John Woody Papworth

“ ON THE TRANSITIONS, IN VARIOUS STYLES OF ART, FROM THE ORIGINAL TYPE OF CAMPANILI IN ITALY TO THE USUAL BELL TOWERS OF THE PRESENT TIME. At a period of criticism, when peculiarities of style in ecclesiastical architecture are most rigidly considered, not only by professional men, but by connoisseurs, it seems desirable to enounce the principles in various stages of the progress of design in Campanili, which it appears to me were discoverable in the opportunity afforded of comparing not only the most striking examples, but also a great number of the more ordinary Italian mediæval bell towers. ”

“ Then, as the art advanced, some very great improvements were introduced: such as giving a slight diminution to the square tower, and surmounting it with the elegant square turret which we admire in the exquisite composition at Cremona; and by arranging, with much skill, the openings, so as to give lightness to the summit, while the lower portion, left imperforated, imparted solidity to the design. ”

“ Medallions, sometimes of different kinds of marbles, as porphyry or serpentine, sometimes of terracotta, ordinarily coloured bluish-green and glazed, are let into the walls of these towers as ornaments, and at the summit, immediately under the eaves, there is frequently a corbelled projecting canopy, with a niche for the image of the Virgin. ”