404 THE STONES OF VENICE DECORATION

landscapes whose best character is sparkling, and there is a possibility of repose in the midst of brilliancy, or embracing it,-as on the fields of summer sea, or summer land:

“Calm and deep peace, on this high wold,

And on the dews that drench the furze,

And on the silvery gossamers

That twinkle into green and gold.”¹

And there are colourists who can keep their quiet in the midst of a jewellery of light; but, for the most part, it is better to avoid breaking up either lines or masses by too many points, and to make the few points used exceedingly precious. So the best crockets and finials are set, like stars, along the lines, and at the points, which they adorn, with considerable intervals between them, and exquisite delicacy and fancy of sculpture in their own designs; if very small, they may become more frequent, and describe lines by a chain of points: but their whole value is lost if they are gathered into bunches or clustered into tassels and knots; and an over indulgence in them always marks lowness of school. In Venice the addition of the finial to the arch-head is the first sign of degradation; all her best architecture is entirely without either crockets or finials; and her ecclesiastical architecture may be classed, with fearless accuracy, as better or worse in proportion to the diminution or expansion of the crocket. The absolutely perfect use of the crocket is found, I think, in the tower of Giotto, and in some other buildings of the Pisan school. In the North they generally err on one side or other, and are either florid and huge, or mean in outline, looking as if they had been pinched out of the stonework, as throughout the entire cathedral of Amiens; and are besides connected with the generally spotty system which has been spoken of under the head of archivolt decoration.

§ 10. Employed, however, in moderation, they are among

¹ [Tennyson: In Memoriam, xi. The poem was published in the year in which Ruskin was writing, 1850. He quoted from memory, as the original has “these dews” (for “the”) and “all” for “on” in the second line.]

[Version 0.04: March 2008]