Palaeography

“ A rock, a wood, or a valley, however the scenery may be diversified, always conveys a perfect and distinct image to the mind; but a temple, an altar, a palace, or a pavilion, requires a detail, minute even to tediousness, and which, after all, gives but an imperfect notion of the object. ”

“ Here is a place called the "Garden," where you are surrounded by pinnacles, richly ornamented Gothic arches, flying buttresses, with representations of leaves, flowers, pomegranate heads, tracery, statuary, and ornaments in such prodigality as to fairly excite exclamation at the profuseness displayed. In every angle of the building the eye meets new and surprising beauties, magnificent galleries, graceful arcs, and carved parapets, pointed, needle-like pinnacles, Gothic arches, and clustered pillars. ”

“ Passing in at the portal, the spectator is amazed at the vast mass of elegant columns of marble, porphyry, verd antique, agate, and other elegant stone, superb mosaics, gilding and ornament in profusion that meet his view on every side. ”

“ The loving labor which makes the facades almost invariably exquisite with fine carving, the delicate hues of the softly tinted stone, the domes covered with burnished tiles of pale or brilliant color, the fretted and soaring shafts of belfry and tower, set like mosaics against the sapphire sky, are revelations to the artistic sense. The interiors rarely carry out the promise of the exteriors. ”

“ The soul afterwards perfects her palace—building up tier after tier of all imaginable orders of architecture—till the shadowy roof, gleaming with golden cupolas, like the cloud-region of the setting sun, set the heavens ablaze. ”

“ They tell me that those who dig down in the edge of the shallow water find sunken walls, and the remains of old foundations of Roman workmanship. People who wander there pick up bits of marble, serpentine, and malachite,—remains of the palaces that long ago fell into the sea, and have not left even the names of their owners and builders,-the ancient loafers who idled away their days as everybody must in this seductive spot. ”

“ The solidity and durability of limestone, sandstone, and granite, were required in the tomb, the eternal dwelling, or for the temples, the homes of the gods. But the palace was no more than a pleasure marquee, it required no material more durable than wood or brick. Painters and sculptors were charged to cover its walls with lively colours and smiling images; it was their business to decorate the stucco of the walls, the planks of acacia, and the slender columns of cedar and palmwood with the most brilliant hues on their palettes and with gold. ”

“ Terminal figures, columns of marble or granite porticoes and arches, are seen in the vistas of the wood-paths, either veritable relics of antiquity, or with so exquisite a touch of artful ruin on them that they are better than if really antique. At all events, grass grows on the tops of the shattered pillars, and weeds and flowers root themselves in the chinks of the massive arches and fronts of temples, as if this were the thousandth summer since their winged seeds alighted there. ”

“ The beautifully painted walls, columns, and inlaid marble or mosaic floor, combine with the deep blue sky, forming so glorious a whole that the rooflessness is forgotten, and the eye reposes with delight on the assembled harmonies. ”

“ A series of architectural pillars, supporting gothic arches or miniature dormer windows, may be seen on the one hand, and at certain angles, odd and fantastic figures, some of them half human in appearance, present themselves, while here and there a block of stone appears like the unfinished work of the sculptor. ”

“ Every apartment of the palace was immaculate, and resplendent in marble, porcelain, inlaid woods, and golden mosaics. The largest mirror in the world reflected the passers-by and costly paintings attracted the eyes of the visitors. ”

“ With hurried footsteps I scrambled on over fallen columns and great blocks of hewn stone, with inscriptions in characters unknown to me, until suddenly my eyes were bewildered at beholding on the mountain-side an enormous palace, with beautiful terraces and pavilions, apparently in an excellent state of preservation. ”

“ The Art Palace environed groups and figures in marble and bronze, and other sculptural master-pieces—paintings in oil and water colors, on ivory, enamel, metal, and porcelain—fresco paintings on walls— engravings—etchings—pastel and many studies in chalk and charcoal ”

“ From the height of the lofty vaulted roof hung innumerable crystals, which, uniting with those on the walls, formed colonnades, altars, and every sort of gothic ornament of dazzling lustre, creating a fairy palace, or an illuminated temple. ”

“ The stone floor, with its great slabs, was so grandly carved with the crests and heraldry of her family, that to walk over these was like climbing a mountain, or tramping across a ploughed field. Common folks had to be careful, lest they should stumble over the bosses and knobs of the carved tombs. ”

“ We have difficulty in believing that the labyrinth of galleries, subterranean palaces and marble catacombs, all named and numbered, whose manifold nomenclature recalls all the geography and history of the past, have been excavated in so few centuries. ”

“ The walls of houses, palaces, or towers, are coloured blue, yellow, green, or orange, and frequently adorned with fresco-painting. The glare of the sunlight on white walls is feared, as injurious to the sight, and hence they are all tinted. No smoke is visible, nor yet a single chimney. Flat roofs are universal, with their parapets of stone or iron, and their urns with bronze flames. ”

“ It is as if we had devised some airy palace, beautiful and complete in its smallest details, and found ourselves, when going about to build it, with no materials ready but a little clay and a few stones and sticks, and those of the most crooked and unpliable materials. ”

“ The whole low-vaulted building glows duskily; the frescoed roof, the stained windows, the figure-crowded pavements blending their rich but subdued colours, like hues upon some marvellous moth's wings, or like a deep-toned rainbow mist discerned in twilight dreams, or like such tapestry as Eastern queens, in ancient days, wrought for the pavilion of an empress. Forth from this maze of mingling tints, indefinite in shade and sunbeams, lean earnest, saintly faces—ineffably pure—adoring, pitying, pleading; raising their eyes in ecstasy to heaven, or turning them in ruth toward earth. ”

“ It is easy to imagine the picturesque effect produced by a number of temples and buildings, seen through the trees in different positions, roof towering above roof, with the background of noble foliage, the temples individually rich in lacquer, carving, gilding, and coloured tiles, intermixed with ends of timbers and posts plated with chased and gilt bronze. Surrounded by a garden, they become the meeting place and holiday grounds of the people. ”

“ During the time when those styles of Gothic architecture prevailed that are now called the decorated and the perpendicular, the roof, the columns, the stained glass windows, the seats, altar, tombs, and even the flooring, were filled with emblazonment. A branch of art which our forefathers found so useful as an ornament to architecture cannot be beneath the notice of those who are desirous of treading in their footsteps. ”

“ Wherever one goes and casts a look around, the eye is at once struck with some landscape—forms of every kind and style; palaces and ruins, gardens and statuary, distant views of villas, cottages and stables, triumphal arches and columns, often crowding so close together, that they might all be sketched on a single sheet of paper. ”

“ Every apartment of the museum is laid with the most charming antique floors, which are partly mosaic, from Pompeii, and partly marble, from Herculaneum. Statues, vases, busts, chandeliers, altars, tables of marble and bronze, are all in as good a state as if they had just come from the hands of the artist. ”

“ Waiting, usually a hard task for the busy architect, became a pleasure in this spot; for the rays streaming lavishly in all directions from the diadem of the sovereign sun flooded with dazzling radiance the thousands of white marble statues on the temples and colonnades, and were reflected from the surfaces of the polished granite of the obelisks and the equally smooth walls of the white, yellow, and green marble, the syenite, and the brown, speckled porphyry of sanctuaries and palaces. ”

“ The house is most magnificently built without, nor less gloriously furnished within, having whole tables and bedsteads of massy silver, many of them set with agates, onyxes, cornelians, lazulis, pearls, torquoises, and other precious stones. The pictures and statues are [Pg 85] innumerable. To this palace belong three gardens, the first whereof is beautified with a terrace, supported by pillars of marble; there is a fountain of eagles, and one of Neptune, with other sea-gods, all of the purest white marble; they stand in a most ample basin of the same stone. ”

“ From the palace you proceed to the garden, and to a pavilion or detached building of which all the rooms are on the ground-floor, and every one is adorned even to the ceiling with exceedingly beautiful decorations ”

“ They next took us to a gallery on the inside of the dome, where we first saw the immensity of its structure. Only from a distant view, or in ascending it, can one really measure its grandeur. The frescoes, which from below appear the size of life, are found to be rough and monstrous daubs; each figure being nearly as many fathoms in length as a man is feet. Continuing our ascent, we mounted between the inside and outside shells of the dome. ”

“ We passed through a long succession of immense halls, open to the sky, whose pavements of costly marbles, and rich mosaics, long since torn away, have been supplied by the soft green turf, that forms a carpet more in unison with their deserted state. ”

“ A dome, fifty-eight feet in diameter, rises to a height of eighty feet, beneath which, inclosed by a trellis-work screen of white marble, are the tombs of the Favorite of the Palace and of the great Emperor. ”

“ A tall flight of steep steps rudely fashioned of large unshapen blocks of stone, conducted to the entrance of the hermitage, and the dim light within its hoary, moss-grown, sloping walls is admitted through irregularly formed apertures, pierced through the dense body of the rock, and command magnificent views of the subjacent scenery. ”

“ There is a long walk from one end of the building to the other with a row of beautiful marble statues on each side, while luxuriant creepers hang from the ceiling and twine round the iron columns in the most fantastic manner, and fountains play every here and there—the sparkling showers falling on spacious vases richly decorated, and surrounded by statues. ”

“ No scene painter could cluster and pile up palaces, gardens and spires, with more daring extravagance. The abundant quarries of free-stone in the neighborhood, have furnished all their building materials, and every house that is not beautifully antique, is of ornamental architecture. ”

“ The upper portion of the richly sculptured marble terrace is just discernible above the roofs of the nearer buildings, while the palace is shown almost entire--its massive form sharply outlined against a clear sky, while the rich coloring of pillars and eaves is softened and idealized by distance. ”

“ Architecture and the various styles it has employed for monuments, temples, cities &c. have undergone several changes and improvements, from the rude imitations of a tent, or cottage, or hill, to that of pyramids, towers, pillars, colonnades, caves, norajes, teocalis, &c., from irregular inclosures to square, circular, octagon forms, from heaps of earth forming ditches, canals, to regular walled excavations. Styles of building are fluctuating with the Nations and times, taste and religion: some are occasionally revived or improved ”

“ Architectural restorations were to be made, and Architectural specimens from the most remarkable edifices throughout the world, to be collected, in order to present a grand architectural sequence from the earliest dawn of the art down to the latest times. Casts of the most celebrated works of Sculpture were to be procured: so that within the glass walls might be seen a vast historical gallery of this branch of art, from the time of the ancient Egyptians to our own era. Nature, also, was to put forth her beauty throughout the Palace and Grounds. ”

“ Here are the gigantic remains of several palaces, great porticos with winged bulls and reliefs representing, gods and princes. In the live rock of the mountains at the rear tombs have been hewn, evidently to receive the occupants of the palaces, and all the rocks and walls are covered with the cuneiform or arrow-headed inscriptions, consisting of very simple elements, which are nothing but thin wedges and angles but with these elements combined in wonderful variety.... ”

“ In point of decoration they are neat, and, in many instances, elegant: the floors generally consist of figured pavements, either in larger stones of various colors, regularly cut and systematically disposed, or are formed of a beautiful mosaic, with a fanciful border, and an animal or figure in the center. The geometrical lines and figures in the design of the borders, have an endless variety of the most pleasing shapes, to display the fertile imagination of the artists. Their tesselated pavements alone must convince us that the ancients were well skilled in geometry. ”