Thomas Henry Poole

“ Acanthus.—A plant, indigenous to middle Europe, the leaf of which has served in all ages as an ornament, or for ornamentation. There are two varieties, one wild and thorny, and one with soft branches without spines. The acanthus appears for the first time in the arts in ancient Greece. ”

“ He showed an inclination for mathematics and literature at a very early age, and afterwards studied drawing for civil and military architecture, under the direction of Giambattista Caporali, a Perugian architect and painter. ”

“ On his return to his own country he was requested by Cardinal Odoardo Farnese to submit a design for the facade of the Gesù at Rome, so expensive, that it was never executed. For the Duke della Corgna he built the stately palace of Castiglione on the Lake of Perugia, and for the Cardinal, brother of the Duke, he erected another on a hill a few miles from the city. In conjunction with Giulio Danti, a Perugian architect, he was employed in the erection of the church on the Madonna degli Angeli, near Assisi, built after the design of Vignola. ”

“ He resided in Genoa a number of years, engaged in the erection of various edifices, the laying-out of streets, and the restoration of the walls of the city. On the Carignano Hill he built the church of the Madonna. ”

“ Alan of Walsingham, d. c. 1304; a celebrated architect, first heard of in 1314 as a junior monk at Ely, distinguished by his skill in goldsmith's work, and for his acquaintance with the principles of mechanics. He afterwards turned his attention to the study of architecture, and in 1331, when sub-prior of his convent, designed and began to build the beautiful St. ”

“ Excepting in these technical points he differed from his associates completely, and so far surpassed them that he may be ranked with the great Tuscan artists of his time, which can be said of hardly any other North-Italian sculptor. ”