430 THE STONES OF VENICE

other reason than to attach greater distinctness of idea to the magnificent verbiage of Milton:

“Thwart of these, as fierce,

Forth rush the Levant and the Ponent winds,

Eurus, and Zephyr; with their lateral noise,

Sirocco, and Libecchio.”¹

I may also especially point out the bird feeding its three young ones on the seventh pillar on the Piazzetta side; but there is no end to the fantasy of these sculptures;² and the

¹ [Paradise Lost, x. 705. For Ruskin’s remarks on “the magnificent verbiage” of Milton, see above, p. 87.]

² [There is an additional passage at this point in one draft of the chapter which Ruskin withdrew because he did not complete the plate intended to illustrate it (substituting the present Plate 20), but which is given here for the benefit of readers able to examine the details on the spot:-

“... there is no end to the fantasy of these sculptures; and I believe I shall best illustrate the character of the general workmanship of the Palace, by taking a simple fragment of leafage.

“The lowest figure, in the opposite plate(-), represents the ornament which is placed on the Fig-tree angle above its main capital, to sustain the sculpture of the eave; I have chosen this example, though far from being one of the finest, because it afforded the best ground for comparison with Byzantine art. The figure above it represents a side of one of the capitals of the Greek pillars brought from St. Jean d’Acre, and now standing before the Porta della Carta. The difference in style between these two sculptures shows the entire extent and character of the change which had been accomplished by Gothic art. But observe in the first place that both these designs are distinguished from classical work by their vitality. The Greek sculpture, though conventional in the form of its leaves, is changeful and playful in the extreme; observe especially that though for a moment it may appear the same on each side, one of the upright clusters of flowers is nearly twice as large as the other, and in order to obtain room for it, the base or stem of the ornament beneath is sloped down on the right-hand side, while it is carried up on the left. Examine the separate leaves and stems of each cluster-not one will be found like another, either in position or action; finally, observe the simple manner of cutting-sharp, bold, and daringly conventional-a kind of five-spoked wheel being used to express the flowers in the centre of the leaf clusters, but, in the real sculpture, with exquisite effect, for the deep incisions between the spokes of what here looks like a wheel, are, when seen at the proper distance, exactly like the ‘freaks of jet’ on the leaves of the flower.

“The piece of the Ducal Palace beneath, is, as I said, quite in a subordinate position, and it has therefore neither flowers nor bold shadows, nor any other feature of interest, so that it is hardly fair in this respect to compare it with a piece of Byzantine work so rich as the one above. Yet observe also, here, no one feature is exactly like another; there is no absolute, only a suggestive, correspondence. Note especially in the leaves that cannon to the right and left the varied position of the massive ribs, the rib nearest the extremity of the leaf being on the under side of the stalk in the one, and on the upper side in the other; note also one of the drill-holes lower than the other, and so on. The grand flowing line on the left, formed by the central rib of

[Version 0.04: March 2008]