336 ON TASTE IN ORNAMENTAL DESIGN. Past II. 



from Alexandria. But, viewed as St. Mark's, no one will 

 deny the charm it possesses ; and though a Byzantine, not a 

 Venetian, creation, it belongs as peculiarly and inseparably to 

 Venice as the most indigenous style of architecture might to 

 the spot where it grew up ; and the associations connected with 

 the romantic history of that " city of the sea," together with 

 its entourage, give it a character possessed by no other 

 building. 



There is another edifice, the Doge's Palace, which, though 

 equally open to censure in some respects, obtains a degree of 

 admiration that out of Venice would not be accorded to it. 

 And here again it may be better not to submit the building 

 to the ordinary rules of architecture, but rather to view it 

 through a different medium ; for there is no denying that, if 

 tested by those rules, the exterior of the Ducal Palace is faulty 

 in the disproportionate massiveness of the upper part, crush- 

 ing, as it appears to do, the beautiful Gothic archwork of the 

 two lower stories, on the sea and piazzetta facades. The most 

 enthusiastic admirer of Venice will scarcely defend this incon- 

 sistency ; or the paltry pinnacle-battlements which disfigure 

 the cornice. Whoever admires the two beautiful stories 

 below, must feel regret at the injury done to them by the 

 upper part ; nor has it the same charm of peculiarity of style 

 as St. Mark's. There are many specimens of similar build- 

 ings of the 1300, in France and elsewhere, in which the 

 upper portion has not the same fault ; being consistent in pre- 

 serving a due proportion of openings or arched windows in 

 that part, and in carrying up the same character of lightness 

 throughout. There is indeed sufficient evidence of the upper 

 part of this palace being a subsequent alteration ; which is 

 universally admitted by the Venetians ; and Mr. Street has 

 shown the lower part to be of 1301, the other rather later, 

 " when the council chamber being found to be too small, and 

 larger rooms being required, another architect suggested the 





