,,val ,d',,arno                     ,,by
                  ,,john ,,ruskin1      
,m4,a4        ,,lecture ,i4 ,,nicholas  
,,the ,,pisan   ,,lecture ,,ii4 ,,john  
,,the ,,pisan  ,,lecture ,,iii4 ,,shield
 ,,and ,,apron   ,,lecture ,,iv4        
,,parted ,,per ,,pale    ,,lecture ,v4  
,,pax ,,vobiscum   ,,lecture ,,vi4      
,,marble ,,couchant  ,,lecture ,,vii4   
,,marble ,,rampant ,,lecture ,,viii4    
,,franchise  ,,lecture ,,ix4 ,,the      
,,tyrrhene ,,sea    ,,lecture ,x4       
,,fleur ,,de ,,lys                      
,,appendix                    ,,list    
,,of ,,plates4       ,,the ,,ancient    
,,shores ,,of ,,arno       ,i4 ,,the    
,,pisan ,,latona    ,,ii4 ,,niccola     
,,pisano',s ,,pulpit   ,,iii4 ,,the     
,,fountain ,,of ,,perugia    ,,iv4      
,,norman ,,imagery     ,v4 ,,door ,,of  
,,the ,,baptistery4 ,,pisa    ,,vi4     
,,the ,,story ,,of ,,st4 ,,john4        
,,advent   ,,vii4                       
,,departure  ,,viii4 ,,the ,,charge ,,to
 ,,adam ,,giovanni ,,pisano    ,,ix4    

,,modern ,,italian     ,x4 ,,the        
,,nativity4 ,,giovanni ,,pisano    ,,xi4
             ,,modern ,,italian   ,,xii4
 ,,the ,,annunciation ,,and ,,visitation
                     ,,val ,d',,arno    
,,ten ,,lectures                        
,,on  ,,the ,,tuscan ,,art ,,directly   
,,antecedent ,,to ,,the ,,florentine    
,,year ,,of ,,victories   ,,given       
,,before ,,the ,,university ,,of        
,,oxford ,,in ,,michaelmas              
,,term1 #ahgc                           
,,lecture ,i4                ,,nicholas 
,,the ,,pisan4  #a4 ,on this day1 of    
this month1 the #bjth of ,october1 six  
hundred and twenty-three years ago1 the 
merchants and tradesmen of ,florence met
 before the church of ,santa ,croce2    
marched through the city to the palace  
of their ,podesta2 deposed their        
,podesta2 set over themselves1 in his   
place1 a knight belonging to an inferior
 city2 called him ,captain of the       
,people2 appointed under him a ,signory 
of twelve ,ancients chosen from among   

themselves2 hung a bell for him on the  
tower of the ,lion1 that he might ring  
it at need1 and gave him the flag of    
,florence to bear1 half white1 and half 
red4  ,the first blow struck upon the   
bell in that tower of the ,lion began   
the tolling for the passing away of the 
feudal system1 and began the joy-peal1  
or carillon1 for whatever deserves joy1 
in that of our modern liberties1 whether
 of action or of trade4  #b4 ,within the
 space of our ,oxford term from that    
day1 namely1 on the #acth of ,december  
in the same year1 #abej1 died1 at       
,ferentino1 in ,apulia1 the second      
,frederick1 ,emperor of ,germany2 the   
second also of the two great lights     
which in his lifetime1 according to     
,dante's astronomy1 ruled the           
world1--whose light being quenched1 the 
land which was once the residence of    
courtesy and valour1 became the haunt of
 all men who are ashamed to be near the 
good1 or to speak to them4              
,in sul paese chadice e po riga         

solea valore e cortesia trovar si       
prima che federigo ,bavessi briga1      
or puo sicuramente indi passarsi        
per qualuuche lasciassi per vergogna    
di ragionar co buoni1 e appressarsi4    
,,puro41 ,cant4 #af4   #c4 ,the ,paese  
che ,adice e ,po riga is of course      
,lombardy2 and might have been enough   
distinguished by the name of its        
principal river4 ,but ,dante has an     
especial reason for naming the ,adige4  
,it is always by the valley of the      
,adige that the power of the ,german    
,caesars descends on ,italy2 and that   
battlemented bridge1 which doubtless    
many of you remember1 thrown over the   
,adige at ,verona1 was so built that the
 ,german riders might have secure and   
constant access to the city4 ,in which  
city they had their first stronghold in 
,italy1 aided therein by the great      
family of the ,montecchi1 ,montacutes1  
,mont-aigu-s1 or ,montagues2 lords1 so  
called1 of the mountain peaks2 in feud  
with the family of the                  

,cappelletti1--hatted1 or1 more         
properly1 scarlet-hatted1 persons4 ,and 
this accident of nomenclature1 assisted 
by your present familiar knowledge of   
the real contests of the sharp mountains
 with the flat caps1 or petasoi1 of     
cloud1 7locally giving ,mont ,pilate its
 title1 ,pileatus17 may in many points  
curiously illustrate for you that       
contest of ,frederick the ,second with  
,innocent the ,fourth1 which in the good
 of it and the evil alike1 represents to
 all time the war of the solid1         
rational1 and earthly authority of the  
,king1 and ,state1 with the more or less
 spectral1 hooded1 imaginative1 and     
nubiform authority of the ,pope1 and    
,church4  #d4 ,it will be desirable also
 that you clearly learn the material    
relations1 governing spiritual ones1--as
 of the ,alps to their clouds1 so of the
 plains to their rivers4 ,and of these  
rivers1 chiefly note the relation to    
each other1 first1 of the ,adige and    
,po2 then of the ,arno and ,tiber4 ,for 

the ,adige1 representing among the      
rivers and fountains of waters the      
channel of ,imperial1 as the ,tiber of  
the ,papal power1 and the strength of   
the ,coronet being founded on the white 
peaks that look down upon ,hapsburg and 
,hohenzollern1 as that of the ,scarlet  
,cap in the marsh of the ,campagna1 quo 
tenuis in sicco aqua destituisset1 the  
study of the policies and arts of the   
cities founded in the two great valleys 
of ,lombardy and ,tuscany1 so far as    
they were affected by their bias to the 
,emperor1 or the ,church1 will arrange  
itself in your minds at once in a       
symmetry as clear as it will be1 in our 
future work1 secure and suggestive4  #e4
 ,tenuis1 in sicco4 ,how literally the  
words apply1 as to the native streams1  
so to the early states or establishings 
of the great cities of the world4 ,and  
you will find that the policy of the    
,coronet1 with its tower-building2 the  
policy of the ,hood1 with its           
dome-building2 and the policy of the    

bare brow1 with its cot-building1--the  
three main associations of human energy 
to which we owe the architecture of our 
earth1 7in contradistinction to the dens
 and caves of it17--are curiously and   
eternally governed by mental laws1      
corresponding to the physical ones which
 are ordained for the rocks1 the clouds1
 and the streams4  ,the tower1 which    
many of you so well remember the daily  
sight of1 in your youth1 above the      
winding shore of ,thames1--the tower    
upon the hill of ,london2 the dome which
 still rises above its foul and         
terrestrial clouds2 and the walls of    
this city itself1 which has been alma1  
nourishing in gentleness1 to the youth  
of ,england1 because defended from      
external hostility by the difficultly   
fordable streams of its plain1 may      
perhaps1 in a few years more1 be swept  
away as heaps of useless stone2 but the 
rocks1 and clouds1 and rivers of our    
country will yet1 one day1 restore to it
 the glory of law1 of religion1 and of  

life4  #f4 ,i am about to ask you to    
read the hieroglyphs upon the           
architecture of a dead nation1 in       
character greatly resembling our        
own1--in laws and in commerce greatly   
influencing our own2--in arts1 still1   
from her grave1 tutress of the present  
world4 ,i know that it will be expected 
of me to explain the merits of her arts1
 without reference to the wisdom of her 
laws2 and to describe the results of    
both1 without investigating the feelings
 which regulated either4 ,i cannot do   
this2 but ,i will at once end these     
necessarily vague1 and perhaps          
premature1 generalizations2 and only ask
 you to study some portions of the life 
and work of two men1 father and son1    
citizens of the city in which the       
energies of this great people were at   
first concentrated2 and to deduce from  
that study the conclusions1 or follow   
out the inquiries1 which it may         
naturally suggest4  #g4 ,it is the      
modern fashion to despise ,vasari4 ,he  

is indeed despicable1 whether as        
historian or critic1--not least in his  
admiration of ,michael ,angelo2         
nevertheless1 he records the traditions 
and opinions of his day2 and these you  
must accurately know1 before you can    
wisely correct4 ,i will take leave1     
therefore1 to begin to-day with a       
sentence from ,vasari1 which many of you
 have often heard quoted1 but of which1 
perhaps1 few have enough observed the   
value4  ,niccola ,pisano finding himself
 under certain ,greek sculptors who were
 carving the figures and other intaglio 
ornaments of the cathedral of ,pisa1 and
 of the temple of ,st4 ,john1 and there 
being1 among many spoils of marbles1    
brought by the ,pisan fleet1 #a some    
ancient tombs1 there was one among the  
others most fair1 on which was          
sculptured the hunting of ,meleager4 #b 
,footnote #a3 ,armata4 ,the proper word 
for a land army is esercito4  ,footnote 
#b3 ,vol4 i41 p4 #fj1 of ,mrs4 ,foster's
 ,english translation1 to which ,i shall

 always refer1 in order that ,english   
students may compare the context if they
 wish4 ,but the pieces of ,english which
 ,i give are my own direct translation1 
varying1 it will be found1 often1 from  
,mrs4 ,foster's1 in minute1 but not     
unimportant1 particulars4  ,get the     
meaning and contents of this passage    
well into your minds4 ,in the gist of   
it1 it is true1 and very notable4  #h4  
,you are in mid thirteenth century2     
#abjj-acjj4 ,the ,greek nation has been 
dead in heart upwards of a thousand     
years2 its religion dead1 for six       
hundred4 ,but through the wreck of its  
faith1 and death in its heart1 the skill
 of its hands1 and the cunning of its   
design1 instinctively linger4 ,in the   
centuries of ,christian power1 the      
,christians are still unable to build   
but under ,greek masters1 and by pillage
 of ,greek shrines2 and their best      
workman is only an apprentice to the    
',graeculi esurientes' who are carving  
the temple of ,st4 ,john4  #i4 ,think of

 it4 ,here has the ,new ,testament been 
declared for #abjj years4 ,no spirit of 
wisdom1 as yet1 has been given to its   
workmen1 except that which has descended
 from the ,mars ,hill on which ,st4     
,paul stood contemptuous in pity4 ,no   
,bezaleel arises1 to build new          
tabernacles1 unless he has been taught  
by ,daedalus4  #aj4 ,it is necessary1   
therefore1 for you first to know        
precisely the manner of these ,greek    
masters in their decayed power2 the     
manner which ,vasari calls1 only a      
sentence before1 ,that old ,greek       
manner1 blundering1                     
disproportioned1--,goffa1 e             
sproporzionata4  ,goffa1 the very word  
which ,michael ,angelo uses of          
,perugino4 ,behold1 the ,christians     
despising the ,dunce ,greeks1 as the    
,infidel modernists despise the ,dunce  
,christians4 #a  ,footnote #a3 ,compare 
,ariadne ,floreutina1  #df4  #aa4 ,i    
sketched for you1 when ,i was last at   
,pisa1 a few arches of the apse of the  

duomo1 and a small portion of the       
sculpture of the font of the ,temple of 
,st4 ,john4 ,i have placed them in your 
rudimentary series1 as examples of      
quella vecchia maniera ,greca1 goffa e  
sproporzionata4 ,my own judgment        
respecting them is1--and it is a        
judgment founded on knowledge which you 
may1 if you choose1 share with me1 after
 working with me1--that no architecture 
on this grand scale1 so delicately      
skilful in execution1 or so daintily    
disposed in proportion1 exists elsewhere
 in the world4  #ab4 ,is ,vasari        
entirely wrong then8  ,no1 only half    
wrong1 but very fatally half wrong4     
,there are ,greeks1 and ,greeks4  ,this 
head with the inlaid dark iris in its   
eyes1 from the font of ,st4 ,john1 is as
 pure as the sculpture of early ,greece1
 a hundred years before ,phidias2 and it
 is so delicate1 that having drawn with 
equal care this and the best work of the
 ,lombardi at ,venice 7in the church of 
the ,miracoli71 ,i found this to possess

 the more subtle qualities of design4   
,and yet1 in the cloisters of ,st4 ,john
 ,lateran at ,rome1 you have ,greek     
work1 if not contemporary with this at  
,pisa1 yet occupying a parallel place in
 the history of architecture1 which is  
abortive1 and monstrous beyond the power
 of any words to describe4 ,vasari knew 
no difference between these two kinds of
 ,greek work4 ,nor do your modern       
architects4 ,to discern the difference  
between the sculpture of the font of    
,pisa1 and the spandrils of the ,lateran
 cloister1 requires thorough training of
 the hand in the finest methods of      
draughtsmanship2 and1 secondly1 trained 
habit of reading the mythology and      
ethics of design4 ,i simply assure you  
of the fact at present2 and if you work1
 you may have sight and sense of it4    
#ac4 ,there are ,greeks1 and ,greeks1   
then1 in the twelfth century1 differing 
as much from each other as vice1 in all 
ages1 must differ from virtue4 ,but in  
,vasari's sight they are alike2 in ours1

 they must be so1 as far as regards our 
present purpose4 ,as men of a school1   
they are to be summed under the general 
name of ',byzantines2' their work all   
alike showing specific characters of    
attenuate1 rigid1 and in many respects  
offensively unbeautiful1 design1 to     
which ,vasari's epithets of goffa1 e    
sproporzionata are naturally applied by 
all persons trained only in modern      
principles4 ,under masters1 then1 of    
this ,byzantine race1 ,niccola is       
working at ,pisa4  #ad4 ,among the      
spoils brought by her fleets from       
,greece1 is a sarcophagus1 with         
,meleager's hunt on it1 wrought con     
bellissima maniera1 says ,vasari4  ,you 
may see that sarcophagus--any of you who
 go to ,pisa2--touch it1 for it is on a 
level with your hand2 study it1 as      
,niccola studied it1 to your mind's     
content4 ,within ten yards of it1 stand 
equally accessible pieces of ,niccola's 
own work and of his son's4 ,within fifty
 yards of it1 stands the ,byzantine font

 of the chapel of ,st4 ,john4 ,spend but
 the good hours of a single day quietly 
by these three pieces of marble1 and you
 may learn more than in general any of  
you bring home from an entire tour in   
,italy4 ,but how many of you ever yet   
went into that temple of ,st4 ,john1    
knowing what to look for2 or spent as   
much time in the ,campo ,santo of ,pisa1
 as you do in ,mr4 ,ryman's shop on a   
rainy day8  #ae4 ,the sarcophagus is    
not1 however1 7with ,vasari's pardon7 in
 'bellissima maniera' by any means4 ,but
 it is in the classical ,greek manner   
instead of the ,byzantine ,greek manner4
 ,you have to learn the difference      
between these4  ,now ,i have explained  
to you sufficiently1 in ,aratra         
,pentelici1 what the classical ,greek   
manner is4 ,the manner and matter of it 
being easily summed--as those of natural
 and unaffected life2--nude life when   
nudity is right and pure2 not otherwise4
 ,to ,niccola1 the difference between   
this natural ,greek school1 and the     

,byzantine1 was as the difference       
between the bull of ,thurium and of     
,delhi1 7see ,plate #ai of ,aratra      
,pentelici74  ,instantly he followed the
 natural fact1 and became the ,father of
 ,sculpture to ,italy4  #af4 ,are we1   
then1 also to be strong by following the
 natural fact8  ,yes1 assuredly4 ,that  
is the beginning and end of all my      
teaching to you4 ,but the noble natural 
fact1 not the ignoble4 ,you are to study
 men2 not lice nor entozoa4 ,and you are
 to study the souls of men in their     
bodies1 not their bodies only4          
,mulready's drawings from the nude are  
more degraded and bestial than the worst
 grotesques of the ,byzantine or even   
the ,indian image makers4 ,and your     
modern mob of ,english and ,american    
tourists1 following a lamplighter       
through the ,vatican to have pink light 
thrown for them on the ,apollo          
,belvidere1 are farther from capacity of
 understanding ,greek art1 than the     
parish charity boy1 making a ghost out  

of a turnip1 with a candle inside4  #ag4
 ,niccola followed the facts1 then4 ,he 
is the ,master of ,naturalism in ,italy4
 ,and ,i have drawn for you his lioness 
and cubs1 to fix that in your minds4    
,and beside it1 ,i put the ,lion of ,st4
 ,mark's1 that you may see exactly the  
kind of change he made4 ,the ,lion of   
,st4 ,mark's 7all but his wings1 which  
have been made and fastened on in the   
fifteenth century71 is in the central   
,byzantine manner2 a fine decorative    
piece of work1 descending in true       
genealogy from the ,lion of ,nemea1 and 
the crested skin of him that clothes the
 head of the ,heracles of ,camarina4 ,it
 has all the richness of ,greek ,daedal 
work1--nay1 it has fire and life beyond 
much ,greek ,daedal work2 but in so far 
as it is non-natural1 symbolic1         
decorative1 and not like an actual lion1
 it would be felt by ,niccola ,pisano to
 be imperfect4 ,and instead of this     
decorative evangelical preacher of a    
lion1 with staring eyes1 and its paw on 

a gospel1 he carves you a quite brutal  
and maternal lioness1 with affectionate 
eyes1 and paw set on her cub4  #ah4 ,fix
 that in your minds1 then4 ,niccola     
,pisano is the ,master of ,naturalism in
 ,italy1--therefore elsewhere2 of       
,naturalism1 and all that follows4      
,generally of truth1 common-sense1      
simplicity1 vitality1--and of all these1
 with consummate power4 ,a man to be    
enquired about1 is not he8 and will it  
not make a difference to you whether you
 look1 when you travel in ,italy1 in his
 rough early marbles for this fountain  
of life1 or only glance at them because 
your ,murray's ,guide tells you1--and   
think them odd old things8  #ai4 ,we    
must look for a moment more at one odd  
old thing--the sarcophagus which was his
 tutor4 ,upon it is carved the hunting  
of ,meleager2 and it was made1 or by    
tradition received as1 the tomb of the  
mother of the ,countess ,matilda4 ,i    
must not let you pass by it without     
noticing two curious coincidences in    

these particulars4 ,first1 in the ,greek
 subject which is given ,niccola to     
read4  ,the boar1 remember1 is ,diana's 
enemy4 ,it is sent upon the fields of   
,calydon in punishment of the refusal of
 the ,calydonians to sacrifice to her4  
',you have refused me1' she said2 'you  
will not have ,artemis ,laphria1        
,forager ,diana1 to range in your       
fields4 ,you shall have the ,forager    
,swine1 instead4'  ,meleager and        
,atalanta are ,diana's                  
servants1--servants of all order1       
purity1 due sequence of season1 and     
time4 ,the orbed architecture of        
,tuscany1 with its sculptures of the    
succession of the labouring months1 as  
compared with the rude vaults and       
monstrous imaginations of the past1 was 
again the victory of ,meleager4  #bj4   
,secondly1 take what value there is in  
the tradition that this sarcophagus was 
made the tomb of the mother of the      
,illustration3 ,,plate ,i3--,,the       
,,pisan ,,latona4 ,angle of ,panel of   

the ,adoration1 in ,niccola's ,pulpit4  
,countess ,matilda4 ,if you look to the 
fourteenth chapter of the third volume  
of ,modern ,painters1 you will find the 
mythic character of the ,countess       
,matilda1 as ,dante employed it         
explained at some length4 ,she is the   
representative of ,natural ,science as  
opposed to ,theological4  #ba4 ,chance  
coincidences merely1 these2 but full of 
teaching for us1 looking back upon the  
past4 ,to ,niccola1 the piece of marble 
was1 primarily1 and perhaps exclusively1
 an example of free chiselling1 and     
humanity of treatment4 ,what else it was
 to him1--what the spirits of ,atalanta 
and ,matilda could bestow on him1       
depended on what he was himself4 ,of    
which ,vasari tells you nothing4 ,not   
whether he was gentleman or clown--rich 
or poor--soldier or sailor4 ,was he     
never1 then1 in those fleets that       
brought the marbles back from the       
ravaged ,isles of ,greece8 was he at    
first only a labourer's boy among the   

scaffoldings of the ,pisan apse1--his   
apron loaded with dust--and no man      
praising him for his speech8 ,rough he  
was1 assuredly2 probably poor2 fierce   
and energetic1 beyond even the strain of
 ,pisa1--just and kind1 beyond the      
custom of his age1 knowing the ,judgment
 and ,love of ,god3 and a workman1 with 
all his soul and strength1 all his days4
  #bb4 ,you hear the fame of him as of a
 sculptor only4 ,it is right that you   
should2 for every great architect must  
be a sculptor1 and be renowned1 as such1
 more than by his building4 ,but        
,niccola ,pisano had even more influence
 on ,italy as a builder than as a       
carver4  ,for ,italy1 at this moment1   
wanted builders more than carvers2 and a
 change was passing through her life1 of
 which external edifice was a necessary 
sign4 ,i complained of you just now that
 you never looked at the ,byzantine font
 in the temple of ,st4 ,john4 ,the      
sacristan generally will not let you4   
,he takes you to a particular spot on   

the floor1 and sings a musical chord4   
,the chord returns in prolonged echo    
from the chapel roof1 as if the building
 were all one sonorous marble bell4     
,which indeed it is2 and travellers are 
always greatly amused at being allowed  
to ring this bell2 but it never occurs  
to them to ask how it came to be        
ringable3--how that tintinnabulate roof 
differs from the dome of the ,pantheon1 
expands into the dome of ,florence1 or  
declines into the whispering gallery of 
,st4 ,paul's4  #bc4 ,when you have had  
full satisfaction of the tintinnabulate 
roof1 you are led by the sacristan and  
,murray to ,niccola ,pisano's pulpit2   
which1 if you have spare time to examine
 it1 you find to have six sides1 to be  
decorated with tablets of sculpture1    
like the sides of the sarcophagus1 and  
to be sustained on seven pillars1 three 
of which are themselves carried on the  
backs of as many animals4  ,all this    
arrangement had been contrived before   
,niccola's time1 and executed again and 

again4 ,but behold6 between the capitals
 of the pillars and the sculptured      
tablets there are interposed five cusped
 arches1 the hollow beneath the pulpit  
showing dark through their foils4 ,you  
have seen such cusped arches before1 you
 think8  ,yes1 gentlemen1 you have2 but 
the ,pisans had not4 ,and that          
intermediate layer of the pulpit        
means--the change1 in a word1 for all   
,europe1 from the ,parthenon to ,amiens 
,cathedral4 ,for ,italy it means the    
rise of her ,gothic dynasty2 it means   
the duomo of ,milan instead of the      
temple of ,paestum4  #bd4 ,i say the    
duomo of ,milan1 only to put the change 
well before your eyes1 because you all  
know that building so well4 ,the duomo  
of ,milan is of entirely bad and        
barbarous ,gothic1 but the passion of   
pinnacle and fret is in it1 visibly to  
you1 more than in other buildings4 ,it  
will therefore serve to show best what  
fulness of change this pulpit of        
,niccola ,pisano signifies4  ,in it     

there is no passion of pinnacle nor of  
fret4 ,you see the edges of it1 instead 
of being bossed1 or knopped1 or         
crocketed1 are mouldings of severest    
line4 ,no vaulting1 no clustered shafts1
 no traceries1 no fantasies1 no         
perpendicular flights of aspiration4    
,steady pillars1 each of one polished   
block2 useful capitals1 one trefoiled   
arch between them2 your panel above it2 
thereon your story of the founder of    
,christianity4 ,the whole standing upon 
beasts1 they being indeed the foundation
 of us1 7which ,niccola knew far better 
than ,mr4 ,darwin72 ,eagle to carry your
 ,gospel message--,dove you think it    
ought to be8  ,illustration3 ,,plate    
,,ii4--,,niccola ,,pisano',s ,,pulpit4  
,eagle1 says ,niccola1 and not as symbol
 of ,st4 ,john ,evangelist only1 but    
behold6 with prey between its claws4    
,for the ,gospel1 it is ,niccola's      
opinion1 is not altogether a message    
that you may do whatever you like1 and  
go straight to heaven4 ,finally1 a slab 

of marble1 cut hollow a little to bear  
your book2 space enough for you to speak
 from at ease1--and here is your first  
architecture of ,gothic ,christianity6  
#be4 ,indignant thunder of dissent from 
,german doctors1--clamour from ,french  
savants4 ',what6 and our ,treves1 and   
our ,strasburg1 and our ,poictiers1 and 
our ,chartres6 ,and you call this thing 
the first architecture of               
,christianity6' ,yes1 my ,french and    
,german friends1 very fine the buildings
 you have mentioned are2 and ,i am bold 
to say ,i love them far better than you 
do1 for you will run a railroad through 
any of them any day that you can turn a 
penny by it4 ,i thank you also1         
,germans1 in the name of our ,lady of   
,strasburg1 for your bullets and fire2  
and ,i thank you1 ,frenchmen1 in the    
name of our ,lady of ,rouen1 for your   
new haberdashers' shops in the ,gothic  
town2--meanwhile have patience with me a
 little1 and let me go on4  #bf4 ,no    
passion of fretwork1 or pinnacle        

whatever1 ,i said1 is in this ,pisan    
pulpit4 ,the trefoiled arch itself1     
pleasant as it is1 seems forced a       
little2 out of perfect harmony with the 
rest 7see ,plate ,,ii474 ,unnatural1    
perhaps1 to ,niccola8  ,altogether      
unnatural to him1 it is2 such a thing   
never would have come into his head1    
unless some one had shown it him4 ,once 
got into his head1 he puts it to good   
use2 perhaps even he will let this      
somebody else put pinnacles and crockets
 into his head1 or at least1 into his   
son's1 in a little while4               
,pinnacles1--crockets1--it may be1 even 
traceries4 ,the ground-tier of the      
baptistery is round-arched1 and has no  
pinnacles2 but look at its first story4 
,the clerestory of the ,duomo of ,pisa  
has no traceries1 but look at the       
cloister of its ,campo ,santo4  #bg4 ,i 
pause at the words2--for they introduce 
a new group of thoughts1 which presently
 we must trace farther4  ,the ,holy     
,field2--field of burial4 ,the cave of  

,machpelah which is before ,mamre1 of   
the ,pisans4 ,there they buried         
,abraham1 and ,sarah his wife2 there    
they buried ,isaac1 and ,rebekah his    
wife2 and there ,i buried ,leah4  ,how  
do you think such a field becomes       
holy1--how separated1 as the            
resting-place of loving kindred1 from   
that other field of blood1 bought to    
bury strangers in8  ,when you have      
finally succeeded1 by your gospel of    
mammon1 in making all the men of your   
own nation not only strangers to each   
other1 but enemies2 and when your every 
churchyard becomes therefore a field of 
the stranger1 the kneeling hamlet will  
vainly drink the chalice of ,god in the 
midst of them4 ,the field will be       
unholy4 ,no cloisters of noble history  
can ever be built round such an one4    
#bh4 ,but the very earth of this at     
,pisa was holy1 as you know4 ,that      
armata of the ,tuscan city brought home 
not only marble and ivory1 for treasure2
 but earth1--a fleet's burden1--from the

 place where there was healing of soul's
 leprosy3 and their field became a place
 of holy tombs1 prepared for its office 
with earth from the land made holy by   
one tomb2 which all the knighthood of   
,christendom had been pouring out its   
life to win4  #bi4 ,i told you just now 
that this sculpture of ,niccola's was   
the beginning of ,christian             
architecture4 ,how do you judge that    
,christian architecture in the deepest  
meaning of it to differ from all other8 
,all other noble architecture is for the
 glory of living gods and men2 but this 
is for the glory of death1 in ,god and  
man4 ,cathedral1 cloister1 or           
tomb1--shrine for the body of ,christ1  
or for the bodies of the saints4 ,all   
alike signifying death to this          
world2--life1 other than of this world4 
,observe1 ,i am not saying how far this 
feeling1 be it faith1 or be it          
imagination1 is true or false2--,i only 
desire you to note that the power of all
 ,christian work begins in the niche of 

the catacomb and depth of the           
sarcophagus1 and is to the end definable
 as architecture of the tomb4  #cj4 ,not
 altogether1 and under every condition1 
sanctioned in doing such honour to the  
dead by the ,master of it4 ,not every   
grave is by ,his command to be          
worshipped4 ,graves there may be--too   
little guarded1 yet dishonourable2--ye  
are as graves that appear not1 and the  
men that walk over them are not aware of
 them4 ,and graves too much guarded1 yet
 dishonourable1 which indeed appear     
beautiful outwardly1 but are within full
 of all uncleanness4 ,or graves1        
themselves honourable1 yet which it may 
be1 in us1 a crime to adorn4 ,for they  
indeed killed them1 and ye build their  
sepulchres4  ,questions1 these1         
collateral2 or to be examined in due    
time2 for the present it is enough for  
us to know that all ,christian          
architecture1 as such1 has been hitherto
 essentially of tombs4  ,it has been    
thought1 gentlemen1 that there is a fine

 ,gothic revival in your streets of     
,oxford1 because you have a ,gothic door
 to your ,county ,bank3  ,remember1 at  
all events1 it was other kind of buried 
treasure1 and bearing other interest1   
which ,niccola ,pisano's ,gothic was set
 to guard4                     ,,lecture
 ,,ii4                 ,,john ,,the     
,,pisan4  #ca4 ,i closed my last lecture
 with the statement1 on which ,i desired
 to give you time for reflection1 that  
,christian architecture was1 in its     
chief energy1 the adornment of          
tombs1--having the passionate function  
of doing honour to the dead4  ,but there
 is an ethic1 or simply didactic and    
instructive architecture1 the decoration
 of which you will find to be normally  
representative of the virtues which are 
common alike to ,christian and ,greek4  
,and there is a natural tendency to     
adopt such decoration1 and the modes of 
design fitted for it1 in civil          
buildings4 #a  ,footnote3 ,these several
 rooms were indicated by symbol and     

device3 ,victory for the soldier1 ,hope 
for the exile1 the ,muses for the poets1
 ,mercury for the artists1 ,paradise for
 the preacher4--7,sagacius ,gazata1 of  
the ,palace of ,can ,grande4 ,i         
translate only ,sismondi's quotation47  
#cb4 ,civil1 or civic1 ,i say1 as       
opposed to military4 ,but again observe1
 there are two kinds of military        
building4 ,one1 the robber's castle1 or 
stronghold1 out of which he issues to   
pillage2 the other1 the honest man's    
castle1 or stronghold1 into which he    
retreats from pillage4 ,they are much   
like each other in external forms2--but 
,injustice1 or ,unrighteousness1 sits in
 the gate of the one1 veiled with forest
 branches1 7see ,giotto's painting of   
him72 and ,justice or ,righteousness    
enters by the gate of the other1 over   
strewn forest branches4 ,now1 for       
example of this second kind of military 
architecture1 look at ,carlyle's account
 of ,henry the ,fowler1 #a and of his   
building military towns1 or burgs1 to   

protect his peasantry4 ,in such function
 you have the first and proper idea of a
 walled town1--a place into which the   
pacific country people can retire for   
safety1 as the ,athenians in the        
,spartan war4 ,your fortress of this    
kind is a religious and civil fortress1 
or burg1 defended by burgers1 trained to
 defensive war4 ,keep always this idea  
of the proper nature of a fortified     
city3--,its walls mean protection1--its 
gates hospitality and triumph4 ,in the  
language familiar to you1 spoken of the 
chief of cities3 ,its walls are to be   
,salvation1 and its gates to be ,praise4
 ,and recollect always the inscription  
over the north gate of ,siena3 ,cor     
magis tibi ,sena pandit4--,more than her
 gates1 ,siena opens her heart to you4  
,footnote #a3 ,frederick1 vol4 i4  #cc4 
,when next you enter ,london by any of  
the great lines1 ,i should like you to  
consider1 as you approach the city1 what
 the feelings of the heart of ,london   
are likely to be on your approach1 and  

at what part of the railroad station an 
inscription1 explaining such state of   
her heart1 might be most fitly          
inscribed4 ,or you would still better   
understand the difference between       
ancient and modern principles of        
architecture by taking a cab to the     
,elephant and ,castle1 and thence       
walking to ,london ,bridge by what is in
 fact the great southern entrance of    
,london4 ,the only gate receiving you   
is1 however1 the arch thrown over the   
road to carry the ,south-,eastern       
,railway itself2 and the only exhibition
 either of ,salvation or ,praise is in  
the cheap clothes' shops on each side2  
and especially in one colossal          
haberdasher's shop1 over which you may  
see the ,british flag waving 7in        
imitation of ,windsor ,castle7 when the 
master of the shop is at home4 #cd4     
,next to protection from external       
hostility1 the two necessities in a city
 are of food and water supply2--the     
latter essentially constant4 ,you can   

store food and forage1 but water must   
flow freely4 ,hence the ,fountain and   
the ,mercato become the centres of civil
 architecture4  ,premising thus much1 ,i
 will ask you to look once more at this 
cloister of the ,campo ,santo of ,pisa4 
#ce4 ,on first entering the place1 its  
quiet1 its solemnity1 the perspective of
 its aisles1 and the conspicuous grace  
and precision of its traceries1 combine 
to give you the sensation of having     
entered a true ,gothic cloister4 ,and if
 you walk round it hastily1 and1        
glancing only at a fresco or two1 and   
the confused tombs erected against them1
 return to the uncloistered sunlight of 
the piazza1 you may quite easily carry  
away with you1 and ever afterwards      
retain1 the notion that the ,campo      
,santo of ,pisa is the same kind of     
thing as the cloister of ,westminster   
,abbey4  #cf4 ,i will beg you to look at
 the building1 thus photographed1 more  
attentively4 ,the long-drawn aisle is   
here1 indeed1--but where is the fretted 

vault8  ,a timber roof1 simple as that  
of a country barn1 and of which only the
 horizontal beams catch the eye1        
connects an entirely plain outside wall 
with an interior one1 pierced by        
round-headed openings2 in which are     
inserted pieces of complex tracery1 as  
foreign in conception to the rest of the
 work as if the ,pisan armata had gone  
up the ,rhine instead of to ,crete1     
pillaged ,south ,germany1 and cut these 
pieces of tracery out of the windows of 
some church in an advanced stage of     
fantastic design at ,nuremberg or       
,frankfort4  #cg4 ,if you begin to      
question1 hereupon1 who was the ,italian
 robber1 whether of marble or thought1  
and look to your ,vasari1 you find the  
building attributed to ,john the ,pisan2
 #a--;and you suppose the son to have   
been so pleased by his father's adoption
 of ,gothic forms that he must needs    
borrow them1 in this manner1 ready made1
 from the ,germans1 and thrust them into
 his round arches1 or wherever else they

 would go4  ,footnote #a3 ,the present  
traceries are of fifteenth century work1
 founded on ,giovanni's design4  ,we    
will look at something more of his work1
 however1 before drawing such           
conclusion4  #ch4 ,in the centres of the
 great squares of ,siena and ,perugia1  
rose1 obedient to engineers' art1 two   
perennial fountains ,without engineers' 
art1 the glens which cleave the         
sand-rock of ,siena flow with living    
water2 and still1 if there be a hell for
 the forger in ,italy1 he remembers     
therein the sweet grotto and green wave 
of ,fonte ,branda4 ,but on the very     
summit of the two hills1 crested by     
their great civic fortresses1 and in the
 centres of their circuit of walls1 rose
 the two guided wells2 each in basin of 
goodly marble1 sculptured--at ,perugia1 
by ,john of ,pisa1 at ,siena1 by ,james 
of ,quercia4  #ci4 ,it is one of the    
bitterest regrets of my life 7and ,i    
have many which some men would find     
difficult to bear17 that ,i never saw1  

except when ,i was a youth1 and then    
with sealed eyes1 ,jacopo della         
,quercia's fountain4 #a ,the ,sienese1 a
 little while since1 tore it down1 and  
put up a model of it by a modern carver4
 ,in like manner1 perhaps1 you will some
 day knock the ,elgin marbles to pieces1
 and commission an ,academician to put  
up new ones1--the ,sienese doing worse  
than that 7as if the ,athenians were    
themselves to break their ,phidias'     
work74  ,footnote #a3 ,i observe that   
,charles ,dickens had the fortune denied
 to me4 ,the market-place1 or great     
,piazza1 is a large square1 with a great
 broken-nosed fountain in it4 7,pictures
 from ,italy47  ,but the fountain of    
,john of ,pisa1 though much injured1 and
 glued together with asphalt1 is still  
in its place4  #dj4 ,i will now read to 
you what ,vasari first says of him1 and 
it4 7,i4 #fg47 ,nicholas had1 among     
other sons1 one called ,john1 who1      
because he always followed his father1  
and1 under his discipline1 intended     

7bent himself to1 with a will17         
sculpture and architecture1 in a few    
years became not only equal to his      
father1 but in some things superior to  
him2 wherefore ,nicholas1 being now old1
 retired himself into ,pisa1 and living 
quietly there1 left the government of   
everything to his son4 ,accordingly1    
when ,pope ,urban ,,iv4 died in         
,perugia1 sending was made for ,john1   
who1 going there1 made the tomb of that 
,pope of marble1 the which1 together    
with that of ,pope ,martin ,,iv41 was   
afterwards thrown down1 when the        
,perugians  ,illustration3 ,,plate      
,,iii4--,,the ,,fountain ,,of ,,perugia4
  enlarged their vescovado2 so that only
 a few relics are seen sprinkled about  
the church4 ,and the ,perugians1 having 
at the same time brought from the       
mountain of ,pacciano1 two miles distant
 from the city1 through canals of lead1 
a most abundant water1 by means of the  
invention and industry of a friar of the
 order of ,st4 ,silvester1 it was given 

to ,john the ,pisan to make all the     
ornaments of this fountain1 as well of  
bronze as of marble4 ,on which he set   
hand to it1 and made there three orders 
of vases1 two of marble and one of      
bronze4 ,the first is put upon twelve   
degrees of twelve-faced steps2 the      
second is upon some columns which put it
 upon a level with the first one2 7that 
is1 in the middle of it17 and the third1
 which is of bronze1 rests upon three   
figures which have in the middle of them
 some griffins1 of bronze too1 which    
pour water out on every side4  #da4     
,many things we have to note in this    
passage1 but first ,i will show you the 
best picture ,i can of the thing itself4
  ,the best ,i can2 the thing itself    
being half destroyed1 and what remains  
so beautiful that no one can now quite  
rightly draw it2 but ,mr4 ,arthur       
,severn1 7the son of ,keats's ,mr4      
,severn17 was with me1 looking          
reverently at those remains1 last       
summer1 and has made1 with help from the

 sun1 this sketch for you 7,plate       
,,iii472 entirely true and effective as 
far as his time allowed4  ,half         
destroyed1 or more1 ,i said it          
was1--,time doing grievous work on it1  
and men worse4 ,you heard ,vasari saying
 of it1 that it stood on twelve degrees 
of twelve-faced steps4 ,these--worn1    
doubtless1 into little more than a      
rugged slope--have been replaced by the 
moderns with four circular steps1 and an
 iron railing2 #a the bas-reliefs have  
been carried off from the panels of the 
second vase1 and its fair marble lips   
choked with asphalt3--of what remains1  
you have here a rough but true image4   
,footnote #a3 ,in ,mr4 ,severn's sketch1
 the form of the original foundation is 
approximately restored4  ,in which you  
see there is not a trace of ,gothic     
feeling or design of any sort4 ,no      
crockets1 no pinnacles1 no foils1 no    
vaultings1 no grotesques in sculpture4  
,panels between pillars1 panels carried 
on pillars1 sculptures in those panels  

like the ,metopes of the ,parthenon2 a  
,greek vase in the middle1 and griffins 
in the middle of that4 ,here is your    
font1 not at all of ,saint ,john1 but of
 profane and civil-engineering ,john4   
,this is his manner of baptism of the   
town of ,perugia4  #db4 ,thus early1 it 
seems1 the antagonism of profane ,greek 
to ecclesiastical ,gothic declares      
itself4 ,it seems as if in ,perugia1 as 
in ,london1 you had the fountains in    
,trafalgar ,square against ,queen       
,elinor's ,cross2 or the viaduct and    
railway station contending with the     
,gothic chapel1 which the master of the 
large manufactory close by has erected1 
because he thinks pinnacles and crockets
 have a pious influence2 and will       
prevent his workmen from asking for     
shorter hours1 or more wages4  #dc4 ,it 
seems only2 the antagonism is quite of  
another kind1--or1 rather1 of many other
 kinds4 ,but note at once how complete  
it is--how utterly this ,greek fountain 
of ,perugia1 and the round arches of    

,pisa1 are opposed to the school of     
design which gave the trefoils to       
,niccola's pulpit1 and the traceries to 
,giovanni's ,campo ,santo4  ,the        
antagonism1 ,i say1 is of another kind  
than ours2 but deep and wide2 and to    
explain it1 ,i must pass for a time to  
apparently irrelevant topics4  ,you were
 surprised1 ,i hope1 7if you were       
attentive enough to catch the points in 
what ,i just now read from ,vasari17 at 
my venturing to bring before you1 just  
after ,i had been using violent language
 against the ,sienese for breaking up   
the work of ,quercia1 that incidental   
sentence giving account of the much more
 disrespectful destruction1 by the      
,perugians1 of the tombs of ,pope ,urban
 ,,iv41 and ,martin ,,iv4  ,sending was 
made for ,john1 you see1 first1 when    
,pope ,urban ,,iv4 died in              
,perugia--whose tomb was to be carved by
 ,john2 the ,greek fountain being a     
secondary business4 ,but the tomb was so
 well destroyed1 afterwards1 that only a

 few relics remained scattered here and 
there4  ,the tomb1 ,i have not the least
 doubt1 was ,gothic2--and the breaking  
of it to pieces was not in order to     
restore it afterwards1 that a living    
architect might get the job of          
restoration4 ,here is a stone out of one
 of ,giovanni ,pisano's loveliest       
,gothic buildings1 which ,i myself saw  
with my own eyes dashed out1 that a     
modern builder might be paid for putting
 in another4 ,but ,pope ,urban's tomb   
was not destroyed to such end4 ,there   
was no qualm of the belly1 driving the  
hammer1--qualm of the conscience        
probably2 at all events1 a deeper or    
loftier antagonism than one on points of
 taste1 or economy4  #dd4 ,you observed 
that ,i described this ,greek profane   
manner of design as properly belonging  
to civil buildings1 as opposed not only 
to ecclesiastical buildings1 but to     
military ones4 ,justice1 or             
,righteousness1 and ,veracity1 are the  
characters of ,greek art4 ,these may be 

opposed to religion1 when religion      
becomes fantastic2 but they must be     
opposed to war1 when war becomes unjust4
 ,and if1 perchance1 fantastic religion 
and unjust war happen to go hand in     
hand1 your ,greek artist is likely to   
use his hammer against them spitefully  
enough4  #de4 ,his hammer1 or his ,greek
 fire4 ,hear now this example of the    
engineering ingenuities of our ,pisan   
papa1 in his younger days4  ,the        
,florentines having begun1 in ,niccola's
 time1 to throw down many towers1 which 
had been built in a barbarous manner    
through the whole city2 either that the 
people might be less hurt1 by their     
means1 in the fights that often took    
place between the ,guelphs and          
,ghibellines1 or else that there might  
be greater security for the ,state1 it  
appeared to them that it would be very  
difficult to ruin the ,tower of the     
,death-watch1 which was in the place of 
,st4 ,john1 because it had its walls    
built with such a grip in them that the 

stones could not be stirred with the    
pickaxe1 and also because it was of the 
loftiest2 whereupon ,nicholas1 causing  
the tower to be cut1 at the foot of it1 
all the length of one of its sides2 and 
closing up the cut1 as he made it1 with 
short 7wooden7 under-props1 about a yard
 long1 and setting fire to them1 when   
the props were burned1 the tower fell1  
and broke itself nearly all to pieces3  
which was held a thing so ingenious and 
so useful for such affairs1 that it has 
since passed into a custom1 so that when
 it is needful1 in this easiest manner1 
any edifice may be thrown down4  #df4   
',when it is needful4' ,yes2 but when is
 that8 ,if instead of the towers of the 
,death-watch in the city1 one could ruin
 the towers of the ,death-watch of evil 
pride and evil treasure in men's hearts1
 there would be need enough for such    
work both in ,florence and ,london4 ,but
 the walls of those spiritual towers    
have still stronger 'grip' in them1 and 
are fireproof with a vengeance4         

,le mure me parean die ferro fosse1     
4 4 4 e el mi dixe1 il fuoco eterno     
,chentro laffoca1 le dimostra rosse4    
,but the towers in ,florence1 shattered 
to fragments by this ingenious engineer1
 and the tombs in ,perugia1 which his   
son will carve1 only that they also may 
be so well destroyed that only a few    
relics remain1 scattered up and down the
 church1--are these1 also1 only the iron
 towers1 and the red-hot tombs1 of the  
city of ,dis8  ,let us see4  #dg4 ,in   
order to understand the relation of the 
tradesmen and working men1 including    
eminently the artist1 to the general    
life of the thirteenth century1 ,i must 
lay before you the clearest elementary  
charts ,i can of the course which the   
fates of ,italy were now appointing for 
her4  ,my first chart must be           
geographical4 ,i want you to have a     
clearly dissected and closely fitted    
notion of the natural boundaries of her 
states1 and their relations to          
surrounding ones4 ,lay hold first1      

firmly1 of your conception of the       
valleys of the ,po and the ,arno1       
running counter to each other--opening  
east and opening west1--,venice at the  
end of the one1 ,pisa at the end of the 
other4  #dh4 ,these two valleys--the    
hearts of ,lombardy and                 
,etruria--virtually contain the life of 
,italy4 ,they are entirely different in 
character3 ,lombardy1 essentially       
luxurious and worldly1 at this time rude
 in art1 but active2 ,etruria1          
religious1 intensely imaginative1 and   
inheriting refined forms of art from    
before the days of ,porsenna4  #di4     
,south of these1 in mid-,italy1 you have
 ,romagna1--the valley of the ,tiber4   
,in that valley1 decayed ,rome1 with her
 lust of empire inextinguishable2--no   
inheritance of imaginative art1 nor     
power of it2 dragging her own ruins     
hourly into more fantastic ruin1 and    
defiling her faith hourly with more     
fantastic guilt4  ,south of ,romagna1   
you have the kingdoms of ,calabria and  

,sicily1---,magna ,graecia1 and         
,syracuse1 in decay2----strange         
spiritual fire from the ,saracenic east 
still lighting the volcanic land1 itself
 laid all in ashes4  #ej4 ,conceive     
,italy then always in these four masses3
 ,lombardy1 ,etruria1 ,romagna1         
,calabria4  ,now she has three great    
external powers to deal with3 the       
western1 ,france--the northern1         
,germany--the eastern1 ,arabia4 ,on her 
right the ,frank2 on her left the       
,saracen2 above her1 the ,teuton4 ,and  
roughly1 the ,french are a religious    
chivalry2 the ,germans a profane        
chivalry2 the ,saracens an infidel      
chivalry4 ,what is best of each is      
benefiting ,italy2 what is worst1       
afflicting her4 ,and in the time we are 
occupied with1 all are afflicting her4  
,what ,charlemagne1 ,barbarossa1 or     
,saladin did to teach her1 you can trace
 only by carefullest thought4 ,but in   
this thirteenth century all these three 
powers are adverse to her1 as to each   

other4 ,map the methods of their        
adversity thus3---  #ea4 ,germany1      
7profane chivalry17 is vitally adverse  
to the ,popes2 endeavouring to establish
 imperial and knightly power against    
theirs4 ,it is fiercely1 but frankly1   
covetous of ,italian territory1 seizes  
all it can of ,lombardy and ,calabria1  
and with any help procurable either from
 robber ,christians or robber ,saracens1
 strives1 in an awkward manner1 and by  
open force1 to make itself master of    
,rome1 and all ,italy4  #eb4 ,france1   
all surge and foam of pious chivalry1   
lifts herself in fitful rage of         
devotion1 of avarice1 and of pride4 ,she
 is the natural ally of the church2     
makes her own monks the proudest of the 
,popes2 raises ,avignon into another    
,rome2 prays and pillages insatiably2   
pipes pastoral songs of innocence1 and  
invents grotesque variations of crime2  
gives grace to the rudeness of ,england1
 and venom to the cunning of ,italy4    
,she is a chimera among nations1 and one

 knows not whether to admire most the   
valour of ,guiscard1 the virtue of ,st4 
,louis or the villany of his brother4   
#ec4 ,the ,eastern powers--,greek1      
,israelite1 ,saracen--are at once the   
enemies of the ,western1 their prey1 and
 their tutors4  ,they bring them methods
 of ornament and of merchandise1 and    
stimulate in them the worst conditions  
of pugnacity1 bigotry1 and rapine4 ,that
 is the broad geographical and political
 relation of races4 ,next1 you must     
consider the conditions of their time4  
#ed4 ,i told you1 in my second lecture  
on ,engraving1 that before the twelfth  
century the nations were too savage to  
be ,christian1 and after the fifteenth  
too carnal to be ,christian4  ,the      
delicacy of sensation and refinements of
 imagination necessary to understand    
,christianity belong to the mid period  
when men risen from a life of brutal    
hardship are not yet fallen to one of   
brutal luxury4 ,you can neither         
comprehend the character of ,christ     

while you are chopping flints for tools1
 and gnawing raw bones for food2 nor    
when you have ceased to do anything with
 either tools or hands1 and dine on     
gilded capons4 ,in ,dante's lines1      
beginning       ,i saw ,bellincion      
,berti walk abroad       ,in leathern   
girdle1 with a clasp of bone1   you have
 the expression of his sense of the     
increasing luxury of the age1 already   
sapping its faith4 ,but when ,bellincion
 ,berti walked abroad in skins not yet  
made into leather1 and with the bones of
 his dinner in a heap at his door1      
instead of being cut into girdle clasps1
 he was just as far from capacity of    
being a ,christian4  #ee4 ,the following
 passage1 from ,carlyle's ,chartism1    
expresses better than any one else has  
done1 or is likely to do it1 the nature 
of this ,christian era1 7extending from 
the twelfth to the sixteenth century17  
in ,england1--the like being entirely   
true of it elsewhere3--  ,in those past 
silent centuries1 among those silent    

classes1 much had been going on4 ,not   
only had red deer in the ,new and other 
forests been got preserved and shot2 and
 treacheries #a of ,simon de ,montfort1 
wars of ,red and ,white ,roses1 battles 
of ,crecy1 battles of ,bosworth1 and    
many other battles1 been got transacted 
and adjusted2 but ,england wholly1 not  
without sore toil and aching bones to   
the millions of sires and the millions  
of sons of eighteen generations1 had    
been got drained and tilled1 covered    
with yellow harvests1 beautiful and rich
 in possessions4 ,the mud-wooden        
,caesters and ,chesters had become      
steepled1 tile-roofed1 compact towns4   
,sheffield had taken to the manufacture 
of ,sheffield whittles4 ,worstead could 
from wool spin yarn1 and knit or weave  
the same into stockings or breeches for 
men4 ,england had property valuable to  
the auctioneer2 but the accumulate      
manufacturing1 commercial1 economic     
skill which lay impalpably warehoused in
 ,english hands and heads1 what         

auctioneer could estimate8  ,footnote   
#a3 ,perhaps not altogether so1 any more
 than ,oliver's dear papa ,carlyle4 ,we 
may have to read him also1 otherwise    
than the ,british populace have yet     
read1 some day4  ,hardly an ,englishman 
to be met with but could do something2  
some cunninger thing than break his     
fellow-creature's head with battle-axes4
 ,the seven incorporated trades1 with   
their million guild-brethren1 with their
 hammers1 their shuttles1 and tools1    
what an army1--fit to conquer that land 
of ,england1 as we say1 and hold it     
conquered6 ,nay1 strangest of all1 the  
,english people had acquired the faculty
 and habit of thinking1--even of        
believing2 individual conscience had    
unfolded itself among                   
them2--,conscience1 and ,intelligence   
its handmaid4 #a ,ideas of innumerable  
kinds were circulating among these men2 
witness one ,shakspeare1 a wool-comber1 
poacher or whatever else1 at ,stratford1
 in ,warwickshire1 who happened to write

 books6--the finest human figure1 as ,i 
apprehend1 that ,nature has hitherto    
seen fit to make of our widely ,teutonic
 clay4 ,saxon1 ,norman1 ,celt1 or       
,sarmat1 ,i find no human soul so       
beautiful1 these fifteen hundred known  
years2--our supreme modern ,european    
man4 ,him ,england had contrived to     
realize3 were there not ideas8          
,footnote #a3 ,observe ,carlyle's order 
of sequence4 ,perceptive ,reason is the 
,handmaid of ,conscience1 not           
,conscience hers4 ,if you resolve to do 
right1 you will soon do wisely2 but     
resolve only to do wisely1 and you will 
never do right4  ,ideas poetic and also 
,puritanic1 that had to seek utterance  
in the notablest way6 ,england had got  
her ,shakspeare1 but was now about to   
get her ,milton and ,oliver ,cromwell4  
,this1 too1 we will call a new          
expansion1 hard as it might be to       
articulate and adjust2 this1 that a man 
could actually have a conscience for his
 own behoof1 and not for his priest's   

only2 that his priest1 be he who he     
might1 would henceforth have to take    
that fact along with him4  #ef4 ,you    
observe1 in this passage1 account is    
given you of two things--7,a7 of the    
development of a powerful class of      
tradesmen and artists2 and1 7,b7 of the 
development of an individual conscience4
  ,in the savage times you had simply   
the hunter1 digger1 and robber2 now you 
have also the manufacturer and salesman4
 ,the ideas of ingenuity with the hand1 
of fairness in exchange1 have occurred  
to us4 ,we can do something now with our
 fingers1 as well as with our fists2 and
 if we want our neighbours' goods1 we   
will not simply carry them off1 as of   
old1 but offer him some of ours in      
exchange4  #eg4 ,again2 whereas before  
we were content to let our priests do   
for us all they could1 by gesticulating1
 dressing1 sacrificing1 or beating of   
drums and blowing of trumpets2 and also 
direct our steps in the way of life1    
without any doubt on our part of their  

own perfect acquaintance with it1--we   
have now got to do something for        
ourselves--to think something for       
ourselves2 and thus have arrived in     
straits of conscience which1 so long as 
we endeavour to steer through them      
honestly1 will be to us indeed a quite  
secure way of life1 and of all living   
wisdom4  #eh4 ,now the centre of this   
new freedom of thought is in ,germany2  
and the power of it is shown first1 as  
,i told you in my opening lecture1 in   
the great struggle of ,frederick ,,ii4  
with ,rome4 ,and ,german freedom of     
thought had certainly made some         
progress1 when it had managed to reduce 
the ,pope to disguise himself as a      
soldier1 ride out of ,rome by moonlight1
 and gallop his thirty-four miles to the
 seaside before  ,illustration3 ,,plate 
,,iv4--,,norman ,,imagery4  summer dawn4
 ,here1 clearly1 is quite a new state of
 things for the ,holy ,father of        
,christendom to consider1 during such   
wholesome horse-exercise4  #ei4 ,again2 

the refinements of new art are          
represented by ,france--centrally by    
,st4 ,louis with his ,sainte ,chapelle4 
,happily1 ,i am able to lay on your     
table to-day--having placed it three    
years ago in your educational series--a 
leaf of a ,psalter1 executed for ,st4   
,louis himself4 ,he and his artists are 
scarcely out of their savage life yet1  
and have no notion of adorning the      
,psalms better than by pictures of      
long-necked cranes1 long-eared rabbits1 
long-tailed lions1 and red and white    
goblins putting their tongues out4 #a   
,but in refinement of touch1 in beauty  
of colour1 in the human faculties of    
order and grace1 they are long since1   
evidently1 past the flint and bone      
stage1--refined enough1 now1--subtle    
enough1 now1 to learn anything that is  
pretty and fine1 whether in theology or 
any other matter4  ,footnote #a3 ,i     
cannot go to the expense of engraving   
this most subtle example2 but ,plate    
,,iv4 shows the average conditions of   

temper and imagination in religious     
ornamental work of the time4  #fj4      
,lastly1 the new principle of ,exchange 
is represented by ,lombardy and ,venice1
 to such purpose that your ,merchant and
 ,jew of ,venice1 and your ,lombard of  
,lombard ,street1 retain some           
considerable influence on your minds1   
even to this day4  ,and in the exact    
midst of all such transition1 behold1   
,etruria with her ,pisans--her          
,florentines1--receiving1 resisting1 and
 reigning over all3 pillaging the       
,saracens of their marbles--binding the 
,french bishops in silver               
chains2--shattering the towers of       
,german tyranny into small              
pieces1--building with strange jewellery
 the belfry tower for newly-conceived   
,christianity2--and1 in sacred picture1 
and sacred song1 reaching the height1   
among nations1 most passionate1 and most
 pure4  ,i must close my lecture without
 indulging myself yet1 by addition of   
detail2 requesting you1 before we next  

meet1 to fix these general outlines in  
your minds1 so that1 without disturbing 
their distinctness1 ,i may trace in the 
sequel the relations of ,italian ,art to
 these political and religious powers2  
and determine with what force of        
passionate sympathy1 or fidelity of     
resigned obedience1 the ,pisan artists1 
father and son1 executed the indignation
 of ,florence and fulfilled the piety of
 ,orvieto4                     ,,lecture
 ,,iii4                ,,shield ,,and   
,,apron4  #fa4 ,i laid before you1 in my
 last lecture1 first lines of the chart 
of ,italian history in the thirteenth   
century1 which ,i hope gradually to fill
 with colour1 and enrich1 to such degree
 as may be sufficient for all           
comfortable use4 ,but ,i indicated1 as  
the more special subject of our         
immediate study1 the nascent power of   
liberal thought1 and liberal art1 over  
dead tradition and rude workmanship4    
,to-day ,i must ask you to examine in   
greater detail the exact relation of    

this liberal art to the illiberal       
elements which surrounded it4  #fb4 ,you
 do not often hear me use that word     
,liberal in any favourable sense4 ,i do 
so now1 because ,i use it also in a very
 narrow and exact sense4 ,i mean that   
the thirteenth century is1 in ,italy's  
year of life1 her #agth of ,march4 ,in  
the light of it1 she assumes her toga   
virilis2 and it is sacred to her god    
,liber4  #fc4 ,to her god               
,liber1--observe3 not ,dionusos1 still  
less ,bacchus1 but her own ancient and  
simple deity4 ,and if you have read with
 some care the statement ,i gave you1   
with ,carlyle's help1 of the moment and 
manner of her change from savageness to 
dexterity1 and from rudeness to         
refinement of life1 you will hear1      
familiar as the lines are to you1 the   
invocation in the first ,georgic with a 
new sense of its meaning3--             
,vos1 ,o clarissima mundi     ,lumina1  
labentem coelo quae ducitis annum1      
,liber1 et alma ,ceres2 vestro si munere

 tellus     ,chaoniam pingui glandem    
mutavit arista1     ,poculaqu' inventis 
,acheloia miscuit uvis1     ,munera     
vestra cano4   ,these gifts1 innocent1  
rich1 full of life1 exquisitely         
beautiful in order and grace of growth1 
,i have thought best to symbolize to    
you1 in the series of types of the power
 of the ,greek gods1 placed in your     
educational series1 by the blossom of   
the wild strawberry2 which in rising    
from its trine cluster of trine         
leaves1--itself as beautiful as a white 
rose1 and always single on its stalk1   
like an ear of corn1 yet with a         
succeeding blossom at its side1 and     
bearing a fruit which is as distinctly a
 group of seeds as an ear of corn       
itself1 and yet is the pleasantest to   
taste of all the pleasant things        
prepared by nature for the food of men1 
#a--may accurately symbolize1 and help  
you to remember1 the conditions of this 
liberal and delightful1 yet entirely    
modest and orderly1 art1 and thought4   

,footnote #a3 ,i am sorry to pack my    
sentences together in this confused way4
 ,but ,i have much to say2 and cannot   
always stop to polish or adjust it as ,i
 used to do4  #fd4 ,you will find in the
 fourth of my inaugural lectures1 at the
 #ihth paragraph1 this statement1--much 
denied by modern artists and authors1   
but nevertheless quite unexceptionally  
true1--that the entire vitality of art  
depends upon its having for object      
either to state a true thing1 or adorn a
 serviceable one4 ,the two functions of 
art in ,italy1 in this entirely liberal 
and virescent phase of it1--virgin art1 
we may call it1 retaining the most      
literal sense of the words virga and    
virgo1--are to manifest the doctrines of
 a religion which now1 for the first    
time1 men had soul enough to understand2
 and to adorn edifices or dress1 with   
which the completed politeness of daily 
life might be invested1 its convenience 
completed1 and its decorous and         
honourable pride satisfied4  #fe4 ,that 

pride was1 among the men who gave its   
character to the century1 in            
honourableness of private conduct1 and  
useful magnificence of public art4 ,not 
of private or domestic art3 observe this
 very particularly4  ,such was the      
simplicity of private manners1--7,i am  
now quoting ,sismondi1 but with the     
fullest ratification that my knowledge  
enables me to give17--and the economy of
 the richest citizens1 that if a city   
enjoyed repose only for a few years1 it 
doubled its revenues1 and found itself1 
in a sort1 encumbered with its riches4  
,the ,pisans knew neither of the luxury 
of the table1 nor that of furniture1 nor
 that of a number of servants2 yet they 
were sovereigns of the whole of         
,sardinia1 ,corsica1 and ,elba1 had     
colonies at ,st4 ,jean d',acre and      
,constantinople1 and their merchants in 
those cities carried on the most        
extended commerce with the ,saracens and
 ,greeks4 #a  ,footnote #a3 ,sismondi2  
,french translation1 ,brussels1 #ahch2  

vol4 ii41 p4 #bge4  #ff4 ,and in that   
time1 7,i now give you my own           
translation of ,giovanni ,villani17 the 
citizens of ,florence lived sober1 and  
on coarse meats1 and at little cost2 and
 had many customs and playfulnesses     
which were blunt and rude2 and they     
dressed themselves and their wives with 
coarse cloth2 many wore merely skins1   
with no lining1 and all had only        
leathern buskins2 #a and the ,florentine
 ladies1 plain shoes and stockings with 
no ornaments2 and the best of them were 
content with a close gown of coarse     
scarlet of ,cyprus1 or camlet girded    
with an old-fashioned clasp-girdle2 and 
a mantle over all1 lined with vaire1    
with a hood above2 and that1 they threw 
over their heads4 ,the women of lower   
rank were dressed in the same manner1   
with coarse green ,cambray cloth2 fifty 
pounds was the ordinary bride's dowry1  
and a hundred or a hundred and fifty    
would in those times have been held     
brilliant1 7'isfolgorata1' dazzling1    

with sense of dissipation or            
extravagance27 and most maidens were    
twenty or more before they married4 ,of 
such gross customs were then the        
,florentines2 but of good faith1 and    
loyal among themselves and in their     
state2 and in their coarse life1 and    
poverty1 did more and braver things than
 are done in our days with more         
refinement and riches4  ,footnote #a3 ,i
 find this note for expansion on the    
margin of my lecture1 but had no time to
 work it out3--',this lower class should
 be either barefoot1 or have strong     
shoes--wooden clogs good4 ,pretty       
,boulogne sabot with purple stockings4  
,waterloo ,road--little girl with her   
hair in curlpapers1--a coral necklace   
round her neck--the neck bare--and her  
boots of thin stuff1 worn out1 with her 
toes coming through1 and rags hanging   
from her heels1--a profoundly accurate  
type of ,english national and political 
life4 ,your hair in                     
curlpapers--borrowing tongs from every  

foreign nation1 to pinch you into       
manners4 ,the rich ostentatiously       
wearing coral about the bare neck2 and  
the poor--cold as the stones and        
indecent4'  #fg4 ,i detain you a moment 
at the words scarlet of ,cyprus1 or     
camlet4  ,observe that camelot 7camelet7
 from kamaelotae1 camel's skin1 is a    
stuff made of silk and camel's hair     
originally1 afterwards of silk and wool4
 ,at ,florence1 the camel's hair would  
always have reference to the ,baptist1  
who1 as you know1 in ,lippi's picture1  
wears the camel's skin itself1 made into
 a ,florentine dress1 such as ,villani  
has just described1 col tassello sopra1 
with the hood above4 ,do you see how    
important the word ,capulet is becoming 
to us1 in its main idea8  #fh4 ,not in  
private nor domestic art1 therefore1 ,i 
repeat to you1 but in useful            
magnificence of public art1 these       
citizens expressed their pride3--and    
that public art divided itself into two 
branches--civil1 occupied upon ethic    

subjects of sculpture and painting2 and 
religious1 occupied upon scriptural or  
traditional histories1 in treatment of  
which1 nevertheless1 the nascent power  
and liberality of thought were apparent1
 not only in continual amplification and
 illustration of scriptural story by the
 artist's own invention1 but in the     
acceptance of profane mythology1 as part
 of the ,scripture1 or tradition1 given 
by ,divine inspiration4  #fi4           
,nevertheless1 for the provision of     
things necessary in domestic life1 there
 developed itself1 together with the    
group of inventive artists exercising   
these nobler functions1 a vast body of  
craftsmen1 and1 literally1              
manufacturers1 workers by hand1 who     
associated themselves1 as chance1       
tradition1 or the accessibility of      
material directed1 in towns which       
thenceforward occupied a leading        
position in commerce1 as producers of a 
staple of excellent1 or perhaps         
inimitable1 quality2 and the linen or   

cambric of ,cambray1 the lace of        
,mechlin1 the wool of ,worstead1 and the
 steel of ,milan1 implied the tranquil  
and hereditary skill of multitudes1     
living in wealthy industry1 and humble  
honour4  #gj4 ,among these artisans1 the
 weaver1 the ironsmith1 the goldsmith1  
the carpenter1 and the mason necessarily
 took the principal rank1 and on their  
occupations the more refined arts were  
wholesomely based1 so that the five     
businesses may be more completely       
expressed thus3          ,the weaver and
 embroiderer1         ,the ironsmith and
 armourer1         ,the goldsmith and   
jeweller1         ,the carpenter and    
engineer1         ,the stonecutter and  
painter4   ,you have only once to turn  
over the leaves of ,lionardo's sketch   
book1 in the ,ambrosian ,library1 to see
 how carpentry is connected with        
engineering1--the architect was always a
 stonecutter1 and the stonecutter not   
often practically separate1 as yet1 from
 the painter1 and never so in general   

conception of function4 ,you recollect1 
at a much later period1 ,kent's         
description of ,cornwall's steward3     
,,kent4 ,you cowardly rascal6--nature   
disclaims in thee1 a tailor made thee6  
,,cornwall4 ,thou art a strange         
fellow--a tailor make a man8  ,,kent4   
,ay1 sir2 a stonecutter1 or a painter1  
could not have made him so ill2 though  
they had been but two hours at the      
trade4  #ga4 ,you may consider then this
 group of artizans with the merchants1  
as now forming in each town an important
 ,tiers ,etat1 or ,third ,state of the  
people1 occupied in service1 first1 of  
the ecclesiastics1 who in monastic      
bodies inhabited the cloisters round    
each church2 and1 secondly1 of the      
knights1 who1 with their retainers1     
occupied1 each family their own fort1 in
 allied defence of their appertaining   
streets4  #gb4 ,a ,third ,estate1       
indeed2 but adverse alike to both the   
others1 to ,montague as to ,capulet1    
when they become disturbers of the      

public peace2 and having a pride of its 
own1--hereditary still1 but consisting  
in the inheritance of skill and         
knowledge rather than of blood1--which  
expressed the sense of such inheritance 
by taking its name habitually from the  
master rather than the sire2 and which1 
in its natural antagonism to dignities  
won only by violence1 or recorded only  
by heraldry1 you may think of generally 
as the race whose bearing is the ,apron1
 instead of the shield4  #gc4 ,when1    
however1 these two1 or in perfect       
subdivision three1 bodies of men1 lived 
in harmony1--the knights remaining true 
to the ,state1 the clergy to their      
faith1 and the workmen to their         
craft1--conditions of national force    
were arrived at1 under which all the    
great art of the middle ages was        
accomplished4 ,the pride of the knights1
 the avarice of the priests1 and the    
gradual abasement of character in the   
craftsman1 changing him from a citizen  
able to wield either tools in peace or  

weapons in war1 to a dull tradesman1    
forced to pay mercenary troops to defend
 his shop door1 are the direct causes of
 common ruin towards the close of the   
sixteenth century4  #gd4 ,but the deep  
underlying cause of the decline in      
national character itself1 was the      
exhaustion of the ,christian faith4     
,none of its practical claims were      
avouched either by reason or experience2
 and the imagination grew weary of      
sustaining them in despite of both4 ,men
 could not1 as their powers of          
reflection became developed1 steadily   
conceive that the sins of a life might  
be done away with1 by finishing it with 
,mary's name on the lips2 nor could     
tradition of miracle for ever resist the
 personal discovery1 made by each rude  
disciple by himself1 that he might pray 
to all the saints for a twelvemonth     
together1 and yet not get what he asked 
for4  #ge4 ,the ,reformation succeeded  
in proclaiming that existing            
,christianity was a lie2 but substituted

 no theory of it which could be more    
rationally or credibly sustained2 and   
ever since1 the religion of educated    
persons throughout ,europe has been     
dishonest or ineffectual2 it is only    
among the labouring peasantry that the  
grace of a pure ,catholicism1 and the   
patient simplicities of the ,puritan1   
maintain their imaginative dignity1 or  
assert their practical use4  #gf4 ,the  
existence of the nobler arts1 however1  
involves the harmonious life and vital  
faith of the three classes whom we have 
just distinguished2 and that condition  
exists1 more or less disturbed1 indeed1 
by the vices inherent in each class1    
yet1 on the whole1 energetically and    
productively1 during the twelfth1       
thirteenth1 fourteenth1 and fifteenth   
centuries4 ,but our present subject     
being ,architecture only1 ,i will limit 
your attention altogether to the state  
of society in the great age of          
architecture1 the thirteenth century4 ,a
 great age in all ways2 but most notably

 so in the correspondence it presented1 
up to a just and honourable point1 with 
the utilitarian energy of our own days4 
#gg4 ,the increase of wealth1 the safety
 of industry1 and the conception of more
 convenient furniture of life1 to which 
we must attribute the rise of the entire
 artist class1 were accompanied1 in that
 century1 by much enlargement in the    
conception of useful public works3      
and--not by private enterprise1--that   
idle persons might get dividends out of 
the public pocket1--but by public       
enterprise1--each citizen paying down at
 once his share of what was necessary to
 accomplish the benefit to the          
,state1--great architectural and        
engineering efforts were made for the   
common service4 ,common1 observe2 but   
not1 in our present sense1 republican4  
,one of the most ludicrous sentences    
ever written in the blindness of party  
spirit is that of ,sismondi1 in which he
 declares1 thinking of these public     
works only1 that 'the architecture of   

the thirteenth century is entirely      
republican4' ,the architecture of the   
thirteenth century is1 in the mass of   
it1 simply baronial or ecclesiastical2  
it is of castles1 palaces1 or churches2 
but it is true that splendid civic works
 were also accomplished by the vigour of
 the newly risen popular power4  ,the   
canal named ,naviglio ,graude1 which    
brings the waters of the ,ticino to     
,milan1 traversing a distance of thirty 
miles1 was undertaken in #aagi1         
recommended in #abeg1 and1 soon after1  
happily terminated2 in it still consists
 the wealth of a vast extent of         
,lombardy4 ,at the same time the town of
 ,milan rebuilt its walls1 which were   
three miles round1 and had sixteen      
marble gates1 of magnificence which     
might have graced the capital of all    
,italy4 ,the ,genovese1 in #abgf and    
#abhc1 built their two splendid docks1  
and the great wall of their quay2 and in
 #abie finished the noble aqueduct which
 brings pure and abundant waters to     

their city from a great distance among  
their mountains4 ,there is not a single 
town in ,italy which at the same time   
did not undertake works of this kind2   
and while these larger undertakings were
 in progress1 stone bridges were built  
across the rivers1 the streets and      
piazzas were paved with large slabs of  
stone1 and every free government        
recognized the duty of providing for the
 convenience of the citizens4 #a        
,footnote #a3 ,simondi1 vol ii4 chap4   
#aj4  #gh4 ,the necessary consequence of
 this enthusiasm in useful building1 was
 the formation of a vast body of        
craftsmen and architects2 corresponding 
in importance to that which the railway1
 with its associated industry1 has      
developed in modern times1 but entirely 
different in personal character1 and    
relation to the body politic4  ,their   
personal character was founded on the   
accurate knowledge of their business in 
all respects2 the ease and pleasure of  
unaffected invention2 and the true sense

 of power to do everything better than  
it had ever been yet done1 coupled with 
general contentment in life1 and in its 
vigour and skill4  ,it is impossible to 
overrate the difference between such a  
condition of mind1 and that of the      
modern artist1 who either does not know 
his business at all1 or knows it only to
 recognize his own inferiority to every 
former workman of distinction4  #gi4    
,again3 the political relation of these 
artificers to the ,state was that of a  
caste entirely separate from the        
noblesse2 #a paid for their daily work  
what was just1 and competing with each  
other to supply the best article they   
could for the money4 ,and it is1 again1 
impossible to overrate the difference   
between such a social condition1 and    
that of the artists of to-day1          
struggling to occupy a position of      
equality in wealth with the             
noblesse1--paid irregular and monstrous 
prices by an entirely ignorant and      
selfish public2 and competing with each 

other to supply the worst article they  
can for the money4  ,footnote #a3 ,the  
giving of knighthood to ,jacopo della   
,quercia for his lifelong service to    
,siena was not the elevation of a       
dexterous workman1 but grace to a       
faithful citizen4  ,i never saw anything
 so impudent on the walls of any        
exhibition1 in any country1 as last year
 in ,london4 ,it was a daub professing  
to be a harmony in pink and white 7or   
some such nonsense27 absolute rubbish1  
and which had taken about a quarter of  
an hour to scrawl or daub--it had no    
pretence to be called painting4 ,the    
price asked for it was two hundred and  
fifty guineas4  #hj4 ,in order to       
complete your broad view of the elements
 of social power in the thirteenth      
century1 you have now farther to        
understand the position of the country  
people1 who maintained by their labour  
these three classes1 whose action you   
can discern1 and whose history you can  
read2 while1 of those who maintained    

them1 there is no history1 except of the
 annual ravage of their fields by       
contending cities or nobles2--and1      
finally1 that of the higher body of     
merchants1 whose influence was already  
beginning to counterpoise the prestige  
of noblesse in ,florence1 and who       
themselves constituted no small portion 
of the noblesse of ,venice4  ,the       
food-producing country was for the most 
part still possessed by the nobles2 some
 by the ecclesiastics2 but a portion1 ,i
 do not know how large1 was in the hands
 of peasant proprietors1 of whom        
,sismondi gives this1 to my mind1       
completely pleasant and satisfactory1   
though1 to his1 very painful1 account3--
  ,they took no interest in public      
affairs2 they had assemblies of their   
commune at the village in which the     
church of their parish was situated1 and
 to which they retreated to defend      
themselves in case of war2 they had also
 magistrates of their own choice2 but   
all their interests appeared to them    

enclosed in the circle of their own     
commonality2 they did not meddle with   
general politics1 and held it for their 
point of honour to remain faithful1     
through all revolutions1 to the ,state  
of which they formed a part1 obeying1   
without hesitation1 its chiefs1 whoever 
they were1 and by whatever title they   
occupied their places4  #ha4 ,of the    
inferior agricultural labourers1        
employed on the farms of the nobles and 
richer ecclesiastics1 ,i find nowhere   
due notice1 nor does any historian      
seriously examine their manner of life4 
,liable to every form of robbery and    
oppression1 ,i yet regard their state as
 not only morally but physically happier
 than that of riotous soldiery1 or the  
lower class of artizans1 and as the     
safeguard of every civilized nation1    
through all its worst vicissitudes of   
folly and crime4 ,nature has mercifully 
appointed that seed must be sown1 and   
sheep folded1 whatever lances break1 or 
religions fail2 and at this hour1 while 

the streets of ,florence and ,verona are
 full of idle politicians1 loud of      
tongue1 useless of hand and treacherous 
of heart1 there still may be seen in    
their market-places1 standing1 each by  
his heap of pulse or maize1 the         
grey-haired labourers1 silent1          
serviceable1 honourable1 keeping faith1 
untouched by change1 to their country   
and to ,heaven4 #a  ,footnote #a3       
,compare ,sesame and ,lilies1 sec4 #ch1 
p4 #eh4 7,p4 #hf of the small edition of
 #ahhb47  #hb4 ,it is extremely         
difficult to determine in what degree   
the feelings or intelligence of this    
class influenced the architectural      
design of the thirteenth century2--how  
far afield the cathedral tower was      
intended to give delight1 and to what   
simplicity of rustic conception ,quercia
 or ,ghiberti appealed by the           
fascination of their ,scripture history4
 ,you may at least conceive1 at this    
date1 a healthy animation in all men's  
minds1 and the children of the vineyard 

and sheepcote crowding the city on its  
festa days1 and receiving impulse to    
busier1 if not nobler1 education1 in its
 splendour4 #a  ,footnote #a3 ,of       
detached abbeys1 see note on ,education 
of ,joan of ,arc1 ,sesame and ,lilies1  
sec4 #hb1 p4 #ajf4 7,p4 #aeh of the     
small edition of #ahhb47  #hc4 ,the     
great class of the merchants is more    
difficult to define2 but you may regard 
them generally as the examples of       
whatever modes of life might be         
consistent with peace and justice1 in   
the economy of transfer1 as opposed to  
the military license of pillage4  ,they 
represent the gradual ascendancy of     
foresight1 prudence1 and order in       
society1 and the first ideas of         
advantageous national intercourse4      
,their body is therefore composed of the
 most intelligent and temperate natures 
of the time1--uniting themselves1 not   
directly for the purpose of making      
money1 but to obtain stability for equal
 institutions1 security of property1 and

 pacific relations with neighbouring    
states4 ,their guilds form the only     
representatives of true national        
council1 unaffected1 as the landed      
proprietors were1 by merely local       
circumstances and accidents4  #hd4 ,the 
strength of this order1 when its own    
conduct was upright1 and its opposition 
to the military body was not in         
avaricious cowardice1 but in the resolve
 to compel justice and to secure peace1 
can only be understood by you after an  
examination of the great changes in the 
government of ,florence during the      
thirteenth century1 which1 among other  
minor achievements interesting to us1   
led to that destruction of the ,tower of
 the ,death-watch1 so ingeniously       
accomplished by ,niccola ,pisano4 ,this 
change1 and its results1 will be the    
subject of my next lecture4 ,i must     
to-day sum1 and in some farther degree  
make clear1 the facts already laid      
before you4  #he4 ,we have seen that the
 inhabitants of every great ,italian    

state may be divided1 and that very     
stringently1 into the five classes of   
knights1 priests1 merchants1 artists1   
and peasants4 ,no distinction exists    
between artist and artizan1 except that 
of higher genius or better conduct2 the 
best artist is assuredly also the best  
artizan2 and the simplest workman uses  
his invention and emotion as well as his
 fingers4 ,the entire body of artists is
 under the orders 7as shopmen are under 
the orders of their customers71 of the  
knights1 priests1 and merchants1--the   
knights for the most part demanding only
 fine goldsmiths' work1 stout armour1   
and rude architecture2 the priests      
commanding both the finest architecture 
and painting1 and the richest kinds of  
decorative dress and jewellery1--while  
the merchants directed works of public  
use1 and were the best judges of        
artistic skill4 ,the competition for the
 ,baptistery gates of ,florence is      
before the guild of merchants2 nor is   
their award disputed1 even in thought1  

by any of the candidates4  #hf4 ,this is
 surely a fact to be taken much to heart
 by our present communities of          
,liverpool and ,manchester4 ,they       
probably suppose1 in their modesty1 that
 lords and clergymen are the proper     
judges of art1 and merchants can only1  
in the modern phrase1 'know what they   
like1' or follow humbly the guidance of 
their golden-crested or flat-capped     
superiors4 ,but in the great ages of    
art1 neither knight nor pope shows signs
 of true power of criticism4 ,the       
artists crouch before them1 or quarrel  
with them1 according to their own       
tempers4 ,to the merchants they submit  
silently1 as to just and capable judges4
 ,and look what men these are1 who      
submit4 ,donatello1 ,ghiberti1 ,quercia1
 ,luca6 ,if men like these submit to the
 merchant1 who shall rebel8  #hg4 ,but  
the still franker1 and surer1 judgment  
of innocent pleasure was awarded them by
 all classes alike3 and the interest of 
the public was the final rule of        

right1--that public being always eager  
to see1 and earnest to learn4 ,for the  
stories told by their artists formed1   
they fully believed1 a ,book of ,life2  
and every man of real genius took up his
 function of illustrating the scheme of 
human morality and salvation1 as        
naturally1 and faithfully1 as an        
,english mother of to-day giving her    
children their first lessons in the     
,bible4 ,in this endeavour to teach they
 almost unawares taught themselves2 the 
question ,how shall ,i represent this   
most clearly8 became to themselves1     
presently1 ,how was this most likely to 
have happened8 and habits of fresh and  
accurate thought thus quickly enlivened 
the formalities of the ,greek pictorial 
theology2 formalities themselves        
beneficent1 because restraining by their
 severity and mystery the wantonness of 
the newer life4 ,foolish modern critics 
have seen nothing in the ,byzantine     
school but a barbarism to be conquered  
and forgotten4 ,but that school brought 

to the art-scholars of the thirteenth   
century1 laws which had been serviceable
 to ,phidias1 and symbols which had been
 beautiful to ,homer3 and methods and   
habits of pictorial scholarship which   
gave a refinement of manner to the work 
of the simplest craftsman1 and became an
 education to the higher artists which  
no discipline of literature can now     
bestow1 developed themselves in the     
effort to decipher1 and the impulse to  
re-interpret1 the ,eleusinian divinity  
of ,byzantine tradition4  #hh4 ,the     
words ,i have just used1 pictorial      
scholarship1 and pictorial theology1    
remind me how strange it must appear to 
you that in this sketch of the          
intellectual state of ,italy in the     
thirteenth century ,i have taken no note
 of literature itself1 nor of the fine  
art of ,music with which it was         
associated in minstrelsy4 ,the          
corruption of the meaning of the word   
clerk1 from a chosen person to a learned
 one1 partly indicates the position of  

literature in the war between the golden
 crest and scarlet cap2 but in the      
higher ranks1 literature and music      
became the grace of the noble's life1 or
 the occupation of the monk's1 without  
forming any separate class1 or          
exercising any materially visible       
political power4 ,masons or butchers    
might establish a government1--but never
 troubadours3 and though a good knight  
held his education to be imperfect      
unless he could write a sonnet and sing 
it1 he did not esteem his castle to be  
at the mercy of the editor of a         
manuscript4 ,he might indeed owe his    
life to the fidelity of a minstrel1 or  
be guided in his policy by the wit of a 
clown2 but he was not the slave of      
sensual music1 or vulgar literature1 and
 never allowed his ,saturday reviewer to
 appear at table without the cock's     
comb4  #hi4 ,on the other hand1 what was
 noblest in thought or saying was in    
those times as little attended to as it 
is now4 ,i do not feel sure that1 even  

in after times1 the poem of ,dante has  
had any political effect on ,italy2 but 
at all events1 in his life1 even at     
,verona1 where he was treated most      
kindly1 he had not half so much         
influence with ,can ,grande as the rough
 ,count of ,castelbarco1 not one of     
whose words was ever written1 or now    
remains2 and whose portrait1 by no means
 that of a man of literary genius1      
almost disfigures1 by its plainness1 the
 otherwise grave and perfect beauty of  
his tomb4                     ,,lecture 
,,iv4                ,,parted ,,per     
,,pale4  #ij4 ,the chart of ,italian    
intellect and policy which ,i have      
endeavoured to put into form in the last
 three lectures1 may1 ,i hope1 have     
given you a clear idea of the           
subordinate1 yet partly antagonistic1   
position which the artist1 or           
merchant1--whom in my present lecture ,i
 shall class together1--occupied1 with  
respect to the noble and priest4 ,as an 
honest labourer1 he was opposed to the  

violence of pillage1 and to the folly of
 pride3 as an honest thinker1 he was    
likely to discover any latent absurdity 
in the stories he had to represent in   
their nearest likelihood2 and to be     
himself moved strongly by the true      
meaning of events which he was striving 
to make ocularly manifest4 ,the painter 
terrified himself with his own fiends1  
and reproved or comforted himself by the
 lips of his own saints1 far more       
profoundly than any verbal preacher2 and
 thus1 whether as craftsman or inventor1
 was likely to be foremost in defending 
the laws of his city1 or directing its  
reformation4  #ia4 ,the contest of the  
craftsman with the pillaging soldier is 
typically represented by the war of the 
,lombard ,league with ,frederick ,,ii42 
and that of the craftsman with the      
hypocritical priest1 by the war of the  
,pisans with ,gregory ,,ix4 7#abda74    
,but in the present lecture ,i wish only
 to fix your attention on the           
revolutions in ,florence1 which         

indicated1 thus early1 the already      
established ascendancy of the moral     
forces which were to put an end to open 
robber-soldiership2 and at least to     
compel the assertion of some higher     
principle in war1 if not1 as in some    
distant day may be possible1 the        
cessation of war itself4  ,the most     
important of these revolutions was      
virtually that of which ,i before spoke 
to you1 taking place in mid-thirteenth  
century1 in the year l#bej1--;a very    
memorable one for ,christendom1 and the 
very crisis of vital change in its      
methods of economy1 and conceptions of  
art4  #ib4 ,observe1 first1 the exact   
relations at that time of ,christian and
 ,profane ,chivalry4 ,st4 ,louis1 in the
 winter of #abdh-i1 lay in the isle of  
,cyprus1 with his crusading army4 ,he   
had trusted to ,providence for          
provisions2 and his army was starving4  
,the profane ,german emperor1 ,frederick
 ,,ii41 was at war with ,venice1 but    
gave a safe-conduct to the ,venetian    

ships1 which enabled them to carry food 
to ,cyprus1 and to save ,st4 ,louis and 
his crusaders4 ,frederick had been for  
half his life excommunicate1--and the   
,pope 7,innocent ,,iv47 at deadly       
spiritual and temporal war with         
him2--spiritually1 because he had       
brought ,saracens into ,apulia2         
temporally1 because the ,pope wanted    
,apulia for himself4 ,st4 ,louis and his
 mother both wrote to ,innocent1 praying
 him to be reconciled to the kind       
heretic who had saved the whole         
crusading army4 ,but the ,pope remained 
implacably thundrous2 and ,frederick1   
weary of quarrel1 stayed quiet in one of
 his ,apulian castles for a year4 ,the  
repose of infidelity is seldom cheerful1
 unless it be criminal4 ,frederick had  
much to repent of1 much to regret1      
nothing to hope1 and nothing to do4 ,at 
the end of his year's quiet he was      
attacked by dysentery1 and so made his  
final peace with the ,pope1 and         
heaven1--aged fifty-six4  #ic4 ,meantime

 ,st4 ,louis had gone on into ,egypt1   
had got his army defeated1 his brother  
killed1 and himself carried captive4    
,you may be interested in seeing1 in the
 leaf of his psalter which ,i have laid 
on the table1 the death of that brother 
set down in golden letters1 between the 
common letters of ultramarine1 on the   
eighth of ,february4  #id4 ,providence1 
defied by ,frederick1 and trusted in by 
,st4 ,louis1 made such arrangements for 
them both2 ,providence not in anywise   
regarding the opinions of either king1  
but very much regarding the facts1 that 
the one had no business in ,egypt1 nor  
the other in ,apulia4  ,no two kings1 in
 the history of the world1 could have   
been happier1 or more useful1 than these
 two might have been1 if they only had  
had the sense to stay in their own      
capitals1 and attend to their own       
affairs4 ,but they seem only to have    
been born to show what grievous results1
 under the power of discontented        
imagination1 a ,christian could achieve 

by faith1 and a philosopher by reason4  
#a  ,footnote #a3 ,it must not be       
thought that this is said in disregard  
of the nobleness of either of these two 
glorious ,kings4 ,among the many designs
 of past years1 one of my favorites was 
to write a life of ,frederick ,,ii4 ,but
 ,i hope that both his1 and that of     
,henry ,,ii4 of ,england1 will soon be  
written now1 by a man who loves them as 
well as ,i do1 and knows them far       
better4  #ie4 ,the death of ,frederick  
,,ii4 virtually ended the soldier power 
in ,florence2 and the mercantile power  
assumed the authority it thenceforward  
held1 until1 in the hands of the        
,medici1 it destroyed the city4  ,we    
will now trace the course and effects of
 the three revolutions which closed the 
reign of ,war1 and crowned the power of 
,peace4  #if4 ,in the year #abdh1 while 
,st4 ,louis was in ,cyprus1 ,i told you 
,frederick was at war with ,venice4 ,he 
was so because she stood1 if not as the 
leader1 at least as the most important  

ally1 of the great ,lombard mercantile  
league against the ,german military     
power4  ,that league consisted          
essentially of ,venice1 ,milan1         
,bologna1 and ,genoa1 in alliance with  
the ,pope2 the ,imperial or ,ghibelline 
towns were1 ,padua and ,verona under    
,ezzelin2 ,mantua1 ,pisa1 and ,siena4 ,i
 do not name the minor towns of north   
,italy which associated themselves with 
each party3 get only the main localities
 of the contest well into your minds4   
,it was all concentrated in the furious 
hostility of ,genoa and ,pisa2 ,genoa   
fighting really very piously for the    
,pope1 as well as for herself2 ,pisa for
 her own hand1 and for the ,emperor as  
much as suited her4 ,the mad little sea 
falcon never caught sight of another    
water-bird on the wing1 but she must    
hawk at it2 and as an ally of the       
,emperor1 balanced ,venice and ,genoa   
with her single strength4 ,and so it    
came to pass that the victory of either 
the ,guelph or ,ghibelline party        

depended on the final action of         
,florence4  #ig4 ,florence meanwhile was
 fighting with herself1 for her own     
amusement4 ,she was nominally at the    
head of the ,guelphic ,league in        
,tuscany2 but this only meant that she  
hated ,siena and ,pisa1 her southern and
 western neighbours4 ,she had never     
declared openly against the ,emperor4   
,on the contrary1 she always recognized 
his authority1 in an imaginative manner1
 as representing that of the ,caesars4  
,she spent her own energy chiefly in    
street-fighting1--the death of          
,buondelmonti in #abae having been the  
root of a series of quarrels among her  
nobles which gradually took the form of 
contests of honour2 and were a kind of  
accidental tournaments1 fought to the   
death1 because they could not be        
exciting or dignified enough on any     
other condition4 ,and thus the manner of
 life came to be customary1 which you   
have accurately1 with its consequences1 
pictured by ,shakspeare4 ,samson bites  

his thumb at ,abraham1 and presently the
 streets are impassable in battle4 ,the 
quarrel in the ,canongate between the   
,leslies and ,seytons1 in ,scott's      
',abbot1' represents the same temper2   
and marks also1 what ,shakspeare did not
 so distinctly1 because it would have   
interfered with the domestic character  
of his play1 the connection of these    
private quarrels with political         
divisions which paralyzed the entire    
body of the ,state4--,yet these         
political schisms1 in the earlier days  
of ,italy1 never reached the bitterness 
of ,scottish feud1 #a because they were 
never so sincere4 ,protestant and       
,catholic ,scotsmen faithfully believed 
each other to be servants of the devil2 
but the ,guelph and ,ghibelline of      
,florence each respected1 in the other1 
the fidelity to the ,emperor1 or piety  
towards the ,pope1 which he found it    
convenient1 for the time1 to dispense   
with in his own person4 ,the street     
fighting was therefore more general1    

more chivalric1 more good-humoured2 a   
word of offence set all the noblesse of 
the town on fire2 every one rallied to  
his post2 fighting began at once in half
 a dozen places of recognized           
convenience1 but ended in the evening2  
and1 on the following day1 the leaders  
determined in contended truce who had   
fought best1 buried their dead          
triumphantly1 and better fortified any  
weak points1 which the events of the    
previous day had exposed at their palace
 corners4 ,florentine dispute was apt to
 centre itself about the gate of ,st4   
,peter1 #b the tower of the cathedral1  
or the fortress-palace of the ,uberti1  
7the family of ,dante's ,bellincion     
,berti and of ,farinata71 which occupied
 the site of the present ,palazzo       
,vecchio4 ,but the streets of ,siena    
seem to have afforded better barricade  
practice4 ,they are as steep as they are
 narrow--extremely both2 and the        
projecting stones on their palace       
fronts1 which were left1 in building1 to

 sustain1 on occasion1 the barricade    
beams across the streets1 are to this   
day important features in their         
architecture4  ,footnote #a3            
,distinguish always the personal from   
the religious feud2 personal feud is    
more treacherous and violent in ,italy  
than in ,scotland2 but not the political
 or religious feud1 unless involved with
 vast material interests4  ,footnote #b3
 ,sismondi1 vol4 ii41 chap4 ii42 ,g4    
,villani1 vi41 #cc4  #ih4 ,such being   
the general state of matters in         
,florence1 in this year #abdh1          
,frederick writes to the ,uberti1 who   
headed the ,ghibellines1 to engage them 
in serious effort to bring the city     
distinctly to the ,imperial side4 ,he   
was besieging ,parma2 and sent his      
natural son1 ,frederick1 king of        
,antioch1 with sixteen hundred ,german  
knights1 to give the ,ghibellines       
assured preponderance in the next       
quarrel4  ,the ,uberti took arms before 
their arrival2 rallied all their        

,ghibelline friends into a united body1 
and so attacked and carried the ,guelph 
barricades1 one by one1 till their      
antagonists1 driven together by local   
defeat1 stood in consistency as complete
 as their own1 by the gate of ,st4      
,peter1 ',scheraggio4' ,young           
,frederick1 with his ,german riders1    
arrived at this crisis2 the ,ghibellines
 opening the gates to him2 the ,guelphs1
 nevertheless1 fought at their outmost  
barricade for four days more2 but at    
last1 tired1 withdrew from the city1 in 
a body1 on the night of ,candlemas1 #bnd
 ,february1 #abdh2 leaving the          
,ghibellines and their ,german friends  
to work their pleasure1--who immediately
 set themselves to throw down the       
,guelph palaces1 and destroyed          
six-and-thirty of them1 towers and all1 
with the good help of ,niccola          
,pisano1--for this is the occasion of   
that beautiful piece of new engineering 
of his4  #ii4 ,it is the first          
interference of the ,germans in         

,florentine affairs which belongs to the
 real cycle of modern history4 ,six     
hundred years later1 a troop of ,german 
riders entered ,florence again1 to      
restore its ,grand ,duke2 and our       
warmhearted and loving ,english poetess1
 looking on from ,casa ,guidi windows1  
gives the said ,germans many hard words1
 and thinks her darling ,florentines    
entirely innocent in the matter4 ,but if
 she had had clear eyes1 7yeux de lin #a
 the ,romance of the ,rose calls them17 
she would have seen that white-coated   
cavalry with its heavy guns to be       
nothing more than the rear-guard of     
young ,frederick of ,antioch2 and that  
,florence's own ,ghibellines had opened 
her gates to them4 ,destiny little      
regards cost of time2 she does her      
justice at that telescopic distance just
 as easily and accurately as close at   
hand4  ,footnote #a3 ,lynx4  #ajj4      
,frederick of ,antioch4 ,note the       
titular coincidence4 ,the disciples were
 called ,christians first in ,antioch2  

here we have our lieutenant of          
,antichrist also named from that town4  
,the anti-,christian ,germans got into  
,florence upon ,sunday morning2 the     
,guelphs fought on till ,wednesday1     
which was ,candlemas2--the ,tower of the
 ,death-watch was thrown down next day4 
,it was so called because it stood on   
the ,piazza of ,st ,john2 and all dying 
people in ,florence called on ,st4 ,john
 for help2 and looked1 if it might be1  
to the top of this highest and          
best-built of towers4 ,the wicked       
anti-,christian ,ghibellines1 ,nicholas 
of ,pisa helping1 cut the side of it so 
that the tower might fall on the        
,baptistery4 ,but as it pleased ,god1   
for better reverencing of the blessed   
,st4 ,john1 the tower1 which was a      
hundred and eighty feet high1 as it was 
coming down1 plainly appeared to eschew 
the holy church1 and turned aside1 and  
fell right across the square2 at which  
all the ,florentines marvelled1 7pious  
or impious17 and the people             

7anti-,ghibelline7 were greatly         
delighted4  #aja4 ,i have no doubt that 
this story is apocryphal1 not only in   
its attribution of these religious      
scruples to the falling tower2 but in   
its accusation of the ,ghibellines as   
having definitely intended the          
destruction of the ,baptistery4 ,it is  
only modern reformers who feel the      
absolute need of enforcing their        
religious opinions in so practical a    
manner4 ,such a piece of sacrilege would
 have been revolting to ,farinata2 how  
much more to the group of ,florentines  
whose temper is centrally represented by
 ,dante's1 to all of whom their bel ,san
 ,giovanni was dear1 at least for its   
beauty1 if not for its sanctity4 ,and   
,niccola himself was too good a workman 
to become the instrument of the         
destruction of so noble a work1--not to 
insist on the extreme probability that  
he was also too good an engineer to have
 had his purpose1 if once fixed1        
thwarted by any tenderness in the       

conscience of the collapsing tower4 ,the
 tradition itself probably arose after  
the rage of the exiled ,ghibellines had 
half consented to the destruction1 on   
political grounds1 of ,florence itself2 
but the form it took is of extreme      
historical value1 indicating thus early 
at least the suspected existence of     
passions like those of the ,cromwellian 
or ,garibaldian soldiery in the         
,florentine noble2 and the distinct     
character of the ,ghibelline party as   
not only anti-,papal1 but profane4      
#ajb4 ,upon the castles1 and the persons
 of their antagonists1 however1 the     
pride1 or fear1 of the ,ghibellines had 
little mercy2 and in their day of       
triumph they provoked against themselves
 nearly every rational as well as       
religious person in the commonwealth4   
,they despised too much the force of the
 newly-risen popular power1 founded on  
economy1 sobriety1 and common sense2    
and1 alike by impertinence and pillage1 
increased the irritation of the civil   

body2 until1 as aforesaid1 on the #bjth 
,october1 #abej1 all the rich burgesses 
of ,florence took arms2 met in the      
square before the church of ,santa      
,croce1 7where1 says ,sismondi1 the     
republic of the dead is still assembled 
today17 thence traversed the city to the
 palace of the ,ghibelline podesta2     
forced him to resign2 named ,uberto of  
,lucca in his place1 under the title of 
,captain of the ,people2 divided        
themselves into twenty companies1 each1 
in its own district of the city1 having 
its captain #a and standard2 and elected
 a council of twelve ancients1          
constituting a seniory or signoria1 to  
deliberate on and direct public affairs4
  ,footnote #a3 ',corporal1' literally'4
  #ajc4 ,what a perfectly beautiful     
republican movement6 thinks ,sismondi1  
seeing1 in all this1 nothing but the    
energy of a multitude2 and entirely     
ignoring the peculiar capacity of this  
,florentine mob1--capacity of two       
virtues1 much forgotten by modern       

republicanism1--order1 namely2 and      
obedience2 together with the peculiar   
instinct of this ,florentine multitude1 
which not only felt itself to need      
captains1 but knew where to find them4  
#ajd4 ,hubert of ,lucca--,how came they1
 think you1 to choose him out of a      
stranger city1 and that a poorer one    
than their own8 ,was there no           
,florentine then1 of all this rich and  
eager crowd1 who was fit to govern      
,florence8  ,i cannot find any account  
of this ,hubert1 ,bright mind1 of       
,ducca2 ,villani says simply of him1 ,fu
 il primo capitano di ,firenze4  ,they  
hung a bell for him in the ,campanile of
 the ,lion1 and gave him the flag of    
,florence to bear2 and before the day   
was over1 that #bjth of ,october1 he had
 given every one of the twenty companies
 their flags also4 ,and the bearings of 
the said gonfalons were these4 ,i will  
give you this heraldry as far as ,i can 
make it out from ,villani2 it will be   
very useful to us afterwards2 ,i leave  

the ,italian when ,i cannot translate   
it3--  #aje4 ,a4 ,sesto1 7sixth part of 
the city17 of the other side of ,arno4  
,gonfalon #a4 ,gules2 a ladder1 argent4 
#b4 ,argent2 a scourge1 sable4          
#c4 ,azure2 7una piazza bianca con      
nicchi vermigli74              #d4      
,gules2 a dragon1 vert4   ,b4 ,sesto of 
,st4 ,peter ,scheraggio4                
#a4 ,azure2 a chariot1 or4              
#b4 ,or2 a bull1 sable4              #c4
 ,argent2 a lion rampant1 sable4        
#d4 7,a lively piece1 pezza gagliarda7  
,barry of 7how many87 pieces1           
argent and sable4   ,you may as well    
note at once of this kind of bearing1   
called 'gagliarda' by ,villani1 that    
these groups of piles1 pales1 bends1 and
 bars1 were called in ,english heraldry 
',restrial bearings1' in respect of     
their strength and solid substance1     
which is able to abide the stresse and  
force of any triall they shall be put   
unto4 #a ,and also that1 the number of  
bars being uncertain1 ,i assume the     

bearing to be 'barry1' that is1 having  
an even number of bars2 had it been odd1
 as of seven bars1 it should have been  
blazoned1 argent2 three bars1 sable2 or1
 if so divided1 sable1 three bars       
argent4  ,footnote #a3 ,guillim1 sect4  
ii41 chap4 #c4  ,this lively bearing was
 ,st4 ,pulinari's4  ,c4 ,sesto of       
,borgo4               #a4 ,or2 a viper1 
vert4              #b4 ,argent2 a       
needle1 787 7aguglia7                   
sable4              #c4 ,vert2 a horse  
unbridled2                 draped1      
argent1 a cross1                 gules4 
,d4 ,sesto of ,st4 ,brancazio4          
#a4 ,vert2 a lion rampant1 proper4      
#b4 ,argent2 a lion rampant1 gules4     
#c4 ,azure2 a lion rampant1 argent4     
,e4 ,sesto of the ,cathedral gates4     
#a4 ,azure2 a lion 7passant87 or4       
#b4 ,or2 a dragon1 vert4                
#c4 ,argent2 a lion rampant1            
azure1 crowned1 or4   ,f4 ,sesto of ,st4
 ,peter's gates4               #a4 ,or2 
two keys1 gules4              #b4 ,an   

,italian 7or more definitely            
a ,greek and ,etruscan bearing2         
,i do not know how to                   
blazon it27 concentric bands1           
argent and sable4 ,this is              
one of the remains of the               
,greek expressions of storm2            
hail1 or the ,trinacrian limbs1         
being put on the giant's                
shields also4 ,it is connected          
besides with the ,cretan                
labyrinth1 and the circles of           
the ,inferno4              #c4 ,parted  
per fesse1 gules and                vai 
7,i don't know if vai                   
means grey--not a proper                
heraldic colour--or vaire74   #ajf4 ,of 
course ,hubert of ,lucca did not        
determine these bearings1 but took them 
as he found them1 and appointed them for
 standards2 #a he did the same for all  
the country parishes1 and ordered them  
to come into the city at need4 ,and in  
this manner the old people of ,florence 
ordered itself2 and for more strength of

 the people1 they ordered and began to  
build the palace which is behind the    
,badia1--that is to say1 the one which  
is of dressed stone1 with the tower2 for
 before there was no palace of the      
commune in ,florence1 but the signory   
abode sometimes in one part of the town1
 sometimes in another4  ,footnote #a3   
,we will examine afterwards the heraldry
 of the trades1 chap1 xi41 ,villani4    
#ajg4 ,and as the people had now taken  
state and signory on themselves1 they   
ordered1 for greater strength of the    
people1 that all the towers of          
,florence--and there were many #ahj feet
 high #a--should be cut down to #ge     
feet1 and no more2 and so it was done1  
and with the stones of them they walled 
the city on the other side ,arno4       
,footnote3 #abj braccia4  #ajh4 ,that   
last sentence is a significant one4     
,here is the central expression of the  
true burgess or townsman                
temper1--resolute maintenance of        
fortified peace4 ,these are the walls   

which modern republicanism throws down1 
to make boulevards over their ruins4    
#aji4 ,such new order being taken1      
,florence remained quiet for full two   
months4 ,on the #acth of ,december1 in  
the same year1 died the ,emperor        
,frederick ,,ii42 news of his death did 
not reach ,florence till the #gth       
,january1 #abea4 ,it had chanced1       
according to ,villani1 that on the      
actual day of his death1 his ,florentine
 vice-regent1 ,rinieri of ,montemerlo1  
was killed by a piece of the vaulting #a
 of his room falling on him as he slept4
 ,and when the people heard of the      
,emperor's death1 which was most useful 
and needful for ,holy ,church1 and for  
our commune1 they took the fall of the  
roof on his lieutenant as an omen of the
 extinction of ,imperial authority1 and 
resolved to bring home all their        
,guelphic exiles1 and that the          
,ghibellines should be forced to make   
peace with them4 ,which was done1 and   
the peace really lasted for full six    

months2 when1 a quarrel chancing with   
,ghibelline ,pistoja1 the ,florentines1 
under a ,milanese podesta1 fought their 
first properly communal and commercial  
battle1 with great slaughter of         
,pistojese4 ,naturally enough1 but very 
unwisely1 the ,florentine ,ghibellines  
declined to take part in this battle2   
whereupon the people1 returning flushed 
with victory1 drove them all out1 and   
established pure ,guelph government in  
,florence1 changing at the same time the
 flag of the city from gules1 a lily    
argent1 to argent1 a lily gules2 but the
 most ancient bearing of all1 simply    
parted per pale1 argent and gules1      
remained always on their carroccio of   
battle1--,non si muto mai4  ,footnote   
#a3 ,una volta ch' era sopra la camera4 
#aaj4 ,non si muto mai4 ,villani did not
 know how true his words were4 ,that old
 shield of ,florence1 parted per pale1  
argent and gules1 7or our own ,saxon    
,oswald's1 parted per pale1 or and      
purpure17 are heraldry changeless in    

sign2 declaring the necessary balance1  
in ruling men1 of the ,rational and     
,imaginative powers2 pure ,alp1 and     
glowing cloud4  ,church and             
,state--,pope and ,emperor--,clergy and 
,laity1--all these are partial1         
accidental--too often1                  
criminal--oppositions2 but the bodily   
and spiritual elements1 seemingly       
adverse1 remain in everlasting harmony1 
,not less the new bearing of the shield1
 the red fleur-de-lys1 has another      
meaning4 ,it is red1 not as             
ecclesiastical1 but as free4 ,not of    
,guelph against ,ghibelline1 but of     
,labourer against ,knight4 ,no more his 
serf1 but his minister4 ,his duty no    
more 'servitium1' but 'ministerium1'    
'mestier4' ,we learn the power of word  
after word1 as of sign after sign1 as we
 follow the traces of this nascent art4 
,i have sketched for you this lily from 
the base of the tower of ,giotto4 ,you  
may judge by the subjects of the        
sculpture beside it that it was built   

just in this fit of commercial triumph2 
for all the outer bas-reliefs are of    
trades4  #aaa4 ,draw that red lily then1
 and fix it in your minds as the sign of
 the great change in the temper of      
,florence1 and in her laws1 in          
mid-thirteenth century2 and remember    
also1 when you go to ,florence and see  
that mighty tower of the ,palazzo       
,vecchio 7noble still1 in spite of the  
calamitous and accursed restorations    
which have smoothed its rugged outline1 
and effaced with modern vulgarisms its  
lovely sculpture7--terminating the      
shadowy perspectives of the ,uffizii1 or
 dominant over the city seen from ,fsole
 or ,bellosguardo1--that1 as the tower  
of ,giotto is the notablest monument in 
the world of the ,religion of ,europe1  
so1 on this tower of the ,palazzo       
,vecchio1 first shook itself to the     
winds the ,lily standard of her         
liberal1--because honest1--commerce4    
,,lecture ,v4                 ,,pax     
,,vobiscum4  #aab4 ,my last lecture     

ended with a sentence which ,i thought1 
myself1 rather pretty1 and quite fit for
 a popular newspaper1 about the 'lily   
standard of liberal commerce4' ,but it  
might occur1 and ,i hope did occur1 to  
some of you1 that it would have been    
more appropriate if the lily had changed
 colour the other way1 from red to      
white1 7instead of white to red17 as a  
sign of a pacific constitution and      
kindly national purpose4  #aac4 ,i      
believe otherwise1 however2 and although
 the change itself was for the sake of  
change merely1 you may see in it1 ,i    
think1 one of the historical            
coincidences which contain true         
instruction for us4  ,quite one of the  
chiefest art-mistakes and stupidities of
 men has been their tendency to dress   
soldiers in red clothes1 and monks1 or  
pacific persons1 in black1 white1 or    
grey ones4 ,at least half of that mental
 bias of young people1 which sustains   
the wickedness of war among us at this  
day1 is owing to the prettiness of      

uniforms4 ,make all ,hussars black1 all 
,guards black1 all troops of the line   
black2 dress officers and men1 alike1 as
 you would public executioners2 and the 
number of candidates for commissions    
will be greatly diminished4 ,habitually1
 on the contrary1 you dress these       
destructive rustics and their officers  
in scarlet and gold1 but give your      
productive rustics no costume of honour 
or beauty2 you give your peaceful       
student a costume which he tucks up to  
his waist1 because he is ashamed of it2 
and dress your pious rectors1 and your  
sisters of charity1 in black1 as if it  
were their trade instead of the         
soldier's to send people to hell1 and   
their own destiny to arrive there4      
#aad4 ,but the investiture of the lily  
of ,florence with scarlet is a          
symbol1--unintentional1 observe1 but not
 the less notable1--of the recovery of  
human sense and intelligence in this    
matter4 ,the reign of war was past2 this
 was the sign of it2--the red glow1 not 

now of the ,towers of ,dis1 but of the  
,carita1 che appena fora dentro al fuoco
 nota4 ,and a day is coming1 be assured1
 when the kings of ,europe will dress   
their peaceful troops beautifully2 will 
clothe their peasant girls in scarlet1  
with other delights1 and put on         
ornaments of gold upon their apparel2   
when the crocus and the lily will not be
 the only living things dressed daintily
 in our land1 and the glory of the      
wisest monarchs be indeed1 in that their
 people1 like themselves1 shall be1 at  
least in some dim likeness1 arrayed like
 one of these4  #aae4 ,but as for the   
immediate behaviour of ,florence        
herself1 with her new standard1 its     
colour was quite sufficiently           
significant in that old symbolism1 when 
the first restrial bearing was drawn by 
dying fingers dipped in blood4 ,the     
,guelphic revolution had put her into   
definite political opposition with her  
nearest1 and therefore1--according to   
the custom and ,christianity of the     

time1--her hatefullest1                 
neighbours1--,pistoja1 ,pisa1 ,siena1   
and ,volterra4 ,what glory might not be 
acquired1 what kind purposes answered1  
by making pacific mercantile states also
 of those benighted towns6 ,besides1 the
 death of the ,emperor had thrown his   
party everywhere into discouragement2   
and what was the use of a flag which    
flew no farther than over the new       
palazzo8  #aaf4 ,accordingly1 in the    
next year1 the pacific ,florentines     
began by ravaging the territory of      
,pistoja2 then attacked the ,pisans at  
,pontadera1 and took #cjjj prisoners2   
and finished by traversing1 and eating  
up all that could be ate in1 the country
 of ,siena2 besides beating the ,sienese
 under the castle of ,montalcino4       
,returning in triumph after these       
benevolent operations1 they resolved to 
strike a new piece of money in memory of
 them1--the golden ,florin6  #aag4 ,this
 coin ,i have placed in your room of    
study1 to be the first of the series of 

coins which ,i hope to arrange for you1 
not chronologically1 but for the various
 interest1 whether as regards art or    
history1 which they should possess in   
your general studies4 ,the ,florin of   
,florence1 7says ,sismondi71 through all
 the monetary revolutions of all        
neighbouring countries1 and while the   
bad faith of governments adulterated    
their coin from one end of ,europe to   
the other1 has always remained the same2
 it is1 to-day1 7,i don't know when1    
exactly1 he wrote this1--but it doesn't 
matter71 of the same weight1 and bears  
the same name and the same stamp1 which 
it did when it was struck in #abeb4 ,it 
was gold of the purest title 7#bd       
carats71 weighed the eighth of an ounce1
 and carried1 as you see1 on one side   
the image of ,st4 ,john ,baptist1 on the
 other the ,fleur-de-lys4 ,it is the    
coin which ,chaucer takes for the best  
representation of beautiful money in the
 ,pardoner's ,tale3 this1 in his        
judgment1 is the fairest mask of ,death4

 ,villani's relation of its moral and   
commercial effect at ,tunis is worth    
translating1 being in the substance of  
it1 ,i doubt not1 true4  #aah4 ,and     
these new florins beginning to scatter  
through the world1 some of them got to  
,tunis1 in ,barbary2 and the ,king of   
,tunis1 who was a worthy and wise lord1 
was greatly pleased with them1 and had  
them tested2 and finding them of fine   
gold1 he praised them much1 and had the 
legend on them interpreted to him1--to  
wit1 on one side ',st4 ,john ,baptist1' 
on the other ',florentia4' ,so seeing   
they were pieces of ,christian money1 he
 sent for the ,pisan merchants1 who were
 free of his port1 and much before the  
,king 7and also the ,florentines traded 
in ,tunis through ,pisan agents71--see  
these hot little ,pisans1 how they are  
first everywhere1--and asked of them    
what city it was among the ,christians  
which made the said florins4 ,and the   
,pisans answered in spite and envy1     
',they are our land ,arabs4' ,the ,king 

answered wisely1 ,it does not appear to 
me ,arab's money2 you ,pisans1 what     
golden money have you got8 ,then they   
were confused1 and knew not what to     
answer4 ,so he asked if there was any   
,florentine among them4 ,and there was  
found a merchant from the               
other-side-,arno1 by name ,peter        
,balducci1 discreet and wise4 ,the ,king
 asked him of the state and being of    
,florence1 of which the ,pisans made    
their ,arabs1--who answered him wisely1 
showing the power and magnificence of   
,florence2 and how ,pisa1 in comparison1
 was not1 either in land or people1 the 
half of ,florence2 and that they had no 
golden money2 and that the gold of which
 those florins had been made was gained 
by the ,florentines above and beyond    
them1 by many victories4 ,wherefore the 
said ,pisans were put to shame1 and the 
,king1 both by reason of the florin1 and
 for the words of our wise citizen1 made
 the ,florentines free1 and appointed   
for them their own ,fondaco1 and church1

 in ,tunis1 and gave them privileges    
like the ,pisans4 ,and this we know for 
a truth from the same ,peter1 having    
been in company with him at the office  
of the ,priors4  #aai4 ,i cannot tell   
you what the value of the piece was at  
this time3 the sentence with which      
,sismondi concludes his account of it   
being only useful as an example of the  
total ignorance of the laws of currency 
in which many even of the best educated 
persons at the present day remain4  ,its
 value1 he says always the same1 answers
 to eleven francs forty centimes of     
,france4  ,but all that can be          
scientifically said of any piece of     
money is that it contains a given weight
 of a given metal4 ,its value in other  
coins1 other metals1 or other general   
produce1 varies not only from day to    
day1 but from instant to instant4  #abj4
 ,with this coin of ,florence ought in  
justice to be ranked the ,venetian      
zecchin2 #a but of it ,i can only thus  
give you account in another place1--for 

,i must at once go on now to tell you   
the first use ,i find recorded1 as being
 made by the ,florentines of their new  
money4  ,footnote #a3 ,in connection    
with the ,pisans' insulting intention by
 their term of ,arabs1 remember that the
 ,venetian 'zecca1' 7mint7 came from the
 ,arabic 'sehk1' the steel die used in  
coinage4  ,they pursued in the years    
#abec and #abed their energetic         
promulgation of peace4 ,they ravaged the
 lands of ,pistoja so often1 that the   
,pistojese submitted themselves1 on     
condition of receiving back their       
,guelph exiles1 and admitting a         
,florentine garrison into ,pistoja4     
,next they attacked ,monte ,reggione1   
the ,march-fortress of the ,sienese2 and
 pressed it so vigorously that ,siena   
was fain to make peace too1 on condition
 of ceasing her alliance with the       
,ghibellines4 ,next they ravaged the    
territory of ,volterra3 the townspeople1
 confident in the strength of their rock
 fortress1 came out to give battle2 the 

,florentines beat them up the hill1 and 
entered the town gates with the         
fugitives4  #aba4 ,and1 for note to this
 sentence1 in my long-since-read volume 
of ,sismondi1 ,i find a cross-fleury at 
the bottom of the page1 with the date   
#abed underneath it2 meaning that ,i was
 to remember that year as the beginning 
of ,christian warfare4 ,for little as   
you may think it1 and grotesquely       
opposed as this ravaging of their       
neighbours' territories may seem to     
their pacific mission1 this ,florentine 
army is fighting in absolute good faith4
 ,partly self-deceived1 indeed1 by their
 own ambition1 and by their fiery       
natures1 rejoicing in the excitement of 
battle1 they have nevertheless1 in this 
their year of victories1--so they ever  
afterwards called it1--no occult or     
malignant purpose4 ,at least1 whatever  
is occult or malignant is also          
unconscious2 not now in cruel1 but in   
kindly jealousy of their neighbours1 and
 in a true desire to communicate and    

extend to them the privileges of their  
own new artizan government1 the ,trades 
of ,florence have taken arms4 ,they are 
justly proud of themselves2 rightly     
assured of the wisdom of the change they
 have made2 true to each other for the  
time1 and confident in the future4 ,no  
army ever fought in better cause1 or    
with more united heart4 ,and accordingly
 they meet with no check1 and commit no 
error2 from tower to tower of the field 
fortresses1--from gate to gate of the   
great cities1--they march in one        
continuous and daily more splendid      
triumph1 yet in gentle and perfect      
discipline2 and now1 when they have     
entered ,volterra with her fugitives1   
after stress of battle1 not a drop of   
blood is shed1 nor a single house       
pillaged1 nor is any other condition of 
peace required than the exile of the    
,ghibelline nobles4 ,you may remember1  
as a symbol of the influence of         
,christianity in this result1 that the  
,bishop of ,volterra1 with his clergy1  

came out in procession to meet them as  
they began to run #a the streets1 and   
obtained this mercy2 else the old habits
 of pillage would have prevailed4       
,footnote #a3 ,corsona la citta senza   
contesto niuno4--,villani4  #abb4 ,and  
from ,volterra1 the ,florentine army    
entered on the territory of ,pisa2 and  
now with so high prestige1 that the     
,pisans at once sent ambassadors to them
 with keys in their hands1 in token of  
submission4 ,and the ,florentines made  
peace with them1 on condition that the  
,pisans should let the ,florentine      
merchandize pass in and out without     
tax2--should use the same weights as    
,florence1--the same cloth measure1--and
 the same alloy of money4  #abc4 ,you   
see that ,mr4 ,adam ,smith was not      
altogether the originator of the idea of
 free trade2 and six hundred years have 
passed without bringing ,europe         
generally to the degree of mercantile   
intelligence1 as to weights and         
currency1 which ,florence had in her    

year of victories4  ,the ,pisans broke  
this peace two years afterwards1 to help
 the ,emperor ,manfred2 whereupon the   
,florentines attacked them instantly    
again2 defeated them on the ,serchio1   
near ,lucca2 entered the ,pisan         
territory by the ,val di ,serchio2 and  
there1 cutting down a great pine tree1  
struck their florins on the stump of it1
 putting1 for memory1 under the feet of 
the ,st4 ,john1 a trefoil in guise of a 
little tree4 ,and note here the         
difference between artistic and         
mechanical coinage4 ,the ,florentines1  
using pure gold1 and thin1 can strike   
their coin anywhere1 with only a wooden 
anvil1 and their engraver is ready on   
the instant to make such change in the  
stamp as may record any new triumph4    
,consider the vigour1 popularity1       
pleasantness of an art of coinage thus  
ductile to events1 and easy in          
manipulution4  #abd4 ,it is to be       
observed also that a thin gold coinage  
like that of the ,english angel1 and    

these ,italian zecchins1 is both more   
convenient and prettier than the massive
 gold of the ,greeks1 often so small    
that it drops through the fingers1 and1 
if of any size1 inconveniently large in 
value4  #abe4 ,it was in the following  
year1 #abee1 that the ,florentines made 
the noblest use of their newly struck   
florins1 so far as ,i know1 ever        
recorded in any history2 and a          
,florentine citizen made as noble       
refusal of them4 ,you will find the two 
stories in ,giovanni ,villani1 ,book    
#fth1 chapters #fa1 #fb4 ,one or two    
important facts are added by ,sismondi1 
but without references4 ,i take his     
statement as on the whole trustworthy1  
using ,villani's authority wherever it  
reaches2 one or two points ,i have      
farther to explain to you myself as ,i  
go on4  #abf4 ,the first tale shows very
 curiously the mercenary and independent
 character of warfare1 as it now was    
carried on by the great chiefs1 whether 
,guelph or ,ghibelline4 ,the            

,florentines wanted to send a troop of  
five hundred horse to assist ,orvieto1 a
 ,guelph town1 isolated on its rock1 and
 at present harrassed upon it4 ,they    
gave command of this troop to the       
,knight ,guido ,guerra de' ,conti       
,guidi1 and he and his riders set out   
for ,orvieto by the ,umbrian road1      
through ,arezzo1 which was at peace with
 ,florence1 though a ,ghibelline town4  
,the ,guelph party within the town asked
 help from the passing ,florentine      
battalion2 and ,guido ,guerra1 without  
any authority for such action1 used the 
troop of which he was in command in     
their favour1 and drove out the         
,ghibellines4 ,sismondi does not notice 
what is quite one of the main points in 
the matter1 that this troop of horse    
must have been mainly composed of ,count
 ,guido's own retainers1 and not of     
,florentine citizens1 who would not have
 cared to leave their business on such a
 far-off quest as this help to ,orvieto4
 ,however1 ,arezzo is thus brought over 

to the ,florentine interest2 and any    
other ,italian state would have been    
sure1 while it disclaimed the ,count's  
independent action1 to keep the         
advantage of it4 ,not so ,florence4 ,she
 is entirely resolved1 in these years of
 victory1 to do justice to all men so   
far she understands it2 and in this case
 it will give her some trouble to do it1
 and worse1--cost her some of her fine  
new florins4 ,for her counter-mandate is
 quite powerless with ,guido ,guerra4   
,he has taken ,arezzo mainly with his   
own men1 and means to stay there1       
thinking that the ,florentines1 if even 
they do not abet him1 will take no      
practical steps against him4 ,but he    
does not know this newly risen clan of  
military merchants1 who quite clearly   
understand what honesty means1 and will 
put themselves out of their way to keep 
their faith4 ,florence calls out her    
trades instantly1 and with gules1 a     
dragon vert1 and or1 a bull sable1 they 
march1 themselves1 angrily up the ,val  

d',arno1 replace the adverse            
,ghibellines in ,arezzo1 and send       
,master ,guido de' ,conti ,guido about  
his business4 ,but the prettiest and    
most curious part of the whole story is 
their equity even to him1 after he had  
given them all this trouble4 ,they      
entirely recognize the need he is under 
of getting meat1 somehow1 for the mouths
 of these five hundred riders of his2   
also they hold him still their friend1  
though an unmanageable one2 and admit   
with praise what of more or less        
patriotic and ,guelphic principle may be
 at the root of his disobedience4 ,so   
when he claims twelve thousand          
lire1--roughly1 some two thousand pounds
 of money at present value1--from the   
,guelphs of ,arezzo for his service1 and
 the ,guelphs1 having got no good of it1
 owing to this ,florentine interference1
 object to paying him1 the ,florentines 
themselves lend them the money1--and are
 never paid a farthing of it back4      
#abg4 ,there is a beautiful investment  

of capital for your modern merchant to  
study6 ,no interest thought of1 and     
little hope of ever getting back the    
principal4 ,and yet you will find that  
there were no mercantile panics1 in     
,florence in those days1 nor failing    
bankers1 #a nor clearings out of this   
establishment--any reasonable offer     
accepted4  ,footnote3 ,some account of  
the state of modern ,british business in
 this kind will be given1 ,i hope1 in   
some number of ,fors ,clavigera for this
 year1 #ahgd4  #abh4 ,but the second    
story1 of a private ,florentine citizen1
 is better still4  ,in that campaign    
against ,pisa in which the florins were 
struck on the root of pine1 the         
conditions of peace had been ratified by
 the surrender to ,florence of the      
,pisan fortress of ,mutrona1 which      
commanded a tract of seaboard below     
,pisa1 of great importance for the      
,tuscan trade4 ,the ,florentines had    
stipulated for the right not only of    
holding1 but of destroying it1 if they  

chose2 and in their ,council of         
,ancients1 after long debate1 it was    
determined to raze it1 the cost of its  
garrison being troublesome1 and the     
freedom of seaboard all that the city   
wanted4 ,but the ,pisans feeling the    
power that the fortress had against them
 in case of future war1 and doubtful of 
the issue of council at ,florence1 sent 
a private negotiator to the member of   
the ,council of ,ancients who was known 
to have most influence1 though one of   
the poorest of them1 ,aldobrandino      
,ottobuoni2 and offered him four        
thousand golden florins if he would get 
the vote passed to raze ,mutrona4 ,the  
vote had passed the evening before4     
,aldobrandino dismissed the ,pisan      
ambassador in silence1 returned         
instantly into the council1 and without 
saying anything of the offer that had   
been made to him1 got them to reconsider
 their vote1 and showed them such reason
 for keeping ,mutrona in its strength1  
that the vote for its destruction was   

rescinded4 ,and note thou1 oh reader1   
says ,villani1 the virtue of such a     
citizen1 who1 not being rich in         
substance1 had yet such continence and  
loyalty for his state4  #abi4 ,you      
might1 perhaps1 once1 have thought me   
detaining you needlessly with these     
historical details1 little bearing1 it  
is commonly supposed1 on the subject of 
art4 ,but you are1 ,i trust1 now in some
 degree persuaded that no art1          
,florentine or any other1 can be        
understood without knowing these        
sculptures and mouldings of the national
 soul4 ,you remember ,i first begun this
 large digression when it became a      
question with us why some of ,giovanni  
,pisano's sepulchral work had been      
destroyed at ,perugia4 ,and now we shall
 get our first gleam of light on the    
matter1 finding similar operations      
carried on in ,florence4 ,for a little  
while after this speech in the ,council 
of ,ancients1 ,aldobrandino died1 and   
the people1 at public cost1 built him a 

tomb of marble1 higher than any other in
 the church of ,santa ,reparata1        
engraving on it these verses1 which ,i  
leave you to construe1 for ,i cannot3-- 
,fons est supremus ,aldobrandino        
amoenus4         ,ottoboni natus1 a bono
 civita datus4   ,only ,i suppose the   
pretty word 'amoenus' may be taken as   
marking the delightfulness and sweetness
 of character which had won all men's   
love1 more1 even1 than their gratitude4 
#acj4 ,it failed of its effect1 however1
 on the ,tuscan aristocratic mind4 ,for1
 when1 after the battle of the ,arbia1  
the ,ghibellines had again their own way
 in ,florence1 though ,ottobuoni had    
been then dead three years1 they beat   
down his tomb1 pulled the dead body out 
of it1 dragged it--by such tenure as it 
might still possess--through the city1  
and threw the fragments of it into      
ditches4 ,it is a memorable parallel to 
the treatment of the body of ,cromwell  
by our own ,cavaliers2 and indeed it    
seems to me one of the highest forms of 

laudatory epitaph upon a man1 that his  
body should be thus torn from its rest4 
,for he can hardly have spent his life  
better than in drawing on himself the   
kind of enmity which can so be          
gratified2 and for the most loving of   
lawgivers1 as of princes1 the most      
enviable and honourable epitaph has     
always been        ,greek3 oide plitai  
anton emisoun anton4   #aca4 ,not but   
that pacific ,florence1 in her pride of 
victory1 was beginning to show          
unamiableness of temper also1 on her so 
equitable side4 ,it is perhaps worth    
noticing1 for the sake of the name of   
,correggio1 that in #abeg1 when ,matthew
 ,correggio1 of ,parma1 was the ,podesta
 of ,florence1 the ,florentines         
determined to destroy the castle and    
walls of ,poggibonzi1 suspected of      
,ghibelline tendency1 though the        
,poggibonzi people came with coregge in 
collo1 leathern straps round their      
necks1 to ask that their cattle might be
 spared4 ,and the heartburnings between 

the two parties went on1 smouldering    
hotter and hotter1 till ,july1 #abeh1   
when the people having discovered secret
 dealings between the ,uberti and the   
,emperor ,manfred1 and the ,uberti      
refusing to obey citation to the popular
 tribunals1 the trades ran to arms1     
attacked the ,uberti palace1 killed a   
number of their people1 took prisoner1  
,uberto of the ,uberti1 ,hubert of the  
,huberts1 or ,bright-mind of the        
,bright-minds1 with ',mangia degl'      
,infangati1 7',gobbler #a of the dirty  
ones' this knight's name sounds         
like17--and after they had confessed    
their guilt1 beheaded them in ,st4      
,michael's corn-market2 and all the rest
 of the ,uberti and ,ghibelline families
 were driven out of ,florence1 and their
 palaces pulled down1 and the walls     
towards ,siena built with the stones of 
them2 and two months afterwards1 the    
people suspecting the ,abbot of         
,vallombrosa of treating with the       
,ghibellines1 took him1 and tortured    

him2 and he confessing under torture1 at
 the cry of the people1 they beheaded   
him in the square of ,st4 ,apollinare4  
,for which unexpected piece of          
clangorous impiety the ,florentines were
 excommunicated1 besides drawing upon   
themselves the steady enmity of ,pavia1 
the ,abbot's native town2 and indeed    
people say the ,abbot was innocent1     
though he belonged to a great           
,ghibelline house4 ,and for this sin1   
and for many others done by the wicked  
people1 many wise persons say that ,god1
 for ,divine judgment1 permitted upon   
the said people the revenge and         
slaughter of ,monteaperti4  ,footnote3  
,at least1 the compound ',mangia-pane1' 
'munch-bread1' stands still for a       
good-for-nothing fellow4  #acb4 ,the    
sentence which ,i have last read        
introduces1 as you must at once have    
felt1 a new condition of things4        
,generally1 ,i have spoken of the       
,ghibellines as infidel1 or impious2 and
 for the most part they represent1      

indeed1 the resistance of kingly to     
priestly power4 ,but1 in this action of 
,florence1 we have the rise of another  
force against the ,church1 in the end to
 be much more fatal to it1 that of      
popular intelligence and popular        
passion4 ,i must for the present1       
however1 return to our immediate        
business2 and ask you to take note of   
the effect1 on actually existing        
,florentine architecture1 of the        
political movements of the ten years we 
have been studying4  #acc4 ,in the      
revolution of ,candlemas1 #abdh1 the    
successful ,ghibellines throw down      
thirty-six of the ,guelph palaces4  ,and
 in the revolution of ,july1 #abeh1 the 
successful ,guelphs throw down all the  
,ghibelline palaces4  ,meantime the     
trades1 as against the ,knights         
,castellans1 have thrown down the tops  
of all the towers above seventy-five    
feet high4  ,and we shall presently have
 a proposal1 after the battle of the    
,arbia1 to throw down ,florence         

altogether4  #acd4 ,you think at first  
that this is remarkably like the course 
of republican reformations in the       
present day8 ,but there is a wide       
difference4 ,in the first place1 the    
palaces and towers are not thrown down  
in mere spite or desire of ruin1 but    
after quite definite experience of their
 danger to the ,state1 and positive     
dejection of boiling lead and wooden    
logs from their machicolations upon the 
heads below4 ,in the second place1      
nothing is thrown down without complete 
certainty on the part of the            
overthrowers that they are able1 and    
willing1 to build as good or better     
things instead2 which1 if any like      
conviction exist in the minds of modern 
republicans1 is a wofully ill-founded   
one3 and lastly1 these abolitions of    
private wealth were coincident with a   
widely spreading disposition to         
undertake1 as ,i have above noticed1    
works of public utility1 from which no  
dividends were to be received by any of 

the shareholders2 and for the execution 
of which the builders received no       
commission on the cost1 but payment at  
the rate of so much a day1 carefully    
adjusted to the exertion of real power  
and intelligence4  #ace4 ,we must not1  
therefore1 without qualification blame1 
though we may profoundly regret1 the    
destructive passions of the thirteenth  
century4 ,the architecture of the       
palaces thus destroyed in ,florence     
contained examples of the most beautiful
 round-arched work that had been        
developed by the ,norman schools2 and   
was in some cases adorned with a        
barbaric splendour1 and fitted into a   
majesty of strength which1 so far as ,i 
can conjecture the effect of it from the
 few now existing traces1 must have     
presented some of the most impressive   
aspects of street edifice ever existent 
among civil societies4  #acf4 ,it may be
 a temporary relief for you from the    
confusion of following the giddy        
successions of ,florentine temper1 if ,i

 interrupt1 in this place1 my history of
 the city by some inquiry into technical
 points relating to the architecture of 
these destroyed palaces4 ,their style is
 familiar to us1 indeed1 in a building  
of which it is difficult to believe the 
early date1--the leaning tower of ,pisa4
 ,the lower stories of it are of the    
twelfth century1 and the open arcades of
 the cathedrals of ,pisa and ,lucca1 as 
well as the lighter construction of the 
spire of ,st4 ,niccol1 at ,pisa1 7though
 this was built in continuation of the  
older style by ,niccola himself17 all   
represent to you1 though in enriched    
condition1 the general manner of        
buidling in palaces of the ,norman      
period in ,val d',arno4 ,that of the    
,tosinghi1 above the old market in      
,florence1 is especially mentioned by   
,villani1 as more than a hundred feet in
 height1 entirely built with little     
pillars1 7colonnelli17 of marble4 ,on   
their splendid masonry was founded the  
exquisiteness of that which immediately 

succeeded them1 of which the date is    
fixed by definite examples both in      
,verona and ,florence1 and which still  
exists in noble masses in the retired   
streets and courts of either city2 too  
soon superseded1 in the great           
thoroughfares1 by the effeminate and    
monotonous luxury of ,venetian          
renaissance1 or by the heaps of quarried
 stone which rise into the ruggedness of
 their native cliffs1 in the ,pitti and 
,strozzi palaces4                       
,,lecture ,,vi4                ,,marble 
,,couchant4  #acg4 ,i told you in my    
last lecture that the exquisiteness of  
,florentine thirteenth century masonry  
was founded on the strength and         
splendour of that which preceded it4  ,i
 use the word 'founded' in a literal as 
well as figurative sense4 ,while the    
merchants1 in their year of victories1  
threw down the walls of the war-towers1 
they as eagerly and diligently set their
 best craftsmen to lift higher the walls
 of their churches4 ,for the most part1 

the ,early ,norman or ,basilican forms  
were too low to please them in their    
present enthusiasm4 ,their pride1 as    
well as their piety1 desired that these 
stones of their temples might be goodly2
 and all kinds of junctions1 insertions1
 refittings1 and elevations were        
undertaken2 which1 the genius of the    
people being always for mosaic1 are so  
perfectly executed1 and mix up twelfth  
and thirteenth century work in such     
intricate harlequinade1 that it is      
enough to drive a poor antiquary wild4  
#ach4 ,i have here in my hand1 however1 
a photograph of a small church1 which   
shows you the change at a glance1 and   
attests it in a notable manner4  ,you   
know ,hubert of ,lucca was the first    
captain of the ,florentine people1 and  
the march in which they struck their    
florin on the pine trunk was through    
,lucca1 on ,pisa4  ,now here is a little
 church in ,lucca1 of which the lower   
half of the faade is of the twelfth     
century1 and the top1 built by the      

,florentines1 in the thirteenth1 and    
sealed for their own by two             
fleur-de-lys1 let into its masonry4 ,the
 most important difference1 marking the 
date1 is in the sculpture of the heads  
which carry the archivolts4 ,but the    
most palpable difference is in the      
,cyclopean simplicity of irregular      
bedding in the lower story2 and the     
delicate bands of alternate serpentine  
and marble1 which follow the horizontal 
or couchant placing of the stones above4
  #aci4 ,those of you who1 interested in
 ,english ,gothic1 have visited         
,tuscany1 are1 ,i think1 always offended
 at first1 if not in permanence1 by     
these horizontal stripes of her marble  
walls4 ,twenty-two years ago ,i quoted1 
in vol4 i4 of the ,stones of ,venice1   
,professor ,willis's statement that a   
practice more destructive of            
architectural grandeur could hardly be  
conceived2 and ,i defended my favourite 
buildings against that judgement1 first 
by actual comparison in the plate       

opposite the page1 of a piece of them   
with an example of our modern grandeur2 
secondly1 7vol4 i41 chap4 v417 by a     
comparison of their aspect with that of 
the building of the grandest piece of   
wall in the ,alps1--that ,matterhorn in 
which you all have now learned to take  
some gymnastic interest2 and thirdly1   
7vol4 i41 chap4 xxvi417 by reference to 
the use of barred colours1 with delight1
 by ,giotto and all subsequent          
colourists4  #adj4 ,but it did not then 
occur to me to ask1 much as ,i always   
disliked the ,english ,perpendicular1   
what would have been the effect on the  
spectator's mind1 had the buildings been
 striped vertically instead of          
horizontally2 nor did ,i then know1 or  
in the least imagine1 how much practical
 need there was for reference from the  
structure of the edifice to that of the 
cliff2 and how much the permanence1 as  
well as propriety1 of structure depended
 on the stones being couchant in the    
wall1 as they had been in the quarry3 to

 which subject ,i wish to-day to direct 
your attention4  #ada4 ,you will find   
stated with as much clearness as ,i am  
able1 in the first and fifth lectures in
 ,aratra ,pentelci1 the principles of   
architectural design to which1 in all my
 future teaching1 ,i shall have         
constantly to appeal2 namely1 that      
architecture consists distinctively in  
the adaptation of form to resist        
force2--that1 practically1 it may be    
always thought of as doing this by the  
ingenious adjustment of various pieces  
of solid material2 that the perception  
of this ingenious adjustment1 or        
structure1 is to be always joined with  
our admiration of the superadded        
ornament2 and that all delightful       
ornament is the honouring of such useful
 structures2 but that the beauty of the 
ornament itself is independent of the   
structure1 and arrived at by powers of  
mind of a very different class from     
those which are necessary to give skill 
in architecture proper4  #adb4 ,during  

the course of this last summer ,i have  
been myself very directly interested in 
some of the quite elementary processes  
of true architecture4 ,i have been      
building a little pier into ,coniston   
,lake1 and various walls and terraces in
 a steeply sloping garden1 all which had
 to be constructed of such rough stones 
as lay nearest4 ,under the dextrous     
hands of a neighbour farmer's son1 the  
pier projected1 and the walls rose1 as  
if enchanted2 every stone taking its    
proper place1 and the loose dyke holding
 itself as firmly upright as if the     
gripping cement of the ,florentine      
towers had fastened it4 ,my own better  
acquaintance with the laws of gravity   
and of statics did not enable me1       
myself1 to build six inches of dyke that
 would stand2 and all the decoration    
possible under the circumstances        
consisted in turning the lichened sides 
of the stones outwards4 ,and yet the    
noblest conditions of building in the   
world are nothing more than the gradual 

adornment1 by play of the imagination1  
of materials first arranged by this     
natural instinct of adjustment4 ,you    
must not lose sight of the instinct of  
building1 but you must not think the    
play of the imagination depends upon it4
 ,intelligent laying of stones is always
 delightful2 but the fancy must not be  
limited to its contemplation4           
,illustration3 ,,plate ,v4--,,door ,,of 
,,the ,,baptistery4 ,,pisa4  #adc4 ,in  
the more elaborate architecture of my   
neighbourhood1 ,i have taken pleasure   
these many years2 one of the first      
papers ,i ever wrote on architecture was
 a study of the ,westmoreland           
cottage2--properly1 observe1 the cottage
 of ,west-mereland1 of the land of      
western lakes4 ,its principal feature is
 the projecting porch at its door1      
formed by two rough slabs of ,coniston  
slate1 set in a blunt gable2 supported1 
if far projecting1 by two larger masses 
for uprights4 ,a disciple of ,mr4 ,pugin
 would delightedly observe that the     

porch of ,st4 ,zeno at ,verona was      
nothing more than the decoration of this
 construction2 but you do not suppose   
that the first idea of putting two      
stones together to keep off rain was all
 on which the sculptor of ,st4 ,zeno    
wished to depend for your entertainment4
  #add4 ,perhaps you may most clearly   
understand the real connection between  
structure and decoration by considering 
all architecture as a kind of book1     
which must be properly bound indeed1 and
 in which the illumination of the pages 
has distinct reference in all its forms 
to the breadth of the margins and length
 of the sentences2 but is itself free to
 follow its own quite separate and      
higher objects of design4  #ade4 ,thus1 
for instance1 in the architecture which 
,niccola was occupied upon1 when a boy1 
under his ,byzantine master4 ,here is   
the door of the ,baptistery at ,pisa1   
again by ,mr4 ,severn delightfully      
enlarged for us from a photograph4 #a   
,the general idea of it is a            

square-headed opening in a solid wall1  
faced by an arch carried on shafts4 ,and
 the ornament does indeed follow this   
construction so that the eye catches it 
with ease1--but under what arbitrary    
conditions6 ,in the square door1        
certainly the side-posts of it are as   
important members as the lintel they    
carry2 but the lintel is carved         
elaborately1 and the side-posts left    
blank4 ,of the facing arch and shaft1 it
 would be similarly difficult to say    
whether the sustaining vertical1 or     
sustained curve1 were the more important
 member of the construction2 but the    
decorator now reverses the distribution 
of his care1 adorns the vertical member 
with passionate elaboration1 and runs a 
narrow band1 of comparatively           
uninteresting work1 round the arch4     
,between this outer shaft and inner door
 is a square pilaster1 of which the     
architect carves one side1 and lets the 
other alone4 ,it is followed by a       
smaller shaft and arch1 in which he     

reverses his treatment of the outer     
order by cutting the shaft delicately   
and the arch deeply4 ,again1 whereas in 
what is called the decorated            
construction of ,english ,gothic1 the   
pillars would have been left plain and  
the spandrils deep cut1--here1 are we to
 call it decoration of the construction1
 when the pillars are carved and the    
spandrils left plain8 ,or when1 finally1
 either these spandril spaces on each   
side of the arch1 or the corresponding  
slopes of the gable1 are loaded with    
recumbent figures by the sculptors of   
the renaissance1 are we to call1 for    
instance1 ,michael ,angelo's ,dawn and  
,twilight1 only the decorations of the  
sloping plinths of a tomb1 or trace to a
 geometrical propriety the subsequent   
rule in ,italy that no window could be  
properly complete for living people to  
look out of1 without having two stone   
people sitting on the corners of it     
above8 ,i have heard of charming young  
ladies occasionally1 at very crowded    

balls1 sitting on the stairs1--would you
 call them1 in that case1 only          
decorations of the construction of the  
staircase8  ,footnote #a3 ,plate #e is  
from the photograph itself2 the enlarged
 drawing showed the arrangement of parts
 more clearly1 but necessarily omitted  
detail which it is better here to       
retain4  #adf4 ,you will find1 on       
consideration1 the ultimate fact to be  
that to which ,i have just referred     
you2--my statement in ,aratra1 that the 
idea of a construction originally useful
 is retained in good architecture1      
through all the amusement of its        
ornamentation2 as the idea of the proper
 function of any piece of dress ought to
 be retained through its changes in form
 or embroidery4 ,a good spire or porch  
retains the first idea of a roof        
usefully covering a space1 as a ,norman 
high cap or elongated ,quaker's bonnet  
retains the original idea of a simple   
covering for the head2 and any          
extravagance of subsequent fancy may be 

permitted1 so long as the notion of use 
is not altogether lost4 ,a girl begins  
by wearing a plain round hat to shade   
her from the sun2 she ties it down over 
her ears on a windy day2 presently she  
decorates the edge of it1 so bent1 with 
flowers in front1 or the riband that    
ties it with a bouquet at the side1 and 
it becomes a bonnet4 ,this decorated    
construction may be discreetly changed1 
by endless fashion1 so long as it does  
not become a clearly useless riband     
round the middle of the head1 or a      
clearly useless saucer on the top of it4
  #adg4 ,again1 a ,norman peasant may   
throw up the top of her cap into a peak1
 or a ,bernese one put gauze wings at   
the side of it1 and still be dressed    
with propriety1 so long as her hair is  
modestly confined1 and her ears         
healthily protected1 by the matronly    
safeguard of the real construction4 ,she
 ceases to be decorously dressed only   
when the material becomes too flimsy to 
answer such essential purpose1 and the  

flaunting pendants or ribands can only  
answer the ends of coquetry or          
ostentation4 ,similarly1 an architect   
may deepen or enlarge1 in fantastic     
exaggeration1 his original ,westmoreland
 gable into ,rouen porch1 and his       
original square roof into ,coventry     
spire2 but he must not put within his   
splendid porch1 a little door where two 
persons cannot together get in1 nor cut 
his spire away into hollow filigree1 and
 mere ornamental perviousness to wind   
and rain4  #adh4 ,returning to our door 
at ,pisa1 we shall find these general   
questions as to the distribution of     
ornament much confused with others as to
 its time and style4 ,we are at once1   
for instance1 brought to a pause as to  
the degree in which the ornamentation   
was once carried out in the doors       
themselves4 ,their surfaces were1       
however1 ,i doubt not1 once recipients  
of the most elaborate ornament1 as in   
the ,baptistery of ,florence2 and in    
later bronze1 by ,john of ,bologna1 in  

the door of the ,pisan cathedral        
opposite this one4 ,and when we examine 
the sculpture and placing of the lintel1
 which at first appeared the most       
completely ,greek piece of construction 
of the whole1 we find it so far advanced
 in many ,gothic characters1 that ,i    
once thought it a later interpolation   
cutting the inner pilasters underneath  
their capitals1 while the three statues 
set on it are certainly1 by several tens
 of years1 later still4  #adi4 ,how much
 ten years did at this time1 one is apt 
to forget2 and how irregularly the      
slower minds of the older men would     
surrender themselves1 sadly1 or         
awkwardly1 to the vivacities of their   
pupils4 ,the only wonder is that it     
should be usually so easy to assign     
conjectural dates within twenty or      
thirty years2 but1 at ,pisa1 the        
currents of tradition and invention run 
with such cross eddies1 that ,i often   
find myself utterly at fault4 ,in this  
lintel1 for instance1 there are two     

pieces separated by a narrower one1 on  
which there has been an inscription1 of 
which in my enlarged plate you may      
trace1 though1 ,i fear1 not decipher1   
the few letters that remain4 ,the       
uppermost of these stones is nearly pure
 in its ,byzantine style2 the lower1    
already semi-,gothic4 ,both are         
exquisite of their kind1 and we will    
examine them closely2 but first note    
these points about the stones of them4  
,we are discussing work at latest of the
 thirteenth century4 ,our loss of the   
inscription is evidently owing to the   
action of the iron rivets which have    
been causelessly used at the two        
horizontal joints4 ,there was nothing   
whatever in the construction to make    
these essential1 and1 but for this      
error1 the entire piece of work1 as     
delicate as an ivory tablet1 would be as
 intelligible to-day as when it was laid
 in its place4 #a  ,footnote3 ,plates #f
 and #g give1 in greater clearness1 the 
sculpture of this lintel1 for notes on  

which see ,appendix4  #aej4 ,laid4 ,i   
pause upon this word1 for it is an      
important one4 ,and ,i must devote the  
rest of this lecture to consideration   
merely of what follows from the         
difference between laying a stone and   
setting it up1 whether we regard        
sculpture or construction4 ,the subject 
is so wide1 ,i scarcely know how to     
approach it4 ,perhaps it will be the    
pleasantest way to begin if ,i read you 
a letter from one of yourselves to me4  
,a very favourite pupil1 who travels    
third class always1 for sake of better  
company1 wrote to me the other day3 ,one
 of my fellow-travellers1 who was a     
builder1 or else a master mason1 told me
 that the way in which red sandstone    
buildings last depends entirely on the  
way in which the stone is laid4 ,it must
 lie as it does in the quarry2 but he   
said that very few workmen could always 
tell the difference between the joints  
of planes of cleavage and the--something
 else which ,i couldn't catch1--by which

 he meant1 ,i suppose planes of         
stratification4 ,he said too that some  
people1 though they were very particular
  ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,vi4--,,the   
,,story ,,of ,,st4 ,,john4 ,,advent4    
,illustration3 ,,plate ,,vii4--,,the    
,,story ,,of ,,st4 ,,john4 ,,departure4 
about having the stone laid well1       
allowed blocks to stand in the rain the 
wrong way up1 and that they never       
recovered one wetting4 ,the stone of the
 same quarry varies much1 and he said   
that moss will grow immediately on good 
stone1 but not on bad4 ,how             
curious1--nature helping the best       
workman6 ,thus far my favourite pupil4  
#aea4 ',moss will grow on the best      
stone4' ,the first thing your modern    
restorer would do is to scrape it off2  
and with it1 whatever knitted surface1  
half moss root1 protects the interior   
stone4 ,have you ever considered the    
infinite functions of protection to     
mountain form exercised by the mosses   
and lichens8 ,it will perhaps be        

refreshing to you after our work among  
the ,pisan marbles and legends1 if we   
have a lecture or two on moss4 ,meantime
 ,i need not tell you that it would not 
be a satisfactory natural arrangement if
 moss grew on marble1 and that all fine 
workmanship in marble implies equal     
exquisiteness of surface and edge4      
#aeb4 ,you will observe also that the   
importance of laying the stone in the   
building as it lay in its bed was from  
the first recognised by all good        
northern architects1 to such extent that
 to lay stones 'en delit1' or in a      
position out of their bedding1 is a     
recognized architectural term in        
,france1 where all structural building  
takes its rise2 and in that form of     
'delit' the word gets most curiously    
involved with the ,latin delictum and   
deliquium4 ,it would occupy the time of 
a whole lecture if ,i entered into the  
confused relations of the words derived 
from lectus1 liquidus1 delinquo1        
diliquo1 and deliquesco2 and of the     

still more confused1 but beautifully    
confused1 7and enriched by confusion17  
forms of idea1 whether respecting       
morality or marble1 arising out of the  
meanings of these words3 the notions of 
a bed gathered or strewn for the rest1  
whether of rocks or men2 of the various 
states of solidity and liquidity        
connected with strength1 or with repose2
 and of the duty of staying quiet in a  
place1 or under a law1 and the mischief 
of leaving it1 being all fastened in the
 minds of early builders1 and of the    
generations of men for whom they built1 
by the unescapable bearing of geological
 laws on their life2 by the ease or     
difficulty of splitting rocks1 by the   
variable consistency of the fragments   
split1 by the innumerable questions     
occurring practically as to bedding and 
cleavage in every kind of stone1 from   
tufo to granite1 and by the unseemly1 or
 beautiful1 destructive1 or protective1 
effects of decomposition4 #a ,the same  
processes of time which cause your      

,oxford oolite to flake away like the   
leaves of a mouldering book1 only warm  
with a glow of perpetually deepening    
gold the marbles of ,athens and ,verona2
 and the same laws of chemical change   
which reduce the granites of ,dartmoor  
to porcelain clay1 bind the sands of    
,coventry into stones which can be built
 up halfway to the sky4  ,footnote #a3  
,this passage cannot but seem to the    
reader loose and fantastic4 ,i have     
elaborate notes1 and many an unwritten  
thought1 on these matters1 but no time  
or strength to develop them4 ,the       
passage is not fantastic1 but the rapid 
index of what ,i know to be true in all 
the named particulars4 ,but compare1 for
 mere rough illustration of what ,i     
mean1 the moral ideas relating to the   
stone of ,jacob's pillow1 or the        
tradition of it1 with those to which    
,french ,flamboyant ,gothic owes its    
character4  #aec4 ,but now1 as to the   
matter immediately before us1 observe   
what a double question arises about     

laying stones as they lie in the quarry4
 ,first1 how do they lie in the quarry8 
,secondly1 how can we lay them so in    
every part of our building8  ,a4 ,how do
 they lie in the quarry8 ,level1        
perhaps1 at ,stonesfield and ,coventry2 
but at an angle of #de at ,carrara2 and 
for aught ,i know1 of #ij in ,paros or  
,pentelicus4 ,also1 the bedding is of   
prime importance at ,coventry1 but the  
cleavage at ,coniston4 #a  ,footnote #a3
 ,there are at least four definite      
cleavages at ,coniston1 besides joints4 
,one of these cleavages furnishes the   
,coniston slate of commerce2 another    
forms the ranges of ,wetherlam and      
,yewdale crag2 a third cuts these ranges
 to pieces1 striking from north-west to 
south-east2 and a fourth into other     
pieces1 from north-east to south-west4  
,b4 ,and then1 even if we know what the 
quarry bedding is1 how are we to keep it
 always in our building8 ,you may lay   
the stones of a wall carefully level1   
but how will you lay those of an arch8  

,you think these1 perhaps1 trivial1 or  
merely curious questions4 ,so far from  
it1 the fact that while the bedding in  
,normandy is level1 that at ,carrara is 
steep1 and that the forces which raised 
the beds of ,carrara crystallized them  
also1 so that the cleavage which is     
all-important in the stones of my garden
 wall is of none in the duomo of        
,pisa1--simply determined the           
possibility of the existence of ,pisan  
sculpture at all1 and regulated the     
whole life and genius of ,nicholas the  
,pisan and of ,christian art4 ,and1     
again1 the fact that you can put stones 
in true bedding in a wall1 but cannot in
 an arch1 determines the structural     
transition from classical to ,gothic    
architecture4  #aed4 ,the structural    
transition1 observe2 only a part1 and   
that not altogether a coincident part1  
of the moral transition4 ,read          
carefully1 if you have time1 the        
articles ',pierre' and ',meneau' in ,m4 
,violet le ,duc's ,dictionary of        

,architecture1 and you will know        
everything that is of importance in the 
changes dependent on the mere qualities 
of matter4 ,i must1 however1 try to set 
in your view also the relative acting   
qualities of mind4  ,you will find that 
,m4 ,violet le ,duc traces all the forms
 of ,gothic tracery to the geometrical  
and practically serviceable development 
of the stone 'chassis1' chasing1 or     
frame1 for the glass4 ,for instance1 he 
attributes the use of the cusp or       
'redent' in its more complex forms1 to  
the necessity1 or convenience1 of       
diminishing the space of glass which the
 tracery grasps2 and he attributes the  
reductions of the mouldings in the      
tracery bar under portions of one       
section1 to the greater facility thus   
obtained by the architect in directing  
his workmen4 ,the plan of a window once 
given1 and the moulding-section1--all is
 said1 thinks ,m4 ,violet le ,duc4 ,very
 convenient indeed1 for modern          
architects who have commission on the   

cost4 ,but certainly not necessary1 and 
perhaps even inconvenient1 to ,niccola  
,pisano1 who is himself his workman1 and
 cuts his own traceries1 with his apron 
loaded with dust4  #aee4 ,again1 the    
redent--the 'tooth within tooth' of a   
,french tracery--may be necessary1 to   
bite its glass4 ,but the cusp1 cuspis1  
spiny or spearlike point of a thirteenth
 century illumination1 is not in the    
least necessary to transfix the         
parchment4 ,yet do you suppose that the 
structural convenience of the redent    
entirely effaces from the mind of the   
designer the aesthetic characters which 
he seeks in the cusp8 ,if you could for 
an instant imagine this1 you would be   
undeceived by a glance either at the    
early redents of ,amiens1 fringing      
hollow vaults1 or the late redents of   
,rouen1 acting as crockets on the outer 
edges of pediments4 #aef4 ,again3 if you
 think of the tracery in its bars1 you  
call the cusp a redent2 but if you think
 of it in the openings1 you call the    

apertures of it foils4 ,do you suppose  
that the thirteenth century builder     
thought only of the strength of the bars
 of his enclosure1 and never of the     
beauty of the form he enclosed8 ,you    
will find in my chapter on the          
,aperture1 in the ,stones of ,venice1   
full development of the aesthetic laws  
relating to both these forms1 while you 
may see1 in ,professor ,willis's        
',architecture of the ,middle ,ages1' a 
beautiful analysis of the development of
 tracery from the juxtaposition of      
aperture2 and in the article ',meneau1' 
just quoted of ,m4 ,violet le ,duc1 an  
equally beautiful analysis of its       
development from the masonry of the     
chassis4 ,you may at first think that   
,professor ,willis's analysis is        
inconsistent with ,m4 ,violet le ,duc's4
 ,but they are no more inconsistent than
 the accounts of the growth of a human  
being would be1 if given by two         
anatomists1 of whom one had examined    
only the skeleton and the other only the

 respiratory system2 and who1 therefore1
 supposed--the first1 that the animal   
had been made only to leap1 and the     
other only to sing4 ,i don't mean that  
either of the writers ,i name are       
absolutely thus narrow in their own     
views1 but that1 so far as inconsistency
 appears to exist between them1 it is of
 that partial kind only4  #aeg4 ,and for
 the understanding of our ,pisan        
traceries we must introduce a third     
element of similarly distinctive nature4
 ,we must1 to press our simile a little 
farther1 examine the growth of the      
animal as if it had been made neither to
 leap1 nor to sing1 but only to think4  
,we must observe the transitional states
 of its nerve power2 that is to say1 in 
our window tracery we must consider not 
merely how its ribs are built1 7or how  
it stands17 nor merely how its openings 
are shaped1 or how it breathes2 but also
 what its openings are made to light1 or
 its shafts to receive1 of picture or   
image4 ,as the limbs of the building1 it

 may be much2 as the lungs of the       
building1 more4 ,as the eyes #a of the  
building1 what8  ,footnote #a3 ,i am    
ashamed to italicize so many words2 but 
these passages1 written for oral        
delivery1 can only be understood if read
 with oral emphasis4 ,this is the first 
aeries of lectures which ,i have printed
 as they were to be spoken2 and it is a 
great mistake4  #aeh4 ,thus you probably
 have a distinct idea--those of you at  
least who are interested in             
architecture--of the shape of the       
windows in ,westminster ,abbey1 in the  
,cathedral of ,chartres1 or in the      
,duomo of ,milan4 ,can any of you1 ,i   
should like to know1 make a guess at the
 shape of the windows in the ,sistine   
,chapel1 the ,stanze of the ,vatican1   
the ,scuola di ,san ,rocco1 or the lower
 church of ,assisi8 ,the soul or anima  
of the first three buildings is in their
 windows2 but of the last three1 in     
their walls4  ,all these points ,i may  
for the present leave you to think over 

for yourselves1 except one1 to which ,i 
must ask yet for a few moments your     
further attention4  #aei4 ,the trefoils 
to which ,i have called your attention  
in ,niccola's pulpit are as absolutely  
without structural office in the circles
 as in the panels of the font beside it4
 ,but the circles are drawn with evident
 delight in the lovely circular line1   
while the trefoil is struck out by      
,niccola so roughly that there is not a 
true compass curve or section in any    
part of it4  ,roughly1 ,i say4 ,do you  
suppose ,i ought to have said           
carelessly8 ,so far from it1 that if one
 sharper line or more geometric curve   
had been given1 it would have caught the
 eye too strongly1 and drawn away the   
attention from the sculpture4 ,but      
imagine the feeling with which a ,french
 master workman would first see these   
clumsy intersections of curves4 ,it     
would be exactly the sensation with     
which a practical botanical draughtsman 
would look at a foliage background of   

,sir ,joshua ,reynolds4  ,but ,sir      
,joshua's sketched leaves would indeed  
imply some unworkmanlike haste4 ,we must
 not yet assume the ,pisan master to    
have allowed himself in any such4 ,his  
mouldings may be hastily cut1 for they  
are1 as ,i have just said1 unnecessary  
to his structure1 and disadvantageous to
 his decoration2 but he is not likely to
 be careless about arrangements         
necessary for strength4 ,his mouldings  
may be cut hastily1 but do you think his
 joints will be8  #afj4 ,what subject of
 extended inquiry have we in this word1 
ranging from the cementless clefts      
between the couchant stones of the walls
 of the kings of ,rome1 whose iron      
rivets you had but the other day placed 
in your hands by their discoverer1      
through the grip of the stones of the   
,tower of the ,death-watch1 to the      
subtle joints in the marble armour of   
the ,florentine ,baptistery6  ,our own  
work must certainly be left with a rough
 surface at this place1 and we will fit 

the edges of it to our next piece of    
study as closely as we may4             
,,lecture ,,vii4                ,,marble
 ,,rampant4  #afa4 ,i closed my last    
lecture at the question respecting      
,nicholas's masonry4 ,his mouldings may 
be careless1 but do you think his joints
 will be8  ,i must remind you now of the
 expression as to the building of the   
communal palace--of dressed stones      
#a--;as opposed to the ,tower of the    
,death-watch1 in which the grip of      
cement had been so good4 ,virtually1 you
 will find that the schools of          
structural architecture are those which 
use cement to bind  ,footnote #a3       
,pietre conce4 ,the portion of the      
has-reliefs of ,orvieto1 given in the   
opposite plate1 will show the importance
 of the jointing4 ,observe the way in   
which the piece of stone with the three 
principal figures is dovetailed above   
the extended band1 and again in the rise
 above the joint of the next stone on   
the right1 the sculpture of the wings   

being carried across the junction4 ,i   
have chosen this piece on purpose1      
because the loss of the broken fragment1
 probably broken by violence1 and the   
only serious injury which the sculptures
 have received1 serves to show the      
perfection of the uninjured surface1 as 
compared with northern sculpture of the 
same date4 ,i have thought it well to   
show at the same time the modern ,german
 engraving of the subject1 respecting   
which see ,appendix4  ,illustration3    
,,plate ,,viii4--,,the ,,charge ,,to    
,,adam4 ,,giovanni ,,pisano4  their     
materials together1 and in which1       
therefore1 balance of weight becomes a  
continual and inevitable question4 ,but 
the schools of sculptural architecture  
are those in which stones are fitted    
without cement1 in which1 therefore1 the
 question of fitting or adjustment is   
continual and inevitable1 but the       
sustainable weight practically          
unlimited4  #afb4 ,you may consider the 
,tower of the ,death-watch as having    

been knit together like the mass of a   
,roman brick wall4  ,but the dressed    
stone work of the thirteenth century is 
the hereditary completion of such       
block-laying1 as the ,parthenon in      
marble2 or1 in tufo1 as that which was  
shown you so lately in the walls of     
,romulus2 and the decoration of that    
system of couchant stone is by the      
finished grace of mosaic or sculpture4  
#afc4 ,it was also pointed out to you by
 ,mr4 ,parker that there were two forms 
of ,cyclopean architecture2 one of level
 blocks1 the other of                   
polygonal1--contemporary1 but in        
localities affording different material 
of stone4  ,i have placed in this frame 
examples of the ,cyclopean horizontal1  
and the ,cyclopean polygonal1           
architecture of the thirteenth century4 
,and as ,hubert of ,lucca was the master
 of the new buildings at ,florence1 ,i  
have chosen the ,cyclopean horizontal   
from his native city of ,lucca2 and as  
our ,nicholas and ,john brought their   

new ,gothic style into practice at      
,orvieto1 ,i have chosen the ,cyclopean 
polygonal from their adopted city of    
,orvieto4  ,both these examples of      
architecture are early thirteenth       
century work1 the beginnings of its new 
and ,christian style1 but beginnings    
with which ,nicholas and ,john had      
nothing to do2 they were part of the    
national work going on round them4      
#afd4 ,and this example from ,lucca is  
of a very important class indeed4 ,it is
 from above the east entrance gate of   
,lucca1 which bears the cross above it1 
as the doors of a ,christian city       
should4 ,such a city is1 or ought to be1
 a place of peace1 as much as any       
monastery4  ,this custom of placing the 
cross above the gate is                 
,byzantine-,christian2 and here are     
parallel instances of its treatment from
 ,assisi4 ,the lamb with the cross is   
given in the more elaborate arch of     
,verona4  #afe4 ,but farther4 ,the      
mosaic of this cross is so exquisitely  

fitted that no injury has been received 
by it to this day from wind or weather4 
,and the horizontal dressed stones are  
laid so daintily that not an edge of    
them has stirred2 and1 both to draw your
 attention to their beautiful fitting1  
and as a substitute for cement1 the     
architect cuts his uppermost block so as
 to dovetail into the course below4     
,dovetail1 ,i say deliberately4 ,this is
 stone carpentry1 in which the carpenter
 despises glue4 ,i don't say he won't   
use glue1 and glue of the best1 but he  
feels it to be a nasty thing1 and that  
it spoils his wood or marble4 ,none1 at 
least1 he determines shall be seen      
outside1 and his laying of stones shall 
be so solid and so adjusted that1 take  
all the cement away1 his wall shall yet 
stand4  ,stonehenge1 the ,parthenon1 the
 walls of the ,kings1 this gate of      
,lucca1 this window of ,orvieto1 and    
this tomb at ,verona1 are all built on  
the ,cyclopean principle4 ,they will    
stand without cement1 and no cement     

shall be seen outside4 ,mr4 ,burgess and
 ,i actually tried the experiment on    
this tomb4 ,mr4 ,burgess modelled every 
stone of it in clay1 put them together1 
and it stood4  #aff4 ,now there are two 
most notable characteristics about this 
,cyclopean architecture to which ,i beg 
your close attention4  ,the first3 that 
as the laying of stones is so beautiful1
 their joints become a subject of       
admiration1 and great part of the       
architectural ornamentation is in the   
beauty of lines of separation1 drawn as 
finely as possible4 ,thus the separating
 lines of the bricks at ,siena1 of this 
gate at ,lucca1 of the vault at ,verona1
 of this window at ,orvieto1 and of the 
contemporary refectory at ,furness      
,abbey1 are a main source of the        
pleasure you have in the building4 ,nay1
 they are not merely engravers' lines1  
but1 in finest practice1 they are       
mathematical lines--length without      
breadth4 ,here in my hand is a little   
shaft of ,florentine mosaic executed at 

the present day4 ,the separations       
between the stones are1 in dimension1   
mathematical lines4 ,and the two sides  
of the thirteenth century porch of ,st4 
,anastasia at ,verona are built in this 
manner1--so exquisitely1 that for some  
time1 my mind not having been set at it1
 ,i passed them by as painted6  #afg4   
,that is the first character of the     
,florentine ,cyclopean ,but secondly2 as
 the joints are so firm1 and as the     
building must never stir or settle after
 it is built1 the sculptor may trust his
 work to two stones set side by side1 or
 one above another1 and carve           
continuously over the whole surface1    
disregarding the joints1 if he so       
chooses4  ,of the degree of precision   
with which ,nicholas of ,pisa and his   
son adjusted their stones1 you may judge
 by this rough sketch of a piece of ,st4
 ,mary's of the ,thorn1 in which the    
design is of panels enclosing very      
delicately sculptured heads2 and one    
would naturally suppose that the        

enclosing panels would be made of       
jointed pieces1 and the heads carved    
separately and inserted4 ,but the       
,pisans would have considered that      
unsafe masonry1--liable to the accident 
of the heads being dropped out1 or taken
 away4 ,john of ,pisa did indeed use    
such masonry1 of necessity1 in his      
fountain2 and the bas-reliefs have been 
taken away4 ,but here one great block of
 marble forms part of two panels1 and   
the mouldings and head are both carved  
in the solid1 the joint running just    
behind the neck4  #afh4 ,such masonry   
is1 indeed1 supposing there were no fear
 of thieves1 gratuitously precise in a  
case of this kind1 in which the         
ornamentation is in separate masses1 and
 might be separately carved4 ,but when  
the ornamentation is current1 and flows 
or climbs along the stone in the manner 
of waves or plants1 the concealment of  
the joints of the pieces of marble      
becomes altogether essential4 ,and here 
we enter upon a most curious group of   

associated characters in ,gothic as     
opposed to ,greek architecture4  #afi4  
,if you have been able to read the      
article to which ,i referred you1       
',meneau1' in ,m4 ,violet le ,duc's     
dictionary1 you know that one great     
condition of the perfect ,gothic        
structure is that the stones shall be   
'en de-lit1' set up on end4 ,the        
ornament then1 which on the reposing or 
couchant stone was current only1 on the 
erected stone begins to climb also1 and 
becomes1 in the most heraldic sense of  
the term1 rampant4  ,in the heraldic    
sense1 ,i say1 as distinguished from the
 still wider original sense of advancing
 with a stealthy1 creeping1 or clinging 
motion1 as a serpent on the ground1 and 
a cat1 or a vine1 up a tree-stem4 ,and  
there is one of these reptile1 creeping1
 or rampant things1 which is the first  
whose action was translated into marble1
 and otherwise is of boundless          
importance in the arts and labours of   
man4  #agj4 ,you recollect ,kingsley's  

expression1--now hackneyed1 because     
admired for its precision1--the         
'crawling foam1' of waves advancing on  
sand4 ,tennyson has somewhere also used1
 with equal truth1 the epithet          
'climbing' of the spray of breakers     
against vertical rock4 #a ,in either    
instance1 the sea action is literally   
'rampant'2 and the course of a great    
breaker1 whether in its first proud     
likeness to a rearing horse1 or in the  
humble and subdued gaining of the       
outmost verge of its foam on the sand1  
or the intermediate spiral whorl which  
gathers into a lustrous precision1 like 
that of a polished shell1 the grasping  
force of a giant1 you have the most     
vivid sight and embodiment of literally 
rampant energy2 which the ,greeks       
expressed in their symbolic ,poseidon1  
,scylla1 and sea-horse1 by the head and 
crest of the man1 dog1 or horse1 with   
the body of the serpent2 and of which   
you will find the slower image1 in      
vegetation1 rendered both by the spiral 

tendrils of grasping or climbing plants1
 and the perennial gaining of the foam  
or the lichen upon barren shores of     
stone4  ,footnote3 ,perhaps ,i am       
thinking of ,lowell1 not ,tennyson2 ,i  
have not time to look4  #aga4 ,if you   
will look to the thirtieth chapter of   
vol4 i4 in the new edition of the       
,stones of ,venice1 which1 by the gift  
of its publishers1 ,i am enabled to lay 
on your table to be placed in your      
library1 you will find one of my first  
and most eager statements of the        
necessity of inequality or change in    
form1 made against the common           
misunderstanding of ,greek symmetry1 and
 illustrated by a woodcut of the spiral 
ornament on the treasury of ,atreus at  
,mycenae4 ,all that is said in that     
chapter respecting nature and the ideal1
 ,i now beg most earnestly to recommend 
and ratify to you2 but although1 even at
 that time1 ,i knew more of ,greek art  
than my antagonists1 my broken reading  
has given me no conception of the range 

of its symbolic power1 nor of the       
function of that more or less formal    
spiral line1 as expressive1 not only of 
the waves of the sea1 but of the zones  
of the whirlpool1 the return of the     
tempest1 and the involution of the      
labyrinth4 ,and although my readers say 
that ,i wrote then better than ,i write 
now1 ,i cannot refer you to the passage 
without asking you to pardon in it what 
,i now hold to be the petulance and     
vulgarity of expression1 disgracing the 
importance of the truth it contains4 ,a 
little while ago1 without displeasure1  
you permitted me to delay you by the    
account of a dispute on a matter of     
taste between my father and me1 in which
 he was quietly and unavailingly right4 
,it seems to me scarcely a day1 since1  
with boyish conceit1 ,i resisted his    
wise entreaties that ,i would re-word   
this clause2 and especially take out of 
it the description of a sea-wave as     
laying a great white tablecloth of foam 
all the way to the shore4 ,now1 after an

 interval of twenty years1 ,i refer you 
to the passage1 repentant and humble as 
far as regards its style1 which people  
sometimes praised1 but with absolue     
re-assertion of the truth and value of  
its contents1 which people always       
denied4 ,as natural form is varied1 so  
must beautiful ornament be varied4 ,you 
are not an artist by reproving nature   
into deathful sameness1 but by animating
 your copy of her into vital variation4 
,but ,i thought at that time that only  
,goths were rightly changeful4 ,i never 
thought ,greeks were4 ,their reserved   
variation escaped me1 or ,i thought it  
accidental4 ,here1 however1 is a coin of
 the finest ,greek workmanship1 which   
shows you their mind in this matter     
unmistakably4 ,here are the waves of the
 ,adriatic round a knight of ,tarentum1 
and there is no doubt of their          
variableness4  #agb4 ,this pattern of   
sea-wave1 or river whirlpool1 entirely  
sacred in the ,greek mind1 and the      
,greek3 99bostruchos99 or similarly     

curling wave in flowing hair1 are the   
two main sources of the spiral form in  
lambent or rampant decoration4 ,of such 
lambent ornament1 the most important    
piece is the crocket1 of which ,i       
rapidly set before you the origin4      
#agc4 ,here is a drawing of the gable of
 the bishop's throne in the upper church
 at ,assisi1 of the exact period when   
the mosaic workers of the thirteenth    
century at ,rome adopted rudely the     
masonry of the north4 ,briefly1 this is 
a ,greek temple pediment1 in which1     
doubtful of their power to carve figures
 beautiful enough1 they cut a trefoiled 
hold for ornament1 and bordered the     
edges with harlequinade of mosaic4 ,they
 then call to their help the ,greek     
sea-waves1 and let the surf of the gean 
climb along the slopes1 and toss itself 
at the top into a fleur-de-lys4 ,every  
wave is varied in outline and           
proportionate distance1 though cut with 
a precision of curve like that of the   
sea itself4 ,from this root we are      

able--but it must be in a lecture on    
crockets only--to trace the succeeding  
changes through the curl of ,richard    
,,ii4's hair1 and the crisp leaves of   
the forests of ,picardy1 to the knobbed 
extravagances of expiring ,gothic4 ,but 
,i must to-day let you compare one piece
 of perfect ,gothic work with the       
perfect ,greek4  #agd4 ,there is no     
question in my own mind1 and1 ,i        
believe1 none in that of any other      
long-practised student of medival art1  
that in pure structural ,gothic the     
church of ,st4 ,urbain at ,troyes is    
without rival in ,europe4 ,here is a    
rude sketch of its use of the crocket in
 the spandrils of its external tracery1 
and here are the waves of the ,greek sea
 round the son of ,poseidon4 ,seventeen 
hundred years are between them1 but the 
same mind is in both4 ,i wonder how many
 times seventeen hundred years ,mr4     
,darwin will ask1 to retrace the ,greek 
designer of this into his primitive ape2
 or how many times six hundred years of 

such improvements as we have made on the
 church of ,st4 ,urbain1 will be needed 
in order to enable our descendants to   
regard the designers of that1 as only   
primitive apes4  #age4 ,i return for a  
moment to my gable at ,assisi4 ,you see 
that the crest of the waves at the top  
form a rude likeness of a fleur-de-lys4 
,there is1 however1 in this form no real
 intention of imitating a flower1 any   
more than in the meeting of the tails of
 these two ,etruscan griffins4 ,the     
notable circumstance in this piece of   
,gothic is its advanced form of crocket1
 and its prominent foliation1 with      
nothing in the least approaching to     
floral ornament4  #agf4 ,and now1       
observe this very curious fact in the   
personal character of two contemporary  
artists4 ,see the use of my manually    
graspable flag4 ,here is ,john of       
,pisa1--here ,giotto4 ,they are         
contemporary for twenty years2--but     
these are the prime of ,giotto's life1  
and the last of ,john's life3 virtually1

 ,giotto is the later workman by full   
twenty years4  ,but ,giotto always uses 
severe geometrical mouldings1 and       
disdains all luxuriance of leafage to   
set off interior sculpture4  ,john of   
,pisa not only adopts ,gothic tracery1  
but first allows himself enthusiastic   
use of rampant vegetation2--and here in 
the faade of ,orvieto1 you have not only
 perfect ,gothic in the sentiment of    
,scripture history1 but such luxurious  
ivy ornamentation as you cannot         
afterwards match for two hundred years4 
,nay1 you can scarcely match it         
then--for grace of line1 only in the    
richest flamboyant of ,france4  #agg4   
,now this fact would set you1 if you    
looked at art from its aesthetic side   
only1 at once to find out what ,german  
artists had taught ,giovanni ,pisano4   
,there were ,germans teaching him1--some
 teaching him many things2 and the      
intense conceit of the modern ,german   
artist imagines them to have taught him 
all things4  ,but he learnt his         

luxuriance1 and ,giotto his severity1 in
 another school4 ,the quality in both is
 ,greek2 and altogether moral4 ,the     
grace and the redundance of ,giovanui   
are the first strong manifestation of   
those characters in the ,italian mind   
which culminate in the ,madonnas of     
,luini and the arabesques of ,raphael4  
,the severity of ,giotto belongs to him1
 on the contrary1 not only as one of the
 strongest practical men who ever lived 
on this solid earth1 but as the purest  
and firmest reformer of the discipline  
of the ,christian ,church1 of whose     
writings any remains exist4  #agh4 ,of  
whose writings1 ,i say2 and you look up1
 as doubtful that he has left any4      
,hieroglyphics1 then1 let me say        
instead2 or1 more accurately still1     
hierographics4 ,st4 ,francis1 in what he
 wrote and said1 taught much that was   
false4 ,but ,giotto1 his true disciple1 
nothing but what was true4 ,and where he
 uses an arabesque of foliage1 depend   
upon it it will be to purpose--not      

redundant4 ,i return for the time to our
 soft and luxuriant ,john of ,pisa4     
#agi4 ,soft1 but with no unmanly        
softness2 luxuriant1 but with no        
unmannered luxury4 ,to him you owe as to
 their first sire in art1 the grace of  
,ghiberti1 the tenderness of ,raphael1  
the awe of ,michael ,angelo4            
,second-rate qualities in all the three1
 but precious in their kind1 and        
learned1 as you shall see1 essentially  
from this man4 ,second-rate he also1 but
 with most notable gifts of this        
inferior kind4 ,he is the ,canova of the
 thirteenth century2 but the ,canova of 
the thirteenth1 remember1 was           
necessarily a very different person from
 the ,canova of the eighteenth4  ,the   
,cauova of the eighteenth century       
mimicked ,greek grace for the delight of
 modern revolutionary sensualists4 ,the 
,canova of the thirteenth century       
brought living ,gothic truth into the   
living faith of his own time4  ,greek   
truth1 and ,gothic 'liberty1'--in that  

noble sense of the word1 derived from   
the ,latin 'liber1' of which ,i have    
already spoken1 and which in my next    
lecture ,i will endeavour completely to 
develope4 ,meanwhile let me show you1 as
 far as ,i can1 the architecture itself 
about which these subtle questions      
arise4  #ahj4 ,here are five frames1    
containing the best representations ,i  
can get for you of the faade of the     
cathedral of ,orvieto4 ,i must remind   
you1 before ,i let you look at them1 of 
the reason why that cathedral was built2
 for ,i have at last got to the end of  
the parenthesis which began in my second
 lecture1 on the occasion of our hearing
 that ,john of ,pisa was sent for to    
,perugia1 to carve the tomb of ,pope    
,urban ,,iv42 and we must now know who  
this ,pope was4  #aha4 ,he was a        
,frenchman1 born at that ,troyes1 in    
,champagne1 which ,i gave you as the    
centre of ,french architectural skill1  
and ,royalist character4 ,he was born in
 the lowest class of the people1 rose   

like ,wolsey2 became ,bishop of ,verdun2
 then1 ,patriarch of ,jerusalem2        
returned in the year #abfa1 from his    
,patriarchate1 to solicit the aid of the
 then ,pope1 ,alexander ,,iv41 against  
the ,saracen4 ,i do not know on what day
 he arrived in ,rome2 but on the #beth  
of ,may1 ,alexander died1 and the       
,cardinals1 after three months'         
disputing1 elected the suppliant        
,patriarch to be ,pope himself4  #ahb4  
,a man with all the fire of ,france in  
him1 all the faith1 and all the         
insolence2 incapable of doubting a      
single article of his creed1 or relaxing
 one tittle of his authority2 destitute 
alike of reason and of pity2 and        
absolutely merciless either to an       
infidel1 or an enemy4 ,the young ,prince
 ,manfred1 bastard son of ,frederick    
,,ii41 now representing the main power  
of the ,german empire1 was both2 and    
against him the ,pope brought into      
,italy a religious ,french knight1 of   
character absolutely like his own1      

,charles of ,anjou4  #ahc4 ,the young   
,manfred1 now about twenty years old1   
was as good a soldier as he was a bad   
,christian2 and there was no safety for 
,urban at ,rome4 ,the ,pope seated      
himself on a worthy throne for a        
thirteenth-century ,st4 ,peter4 ,fancy  
the rock of ,edinburgh ,castle1 as steep
 on all sides as it is to the west2 and 
as long as the ,old ,town2 and you have 
the rock of ,orvieto4  #ahd4 ,here1     
enthroned against the gates of hell1 in 
unassailable fortitude1 and unfaltering 
faith1 sat ,urban2 the righteousness of 
his cause presently to be avouched by   
miracle1 notablest among those of the   
,roman ,church4 ,twelve miles east of   
his rock1 beyond the range of low       
,apennine1 shone the quiet lake1 the    
,loch ,leven of ,italy1 from whose      
island the daughter of ,theodoric needed
 not to escape--,fate seeking her there2
 and in a little chapel on its shore a  
,bohemian priest1 infected with         
,northern infidelity1 was brought back  

to his allegiance by seeing the blood   
drop from the wafer in his hand4 ,and   
the ,catholic ,church recorded this     
heavenly testimony to her chief mystery1
 in the ,festa of the ,corpus ,domini1  
and the ,fabric of ,orvieto4  #ahe4 ,and
 sending was made for ,john1 and for all
 good labourers in marble2 but ,urban   
never saw a stone of the great cathedral
 laid4 ,his citation of ,manfred to     
appear in his presence to answer for his
 heresy1 was fixed against the posts of 
the doors of the old ,duomo4 ,but ,urban
 had dug the foundation of the pile to  
purpose1 and when he died at ,perugia1  
still breathed1 from his grave1 calamity
 to ,manfred1 and made from it glory to 
the ,church4 ,he had secured the        
election of a ,french successor2 from   
the rock of ,orvieto the spirit of      
,urban led the ,french chivalry1 when   
,charles of ,anjou saw the day of battle
 come1 so long desired4 ,manfred's      
,saracens1 with their arrows1 broke his 
first line2 the ,pope's legate blessed  

the second1 and gave them absolution of 
all their sins1 for their service to the
 ,church4 ,they charged for ,orvieto    
with their old cry of ',mont-,joie1     
,chevaliers6' and before night1 while   
,urban lay sleeping in his carved tomb  
at ,perugia1 the body of ,manfred lay   
only recognizable by those who loved    
him1 naked among the slain4  #ahf4 ,time
 wore on and on4 ,the ,suabian power    
ceased in ,italy2 between white and red 
there was now no more contest2--the     
matron of the ,church1 scarlet-robed1   
reigned1 ruthless1 on her seven hills4  
,time wore on2 and1 a hundred years     
later1 now no more the power of the     
kings1 but the power of the             
people1--rose against her4 ,st4         
,michael1 from the corn market1--,or    
,san ,michele1--the commercial strength 
of ,florence1 on a question of free     
trade in corn4 ,and note1 for a little  
bye piece of botany1 that in ,val       
d',arno lilies grow among the corn      
instead of poppies4 ,the purple         

gladiolus glows through all its green   
fields in early spring4  #ahg4 ,a       
question of free trade in corn1 then1   
arose between ,florence and ,rome4 ,the 
,pope's legate in ,bologna stopped the  
supply of polenta1 the ,florentines     
depending on that to eat with their own 
oil4 ,very wicked1 you think1 of the    
,pope's legate1 acting thus against     
quasi-,protestant ,florence8 ,yes2 just 
as wicked as the--not                   
quasi-,protestants--but intensely       
positive ,protestants1 of ,zurich1 who  
tried to convert the ,catholic          
forest-cantons by refusing them salt4   
,christendom has been greatly troubled  
about bread and salt3 the then          
,protestant ,pope1 ,zuinglius1 was      
killed at the battle of ,keppel1 and the
 ,catholic cantons therefore remain     
,catholic to this day2 while the        
consequences of this piece of           
protectionist economy at ,bologna are   
equally interesting and direct4  #ahh4  
,the legate of ,bologna1 not content    

with stopping the supplies of maize to  
,florence1 sent our own ,john ,hawkwood1
 on the #bdth ,june1 #acge1 to burn all 
the maize the ,florentines had got      
growing2 and the abbot of ,montemaggiore
 sent a troop of ,perugian religious    
gentlemen-riders to ravage similarly the
 territory of ,siena4 ,whereupon1 at    
,florence1 the ,gonfalonier of ,justice1
 ,aloesio ,aldobrandini1 rose in the    
,council of ,ancients and proposed1 as  
an enterprise worthy of ,florentine     
generosity1 the freedom of all the      
peoples who groaned under the tyranny of
 the ,church4 ,and ,florence1 ,siena1   
,pisa1 ,lucca1 and ,arezzo1--all the    
great cities of ,etruria1 the root of   
religion in ,italy1--joined against the 
tyranny of religion4 ,strangely1 this   
,etrurian league is not now to restore  
,tarquin to ,rome1 but to drive the     
,roman ,tarquin into exile4 ,the story  
of ,lucretia had been repeated in       
,perugia2 but the ,umbrian ,lucretia had
 died1 not by suicide1 but by falling on

 the pavement from the window through   
which she tried to escape4 ,and the     
,umbrian ,sextus was the ,abbot of      
,montemaggiore's nephew4  #ahi4         
,florence raised her fleur-de-lys       
standard3 and1 in ten days1 eighty      
cities of ,romagua were free1 out of the
 number of whose names ,i will read you 
only these--,urbino1 ,foligno1 ,spoleto1
 ,narni1 ,camerino1 ,toscanella1        
,perugia1 ,orvieto4  ,and while the wind
 and the rain still beat the body of    
,manfred1 by the shores of the ,rio     
,verde1 the body of ,pope ,urban was    
torn from its tomb1 and not one stone of
 the carved work thereof left upon      
another4 #aij4 ,i will only ask you     
to-day to notice farther that the       
,captain of ,florence1 in this war1 was 
a ',conrad of ,suabia1' and that she    
gave him1 beside her own flag1 one with 
only the word ',libertas' inscribed on  
it4  ,i told you that the first stroke  
of the bell on the ,tower of the ,lion  
began the carillon for ,european civil  

and religious liberty4 ,but perhaps1    
even in the fourteenth century1         
,florence did not understand1 by that   
word1 altogether the same policy which  
is now preached in ,france1 ,italy1 and 
,england4  ,what she did understand by  
it1 we will try to ascertain in the     
course of next lecture4                 
,,lecture ,,viii4                       
,,franchise4   #aia4 ,in my first       
lecture of this course1 you remember    
that ,i showed you the ,lion of ,st4    
,mark's with ,niccola ,pisano's1 calling
 the one an evangelical-preacher lion1  
and the other a real1 and naturally     
affectionate1 lioness4  ,and the one ,i 
showed you as ,byzantine1 the other as  
,gothic4  ,so that ,i thus called the   
,greek art pious1 and the ,gothic       
profane4  ,whereas in nearly all our    
ordinary modes of thought1 and in all my
 own general references to either art1  
we assume ,greek or classic work to be  
profane1 and ,gothic1 pious1 or         
religious4  #aib4 ,very short           

reflection1 if steady and clear1 will   
both show you how confused our ideas are
 usually on this subject1 and how       
definite they may within certain limits 
become4  ,first of all1 don't confuse   
piety with ,christianity4 ,there are    
pious ,greeks and impious ,greeks2 pious
 ,turks and impious ,turks2 pious       
,christians and impious ,christians2    
pious modern infidels and impious modern
 infidels4 ,in case you do not quite    
know what piety really means1 we will   
try to know better in next lecture2 for 
the present1 understand that ,i mean    
distinctly to call ,greek art1 in the   
true sense of the word1 pious1 and      
,gothic1 as opposed to it1 profane4     
#aic4 ,but when ,i oppose these two     
words1 ,gothic and ,greek1 don't run    
away with the notion that ,i necessarily
 mean to oppose ,christian and ,greek4  
,you must not confuse ,gothic blood in a
 man's veins1 with ,christian feeling in
 a man's breast4 ,there are unconverted 
and converted ,goths2 unconverted and   

converted ,greeks4 ,the ,greek and      
,gothic temper is equally opposed1 where
 the name of ,christ has never been     
uttered by either1 or when every other  
name is equally detested by both4  ,i   
want you to-day to examine with me that 
essential difference between ,greek and 
,gothic temper1 irrespective of creed1  
to which ,i have referred in my preface 
to the last edition of the ,stones of   
,venice1 saying that the ,byzantines    
gave law to ,norman license4 ,and ,i    
must therefore ask your patience while  
,i clear your minds from some too       
prevalent errors as to the meaning of   
those two words1 law and license4  #aid4
 ,there is perhaps no more curious proof
 of the disorder which impatient and    
impertinent science is introducing into 
classical thought and language1 than the
 title chosen by the ,duke of ,argyll   
for his interesting study of ,natural   
,history--',the ,reign of ,law4' ,law   
cannot reign4 ,if a natural law1 it     
admits no disobedience1 and has nothing 

to put right4 ,if a human one1 it can   
compel no obedience1 and has no power to
 prevent wrong4 ,a king only can        
reign2--a person1 that is to say1 who1  
conscious of natural law1 enforces human
 law so far as it is just4  #aie4       
,kinghood is equally necessary in ,greek
 dynasty1 and in ,gothic4 ,theseus is   
every inch a king1 as well as ,edward   
,,iii4 ,but the laws which they have to 
enforce on their own and their          
companions' humanity are opposed to each
 other as much as their dispositions    
are4  ,the function of a ,greek king was
 to enforce labour4  ,that of a ,gothic 
king1 to restrain rage4  ,the laws of   
,greece determine the wise methods of   
labour2 and the laws of ,france         
determine the wise restraints of        
passion4  ,for the sins of ,greece are  
in ,indolence1 and its pleasures2 and   
the sins of ,france are in fury1 and its
 pleasures4  #aif4 ,you are now again   
surprised1 probably1 at hearing me      
oppose ,france typically to ,greece4    

,more strictly1 ,i might oppose only a  
part of ,france1--,normandy4 ,but it is 
better to say1 ,france1 #a as embracing 
the seat of the established ,norman     
power in the ,island of our ,lady2 and  
the province in which it was            
crowned1--,champagne4  ,footnote #a3    
,normandie1 la franche4 ,france1 la     
solue2 7chanson de ,roland74 ,one of my 
good pupils referred me to this ancient 
and glorious ,french song4  ,france is  
everlastingly1 by birth1 name1 and      
nature1 the country of the ,franks1 or  
free persons2 and the first source of   
,european frankness1 or franchise4 ,the 
,latin for franchise is libertas4 ,but  
the modern or ,cockney-,english word    
liberty1--,mr4 ,john ,stuart            
,mill's1--is not the equivalent of      
libertas2 and the modern or             
,cockney-,french word libert1--,m4      
,victor ,hugo's1--is not the equivalent 
of franchise4  #aig4 ,the ,latin for    
franchise1 ,i have said1 is libertas2   
the ,greek is ,greek3 99eleupheria994   

,in the thoughts of all three nations1  
the idea is precisely the same1 and the 
word used for the idea by each nation   
therefore accurately translates the word
 of the other3 ,greek3                  
99eleupheria99--libertas--franchise--rec
iprocally translate each other4         
,leonidas is characteristically ,greek3 
99eleupheros99 among ,greeks2           
,publicola1 characteristically liber1   
among ,romans2 ,edward ,,iii4 and the   
,black ,prince1 characteristically frank
 among ,french4 ,and that common idea1  
which the words express1 as all the     
careful scholars among you will know1   
is1 with all the three nations1 mainly  
of deliverance from the slavery of      
passion4 ,to be ,greek3 99eleupheros991 
liber1 or franc1 is first to have       
learned how to rule our own passions2   
and then1 certain that our own conduct  
is right1 to persist in that conduct    
against all resistance1 whether of      
counter-opinion1 counter pain1 or       
counter-pleasure4 ,to be defiant alike  

of the mob's thought1 of the adversary's
 threat1 and the harlot's               
temptation1--this is in the meaning of  
every great nation to be free2 and the  
one condition upon which that freedom   
can be obtained is pronounced to you in 
a single verse of the #aaith ,psalm1 ,i 
will walk at liberty1 for ,i seek ,thy  
precepts4  #aih4 ,thy precepts3--,law1  
observe1 being dominant over the ,gothic
 as over the ,greek king1 but a quite   
different law4 ,edward ,,iii4 feeling no
 anger against the ,sieur de ,ribaumont1
 and crowning him with his own pearl    
chaplet1 is obeying the law of love1    
restraining anger2 but ,theseus1 slaying
 the ,minotaur1 is obeying the law of   
justice1 and enforcing anger4  ,the one 
is acting under the law of the charity1 
,greek3 99charis99 or grace of ,god2 the
 other under the law of ,his judgment4  
,the two together fulfil ,his ,greek3   
99krisis99 and ,greek3 99agapae994      
#aii4 ,therefore the ,greek dynasties   
are finally expressed in the kinghoods  

of ,minos1 ,rhadamanthus1 and ,aeacus1  
who judge infallibly1 and divide        
arithmetically4 ,but the dynasty of the 
,gothic king is in equity and           
compassion1 and his arithmetic is in    
largesse1          ,whose moste joy was1
 ,i wis1      ,when that she gave1 and  
said1 ,have this4   ,so that1 to put it 
in shortest terms of all1 ,greek law is 
of ,stasy1 and ,gothic of ,ecstasy2     
there is no limit to the freedom of the 
,gothic hand or heart1 and the children 
are most in the delight and the glory of
 liberty when they most seek their      
,father's precepts4  #bjj4 ,the two     
lines ,i have just quoted are1 as you   
probably remember1 from ,chaucer's      
translation of the ,french ,romance of  
the ,rose1 out of which ,i before quoted
 to you the description of the virtue of
 ,debonnairet4 ,now that ,debonnairet of
 the ,painted ,chamber of ,westminster  
is the typical figure used by the       
,french sculptors and painters for      
'franchise1' frankness1 or ,frenchness2 

but in the ,painted ,chamber1           
,debonnairet1 high breeding1 'out of    
goodnestedness1' or gentleness1 is used1
 as an ,english king's ,english1 of the 
,norman franchise4 ,here1 then1 is our  
own royalty1--let us call it            
,englishness1 the grace of our proper   
kinghood2--and here is ,french royalty1 
the grace of ,french                    
kinghood--,frenchness1 rudely but       
sufficiently drawn by ,m4 ,didron from  
the porch of ,chartres4 ,she has the    
crown of fleur-de-lys1 and ,william the 
,norman's shield4  #bja4 ,now this grace
 of high birth1 the grace of his or her 
,most ,gracious ,majesty1 has her name  
at ,chartres written beside her1 in     
,latin4 ,had it been in ,greek1 it would
 have been ,greek3 99elevtheria994      
,being in ,latin1 what do you think it  
must be necessarily8--,of course1       
,libertas4 ,now ,m4 ,didron is quite the
 best writer on art that ,i know1--full 
of sense and intelligence2 but of       
course1 as a modern ,frenchman1--one of 

a nation for whom the ,latin and ,gothic
 ideas of libertas have entirely        
vanished1--he is not on his guard       
against the trap here laid for him4 ,he 
looks at the word libertas through his  
spectacles2--can't understand1 being a  
thoroughly good antiquary1 #a how such a
 virtue1 or privilege1 could honestly be
 carved with approval in the twelfth    
century2--rubs his spectacles2 rubs the 
inscription1 to make sure of its every  
letter2 stamps it1 to make surer        
still2--and at last1 though in a greatly
 bewildered state of mind1 remains      
convinced that here is a sculpture of   
',la ,liberte' in the twelfth century4  
,c'est bien la liberte6 ,on lit         
parfaitement libertas4  ,footnote #a3   
,historical antiquary2 not art-antiquary
 ,i must limitedly say1 however4 ,he has
 made a grotesque mess of his account of
 the ,ducal ,palace of ,venice1 through 
his ignorance of the technical          
characters of sculpture4  #bjb4 ,not so1
 my good ,m4 ,didron6--a very different 

personage1 this2 of whom more1          
presently1 though the letters of her    
name are indeed so plainly1 ',libertas1 
at non liberalitas1' liberalitas being  
the ,latin for largesse1 not for        
franchise4  ,this1 then1 is the         
opposition between the ,greek and       
,gothic dynasties1 in their passionate  
or vital nature2 in the animal and      
inbred part of them2--,classic and      
romantic1 ,static and exstatic4 ,but    
now1 what opposition is there between   
their divine natures8 ,between ,theseus 
and ,edward ,,iii41 as warriors1 we now 
know the difference2 but between        
,theseus and ,edward ,,iii1 as          
theologians2 as dreaming and discerning 
creatures1 as didactic kings1--engraving
 letters with the point of the sword1   
instead of thrusting men through with   
it1--changing the club into the ferula1 
and becoming schoolmasters as well as   
kings2 what is1 thus1 the difference    
between them8  ,theologians ,i called   
them4 ,philologians would be a better   

word1--lovers of the ,greek3 99,logos991
 or ,word1 by which the heavens and     
earth were made4 ,what logos1 about this
 ,logos1 have they learned1 or can they 
teach8  #bjc4 ,i showed you1 in my first
 lecture1 the ,byzantine ,greek lion1 as
 descended by true unblemished line from
 the ,nemean ,greek2 but with this      
difference3 ,heracles kills the beast1  
and makes a helmet and cloak of his     
skin2 the ,greek ,st4 ,mark converts the
 beast1 and makes an evangelist of him4 
,is not that a greater difference1 think
 you1 than one of mere decadence8  ,this
 'maniera goffa e sproporzionata' of    
,vasari is not1 then1 merely the wasting
 away of former leonine strength into   
thin rigidities of death8 ,there is     
another change going on at the same     
time1--body perhaps subjecting itself to
 spirit4  ,i will not teaze you with    
farther questions4 ,the facts are simple
 enough4 ,theseus and ,heracles have    
their religion1 sincere and             
sufficient1--a religion of lion-killers1

 minotaur-killers1 very curious and     
rude2 ,eleusinian mystery mingled in it1
 inscrutable to us now1--partly always  
so1 even to them4  #bjd4 ,well2 the     
,greek nation1 in process of time1 loses
 its manliness1--becomes ,graeculus     
instead of ,greek4 ,but though          
effeminate and feeble1 it inherits all  
the subtlety of its art1 all the cunning
 of its mystery2 and it is converted to 
a more spiritual religion4 ,nor is it   
altogether degraded1 even by the        
diminution of its animal energy4        
,certain spiritual phenomena are        
possible to the weak1 which are hidden  
from the strong2--nay1 the monk may1 in 
his order of being1 possess strength    
denied to the warrior4 ,is it           
altogether1 think you1 by blundering1 or
 by disproportion in intellect or in    
body1 that ,theseus becomes ,st4        
,athanase8 ,for that is the kind of     
change which takes place1 from the days 
of the great ,king of ,athens1 to those 
of the great ,bishop of ,alexandria1 in 

the thought and theology1 or1 summarily1
 in the spirit of the ,greek4  ,now we  
have learned indeed the difference      
between the ,gothic knight and the      
,greek knight2 but what will be the     
difference between the ,gothic saint and
 ,greek saint8  ,franchise of body      
against constancy of body4  ,franchise  
of thought1 then1 against constancy of  
thought4  ,edward ,,iii4 against        
,theseus4  ,and the ,frank of ,assisi   
against ,st4 ,athanase4  #bje4 ,utter   
franchise1 utter gentleness in          
theological thought4 ,instead of1 ',this
 is the faith1 which except a man       
believe faithfully1 he cannot be saved1'
 ',this is the love1 which if a bird or 
an insect keep faithfully1 it shall be  
saved4'  ,gentlemen1 you have at present
 arrived at a phase of natural science  
in which1 rejecting alike the theology  
of the ,byzantine1 and the affection of 
the ,frank1 you can only contemplate a  
bird as flying under the reign of law1  
and a cricket as singing under the      

compulsion of caloric4  ,i do not know  
whether you yet feel that the position  
of your boat on the river also depends  
entirely on the reign of law1 or        
whether1 as your churches and           
concert-rooms are privileged in the     
possession of organs blown by steam1 you
 are learning yourselves to sing by gas1
 and expect the ,dies ,irae to the      
announced by a steam-trumpet4 ,but ,i   
can very positively assure you that1 in 
my poor domain of imitative art1 not all
 the mechanical or gaseous forces of the
 world1 nor all the laws of the         
universe1 will enable you either to see 
a colour1 or draw a line1 without that  
singular force anciently called the     
soul1 which it was the function of the  
,greek to discipline in the duty of the 
servants of ,god1 and of the ,goth to   
lead into the liberty of ,his children4 
#bjf4 ,but in one respect ,i wish you   
were more conscious of the existence of 
law than you appear to be4 ,the         
difference which ,i have pointed out to 

you as existing between these great     
nations1 exists also between two orders 
of intelligence among men1 of which the 
one is usually called ,classic1 the     
other ,romantic4 ,without entering into 
any of the fine distinctions between    
these two sects1 this broad one is to be
 observed as constant3 that the writers 
and painters of the ,classic school set 
down nothing but what is known to be    
true1 and set it down in the perfectest 
manner possible in their way1 and are   
thenceforward authorities from whom     
there is no appeal4 ,romantic writers   
and painters1 on the contrary1 express  
themselves under the impulse of passions
 which may indeed lead them to the      
discovery of new truths1 or to the more 
delightful arrangement or presentment of
 things already known3 but their work1  
however brilliant or lovely1 remains    
imperfect1 and without authority4 ,it is
 not possible1 of course1 to separate   
these two orders of men trenchantly3 a  
classic writer may sometimes1 whatever  

his care1 admit an error1 and a romantic
 one may reach perfection through       
enthusiasm4 ,but1 practically1 you may  
separate the two for your study and your
 education2 and1 during your youth1 the 
business of us your masters is to       
enforce on you the reading1 for school  
work1 only of classical books3 and to   
see that your minds are both informed of
 the indisputable facts they contain1   
and accustomed to act with the          
infallible accuracy of which they set   
the example4  #bjg4 ,i have not time to 
make the calculation1 but ,i suppose    
that the daily literature by which we   
now are principally nourished1 is so    
large in issue that though ,st4 ,john's 
even the world itself could not contain 
the books which should be written may be
 still hyperbole1 it is nevertheless    
literally true that the world might be  
wrapped in the books which are written2 
and that the sheets of paper covered    
with type on any given subject1         
interesting to the modern mind1 7say the

 prospects of the ,claimant17 issued in 
the form of ,english morning papers     
during a single year1 would be enough   
literally to pack the world in4  #bjh4  
,now ,i will read you fifty-two lines of
 a classical author1 which1 once well   
read and understood1 contain more truth 
than has been told you all this year by 
this whole globe's compass of print4    
,fifty-two lines1 of which you will     
recognize some as hackneyed1 and see    
little to admire in others4 ,but it is  
not possible to put the statements they 
contain into better ,english1 nor to    
invalidate one syllable of the          
statements they contain4 #a  ,footnote  
#a3 ',the ,deserted ,village1' line #bea
 to #cjb4  #bji4 ,even those1 and there 
may be many here1 who would dispute the 
truth of the passage1 will admit its    
exquisite distinctness and construction4
 ,if it be untrue1 that is merely       
because ,i have not been taught by my   
modern education to recognize a         
classical author2 but whatever my       

mistakes1 or yours1 may be1 there are   
certain truths long known to all        
rational men1 and indisputable4 ,you may
 add to them1 but you cannot diminish   
them4 ,and it is the business of a      
,university to determine what books of  
this kind exist1 and to enforce the     
understanding of them4  #baj4 ,the      
classical and romantic arts which we    
have now under examination therefore    
consist1--the first1 in that which      
represented1 under whatever symbols1    
truths respecting the history of men1   
which it is proper that all should know2
 while the second owes its interest to  
passionate impulse or incident4 ,this   
distinction holds in all ages1 but the  
distinction between the franchise of    
,northern1 and the constancy of         
,byzantine1 art1 depends partly on the  
unsystematic play of emotion in the one1
 and the appointed sequence of known    
fact or determined judgment in the      
other4  ,you will find in the beginning 
of ,m4 ,didron's book1 already quoted1  

an admirable analysis of what may be    
called the classic sequence of          
,christian theology1 as written in the  
sculpture of the ,cathedral of          
,chartres4 ,you will find in the        
treatment of the faade of ,orvieto the  
beginning of the development of         
passionate romance1--the one being grave
 sermon writing2 the other1 cheerful    
romance or novel writing3 so that the   
one requires you to think1 the other    
only to feel or perceive2 the one is    
always a parable with a meaning1 the    
other only a story with an impression4  
#baa4 ,and here ,i get at a result      
concerning ,greek art1 which is very    
sweeping and wide indeed4 ,that it is   
all parable1 but ,gothic1 as distinct   
from it1 literal4 ,so absolutely does   
this hold1 that it reaches down to our  
modern school of landscape4 ,you know ,i
 have always told you ,turner belonged  
to the ,greek school4 ,precisely as the 
stream of blood coming from under the   
throne of judgment in the ,byzantine    

mosaic of ,torcello is a sign of        
condemnation1 his scarlet clouds are    
used by ,turner as a sign of death2 and 
just as on an ,egyptian tomb the genius 
of death lays the sun down behind the   
horizon1 so in his ,cephalus and        
,procris1 the last rays of the sun      
withdraw from the forest as the nymph   
expires4  ,and yet1 observe1 both the   
classic and romantic teaching may be    
equally earnest1 only different in      
manner4 ,but from classic art1 unless   
you understand it1 you may get nothing2 
from romantic art1 even if you don't    
understand it1 you get at least delight4
  #bab4 ,i cannot show the difference   
more completely or fortunately than by  
comparing ,sir ,walter ,scott's type of 
libertas1 with the franchise of         
,chartres ,cathedral1 or ,debonnairet of
 the ,painted ,chamber4  ,at ,chartres1 
and ,westminster1 the high birth is     
shown by the crown2 the strong bright   
life by the flowing hair2 the fortitude 
by the conqueror's shield2 and the truth

 by the bright openness of the face3    
,she was not brown1 nor dull of hue1    
,but white as snowe1 fallen newe4   ,all
 these are symbols1 which1 if you cannot
 read1 the image is to you only an      
uninteresting stiff figure4 ,but ,sir   
,walter's ,franchise1 ,diana ,vernon1   
interests you at once in personal aspect
 and character4 ,she is no symbol to    
you2 but if you acquaint yourself with  
her perfectly1 you find her utter       
frankness1 governed by a superb         
self-command2 her spotless truth1       
refined by tenderness2 her fiery        
enthusiasm1 subdued by dignity2 and her 
fearless liberty1 incapable of doing    
wrong1 joining to fulfil to you1 in     
sight and presence1 what the ,greek     
could only teach by signs4  #bac4 ,i    
have before noticed--though ,i am not   
sure that you have yet believed my      
statement of it--the significance of    
,sir ,walter's as of ,shakspeare's      
names2 ,diana ',vernon1 semper viret1'  
gives you the conditions of purity and  

youthful strength or spring which imply 
the highest state of libertas4 ,by      
corruption of the idea of purity1 you   
get the modern heroines of ,london      
,journal--or perhaps we may more fitly  
call it ',cockney-daily'--literature4   
,you have one of them in perfection1 for
 instance1 in ,mr4 ,charles ,reade's    
',griffith ,gaunt'--,lithe1 and         
vigorous1 and one with her great white  
gelding2 and liable to be entirely      
changed in her mind about the destinies 
of her life by a quarter of an hour's   
conversation with a gentleman           
unexpectedly handsome2 the hero also    
being a person who looks at people whom 
he dislikes1 with eyes like a dog's in  
the dark2 and both hero and heroine     
having souls and intellects also        
precisely corresponding to those of a   
dog's in the dark1 which is indeed the  
essential picture of the practical      
,english national mind at this          
moment1--happy if it remains            
doggish1--,circe not usually being      

content with changing people into dogs  
only4 ,for the ,diana ,vernon of the    
,greek is ,artemis ,laphria1 who is     
friendly to the dog2 not to the swine4  
,do you see1 by the way1 how perfectly  
the image is carried out by ,sir ,walter
 in putting his ,diana on the border    
country8 ,yonder blue hill is in        
,scotland1 she says to her cousin1--not 
in the least thinking less of him for   
having been concerned1 it may be1 in one
 of ,bob ,roy's forays4 ,and so         
gradually you get the idea of ,norman   
franchise carried out in the free-rider 
or free-booter2 not safe from           
degradation on that side also2 but by no
 means of swinish temper1 or foraging1  
as at present the ,british speculative  
public1 only with the snout4  #bad4     
,finally1 in the most soft and domestic 
form of virtue1 you have ,wordsworth's  
ideal3        ,her household motions    
light and free1        ,and steps of    
virgin liberty4   ,the distinction      
between these northern types of feminine

 virtue1 and the figures of ,alcestis1  
,antigone1 or ,iphigenia1 lies deep in  
the spirit of the art of either country1
 and is carried out into its most       
unimportant details4 ,we shall find in  
the central art of ,florence at once the
 thoughtfulness of ,greece and the      
gladness of ,england1 associated under  
images of monastic severity peculiar to 
herself4  ,and what ,diana ,vernon is to
 a ,french ballerine dancing the        
,cancan1 the 'libertas' of ,chartres and
 ,westminster is to the 'liberty' of ,m4
 ,victor ,hugo and ,mr4 ,john ,stuart   
,mill4                     ,,lecture    
,,ix4                ,,the ,,tyrrhene   
,,sea4  #bae4 ,we may now return to the 
points of necessary history1 having our 
ideas fixed within accurate limits as to
 the meaning of the word ,liberty2 and  
as to the relation of the passions which
 separated the ,guelph and ,ghibelline  
to those of our own days4  ,the ,lombard
 or ,guelph league consisted1 after the 
accession of ,florence1 essentially of  

the three great cities--,milan1         
,bologna1 and ,florence2 the ,imperial  
or ,ghibelline league1 of ,verona1      
,pisa1 and ,siena4 ,venice and ,genoa1  
both nominally ,guelph1 are in furious  
contention always for sea empire while  
,pisa and ,genoa are in contention1 not 
so much for empire1 as honour4 ,whether 
the trade of the ,east was to go up the 
,adriatic1 or round by the ,gulf of     
,genoa1 was essentially a mercantile    
question2 but whether1 of the two ports 
in sight of each other1 ,pisa or ,genoa 
was to be the ,queen of the ,tyrrhene   
,sea1 was no less distinctly a personal 
one than which of two rival beauties    
shall preside at a tournament4  #baf4   
,this personal rivalry1 so far as it was
 separated from their commercial        
interests1 was indeed mortal1 but not   
malignant4 ,the quarrel was to be       
decided to the death1 but decided with  
honour2 and each city had four observers
 permittedly resident in the other1 to  
give account of all that was done there 

in naval invention and armament4  #bag4 
,observe1 also1 in the year #abea1 when 
we quitted our history1 we left         
,florence not only ,guelph1 as against  
the ,imperial power1 7that is to say1   
the body of her knights who favoured the
 ,pope and ,italians1 in dominion over  
those who favoured ,manfred and the     
,germans71 but we left her also         
definitely with her apron thrown over   
her shield2 and the tradesmen and       
craftsmen in authority over the knight1 
whether ,german or ,italian1 ,papal or  
,imperial4  ,that is in #abea4 ,now in  
these last two lectures ,i must try to  
mark the gist of the history of the next
 thirty years4 ,the ,thirty ,years'     
,war1 this1 of the middle ages1         
infinitely important to all ages2 first 
observe1 between ,guelph and            
,ghibelline1 ending in the humiliation  
of the ,ghibelline2 and1 secondly1      
between ,shield and ,apron1 or1 if you  
like better1 between ,spear and ,hammer1
 ending in the breaking of the ,spear4  

#bah4 ,the first decision of battle1 ,i 
say1 is that between ,guelph and        
,ghibelline1 headed by two men of       
precisely oppposite characters1 ,charles
 of ,anjou and ,manfred of ,suabia4     
,that ,i may be able to define the      
opposition of their characters          
intelligibly1 ,i must first ask your    
attention to some points of general     
scholarship4 ,i said in my last lecture 
that1 in this one1 it would be needful  
for us to consider what piety was1 if we
 happened not to know2 or worse than    
that1 it may be1 not instinctively to   
feel4 ,such want of feeling is indeed   
not likely in you1 being ,english-bred2 
yet as it is the modern cant to consider
 all such sentiment as useless1 or even 
shameful1 we shall be in several ways   
advantaged by some examination of its   
nature4 ,of all classical writers1      
,horace is the one with whom ,english   
gentlemen have on the average most      
sympathy2 and ,i believe1 therefore1 we 
shall most simply and easily get at our 

point by examining the piety of ,horace4
  #bai4 ,you are perhaps1 for the       
moment1 surprised1 whatever might have  
been admitted of neas1 to hear ,horace  
spoken of as a pious person4 ,but of    
course when your attention is turned to 
the matter you will recollect many lines
 in which the word 'pietas' occurs1 of  
which you have only hitherto failed to  
allow the force because you supposed    
,horace did not mean what he said4      
#bbj4 ,but ,horace always and altogether
 means what he says4 ,it is just        
because--whatever his faults may have   
been--he was not a hypocrite1 that      
,english gentlemen are so fond of him4  
,here is a frank fellow1 anyhow1 they   
say1 and a witty one4 ,wise men know    
that he is also wise4 ,true men know    
that he is also true4 ,but pious men1   
for want of attention1 do not always    
know that he is pious4  ,one great      
obstacle to your understanding of him is
 your having been forced to construct   
,latin verses1 with introduction of the 

word ',jupiter' always1 at need1 when   
you were at a loss for a dactyl4 ,you   
always feel as if ,horace only used it  
also when he wanted a dactyl4  #bba4    
,get quit of that notion wholly4 ,all   
immortal writers speak out of their     
hearts4 ,horace spoke out of the        
abundance of his heart1 and tells you   
precisely what he is1 as frankly as     
,montaigne4 ,note then1 first1 how      
modest he is3 ,ne parva ,tyrrhenum per  
aequor1 vela darem2--,operosa parvus1   
carmina fingo4 ,trust him in such words2
 he absolutely means them2 knows        
thoroughly that he cannot sail the      
,tyrrhene ,sea1--knows that he cannot   
float on the winds of ,matinum1--can    
only murmur in the sunny hollows of it  
among the heath4  ,but note1 secondly1  
his pride3 ,exegi monumentum sere       
perennius4 ,he is not the least afraid  
to say that4 ,he did it2 knew he had    
done it2 said he had done it2 and feared
 no charge of arrogance4  #bbb4 ,note   
thirdly1 then1 his piety1 and accept his

 assured speech of it3 ,dis pietas mea1 
et ,musa1 cordi est4 ,he is perfectly   
certain of that also2 serenely tells you
 so2 and you had better believe him4    
,well for you1 if you can believe him2  
for to believe him1 you must understand 
him first2 and ,i can tell you1 you     
won't arrive at that understanding by   
looking out the word 'pietas' in your   
,white-and-,riddle4 ,if you do you will 
find those tiresome contractions1 ,etym4
 ,dub41 stop your inquiry very briefly1 
as you go back2 if you go forward1      
through the ,italian pieta1 you will    
arrive presently in another group of    
ideas1 and end in misericordia1 mercy1  
and pity4 ,you must not depend on the   
form of the word2 you must find out what
 it stands for in ,horace's mind1 and in
 ,virgil's4 ,more than race to the      
,roman2 more than power to the          
statesman2 yet helpless beside the      
grave1--,non1 ,torquate1 genus1 non te  
facundia1 non te1 ,restitvet pietas4    
,nay1 also what it stands for as an     

attribute1 not only of men1 but of gods2
 nor of those only as merciful1 but also
 as avenging4 ,against neas himself1    
,dido invokes the waves of the ,tyrrhene
 ,sea1 si quid pia numina possunt4 ,be  
assured there is no getting at the      
matter by dictionary or context4 ,to    
know what love means1 you must love2 to 
know what piety means1 you must be      
pious4  #bbc4 ,perhaps you dislike the  
word1 now1 from its vulgar use4 ,you may
 have another if you choose1 a          
metaphorical one1--close enough it seems
 to ,christianity1 and yet still        
absolutely distinct from it1--,greek3   
99christos994 ,suppose1 as you watch the
 white bloom of the olives of ,val      
d',arno and ,val di ,nievole1 which     
modern piety and economy suppose were   
grown by ,god only to supply you with   
fine ,lucca oil1 you were to consider1  
instead1 what answer you could make to  
the ,socratio question1 ,greek3 99pothen
 un tis tovto to chrisma labot994 #a    
,footnote #a3 ,xem4 ,conviv41 ii4  #bbd4

 ,i spoke to you first of ,horace's     
modesty4 ,all piety begins in modesty4  
,you must feel that you are a very      
little creature1 and that you had better
 do as you are bid4 ,you will then begin
 to think what you are bid to do1 and   
who bids it4 ,and you will find1 unless 
you are very unhappy indeed1 that there 
is always a quite clear notion of right 
and wrong in your minds1 which you can  
either obey or disobey1 at your         
pleasure4 ,obey it simply and           
resolutely2 it will become clearer to   
you every day3 and in obedience to it1  
you will find a sense of being in       
harmony with nature1 and at peace with  
,god1 and all ,his creatures4 ,you will 
not understand how the peace comes1 nor 
even in what it consists4 ,it is the    
peace that passes understanding2--it is 
just as visionary and imaginative as    
love is1 and just as real1 and just as  
necessary to the life of man4 ,it is the
 only source of true cheerfulness1 and  
of true common sense2 and whether you   

believe the ,bible1 or don't1--or       
believe the ,koran1 or don't--or believe
 the ,vedas1 or don't--it will enable   
you to believe in ,god1 and please ,him1
 and be such a part of the ,greek3      
99eudokia99 of the universe as your     
nature fits you to be1 in ,his sight1   
faithful in awe to the powers that are  
above you1 and gracious in regard to the
 creatures that are around4  #bbe4 ,i   
will take leave on this head to read one
 more piece of ,carlyle1 bearing much on
 present matters4 ,i hope also they will
 attack earnestly1 and at length        
extinguish and eradicate1 this idle     
habit of 'accounting for the moral      
sense1' as they phrase it4 ,a most      
singular problem2--instead of bending   
every thought to have more1 and ever    
more1 of 'moral sense1' and therewith to
 irradiate your own poor soul1 and all  
its work1 into something of divineness1 
as the one thing needful to you in this 
world6 ,a very futile problem that      
other1 my friends2 futile1 idle1 and far

 worse2 leading to what moral ruin1 you 
little dream of6 ,the moral sense1 thank
 ,god1 is a thing you never will        
'account for2' that1 if you could think 
of it1 is the perennial miracle of man2 
in all times1 visibly connecting poor   
transitory man1 here on this bewildered 
earth1 with his ,maker who is eternal in
 the heavens4 ,by no greatest happiness 
principle1 greatest nobleness principle1
 or any principle whatever1 will you    
make that in the least clearer than it  
already is2--forbear1 ,i say1 or you may
 darken it away from you altogether6    
',two things1' says the memorable ,kant1
 deepest and most logical of            
metaphysical thinkers1 'two things      
strike me dumb3 the infinite starry     
heavens2 and the sense of right and     
wrong in man4' ,visible infinites1 both2
 say nothing of them2 don't try to      
'account for them2' for you can say     
nothing wise4  #bbf4 ,very briefly1 ,i  
must touch one or two further relative  
conditions in this natural history of   

the soul4 ,i have asked you to take the 
metaphorical1 but distinct1 word        
',greek3 99chrisma99' rather than the   
direct but obscure one 'piety'2 mainly  
because the ,master of your religion    
chose the metaphorical epithet for the  
perpetual one of ,his own life and      
person4  ,but if you will spend a       
thoughtful hour or two in reading the   
scripture1 which pious ,greeks read1 not
 indeed on daintily printed paper1 but  
on daintily painted clay1--if you will  
examine1 that is to say1 the scriptures 
of the ,athenian religion1 on their     
,pan-,athenaic vases1 in their faithful 
days1 you will find that the gift of the
 literal ,greek3 99chrisma991 or        
anointing oil1 to the victor in the     
kingly and visible contest of life1 is  
signed always with the image of that    
spirit or goddess of the air who was the
 source of their invisible life4 ,and   
let me1 before quitting this part of my 
subject1 give you one piece of what you 
will find useful counsel4 ,if ever from 

the right apothecary1 or ,greek3        
muropolaes'1 you get any of that ,greek3
 99chrisma991--don't be careful1 when   
you set it by1 of looking for dead      
dragons or dead dogs in it4 ,but look   
out for the dead flies4  #bbg4 ,again2  
remember1 ,i only quote ,st4 ,paul as ,i
 quote ,xenophon to you2 but ,i expect  
you to get some good from both4 ,as ,i  
want you to think what ,xenophon means  
by ',greek3 99manteia991' so ,i want you
 to consider also what ,st4 ,paul means 
by ',greek3 99prophetia994' ,he tells   
you to prove all things1--to hold fast  
what is good1 and not to despise        
'prophesyings4'  #bbh4 ,now it is quite 
literally probable1 that this world1    
having now for some five hundred years  
absolutely refused to do as it is       
plainly bid by every prophet that ever  
spoke in any nation1 and having reduced 
itself therefore to ,saul's condition1  
when he was answered neither by ,urim   
nor by prophets1 may be now1 while you  
sit there1 receiving necromantic answers

 from the witch of ,endor4 ,but with    
that possibility you have no concern4   
,there is a prophetic power in your own 
hearts1 known to the ,greeks1 known to  
the ,jews1 known to the ,apostles1 and  
knowable by you4 ,if it is now silent to
 you1 do not despise it by tranquillity 
under that privation2 if it speaks to   
you1 do not despise it by disobedience4 
#bbi4 ,now in this broad definition of  
,pietas1 as reverence to sentimental    
law1 you will find ,i am supported by   
all classical authority and use of this 
word4 ,for the particular meaning of    
which ,i am next about to use the word  
,religion1 there is no such general     
authority1 nor can there be1 for any    
limited or accurate meaning of it4 ,the 
best authors use the word in various    
senses2 and you must interpret each     
writer by his own context4 ,i have      
myself continually used the term        
vaguely4 ,i shall endeavour1            
henceforward1 to use it under           
limitations which1 willing always to    

accept1 ,i shall only transgress by     
carelessness1 or compliance with some   
particular use of the word by others4   
,the power in the word1 then1 which ,i  
wish you now to notice1 is in its       
employment with respect to doctrinal    
divisions4 ,you do not say that one man 
is of one piety1 and another of another2
 but you do1 that one man is of one     
religion1 and another of another4  #bcj4
 ,the religion of any man is thus       
properly to be interpreted1 as the      
feeling which binds him1 irrationally1  
to the fulfilment of duties1 or         
acceptance of beliefs1 peculiar to a    
certain company of which he forms a     
member1 as distinct from the rest of the
 world4 ',which binds him irrationally1'
 ,i say2--by a feeling1 at all events1  
apart from reason1 and often superior to
 it2 such as that which brings back the 
bee to its hive1 and the bird to her    
nest4  ,a man's religion is the form of 
mental rest1 or dwelling-place1 which1  
partly1 his fathers have gained or built

 for him1 and partly1 by due reverence  
to former custom1 he has built for      
himself2 consisting of whatever         
imperfect knowledge may have been       
granted1 up to that time1 in the land of
 his birth1 of the ,divine character1   
presence1 and dealings2 modified by the 
circumstances of surrounding life4  ,it 
may be1 that sudden accession of new    
knowledge may compel him to cast his    
former idols to the moles and to the    
bats4 ,but it must be some very         
miraculous interposition indeed which   
can justify him in quitting the religion
 of his forefathers2 and1 assuredly1 it 
must be an unwise interposition which   
provokes him to insult it4  #bca4 ,on   
the other hand1 the value of religious  
ceremonial1 and the virtue of religious 
truth1 consist in the meek fulfilment of
 the one as the fond habit of a family2 
and the meek acceptance of the other1 as
 the narrow knowledge of a child4 ,and  
both are destroyed at once1 and the     
ceremonial or doctrinal prejudice       

becomes only an occasion of sin1 if they
 make us either wise in our own conceit1
 or violent in our methods of           
proselytism4 ,of those who will compass 
sea and land to make one proselyte1 it  
is too generally true that they are     
themselves the children of hell1 and    
make their proselytes twofold more so4  
#bcb4 ,and now ,i am able to state to   
you1 in terms so accurately defined that
 you cannot misunderstand them1 that we 
are about to study the results in ,italy
 of the victory of an impious ,christian
 over a pious ,infidel1 in a contest    
which1 if indeed principalities of evil 
spirit are ever permitted to rule over  
the darkness of this world1 was         
assuredly by them wholly provoked1 and  
by them finally decided4 ,the war was   
not actually ended until the battle of  
,tagliacozzo1 fought in ,august1 #abfh2 
but you need not recollect that         
irregular date1 or remember it only as  
three years after the great battle of   
,welcome1 ,benevento2 which was the     

decisive one4 ,recollect1 therefore1    
securely3       #abej4 ,the ,first      
,trades ,revolt in ,florence4           
#abfj4 ,battle of the ,arbia4           
#abfe4 ,battle of ,welcome4   ,then     
between the battle of ,welcome and of   
,tagliacozzo1 7which you might almost   
,english in the real meaning of it as   
the battle of ,hart's ,death3 'cozzo' is
 a butt or thrust with the horn1 and you
 may well think of the young ,conradin  
as a wild hart or stag of the           
hills7--between those two battles1 in   
#abff1 comes the second and central     
revolt of the trades in ,florence1 of   
which ,i have to speak in next lecture4 
#bcc4 ,the two ,german princes who      
perished in these two battles--,manfred 
of ,tarentum1 and his nephew and ward   
,conradin--are the natural son1 and the 
legitimate grandson of ,frederick ,,ii43
 they are also the last assertors of the
 infidel ,german power in south ,italy  
against the ,church2 and in alliance    
with the ,saracens2 such alliance having

 been maintained faithfully ever since  
,frederick ,,ii4's triumphal entry into 
,jerusalem1 and cornation as its king4  
,not only a great number of ,manfred's  
forts were commanded by ,saracen        
governors1 but he had them also         
appointed over civil tribunals4 ,my own 
impression is that he found the         
,saracens more just and trustworthy than
 the ,christians2 but it is proper to   
remember the allegations of the ,church 
against the whole ,suabian family2      
namely1 that ,manfred had smothered his 
father ,frederick under cushions at     
,ferentino2 and that1 of ,frederick's   
sons1 ,conrad had poisoned ,henry1 and  
,manfred had poisoned ,conrad4 ,you     
will1 however1 ,i believe1 find the     
,prince ,manfred one of the purest      
representatives of northern chivalry4   
,against his nephew1 educated in all    
knightly accomplishment by his mother1  
,elizabeth of ,bavaria1 nothing could be
 alleged by his enemies1 even when      
resolved on his death1 but the splendour

 of his spirit and the brightness of his
 youth4  #bcd4 ,of the character of     
their enemy1 ,charles of ,anjou1 there  
will remain on your minds1 after careful
 examination of his conduct1 only the   
doubt whether ,i am justified in        
speaking of him as ,christian against   
,infidel4 ,but you will cease to doubt  
this when you have entirely entered into
 the conditions of this nascent         
,christianity of the thirteenth century4
 ,you will find that while men who      
desire to be virtuous receive it as the 
mother of virtues1 men who desire to be 
criminal receive it as the forgiver of  
crimes2 and that therefore1 between     
,ghibelline or ,infidel cruelty1 and    
,guelph or ,christian cruelty1 there is 
always this difference1--that the       
,infidel cruelty is done in hot blood1  
and the ,christian's in cold4 ,i hope   
7in future lectures on the architecture 
of ,pisa7 to illustrate to you the      
opposition between the ,ghibelline      
,conti1 counts1 and the ,guelphic       

,visconti1 viscounts or against counts1 
which issues1 for one thing1 in that1 by
 all men blamed as too deliberate1 death
 of the ,count ,ugolino della           
,gherardesca4 ,the ,count ,ugolino was a
 traitor1 who entirely deserved death2  
but another ,count of ,pisa1 entirely   
faithful to the ,ghibelline cause1 was  
put to death by ,charles of ,anjou1 not 
only in cold blood1 but with resolute   
infliction of ,ugolino's utmost         
grief2--not in the dungeon1 but in the  
full light of day--his son being first  
put to death before his eyes4 ,and among
 the pieces of heraldry most significant
 in the middle ages1 the asp on the     
shield of the ,guelphic viscounts is to 
be much remembered by you as a sign of  
this merciless cruelty of mistaken      
religion2 mistaken1 but not in the least
 hypocritical4 ,it has perfect          
confidence in itself1 and can answer    
with serenity for all its deeds4 ,the   
serenity of heart never appears in the  
guilty ,infidels2 they die in despair or

 gloom1 greatly satisfactory to adverse 
religious minds4  #bce4 ,the ,french    
,pope1 then1 ,urban of ,troyes1 had sent
 for ,charles of ,anjou2 who would not  
have answered his call1 even with all   
the strength of ,anjou and ,provence1   
had not ,scylla of the ,tyrrhene ,sea   
been on his side4 ,pisa1 with eighty    
galleys 7the ,sicilian fleet added to   
her own71 watched and defended the      
coasts of ,rome4 ,an irresistible storm 
drove her fleet to shelter2 and         
,charles1 in a single ship1 reached the 
mouth of the ,tiber1 and found lodgings 
at ,rome in the convent of ,st4 ,paul4  
,his wife meanwhile spent her dowry in  
increasing his land army1 and led it    
across the ,alps4 ,how he had got his   
wife1 and her dowry1 we must hear in    
,villani's words1 as nearly as ,i can   
give their force in ,english1 only1     
instead of the ,english word pilgrim1 ,i
 shall use the ,italian 'romeo' for the 
sake both of all ,english ,juliets1 and 
that you may better understand the close

 of the sixth canto of the ,paradise4   
#bcf4 ,now the ,count ,raymond ,berenger
 had for his inheritance all ,provence  
on this side ,rhone2 and he was a wise  
and courteous signor1 and of noble      
state1 and virtuous2 and in his time    
they did honourable things2 and to his  
court came by custom all the gentlemen  
of ,provence1 and ,france1 and          
,catalonia1 for his courtesy and noble  
state2 and there they made many cobbled 
verses1 and ,provenal songs of great    
sentences4  #bcg4 ,i must stop to tell  
you that 'cobbled' or 'coupled' verses  
mean rhymes1 as opposed to the dull     
method of ,latin verse2 for we have now 
got an ear for jingle1 and know that    
dove rhymes to love4 ,also1 songs of    
great sentences mean didactic songs1    
containing much in little1 7like the new
 didactic ,christian painting17 of which
 an example 7though of a later time7    
will give you a better idea than any    
description4          ,vraye foy de     
necessit1          ,non tant seulement  

d'equit1          ,nous fait de ,dieu   
sept choses croire3          ,c'est sa  
doulce nativit1          ,son baptesme  
d'humilit1          ,et sa mort1 digne  
de mmoire3          ,son descens en la  
chartre noire1          ,et sa          
resurrection1 voire2                    
,s'ascencion d'auctorit1          ,la   
venue judicatoire1          ,ou ly bons 
seront mis en gloire1          ,et ly   
mals en adversit4   #bch4 ,and while    
they were making these cobbled verses   
and harmonious creeds1 there came a     
romeo to court1 returning from the      
shrine of ,st4 ,james4 ,i must stop     
again just to say that he ought to have 
been called a pellegrino1 not a romeo1  
for the three kinds of wanderers        
are1--,palmer1 one who goes to the ,holy
 ,land2 ,pilgrim1 one who goes to       
,spain2 and ,romeo1 one who goes to     
,rome4 ,probably this romeo had been to 
both4 ,he stopped at ,count ,raymond's  
court1 and was so wise and worthy       
7valoroso71 and so won the ,count's     

grace1 that he made him his master and  
guide in all things4 ,who also1         
maintaining himself in honest and       
religious customs of life1 in a little  
time1 by his industry and good sense1   
doubled the ,count's revenues three     
times over1 maintaining always a great  
and honoured court4 ,now the ,count had 
four daughters1 and no son2 and by the  
sense and provision of the good         
romeo--7,i can do no better than        
translate 'procaccio' provision1 but it 
is only a makeshift for the word derived
 from procax1 meaning the general talent
 of prudent impudence1 in getting       
forward2 'forwardness1' has a good deal 
of the true sense1 only diluted27--well1
 by the sense and--progressive faculty1 
shall we say8--of the good pilgrim1 he  
first married the eldest daughter1 by   
means of money1 to the good ,king ,louis
 of ,france1 saying to the ,count1 ',let
 me alone1--,lascia-mi-fare--and never  
mind the expense1 for if you marry the  
first one well1 ,i'll marry you all the 

others cheaper1 for her relationship4   
#bci4 ,and so it fell out1 sure enough2 
for incontinently the ,king of ,england 
7,henry ,,iii47 because he was the ,king
 of ,france's relation1 took the next   
daughter1 ,eleanor1 for very little     
money indeed2 next1 his natural brother1
 elect ,king of the ,romans1 took the   
third2 and1 the youngest still remaining
 unmarried1--says the good romeo1 ',now 
for this one1 ,i will you to have a     
strong man for son-in-law1 who shall be 
thy heir2'--and so he brought it to     
pass4 ,for finding ,charles1 ,count of  
,anjou1 brother of the ,king ,louis1 he 
said to ,raymond1 ',give her now to him1
 for his fate is to be the best man in  
the world1'--prophesying of him4 ,and so
 it was done4 ,and after all this it    
came to pass1 by envy which ruins all   
good1 that the barons of ,provence      
became jealous of the good romeo1 and   
accused him to the ,count of having     
ill-guided his goods1 and made ,raymond 
demand account of them4 ,then the good  

romeo said1 ',count1 ,i have served thee
 long1 and have put thee from little    
state into mighty1 and for this1 by     
false counsel of thy people1 thou art   
little grateful4 ,i came into thy court 
a poor romeo2 ,i have lived honestly on 
thy means2 now1 make to be given to me  
my little mule and my staff and my      
wallet1 as ,i came1 and ,i will make    
thee quit of all my service4' ,the      
,count would not he should go2 but for  
nothing would he stay2 and so he came1  
and so he departed1 that no one ever    
knew whence he had come1 nor whither he 
went4 ,it was the thought of many that  
he was indeed a sacred spirit4  #bdj4   
,this pilgrim1 you are to notice1 is put
 by ,dante in the orb of justice1 as a  
just servant2 the ,emperor ,justinian   
being the image of a just ruler4        
,justinian's law-making turned out well 
for ,england2 but the good romeo's      
match-making ended ill for it2 and for  
,borne1 and ,naples also4 ,for ,beatrice
 of ,provence resolved to be a queen    

like her three sisters1 and was the     
prompting spirit of ,charles's          
expedition to ,italy4 ,she was crowned  
with him1 ,queen of ,apulia and ,sicily1
 on the day of the ,epiphany1 #abfe2 she
 and her husband bringing gifts that day
 of magical power enough2 and ,charles1 
as soon as the feast of coronation was  
over1 set out to give battle to ,manfred
 and his ,saracens4 ,and this ,charles1 
says ,villani1 was wise1 and of sane    
counsel2 and of prowess in arms1 and    
fierce1 and much feared and redoubted by
 all the kings in the                   
world2--magnanimous and of high         
purposes2 fearless in the carrying forth
 of every great enterprise2 firm in     
every adversity2 a verifier of his every
 word2 speaking little1--doing much2 and
 scarcely ever laughed1 and then but a  
little2 sincere1 and without flaw1 as a 
religious and catholic person2 stern in 
justice1 and fierce in look2 tall and   
nervous in person1 olive coloured1 and  
with a large nose1 and well he appeared 

a royal majesty more than other men4    
,much he watched1 and little he slept2  
and used to say that so much time as one
 slept1 one lost2 generous to his       
men-at-arms1 but covetous to acquire    
land1 signory1 and coin1 come how it    
would1 to furnish his enterprises and   
wars3 in courtiers1 servants of         
pleasure1 or jocular persons1 he        
delighted never4  #bda4 ,to this newly  
crowned and resolute king1 riding south 
from ,rome1 ,manfred1 from his vale of  
,nocera under ,mount ,st4 ,augelo1 sends
 to offer conditions of peace4 ,jehu the
 son of ,nimshi is not swifter of answer
 to ,ahaziah's messenger than the fiery 
,christian king1 in his ',what hast thou
 to do with peace8' ,charles answers the
 messengers with his own lips3 ,tell the
 ,sultan of ,nocera1 this day ,i will   
put him in hell1 or he shall put me in  
paradise4  #bdb4 ,do not think it the   
speech of a hypocrite4 ,charles was as  
fully prepared for death that day as    
ever ,scotch ,covenanter fighting for   

his ,holy ,league2 and as sure that     
death would find him1 if it found1 only 
to glorify and bless4 ,balfour of       
,burley against ,claverhouse is not more
 convinced in heart that he draws the   
sword of the ,lord and of ,gideon4 ,but 
all the knightly pride of ,claverhouse  
himself is knit together1 in ,charles1  
with fearless faith1 and religious      
wrath4 ,this ,saracen scum1 led by a    
bastard ,german1--traitor to his creed1 
usurper among his race1--dares it look  
me1 a ,christian knight1 a prince of the
 house of ,france1 in the eyes8 ,tell   
the ,sultan of ,nocera1 to-day ,i put   
him in hell1 or he puts me in paradise4 
,they are not passionate words neither2 
any more than hypocritical ones4 ,they  
are measured1 resolute1 and the fewest  
possible4 ,he never wasted words1 nor   
showed his mind1 but when he meant it   
should be known4  #bdc4 ,the messenger  
returned1 thus answered2 and the ,french
 king rode on with his host4 ,manfred   
met him in the plain of ,grandella1     

before ,benevento4 ,i have translated   
the name of the fortress ',welcome4' ,it
 was altered1 as you may remember1 from 
,maleventum1 for better omen2 perhaps1  
originally1 only ,greek3 99maloeis99--a 
rock full of wild goats8--associating it
 thus with the meaning of ,tagliacozzo4 
#bdd4 ,charles divided his army into    
four companies4 ,the captain of his own 
was our ,english ,guy de ,montfort1 on  
whom rested the power and the fate of   
his grandfather1 the pursuer of the     
,waldensian shepherds among the rocks of
 the wild goats4 ,the last1 and it is   
said the goodliest1 troop was of the    
exiled ,guelphs of ,florence1 under     
,guido ,guerra1 whose name you already  
know4 ,these1 said ,manfred1 as he      
watched them ride into their ranks1     
cannot lose to-day4 ,he meant that if he
 himself was the victor1 he would       
restore these exiles to their city4 ,the
 event of the battle was decided by the 
treachery of the ,count of ,caserta1    
,manfred's brother-in-law4 ,at the end  

of the day only a few knights remained  
with him1 whom he led in the last       
charge4 ,as he helmed himself1 the crest
 fell from his helmet4 ,hoc est signum  
,dei1 he said1--so accepting what he saw
 to be the purpose of the ,ruler of all 
things2 not claiming ,god as his friend4
 not asking anything of ,him1 as if ,his
 purpose could be changed2 not fearing  
,him as an enemy2 but accepting simply  
,his sign that the appointed day of     
death was come4 ,he rode into the battle
 armed like a nameless soldier1 and lay 
unknown among the dead4  #bde4 ,and in  
him died all southern ,italy4 ,never1   
after that day's treachery1 did her     
nobles rise1 or her people prosper4  ,of
 the finding of the body of ,manfred1   
and its casting forth1 accursed1 you may
 read1 if you will1 the story in ,dante4
 ,i trace for you to-day rapidly only   
the acts of ,charles after this victory1
 and its consummation1 three years      
later1 by the defeat of ,conradin4  ,the
 town of ,benevento had offered no      

resistance to ,charles1 but he gave it  
up to pillage1 and massacred its        
inhabitants4 ,the slaughter1            
indiscriminate1 continued for eight     
days2 the women and children were slain 
with the men1 being of ,saracen blood4  
,manfred's wife1 ,sybil of ,epirus1 his 
children1 and all his barons1 died1 or  
were put to death1 in the prisons of    
,provence4 ,with the young ,conrad1 all 
the faithful ,ghibel-line knights of    
,pisa were put to death4 ,the son of    
,frederick of ,antioch1 who drove the   
,guelphs from ,florence1 had his eyes   
torn out1 and was hanged1 he being the  
last child of the house of ,suabia4     
,twenty-four of the barons of ,calabria 
were executed at ,gallipoli1 and at     
,home4 ,charles cut off the feet of     
those who had fought for ,conrad2       
then--fearful lest they should be       
pitied--shut them into a house of wood1 
and burned them4 ,his lieutenant in     
,sicily1 ,william of the ,standard1     
besieged the town of ,augusta1 which    

defended itself with some fortitude1 but
 was betrayed1 and all its inhabitants1 
7who must have been more than three     
thousand1 for there were a thousand able
 to bear arms17 massacred in cold blood2
 the last of them searched for in their 
hiding-places1 when the streets were    
empty1 dragged to the sea-shore1 then   
beheaded1 and their bodies thrown into  
the sea4 ,throughout ,calabria the      
,christian judges of ,charles thus      
forgave his enemies4 ,and the           
,mohammedan power and heresy ended in   
,italy1 and she became secure in her    
,catholic creed4  #bdf4 ,not altogether 
secure under ,french dominion4 ,after   
fourteen years of misery1 ,sicily sang  
her angry vespers1 and a ,calabrian     
admiral burnt the fleet of ,charles     
before his eyes1 where ,scylla rules her
 barking ,salamis4 ,but the ,french king
 died in prayerful peace1 receiving the 
sacrament with these words of perfectly 
honest faith1 as he reviewed his past   
life3 ,lord ,god1 as ,i truly believe   

that you are my ,saviour1 so ,i pray you
 to have mercy on my soul2 and as ,i    
truly made the conquest of ,sicily more 
to serve the ,holy ,church than for my  
own covetousness1 so ,i pray you to     
pardon my sins4  #bdg4 ,you are to note 
the two clauses of this prayer4 ,he     
prays absolute mercy1 on account of his 
faith in ,christ2 but remission of      
purgatory1 in proportion to the quantity
 of good work he has done1 or meant to  
do1 as against evil4 ,you are so much   
wiser in these days1 you think1 not     
believing in purgatory2 and so much more
 benevolent1--not massacring women and  
children4 ,but we must not be too proud 
of not believing in purgatory1 unless we
 are quite sure of our real desire to be
 purified3 and as to our not massacring 
children1 it is true that an ,english   
gentleman will not now himself willingly
 put a knife into the throat either of a
 child or a lamb2 but he will kill any  
quantity of children by disease in order
 to increase his rents1 as unconcernedly

 as he will eat any quantity of mutton4 
,and as to absolute massacre1 ,i do not 
suppose a child feels so much pain in   
being killed as a full-grown man1 and   
its life is of less value to it4 ,no    
pain either of body or thought through  
which you could put an infant1 would be 
comparable to that of a good son1 or a  
faithful lover1 dying slowly of a       
painful wound at a distance from a      
family dependent upon him1 or a mistress
 devoted to him4 ,but the victories of  
,charles1 and the massacres1 taken in   
sum1 would not give a muster-roll of    
more than twenty thousand dead2 men1    
women1 and children counted all         
together4 ,on the plains of ,france1    
since ,i first began to speak to you on 
the subject of the arts of peace1 at    
least five hundred thousand men1 in the 
prime of life1 have been massacred by   
the folly of one ,christian emperor1 the
 insolence of another1 and the mingling 
of mean rapacity with meaner vanity1    
which ,christian nations now call       

'patriotism4'  #bdh4 ,but that the      
,crusaders1 7whether led by ,st4 ,louis 
or by his brother17 who habitually lived
 by robbery1 and might be swiftly       
enraged to murder1 were still too savage
 to conceive the spirit or the character
 of this ,christ whose cross they wear1 
,i have again and again alleged to you2 
not1 ,i imagine1 without question from  
many who have been accustomed to look to
 these earlier ages as authoritative in 
doctrine1 if not in example4 ,we alike  
err in supposing them more spiritual or 
more dark1 than our own4 ,they had not  
yet attained to the knowledge which we  
have despised1 nor dispersed from their 
faith the shadows with which we have    
again overclouded ours4  ,their         
passions1 tumultuous and merciless as   
the ,tyrrhene ,sea1 raged indeed with   
the danger1 but also with the uses1 of  
naturally appointed storm2 while ours1  
pacific in corruption1 languish in vague
 maremma of misguided pools2 and are    
pestilential most surely as they retire4

                     ,,lecture ,x4      
,,fleur ,,de ,,lys4   #bdi4 ,through all
 the tempestuous winter which during the
 period of history we have been         
reviewing1 weakened1 in their war with  
the opposed rocks of religious or       
knightly pride1 the waves of the ,tuscan
 ,sea1 there has been slow increase of  
the ,favonian power which is to bring   
fruitfulness to the rock1 peace to the  
wave4 ,the new element which is         
introduced in the thirteenth century1   
and perfects for a little time the work 
of ,christianity1 at least in some few  
chosen souls1 is the law of ,order and  
,charity1 of intellectual and moral     
virtue1 which it now became the function
 of every great artist to teach1 and of 
every true citizen to maintain4  #bej4  
,i have placed on your table one of the 
earliest existing engravings by a       
,florentine hand1 representing the      
conception which the national mind      
formed of this spirit of order and      
tranquillity1 ,cosmico1 or the ,equity  

of ,kosmos1 not by senseless attraction1
 but by spiritual thought and law4 ,he  
stands pointing with his left hand to   
the earth1 set only with tufts of grass2
 in his right hand he holds the ordered 
system of the universe--heaven and earth
 in one orb2--the heaven made cosmic by 
the courses of its stars2 the earth     
cosmic by  ,illustration3 ,,plate       
,,ix4--,,the ,,charge ,,to ,,adam4      
,,modern ,,italian4   the seats of      
authority and fellowship1--castles on   
the hills and cities in the plain4      
#bea4 ,the tufts of grass under the feet
 of this figure will appear to you1 at  
first1 grotesquely formal4 ,but they are
 only the simplest expression1 in such  
herbage1 of the subjection of all       
vegetative force to this law of order1  
equity1 or symmetry1 which1 made by the 
,greek the principal method of his      
current vegetative sculpture1 subdues   
it1 in the hand of ,cora or             
,triptolemus1 into the merely triple    
sceptre1 or animates it1 in ,florence1  

to the likeness of the ,fleur-de-lys4   
#beb4 ,i have already stated to you that
 if any definite flower is meant by     
these triple groups of leaves1 which    
take their authoritatively typical form 
in the crowns of the ,cretan and        
,laciuian ,hera1 it is not the violet1  
but the purple iris2 or sometimes1 as in
 ,pindar's description of the birth of  
,ismus1 the yellow water-flag1 which you
 know so well in spring1 by the banks of
 your ,oxford streams4 #a ,but1 in      
general1 it means simply the springing  
of beautiful and orderly vegetation in  
fields upon which the dew falls pure4   
,it is the expression1 therefore1 of    
peace on the redeemed and cultivated    
earth1 and of the pleasure of heaven in 
the uncareful happiness of men clothed  
without labour1 and fed without fear4   
,footnote #a3 ,in the catalogues of the 
collection of drawings in this room1 and
 in my ,queen of the ,air you will find 
all that ,i would ask you to notice     
about the various names and kinds of the

 flower1 and their symbolic use4--,note 
only1 with respect to our present       
purpose1 that while the true white lily 
is placed in the hands of the ,angel of 
the ,annunciation even by ,florentine   
artists1 in their general design1 the   
fleur-de-lys is given to him by         
,giovaiini ,pisano on the faade of      
,orvieto2 and that the flower in the    
crown-circlets of ,european kings       
answers1 as ,i stated to you in my      
lecture on the ,corona1 to the          
,narcissus fillet of early ,greece2 the 
crown of abundance and rejoicing4  #bec4
 ,in the passage1 so often read by us1  
which announces the advent of           
,christianity as the dawn of peace on   
earth1 we habitually neglect great part 
of the promise1 owing to the false      
translation of the second clause of the 
sentence4 ,i cannot understand how it   
should be still needful to point out to 
you here in ,oxford that neither the    
,greek words ,greek3 99en anthriopois   
evdokia199 nor those of the vulgate1 in 

terra pax hominibus bon voluntatis1 in  
the slightest degree justify our        
,english words1 goodwill to men4  ,of   
,god's goodwill to men1 and to all      
creatures1 for ever1 there needed no    
proclamation by angels4 ,but that men   
should be able to please ,him1--that    
their wills should be made holy1 and    
they should not only possess peace in   
themselves1 but be able to give joy to  
their ,god1 in the sense in which ,he   
afterwards is pleased with ,his own     
baptized ,son2--this was a new thing for
 ,angels to declare1 and for shepherds  
to believe4  #bed4 ,and the error was   
made yet more fatal by its repetition in
 a passage of parallel importance1--the 
thanksgiving1 namely1 offered by        
,christ1 that ,his ,father1 while ,he   
had hidden what it was best to know1 not
 from the wise and prudent1 but from    
some among the wise and prudent1 and had
 revealed it unto babes2 not 'for so it 
seemed good' in ,his sight1 but 'that   
there might be well pleasing in ,his    

sight1'--namely1 that the wise and      
simple might equally live in the        
necessary knowledge1 and enjoyed        
presence1 of ,god4 ,and if1 having      
accurately read these vital passages1   
you then as carefully consider the      
tenour of the two songs of human joy in 
the birth of ,christ1 the ,magnificat1  
and the ,nunc dimittis1 you will find   
the theme of both to be1 not the newness
 of blessing1 but the equity which      
disappoints the cruelty and humbles the 
strength of men2 which scatters the     
proud in the imagination of their       
hearts2 which fills the hungry with good
 things2 and is not only the glory of   
,israel1 but the light of the ,gentiles4
  #bee4 ,as ,i have been writing these  
paragraphs1 ,i have been checking myself
 almost at every word1--wondering1 ,will
 they be restless on their seats at     
this1 and thinking all the while that   
they did not come here to be lectured on
 ,divinity8 ,you may have been a little 
impatient1--how could it well be        

otherwise8 ,had ,i been explaining      
points of anatomy1 and showing you how  
you bent your necks and straightened    
your legs1 you would have thought me    
quite in my proper function2 because    
then1 when you went with a party of     
connoisseurs through the ,vatican1 you  
could point out to them the insertion of
 the clavicle in the ,apollo ,belvidere2
 and in the ,sistine ,chapel the        
perfectly accurate delineation of the   
tibia in the legs of ,christ4           
,doubtless2 but you know ,i am lecturing
 at present on the goffi1 and not on    
,michael ,angelo2 and the goffi are very
 careless about clavicles and           
shin-bones2 so that if1 after being     
lectured on anatomy1 you went into the  
,campo ,santo of ,pisa1 you would simply
 find nothing to look at1 except three  
tolerably well-drawn skeletons4 ,but if 
after being lectured on theology1 you go
 into the ,campo ,santo of ,pisa1 you   
will find not a little to look at1 and  
to remember4  #bef4 ,for a single       

instance1 you know ,michael ,angelo is  
admitted to have been so far indebted to
 these goffi as to borrow from the one  
to whose study of mortality ,i have just
 referred1 ,orcagna1 the gesture of his 
,christ in the ,judgment1 ,he borrowed1 
however1 accurately speaking1 the       
position only1 not the gesture2 nor the 
meaning of it4 #a ,you all remember the 
action of ,michael ,angelo's            
,christ1--the right hand raised as if in
 violence of reprobation2 and the left  
closed across ,his breast1 as refusing  
all mercy4 ,the action is one which     
appeals to persons of very ordinary     
sensations1 and is very naturally       
adopted by the ,renaissance painter1    
both for its popular effect1 and its    
capabilities for the exhibition of his  
surgical science4 ,but the old          
painter-theologian1 though indeed he    
showed the right hand of ,christ lifted1
 and the left hand laid across ,his     
breast1 had another meaning in the      
actions4 ,the fingers of the left hand  

are folded1 in both the figures2 but in 
,michael ,angelo's as if putting aside  
an appeal2 in ,orcagna's1 the fingers   
are bent to draw back the drapery from  
the right side4 ,the right hand is      
raised by ,michael ,angelo as in anger2 
by ,orcagna1 only to show the wounded   
palm4 ,and as1 to the believing         
disciples1 ,he showed them ,his hands   
and ,his side1 so that they were        
glad1--so1 to the unbelievers1 at their 
judgment1 ,he shows the wounds in hand  
and side4 ,they shall look on ,him whom 
they pierced4  ,footnote3 ,i found all  
this in ,m4 ,didron's ,iconographie1    
above quoted2 ,i had never noticed the  
difference between the two figures      
myself4  #beg4 ,and thus1 as we follow  
our proposed examination of the arts of 
the ,christian centuries1 our           
understanding of their work will be     
absolutely limited by the degree of our 
sympathy with the religion which our    
fathers have bequeathed to us4 ,you     
cannot interpret classic marbles without

 knowing and loving your ,pindar and    
schylus1 neither can you interpret      
,christian pictures without knowing and 
loving your ,isaiah and ,matthew4 ,and  
,i shall have continually to examine    
texts of the one as ,i would verses of  
the other2 nor must you retract         
yourselves from the labour in suspicion 
that ,i desire to betray your           
scepticism1 or undermine your           
positivism1 because ,i recommend to you 
the accurate study of books which have  
hitherto been the light of the world4   
#beh4 ,the change1 then1 in the minds of
 their readers at this date1 which      
rendered it possible for them to        
comprehend the full purport of          
,christianity1 was in the rise of the   
new desire for equity and rest1 amidst  
what had hitherto been mere lust for    
spoil1 and joy in battle4 ,the necessity
 for justice was felt in the now        
extending commerce2 the desire of rest  
in the now pleasant and fitly furnished 
habitation2 and the energy which        

formerly could only be satisfied in     
strife1 now found enough both of        
provocation and antagonism in the       
invention of art1 and the forces of     
nature4 ,i have in this course of       
lectures endeavoured to fasten your     
attention on the ,florentine ,revolution
 of #abej1 because its date is so easily
 memorable1 and it involves the         
principles of every subsequent one1 so  
as to lay at once the foundations of    
whatever greatness ,florence afterwards 
achieved by her mercantile and civic    
power4 ,but ,i must not close even this 
slight sketch of the central history of 
,val d',aruo without requesting you1 as 
you find time1 to associate in your     
minds1 with this first revolution1 the  
effects of two which followed it1 being 
indeed necessary parts of it1 in the    
latter half of the century4  #bei4      
,remember then that the first1 in #abej1
 is embryonic2 and the significance of  
it is simply the establishment of order1
 and justice against violence and       

iniquity4 ,it is equally against the    
power of knights and priests1 so far as 
either are unjust1--not otherwise4      
,when ,manfred fell at ,benevento1 his  
lieutenant1 the ,count ,guido ,novello1 
was in command of ,florence4 ,he was    
just1 but weak2 and endeavoured to      
temporize with the ,guelphs4 ,his effort
 ought to be notable to you1 because it 
was one of the wisest and most          
far-sighted ever made in ,italy2 but it 
failed for want of resolution1 as the   
gentlest and best men are too apt to    
fail4 ,he brought from ,bologna two     
knights of the order--then recently     
established--of joyful brethren2        
afterwards too fatally corrupted1 but at
 this time pure in purpose4 ,they       
constituted an order of chivalry which  
was to maintain peace1 obey the ,church1
 and succour widows and orphans2 but to 
be bound by no monastic vows4 ,of these 
two knights1 he chose one ,guelph1 the  
other ,ghibelline2 and under their      
balanced power ,gruido hoped to rank the

 forces of the civil1 manufacturing1 and
 trading classes1 divided into twelve   
corporations of higher and lower arts4  
#a ,but the moment this beautiful       
arrangement was made1 all               
parties--,guelph1 ,ghibelline1 and      
popular1--turned unanimously against    
,count ,guido ,novello4 ,the benevolent 
but irresolute captain indeed gathered  
his men into the square of the ,trinity2
 but the people barricaded the streets  
issuing from it2 and ,guido1 heartless1 
and unwilling for civil warfare1 left   
the city with his ,germans in good      
order4 ,and so ended the incursion of   
the infidel ,tedeschi for this time4    
,the ,florentines then dismissed the    
merry brothers whom the ,tedeschi had   
set over them1 and besought help from   
,orvieto and ,charles of ,anjou2 who    
sent them ,guy de ,montfort and eight   
hundred ,french riders2 the blessing of 
whose presence thus1 at their own       
request1 was granted them on ,easter    
,day1 #abfg4  ,footnote3 ,the seven     

higher arts were1 ,lawyers1 ,physicians1
 ,bankers1 ,merchants of ,foreign       
,goods1 ,wool ,manufacturers1 ,silk     
,manufacturers1 ,furriers4 ,the five    
lower arts were1 ,retail ,sellers of    
,cloth1 ,butchers1 ,shoemakers1 ,masons 
and ,carpenters1 ,smiths4  ,on          
,candlemas1 if you recollect1 #abea1    
they open their gates to the ,germans2  
and on ,easter1 #abfg1 to the ,french4  
#bfj4 ,remember1 then1 this revolution1 
as coming between the battles of        
,welcome and ,tagliacozzo2 and that it  
expresses the lower revolutionary temper
 of the trades1 with ,english and       
,french assistance4 ,its immediate      
result was the appointment of five      
hundred and sixty lawyers1 woolcombers1 
and butchers1 to deliberate upon all    
,state questions1--under which happy    
ordinances you will do well1 in your own
 reading1 to leave ,florence1 that you  
may watch1 for a while1 darling little  
,pisa1 all on fire for the young        
,conradin4 ,she sent ten vessels across 

the ,gulf of ,genoa to fetch him2       
received his cavalry in her plain of    
,sarzana2 and putting five thousand of  
her own best sailors into thirty ships1 
sent them to do what they could1 all    
down the coast of ,italy4 ,down they    
went2 startling ,gaeta with an attack as
 they passed2 found ,charles of ,anjou's
 ,french and ,sicilian fleet at         
,messina1 fought it1 beat it1 and burned
 twenty-seven of its ships4  #bfa4      
,meantime1 the ,florentines prospered as
 they might with their                  
religious-democratic                    
constitution1--until the death1 in the  
odour of sanctity1 of ,charles of       
,anjou1 and of that ,pope ,martin ,,iv4 
whose tomb was destroyed with ,urban's  
at ,perugia4 ,martin died1 as you may   
remember1 of eating ,bolsena eels1--that
 being his share in the miracles of the 
lake2 and you will do well to remember  
at the same time1 that the price of the 
lake eels was three soldi a pound2 and  
that ,niccola of ,pisa worked at ,siena 

for six soldi a day1 and his son        
,giovanni for four4  #bfb4 ,and as ,i   
must in this place bid farewell1 for a  
time1 to ,niccola and to his son1 let me
 remind you of the large commission     
which the former received on the        
occasion of the battle of ,tagliacozzo1 
and its subsequent massacres1 when the  
victor1 ,charles1 having to his own     
satisfaction exterminated the seed of   
infidelity1 resolves1 both in           
thanksgiving1 and for the sake of the   
souls of the slain knights for whom some
 hope might yet be religiously          
entertained1 to found an abbey on the   
battle-field4 ,in which purpose he sent 
for ,niccola to ,naples1 and made him   
build on the field of ,tagliacozzo1 a   
church and abbey of the richest2 and    
caused to be buried therein the infinite
 number of the bodies of those who died 
in that battle day2 ordering farther1   
that1 by many monks1 prayer should be   
made for their souls1 night and day4 ,in
 which fabric the king was so pleased   

with ,niccola's work that he rewarded   
and honoured him highly4  #bfc4 ,do you 
not begin to wonder a little more what  
manner of man this ,nicholas was1 who so
 obediently throws down the towers which
 offend the ,ghibelliues1 and so        
skilfully puts up the pinnacles which   
please the ,guelphs8 ,a passive power1  
seemingly1 he2--plastic in the hands of 
any one who will employ him to build1 or
 to throw down4 ,on what exists of      
evidence1 demonstrably in these years   
here is the strongest brain of ,italy1  
thus for six shilling a day doing what  
it is bid4  #bfd4 ,i take farewell of   
him then1 for a little time1 ratifying  
to you1 as far as my knowledge permits1 
the words of my first master in ,italian
 art1 ,lord ,lindsay4  ,in comparing the
 advent of ,niccola ,pisano to that of  
the sun at his rising1 ,i am conscious  
of no exaggeration2 on the contrary1 it 
is the only simile by which ,i can hope 
to give you an adequate impression of   
his brilliancy and power relatively to  

the age in which he flourished4 ,those  
sons of ,erebus1 the ,american ,indians1
 fresh from their traditional           
subterranean world1 and gazing for the  
first time on the gradual dawning of the
 day in the ,east1 could not have been  
more dazzled1 more astounded1 when the  
sun actually appeared1 than the popes   
and podestas1 friars and freemasons must
 have been in the thirteenth century1   
when from among the ,biduinos1          
,bonannos1 and ,antealmis of the        
twelfth1 ,niccola emerged in his glory1 
sovereign and supreme1 a fount of light1
 diffusing warmth and radiance over     
,christendom4 ,it might be too much to  
parallel him in actual genius with      
,dante and ,shakspeare2 they stand alone
 and unapproachable1 each on his        
distinct pinnacle of the temple of      
,christian song2 and yet neither of them
 can boast such extent and durability of
 influence1 for whatever of highest     
excellence has been achieved in         
sculpture and painting1 not in ,italy   

only1 but throughout ,europe1 has been  
in obedience to the impulse he primarily
 gave1 and in following up the principle
 which he first struck out4  ,his latter
 days were spent in repose at ,pisa1 but
 the precise year of his death is       
uncertain2 ,vasari fixes it in #abge2 it
 could not have been much later4 ,he was
 buried in the ,campo ,santo4 ,of his   
personal character we1 alas6 know       
nothing2 even ,shakspeare is less a     
stranger to us4 ,but that it was noble1 
simple1 and consistent1 and free from   
the petty foibles that too frequently   
beset genius1 may be fairly presumed    
from the works he has left behind him1  
and from the eloquent silence of        
tradition4  #bfe4 ,of the circumstances 
of ,niccola ,pisano's death1 or the     
ceremonials practised at it1 we are thus
 left in ignorance4  ,the more exemplary
 death of ,charles of ,aujou took place 
on the #gth of ,january1 then1 #abhe2   
leaving the throne of ,naples to a boy  
of twelve2 and that of ,sicily1 to a    

,prince of ,spain4 ,various discord1    
between ,french1 ,spanish1 and          
,calabrese vices1 thenceforward         
paralyzes ,south ,italy1 and ,florence  
becomes the leading power of the ,guelph
 faction4 ,she had been inflamed and    
pacified through continual paroxysms of 
civil quarrel during the decline of     
,charles's power2 but1 throughout1 the  
influence of the nobles declines1 by    
reason of their own folly and insolence2
 while the people1 though with no small 
degree of folly and insolence on their  
own side1 keep hold of their main idea  
of justice4 ,in the meantime1 similar   
assertions of law against violence1 and 
the nobility of useful occupation1 as   
compared with that of idle rapine1 take 
place in ,bologna1 ,siena1 and even at  
,rome1 where ,bologna sends her senator1
 ,branca ,leone1 7short for             
,branca-di-,leone1 ,lion's ,grip17 whose
 inflexible and rightly guarded reign of
 terror to all evil and thievish        
persons1 noble or other1 is one of the  

few passages of history during the      
middle ages1 in which the real power of 
civic virtue may be seen exercised      
without warping by party spirit1 or     
weakness of vanity or fear4  #bff4 ,and 
at last1 led by a noble1 ,giano della   
,bella1 the people of ,florence write   
and establish their final condemnation  
of noblesse living by rapine1 those     
',ordinamenti della ,giustizia1' which  
practically excluded all idle persons   
from government1 and determined that the
 priors1 or leaders of the ,state1      
should be priors1 or leaders of its arts
 and productive labour2 that its head   
'podesta' or 'power' should be the      
standard-bearer of justice2 and its     
council or parliament composed of       
charitable men1 or good men3 boni viri1 
in the sense from which the ,french     
formed their noun 'bonte4'  ,the entire 
governing body was thus composed1 first1
 of the ,podestas1 standard-bearer of   
justice2 then of his military captain2  
then of his lictor1 or executor2 then of

 the twelve priors of arts and          
liberties--properly1 deliberators on the
 daily occupations1 interests1 and      
pleasures of the body politic2--and1    
finally1 of the parliament of kind men1 
whose business was to determine what    
kindness could be shown to other states1
 by way of foreign policy4  #bfg4 ,so   
perfect a type of national government   
has only once been reached in the       
history of the human race4 ,and in spite
 of the seeds of evil in its own        
impatience1 and in the gradually        
increasing worldliness of the mercantile
 body2 in spite of the hostility of the 
angry soldier1 and the malignity of the 
sensual priest1 this government gave to 
,europe the entire cycle of ,christian  
art1 properly so called1 and every      
highest ,master of labour1              
architectural1 scriptural1 or pictorial1
 practised in true understanding of the 
faith of ,christ2--,orcagna1 ,giotto1   
,brunelleschi1 ,lionardo1 ,luini as his 
pupil1 ,lippi1 ,luca1 ,angelico1        

,botticelli1 and ,michael ,angelo4      
#bfh4 ,i have named two men1 in this    
group1 whose names are more familiar to 
your ears than any others1 ,angelico and
 ,michael ,angelo2--who yet are absent  
from my list of those whose works ,i    
wish you to study1 being both           
extravagant in their enthusiasm1--the   
one for the nobleness of the spirit1 and
 the other for that of the flesh4 ,i    
name them now1 because the gifts each   
had were exclusively ,florentine2 in    
whatever they have become to the mind of
 ,europe since1 they are utterly        
children of the ,val d',arno4  #bfi4    
,you are accustomed1 too carelessly1 to 
think of ,angelico as a child of the    
,church1 rather than of ,florence4 ,he  
was born in l#chg1--;just eleven years1 
that is to say1 after the revolt of     
,florence against the ,church1 and ten  
after the endeavour of the ,church to   
recover her power by the massacres of   
,faenza and ,cesena4 ,a ,french and     
,english army of pillaging riders were  

on the other side of the ,alps1--six    
thousand strong2 the ,pope sent for it2 
,robert ,cardinal of ,geneva brought it 
into ,italy4 ,the ,florentines fortified
 their ,apennines against it2 but it    
took winter quarters at ,cesena1 where  
the ,cardinal of ,geneva massacred five 
thousand persons in a day1 and the      
children and sucklings were literally   
dashed against the stones4  #bgj4 ,that 
was the school which the ,christian     
,church had prepared for their brother  
,angelica4 ,but ,fsole1 secluding him in
 the shade of her mount of ,olives1 and 
,florence revealing to him the true     
voice of his ,master1 in the temple of  
,st4 ,mary of the ,flower1 taught him   
his lesson of peace on earth1 and       
permitted him his visions of rapture in 
heaven4 ,and when the massacre of       
,cesena was found to have been in vain1 
and the ,church was compelled to treat  
with the revolted cities who had united 
to mourn for her victories1 ,florence   
sent her a living saint1 ,catherine of  

,siena1 for her political ,ambassador4  
#bga4 ,of ,michael ,angelo ,i need not  
tell you3 of the others1 we will read   
the lives1 and think over them one by   
one2 the great fact which ,i have       
written this course of lectures to      
enforce upon your minds is the          
dependence of all the arts on the virtue
 of the ,state1 and its kindly order4   
,the absolute mind and state of         
,florence1 for the seventy years of her 
glory1 from #abhj to #acej1 you find    
quite simply and literally described in 
the ll#bth ,psalm1 of which ,i read you 
the descriptive verses1 in the words in 
which they sang it1 from this typically 
perfect manuscript of the time3--       
,gloria et divitie in domo ejus1        
justitia ejus manet in seculum seculi4  
,exortum est in tenebris lumen reotis1  
misericors1 et miserator1 et ,justus4   
,jocundus homo1 qui miseretur1 et       
commodat3 disponet sermones suos  in    
judicio4  ,dispersit1 dedit pauperibus2 
justitia ejus manet in seculum seculi2  

cornu ejus exaltabitur in gloria4   ,i  
translate simply1 praying you to note as
 the true one1 the literal meaning of   
every word3--   ,glory and riches are in
 his house4 ,his justice remains for    
ever4   ,light is risen in darkness for 
the straightforward people4   ,he is    
merciful in heart1 merciful in deed1 and
 just4   ,a jocund man2 who is merciful1
 and lends4   ,he will dispose his words
 in judgment4   ,he hath dispersed4 ,he 
hath given to the poor4 ,his justice    
remain6     for ever4 ,his horn shall be
 exalted in glory4   #bgb4 ,with        
vacillating1 but steadily prevailing    
effort1 the ,florentines maintained this
 life and character for full half a     
century4  ,you will please now look at  
my staff of the year #acjj1 ,footnote3  
,page #cc in my second lecture on       
,engraving4 adding the names of ,dante  
and ,orcagna1 having each their separate
 masterful or prophetic function4  ,that
 is ,florence's contribution to the     
intellectual work of the world during   

these years of justice4 ,now1 the       
promise of ,christianity is given with  
lesson from the fleur-de-lys3 ,seek ye  
first the royalty of ,god1 and ,his     
justice1 and all these things1 material 
wealth1 shall be added unto you4 ,it is 
a perfectly clear1 perfectly            
literal1--never failing and never       
unfulfilled promise4 ,there is no       
instance in the whole cycle of history  
of its not being                        
accomplished1--fulfilled to the         
uttermost1 with full measure1 pressed   
down1 and running over4  #bgc4 ,now hear
 what ,florence was1 and what wealth she
 had got by her justice4 ,in the year   
#accj1 before she fell1 she had within  
her walls a hundred and fifty thousand  
inhabitants1 of whom all the            
men--7laity7--between the ages of       
fifteen and seventy1 were ready at an   
instant to go out to war1 under their   
banners1 in number twenty-four thousand4
 ,the army of her entire territory was  
eighty thousand2 and within it she      

counted fifteen hundred noble1 families1
 every one absolutely submissive to her 
gonfalier of justice4 ,she had within   
her walls a hundred and ten churches1   
seven priories1 and thirty hospitals for
 the sick and poor2 of foreign guests1  
on the average1 fifteen hundred1        
constantly4 ,from eight to ten thousand 
children were taught to read in her     
schools4 ,the town was surrounded by    
some fifty square miles of uninterrupted
 garden1 of olive1 corn1 vine1 lily1 and
 rose4  ,and the monetary existence of  
,england and ,france depended upon her  
wealth4 ,two of her bankers alone had   
lent ,edward ,,iii4 of ,england five    
millions of money 7in sterling value of 
this present hour74  #bgd4 ,on the #ajth
 of ,march1 #accg1 she was first        
accused1 with truth1 of selfish breach  
of treaties4 ,on the l#jth of ,april1   
all her merchants in ,france were       
imprisoned by ,philip ,valois2 and      
presently afterwards ,edward of ,england
 failed1 quite in your modern style1 for

 his five millions4 ,these money losses 
would have been nothing to her2 but on  
the #gth of ,august1 the captain of her 
army1 ,pietro de' ,rossi of ,parma1 the 
unquestioned best knight in ,italy1     
received a chance spear-stroke before   
,monselice1 and died next day4 ,he was  
the ,bayard of ,italy2 and greater than 
,bayard1 because living in a nobler     
time4 ,he never had failed in any       
military enterprise1 nor ever stained   
success with cruelty or shame4 ,even the
 ,german troops under him loved him     
without bounds4 ,to his companions he   
gave gifts with such largesse1 that his 
horse and armour were all that at any   
time he called his own4 ,beautiful and  
pure as ,sir ,galahad1 all that was     
brightest in womanhood watched and      
honoured him4  ,and thus1 #hth ,august1 
#accg1 he went to his own               
place4--,to-day ,i trace the fall of    
,florence no more4  ,i will review the  
points ,i wish you to remember2 and     
briefly meet1 so far as ,i can1 the     

questions which ,i think should occur to
 you4  #bge4 ,i have named ,edward      
,,iii4 as our heroic type of ,franchise4
 ,and yet ,i have but a minute ago      
spoken of him as 'failing' in quite your
 modern manner4 ,i must correct my      
expression3--he had no intent of failing
 when he borrowed2 and did not spend his
 money on himself4 ,nevertheless1 ,i    
gave him as an example of frankness2 but
 by no means of honesty4 ,he is simply  
the boldest and royalest of ,free       
,riders2 the campaign of ,crecy is1     
throughout1 a mere pillaging foray4 ,and
 the first point ,i wish you to notice  
is the difference in the pecuniary      
results of living by robbery1 like      
,edward ,,iii41 or by agriculture and   
just commerce1 like the town of         
,florence4 ,that ,florence can lend five
 millions to the ,king of ,england1 and 
loose them with little care1 is the     
result of her olive gardens and her     
honesty4 ,now hear the financial        
phenomena attending military exploits1  

and a life of pillage4  #bgf4 ,i give   
you them in this precise year1 #acch1 in
 which the ,king of ,england failed to  
the ,florentines4  ,he obtained from the
 prelates1 barons1 and knights of the   
,illustration3 ,,plate ,x4--,,the       
,,nativity4 ,,giovanni ,,pisano4        
shires1 one half of their wool for this 
year--a very valuable and extraordinary 
grant4 ,he seized all the tin           
7above-ground1 you mean ,mr4 ,henry67 in
 ,cornwall and ,devonshire1 took        
possession of the lands of all priories 
alien1 and of the money1 jewels1 and    
valuable effects of the ,lombard        
merchants4 ,he demanded certain         
quantities of bread1 corn1 oats1 and    
bacon1 from each county2 borrowed their 
silver plate from many abbeys1 as well  
as great sums of money both abroad and  
at home2 and pawned his crown for fifty 
thousand florins4 #a  ,footnote #a3     
,henry's ,history of ,england1 book iv41
 chap4 i4  ,he pawns his queen's jewels 
next year2 and finally summons all the  

gentlemen of ,england who had forty     
pounds a year1 to come and receive the  
honour of knighthood1 or pay to be      
excused6  #bgg4 ,,ii4 ,the failures of  
,edward1 or of twenty ,edwards1 would   
have done ,florence no harm1 had she    
remained true to herself1 and to her    
neighbouring states4 ,her merchants only
 fall by their own increasing avarice2  
and above all by the mercantile form of 
pillage1 usury4 ,the idea that money    
could beget money1 though more absurd   
than alchemy1 had yet an apparently     
practical and irresistibly tempting     
confirmation in the wealth of villains1 
and the success of fools4 ,alchemy1 in  
its day1 led to pure chemistry2 and     
calmly yielded to the science it had    
fostered4 ,but all wholesome indignation
 against usurers was prevented1 in the  
,christian mind1 by wicked and cruel    
religious hatred of the race of ,christ4
 ,in the end1 ,shakspeare himself1 in   
his fierce effort against the madness1  
suffered himself to miss his mark by    

making his usurer a ,jew3 the           
,franciscan institution of the ,mount of
 ,pity failed before the lust of        
,lombardy1 and the logic of ,augsburg2  
and1 to this day1 the worship of the    
,immaculate ,virginity of ,money1 mother
 of the ,omnipotence of ,money1 is the  
,protestant form of ,madonna worship4   
#bgh4 ,,iii4 ,the usurer's fang1 and the
 debtor's shame1 might both have been   
trodden down under the feet of ,italy1  
had her knights and her workmen remained
 true to each other4 ,but the           
brotherhoods of ,italy were not of ,cain
 to ,abel--but of ,cain to ,cain4 ,every
 man's sword was against his fellow4    
,pisa sank before ,genoa at ,meloria1   
the ,italian gos-,potamos2 ,genoa before
 ,venice in the war of ,chiozza1 the    
,italian siege of ,syracuse4 ,florence  
sent her ,brunelleschi to divert the    
waves of ,serchio against the walls of  
,lucca2 ,lucca her ,castruccio1 to hold 
mock tournaments before the gates of    
vanquished ,florence4 ,the weak modern  

,italian reviles or bewails the acts of 
foreign races1 as if his destiny had    
depended upon these2 let him at least   
assume the pride1 and bear the grief1 of
 remembering that1 among all the virgin 
cities of his country1 there has not    
been one which would not ally herself   
with a stranger1 to effect a sister's   
ruin4  #bgi4 ,lastly4 ,the impartiality 
with which ,i have stated the acts1 so  
far as known to me1 and impulses1 so far
 as discernible by me1 of the contending
 ,church and ,empire1 cannot but give   
offence1 or provoke suspicion1 in the   
minds of those among you who are        
accustomed to hear the cause of         
,religion supported by eager disciples1 
or attacked by confessed enemies4 ,my   
confession of hostility would be open1  
if ,i were an enemy indeed2 but ,i have 
never possessed the knowledge1 and have 
long ago been cured of the pride1 which 
makes men fervent in witness for the    
,church's virtue1 or insolent in        
declamation against her errors4 ,the    

will of ,heaven1 which grants the grace 
and ordains the diversities of          
,religion1 needs no defence1 and        
sustains no defeat1 by the humours of   
men2 and our first business in relation 
to it is to silence our wishes1 and to  
calm our fears4 ,if1 in such modest and 
disciplined temper1 you arrange your    
increasing knowledge of the history of  
mankind1 you will have no final         
difficulty in distinguishing the        
operation of the ,master's law from the 
consequences of the disobedience to it  
which ,he permits2 nor will you respect 
the law less1 because1 accepting only   
the obedience of love1 it neither       
hastily punishes1 nor pompously rewards1
 with what men think reward or          
chastisement4 ,not always under the feet
 of ,korah the earth is rent2 not always
 at the call of ,elijah the clouds      
gather2 but the guarding mountains for  
ever stand round about ,jerusalem2 and  
the rain1 miraculous evermore1 makes    
green the fields for the evil and the   

good4  #bhj4 ,and if you will fix your  
minds only on the conditions of human   
life which the ,giver of it demands1 ,he
 hath shown thee1 oh man1 what is good1 
and what doth thy ,lord require of thee1
 but to do justice1 and to love mercy1  
and to walk humbly with thy ,god1 you   
will find that such obedience is always 
acknowledged by temporal blessing4 ,if1 
turning from the manifest miseries of   
cruel ambition1 and manifest wanderings 
of insolent belief1 you summon to your  
thoughts rather the state of unrecorded 
multitudes1 who laboured in silence1 and
 adored in humility1 widely as the snows
 of ,christendom brought memory of the  
,birth of ,christ1 or her spring        
sunshine1 of ,his ,resurrection1 you may
 know that the promise of the ,bethlehem
 angels has been literally fulfilled2   
and will pray that your ,english fields1
 joyfully as the banks of ,arno1 may    
still dedicate their pure lilies to ,st4
 ,mary of the ,flower4                  
,,appendix4         7,,notes ,,on ,,the 

,,plates ,,illustrating ,,this          
,,volume47  ,in the delivery of the     
preceding ,lectures1 some account was   
given of the theologic design of the    
sculptures by ,giovanni ,pisano at      
,orvieto1 which ,i intended to have     
printed separately1 and in more complete
 form1 in this ,appendix4 ,but my       
strength does not now admit of my       
fulfilling the half of my intentions1   
and ,i find myself1 at present1 tired1  
and so dead in feeling1 that ,i have no 
quickness in interpretation1 or skill in
 description of emotional work4 ,i must 
content myself1 therefore1 for the time1
 with a short statement of the points   
which ,i wish the reader to observe in  
the ,plates1 and which were left        
unnoticed in the text4  ,the            
frontispiece is the best copy ,i can    
get1 in permanent materials1 of a       
photograph of the course of the ,arno1  
through ,pisa1 before the old banks were
 destroyed4 ,two arches of the          
,ponte-a-,mare which was carried away in

 the inundation of #ahgj1 are seen in   
the distance2 the church of ,la ,spina1 
in its original position overhanging the
 river2 and the buttressed and rugged   
walls of the mediaeval shore4 ,never    
more1 any of these1 to be seen in       
reality1 by living eyes4  ,,plate       
,i4--,a small portion of a photograph of
 ,nicolo ,pisano's ,adoration of the    
,magi1 on the pulpit of the ,pisan      
,baptistery4 ,the intensely ,greek      
character of the heads1 and the severely
 impetuous chiselling 7learned from     
,late ,roman rapid work71 which drives  
the lines of the drapery nearly         
straight1 may be seen better in a       
fragment of this limited measure than in
 the crowded massing of the entire      
subject4 ,but it may be observed also   
that there is both a thoughtfulness and 
a tenderness in the features1 whether of
 the ,virgin or the attendant angel1    
which already indicate an aim beyond    
that of ,greek art4  ,,plate ,,ii--,the 
,pulpit of the ,baptistery 7of which the

 preceding plate represents a portion74 
,i have only given this general view for
 convenience of reference4 ,beautiful   
photographs of the subject on a large   
scale are easily attainable4  ,,plate   
,,iii4--,the ,fountain of ,perugia4     
,executed from a sketch by ,mr4 ,arthur 
,severn4 ,the perspective of the steps  
is not quite true2 we both tried to get 
it right1 but found that it would be a  
day or two's work1 to little purpose1   
and so let them go at hazard4 ,the      
inlaid pattern behind is part of the    
older wall of the cathedral2 the late   
door is of course inserted4  ,,plate    
,,iv41 ,,letter ,e4--,from ,norman      
,bible in the ,british ,museum2 showing 
the moral temper which regulated common 
ornamentation in the twelfth century4   
,,plate ,v4--,door of the ,baptistery at
 ,pisa4 ,the reader must note that1     
although these plates are necessarily1  
in fineness of detail1 inferior to the  
photographs from which they are taken1  
they have the inestimable advantage of  

permanence1 and will not fade away into 
spectres when the book is old4 ,i am    
greatly puzzled by the richness of the  
current ornamentation on the main       
pillars1 as opposed to the general      
severity of design4 ,i never can        
understand how the men who indulged in  
this flowing luxury of foliage were so  
stern in their masonry and              
figure-draperies4  ,,plate ,,vi4--,part 
of the lintel of the door represented on
 ,plate ,v41 enlarged4 ,i intended1 in  
the ,lecture on ,marble ,couchant1 to   
have insisted1 at some length1 on the   
decoration of the lintel and side-posts1
 as one of the most important phases of 
mystic ecclesiastical sculpture4 ,but ,i
 find the materials furnished by ,lucca1
 ,pisa1 and ,florence1 for such an essay
 are far too rich to be examined        
cursorily2 the treatment even of this   
single lintel could scarcely be enough  
explained in the close of the ,lecture4 
,i must dwell on some points of it now4 
,look back to ,section #age in ,aratra  

,pentelici1 giving statement of the four
 kinds of relief in sculpture4 ,the     
uppermost of these plinths is of the    
kind ,i have called 'round relief'2 you 
might strike it out on a coin4 ,the     
lower is 'foliate relief'2 it looks     
almost as if the figures had been cut   
out of one layer of marble1 and laid    
against another behind it4  ,the        
uppermost1 at the distance of my        
diagram1 or in nature itself1 would     
scarcely be distinguished at a careless 
glance from an egg-and-arrow moulding4  
,you could not have a more simple or    
forcible illustration of my statement in
 the first chapter of ,aratra1 that the 
essential business of sculpture is to   
produce a series of agreeable bosses or 
rounded surfaces2 to which1 if possible1
 some meaning may afterwards be         
attached4 ,in the present instance1     
every egg becomes an angel1 or          
evangelist1 and every arrow a lily1 or a
 wing4 #a ,the whole is in the most     
exquisitely finished ,byzantine style4  

,footnote3 ,in the contemporary south   
door of the ,duomo of ,genoa1 the ,greek
 moulding is used without any such      
transformation4  ,i am not sure of being
 right in my interpretation of the      
meaning of these figures2 but ,i think  
there can be little question about it4  
,there are eleven altogether2 the three 
central1 ,christ with ,his mother and   
,st4 ,joseph2 then1 two evangelists1    
with two alternate angels1 on each side4
 ,each of these angels carries a rod1   
with a fleur-de-lys termination2 their  
wings decorate the intermediate ridges  
7formed1 in a pure ,greek moulding1 by  
the arrows72 and1 behind the heads of   
all the figures1 there is now a circular
 recess2 once filled1 ,i doubt not1 by a
 plate of gold4 ,the ,christ1 and the   
,evangelists1 all carry books1 of which 
each has a mosaic1 or intaglio ornament1
 in the shape of a cross4 ,i could not  
show you a more severe or perfectly     
representative piece of architectural   
sculpture4  ,the heads of the eleven    

figures are as simply decorative as the 
ball flowers are in our ,english ,gothic
 tracery2 the slight irregularity       
produced by different gesture and       
character giving precisely the sort of  
change which a good designer wishes to  
see in the parts of a consecutive       
ornament4  ,the moulding closes at each 
extremity with a palm-tree1             
correspondent in execution with those on
 coins of ,syracuse2 for the rest1 the  
interest of it consists only in these   
slight variations of attitude by which  
the figures express wonder or concern at
 some event going on in their presence4 
,they are looking down2 and ,i do not   
doubt1 are intended to be the heavenly  
witnesses of the story engraved on the  
stone below1--,the ,life and ,death of  
the ,baptist4  ,the lower stone on which
 this is related1 is a model of skill in
 ,fiction1 properly so called4 ,in      
,fictile art1 in ,fictile history1 it is
 equally exemplary4 ',feigning' or      
'affecting' in the most exquisite way by

 fastening intensely on the principal   
points4  ,ask yourselves what are the   
principal points to be insisted on1 in  
the story of the ,baptist4  ,he came1   
preaching the ,baptism of ,repentance   
for the remission of sins4 ,that is his 
,advice1 or ,order-preaching4  ,and he  
came1 to bear witness of the ,light4    
,behold the ,lamb of ,god1 which taketh 
away the sins of the world4 ,that is his
 declaration1 or revelation-preaching4  
,and the end of his own life is in the  
practice of this preaching--if you will 
think of it--under curious difficulties 
in both kinds4 ,difficulties in putting 
away sin--difficulties in obtaining     
sight4 ,the first half of the stone     
begins with the apocalyptic preaching4  
,christ1 represented as in youth1 is set
 under two trees1 in the wilderness4    
,st4 ,john is scarcely at first seen2 he
 is only the guide1 scarcely the        
teacher1 of the crowd of peoples1       
nations1 and languages1 whom he leads1  
pointing them to the ,christ4 ,without  

doubt1 all these figures have separate  
meaning4 ,i am too ignorant to interpret
 it2 but observe generally1 they are the
 thoughtful and wise of the earth1 not  
its ruffians or rogues4 ,this is not1 by
 any means1 a general amnesty to        
blackguards1 and an apocalypse to       
brutes1 which ,st4 ,john is preaching4  
,these are quite the best people he can 
find to call1 or advise4 ,you see many  
of them carry rolls of paper in their   
hands1 as he does himself4 ,in          
comparison with the books of the upper  
cornice1 these have special meaning1 as 
throughout ,byzantine design4   ,adverte
 quod patriarch et prophetse pinguntur  
cum rotulis   in manibus2 quidam vero   
apostoli cum libris1 et quidam   cum    
rotulis4 ,nempe quia ante ,christi      
adventum fides figurative               
ostendebatur1 et quoad multa1 in se     
implicita erat4 ,ad   quod ostendendum  
patriarchse et prophet pinguntur cum    
rotulis1   per quos quasi qusedam       
imperfecta cognitio design atur2   quia 

vero apostoli a ,christo perfecte edocti
 suut1 ideo libris1   per quos          
designatur perfecta cognitio1 uti       
possunt4           ,,william ,,durandus1
 quoted by ,didron1 p4 #cje4   ,,plate  
,,vii4--,next to this subject of the    
preaching comes the ,baptism3 and then1 
the circumstances of ,st4 ,john's death4
 ,first1 his declaration to ,herod1 ,it 
is not lawful for thee to have thy      
brother's wife3 on which he is seized   
and carried to prison3--next1 ,herod's  
feast1--the consultation between        
daughter and mother1 ,what shall ,i     
ask8--the martyrdom1 and burial by the  
disciples4 ,the notable point in the    
treatment of all these subjects is the  
quiet and mystic ,byzantine dwelling on 
thought rather than action4 ,in a       
northern sculpture of this subject1 the 
daughter of ,herodias would have been   
assuredly dancing2 and most probably1   
casting a somersault4 ,with the         
,byzantine1 the debate in her mind is   
the only subject of interest1 and he    

carves above1 the evil angels1 laying   
their hands on the heads1 first of      
,herod and ,herodias1 and then of       
,herodias and her daughter4  ,,plate    
,,viii4--,the issuing of commandment not
 to eat of the tree of knowledge4       
7,orvieto ,cathedral47  ,this1 with     
,plates ,x4 and ,,xii41 will give a     
sufficiently clear conception to any    
reader who has a knowledge of sculpture1
 of the principles of ,giovanni         
,pisano's design4 ,i have thought it    
well worth while to publish opposite two
 of them1 facsimiles of the engravings  
which profess to represent them in      
,gruiier's monograph #a of the ,orvieto 
sculptures2 for these outlines will1    
once for all1 and better than any words1
 show my pupils what is the real virue  
of mediaeval work1--the power which we  
medievalists rejoice in it for4         
,precisely the qualities which are not  
in the modern drawings1 are the         
essential virtues of the early          
sculpture4 ,if you like the ,gruner     

outlines best1 you need not trouble     
yourself to go to ,orvieto1 or anywhere 
else in ,italy4 ,sculpture1 such as     
those outlines represent1 can be        
supplied to you by the acre1 to order1  
in any modern academician's atelier4    
,but if you like the strange1 rude1     
quaint1 ,gothic realities 7for these    
photographs are1 up to a certain point1 
a vision of the reality7 best2 then1    
don't study mediaeval art under the     
direction of modern illustrators4 ,look 
at it--for however short a time1 where  
you can find it--veritable and          
untouched1 however mouldered or         
shattered4 ,and abhor1 as you would the 
mimicry of your best friend's manners by
 a fool1 all restorations and improving 
copies4 ,for remember1 none but fools   
think they can restore--none1 but worse 
fools1 that they can improve4           
,footnote3 ,the drawings are by some    
,italian draughtsman1 whose name it is  
no business of mine to notice4  ,examine
 these outlines1 then1 with extreme     

care1 and point by point4 ,the things   
which they have refused or lost1 are the
 things you have to love1 in ,giovanni  
,pisano4  ,i will merely begin the task 
of examination1 to show you how to set  
about it4 ,take the head of the         
commanding ,christ4 ,although inclined  
forward from the shoulders in the       
advancing motion of the whole body1 the 
head itself is not stooped2 but held    
entirely upright1 the line of forehead  
sloping backwards4 ,the command is given
 in calm authority2 not in mean anxiety4
 ,but this was not expressive enough for
 the copyist1--,how much better ,i can  
show what is meant6 thinks he4 ,so he   
puts the line of forehead and nose      
upright2 projects the brow out of its   
straight line2 and the expression then  
becomes1--,now1 be very careful1 and    
mind what ,i say4 ,perhaps you like this
 'improved' action better8 ,be it so2   
only1 it is not ,giovanni ,pisano's     
design2 but the modern ,italian's4      
,next1 take the head of ,eve4 ,it is    

much missed in the photograph--nearly   
all the finest lines lost--but enough is
 got to show ,giovanni's mind4  ,it     
appears1 he liked long-headed people1   
with sharp chins and straight noses4 ,it
 might be very wrong of him2 but that   
was his taste4 ,so much so1 indeed1 that
 ,adam and ,eve have1  ,illustration3   
,,plate ,,xi4--,,the ,,nativity4        
,,modern ,,italian4  both of them1 heads
 not much shorter than one-sixth of     
their entire height4  ,your modern      
,academy pupil1 of course1 cannot       
tolerate this monstrosity4 ,he          
indulgently corrects ,giovanni1 and     
,adam and ,eve have entirely orthodox   
one-eighth heads1 by rule of schools4   
,but how of ,eve's sharp-cut nose and   
pointed chin1 thin lips1 and look of    
quiet but rather surprised              
attention--not specially reverent1 but  
looking keenly out from under her       
eyelids1 like a careful servant         
receiving an order8  ,well--those are   
all ,giovanni's own notions2--not the   

least classical1 nor scientific1 nor    
even like a pretty1 sentimental modern  
woman4 ,like a ,florentine woman--in    
,giovanni's time--it may be2 at all     
events1 very certainly1 what ,giovanni  
thought proper to carve4  ,now examine  
your modern edition4 ,an entirely proper
 ,greco-,roman academy plaster bust1    
with a proper nose1 and proper mouth1   
and a round chin1 and an expression of  
the most solemn reverence2 always1 of   
course1 of a classical description4     
,very fine1 perhaps4 ,but not ,giovanni4
  ,after ,eve's head1 let us look at her
 feet4 ,giovanni has his own positive   
notions about those also4 ,thin and     
bony1 to excess1 the right1 undercut all
 along1 so that the profile looks as    
thin as the mere elongated line on an   
,etruscan vase2 and the right showing   
the five toes all well separate1 nearly 
straight1 and the larger ones almost as 
long as fingers6 the shin bone above    
carried up in as severe and sharp a     
curve as the edge of a sword4  ,now     

examine the modern copy4 ,beautiful     
little fleshy1 ,venus-de'-,medici feet  
and toes--no undercutting to the right  
foot1--the left having the great-toe    
properly laid over the second1 according
 to the ordinances of schools and shoes1
 and a well-developed academic and      
operatic calf and leg4 ,again charming1 
of course4 ,but only according to ,mr4  
,gibson or ,mr4 ,power--not according to
 ,giovanni4  ,farther1 and finally1 note
 the delight with which ,giovanni has   
dwelt1 though without exaggeration1 on  
the muscles of the breast and ribs in   
the ,adam2 while he has subdued all away
 into virginal severity in ,eve4 ,and   
then note1 and with conclusive          
admiration1 how in the exact and only   
place where the poor modern fool's      
anatomical knowledge should have been   
shown1 the wretch loses his hold of it6 
,how he has entirely missed and effaced 
the grand ,greek pectoral muscles of    
,giovanni's ,adam1 but has studiously   
added what mean fleshliness he could to 

the ,eve2 and marked with black spots   
the nipple and navel1 where ,giovanni   
left only the severe marble in pure     
light4  ,these instances are enough to  
enable you to detect the insolent       
changes in the design of ,giovanni made 
by the modern ,academy-student in so far
 as they relate to form absolute4 ,i    
must farther1 for a few moments1 request
 your attention to the alterations made 
in the light and shade4  ,you may       
perhaps remember some of the passages4  
,they occur frequently1 both in my      
inaugural lectures1 and in ,aratra      
,pentelici1 in which ,i have pointed out
 the essential connection between the   
schools of sculpture and those of       
chiaroscuro4 ,i have always spoken of   
the ,greek1 or essentially              
sculpture-loving schools1 as            
chiaroscurist2 always of the ,gothic1 or
 colour-loving schools1 as              
non-chiaroscurist4 ,and in one place1   
7,i have not my books here1 and cannot  
refer to it17 ,i have even defined      

sculpture as light-and-shade drawing    
with the chisel4 ,therefore1 the next   
point you have to look to1 after the    
absolute characters of form1 is the mode
 in which the sculptor has placed his   
shadows1 both to express these1 and to  
force the eye to the points of his      
composition which he wants looked at4   
,you cannot possibly see a more         
instructive piece of work1 in these     
respects1 than ,giovanni's design of the
 ,nativity1 ,plate ,x4 ,so far as ,i yet
 know ,christian art1 this is the       
central type of the treatment of the    
subject2 it has all the intensity and   
passion of the earliest schools1        
together with a grace of repose which   
even in ,ghiberti's beautiful ,nativity1
 founded upon it1 has scarcely been     
increased1 but rather lost in languor4  
,the motive of the design is the        
frequent one among all the early        
masters2 the ,madonna lifts the covering
 from the cradle to show the ,child to  
one of the servants1 who starts forward 

adoring4 ,all the light and shade is    
disposed   ,illustration3 ,,plate       
,,xii4--,,the ,,annunciation ,,and      
,,visitation4  to fix the eye on these  
main actions4 ,first1 one intense       
deeply-cut mass of shadow1 under the    
pointed arch1 to throw out the head and 
lifted hand of the ,virgin4 ,a vulgar   
sculptor would have cut all black behind
 the head2 ,giovanni begins with full   
shadow2 then subdues it with drapery    
absolutely quiet in fall2 then lays his 
fullest possible light on the head1 the 
hand1 and the edge of the lifted veil4  
,he has undercut his ,madonna's profile1
 being his main aim1 too delicately for 
time to spare2 happily the deep-cut brow
 is left1 and the exquisitely refined   
line above1 of the veil and hair4 ,the  
rest of the work is uninjured1 and the  
sharpest edges of light are still       
secure4 ,you may note how the passionate
 action of the servant is given by the  
deep shadows under and above her arm1   
relieving its curves in all their       

length1 and by the recess of shade under
 the cheek and chin1 which lifts the    
face4  ,now take your modern student's  
copy1 and look how he has placed his    
lights and shades4 ,you see1 they go as 
nearly as possible exactly where        
,giovanni's don't4 ,first1 pure white   
under this ,gothic arch1 where ,giovanni
 has put his fullest dark4 ,secondly1   
just where ,giovanni has used his whole 
art of chiselling1 to soften his stone  
away1 and show the wreaths of the       
,madonna's hair lifting her veil behind1
 the accursed modern blockhead carves   
his shadow straight down1 because he    
thinks that will be more in the style of
 ,michael ,angelo4 ,then he takes the   
shadows away from behind the profile1   
and from under the chin1 and from under 
the arm1 and puts in two grand square   
blocks of dark at the ends of the       
cradle1 that you may be safe to look at 
that1 instead of the ,child4 ,next1 he  
takes it all away from under the        
servant's arms1 and lays it all behind  

above the calf of her leg4 ,then1 not   
having wit enough to notice ,giovanni's 
undulating surface beneath the drapery  
of the bed on the left1 he limits it    
with a hard parallel-sided bar of shade1
 and insists on the vertical fold under 
the ,madonna's arm1 which ,giovanni has 
purposely cut flat that it may not      
interfere with the arm above2 finally1  
the modern animal has missed the only   
pieces of womanly form which ,giovanni  
admitted1 the rounded right arm and     
softly revealed breast2 and absolutely  
removed1 as if it were no part of the   
composition1 the horizontal incision at 
the base of all--out of which the first 
folds of the drapery rise4  ,i cannot   
give you any better example1 than this  
modern ,academy-work1 of the total      
ignorance of the very first meaning of  
the word ',sculpture' into which the    
popular schools of existing art are     
plunged4 ,i will not insist1 now1 on the
 uselessness1 or worse1 of their        
endeavours to represent the older art1  

and of the necessary futility of their  
judgment of it4 ,the conclusions to     
which ,i wish to lead you on these      
points will be the subject of future    
lectures1 being of too great importance 
for examination here4 ,but you cannot   
spend your time in more profitable study
 than by examining and comparing1 touch 
for touch1 the treatment of light and   
shadow in the figures of the ,christ and
 sequent angels1 in ,plates ,,viii4 and 
,,ix41 as we have partly examined those 
of the subject before us2 and in thus   
assuring yourself of the uselessness of 
trusting to any ordinary modern         
copyists1 for anything more than the    
rudest chart or map--and even that      
inaccurately surveyed--of ancient       
design4  ,the last plate given in this  
volume contains the two lovely subjects 
of the ,annunciation and ,visitation1   
which1 being higher from the ground1 are
 better preserved than the groups       
represented in the other plates4 ,they  
will be found to justify1 in subtlety of

 chiselling1 the title ,i gave to       
,giovanni1 of the ,canova of the        
thirteenth century4  ,i am obliged to   
leave without notice1 at present1 the   
branch of ivy1 given in illustration of 
the term 'marble rampant1' at the base  
of ,plate ,,viii4 ,the foliage of       
,orvieto can only be rightly described  
in connection with the great scheme of  
leaf-ornamentation which ascended from  
the ivy of the ,homeric period in the   
sculptures of ,cyprus1 to the roses of  
,botticelli1 and laurels of ,bellini and
 ,titian4