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THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. [November, 



Del Dtiomo di Monrtak id aUre CJiiese Skiilo-Nvrmanm, Ragionia- 

 meii/i Tie. Per Do.mekico lo Faso Pietra Saxta, Duca di Serra- 

 (lifalco. Palermo, 1838. 



The Duke of Serradifalco, who actually studieil architCL'ture for a 

 time, under Cagnola, is of those eutliusiasts in tl'.e cause of art, who 

 like the illustrious Cicogiiara devote themselves to the stud}- of it 

 gratuitously, and out of mere affection, with an earnestness and appli- 

 cation very seldom indeed found among those who follow it as a pro- 

 fession. Wliether such noble amateurs w ould in this country be secure 

 from the sneers levelled here against intermeddling, superficial ama- 

 teurs, we will not stop to inquire ; therefore merely observe that per- 

 haps they might, because a Duke is somebody, and because it would 

 sound capitally to be able to say, "I entirely agree with — or dissent 

 from my Lord Duke's opinion as to so and so." For our own part we 

 are sorry that we cannot at present brag of any particular acquaintance 

 with the Duca di Serradifalco, — that is, with his book, not having as yet 

 even seen it, although by this time, one wovdd imagine, a copy of such 

 a work would have found its way into the British Museum, whose 

 library, however, we are still more sorry to sav, is prodigiously defi- 

 cient in foreign pviblications of art, for even our own verj- limited and 

 humble library, contains several tliat will there be sought for in vain. 

 AH that we at present know of the work whose title is above given, is 

 derived from an article in the last number of the Dublin Review, from 

 which we here quote : 



" Prince Serradifalco has already acquired a great literary reputa- 

 tion by his large work upon the monuments of antiquity in his country, 

 oi which three volumes are published. In the present work he has 

 begun the examination of the principal monuments of the Norman 

 epoch, as being the most illustrious period of the middle ages. He 

 does not propose [purpose] to give merely sketches and general no- 

 tions on the subject ; but, on the contrary," to treat of it in its fullest 

 extent, and to give to the world a standard work, of which the getting 

 up should not be unworthy of the magnificent objects it undertakes to 

 describe. The work contains, besides vignettes, twenty-seven folio 

 engravings, and one lithographed design ; of w hicli fourteen are dedi- 

 cated to the Church of Monreale, three to the Capella Palatina Cor 

 Chapel Royal at Palermo), five to the Cathedral of Cefahi, four to the 

 other Norman churches at Palermo, and two which contain small plans 

 of all the old churches in Sicily, and of the principal churches of the 

 Christian world, by which Sicilian [not Me Sicilian] architecture can 

 be illustrated. 



"These engravings are accompanied and explained by two disser- 

 tations, with learned notes, in which are collected from ancient 

 authors, maps and inscriptions, whatever can throw light upon the 

 objects in question." — "The drawings are in general well done, though 

 occasionally, as in the drawing of the Gate of Monreale, or of the 

 sectional plan (table IV. 7) we think the style might have been more 

 faithfully expressed. The drawings should have been coloured to give 

 any idea of the magnificence and splendour of the Mosaics ; for the 

 brdliancy of the colours ;uid gold with w hich the walls are resplendent, 

 is lost in the black engravings." 



Undoubtedly : nothing short of such a view of the interior as the 

 exquisite coloured drawing or rather picture of it by Professor Zanth, 

 exhibited last year at the Institute B. A.; can convey any idea of 

 Monreale, or of that modem Monreale the AUerheiligen Kapelle at 

 Munich, where to equal splendour of painting on gold, the pencil of 

 Hess has superadded all the more refined beauties of art. 



Happy Munich! thou paradise of art, wliere under the auspices of 

 its Kunst-liebend Ludwig, it accomplishes what we poor islanders dare 

 not even attempt ! Happy Sicily, where Dukes can find both time and 

 disposition to turn their attention to studies of antiquity and art, — 

 free from the curse of politics that sits as an incubus on this unhappy 

 land, amidst the incessant din and jingling of which all that is intelli- 

 gible is that every party deserves to be exterminated, since according 

 to their report of each other they are equally base, unprincipled, sel- 

 fish, tyrannical, malevolent, perfidious, or however else they may be 

 branded by the awful fulminations of our newspaper gentry. 



Literary World. This justly popuhir work has completed its first 

 volume ; the wood engravings, particularly those of an architectural 

 character, are beautifully executed, and the literary contents are both 

 interesting and useful. 



We have been favoured with the Medical Miscellani/, a new periodical, 

 containing much useful information for the medical student. 



New York Canals. — Total amount of tolls receiveil on all the state canals 

 of Nc« York, from the 14ih to the 22nd of July, 1831). 36.571 dollars 97 

 cents. 'Iherc was received fcr liic corresponding period in 1838, 38,882 dol- 

 lars 40 cents. i o i > . 



DESIGNS FOR THE ROYAL EXCHANGE. 



With every facility possible, it would be a task of some time, to 

 examine singly, and afterwards compare together, the set.s of nume- 

 rous drawings which cover not only the walls of two large rooms in 

 Mercer's Hall, but also two sides of a screen placed in one of them. 

 Therefore, writing as we now do, not only w ithout the possibility Of 

 making a second visit, before our journal goes to press, but almost at 

 the latest moment to which its being made up can be deferred, we 

 have hardly time to collect our ideas properly, after a first, and con- 

 sequently rather hurried view of the designs. Besides this, there is 

 neither catalogue of any kind, not even a mere list, no printed de- 

 scriptions of any of the designs, and no order observed as to arranging 

 them according to the numbers, by which they are distinguished : — in 

 fact, we do not imderstand upon what principle they are so numbered, 

 for there seem to be not a single one figured w ith a number lower 

 than twenty. Yet, as if it were not enough that as little as possible 

 had been done for the convenience of visitors, it was also determined 

 that no one should be allowed to assist himself, either by taking down 

 the numbers or conmiitting his remarks to paper. We were doing 

 the latter, when some olhcial came up to us, and said that no one was 

 permitted to make sketches of any of the tlrawings, when we told him 

 that we w'ere not copying any part of the drawings, but merely taking 

 memoranda ; and on his walking off, resumed our occupation. Shortly 

 after he came up again, and repeated his command more authorita- 

 tively, saying, that strict orders had been given not to suffer any per- 

 son even to take notes, and should we persist, he should be mider the 

 necessity of making us withdraw. As further expostulation seemed 

 to be tpiite useless, nothing else was left us but to comply with the 

 mandate. 



Hardly can we suppose the man took that strange authority upon 

 himself; no doubt he acted according to the instructions given him: 

 but then it argues anything but liberality on the part of the Committee 

 to issue such very arbitrary, annoying, and very unusual restrictions. 

 Never was such a regidation ever thought of being enforced before, 

 certainly not either at the exhibition of the designs for the Houses of 

 Parliament, or that of the models and drawings for the Nelson Memo- 

 rial ; in fact, at no exhibition whatever. Was it that the Committee, 

 fancying they had been imprudently liberal in suftering the public to 

 see the designs at all, determined to prevent persons from describing 

 or commenting upon any of them, by jirohibiting the use of pencil and 

 paper in the rooms ? It certainly looks as if such were the case, and 

 that they were now alarmed for the consequences of their good natured 

 indiscretion. However, we are not going now to comment upon the 

 conduct and proceedings of the Committee, since they call for fuller 

 animadversion than we. can at present bestow upon them. All that 

 we can here say lelative to them is, that not satisfied w ith setting 

 aside the competition, as far as the interests of the architects who 

 entered into it are concerned, the sole advantage, the successful have 

 derived from it, consisting in the distinction they have so acquired, 

 even the highest premium being but a very moderate pecuniary com- 

 pensation ; not satisfied with this, the Committee have now entrusted 

 the formation of an entirely fresh design to the very three persons 

 who cannot, with any honour or decency, accept that office, after act- 

 ing as judges in the matter, who have represented as ineligible, every 

 one of the designs sent in. For does not this look very much as if the 

 competition has been no more titan a strategem, to enable the Com- 

 mittee to obtain ideas for the guidance and assistance of those whom 

 they now, it seems, have determined to employ i What, we ask, 

 have the three gentlemen who are now spoken of as the architects 

 actually to be employed, done, to merit that implicit confidence in 

 their abilities, which is now to be reposed in them? If they are en- 

 titled to it now, they were surely equally so at the very first, when 

 they could have accepted the commission tendered to them with in- 

 finitely bettergrace.^or we say, without incurring the ugly suspicion and 

 disgrace which must now attach to them, should they ever do so : as 

 we think they will not, — unless they have such exceedingly strong 

 nerves as to be able to brazen out public opinion. 



Our own conscience gives us a twitch, for we just now promised to 

 abstain from animadversion on this point, and to confine ourselves to 

 speaking of the designs we have seen. That we have seen them we can- 

 not deny, but we certainly have not been able to examine tliem in such 

 way as would enable us to speak of their particular merits or faults, 

 or to enter into any detailed notices of them. All that time would 

 permit, was for us to reconnoitre them generally, which having done, 

 we were commencing to study some of them more closely, and take 

 down our notes upon them, when our labour was cut short in the way 

 that has been mentioned. With the exception, therefore, of the few 

 particulars we had poached, before we were warned off, we have now 

 no better than our memory, fatigued and confused by looking at so 



