THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[January, 



or underground buildings in which they have been found — a term we 

 have perverted still more from the sense in which it was invented. 



It is remarkable that the only mention Vitruvius makes of this 

 style of decoration, is in reprobation of it — but he describes it so ac- 

 curately, that the passage is worth repeating, if for no other reason. 

 After pointing out and classifying, what he considers legitimate objects 

 for painting walls, such as architectural compositions, landscapes, 

 gardens, and sea-pieces — the figures of the gods, and subjects drawn 

 from mythology, and the poems of Homer, he proceeds thus — "I 

 know not by what caprice it is, that the rules of the ancients, (observe, 

 that Vitruvius looks up to the ancients in his day, that is to say to 

 the Greeks,) who took truth for the model of their paintings, are no 

 longer followed. Nothing is now painted upon walls but monsters, 

 instead of true and natural objects, instead of columns we have 

 slender reeds, which support a complication of flimsy stems and 

 leaves twisted into volutes. Temples are supported on candelabra, 

 whence rises, as from a root, foliage on which figures are seated. 

 In another place, we have demi-figures issuing from flowers, some 

 with human faces, others with the heads of beasts, all things which 

 are not, never have been, nor ever can be. Such is the influence of 

 fashion, that either through indolence or caprice, it renders the world 

 blind to the true principles of art. How can it ever be supposed that 

 reeds can uphold a roof, or candelabra a whole building — that slender 

 plants can support a figure, or their stems, roots, or flowers put forth 

 living beings. Yet no one condemns these extravagancies; on the 

 contrary, they are so much admired, that no one cares whether they 

 be possible or not, so much do mankind render themselves incapable 

 of judging what is really deserving of approbation. For my own 

 part, I hold that painting is to be esteemed only so far as it repre- 

 sents the truth. It is not sufficient that objects be well painted ; it is 

 also necessary that the design be consonant to reason, and in no 

 respect offensive to good sense." Pliny also laments that in his time, 

 gaudy colouring and quaint forms were held in greater estimation 

 than the real beauties of art. But with all deference be it spoken, 

 there is another side to the question, which these great authorities 

 seem to have overlooked. Conventional decorations of this kind 

 were within the reach of thousands to whom paintings in the higher 

 branches of art were inaccessible, and a more general diffusion of 

 taste must have been at once the cause and effect of their universal 

 adoption — how universal, the remains of Pompeii reveal to us. If 

 we examine the ancient arabesques independently of these preju- 

 dices, we shall find endless beauty, variety and originality ; graceful 

 details, combined in consistent and ingenious motives and analogies, 

 and great skill and freedom in the mode of execution. We shall also 

 find reason to doubt whether the introduction of the arabesque style 

 really had the effect of discouraging painting of a higher class, since 

 even at Pompeii, poetical compositions of great merit are frequently 

 combined with the lighter groundwork of the general decoration. 



However fanciful and capricious the arabesque style may at first 

 sight appear to be, there can be no doubt that it may be treated ac- 

 cording to the general fixed principles of art, and that the artist will 

 be more or less successful as he keeps these principles in view. A 

 due balance of the composition is essential, so that the heavier parts 

 may sustain the lighter through every gradation, and there must be 

 such a disposition as not to cover too much or too little of the ground. 

 Unity of design is to be studied in a connexion of the parts with 

 each other, and in the harmony of the details and accessories, which 

 ought as much as possible to tend to some general aim. It adds very 

 greatly to the value of this species of decoration, when it can be 

 made by these means, significant as well as ornamental. It would 

 lead us much too far to enter upon the subject of colour; but it may 

 just be observed, that in the ancient decorative painting, the balance 

 of colour is strictly attended to. Their walls usually exhibit a gra- 

 dation of dark panels in the lower part, a breadth of the most brilliant 

 colours in the middle and principal division, and a light ground thinly 

 spread with decoration in the upper part and in the ceiling, an ar- 

 rangement dictated by the natural effects of light and shade, and re- 

 flection. As lightness and grace are the peculiar attributes of ara- 



besque, the foliage which forms its most fertile resource should never 

 be overloaded, its details and modes of ramification ought to be drawn 

 from nature. The poems of Schiller and other German authors have 

 lately been published, with a profusion of arabesque decoration in 

 the margin, which are well worthy of attention, both for the ingenuity 

 with which they are rendered illustrative of the text, and for the ac- 

 curacy, the botanical accuracy, with which some of the foliage and 

 flowers are represented, and which forms one of the greatest charms 

 of these clever and original compositions. 



Although the paintings in the Loggie of the Vatican pass under 

 the name of Raffaelle, it is not pretended that they are the work of 

 his hand, nor even his designs. He was indeed the originator and 

 director of the whole, and the character and influence of his taste is 

 visibly stamped in every part. But his coadjutors in the work were 

 artists, whose names are inferior to none in the Roman school but his 

 own, such as Giulio Romano, Perino del Vaga, Benvenuto Tisi, and 

 others, who were occupied not only in the execution but in the inven- 

 tion of the details. Francesco Penni and Andrea da Salerno are par- 

 ticularly noticed as being employed for the figures, Giovanni da 

 Udine for the fruits and flowers, and Polydore Caravaggio for the 

 relievos. It may be worth digressing to mention, that M. Quatre- 

 mere de Quincy is of opinion, that the sculptures of the Parthenon 

 were produced by similar means, Phidias there performing exactly 

 the same part as Raffaelle in the Vatican — and it is indisputable that 

 the combination of unity of design with variety of detail which 

 characterizes Gothic architecture, could have been produced only by 

 the same system, and by employing the minds as well as the hands, of 

 those by whom the decorations were executed. When we see per- 

 fection attained in three distinct styles of art, in three distant ages, 

 by means precisely similar, it is not too much to assume that these 

 means are probably the right ones. 



The Loggia of Raffaelle, is an arcade in 13 compartments. The 

 arches are open, or at least, were so originally, toward the court, of 

 which the Loggia forms one side. The opposite side is a wall pierced 

 with windows, one in each arch, giving light to the suite of rooms 

 which contains the great frescos of the prince of painters. The 

 ceiling of each compartment forms a square cove, on the sides of 

 which are the panels containing the series of scriptural paintings, the 

 engravings from which are known as Raffaelle's bible. These are his 

 own designs, and some are known to have been touched with his hand. 

 Both the lateral and cross arches are supported by pilasters about 16 

 feet high, panelled, and decorated with coloured arabesque on a 

 white ground. Each pilaster on the wall side is flanked by a half 

 pilaster, in which the arabesque is carried through on a smaller scale 

 of composition. It is to these pilasters the present remarks will be 

 confined. We shall find in them as much matter as with the collateral 

 observations to which they will give rise, will fully occupy the time 

 at our disposal this evening. 



The description of the pilasters will be taken in the order in 

 which Volpato has engraved them; that is to say, beginning on the 

 side next the wall. ■ 



No. 1. Notwithstanding the great variety in the composition and 

 details of these works, we shall find a general unity of design pre- 

 vailing throughout, with the exception of the last five of the series, 

 which will be particularly noticed in their turn. Whatever form the 

 composition may take, it is rendered subservient to the introduction 

 of four medallions, or tablets, relieved from the back ground in 

 stucco, of contrasted shapes — one like an antique shield — the next 

 circular — the third rectangular, and the fourth in the form known as 

 the vesica piscis. These medallions occupy the upper part of the 

 pilaster, to the extent of about one third of the whole panel, while 

 the lower part, to the height of the dado, or somewhat higher, is 

 generally filled in such a manner as to afford a weight of colour, suffi- 

 cient to support itself by the side of that member of the architecture, 

 and the members introduced into its panels, following in this respect 

 the practice of the ancients. These medallions might appear to vio- 



1 We must reler the reader to Volpato's engravings, which were exhibited 

 when this payer was read. They are easy of access. 



