Note 33 — Chapter I

Vasari’s description of the variegated stones called breccias is clear and good. Corsi, Delle Pietre Antiche, Roma, 1845, p. 139, defines breccias as ‘marbles formed of numerous fragments of other marbles either of one colour or of different colours, embedded in a calcareous cement.’ The mineralogist distinguishes breccias from conglomerates by the fact that in the former the fragments embedded are angular, in the latter round like pebbles. The fragments need not be of marble. These breccias were greatly used at the Renaissance, as Vasari indicates, for the framing of doorways and for chimney pieces, but it may be questioned whether they are really suitable for such architectural use. For door jambs and similar constructive members a self-coloured stone, with its greater severity of effect, would be preferable. On the other hand, for panels and inlays and decorative uses generally, the variegated stones are quite in place. See C, D on the Frontispiece.