes in his left4 ,medallion1 a figure1 apparently in distress1 appealing for justice4 7,trajan's suppliant widow87 ,technical ,points4--,the three divisions of the globe in her hand were originally inscribed ,,asia1 ,,africa1 ,,europe4 ,the restorer has ingeniously changed ,,af into ,,ame--,,rica4 ,faces1 both of the science and emperor1 little retouched1 nor any of the rest altered4 ,,ix4 ,,christian ,,law4 ,after the justice which rules men1 comes that which rules the ,church of ,christ4 ,the distinction is not between secular law1 and ecclesiastical authority1 but between the equity of humanity1 and the law of ,christian discipline4 ,in full1 straight-falling1 golden robe1 with white mantle over it2 a church in her left hand2 her right raised1 with the forefinger lifted2 7indicating heavenly source of all ,christian law8 or warning87 ,head-dress1 a white veil floating into folds in the air4 ,you will find nothing in these frescoes without significance2 and as the escaping hair of ,geometry indicates the infinite conditions of lines of the higher orders1 so the floating veil here indicates that the higher relations of ,christian justice are indefinable4 ,so her golden mantle indicates that it is a glorious and excellent justice beyond that which unchristian men conceive2 while the severely falling lines of the folds1 which form a kind of gabled niche for the head of the ,pope beneath1 correspond with the strictness of true ,church discipline firmer as well as more luminous statute4 ,beneath1 ,pope ,clement ,v41 in red1 lifting his hand1 not in the position of benediction1 but1 ,i suppose1 of injunction1--only the forefinger straight1 the second a little bent1 the two last quite4 ,note the strict level of the book2 and the vertical directness of the key4 ,the medallion puzzles me4 ,it looks like a figure counting money4 ,technical ,points4--,fairly well preserved2 but the face of the science retouched3 the grotesquely false perspective of the ,pope's tiara1 one of the most curiously nave examples of the entirely ignorant feeling after merely scientific truth of form which still characterized ,italian art4 ,type of church interesting in its extreme simplicity2 no idea of transept1 campanile1 or dome4 ,x4 ,,practical ,,theology4 ,the beginning of the knowledge of ,god being ,human ,justice1 and its elements defined by ,christian ,law1 the application of the law so defined follows1 first with respect to man1 then with respect to ,god4 ,render unto ,caesar the things that are ,caesar's--and to ,god the things that are ,god's4 ,we have therefore now two sciences1 one of our duty--to men1 the other to their ,maker4 ,this is the first3 duty to men4 ,she holds a circular medallion1 representing ,christ preaching on the ,mount1 and points with her right hand to the earth4 ,the sermon on the ,mount is perfectly expressed by the craggy pinnacle in front of ,christ1 and the high dark horizon4 ,there is curious evidence throughout all these frescos of ,simon ,memmi's having read the ,gospels with a quite clear understanding of their innermost meaning4 ,i have called this science ,practical ,theology3--the instructive knowledge1 that is to say1 of what ,god would have us do1 personally1 in any given human relation3 and the speaking ,his ,gospel therefore by act4 ,let your light so shine before men4 ,she wears a green dress1 like ,music her hair in the ,arabian arch1 with jewelled diadem4 ,under ,david4 ,medallion1 ,almsgiving4 ,beneath her1 ,peter ,lombard1 ,technical ,points4--,it is curious that while the instinct of perspective was not strong enough to enable any painter at this time to foreshorten a foot1 it yet suggested to them the expression of elevation by raising the horizon4 ,i have not examined the retouching4 ,the hair and diadem at least are genuine1 the face is dignified and compassionate1 and much on the old lines4 ,,xi4 ,,devotional ,,theology4--,giving glory to ,god1 or1 more accurately1 whatever feelings ,he desires us to have towards ,him1 whether of affection or awe4 ,this is the science or method of devotion for ,christians universally1 just as the ,practical ,theology is their science or method of action4 ,in blue and red3 a narrow black rod still traceable in the left hand2 ,i am not sure of its meaning4 7,thy rod and ,thy staff1 they comfort me87 ,the other hand open in admiration1 like ,astronomy's2 but ,devotion's is held at her breast4 ,her head very characteristic of ,memmi1 with upturned eyes1 and ,arab arch in hair4 ,under her1 ,dionysius the ,areopagite--mending his pen6 ,but ,i am doubtful of ,lord ,lindsay's identification of this figure1 and the action is curiously common and meaningless4 ,it may have meant that meditative theology is essentially a writer1 not a preacher4 ,the medallion1 on the other hand1 is as ingenious4 ,a mother lifting her hands in delight at her child's beginning to take notice4 ,under ,st4 ,paul4 ,technical ,points4--,both figures very genuine1 the lower one almost entirely so4 ,the painting of the red book is quite exemplary in fresco style4 ,,xii4 ,,dogmatic ,,theology4--,after action and worship1 thought becoming too wide and difficult1 the need of dogma becomes felt2 the assertion1 that is1 within limited range1 of the things that are to be believed4 ,since whatever pride and folly pollute ,christian scholarship naturally delight in dogma1 the science itself cannot but be in a kind of disgrace among sensible men3 nevertheless it would be difficult to overvalue the peace and security which have been given to humble persons by forms of creed2 and it is evident that either there is no such thing as theology1 or some of its knowledge must be thus1 if not expressible1 at least reducible within certain limits of expression1 so as to be protected from misinterpretation4 ,in red1--again the sign of power1--crowned with a black 7once golden87 triple crown1 emblematic of the ,trinity4 ,the left hand holding a scoop for winnowing corn2 the other points upwards4 ,prove all things--hold fast that which is good1 or of ,god4 ,beneath her1 ,boethius4 ,under ,st4 ,mark4 ,medallion1 female figure1 laying hands on breast4 ,technical ,points4--,the ,boethius entirely genuine1 and the painting of his black book1 as of the red one beside it1 again worth notice1 showing how pleasant and interesting the commonest things become1 when well painted4 ,i have not examined the upper figure4 ,,xiii4 ,,mystic ,,theology4 ,footnote3 ,blunderingly in the guide-books called ',faith6' ,monastic science1 above dogma1 and attaining to new revelation by reaching higher spiritual states4 ,in white robes1 her left hand gloved 7,i don't know why7--holding chalice4 ,she wears a nun's veil fastened under her chin1 her hair fastened close1 like ,grammar's1 showing her necessary monastic life2 all states of mystic spiritual life involving retreat from much that is allowable in the material and practical world4 ,there is no possibility of denying this fact1 infinite as the evils are which have arisen from misuse of it4 ,they have been chiefly induced by persons who falsely pretended to lead monastic life1 and led it without having natural faculty for it4 ,but many more lamentable errors have arisen from the pride of really noble persons1 who have thought it would be a more pleasing thing to ,god to be a sibyl or a witch1 than a useful housewife4 ,pride is always somewhat involved even in the true effort3 the scarlet head-dress in the form of a horn on the forehead in the fresco indicates this1 both here1 and in the ,contemplative ,theology4 ,under ,st4 ,john4 ,medallion unintelligible1 to me4 ,a woman laying hands on the shoulders of two small figures4 ,technical ,points4--,more of the minute folds of the white dress left than in any other of the repainted draperies4 ,it is curious that minute division has always in drapery1 more or less1 been understood as an expression of spiritual life1 from the delicate folds of ,athena's peplus down to the rippled edges of modern priests' white robes2 ,titian's breadth of fold1 on the other hand1 meaning for the most part bodily power4 ,the relation of the two modes of composition was lost by ,michael ,angelo1 who thought to express spirit by making flesh colossal4 ,for the rest1 the figure is not of any interest1 ,memmi's own mind being intellectual rather than mystic4 ,,xiv4 ,,polemic ,,theology4,footnote3 ,blunderingly called ',charity' in the guide-books4 ,who goes forth1 conquering and to conquer8 ,for we war1 not with flesh and blood1 etc4 ,in red1 as sign of power1 but not in armour1 because she is herself invulnerable4 ,a close red cap1 with cross for crest1 instead of helmet4 ,bow in left hand2 long arrow in right4 ,she partly means ,aggressive ,logic3 compare the set of her shoulders and arms with ,logic's4 ,she is placed the last of the ,divine sciences1 not as their culminating power1 but as the last which can be rightly learned4 ,you must know all the others1 before you go out to battle4 ,whereas the general principle of modern ,christendom is to go out to battle without knowing any one of the others2 one of the reasons for this error1 the prince of errors1 being the vulgar notion that truth may be ascertained by debate6 ,truth is never learned1 in any department of industry1 by arguing1 but by working1 and observing4 ,and when you have got good hold of one truth1 for certain1 two others will grow out of it1 in a beautifully dicotyledonous fashion1 7which1 as before noticed1 is the meaning of the branch in ,logic's right hand74 ,then1 when you have got so much true knowledge as is worth fighting for1 you are bound to fight for it4 ,but not to debate about it1 any more4 ,there is1 however1 one further reason for ,polemic ,theology being put beside ,mystic4 ,it is only in some approach to mystic science that any man becomes aware of what ,st4 ,paul means by spiritual wickedness in heavenly ,footnote3 ,with cowardly intentional fallacy1 translated 'high' in the ,english ,bible4 places2 or1 in any true sense1 knows the enemies of ,god and of man4 ,beneath ,st4 ,augustine4 ,showing you the proper method of controversy2--perfectly firm2 perfectly gentle4 ,you are to distinguish1 of course1 controversy from rebuke4 ,the assertion of truth is to be always gentle3 the chastisement of wilful falsehood may be--very much the contrary indeed4 ,christ's sermon on the ,mount is full of polemic theology1 yet perfectly gentle3--,ye have heard that it hath been said--but ,i say unto you2--,and if ye salute your brethren only1 what do ye more than others8 and the like4 ,but ,his ,ye fools and blind1 for whether is greater1 is not merely the exposure of error1 but rebuke of the avarice which made that error possible4 ,under the throne of ,st4 ,thomas2 and next to ,arithmetic1 of the terrestrial sciences4 ,medallion1 a soldier1 but not interesting4 ,technical ,points4--,very genuine and beautiful throughout4 ,note the use of ,st4 ,augustine's red bands1 to connect him with the full red of the upper figures2 and compare the niche formed by the dress of ,canon ,law1 above the ,pope1 for different artistic methods of attaining the same object1--unity of composition4 ,but lunch time is near1 my friends1 and you have that shopping to do1 you know4 ,,the ,,sixth ,,morning4 ,,the ,,shepherd',s ,,tower4 ,i am obliged to interrupt my account of the ,spanish chapel by the following notes on the sculptures of ,giotto's ,campanile3 first because ,i find that inaccurate accounts of those sculptures are in course of publication2 and chiefly because ,i cannot finish my work in the ,spanish chapel until one of my good ,oxford helpers1 ,mr4 ,caird1 has completed some investigations he has undertaken for me upon the history connected with it4 ,i had written my own analysis of the fourth side1 believing that in every scene of it the figure of ,st4 ,dominic was repeated4 ,mr4 ,caird first suggested1 and has shown me already good grounds for his belief1,footnote3 ,he wrote thus to me on #aath ,november last3 ,the three preachers are certainly different4 ,the first is ,dominic2 the second1 ,peter ,martyr1 whom ,i have identified from his martyrdom on the other wall2 and the third1 ,aquinas4 that the preaching monks represented are in each scene intended for a different person4 ,i am informed also of several careless mistakes which have got into my description of the fresco of the ,sciences2 and finally1 another of my young helpers1 ,mr4 ,charles ,f4 ,murray1--one1 however1 whose help is given much in the form of antagonism1--informs me of various critical discoveries lately made1 both by himself1 and by industrious ,germans1 of points respecting the authenticity of this and that1 which will require notice from me3 more especially he tells me of certification that the picture in the ,uffizii1 of which ,i accepted the ordinary attribution to ,giotto1 is by ,lorenzo ,monaco1--which indeed may well be1 without in the least diminishing the use to you of what ,i have written of its predella1 and without in the least1 if you think rightly of the matter1 diminishing your confidence in what ,i tell you of ,giotto generally4 ,there is one kind of knowledge of pictures which is the artist's1 and another which is the antiquary's and the picture-dealer's2 the latter especially acute1 and founded on very secure and wide knowledge of canvas1 pigment1 and tricks of touch1 without1 necessarily1 involving any knowledge whatever of the qualities of art itself4 ,there are few practised dealers in the great cities of ,europe whose opinion would not be more trustworthy than mine1 7if you could get it1 mind you17 on points of actual authenticity4 ,but they could only tell you whether the picture was by such and such a master1 and not at all what either the master or his work were good for4 ,thus1 ,i have1 before now1 taken drawings by ,varley and by ,cousins for early studies by ,turner1 and have been convinced by the dealers that they knew better than ,i1 as far as regarded the authenticity of those drawings2 but the dealers don't know ,turner1 or the worth of him1 so well as ,i1 for all that4 ,so also1 you may find me again and again mistaken among the much more confused work of the early ,giottesque schools1 as to the authenticity of this work or the other2 but you will find 7and ,i say it with far more sorrow than pride7 that ,i am simply the only person who can at present tell you the real worth of any2 you will find that whenever ,i tell you to look at a picture1 it is worth your pains2 and whenever ,i tell you the character of a painter1 that it is his character1 discerned by me faithfully in spite of all confusion of work falsely attributed to him in which similar character may exist4 ,thus1 when ,i mistook ,cousins for ,turner1 ,i was looking at a piece of subtlety in the sky of which the dealer had no consciousness whatever1 which was essentially ,turneresque1 but which another man might sometimes equal2 whereas the dealer might be only looking at the quality of ,whatman's paper1 which ,cousins used1 and ,turner did not4 ,not1 in the meanwhile1 to leave you quite guideless as to the main subject of the fourth fresco in the ,spanish chapel1--the ,pilgrim's ,progress of ,florence1--here is a brief map of it3 ,on the right1 in lowest angle1 ,st4 ,dominic preaches to the group of ,infidels2 in the next group towards the left1 he 7or some one very like him7 preaches to the ,heretics3 the ,heretics proving obstinate1 he sets his dogs at them1 as at the fatallest of wolves1 who being driven away1 the rescued lambs are gathered at the feet of the ,pope4 ,i have copied the head of the very pious1 but slightly weak-minded1 little lamb in the centre1 to compare with my rough ,cumberland ones1 who have had no such grave experiences4 ,the whole group1 with the ,pope above1 7the niche of the ,duomo joining with and enriching the decorative power of his mitre17 is a quite delicious piece of design4 ,the ,church being thus pacified1 is seen in worldly honour under the powers of the ,spiritual and ,temporal ,rulers4 ,the ,pope1 with ,cardinal and ,bishop descending in order on his right2 the ,emperor1 with ,king and ,baron descending in order on his left2 the ecclesiastical body of the whole ,church on the right side1 and the laity1--chiefly its poets and artists1 on the left4 ,then1 the redeemed ,church nevertheless giving itself up to the vanities and temptations of the world1 its forgetful saints are seen feasting1 with their children dancing before them1 7the ,seven ,mortal ,sins1 say some commentators74 ,but the wise-hearted of them confess their sins to another ghost of ,st4 ,dominic2 and confessed1 becoming as little children1 enter hand in hand the gate of the ,eternal ,paradise1 crowned with flowers by the waiting angels1 and admitted by ,st4 ,peter among the serenely joyful crowd of all the saints1 above whom the white ,madonna stands reverently before the throne4 ,there is1 so far as ,i know1 throughout all the schools of ,christian art1 no other so perfect statement of the noble policy and religion of men4 ,i had intended to give the best account of it in my power2 but1 when at ,florence1 lost all time for writing that ,i might copy the group of the ,pope and ,emperor for the schools of ,oxford2 and the work since done by ,mr4 ,caird has informed me of so much1 and given me1 in some of its suggestions1 so much to think of1 that ,i believe it will be best and most just to print at once his account of the fresco as a supplement to these essays of mine1 merely indicating any points on which ,i have objections to raise1 and so leave matters till ,fors lets me see ,florence once more4 ,perhaps she may1 in kindness forbid my ever seeing it more1 the wreck of it being now too ghastly and heartbreaking to any human soul that remembers the days of old4 ,forty years ago1 there was assuredly no spot of ground1 out of ,palestine1 in all the round world1 on which1 if you knew1 even but a little1 the true course of that world's history1 you saw with so much joyful reverence the dawn of morning1 as at the foot of the ,tower of ,giotto4 ,for there the traditions of faith and hope1 of both the ,gentile and ,jewish races1 met for their beautiful labour3 the ,baptistery of ,florence is the last building raised on the earth by the descendants of the workmen taught by ,ddalus3 and the ,tower of ,giotto is the loveliest of those raised on earth under the inspiration of the men who lifted up the tabernacle in the wilderness4 ,of living ,greek work there is none after the ,florentine ,baptistery2 of living ,christian work1 none so perfect as the ,tower of ,giotto2 and1 under the gleam and shadow of their marbles1 the morning light was haunted by the ghosts of the ,father of ,natural ,science1 ,galileo2 of ,sacred ,art1 ,angelico1 and the ,master of ,sacred ,song4 ,which spot of ground the modern ,florentine has made his principal hackney-coach stand and omnibus station4 ,the hackney coaches1 with their more or less farmyard-like litter of occasional hay1 and smell of variously mixed horse-manure1 are yet in more permissible harmony with the place than the ordinary populace of a fashionable promenade would be1 with its cigars1 spitting1 and harlot-planned fineries3 but the omnibus place of call being in front of the door of the tower1 renders it impossible to stand for a moment near it1 to look at the sculptures either of the eastern or southern side2 while the north side is enclosed with an iron railing1 and usually encumbered with lumber as well3 not a soul in ,florence ever caring now for sight of any piece of its old artists' work2 and the mass of strangers being on the whole intent on nothing but getting the omnibus to go by steam2 and so seeing the cathedral in one swift circuit1 by glimpses between the puffs of it4 ,the front of ,notre ,dame of ,paris was similarly turned into a coach-office when ,i last saw it--#ahgb4 ,footnote3 ,see ,fors ,clavigera in that year4 ,within fifty yards of me as ,i write1 the ,oratory of the ,holy ,ghost is used for a tobacco-store1 and in fine1 over all ,europe1 mere ,caliban bestiality and ,satyric ravage staggering1 drunk and desperate1 into every once enchanted cell where the prosperity of kingdoms ruled and the miraculous-ness of beauty was shrined in peace4 ,deluge of profanity1 drowning dome and tower in ,stygian pool of vilest thought1--nothing now left sacred1 in the places where once--nothing was profane4 ,for that is indeed the teaching1 if you could receive it1 of the ,tower of ,giotto2 as of all ,christian art in its day4 ,next to declaration of the facts of the ,gospel1 its purpose1 7often in actual work the eagerest17 was to show the power of the ,gospel4 ,history of ,christ in due place2 yes1 history of all ,he did1 and how ,he died3 but then1 and often1 as ,i say1 with more animated imagination1 the showing of ,his risen presence in granting the harvests and guiding the labour of the year4 ,all sun and rain1 and length or decline of days received from ,his hand2 all joy1 and grief1 and strength1 or cessation of labour1 indulged or endured1 as in ,his sight and to ,his glory4 ,and the familiar employments of the seasons1 the homely toils of the peasant1 the lowliest skills of the craftsman1 are signed always on the stones of the ,church1 as the first and truest condition of sacrifice and offering4 ,of these representations of human art under heavenly guidance1 the series of bas-reliefs which stud the base of this tower of ,giotto's must be held certainly the chief in ,europe4 ,footnote3 ,for account of the series on the main archivolt of ,st4 ,mark's1 see my sketch of the schools of ,venetian sculpture in third forthcoming number of ',st4 ,mark's ,rest4' ,at first you may be surprised at the smallness of their scale in proportion to their masonry2 but this smallness of scale enabled the master workmen of the tower to execute them with their own hands2 and for the rest1 in the very finest architecture1 the decoration of most precious kind is usually thought of as a jewel1 and set with space round it1--as the jewels of a crown1 or the clasp of a girdle4 ,it is in general not possible for a great workman to carve1 himself1 a greatly conspicuous series of ornament2 nay1 even his energy fails him in design1 when the bas-relief extends itself into incrustation1 or involves the treatment of great masses of stone4 ,if his own does not1 the spectator's will4 ,it would be the work of a long summer's day to examine the over-loaded sculptures of the ,certosa of ,pavia2 and yet in the tired last hour1 you would be empty-hearted4 ,read but these inlaid jewels of ,giotto's once with patient following2 and your hour's study will give you strength for all your life4 ,so far as you can1 examine them of course on the spot2 but to know them thoroughly you must have their photographs3 the subdued colour of the old marble fortunately keeps the lights subdued1 so that the photograph may be made more tender in the shadows than is usual in its renderings of sculpture1 and there are few pieces of art which may now be so well known as these1 in quiet homes far away4 ,we begin on the western side4 ,there are seven sculptures on the western1 southern1 and northern sides3 six on the eastern2 counting the ,lamb over the entrance door of the tower1 which divides the complete series into two groups of eighteen and eight4 ,itself1 between them1 being the introduction to the following eight1 you must count it as the first of the terminal group2 you then have the whole twenty-seven sculptures divided into eighteen and nine4 ,thus lettering the groups on each side for ,west1 ,south1 ,east1 and ,north1 we have3 ,w4 ,s4 ,e4 ,n4 #g #g #f #g #bg2 or1 ,w4 ,s4 ,e4 #g #g #d #ah2 and1 ,e4 ,n4 #b #g #i ,there is a very special reason for this division by nines but1 for convenience' sake1 ,i shall number the whole from #a to #bg1 straightforwardly4 ,and if you will have patience with me1 ,i should like to go round the tower once and again2 first observing the general meaning and connection of the subjects and then going back to examine the technical points in each1 and such minor specialties as it may be well1 at the first time1 to pass over4 #a4 ,the series begins1 then1 on the west side1 with the ,creation of ,man4 ,it is not the beginning of the story of ,genesis2 but the simple assertion that ,god made us1 and breathed1 and still breathes1 into our nostrils the breath of life4 ,this1 ,giotto tells you to believe as the beginning of all knowledge and all power4 ,footnote3 ,so also the ,master-builder of the ,ducal ,palace of ,venice4 ,see ,fors ,clavigera for ,june of this year4 ,this he tells you to believe1 as a thing which he himself knows4 ,he will tell you nothing but what he does know4 #b4 ,therefore1 though ,giovanna ,pisano and his fellow sculptors had given1 literally1 the taking of the rib out of ,adam's side1 ,giotto merely gives the mythic expression of the truth he knows1--they two shall be one flesh4 #c4 ,and though all the theologians and poets of his time would have expected1 if not demanded1 that his next assertion1 after that of the ,creation of ,man1 should be of the ,fall of ,man1 he asserts nothing of the kind4 ,he knows nothing of what man was4 ,what he is1 he knows best of living men at that hour1 and proceeds to say4 ,the next sculpture is of ,eve spinning and ,adam hewing the ground into clods4 ,not digging3 you cannot1 usually1 dig but in ground already dug4 ,the native earth you must hew4 ,they are not clothed in skins4 ,what would have been the use of ,eve spinning if she could not weave8 ,they wear1 each1 one simple piece of drapery1 ,adam's knotted behind him1 ,eve's fastened around her neck with a rude brooch4 ,above them are an oak and an apple-tree4 ,into the apple-tree a little bear is trying to climb4 ,the meaning of which entire myth is1 as ,i read it1 that men and women must both eat their bread with toil4 ,that the first duty of man is to feed his family1 and the first duty of the woman to clothe it4 ,that the trees of the field are given us for strength and for delight1 and that the wild beasts of the field must have their share with us4 ,footnote3 ,the oak and apple boughs are placed1 with the same meaning1 by ,sandro ,botticelli1 in the lap of ,zipporah4 ,the figure of the bear is again represented by ,jacopo della ,quercia1 on the north door of the ,cathedral of ,florence4 ,i am not sure of its complete meaning4 #d4 ,the fourth sculpture1 forming the centre-piece of the series on the west side1 is nomad pastoral life4 ,jabal1 the father of such as dwell in tents1 and of such as have cattle1 lifts the curtain of his tent to look out upon his flock4 ,his dog watches it4 #e4 ,jubal1 the father of all such as handle the harp and organ4 ,that is to say1 stringed and wind instruments2--the lyre and reed4 ,the first arts 7with the ,jew and ,greek7 of the shepherd ,david1 and shepherd ,apollo4 ,giotto has given him the long level trumpet1 afterwards adopted so grandly in the sculptures of ,la ,robbia and ,donatello4 ,it is1 ,i think1 intended to be of wood1 as now the long ,swiss horn1 and a long and shorter tube are bound together4 #f4 ,tubal ,cain1 the instructor of every artificer in brass and iron4 ,giotto represents him as sitting1 fully robed1 turning a wedge of bronze on the anvil with extreme watchfulness4 ,these last three sculptures1 observe1 represent the life of the race of ,cain2 of those who are wanderers1 and have no home4 ,nomad pastoral life2 ,nomad artistic life1 ,wandering ,willie2 yonder organ man1 whom you want to send the policeman after1 and the gipsy who is mending the old schoolmistress's kettle on the grass1 which the squire has wanted so long to take into his park from the roadside4 #g4 ,then the last sculpture of the seven begins the story of the race of ,seth1 and of home life4 ,the father of it lying drunk under his trellised vine2 such the general image of civilized society1 in the abstract1 thinks ,giotto4 ,with several other meanings1 universally known to the ,catholic world of that day1--too many to be spoken of here4 ,the second side of the tower represents1 after this introduction1 the sciences and arts of civilized or home life4 #h4 ,astronomy4 ,in nomad life you may serve yourself of the guidance of the stars2 but to know the laws of their nomadic life1 your own must be fixed4 ,the astronomer1 with his sextant revolving on a fixed pivot1 looks up to the vault of the heavens and beholds their zodiac2 prescient of what else with optic glass the ,tuscan artist viewed1 at evening1 from the top of ,fsole4 ,above the dome of heaven1 as yet unseen1 are the ,lord of the worlds and ,his angels4 ,to-day1 the ,dawn and the ,daystar3 to-morrow1 the ,daystar arising in the heart4 #i4 ,defensive architecture4 ,the building of the watchtower4 ,the beginning of security in possession4 #aj4 ,pottery4 ,the making of pot1 cup1 and platter4 ,the first civilized furniture2 the means of heating liquid1 and serving drink and meat with decency and economy4 #aa4 ,riding4 ,the subduing of animals to domestic service4 #ab4 ,weaving4 ,the making of clothes with swiftness1 and in precision of structure1 by help of the loom4 #ac4 ,law1 revealed as directly from heaven4 #ad4 ,ddalus 7not ,icarus1 but the father trying the wings74 ,the conquest of the element of air4 ,as the seventh subject of the first group introduced the arts of home after those of the savage wanderer1 this seventh of the second group introduces the arts of the missionary1 or civilized and gift-bringing wanderer4 #ae4 ,the ,conquest of the ,sea4 ,the helmsman1 and two rowers1 rowing as ,venetians1 face to bow4 #af4 ,the ,conquest of the ,earth4 ,hercules victor over ,antus4 ,beneficent strength of civilization crushing the savageness of inhumanity4 #ag4 ,agriculture4 ,the oxen and plough4 #ah4 ,trade4 ,the cart and horses4 #ai4 ,and now the sculpture over the door of the tower4 ,the ,lamb of ,god1 expresses the ,law of ,sacrifice1 and door of ascent to heaven4 ,and then follow the fraternal arts of the ,christian world4 #bj4 ,geometry4 ,again the angle sculpture1 introductory to the following series4 ,we shall see presently why this science must be the foundation of the rest4 #ba4 ,sculpture4 #bb4 ,painting4 #bc4 ,grammar4 #bd4 ,arithmetic4 ,the laws of number1 weight1 and measures of capacity4 #be ,music4 ,the laws of number1 weight 7or force71 and measure1 applied to sound4 #bf4 ,logic4 ,the laws of number and measure applied to thought4 #bg4 ,the ,invention of ,harmony4 ,you see now--by taking first the great division of pre-,christian and ,christian arts1 marked by the door of the ,tower2 and then the divisions into four successive historical periods1 marked by its angles--that you have a perfect plan of human civilization4 ,the first side is of the nomad life1 learning how to assert its supremacy over other wandering creatures1 herbs1 and beasts4 ,then the second side is the fixed home life1 developing race and country2 then the third side1 the human intercourse between stranger races2 then the fourth side1 the harmonious arts of all who are gathered into the fold of ,christ4 ,now let us return to the first angle1 and examine piece by piece with care4 #a4 ,creation of ,man4 ,scarcely disengaged from the clods of the earth1 he opens his eyes to the face of ,christ4 ,like all the rest of the sculptures1 it is less the representation of a past fact than of a constant one4 ,it is the continual state of man1 'of the earth1' yet seeing ,god4 ,christ holds the book of ,his ,law--the ',law of life'--in ,his left hand4 ,the trees of the garden above are1--central above ,christ1 palm 7immortal life72 above ,adam1 oak 7human life74 ,pear1 and fig1 and a large-leaved ground fruit 7what87 complete the myth of the ,food of ,life4 ,as decorative sculpture1 these trees are especially to be noticed1 with those in the two next subjects1 and the ,noah's vine as differing in treatment from ,giotto's foliage1 of which perfect examples are seen in #af and #ag4 ,giotto's branches are set in close sheaf-like clusters2 and every mass disposed with extreme formality of radiation4 ,the leaves of these first1 on the contrary1 are arranged with careful concealment of their ornamental system1 so as to look inartificial4 ,this is done so studiously as to become1 by excess1 a little unnatural6--,nature herself is more decorative and formal in grouping4 ,but the occult design is very noble1 and every leaf modulated with loving1 dignified1 exactly right and sufficient finish2 not done to show skill1 nor with mean forgetfulness of main subject1 but in tender completion and harmony with it4 ,look at the subdivisions of the palm leaves with your magnifying glass4 ,the others are less finished in this than in the next subject4 ,man himself incomplete1 the leaves that are created with him1 for his life1 must not be so4 7,are not his fingers yet short2 growing87 #b4 ,creation of ,woman4 ,far1 in its essential qualities1 the transcendent sculpture of this subject1 ,ghiberti's is only a dainty elaboration and beautification of it1 losing its solemnity and simplicity in a flutter of feminine grace4 ,the older sculptor thinks of the ,uses of ,womanhood1 and of its dangers and sins1 before he thinks of its beauty2 but1 were the arm not lost1 the quiet naturalness of this head and breast of ,eve1 and the bending grace of the submissive rendering of soul and body to perpetual guidance by the hand of ,christ--7grasping the arm1 note1 for full support7--would be felt to be far beyond ,ghiberti's in beauty1 as in mythic truth4 ,the line of her body joins with that of the serpent-ivy round the tree trunk above her3 a double myth--of her fall1 and her support afterwards by her husband's strength4 ,thy desire shall be to thy husband4 ,the fruit of the tree--double-set filbert1 telling nevertheless the happy equality4 ,the leaves in this piece are finished with consummate poetical care and precision4 ,above ,adam1 laurel 7a virtuous woman is a crown to her husband72 the filbert for the two together2 the fig1 for fruitful household joy 7under thy vine and fig-tree ,footnote3 ,compare ,fors ,clavigera1 ,february1 #ahgg4--;but vine properly the masculine joy72 and the fruit taken by ,christ for type of all naturally growing food1 in his own hunger4 ,examine with lens the ribbing of these leaves1 and the insertion on their stem of the three laurel leaves on extreme right3 and observe that in all cases the sculptor works the moulding with his own part of the design2 look how he breaks variously deeper into it1 beginning from the foot of ,christ1 and going up to the left into full depth above the shoulder4 #c4 ,original labour4 ,much poorer1 and intentionally so4 ,for the myth of the creation of humanity1 the sculptor uses his best strength1 and shows supremely the grace of womanhood2 but in representing the first peasant state of life1 makes the grace of woman by no means her conspicuous quality4 ,she even walks awkwardly2 some feebleness in foreshortening the foot also embarrassing the sculptor4 ,he knows its form perfectly--but its perspective1 not quite yet4 ,the trees stiff and stunted--they also needing culture4 ,their fruit dropping at present only into beasts' mouths4 #d4 ,jabal4 ,if you have looked long enough1 and carefully enough1 at the three previous sculptures1 you cannot but feel that the hand here is utterly changed4 ,the drapery sweeps in broader1 softer1 but less true folds2 the handling is far more delicate2 exquisitely sensitive to gradation over broad surfaces--scarcely using an incision of any depth but in outline2 studiously reserved in appliance of shadow1 as a thing precious and local--look at it above the puppy's head1 and under the tent4 ,this is assuredly painter's work1 not mere sculptor's4 ,i have no doubt whatever it is by the own hand of the shepherd-boy of ,fsole4 ,cimabue had found him drawing1 7more probably scratching with ,etrurian point17 one of his sheep upon a stone4 ,these1 on the central foundation-stone of his tower he engraves1 looking back on the fields of life3 the time soon near for him to draw the curtains of his tent4 ,i know no dog like this in method of drawing1 and in skill of giving the living form without one touch of chisel for hair1 or incision for eye1 except the dog barking at ,poverty in the great fresco of ,assisi4 ,take the lens and look at every piece of the work from corner to corner--note especially as a thing which would only have been enjoyed by a painter1 and which all great painters do intensely enjoy--the fringe of the tent1 ,footnote3 ,i think ,jabal's tent is made of leather2 the relaxed intervals between the tent-pegs show a curved ragged edge like leather near the ground 7,mr4 ,caird74 ,the edge of the opening is still more characteristic1 ,i think4 and precise insertion of its point in the angle of the hexagon1 prepared for by the archaic masonry indicated in the oblique joint above2 ,footnote3 ,prints of these photographs which do not show the masonry all round the hexagon are quite valueless for study4 architect and painter thinking at once1 and doing as they thought4 ,i gave a lecture to the ,eton boys a year or two ago1 on little more than the shepherd's dog1 which is yet more wonderful in magnified scale of photograph4 ,the lecture is partly published--somewhere1 but ,i can't refer to it4 #e4 ,jubal4 ,still ,giotto's1 though a little less delighted in2 but with exquisite introduction of the ,gothic of his own tower4 ,see the light surface sculpture of a mosaic design in the horizontal moulding4 ,note also the painter's freehand working of the complex mouldings of the table--also resolvedly oblong1 not square2 see central flower4 #f4 ,tubal ,cain4 ,still ,giotto's1 and entirely exquisite2 finished with no less care than the shepherd1 to mark the vitality of this art to humanity2 the spade and hoe--its heraldic bearing--hung on the hinged door4 ,footnote3 ,pointed out to me by ,mr4 ,caird1 who adds farther1 ,i saw a forge identical with this one at ,pelago the other day1--the anvil resting on a tree-stump3 the same fire1 bellows1 and implements2 the door in two parts1 the upper part like a shutter1 and used for the exposition of finished work as a sign of the craft2 and ,i saw upon it the same finished work of the same shape as in the bas-relief--a spade and a hoe4 ,for subtlety of execution1 note the texture of wooden block under anvil1 and of its iron hoop4 ,the workman's face is the best sermon on the dignity of labour yet spoken by thoughtful man4 ,liberal ,parliaments and fraternal ,reformers have nothing essential to say more4 #g4 ,noah4 ,andrea ,pisano's again1 more or less imitative of ,giotto's work4 #h4 ,astronomy4 ,we have a new hand here altogether4 ,the hair and drapery bad2 the face expressive1 but blunt in cutting2 the small upper heads1 necessarily little more than blocked out1 on the small scale2 but not suggestive of grace in completion3 the minor detail worked with great mechanical precision1 but little feeling2 the lion's head1 with leaves in its ears1 is quite ugly2 and by comparing the work of the small cusped arch at the bottom with ,giotto's soft handling of the mouldings of his1 in #e1 you may for ever know common mason's work from fine ,gothic4 ,the zodiacal signs are quite hard and common in the method of bas-relief1 but quaint enough in design3 ,capricorn1 ,aquarius1 and ,pisces1 on the broad heavenly belt2 ,taurus upside down1 ,gemini1 and ,cancer1 on the small globe4 ,i think the whole a restoration of the original panel1 or else an inferior workman's rendering of ,giotto's design1 which the next piece is1 with less question4 #i4 ,building4 ,the larger figure1 ,i am disposed finally to think1 represents civic power1 as in ,lorenzetti's fresco at ,siena4 ,the extreme rudeness of the minor figures may be guarantee of their originality2 it is the smoothness of mass and hard edge work that make me suspect the #hth for a restoration4 #aj4 ,pottery4 ,very grand2 with much painter's feeling1 and fine mouldings again4 ,the tiled roof projecting in the shadow above1 protects the first ,ceramicus-home4 ,i think the women are meant to be carrying some kind of wicker or reed-bound water-vessel4 ,the ,potter's servant explains to them the extreme advantages of the new invention4 ,i can't make any conjecture about the author of this piece4 #aa4 ,riding4 ,again ,andrea ,pisano's1 it seems to me4 ,compare the tossing up of the dress behind the shoulders1 in #c and #b4 ,the head is grand1 having nearly an ,athenian profile3 the loss of the horse's fore-leg prevents me from rightly judging of the entire action4 ,i must leave riders to say4 #ab4 ,weaving4 ,andrea's again1 and of extreme loveliness2 the stooping face of the woman at the loom is more like a ,leonardo drawing than sculpture4 ,the action of throwing the large shuttle1 and all the structure of the loom and its threads1 distinguishing rude or smooth surface1 are quite wonderful4 ,the figure on the right shows the use and grace of finely woven tissue1 under and upper--that over the bosom so delicate that the line of separation from the flesh of the neck is unseen4 ,if you hide with your hand the carved masonry at the bottom1 the composition separates itself into two pieces1 one disagreeably rectangular4 ,the still more severely rectangular masonry throws out by contrast all that is curved and rounded in the loom1 and unites the whole composition2 that is its aesthetic function2 its historical one is to show that weaving is queen's work1 not peasant's2 for this is palace masonry4 #ac4 ,the ,giving of ,law4 ,more strictly1 of the ,book of ,god's ,law3 the only one which can ultimately be obeyed4 ,footnote3 ,mr4 ,caird convinced me of the real meaning of this sculpture4 ,i had taken it for the giving of a book1 writing further of it as follows3-- ,all books1 rightly so called1 are ,books of ,law1 and all ,scripture is given by inspiration of ,god4 7,what we now mostly call a book1 the infinite reduplication and vibratory echo of a lie1 is not given but belched up out of volcanic clay by the inspiration of the devil47 ,on the ,book-giver's right hand the students in cell1 restrained by the lifted right hand3 ,silent1 you1 till you know2 then1 perhaps1 you also4 ,on the left1 the men of the world1 kneeling1 receive the gift4 ,recommendable seal1 this1 for ,mr4 ,mudie6 ,mr4 ,caird says3 ,the book is written law1 which is given by ,justice to the inferiors1 that they may know the laws regulating their relations to their superiors--who are also under the hand of law4 ,the vassal is protected by the accessibility of formularized law4 ,the superior is restrained by the right hand of power4 ,the authorship of this is very embarrassing to me4 ,the face of the central figure is most noble1 and all the work good1 but not delicate2 it is like original work of the master whose design ,no4 #h might be a restoration4 #ad ,ddalus4 ,andrea ,pisano again2 the head superb1 founded on ,greek models1 feathers of wings wrought with extreme care2 but with no precision of arrangement or feeling4 ,how far intentional in awkwardness1 ,i cannot say2 but note the good mechanism of the whole plan1 with strong standing board for the feet4 #ae4 ,navigation4 ,an intensely puzzling one2 coarse 7perhaps unfinished7 in work1 and done by a man who could not row2 the plaited bands used for rowlocks being pulled the wrong way4 ,right1 had the rowers been rowing ,englishwise3 but the water at the boat's head shows its motion forwards1 the way the oarsmen look4 ,i cannot make out the action of the figure at the stern2 it ought to be steering with the stern oar4 ,the water seems quite unfinished4 ,meant1 ,i suppose1 for surface and section of sea1 with slimy rock at the bottom2 but all stupid and inefficient4 #af4 ,hercules and ,antus4 ,the ,earth power1 half hidden by the earth1 its hair and hand becoming roots1 the strength of its life passing through the ground into the oak tree4 ,with ,cercyon1 but first named1 7,plato1 ,laws1 book ,,vii41 #gif71 ,antus is the master of contest without use2--,,greek3 philoneikias achrestou--and is generally the power of pure selfishness and its various inflation to insolence and degradation to cowardice2--finding its strength only in fall back to its ,earth1--he is the master1 in a word1 of all such kind of persons as have been writing lately about the interests of ,england4 ,he is1 therefore1 the ,power invoked by ,dante to place ,virgil and him in the lowest circle of ,hell2--,alcides whilom felt1--that grapple1 straitened sore1 etc4 ,the ,antus in the sculpture is very grand2 but the authorship puzzles me1 as of the next piece1 by the same hand4 ,i believe both ,giotto's design4 #ag4 ,ploughing4 ,the sword in its ,christian form4 ,magnificent3 the grandest expression of the power of man over the earth and its strongest creatures that ,i remember in early sculpture1--7or for that matter1 in late74 ,it is the subduing of the bull which the sculptor thinks most of2 the plough1 though large1 is of wood1 and the handle slight4 ,but the pawing and bellowing labourer he has bound to it6--here is victory4 #ah4 ,the ,chariot4 ,the horse also subdued to draught--,achilles' chariot in its first1 and to be its last1 simplicity4 ,the face has probably been grand--the figure is so still4 ,andrea's1 ,i think by the flying drapery4 #ai4 ,the ,lamb1 with the symbol of ,resurrection4 ,over the door3 ',i am the door2--by me1 if any man enter in1' etc4 ,put to the right of the tower1 you see1 fearlessly1 for the convenience of staircase ascent2 all external symmetry being subject with the great builders to interior use2 and then1 out of the rightly ordained infraction of formal law1 comes perfect beauty2 and when1 as here1 the ,spirit of ,heaven is working with the designer1 his thoughts are suggested in truer order1 by the concession to use4 ,after this sculpture comes the ,christian arts1--those which necessarily imply the conviction of immortality4 ,astronomy without ,christianity only reaches as far as--',thou hast made him a little lower than the angels--and put all things under ,his feet'3--,christianity says beyond this1--',know ye not that we shall judge angels 7as also the lower creatures shall judge us67' ,footnote3 ,in the deep sense of this truth1 which underlies all the bright fantasy and humour of ,mr4 ,courthope's ,paradise of ,birds1 that rhyme of the risen spirit of ,aristophanes may well be read under the tower of ,giotto1 beside his watch-dog of the fold4 ,the series of sculptures now beginning1 show the arts which can only be accomplished through belief in ,christ4 #bj4 ,geometry4 ,not 'mathematics'3 they have been implied long ago in astronomy and architecture2 but the due ,measuring of the ,earth and all that is on it4 ,actually done only by ,christian faith--first inspiration of the great ,earth-measurers4 ,your ,prince ,henry of ,spain1 your ,columbus1 your ,captain ,cook1 7whose tomb1 with the bright artistic invention and religious tenderness which are so peculiarly the gifts of the nineteenth century1 we have just provided a fence for1 of old cannon open-mouthed1 straight up towards ,heaven--your modern method of symbolizing the only appeal to ,heaven of which the nineteenth century has left itself capable--',the voice of thy ,brother's blood crieth to me'--your outworn cannon1 now silently agape1 but sonorous in the ears of angels with that appeal7--first inspiration1 ,i say1 of these2 constant inspiration of all who set true landmarks and hold to them1 knowing their measure2 the devil interfering1 ,i observe1 lately in his own way1 with the ,geometry of ,yorkshire1 where the landed proprietors1 ,footnote3 ,i mean no accusation against any class2 probably the one-fielded statesman is more eager for his little gain of fifty yards of grass than the squire for his bite and sup out of the gypsy's part of the roadside4 ,but it is notable enough to the passing traveller1 to find himself shut into a narrow road between high stone dykes which he can neither see over nor climb over1 7,i always deliberately pitch them down myself1 wherever ,i need a gap17 instead of on a broad road between low grey walls with all the moor beyond--and the power of leaping over when he chooses in innocent trespass for herb1 or view1 or splinter of grey rock4 when the neglected walls by the roadside tumble down1 benevolently repair the same1 with better stonework1 outside always of the fallen heaps2--which1 the wall being thus built on what was the public road1 absorb themselves1 with help of moss and time1 into the heaving swells of the rocky field-and behold1 gain of a couple of feet--along so much of the road as needs repairing operations4 ,this then1 is the first of the ,christian sciences3 division of land rightly1 and the general law of measuring between wisely-held compass points4 ,the type of mensuration1 circle in square1 on his desk1 ,i use for my first exercise in the laws of ,fsole4 #ba4 ,sculpture4 ,the first piece of the closing series on the north side of the ,campanile1 of which some general points must be first noted1 before any special examination4 ,the two initial ones1 ,sculpture and ,painting1 are by tradition the only ones attributed to ,giotto's own hand4 ,the fifth1 ,song1 is known1 and recognizable in its magnificence1 to be by ,luca della ,robbia4 ,the remaining four are all of ,luca's school1--later work therefore1 all these five1 than any we have been hitherto examining1 entirely different in manner1 and with late flower-work beneath them instead of our hitherto severe ,gothic arches4 ,and it becomes of course instantly a vital question--,did ,giotto die leaving the series incomplete1 only its subjects chosen1 and are these two bas-reliefs of ,sculpture and ,painting among his last works8 or was the series ever completed1 and these later bas-reliefs substituted for the earlier ones1 under ,luca's influence1 by way of conducting the whole to a grander close1 and making their order more representative of ,florentine art in its fulness of power8 ,i must repeat1 once more1 and with greater insistence respecting ,sculpture than ,painting1 that ,i do not in the least set myself up for a critic of authenticity1--but only of absolute goodness4 ,my readers may trust me to tell them what is well done or ill2 but by whom1 is quite a separate question1 needing for any certainty1 in this school of much-associated masters and pupils1 extremest attention to minute particulars not at all bearing on my objects in teaching4 ,of this closing group of sculptures1 then1 all ,i can tell you is that the fifth is a quite magnificent piece of work1 and recognizably1 to my extreme conviction1 ,luca della ,robbia's2 that the last1 ,harmonia1 is also fine work2 that those attributed to ,giotto are fine in a different way1--and the other three in reality the poorest pieces in the series1 though done with much more advanced sculptural dexterity4 ,but ,i am chiefly puzzled by the two attributed to ,giotto1 because they are much coarser than those which seem to me so plainly his on the west side1 and slightly different in workmanship--with much that is common to both1 however1 in the casting of drapery and mode of introduction of details4 ,the difference may be accounted for partly by haste or failing power1 partly by the artist's less deep feeling of the importance of these merely symbolic figures1 as compared with those of the ,fathers of the ,arts2 but it is very notable and embarrassing notwithstanding1 complicated as it is with extreme resemblance in other particulars4 ,you cannot compare the subjects on the tower itself2 but of my series of photographs take #f and #ba1 and put them side by side4 ,i need not dwell on the conditions of resemblance1 which are instantly visible2 but the difference in the treatment of the heads is incomprehensible4 ,that of the ,tubal ,cain is exquisitely finished1 and with a painter's touch2 every lock of the hair laid with studied flow1 as in the most beautiful drawing4 ,in the ',sculpture1' it is struck out with ordinary tricks of rapid sculptor trade1 entirely unfinished1 and with offensively frank use of the drill hole to give picturesque rustication to the beard4 ,next1 put #bb and #e back to back4 ,you see again the resemblance in the earnestness of both figures1 in the unbroken arcs of their backs1 in the breaking of the octagon moulding by the pointed angles2 and here1 even also in the general conception of the heads4 ,but again1 in the one of ,painting1 the hair is struck with more vulgar indenting and drilling1 and the ,gothic of the picture frame is less precise in touch and later in style4 ,observe1 however1--and this may perhaps give us some definite hint for clearing the question1--a picture-frame would be less precise in making1 and later in style1 properly1 than cusped arches to be put under the feet of the inventor of all musical sound by breath of man4 ,and if you will now compare finally the eager tilting of the workman's seat in #bb and #f1 and the working of the wood in the painter's low table for his pots of colour1 and his three-legged stool1 with that of ,tubal ,cain's anvil block2 and the way in which the lines of the forge and upper triptych are in each composition used to set off the rounding of the head1 ,i believe you will have little hesitation in accepting my own view of the matter--namely1 that the three pieces of the ,fathers of the ,arts were wrought with ,giotto's extremest care for the most precious stones of his tower2 that also1 being a sculptor and painter1 he did the other two1 but with quite definite and wilful resolve that they should be1 as mere symbols of his own two trades1 wholly inferior to the other subjects of the patriarchs2 that he made the ,sculpture picturesque and bold as you see it is1 and showed all a sculptor's tricks in the work of it2 and a sculptor's ,greek subject1 ,bacchus1 for the model of it2 that he wrought the ,painting1 as the higher art1 with more care1 still keeping it subordinate to the primal subjects1 but showed1 for a lesson to all the generations of painters for evermore1--this one lesson1 like his circle of pure line containing all others1--',your soul and body must be all in every touch4' ,i can't resist the expression of a little piece of personal exultation1 in noticing that he holds his pencil as ,i do myself3 no writing master1 and no effort 7at one time very steady for many months71 having ever cured me of that way of holding both pen and pencil between my fore and second finger2 the third and fourth resting the backs of them on my paper4 ,as ,i finally arrange these notes for press1 ,i am further confirmed in my opinion by discovering little finishings in the two later pieces which ,i was not before aware of4 ,i beg the masters of ,high ,art1 and sublime generalization1 to take a good magnifying glass to the ',sculpture' and look at the way ,giotto has cut the compasses1 the edges of the chisels1 and the keyhole of the lock of the toolbox4 ,for the rest1 nothing could be more probable1 in the confused and perpetually false mass of ,florentine tradition1 than the preservation of the memory of ,giotto's carving his own two trades1 and the forgetfulness1 or quite as likely ignorance1 of the part he took with ,andrea ,pisano in the initial sculptures4 ,i now take up the series of subjects at the point where we broke off1 to trace their chain of philosophy to its close4 ,to ,geometry1 which gives to every man his possession of house and land1 succeed #ba1 ,sculpture1 and #bb1 ,painting1 the adornments of permanent habitation4 ,and then1 the great arts of education in a ,christian home4 ,first-- #bc4 ,grammar1 or more properly ,literature altogether1 of which we have already seen the ancient power in the ,spanish ,chapel series2 then1 #bd4 ,arithmetic1 central here as also in the ,spanish ,chapel1 for the same reasons2 here1 more impatiently asserting1 with both hands1 that two1 on the right1 you observe-and two on the left-do indeed and for ever make ,four4 ,keep your accounts1 you1 with your book of double entry1 on that principle2 and you will be safe in this world and the next1 in your steward's office4 ,but by no means so1 if you ever admit the usurers ,gospel of ,arithmetic1 that two and two make ,five4 ,you see by the rich hem of his robe that the asserter of this economical first principle is a man well to do in the world4 #be4 ,logic4 ,the art of ,demonstration4 ,vulgarest of the whole series1 far too expressive of the mode in which argument is conducted by those who are not masters of its reins4 #bf4 ,song4 ,the essential power of music in animal life4 ,orpheus1 the symbol of it all1 the inventor properly of ,music1 the ,law of ,kindness1 as ,ddalus of ,music1 the ,law of ,construction4 ,hence the ,orphic life is one of ideal mercy1 7vegetarian17--,plato1 ,laws1 ,book ,,vi41 #ghb1--;and he is named first after ,ddalus1 and in balance to him as head of the school of harmonists1 in ,book ,,iii41 #fgg1 7,steph47 ,look for the two singing birds clapping their wings in the tree above him2 then the five mystic beasts1--closest to his feet the irredeemable boar2 then lion and bear1 tiger1 unicorn1 and fiery dragon closest to his head1 the flames of its mouth mingling with his breath as he sings4 ,the audient eagle1 alas6 has lost the beak1 and is only recognizable by his proud holding of himself2 the duck1 sleepily delighted after muddy dinner1 close to his shoulder1 is a true conquest4 ,hoopoe1 or indefinite bird of crested race1 behind2 of the other three no clear certainty4 ,the leafage throughout such as only ,luca could do1 and the whole consummate in skill and understanding4 #bg4 ,harmony4 ,music of ,song1 in the full power of it1 meaning perfect education in all art of the ,muses and of civilized life3 the mystery of its concord is taken for the symbol of that of a perfect state2 one day1 doubtless1 of the perfect world4 ,so prophesies the last corner stone of the ,shepherd's ,tower4