62 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[February, 



of their buildings : so much so, indeed, iu many, that they are hut masks to 

 indifferent interiors. In them the entrance becoai ee a principal object ; and 



though in a great number of cases the abuses which enter into its composi- 

 tion are manifold, yet the general effect is usually successful. The courts in 

 these palaces are most frequently surrounded with arcades, whence a stair- 

 case of considerable dimensions leads to the sala or principal room of the 

 palace. The general character is that of grandeur, but devoid altogether of 

 the severity which so 6trongly marks the Florentine school. The noblest 

 example of a palace in the world is that of the Farnese family at Rome. 



" The palaces of Rome are among the finest architectural works in Europe ; 

 and of those in Rome, as we have before observed, none equals the Farnese, 

 whose facade is given in Fig. 3. 169. " Ce vaste palais Farnese, qui a tout 

 prendre, pour la grandeur de la masse, la regnlarite de son ensemble, et l'ex- 

 cellence de son architecture, a tenu jusqu'ici, dans l'opinion des artistes, le 

 premier rang entre tous les palais qu'on renomme,"is the general description 

 of it by De Quincy, upon whom we have drawn largely, and must continue 

 to do so. This edifice, by San Gallo, forms a qnadrangle of 256 feet by 185 

 feet. It is constructed of brick, with the exception of the dressings of the 

 doors and windows, the quoins of the fronts, and the entablature and loggia 

 in the Strada Giulia, which are of travertine stone. Of the same stone, 

 beautifully wrought, is the interior of the court. The building consists of 

 three stories, including that on the ground, which, in the elevations or fa- 

 cades, are separated by impost cornices. The only break in its symmetry 

 and simplicity occurs in the loggia, placed in the centre of the first story, 

 which connects the windows on each side of it by four columns. On the 

 ground story the windows are decorated with square-headed dressings of ex- 

 tremely simple design ; in the next story they are flanked by columns, whose 

 entablatures are crowned alternately with triangular and circular pediments ; 

 and in the third story are circular-headed windows, crowned throughout 

 with triangular pediments. The taste in which these last is composed, is 

 not so good as the rest, though they were probably the work of Michael 

 Angelo, of whose cornice to the edifice Vasari observes: — " E stupendissimo 

 il corniccione[maggiore del medesimo palazzo ncllafacciatadinanzi.non si po- 

 tendo alcuna cosa ne piii bella ne pin magnified desiderare." The facade towards 

 the Strada Giulia is different from the other fronts in the centre only, wherein 

 there are three stories of arcades to the loggia, each of whose piers are deco- 

 rated with columns of the Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian orders in the respective 

 stories as they rise, and these in form and dimensions correspond with the 

 three ranks of arcades towards the court. It appears probable that this central 

 arrangement was not in the original design of San Gallo, but introduced when 

 the third story was completed. Magnificent as, from its simplicity and sym- 

 metry, is the exterior of this palace, which, as De Quincy observes : — " est un 

 edifice tonjours digne d'etre le sejour d'un prince," yet does it not exceed the 

 beauty of the interior. The quadrangle of the court is 88 feet square between 

 the columns of the arcades, and is composed with three stories, in which the 

 central arrangement above mentioned towards the Villa Giulia is repeated on 

 the two lower stories, over the upper whereof is a solid wall pierced in the 



theatres and amphitheatres ; and in its application at the Farnese palace 

 rivals in beauty all that antiquity makes us in its remains acquainted with. 

 San Gallo, its architect, died in 1540." 



The Venetian school is spoken of at much greater length than the 

 others, and is, in our opinion, not a little over rated; tor when we 

 come to examine some of its most noted productions, we find them to 

 be made up of insignifioant parts, and petty orders treated in a 

 formal, dry, and meagre manner, without any of that richness, or of 

 that artist-like freedom, Which would reconcile us to the orders 

 being employed merely in half-columns and pilasters, as decorated to 

 one or more stories of a building. 



" The Venetian School is characterised by its lightness and elegance ; by 

 the convenient distribution it displays; and by the abundant, perhaps exu- 

 berant, use of columns, pilasters, and arcades, which enter into its compo- 

 sition. Like its sister school of painting, its address is more to the senses 

 than is the case with those we have just quitted. We have already given an 

 account of the church of St. Mark, in the 12th century; from which period, 

 as the republic rose into importance by its arms and commerce, its arts were 

 destined to an equally brilliant career. The possession in its provinces of 

 some fine monuments of antiquity, as well as its early acquaintance with 

 Greece, would, of course, work beneficially for the advancement of its ar- 

 chitecture. That species of luxury, the natural result of a desire on the 

 part of individuals to perpetuate their names through the medium of their 

 habitations, though not productive of works on a grand or monumental 

 scale, leads, in a democracy (as were the states of Venice), to a very general 

 display of moderately splendid and elegant palaces. Hence the extraor- 

 dinary number of specimens of the building art supplied by the Venetian 

 school. 



" San Micheli, who was born in 1484, may, with propriety, be called its 

 founder. Having visited Rome at the early age of 16, for the purpose of 

 studying its ancient monuments of art, and having in that city found much 

 employment, be, after many years of absence, returned to his native country. 

 The mode in which he combined pure and beautiful architecture with the 

 requisites called for in fortifications may be seen displayed to great advantage 

 at Verona, in which city the Porta cM Pallia is an instance of his wonderful 

 ingenuity and taste. But his most admired works are his palaces at 

 Verona ; though, perhaps, that of the Grimani family at Venice is his most 

 magnificent production. The general style of composition, very different 

 from that of the palaces of Florence and Rome, is marked by the use of a 

 basement of rustic work, wherefrom an order rises, often with arched win- 

 dows, in which he greatly delighted, and these were connected with the 



Fig. 1. far; 



windows. The piers of the lower arcade are ornamented with Doric, 

 columns, whose entablature is charged with triglyphs in its frieze, aim 

 its metopa; are sculptured with various symbols. The impost of the piers 

 are very finely profiled, so as to form the entablatures, when continued, over 

 the columns of the entrance vestibule. In the Ionic arcade, over this, the 

 frieze of the order is decorated with a series of festoons. The distribution of 

 the different apartments and passage is well contrived. All about the 

 building is on a scale of great grandeur. Though long unoccupied, and a 

 large portion of its internal ornaments has disappeared, it still commands 

 our admiration in the Carracci Gallery, which has continued to serve as a 

 model for all subsequent works of the kind. The architecture of the Far- 

 nese palace, more especially as respects the arcades of its court, is the most 

 perfect adaptation of ancient arrangement to more modern habits that has 

 ever been designed. We here allude, more particularly, to the arcades, upon 

 whose piers orders of columns are introduced. This species of composition, 

 heavier, doubtless, less elegant, yet more solid than simple colonnades, is, on 

 the last account, preferable to them, where several stories rise above one 

 another. The idea was, certainly, conceived from the practice in the ancient 



order after the manner of an arcade, the whole being crowned with the 

 proper entablature. As an example, we give in Fig. 3, the facade of the 

 Pompei palace at Verona. The genius of ian Micheli was of the very highest 

 order ; his works are as conspicuous for excellent construction as they are 

 for convenience, unity, harmony, and simplicity, which threw into shade the 

 minor abuses occasionally found in them. If he had no other testimony, it 

 would be sufficient to say, that for his talents he was held to be in great 

 esteem by Michael Angelo ; and our advice to the student would be to study 

 his works with diligence. San Micheli devoted himself with great ardour to 

 the practice of military architecture ; and though the invention was not for a 

 long time afterwards assigned to him, he was the author of the system used 

 by Vauban and his school, who, for a long period, deprived him of the credit 

 of it. Before him all the ramparts of a fortification were round or square. 

 lie introduced a new method, inventing the triangular and pentangular 

 bastion, with plain fosses, flanks and square bases, which doubled the sup- 

 port ; he moreover not only flanked the curtain, but all the fosse to the next 

 bastion, the covered way, and glacis. The mystery of this art consisted in 

 defending every part of the inclosure by the flank of a bastion ; hence, mak- 



