APPENDIX.

Catalogue of the Subjects of the Sculptured Capitals in the Lower Stage of the Doge’s Palace, Venice.

THE capitals are numbered as in the accompanying key-plan, beginning at the south-east angle on the Molo front, and going from right to left until the last capital, near S. Mark’s, is reached. For those who wish for something more than a catalogue, I need hardly say that in the latter portion of the second volume of the ‘Stones of Venice,’ Mr. Ruskin has given all that can be desired, with his usual felicity and beauty of verbal illustration.

In the ‘Annales Archéologiques,’ vol. xvii. (1857), Mr. Burges has given a very full and careful account of all the capitals, to which M. Didron Ainé has added some supplementary notes.

Zanotto (‘Il Palazzo Ducale di Venezia,’ vol. i. pp. 209-355) has given a still more full description, accompanied by rather rude outlines of all the lower range of capitals. There is small need, therefore, for anything more than a mere catalogue here, which it seems to me may be of service to some of those who are able to look at the Ducal Palace, but unable to carry with them any of the weighty volumes to which I have referred.

South-east Angle.—Above the capital is the Drunkenness of Noah. Above this, on a level with the traceries of the upper arcade, the archangel Raphael, with Tobit, who bears a scroll with these words—

Capital I. Partly built up. Has three figures of nude children, one with a comb and shears, another with a bird. The foliage is good; but the nude figures have the appearance of semi-Renaissance work.

II. Partly built up. Large birds—one devouring a serpent, another a fish, and the third pluming its feathers. The foliage here is not very good, and the design of the capital in no way first-rate, the birds being treated in a very naturalesque way.

III. Partly built up. Large heads, male and female. The man has a helmet, partly of plate, but with chain mail round the neck.

IV. Partly built up. Children, nude, holding (1) a bird, and (2 and 3) fruit.

V. Partly built up. Emperors. This is the first capital which has inscriptions. Those visible are (1) TITUS VESPASIAN IPAT; (2) TRAJANUS INPE; and (3) (OCT)AVIANUS IPATO.

VI. Partly built up. Large heads, alternated with tufts of foliage, badly carved.

VII. Virtues and Vices. (1) Liberality; inscribed Largitas. me. onorat. (2) Constancy; Costancia. su. nil. timēs. (3) Discord; Discordia. su. - - - discordans. (4) Patience; Patientia. manet. mecum. (5) Despair; Desperacio. mors. crudelis. (6) Obedience; Obediencia.a.dno.exibeo. (7) Infidelity; Infidelitate.—ili.gero. (8) Modesty; Modestia.robū obtineo. This capital should be compared with No. XXVIII. The foliage here is very beautiful; but the execution of No. XXVIII. is best.

VIII. Monsters, generally with musical instruments. A riding figure here wears chain armour. There are no inscriptions on this capital, and its intention is very obscure.

IX. Virtues. (1) Faith; Fides.optima.in.deo. (2) Fortitude; Fortitudo.‘sum.virilis’ (Mr. Ruskin), or ‘INVINCIBILIS.’ (3) Temperance; Temperantia. sum. in. omibu. (4) Humility; Humilitas.abitat.i.me. (5) Charity; Karitas.dei.mecū.est. (6) Justice; Rex.sum.justicie. (7) Prudence; Prudentia.metit.oiā. (8) Hope; Spē.habe.in.dno. The differences between this capital and No. XXIX. are very slight. In the latter, Prudence has a book, which she has not here; and Temperance has a jug here in addition to the chalice which the other carries.

X. Vices. (1) Luxury; Luxuria. sum. imensa. (2) Gluttony; Gula. sine. ordine. sū. (3) Pride; Superbia.preesse.volo. (4) Anger; Ira. crudelis. ē. in. me. (5) Avarice; Avaritia. anplector. (6) Idleness; Accidia. me. strīgit. (7) Vanity; Vanitas.in.me.habundat. (8) Envy; Invidia.me.cōbvrit. This capital is very finely sculptured.

XI. Birds. Some web-footed, some not so; and with no inscriptions.

XII. Virtues and Vices. (1) Misery; Miseria. (2) Cheerfulness; Alacritas. (3) Folly; Stulticia.. e. regnat. (4) Castitas (CE)L(EST)IS.Ē. (5) Honesty; (Ho)nest(atem. diligo). (6) Falsehood. (7) Injustice; Injusticia. seva. sū. (8) Abstinence; Astinēcia.optima.e.. This capital is so much damaged as to be hardly intelligible without comparison with No. XXXIII.

XIII. Lions’ heads, large and coarse, and with very poorly carved tufts of foliage between them.

XIV. Wild animals. The whole of the beast, not the head only, is given. They are poorly carved and designed.

XV. Damsels and Youths. Considered by Selvatico, and after him by Mr. Ruskin, to represent Idleness. There are no inscriptions. More probably they represent the youth of the higher class with marks of their sportive occupations. This is an extremely well-carved capital.

XVI. Eight large heads alternately with tufts of foliage. The whole finely carved and designed. Supposed by Zanotto to represent the foreigners who traded with Venice. Selvatico describes it as representing Latins, Tartars, etc., and as being in fact a repetition of No. XXIII. (vide infra.)

XVII. Philosophers. This is very much damaged, and the inscriptions are nearly destroyed. (1) Solomon. (2) Triscian. (3) Aristotle. (4) Tully. (5) Pythagoras. On a label carried by this figure Mr. Burges reads the date 1344. Mons. Didron interprets it 1399; this is a date, however, which he will not admit, believing the real date to be 1299. Mr. Ruskin does not appear to have seen these figures, and I have been unable to satisfy myself about them.

XVIII. This is the angle capital. Above it is the Temptation of Adam and Eve; and on the second stage, the four winds on the capital of the arcade, and the Archangel Michael above. The whole is a perfectly beautiful group of sculpture, of an equally beautiful and well-selected story.

Planets. (1) Creation of Man; de.limo.Ds.Ada.de.costa.formavit.et.eva. (2) Saturn; et.Saturne.domus.egloceruntis.et.urne. (3) Jupiter; Inde.jovi.doma.pisces.simul.atq.cirona. (4) Mars; E—ARIES.MARTIS.ET.ACU—E.SCORPIO.PARTIS. (5) The Sun; EST. DOMU. SOLIS. TU. QUOQ.SIGNE.LEONI. (6) Venus; Libra. cū. tauro. Venus.—t. purior. auro. (7) Mercury; Occupat.erigone.stilbons.gemiuq.lacone. (8) The Moon; Lune cancer.domut.pbet.ī.orbe signorio. The whole of the sculpture of this capital deserves careful study. Mars is a figure in chain mail. Venus, seated on a bull, and the Moon—a female figure in a boat, with a crescent in one hand and a crab in the other—are both of them exquisitely treated.

XIX. Artificers. Figures alternately crowned and uncrowned working at parts of a building. The foliage is admirable. The pieces of stone on which the artificers are at work are inlaid with porphyry. Mr. Ruskin points out that all the architectural details represented are such as would be found in the early part of the fourteenth century. It is certainly very curious that among the workers one has ‘Discipulus optimus;’ another—‘Disipūls incredūl,’ over the head: a reference to S. John and S. Thomas, which is not intelligible to me.

XX. Beasts. Eight large heads, well carved and set as knops below masses of rather heavily treated leaves. The beasts have their names inscribed: Leo. Lupus. Ursus. Musipul. Chanis.[104] Aper. Grifo. Vulpus.

XXI. Trades. Finely carved. Inscriptions over the heads of the workmen: (1) Lapicida sum. (2) Aurifices. (3) Cerdo sum. (4) Carpentarius sum. (5) Mensurator. (6) Agrichola. (7) Notarius sum. (8) Faber sum.

XXII. The Ages of Man. A very interesting capital. (1) ╋ Luna. dnat. ifancie. p. ano. iiii. (2) Mecureū. dnt. puericie. p. ano. x. (3) Adolosencie. (Ven)us. p. an. vii. (4) Inventuti.dnt.sol.p.an.xix. (5) Senectuti.dnt.mars.p. an. xv. (6) Senicie.dnt.jupiter.p.ann.xii. (7) Decrepite.dnt.satn.uq.ad.mōte. (8) Ultima.e.mors.pena pecati.

XXIII. Nations. This is treated in the same way exactly as No. XX. The heads are inscribed, Latini. Tartari. Turchi. Ongari. Greci. Goti. Egicy. Persii. It will be found that, counting from the south-west angle, the second and fifth capitals on each front are of the same description, i.e. Nos. XIII. and XVI. on the west side, and XIX. and XXIII. on the Piazzetta front. I think this militates against Mr. Ruskin’s view that this capital is not old, as it shews how very regularly they are placed; and I do not see much to choose between in these four capitals. It is worth notice here that this capital is, to a considerable extent, a replica of No. XVI.; but the latter has no inscriptions.

XXIV. Love and Marriage. This is a much larger column than the others. It carries a cross wall above, so placed as to allow of rooms on the sea-front, about sixty-three feet in width. It is one of the most exquisite of all the series. The subjects are: (1) A young man with his hand on his heart, admiring a damsel. (2) They meet and converse. (3) She puts a crown on his head, and presents him with an apple. (4) They embrace. (5) The marriage bed. (6) They hold their bambino wrapped in swaddling clothes between them. (7) The child grows, and enjoys life. (8) The child is dead, and his parents mourn over his body. The change in character from the extreme smartness of dress in the earliest subject to the carelessness about it in the last, should be observed.

Above this capital is a figure of Venice personified, in one of the divisions of the tracery. She is seated on lions’ backs, with her feet above the sea.

XXV. Labours of the Months. This is not a replica. (1) March; Marcius. Cornator. (2) April and May; Aprilis ╋ Magius. (3) June; Junius.cū.cerisis. (4) July and August; Julius ╋ Augustu. (5) September; Septebe. Supeditat. (6) October and November; Octobē ╋ Novembe. (7) December; Decem - - - cat suum. (8) January and February; Janvarivs ╋ Februaru.

XXVI. Sports and Employments of damsels and young men. This is a replica of No. XV. The foliage here is exquisitely carved. There are no inscriptions. The figures, as in the other, hold: (1) A horse. (2) A bird, and the leg of a larger bird (hawking?). (3) A distaff. (4) A dog. (5) A flower. &c. &c.

XXVII. Fruit in baskets. This is not a replica. It is the finest of the “knop” series of capitals. The fruit is admirably carved, and here the exact imitation of nature in the fruit, combined with foliage in the knops between the baskets, which is quite conventional and architectural in its character, is extremely interesting and instructive, as shewing how distinctly the sculptor knew the proper limits of conventional and realistic representation. The fruit are described: (1) Cherries; Serexis. (2) Pears; Piri. (3) Cucumbers; Chocumeris. (4) Peaches; Persici. (5) Gourds; Cuche. (6) Melons; Moloni. (7) Figs; Figi. (8) Grapes; Huva.

XXVIII. Virtues and Vices. This is a replica of No. VII. The differences are very small. Here II[H? unclear?] is prefixed to the “ONO[G?]RAT” of the other capital.

XXIX. Virtues. A replica of No. IX.

XXX. Vices. A replica of No. X., but well deserving study.

XXXI. Monsters. A replica of No. VIII., but very rudely carved, and very inferior to the next.

XXXII. Students. This is not a replica of No. XVII. The figures are admirably treated, all looking thoughtful, and some holding foliage. It seems to represent the more thoughtful side of youth as compared with the idle side, represented in the capitals XV. and XXVI. Zanotto supposes the figures to be the Seven Wise Men of Greece; but the eighth figure—a woman speaking—does not lend itself to this. Mr. Burges most ingeniously suggests that it refers to Nouvella d’Andrea, who, in her father’s last illness, lectured from behind a curtain to his pupils; her father died in 1348.

XXXIII. Virtues and Vices. This is a replica of No. XII.

XXXIV. Eight birds. A replica of No. XI.

XXXV. Nude children. A replica of No. IV. They have birds, fruit, etc., in their hands.

XXXVI. Justice and Lawgivers. This is the north-west angle column. The capital has the following subjects: (1) Justice; Justitia. (2) Aristotle; Aristotel. che. die. legge. (3) Moses; - - - L.PUOLO.D.L.SUO.ISEL.RITA.[105] (4) Solon; Sal.uno.dei.sete.savi.di.grecia.che.die.legge. (5) Scipio; Isipione.achastita.che—e.la.fia.are.[106] (6) Numa Pompilius; Numa Pompilio.iperador.edifichador.di.Tepi.e.chiese. (7) Moses receiving the tables of the law; Quado.moise.riceve.la.lege.i. sul.monte. (8) Trajan; Traino.īperadore.che.die.justitia.a.la.vedova.

The carving of foliage in this capital is, I think, simpler, and on the whole better than that on the other great angle, capital No. XVIII., with which it invites comparison; but the carving of the figures is quite inferior, and later in character. The foliage above this capital, which supports the Judgment of Solomon, is inferior to that on the capital itself, and is, I believe, considerably later in date, being no doubt of the same age as the figures in the Judgment, i.e. not earlier than 1430-1450. Above this angle is the figure of the Archangel Gabriel.

THE END

LONDON : PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS. STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS

FOOTNOTES:

Typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber:

repnted=> reputed {pg 38}

cöeval=> coëval {pg 114}

just at it was=> just as it was {pg 169 fn. 36}

Christendon=> Christendom {pg 189}

PALACE OF THE JURISTCONSULTS=> PALACE OF THE JURISCONSULTS {Illustration 45}

duty, bound=> duty-bound {pg 274}