HOUSE AND GARDEN 
March, 1911 
A detail from the altar of the Chapel of the Sacrament. 
mischievous leer of the cherubim 
monotony without interrupting the feeling of 
vertical growth. This is very well illustrated 
by the two pilaster designs given here. There 
appears to have been absolutely no significance 
in the motives used; apparently they 'were em¬ 
ployed frankly because they were beautiful or 
helped to produce a beautiful whole, and with¬ 
out any thought of symbolism. This is very 
characteristic of the spirit of the Renaissance. 
I have seen very beautiful doorways on 
churches where the elements of the design 
were frankly pagan or at least non-religious. 
The two pilasters in the illustrations are from 
candelabra in the cathedral at Naples and 
there is not the faintest suggestion of any re¬ 
ligious purpose. In fact the whole spirit of the 
Renaissance was frankly and purely esthe¬ 
tic ; the sheer pleasure in the beautiful for 
its own sake was the dominating influence. 
. After the pilasters, the capitals were 
most interesting. The proportions and 
general sentiment of the conventional 
Corinthian capital was retained but the de¬ 
tail differed widely and there was much 
ingenuity shown in the design and a fine 
sense .of the decorative value of detail. 
The decoration in the fifteenth century 
work was almost always firmly confined 
t>y strong lines. The decoration of a panel 
or pilaster filled the space, and the orna¬ 
ment was not allowed to straggle over the 
plain surfaces. 
The decoration of the frieze was an¬ 
other instance, where much ability in de¬ 
sign was shown. A common motive was 
the use of cornucopias combined with 
scrolls. There were many varieties of this 
motive and they, show a fine sense of de¬ 
sign. Garlands were also used as in all 
the forms of Classic decoration. 
It is interesting to. note the introduction 
of the cherubim on the altar of the Chapel 
of the Sacrament. This is of course an 
appropriate motive for such a place;.but. 
Note the 
Accurate reproductions in cement 
from the old mantels are readily 
obtained and are very effective 
the faces are all smiling—almost grin¬ 
ning—and the expression of the eyes is 
as far from- being solemn or even rev¬ 
erent as could well be imagined. 
The rest of the detail of this frag¬ 
ment is an extremely good example of 
Renaissance ornament in its highest de-- 
velopment. The quality of the model¬ 
ing and the richness "of invention in 
decoration confined' 
in such narrow and 
formal limits, is .an 
Extremely interesting, 
specimen of the 
work of the period.- 
While -it .may 
seem a far cry from 
the Itajiam Renais- 
sance-to-the work of a 
today, there is real¬ 
ly a .most' intimate 
relation between .the 
two periods. For 
almost all of our de¬ 
sign is based upon 
the traditions and 
motives of the older 
period and 
there 
is 
The_garlands and heads in the'frieze are 
. -typical, as is the reeding of the. pilasters 
an in¬ 
creasing ten¬ 
dency towards 
the application 
of Renaissance 
forms to mod¬ 
ern work. 
This wide 
and varied in¬ 
fluence can best : 
be appreciated 
by noting some 
of the charac¬ 
teristic motives' 
and being oh *■ 
the lookout for • 
~ their - : redtipli-/ 
cation in mod-_ 
ern buildings 1 
~ of good archl-“ 
decture, and'it 7 
is interesting to _ 
see how ofite'n 
they recur 5 ven~ _ 
in the Fundings- • 
we see about us : 
every day. 
Detail of a cornice. Nearly every mold¬ 
ing was decorated 
this ‘ pilaster 
rfieiTt — growth." :thai 
-is symmetrical .on a. 
vertical axis 
