Arcade Prum the cloisters _ Certosa near Pavia 
 
 81. 
 
*&0^ZS'£' s 
 
 THE 
 
 TERRACOTTA ARCHITECTURE 
 
 I IF 
 
 NORTH ITALY 
 
 (XIItii— XVtii CENTURIES) 
 
 POURTRAYED AS EXAMPLES FOR IMITATION IN OTHER COUNTRIES 
 
 FROM CAkKlui. DRAWINGS AM) RESTORATIONS BY 
 
 FEDERIGO LOSE 
 
 FORTY-EIGHT ILLUSTRATIONS ENGRAVED AND HUNTED IN COLOURS, WITH WOODCUT SECTIONS, MOULDINGS, ETC. 
 AND DESCRIPTIVE TEXT I5Y V. OTTOLIM AND V. LOSE 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 LEWIS GRUNER 
 
 LONDON 
 
 JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET 
 
 1867 
 
aKKBtSBBBBBBBOBBBBBBBBSmOSBBBBB 
 
 Co 
 
 HER ROYAL HIGHNESS 
 
 VICTORIA ADELAIDE MARY LOUISA 
 
 CROWN PRINCESS OF PRUSSIA 
 
 l'RINCESS ROYAL OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND 
 
 &c. &c. 
 
 THIS WORK 
 
 EXHIBITING SPECIMENS OF TERRA - COTTA BUILDINGS IN UPPER ITALY 
 
 Is 
 
 BY HER ROYAL HIGHNESS'S SPECIAL PERMISSION 
 
 HER ROYAL HIGHNESS'S OBLIGED AND HUMBLE SERVANT 
 
 LEWIS GRUNER 
 
 Dresden : April 1867 
 
LIST OF PLATES. 
 
 PLATE 
 
 l. CHURCH OF SANTA EUFEMIA, AT PA VIA 
 
 2. SAN PIETRO IN CIEL D'ORO, AT PAVIA .... 
 ELEVATION AND SECTION OF THE CERTOSA, CHIARAVALLE . 
 
 4. CENTRAL PORTION OF SPIRE OF CERTOSA, CHIARAVALLE . 
 
 5. MIDDLE PORTION OF CAMPANILE DI SAN GOTTARDO, AT MILAN 
 
 6. UPPER PORTION OF THE SAME ...... 
 
 7. FRONT OF CHURCH OF SANTA MARIA DEL CARMINE, PAVIA 
 
 8. PART OF FACADE OF SANTA MARIA DEL CARMINE . 
 
 9. PART OF CENTRAL WINDOW OF THE SAME 
 
 10. WINDOW IN FACADE OF THE SAME. . 
 
 11. CAMPANILE OF THE CHURCH OF THE CARMINE 
 
 12. PART OF THE FACADE OF SAN FRANCESCO, PAVIA 
 
 '3 
 'S 
 '5 
 
 *7 
 27 
 
 3 1 
 
 13. PLAN, ELEVATION, AND SECTION OF THE PALACE OR CASTLE OF GIAN- 
 
 GALEAZZO VISCONTI, AT PAVIA ....... 33 
 
 14. ONE OF THE SIDES OF THE COURTYARD (SEE PLAN A, PL. 13) . . 33 
 
vi List of Plates. 
 
 PLATE PAGE 
 
 15. ANOTHER SIDE OF THE SAME COURTYARD (SEE PLAN B, PL. 13) . . 33 
 
 16. FACADE OF THE CATHEDRAL OF CREMA ...... 37 
 
 17. UPPER CENTRAL WINDOW IN THE FACADE OF THE CATHEDRAL OF 
 
 CREMA . . . 37 
 
 18. UPPER WINDOW OF THE CATHEDRAL, CREMA, LEFT SIDE . . -37 
 
 19. UPPER WINDOW OF THE SAME, RIGHT SIDE . . . . -37 
 
 20. LOWER WINDOW FROM THE SAME FACADE . . . . -37 
 zi. DETAILS OF FACADE OF THE CATHEDRAL OF CREMA . . . .37 
 
 22. OTHER DETAILS OF THE SAME ....... 37 
 
 23. THE CAMPANILE OF THE CATHEDRAL OF CREMA . . . ,41 
 
 24. UPPER PART OF THE CAMPANILE OF THE CATHEDRAL OF CREMA . 41 
 
 25. DETAILS FROM THE CAMPANILE, CREMA 4, 
 
 26. FACADE OF SS. FERMO AND RUSTICO, AT CARAVAGGIO . . .43 
 
 27. UPPER PORTION OF THE FACADE OF SS. FERMO AND RUSTICO . . 43 
 
 28. THE CAMPANILE OF SS. FERMO AND RUSTICO . .... 43 
 
 29. LATERAL APSE OF THE CERTOSA, NEAR PAVIA 47 
 
 30. ARCADE FROM THE CLOISTERS OF THE CERTOSA, NEAR PAVIA . . 47 
 
 31. ANOTHER ARCADE FROM THE SAME . . . . -47 
 
 32. ANOTHER ARCADE FROM THE SAME . . . . .47 
 
 33. VARIOUS SPIRES AND CHIMNEYS AND CLOCK TOWER OF THE CERTOSA. 47 
 
List of Plates. vii 
 
 PLATE PAGE 
 
 34. FRONT VIEW OF SANTA MARIA IN STRADA, MONZA . . . .53 
 
 35. PRINCIPAL ENTRANCE OF SANTA MARIA IN STRADA . . .53 
 
 36. TWO WINDOWS AT THE SIDE OF THE CATHEDRAL OF MONZA . . 55 
 
 37. VIEW OF SANTA MARIA DELLA CROCE, CALLED THE SANTUARIO DI 
 
 CREMA (PHOTOGRAPH) 57 
 
 38. VIEW OF THE UPPER PORTION OF THE SANTUARIO, AT CREMA . . 57 
 
 39. COURT IN A PRIVATE HOUSE, AT PAVIA 59 
 
 4.0. UPPER PART OF A PRIVATE HOUSE, AT PAVIA . . . . .61 
 
 41. PORTION OF A PALACE OF THE VISCONTI AND SFORZAS AT CUSAGO . 63 
 
 42. ELEVATION OF A HOUSE, AT PAVIA, NEAR THE HOSPITAL . . .65 
 
 43. WINDOW IN A PRIVATE HOUSE, AT PAVIA 67 
 
 44. CASA ARCIMBOLDI, NOW BUSCA, NEAR MILAN 69 
 
 45. M UPPER PART OF VILLA NEAR THE MADONNA DEL MONTE, VARESE; 
 
 («) SIMILAR DECORATION FROM VILLA UBALDO, SARONNO . .71 
 
 46. WINDOW OF A CASINO DI CAMPAGNA 73 
 
 47. PORTION OF A PRIVATE HOUSE, AT BRESCIA '. . ■ ■ -75 
 
 48. UPPER PORTION OF A CAMPANILE, AT PAVIA . . . . -77 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF TERRA-COTTAS : 
 
 AND A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE 
 
 BEST METHODS USED IN ITALY TO PRODUCE THEM. 
 
 S the object of the present work is entirely practical, it is by no 
 means necessary to advance into the barren and boundless field of 
 strictly scientific investigation in search of the origin of terra-cottas 
 and of their special application as ornamental portions of buildings. Were 
 anything further to be attempted, we feel that we should trench on the 
 province of archaeology, of ceramic art, and of potter's work, subjects entirely 
 beyond the aims which we propose to carry out. 
 
 Nevertheless, to touch in passing upon some of the ideas most generally 
 held as to terra-cotta, let us observe with D'Agincourt, 1 that ' soft clay being 
 of all substances that which lies most ready to the hand of man, could not but 
 be found most available for an infinite number of objects of first necessity.' 
 And to this should be added the obvious consideration, that the first inhabitants 
 of the earth, by kindling fire on a clayey soil, must have found that the under- 
 lying clay becoming heated acquired hardness and cohesiveness ; and it is 
 natural that, pondering this most simple phenomenon, they should have 
 rounded and hollowed in the middle a lump of clayey mire, using it at first 
 to draw water or contain liquids, afterwards, having tempered it by fire, in 
 cooking food. 
 
 1 Recueil de Fragmens de Sculpture Antique en Terrc-cuite. Paris, 1814. 
 
2 
 
 Introduction. 
 
 Next, studying the history of terra-cottas under their aspect as ornamental 
 details, not to speak of other facts which attest their use at a remote period, let 
 us cite the words of Cicognara, 1 where he discourses of the origin of the 
 sculptural art : ' Who knows how often and amid how many nations may not 
 have happened that which was related in Corinth of the potter Dibutades of 
 Sicyon, whose daughter traced on the wall the shadow of the face of her lover 
 who was about to leave her ; and the outline of whose shadow, filled with 
 clay by the father, produced the first profile in bas-relief, and was baked in the 
 furnace along with the tiles ? ' 
 
 Following the course of time we observe, with the distinguished Thomas 
 Hope," that ' the ancient Greeks seem everywhere in their mother country, and 
 their different later colonics, to have found stone too plentifully to make great 
 use of brick, though a few remains of terra-cotta cornices have been found 
 even in Greece, as well as tcrra-cotta vases and bas-reliefs. 
 
 ' The ancient Romans, wherever they found clay more abundant or easier to 
 work than stone, used it plentifully, both in regular layers throughout the body 
 of walls, as we do, and in an external reticulated coating, which has proved to 
 be as durable as stone itself from the fineness of its texture and the firmness of its 
 joints. Indeed, tar from considering brick as a material fit only for the coarsest 
 and most indispensable groundwork of architecture, they regarded it as equally 
 adapted for all the elegances of ornamental form — all the details of rich archi- 
 traves, capitals, friezes, cornices, and other embellishments. Sometimes it owed 
 to the mould its various forms, and at others, as in the Amphitheatrum Castrense 
 and the temple of the god Rcdiculus, to the chisel. 
 
 ' In modern Rome, too, very great use was made of brick until a very late 
 period. Of the grand Farnese palace, begun by Bramante and finished by 
 Michael Angclo, the plain surfaces are of brick, so fine in its texture and so 
 
 1 Sloria deila Scultura dal suo Risorgimcnto in Icalia to his ' Historical Essay on Architecture,' and is also 
 
 fino al secolo di Napoleone, ecc, tomo 1, p. 2l,Venezia, published in the Italian version of his work made by 
 
 '813* G. Imperatori, Milan, 1840. 
 
 1 This extract is from a MS. note by Hope, appended 
 
Introduction 
 
 neat in its joints, that by the superficial observer it is generally taken for stone. 
 In the plains of Lombardy, where stone is rare, clay has, in buildings of 
 importance, been moulded into forms so exquisite, as to have been raised 
 into a material of value and dignity. In the ancient churches of Pavia, 
 &c, it presents itself in all the delicate tracery of the Middle Ages ; in the 
 ' Ospitale Maggiore' and Castiglione palace, at Milan, it exhibits the arabesque 
 and medallions of the Cinque-cento style. On this side of the Alps, clay 
 has never been moulded into forms quite so elaborate ; still, in the south 
 of France, particularly at Toulouse, remarkable examples exist. Along the 
 Rhone, carved tiles are formed into very elegant cornices and balustrades. In 
 the north of Germany, in Brandenburg, Luneburg, Hanover, and the provinces 
 bordering on the Baltic, brick and richly ornamented terra-cottas perform the 
 part of stone, not only for the exterior but for the interior of churches, towers, 
 halls, and private houses, even the lofty piers of cathedrals being moulded in 
 clay. Even in England brick was, in former days, modelled and cast into artistic 
 and ornamental forms. But, whether in consequence of the high duty imposed 
 upon brick, and the consequent limitation as to size and shape, or from the in- 
 fluence of the contract system of building, the legal English brick has become by 
 degrees the least durable and most unsightly in use in any country ; and has 
 hence produced that dislike to its colour and material, which proceeds, not 
 from its intrinsic ugliness, but from association of the imagination with ideas 
 of coarseness and meanness of construction.' 
 
 Lombardy is especially rich in ancient works of terra-cotta ; so much so 
 that Hope calls it ' the great country of brick.' Amongst the most ancient 
 we will merely mention the crypts of the church of Lenno on the Lake of 
 Como, where are still preserved various remains of colossal statues in terra-cotta 
 of a close-grained and tough consistency, and which all appear to belong to the 
 constructions of Christianity. 
 
 In Italy the art of terra-cotta attained its crowning development during the 
 prevalence of the Renaissance style, as noble monuments, both sacred and pro- 
 
a Introduction. 
 
 fane, attest. Then were produced very fine and beautiful ornaments in terra- 
 cotta, even at a cost not exceeding the resources of private persons ; then was 
 attained that seemly comeliness and that elegant exterior which are so powerful 
 to diffuse good taste among the people. In that golden age of the art a wise 
 sobriety was observed in the use of such ornaments, and a scrupulous care to 
 apply them only where the style permitted them. From the most celebrated 
 architects who flourished along with Luca della Robbia, that pre-eminent 
 modeller in terra-cotta, down to the period of the Renaissance, ceramic ornament 
 invariably entered into designs for buildings. 
 
 It was then in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries that the art of terra-cotta 
 most flourished; but when it passed into the hands of the so-called imitators of 
 Michael Angelo, art overpassing the boundary line of beauty, lapsed into exagge- 
 ration, then the modest, severe, and delicate ornament in terra-cotta, refusing 
 to lend itself to the contortions and scroll-work of the 'Barocco' style, fell 
 suddenly into oblivion, and there remained until our own times. 
 
 To this rapid sketch of the history of terra-cottas we subjoin a word as to 
 the best methods of producing them employed in Italy, which in that country 
 have regained for this branch of industry its due importance. 
 
 Only a few years ago the art was revived in Milan by the sculptor Andrea 
 Boni ; and the Royal Lombardic Institute first gave him the encouragement 
 of a silver medal, and afterwards rewarded him with one of gold. 
 
 To convey an adequate and detailed idea of the best method employed in 
 Italy for building in terra-cotta, of the modes of drying the modelled objects, 
 of their baking, and of other improvements, it will suffice to explain the system 
 now carried out by Boni in his extensive and busy manufactory in Milan, a 
 system of which the results were highly praised at the Great Exhibition in 
 South Kensington Museum. 1 
 
 He manufactures two sorts of ware ; one calculated to resist atmospheric 
 
 1 We derive these particulars from the reports of the distribuzioni dei premj d' industria fatte in Milano ed in 
 Commission of the Royal Lombardic Institute of Sciences, Venezia dal 1853 al 1857, vol. vii't. Milano, 1857), and 
 Letters, and Arts (Collezione degli Atti dclle solenni from an account by Professor Magrini. 
 
Introduction. 5 
 
 action and shocks, the other of less tenacity, but in grain and tone more 
 resembling the ancient terra-cottas, and less costly than the former. 
 
 To produce the first sort, which in baking turns out almost ash-coloured, 
 he employs a mixture of whitish clays of somewhat tough consistency, which 
 are found in the neighbourhood of Maggiora, mixed with finely-powdered 
 quartz. 
 
 The second sort, at present most in vogue, is composed of two parts of 
 the above-named clays of Maggiora ; four parts of rich and very ferruginous 
 earth of a deep red hue, found in the territory of Lesmo ; four parts of tougher 
 earth, derived from Trezzo ; and two parts of a sandy lime of finest grain, 
 gathered in the commune of Ronco, which, as a disjunctive element, increases 
 the porosity, and prevents the excessive cohesion of the pieces. 
 
 Plasticity and homogeneity of ingredients are the two conditions essential 
 to the composition of any ceramic paste. Plasticity is the property of clays 
 which contain only aluminum, silica, and a little oxide of iron ; and depends 
 in great measure on the water contained in the clay, which cannot be eva- 
 porated even by the drying power of 100 degrees. 1 
 
 Clays, regarded even as hydrated silicates of aluminum, were at first sup- 
 posed to owe their elasticity to the aluminum alone. But since this substance, 
 whether already reduced to a gelatinous state, or kneaded long while in water, 
 never furnishes a tenacious and plastic paste however pure silica may be mixed 
 
 1 "All clays as they occur in nature are essentially for example, is dehydrated clay ; and it may absorb a con- 
 
 bydmtcd silicates of alumina ; and upon the presence of siderable quantity of water without regaining the slight- 
 
 the water of combination depends their fictile or plastic est amount of plasticity. 
 
 property, that is, their capability of being moulded into If we compare different clays together in respect to 
 vessels when mixed with water and kneaded to a pasty elementary composition, we find the relation between the 
 consistency. All clays contain hygroscopic water, which silica and alumina to be extremely variable ; and, accord- 
 may be expelled at ioo° C. without lessening their plas- ingly, the formula; which have been proposed to express 
 ticity. When, however, clay is heated to redness, it their rational constitution are very discordant. This is 
 loses not only its hygroscopic water, but also its water in great measure to be explained by the fact that, in many 
 of combination, and, as a consequence, it ceases to be clays, a large proportion of silica exists uncombined either 
 plastic. In this dehydrated state it cannot again directly as sand, or in a much finer state of division. The gritti- 
 combine with water and regain its plasticity. It may, ness of a clay is due to the presence of sand." Dr. Percy's 
 indeed, absorb water with avidity; but not the smallest 'Metallurgy and Fire Clays,' vol. i. p. 208. 
 degree of plasticity is thereby restored. Pounded brick, 
 
 C 
 
6 Introduction. 
 
 with it in the very proportion in which it occurs in the composition of clays, we 
 must admit that these possess some particular texture or molecular arrangement 
 which the natural circumstances of their formation and, above all, time have 
 imparted to the constituent parts ; a texture which man has not as yet— so 
 at least it seems to us — learned how to imitate completely. 
 
 Yet although plasticity be an all important condition of this manufacture, 
 its excess entails grave inconvenience. Objects formed of over-plastic clays are 
 dried unequally and with difficulty, which renders them liable to lose shape 
 and crack. Such defects arc developed at the stove, and in the furnace they 
 increase further. Hence, as we mentioned, arises the necessity of introducing 
 into the composition of the paste powdered quartz, calcareous earths, and sands, 
 to diminish this excessive plasticity, increase porosity, and thus facilitate the 
 expulsion of the water ; which, although it serves merely to mix the materials 
 and give them the needful softness, demands weighty consideration and pre- 
 cautions ; because the wrought portions, however they may sometimes seem 
 dry, never are absolutely free from water. 
 
 We have already observed that the liquid is strongly attracted by the clay, 
 or, more strictly speaking, so combines with the clay as to require an intense 
 heat for its total elimination. It has been stated that sandy substances make an 
 easy channel for the water to pass from molecule to molecule, thus securing to 
 all parts an equal density. Now, to the end that the desiccation of the largest 
 pieces may be effected uniformly and without cracking, care must be taken to 
 diminish the density at the centre ; because, if the outside density did not 
 exceed the inner, the evaporation of water must naturally proceed more 
 slowly at the centre, the clays would from the first remain in an unavoidable 
 state of lumpishness, and a separation of their molecules must ensue. 
 
 Rapid drying gives rise to another serious defect : the work becomes coated 
 superficially with a dry thick crust impervious to internal moisture ; and thus 
 appears dry when only partially so. The result is that the imprisoned water, 
 constrained in the furnace to evaporate by the high temperature, acquires an 
 
Introduction, 7 
 
 clastic force sufficient not only to crack the piece that contains it, but even to 
 split it to fragments. This is the reason why Boni adheres to the system 
 of applying the paste in small pieces to the moulds, and leaving spaces at 
 intervals ; thus endeavouring to obtain an equal, slow, and thorough expulsion 
 of the water from the modelled paste. For this reason, having studied the 
 proportions of the disjunctive materials, he finds it needful to protect his works 
 from the direct and too forcible action of the wind, and to watch that they be 
 always accessible to the steady and beneficial influence of heat and light. 
 
 Thus the pieces withdrawn from the moulds are dried in the calm open 
 air, if small at the stove, if bulky at the furnace. To effect this, a large board 
 is set up on an inclined plane, under which is fixed a vessel of sheet-iron to 
 carry off the heated air and the products of that combustion which is regulated 
 in the stove. 
 
 By these contrivances the large pieces are almost always preserved from 
 cracking, because the paste, being of uniform substance throughout every atom of 
 it, submits to the same conditions, and undergoes equally the shrinking process, 
 the upper portions gravitating infallibly though lightly on the lower. 
 
 So soon as the moulded objects have attained the due degree of dryness, 
 they are polished by hand and consigned to the furnace, where the burning is 
 effected by means of combustibles calculated to emit flame. 
 
 The fireplace is fitted with a roof on which are arranged the pieces to be 
 burnt ; and the flames ascend amongst them by means of many apertures 
 pierced in the roof itself ; wherefore combustibles which burn with a long- 
 sustained flame are to be chosen even though inferior in point of heat. In the 
 Milanese workshops wood is the fuel preferred on economic grounds. 
 
 Yet all this care in drying and firing would fail to ensure solidity to the 
 work, if the conditions essential for obtaining perfect homogeneity and com- 
 pactness of the earths were not first observed. In ceramic pastes two kinds of 
 homogeneity must be aimed at : one of parts, the other of masses. The first 
 consists in equality of nature, uniformity of volume, invariableness of density, 
 
8 
 
 Introduction. 
 
 in each constituent of the paste ; and is attained by working, by kneading, by 
 sifting, finally by mixing the ingredients already finely pulverized. The 
 second, and more important, results from an uniform blending of the dissolved 
 earths ; so that the inevitable modifications produced by desiccation and 
 burning may affect alike every portion of the mass, which renders it highly 
 advisable that, before moulding, the earths be subjected to much kneading with 
 hands and feet. 
 
 A paste, not thoroughly homogeneous, fails to sustain equally in all parts 
 the influence of heat. Hence neither judicious choice and just balance of in- 
 gredients, nor washings, grindings, mixings, slow desiccation, will suffice : to 
 render the paste homogeneous, mastery of molecular forces must be secured. 
 Homogeneity is a final result brought about by minute processes carried on 
 through a lengthened period. It is therefore indispensable that vast depots be 
 formed, where the excavated materials, before being reduced to a paste, may 
 undergo at leisure atmospheric influences, and where large masses of the damp 
 paste may remain for some years so as truly to rot, to give scope, that is, to the 
 daily internal motions of the molecules themselves, before undergoing moulding 
 or modelling, and being exposed to the action of fire. 
 
 On these conditions only can terra-cottas modelled in relief attain, from an 
 industrial point of view, their perfection. 
 
 The way in which terra-cottas were introduced into walls was not unlike 
 that commonly used for inserting stone, marble, corbels, and jambs of stone. It 
 is evident that the general skeleton of the wall was first constructed, keeping 
 some bricks protruding, so that afterwards the casts, figures, heads, cornices, 
 and such like, might be introduced into the interstices left between brick and 
 brick out of the redundant material beyond the substance of the wall itself. 
 Such pieces, if flat or slightly salient, were fixed in simply with lime and plaster ; 
 at the most, for greater strength, hooks of iron or mere nads were used. Large 
 blocks were secured in the same way as corbels or stone cornices : they took, 
 however, the precaution to hollow out by hand such figures as required to be 
 
Introduction. 
 
 9 
 
 fixed to the bricks that jutted beyond the wall-level ; sometimes also in order to 
 lighten them, or to promote the uniform burning of large pieces, such as large 
 heads and statues. The utmost care to strengthen them was bestowed on the 
 first rows of cornices, and on such architectural members as had to sustain 
 others ; these upper portions, on the contrary, being borne by the lower and 
 fixed to the wall as best might be without any extreme care, but never made 
 salient by excessive or abrupt protrusion. They are always graduated and 
 pitched, so that rain-water may never flow down behind, but invariably along, 
 their front. Here in Italy, through the sudden changes of temperature, frost 
 will soon split the hardest marbles ; nevertheless, although these terra-cottas are 
 not attached to the wall in a very elaborate fashion, yet in consequence of the 
 builder's precautions to prevent water standing on them, they appear little in- 
 jured by frost. 
 
 No better evidence can be produced of the uniform care employed in the 
 kneading and burning of the clay, than the rarity of inequalities or discolorations 
 to be discerned in it. 
 
 V. OTTOLINI. 
 
 Milan., January, 1867. 
 
 D 
 
Plate i. 
 
 SANTA EUFEMIA, AT PA VIA. 
 
 S the present work aims at supplying architects and manufacturers, 
 students and amateurs, with a series of specimens of terra-cotta, 
 commencing with simple and proceeding to more elaborate forms, 
 and gives examples from the remotest date down to the latest mediaeval 
 period, it seems well to devote our first plate to the representation of the apse 
 of the Church of Santa Eufcmia, Pavia, of which the architecture is both 
 the oldest (I assign it to the eleventh century) and the simplest. Of this style, 
 known throughout Italy as the Gothic-Lombard, the name seems to me in- 
 correct and merely local. The style has its own exclusive characteristics, is 
 referable to the dark ages and the medieval period, and reached its full 
 development merely in the valley of the Po; and as I hold the principles of 
 this architectural school to have been imported from the East by Constantino- 
 politan (Byzantine) artists, then modified according to the fashion or fancy of 
 the architects who established themselves here, and lastly cultivated and reduced 
 to system by their disciples, so to my thinking this style should rather be 
 named the Byzantine-Lombard. We know that the early Christians aimed 
 at imparting to their churches and other buildings a character unlike that of 
 the Pagan temples ; and thus they evolved a system of architectural decoration 
 which accorded with the religious ideas and gravely simple rites of those times ; 
 the Ecclesiastical services then observed in the valley of the Po (Lombardy) 
 being fashioned according to the Greek model, of which a proof survives in 
 the famous Ambrosian ritual ; all which bears out my theory that this archi- 
 tectural style was based on notions imported from Greece in the Middle Ages. 
 
 It is usual in Italy to call the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries the epoch 
 of the Renaissance; a term applied in France to the sixteenth century. It 
 
Santa Eufetnia, at Pavia. 
 
 [Plate i. 
 
 seems to me, however, that no defined age of renaissance can be indicated ; 
 a point illustrated by our present scries of plates, which reproduce in obvious 
 gradations of progress a succession of buildings from the eleventh to the 
 fifteenth century. Still we cannot avoid recognising a distinct period of decay 
 during the ascendancy of that so-called barocco or rococo school, which flourished 
 in the sixteenth and throughout the seventeenth centuries. 
 
 Our first plate represents a style of architecture of the utmost imaginable 
 simplicity, which yet pleases the eye by varied lines of different heights and 
 thicknesses, whether intersecting, straight, or curved ; and produces an outline, 
 pictorial and justly pyramidal in its proportion. Monotony also is avoided, and 
 the general design is rendered more intelligible by the little interruptions of 
 alternating bricks and stones. 
 
 Since the classic architecture of Greece and Rome was after all but of man's 
 invention, the veneration in which it is held by many architects who accept 
 the precepts of Vitruvius and Vignola as gospel appears to me exaggerated. 
 When I behold an architecture as logical and rational as this of ours I re- 
 spect it in its simplicity no less than the simple Doric order of Vignola; 
 indeed, whilst as a whole it looks well and is impressed with the venerable 
 character suitable to a religious edifice, it does in fact, under circumstances 
 apparently far less favourable, affect the soul far more deeply. 
 
 Behind the choir of Santa Euphemia lies an ascending path little more than 
 a yard wide, along which the edifice is gradually approached and seen point by 
 point, each successive point coming into view and vanishing in its turn : the 
 perspective lines appear peculiarly oblique and inclined ; the cupola is altogether 
 hidden, yet the effect on the mind is not hereby lessened but rather heightened 
 into sombre awe and an inexpressible religiousness. That interminable array 
 of bricks, those arches which sustain the cornices, appear grand when seen few 
 at a time and near : there arises an expectation of vastness, of further portions 
 yet to come of the entire edifice ; and as one pursues this narrow path surprise 
 augments, and the building seems to exceed its actual standard of grandeur 
 and complication. Those edifices are to be admired which show forth their 
 appropriate character equally when seen close at hand and from afar. 
 
 F. LOSE. 
 
2. 
 
Plate 2. 
 
 SAN PIETRO IN CIEL D'ORO, PA VIA. 
 
 HE building of this church is attributed to the Lombard king 
 Agilulph in 604. Chroniclers however, copying one from the 
 other, agree in asserting that King Liutprand, in 723, translated 
 thither from Sardinia, with splendid pomp and at a heavy expense, the body of 
 S. Augustine, and deposited it in the magnificent white marble shrine which 
 now adorns the cathedral of Pavia, whither it was transported 1 799. In San 
 Pietro in Ciel d'Oro was also placed the urn of Sevcrinus Boethius, put to 
 death by Theodoric at no great distance from this spot, which urn was likewise 
 removed to the above-named cathedral. 
 
 The vault of the principal apse of this basilica was gilded after the fashion 
 of the Byzantine artists ; and hence was derived the name of San Pietro in 
 Ciel d'Oro (S. Peter in a Canopy or Heaven of Gold). The body of this church 
 was ceiled with timber, and portions of the ancient beams yet remain. The 
 vaulting was probably constructed in the fourteenth century, at which period 
 most of the ancient unfinished basilicas were vaulted. 
 
 Selvatico in his Storia delF EsUtica mentions that Liutprand caused this 
 church to be magnificently decorated, in order to profit by the ability of the 
 numerous Byzantine artists, who had left their native land to escape the wrath 
 of Leo the Isaurian during the rage of the Iconoclasts. 
 
 We have narrated what legends and chroniclers tell us concerning this 
 basilica ; yet there survives no historic record of aught that befel it from its 
 foundation down to the year 1 133, when it was consecrated by Pope Innocent II. 
 This fact may raise a doubt whether the church was reconstructed in the 
 eleventh century, or at the beginning of the twelfth, an opinion well worthy 
 of consideration. 
 
 E 
 
I a San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro, Pavia. [Plate 2. 
 
 The ancient basilica of San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro is mentioned by Dante, 
 by Boccaccio, and by Vasari. 1 We cannot furnish any account of the interior 
 decorations of this basilica, since ignorance and superstition destroyed all traces 
 of them, chipping away and erasing the very sculptured capitals that adorned 
 its piers, because they were supposed to be heathen symbols. It is certain, 
 however, that there were fine moulded sculptures; and that, originally, the 
 whole, even to the relief of the capitals, was painted. It possesses an ancient 
 doorway, which, together with the string-courses of the windows, and the cross 
 vaulting (' croce vuota '), appear to be of a calcareous stone less compact than 
 sandstone. Here and there are scattered various holy-water basins differing 
 in size and colour. Around the octangular cupola runs a loggia or gallery for 
 use on a small scale, supported by the usual small columns. 
 
 Of old there must undoubtedly have stood, in front of the building, a vestibule 
 or narthex, as was the case with all important basilicas. This is proved by the 
 small columns, which jut out beside the front buttresses, adorned with capitals, 
 and supporting an arch of bricks built together, not to speak of the trace of an 
 arch traversing the same loggia, and still visible on the outside of the buttress, 
 which contains the staircase by which you ascend to the small loggia of the front. 
 
 In the fourteenth century this church was leaded over to render the roof 
 water-tight. Some years ago an ignorant bishop, fearful least the church might 
 fall, caused the right aisle to be pulled down, and ceased from the work of 
 destruction only when the master-mason represented to him how vain it was 
 to squander money on knocking down walls which time itself had failed to 
 shake. Yet still from what remains may be discerned how the wear and tear 
 of years have told less upon the terra-cotta than upon the stone here and there 
 built in with it, although the climate of Pavia, even when compared with 
 the rest of Lombardy, is specially damp and foggy. O. 
 
 * Dante, alluding 10 the soul ofBoe'thius, writes: And so Boccaccio in the tenth day of the • Deea- 
 
 .Locorpoond'ellafucacciata.giace 'Already in the church of San Ketto to CM 
 
 Giuso in Cieldauro, et essa da martiro d'°ro, « Pavia, had been depos.ted Messer Torello, &c. 
 
 E da esilio venne a questa pace.' Vasari, in hi. -Life of Girolamo da Carp,, mention 
 having seen ' a very beautiful book of antiquities, drawn 
 
 • That body whence her violent decease m(3surcd by the hand of Bramantino,' and to have 
 
 She made, Cieldauro covers ; and she ran thoK ia - %ns , , he cWh of Sa „ p ktr0 in 
 
 From pangs and exile into th' endless peace.' ^ d , 0ro j( 
 Paradise, ex. Cayley's translation. 
 
Central portion of the Spire at Chiaravalle. 
 
 4. 
 
Plates 3 & 4. 
 
 ABBEY OF CHIARA VALLE, NEAR MILAN. 
 
 Plate 3. 
 
 N the year of grace 1135, on the 22nd ot January, this monastery 
 was founded in honour of the visit to Milan, in the previous year, 
 of Saint Bernard, abbot of Clairvaux. In 122 1 this church was 
 consecrated by Don Enrico, archbishop of Milan, on the 2nd of May, and 
 dedicated to S. Mary of Chiaravallc. An inscription to this effect in Latin, 
 placed between the church and cloister, fixes the date of the foundation of 
 both the monastery and church of Chiaravalle. 
 
 They stand amidst fat pastures and fertile fields, rendered such by the Cis- 
 tercian monks, who ranked amongst the first to reclaim the Milanese marsh- 
 lands by drainage. Of old this territory was called Rovegnano : subsequently 
 it was named after S. Bernard's Monastery of Clairvaux, in Champagne, 
 where his new order of friars had their first establishment. This Italian abbey 
 by little and little became greatly enriched, both by means of numerous legacies 
 from noble Milanese families and through the agricultural skill of the monks' ; 
 so that, in the thirteenth century, the community owned above 64,000 perches 
 of land. The arms of the order were a stork holding in its beak a crosier and 
 a mitre between its feet. In this renowned abbey Archbishop Ottone Visconti 
 lived longwhile and died. Here the flower of the Milanese nobility welcomed 
 Beatrice d'Este as the bride of Galeazzo Visconti, and Cassone Torriani was 
 made archbishop. The monastery was suppressed in 1798. 
 
i6 
 
 Abbey of Chiaravalle, near Milan. [Plates 3 & 4. 
 
 An irregular enclosure shuts in the abbey and the remains of the convent. 
 The church is of Gothic architecture ; the facade was in great part destroyed 
 in the seventeenth century. The summit of its octagonal cupola commands an 
 extensive and beautiful view. The church is spacious and grand, and some 
 of its walls are covered with frescoes defaced by time. The choir is superb 
 with its marvellous carvings. To the right is a great staircase, at the summit 
 of which is a fresco by Bernardino Luini. Behind the choir, to the left, is a 
 small rectangular cemetery, girt by a low wall ; and round about stand little 
 mortuary cells in the Gothic style, in each of which stood the monument of 
 some distinguished family, as appears from the portraits, coats of arms and 
 mottoes painted or sculptured there. Few of these cells now remain, and even 
 these ill-preserved and ill-restored. Amongst such relics are still found certain 
 gravestones of the Torriani ; particularly those of Pagano and Martino della 
 Torre, captains of the Milanese people in the thirteenth century. There is also 
 a painting representing Manfredo Archinti before the Blessed Virgin, and the 
 notorious heretic Wilhelmina (d. 1282). 
 
 Wherever the Carthusians founded a monastery of their order, their rule 
 was to give to the church which had to be built the very same arrangements 
 and character as belonged to the first church they raised. There were rules for 
 the elevation of the cupola which served also as campanile, for the opening of 
 the windows, for the direction to be followed from east to west, for the spot to be 
 occupied by each altar ; and many more into which we need not here enter. 
 In the ancient duchy of Milan are several of these Carthusian convents, and 
 their contiguous churches all resemble one another in style. Yet the Certosa of 
 Chiaravalle exceeds the others in grandeur : the cupola-campanile, which in the 
 sister churches is of very simple construction, in this is most elegant and in- 
 genious. The solidity of its structure is admirable : it rests on four pointed 
 arches only, which at a certain height support the cupola with its tower or 
 campanile. 
 
 As seen in our Plate (3), the decoration of this campanile is architectural 
 rather than ornamental, such decoration consisting merely of the small cornice 
 arches. The means adopted for sustaining the lofty centre of the campanile 
 are ingenious and worthy of remark : parallel with the sides of the actual cam- 
 
Plates 3 & 4.] Abbey of Chiaravalle, near Milan. 
 
 *7 
 
 panile, two walls were raised at a certain distance and of divers altitudes, to form 
 a sort of scarp or abutment of central support to the campanile ; and thus, 
 whdst solidity was secured, a graceful outline was produced, slim and pyramidal, 
 111 two divisions with steps ; and as a great part of these little arches is so 
 pierced that the sky shows through them, much beauty and elegance are 
 added to the campanile. This edifice, or rather this spire, has several times 
 been restored ; not altogether, but as regards decorations, cornices, parapets, 
 &c, because frost and heat frequently displace the bricks. When last restored 
 it was bound with iron girders to avert possible future ruin. Through a like 
 precaution, about the year 1500, the four ancient arches of the church were 
 reinforced by a flying buttress to strengthen the piers. 
 
 Detail! of Cornices, Arcades, Arches, etc., in the Abbey of Chiara'valle. 
 
 This church, both within and without, displays great simplicity of struc- 
 ture. The columns and arches of the interior are of terra-cotta bricks, now 
 whitewashed, the bases and capitals only excepted. 
 
 Anyone viewing this and similar churches must feel that their style, which 
 has been named Lombardo-Byzantine, is admirably suited to sacred edifices 
 characterized as it is by grand simplicity, sufficiency of decoration, and solidity ; 
 all these seeming to express the primitive simplicity of Christianity in those 
 first ages from which we have so far diverged. The interior has been ruined 
 and defaced by whitewash : some of the ' barocco ' chapels are, however, very 
 pretty, and have on their walls and ceilings fine paintings, by good masters, 
 of the seventeenth century. The cupola is painted in compartments and skil- 
 fully adorned with pleasing colours, in the taste and style of the fourteenth 
 century. 
 
1 8 Abbey of Chiaravalle, near Milan. [Plates 3 & 4. 
 
 G. L. Calvi, 1 towards the beginning of his life of Francesco Pecorori, 
 architect, alluding to the impulse given to architecture about the end of 
 
 Details of Cornices, Arcades, Arclies, etc., in the Abbey of Chiaravalle. 
 
 the thirteenth century by the Torriani and Matteo Visconti, thinks it not 
 unlikely that this architect — the same who built the tower of San Gottardo at 
 Milan — may also have designed the campanile of the abbey of Chiaravalle. 
 
 1 Notizic sulk Vita c sulle Opere dei principali raccokc ed esposte da Girolamo Luigi Calvi. Milano, 
 Architctti, Scukori e Pictori che fiorirono in Milano 1859 c 1866. 
 durante il governo dci Visconti e degli Sforza, ecc. ecc, 
 
Plates 3 & 4. j Abbey of Chiaravalle, near Milan. 
 
 19 
 
 The facade of the church was altered after 1600, when the not ungainly 
 portico was constructed, which still remains. If it were wished to carry out the 
 primitive design, so as to convey some idea of what the building must have been 
 in its first completeness, one might substitute for the actual facade that of the 
 church of Morimondo, where the Carthusians installed themselves almost 
 simultaneously with their brethren of Chiaravallc. 
 
 O. 
 
BE 
 
 Plates 5 & 6. 
 
 THE CHURCH AND CAMPANILE OF SAN GOTTARDO, 
 IN MILAN. 
 
 N the ruins of the church of San Giovanni al Fonte, a very ancient 
 baptistery for males according to the rite of the Milanese church, 
 Azzo Visconti, lord of Milan, erected the church of San Gottardo, 
 adjacent to the royal palace. Of this church there now remain only the terra- 
 cotta apse behind the choir, and the very fine campanile. (See Plates 5, 6.) 
 
 The chronicler Fiamma, who lived soon after Azzo, thus describes it : 
 ' This magnificent chapel is enclosed by lofty walls, and roofed by three vaults ; 
 and possesses admirable pictures in gold and azure, 1 of a marvellous workman- 
 ship. In the principal chapel, where stands the high altar, are screens made 
 of metals and gems. There are portrayed sundry incidents of the life of the 
 Madonna ; and there are some wonderful windows ; nor do all the kingdoms 
 of the world contain a more wonderful work. The choir is wainscoted with 
 finely-wrought ivory, and contains two pulpits, great and high, also of ivory ; 
 a sight stupendous to behold. Many altars are there ornamented with gold 
 and silk, and other things, such as cannot be fully recounted or described.' 
 
 This same Fiamma thus writes of the campanile of San Gottardo : ' At 
 one side of the church is built the campanile of terra-cotta, adorned from 
 summit to base with small marble columns, which give great delight to the 
 gazer.' 
 
 On this tower was placed the first clock which struck the hours in Milan, 
 and the contiguous Via delle Ore derived from it the name which it still bears. 2 
 
 1 It is presumable that these pictures were by Giotto ; d'Horlogerie) and by Dubois (Histoire de l'Horlogerie) ; 
 in fact, Vasari writes that, in 1333, Giotto was already though they agree in assigning priority of date to the 
 painting in Milan. dock invented in 1324 by the English Benedictine 
 
 2 The first mechanical clock was erected in Padua ; Wallingfbrd. 
 an opinion held also by Moinet (Nouveau Traite General 
 
2 2 
 
 The Church and Campanile [Plates 5 & 6. 
 
 Both the church and the tower of San Gottardo represent to us fairly how 
 architecture flourished in those days, especially in Upper Italy. 
 
 Hope, in his ' Historical Essay on Architecture,' describes this tower as 
 
 Details of Tower oj San Gotlarda. 
 
 ' entirely woven over with small columns, some supported by its body, others 
 projecting on brackets, all crowned by round-headed arches.' But whoever 
 studies this building attentively finds much more than this ; besides various 
 
Plates 5 & 6.] 
 
 of San Got tar do, in Milan. 
 
 23 
 
 lessons in the aesthetics of the art, he derives from it valuable practical hints as 
 to the suitable employment of terra-cotta. 
 
 During five centuries this tower has braved the inclemency of the seasons 
 without incurring noticeable traces of decay, although it has not been repaired 
 tor so long a time that weeds grew freely upon it, which, insinuating between 
 the chinks their thread-like roots and suckers, by little and little do serious 
 damage to buildings. And beyond this it must be remembered that Lombardy, 
 and especially Milan, surrounded as it is by an involved network of canals and 
 by immense meadow-lands artificially irrigated at all seasons, is subject in late 
 autumn and in winter to dense and persistent fogs. In spite of these, terra- 
 cotta ornaments, even such as are elaborately wrought and projecting with 
 delicate workmanship, have not been at all injured in consequence. The 
 
 Details of Tower oj San Goltanlo. Tiles of Conical Roof San Gottarda. 
 
 architect, mistrusting perhaps the resisting power of terra-cotta against stress 
 of wind, snowfall, fogs, hail, prolonged spring rains, fiery dog-days of summer, 
 took care to furnish the tower windows with stone coigns ; a vain precaution, 
 since careful inspection of these windows reveals that the stone rather than 
 the terra-cotta has suffered, however slightly, from the assaults of time. 
 
 This admirable solidity is owing to excellence of material and to scrupulous 
 care in adjusting the bricks. Several writers have noticed the skill with which, 
 in those days, bricks were arranged and fixed ; the cement used for binding 
 them together was of quicklime mixed with very fine sand taken from the 
 river bed. This lime was dissolved in plenty of water, so as to flow in a thin 
 
24 
 
 "The Church and Campanile 
 
 [Plates 5 & 6. 
 
 liquid upon the various strata of bricks, forming itself so slight a stratum that 
 the scam between the bricks is now barely discernible. 
 
 These bricks, as has been noticed by the brothers Sacchi, 1 were of varying 
 form and structure, according to the different parts of the edifice in which 
 they were placed. In rectilineal parts the dimensions of each brick were about 
 one foot in length, three inches in depth, and six in breadth. When circular 
 walls were in question, each brick presented a proportional part of an arch, 
 
 San Guitar Jo. Arcade on Fourth Story of San Gottarjo. 
 
 Pillar] resting on projecting Bracket], 
 
 more or less curved according to the expansion of the wall's circle. If those 
 long string-courses, which from base to roof decorated the outside of the apses, 
 were composed of bricks or of sandstone, these were then shaped to three- 
 quarters of a circle. As to the order of their position in walls, the usual 
 method was adhered to, of placing the centre of one brick above the junction 
 of the two immediately below it. 
 
 Antichita romamiche d' Italia. Milano, 1828. 
 
Plates 5 & 6.] of San Gottardo, in Milan. 
 
 25 
 
 The name of the architect of the church and campanile of San Gottardo 
 and of other fine buildings erected by order of Azzo Visconti, remained long 
 unknown. In our own day, Signor G. L. Calvi, a learned and diligent writer 
 on media;val art, 1 has succeeded in discovering ' a slab anciently inserted in the 
 wall towards the base of the tower;' a slab on which, 'although coated by 
 repeated whitewashings,' he was able to decipher, 1 Magister Franciscus de 
 Pecoraris dc Cremona fecit hoc opus.' 
 
 It is to be deplored that the contiguous royal palace, by a barbarous 
 decree of the Spanish governor Ponze de Leon, has been defaced by a certain 
 Ambrogio Pessina, who substituted for the fine Lombardic style a clumsy 
 nondescript, destroying the noble windows of terra-cotta. This palace was 
 finally modernised by order of the Austrian Archduke Ferdinand, after designs 
 by Piermarini. 
 
 The magnificent sepulchral monument which enclosed the remains of 
 Azzo Visconti, was broken to pieces at the rebuilding of the church of San 
 Gottardo, but the fragments were preserved in Milan by the noble family of 
 Trivulzi. O. 
 
 1 Notizie sulla Vita e sulle Opere dei principali Scukori Visconti e degli Sforza, raccolte ed esposte da G. L. 
 c Pittori che fiorirono in Milano durante il governo dei Calvi. Milano, 1 859. 
 
 H 
 
Window in the. front of the Carmine. 
 
 10 
 
ill 111 111 
 
 Campanile of the Church of the Carmine. 
 
 11 
 
Plates 7, 8, 9, 10 & 11. 
 
 THE CHURCH OF SANTA MARIA DEL CARMINE, PA VIA. 
 
 ? t ? 
 
 LL writers who have treated of this church agree as to the excellent 
 materials used in building it. Amongst them Malaspina of Sannazaro, 
 in his Guide to Pavia, 1 speaks thus : ' The church of the Carmine 
 is avast edifice, erected in 1373 ; and although belonging to the then dominant 
 style commonly termed Gothic, as is proved by its long narrow aisles and 
 pointed arches, yet as it is exempt from insignificant and obtrusive details, and 
 is graced with grand and harmonious proportions, the result is a majestic and 
 impressive church ; and this, through the excellence of its material, which is 
 indeed terra-cotta, but being smooth and joined with a very small portion of 
 first-rate lime, endures almost as if it were formed of hewn stone.' 
 
 Thus we have a fresh proof that, sound rules being observed, brick wears 
 better than certain qualities of stone. In the structure of this church the 
 sculptures jut out very noticeably, and are carefully wrought with such surface 
 inequalities as impart salience to those points which should catch the eye and 
 produce effect. The number of figures surrounding the great rose-window in 
 the centre of the facade (see Plate 9), as also of those surrounding the windows 
 and door-jambs, is great; their arrangement is complicated; and they are 
 composed of countless bricks ; yet so neatly joined and polished are the figures, 
 and so gracefully rounded, as to appear each of a single block. 
 
 Pavia, 1 8 19. 
 
28 The Church of Santa Maria del Carmine, Pavia. [Plates 7 to ii. 
 
 The same admirable perfection of work is found in other monuments ot 
 those times; which renders it probable that the masons, after placing the bricks 
 one by one, must have mounted up to them to give the last polish and 
 finishing touches. On no other supposition can we explain the high finish of 
 their workmanship ; nor can we in any case understand why they preferred thus 
 putting together so many small pieces, instead of, according to modern practice, 
 availing themselves of larger blocks. 
 
 The remains of the church of the Carmine, the sides and the campanile 
 
 Side WindvUI in Wtst Front of St. M. M Carmine, Pavia. 
 
 (see annexed Plates 7 to 1 1), form a grand and colossal whole. Compared w ith 
 the facade, the sides appear little decorated ; thick walls and strong piers and 
 abutments sustain the thrust of the internal arcades, the whole being constructed 
 of an enormous quantity of bricks : the cornices are few ; here and there 
 appears a niche, or an isolated coat of arms. Yet this imposing mass, with its 
 ancient dusky-red tint, fails not to produce the effect of grandeur, severity, and 
 mystery, proper to a place of worship : thus the architecture accords with the 
 material, and the material with the architecture. 
 
Plates 7 to ii.] The Church of Santa Maria del Carmine, Pavia. 29 
 
 Nor must such marked simplicity of structure be attributed to mean 
 economy or paucity of ideas : it seems to have been designed purely with a view- 
 to effect; for close examination of the edifice reveals that, in its construction, 
 endless repetitions were eschewed, whilst, on due occasion, variety was aimed at. 
 Thus we recognise a variety of figures in the small capitals, and especially in 
 the little brackets which support the small cornice-arches ; whilst, from time 
 to time, the cornices themselves are interrupted with the sole object of breaking 
 the monotony of continuity. 
 
 This style of architecture is effective, whether a view of the edifice 
 be commanded from an extensive open place ; or whether, as is the case with 
 this church, its sides or back be blocked up amongst houses or narrow streets. 
 If looked at from below upwards, and close at hand, the perspective lines 
 diverge and vary, whilst the piers and walls assume gigantic proportions. 
 
 The majority of ancient churches were, at a later period, whitewashed or 
 rebuilt ; so that it is exceptional to find one which, like this of the Carmine at 
 Pavia, retains its original inner structure of uncoated brick. This structure 
 is very simple, consisting of three aisles ; massive columns, of about ninety 
 centimetres in diameter, support semicircular arches, the whole composed of 
 bricks of that dark-red tint to which allusion has already been made, a tint 
 characteristic of highly-baked brick ; and as the windows of this church are 
 high and few, a dim and evanescent light imparts to the interior an aspect of 
 mysterious gloom, apt to foster abstraction and meditation. Nothing distracts 
 the eye ; the whole effect culminates in the high altar raised some considerable 
 height. 
 
 The construction of the columns and round piers, all alike of brick, 
 deserves careful study, evincing as it does consummate art ; for, notwithstanding 
 their thousands of component pieces, their shape appears faultlessly cylindrical. 
 Each brick is somewhat bulky, being nine centimetres thick (high) and seventy 
 long ; and so neatly are they fitted and joined together, that it is only on very 
 close inspection that the joints become distinguishable, and not even so much 
 as the point of a penknife can be inserted between brick and brick. Yet, to 
 study these piers and columns thoroughly, one must needs dismember them, at 
 least partially, piece from piece. 
 
3<3 The Church of Santa Maria del Carmine, Pavia. [Plates 7 to n. 
 
 Wc have said, and we repeat it — the artists of those times knew how to 
 stamp on each building its special and distinctive character. In general, 
 therefore, they were not prone to using in their decorations coloured fillets, or 
 marble, or any other ornament producing harsh contrast, or likely to break the 
 tone or design of the decoration : thus they preserved to sacred architecture its 
 grave, solemn, and religious character. It was in houses, palaces, secular 
 buildings, that they gave loose to fancy, lavishing on these paintings, coloured 
 fillets, marbles, &c. &c, to divert the eye by an agreeable variety. 
 
 The tower or campanile of the Carmine at Pavia (Plate 11) exemplifies 
 this principle, being 'treated as a structure independent of the church, and 
 rearing its comely head above the city. Being designed to be seen from afar, 
 greater variety and brilliancy have been bestowed upon it, and this effect is 
 produced by boldly contrasted colours and fillets. 
 
 To promote the erection of this church, from its very commencement 
 the produce of a tax levied on widowers contracting a second marriage was 
 assigned to it. The payment of this tax protected them from the importunity 
 of the youths who used to beset them with demands for money to be lavished 
 on feasts and merry-makings. 
 
 O. 
 
Plate 12. 
 
 THE CHURCH OF SAN FRANCESCO, IN PA VIA. 
 A PORTION OF THE FACADE. 
 
 HAVE had to represent this building by a geometrical elevation show- 
 ing the facade, in order to convey its just proportions and divisions ; 
 but, for the lovers of picturesque perspective, a far more advantageous 
 view is obtained laterally, and I should say that this is the pictorial effect aimed 
 at by the architect who designed it. The architects of those days appear, before 
 commencing a work, to have foreseen its pictorial or perspective effect ; and this 
 church, situated at the opening of long roads, presents a picturesque aspect from 
 every point of approach, and assumes an air of importance beyond what really 
 belongs to it. I would gladly have portrayed it for the sake merely of its fine 
 effect ; but have abandoned this intention in order to show, with how little cost, 
 and with what great economy, a facade may be completely decorated. The main 
 secret consists in conceiving a good composition, combining unity of idea with 
 variety of line, otherwise ornamentation the most ingenious, choice, and elaborate, 
 would fail of its effect, and be but labour lost : a risk sadly exemplified in mo- 
 dern Milan, whose architects load ornament on ornament with much pedantry 
 and hair-splitting, observing every rule of finish and precision ; in spite of which 
 their works lack effect, and fail even to command notice from passers-by. The 
 old men, on the other hand, ignored a hundred pedantries, and achieved what was 
 pictorially and scenically effective. They have indeed left us monuments of signal 
 painstaking and exactness ; yet often precision, perfect symmetry, and equality 
 of treatment were neglected ; whilst, thoroughly understanding the nature of their 
 materials, they took heed to obtain these of sound quality ; and thus their struc- 
 tures have withstood the ravages of time, as is the case with this church of San 
 
32 
 
 The Church of San Francesco-, in Pavia. [Plate 12. 
 
 Francesco, which, in spite of no special care having been bestowed on its forms, 
 and on the juncture of its bricks, yet as a whole is well preserved. And be it 
 noted, in proof of the suitability and economy of terra-cotta decorations, that 
 rich and complete as those of San Francesco appear, yet the dominant forms, 
 as of the figures, squares, rhombs, and balls, are always the same, sometimes 
 studding the cornices in straight lines, and sometimes following the curve of 
 the arches. This facade, at any rate, required to be faced with the usual 
 smooth oblong bricks, and those employed differ from the common type only 
 by change of shape ; whence it is presumable that the expense incurred for 
 material exceeded by but little the cost of ordinary bricks, and was thus 
 augmented only by the shaping-process, and the longer time it took the work- 
 man to fix each piece in its place ; a work in which, be it remembered, 
 scrupulous precision was not observed. 
 
 L. 
 
Windows from the court at the Palazzo, see B of Plan pi 13. 
 
 15. 
 
Plates 13, 14 & 15. 
 
 THE CASTLE OF PA VI A. 
 
 Plate 13. J" 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 1 
 
 HE ancient historian Breventano thus describes the Castle of Pavia 
 erected by Galeazzo Visconti : — 
 
 ' The castle or palace was one of the finest buildings to be seen in 
 those times, if the fury of the French 1 had not defaced its finest portion to- 
 wards the park by their artillery. This range of building was of capacity suffi- 
 cient to lodge the court of any king or emperor whatsoever. It is of square 
 form, and has in the midst a large courtyard commodious for the holding of 
 jousts, tournaments, and other princely games, surrounded by arcades both 
 above and below, with marble columns, and with staircases constructed in such 
 a manner that a horseman could mount to the summit. The halls and other 
 chambers, both the upper and the lower ones, are all vaulted, and almost all 
 painted with various comely histories and devices, while the ceilings were 
 coloured with finest azure, in which divers animals of gold, as lions, leopards, 
 tigers, greyhounds, setters, &c. appear to roam to and fro. On the side de- 
 stroyed by the French artillery on the 4 th September, 1537, was a vast saloon, 1 20 
 feet long by 40 wide, all decorated with admirable figure subjects, representing 
 hunting or fishing parties and jousts with various other pastimes of the dukes 
 and duchesses of this state. In the middle of this large apartment was a great 
 
 He alludes to [he then recen 
 
 damage done to Pavia in i 527 by the French, under the command of Lautrec. 
 
3 + 
 
 The Castle of Pavia. 
 
 [Plates ij to 15. 
 
 window, 20 feet wide by 24 high, with a balcony which jutted out a distance 
 of 12 feet over the moat, where, on summer evenings, the tables were con- 
 veniently laid, and enjoying the fresh breeze, the inmates took their repast to 
 the sound of gay instruments. Beneath this fine edifice all the way round are 
 double cellars : one part receiving light through windows overlooking the moat 
 which is very wide and full of water, and the other part receiving it through 
 windows facing towards the inner court. In these cellars were also the stables 
 and many handmills. 
 
 ' This palace had four great towers, but now there remain only two 
 towards the city ; the other two were broken down by the artillery of Gascon 
 Lautrec . . . .' 
 
 Breventano, after speaking of a wonderful clock placed to the right hand of 
 the castle, and of the famous library containing the precious collection of MSS. 
 formed by Petrarch, the catalogue of which is found in the Milanese Library of 
 the Brera, goes on to mention the pavements, ' lozenged in divers colours as if 
 they were glazed.' He specifies one room, which ' was in the third tower, and 
 was called the apartment of the mirrors, because the whole of its vaulted ceiling 
 was covered with glass squares as large as the palm of a hand, all of varied 
 colours, like those which are seen in churches, figured after the similitude of 
 men, beasts, plants, and flowers, wrought of gold ; and which, when smitten 
 by the sun's rays, gave back such clearness and splendour as dazzled the sight. 
 The floor of this beautiful room was all of Mosaic, and around it were great 
 stalls for sitting, all inlaid at the back as high as a man's hand would reach.' . . . 
 
 Of this magnificent dwelling, now degraded to a barrack, there remain no 
 more than two great towers and some fragments of the arcades. It would seem 
 that this castle was from time to time enlarged and embellished. The above- 
 quoted Breventano speaks in fact of one large saloon erected by a duke of 
 Milan ; a saloon, 1 20 feet long by 24 wide, constructed ' for matches at pal- 
 lone (ball) and other games in the rainy season.' . . . Amongst the artists 
 summoned to adorn this castle, Calvi 1 names the sculptor and architect, 
 Bernardino of Venice. 
 
 Calvi, cp cii. 
 
Plates 13 to 15]. 
 
 The Castle of Pavia. 
 
 35 
 
 The three facades of the quadrangle with arcades are differently decorated ; 
 they present, that is, on one side, windows of one style, on another side of 
 another, and on the third of a third. They are ascribed to the fourteenth 
 century, and arc a medley of Gothic and Bramantesque. These arcades 
 and windows are very grand. In the illustrations which we give of them 
 (Plates 14, 15) we perceive how large a proportion of the ornament is constructed 
 of terra-cotta ; only the columns, the capitals, and a few cornices are of stone ; 
 the fillets and the imitation marbles are, after the fashion of those times, painted 
 in fresco with very bright colours, to counteract the excessive preponderance 
 and uniformity of tint in the terra-cotta. In those days certain very beautiful 
 colours, of which the secret is lost to us, were employed in fresco painting ; 
 amongst them yellow and green, as shown in the annexed illustrations. These 
 colours produce a good effect ; but it must not be supposed that all such things 
 were executed with extraordinary care and precision ; they were, on the con- 
 trary, coarsely treated, as, for instance, human figures, animals, flowers, &c. 
 All was calculated for the coup d'oeil, for optical and (so to speak) theatrical 
 effect : here and there a point shows carelessness, with but slight connection and 
 finish of workmanship. This last, indeed, was not required, for as the windows 
 and decorations were high above the spectator, greater finish would have been 
 labour thrown away. 
 
 It is noticeable that there remain many highly finished monuments in terra- 
 cotta, dating from 1200 to 1500, and of these several are treated pictorially and 
 with striking scenic effect. Terra-cotta may advantageously be employed in 
 lieu of stone both for cheapness, and because the art of modelling gives the artist 
 scope to work with greater freedom, and to reproduce the ideas dictated by fancy, 
 just as the painter does with his brush. The public for the most part is satis- 
 fied with the general effect, and goes no further tow ards weighing whether all is 
 finished and precise, but rather enjoys a sketch vigorous, harmonious, and of 
 decided effect. The decorations of the Castle of Pavia are almost all in a state of 
 dilapidation ; scarcely a window can be found of which the ornaments remain 
 complete : the colouring, indeed, is no longer recognisable by a common eye. 
 The artist w ho produced the annexed plates of the Castle of Pavia, under- 
 went such eye-training in the study of similar objects, patiently retracing every 
 
36 
 
 The Castle of Pavia. 
 
 [Plates 13 to 15. 
 
 mark, every shade, every hint of colour, every scratch, that he oftentimes suc- 
 ceeded in recovering what formerly existed. From their present dilapidated con- 
 dition we can form but a faint idea of the beauty of such edifices when newly 
 erected. We now behold them partially in ruins, shorn of cornices, their 
 windows blockcd-up, and paintings effaced or removed, and marred by subse- 
 quent blundering additions to the first design ; in a word, deficient in parts, or 
 w ith parts incongruous with the original plan. To this must be added accu- 
 mulation of dirt, ornaments hidden here and there by mud, extensive oxida- 
 tion, and the consequent blackening effect of the atmosphere, all together veil- 
 ing the general aspect ot ancient edifices with a dusky grey tint. With the 
 object, therefore, of more faithfully representing those monuments, which this 
 work aims at illustrating, the artist has in a measure recreated them, restoring 
 them partially, though only so far as their original aspect can be inferred from 
 what remains ; whilst, jealous for the truth, he seeks to preserve to whatever 
 monument he depicts, a certain antique tone, in order to prevent it from ap- 
 pearing an altogether new building. 
 
 O. 
 
V 
 
 if) 
 
 ■ 
 ■ 
 
19 
 
Plates i 6 to 22. 
 
 FACADE WINDOWS AND OTHER DETAILS OF THE 
 CATHEDRAL OF CREMA. 
 
 Scale 
 
 OF 
 
 Plate 16. 
 
 'lates 17 TO 22. 
 
 , \ ? J_ t_l__f 1 ? ? » y 
 
 , 6 12 r8 14 30 
 
 1 1 1 1 1 English feet. 
 
 _t L 
 
 alto g cther remarkable structure : ch.efly for the unusual colour of its 
 terra-cotta ; in fact, I have as yet seen no second specimen of this 
 shade of light orange colour shown in the Plate, representing a part 
 of the spire (vide Plate 24), which produces a good effect, and which^on the 
 southern exposure, subjected to the sun's blaze and frequent rain-washings 
 assumes even a brilliant surface. The fine material (terra-cotta) remains to the 
 present day m excellent preservation, and the angles are as sharp as if newly cut. 
 It .s true, indeed, that many individual bricks appear reddish, blackish, or grey • 
 and perhaps it was not possible for the clay to be cleared from every trace of 
 oxide of iron or other mineral. 
 
 The arrangement, as seen in the annexed Plate (16), is of extreme simplicity 
 yet very richly decorated. The form of the main arches and the lesser upper 
 arches nsmg and falling on their small supporting columns, evince the influe 
 
 :nce 
 
 * There is a church at Lodi Vecchio, built of bricks oxides • and not onl» wMr„ 1™. r . 
 
 of a yeUow ochreous shade. The ordinary red tin, can attaina'bi by due n Z ^ rZZ 
 be avo.ded by rejecting clays impregnated with metallic struck will Li, sparkXTflJ " 
 
3 8 Faqade Windows and other Details of the [Plates 16 to 11. 
 
 of still-powerful Byzantine tradition ; whilst the foliage, small pointed arches, 
 and other details give to the building a character such as became fully developed 
 at a later date. Whence I deduce that this church was constructed either 
 towards the end of the thirteenth or possibly at the very beginning of the 
 fourteenth century. I have failed to identify the architect, but his name matters 
 little : this unknown architect has left an enduring monument of his technical 
 science and artistic taste. Of all the edifices I know, this displays the best and 
 most careful workmanship. Close inspection is necessary to discover how much 
 precision, skill, and finish have been bestowed on those figures and that foliage, 
 which to this day remain as if newly wrought. The patterns, composed of 
 hundreds of pieces, present a surface as polished and unbroken as if cast in 
 bronze ; the desired effect being achieved by the usual means of obtaining relief, 
 exaggeration of hollows and of salient points ; as exemplified also in the church 
 of the Carmine. The outline of the windows, which looks very squat, has that 
 effect because of the introduction of numerous patterns in the jambs ; yet this 
 imperfection is modified by adding to each window two small arches supported 
 by very slight columns and producing a slim whole: thus these slim and 
 elongated forms balance the squatness, and one portion supplies the just com- 
 plement of the other. Observe how the upper windows (Plates 18, 19) have 
 been cunningly, or rather cleverly, made less squat ; and why ? because the court 
 fronting the facade is but 32 feet 6 in. in extent, and affords at best a distorting 
 view-point, whence squatness would have appeared yet more squat ; a danger 
 which the architect has met by greater lightness of the upper portion. 
 
 The variations introduced into the different windows (Plates 17, 18, 19, 30) 
 afford an additional proof that the architects of those times were endowed with 
 subtle artistic sense, and were in fact painters and poets in another medium : for 
 their edifices and decorations are the obvious channels of their fancy ; repetition 
 fatigued them ; and they endeavoured, on all occasions, to vary shapes and or- 
 naments ; their ideas were mainly their own, for they lacked the multitudinous 
 specimens and examples which have accumulated for us. Thus the meanness 
 of our achievements illustrates how potent beyond all else are true talent and 
 genuine vocation. 
 
 It would be interesting to examine both by what means the bricks have 
 
Plates 16 to 22.] Cathedral of Crema. 39 
 
 been united to form figures, &c, and also how they were wrought, &c. ; but such 
 investigations cannot be carried out, as they would entail the dismemberment 
 of a piece for the sake of seeing into or under it. From my own observation 
 of other buildings, I conclude that the methods used to secure, fix, and clench the 
 bricks differ but slightly from those employed for inserting in walls fragments 
 of stone or marble, as cornices, jambs, corbels, &c. &c. ; the wall, that is, is 
 built in zigzag, holes and recesses being left for the reception of each piece of 
 terra-cotta, and hooks and iron nails added in case of need, there being this 
 convenience attached to terra-cottas, that they can be hollowed out by hand. 
 Only in using iron care must be taken thoroughly to imbed each piece of metal, 
 as otherwise atmospheric action might cause rust and expansion to the detriment 
 of the brickwork. Mortar should be applied in thin layers, as in thick masses 
 it lacks tenacity. Plaster ('gesso') should be eschewed altogether, as no de- 
 pendence can be placed on its durability. Thus terra-cottas possess two ad- 
 vantages : first, they can be easily fixed to the wall ; and, secondly, each piece 
 can be made lighter and diminished by the chisel. 
 
 I need not point out the elegance of the portal of this church. It is formed 
 of white marble blackened by time, and is represented in our Plate 16. 
 
 L. 
 
Plates 23, 24 & 25. 
 
 CAMPANILE OF THE CATHEDRAL OF CREMA. 
 
 J t J 
 
 N the early days of the Middle Ages it was a special ambition of cities 
 and communes to possess a fine campanile. The upper part of this 
 campanile of Crema has evidently been elaborated with an eye to 
 the utmost attainable elegance and beauty in that lofty portion which is visible 
 from all points. It looks well with its openings even from a distance ; and, 
 when such structures are well tapered, they cannot fail to produce a good effect ; 
 most of all when light form, beautiful colour, and brilliant gilding are added. 
 It is one proof of talent to know how to seize every means which art affords of 
 achieving beauty. Although the free use of pointed arches might seem to 
 indicate a change of style in the direction of the Gothic, I incline to believe 
 that our architect had no intention of imitating this school : both church and 
 campanile bear witness to a style already formed and established, which I name 
 Lombard, because distinct alike from the Byzantine and from the Gothic. 
 
 Certain encircling ornaments, particularly those of the campanile windows, 
 suggest an imitation of embroidery. (Plate 25.) 
 
 L. 
 
 M 
 
Facade of the Church of St. Rustico at Caravagglo. 
 26. 
 
Plates 26 & 27. 
 
 FACADE OF THE CHURCH OF SS. FERMO E RUST/CO, 
 AT CARAVACGIO. 
 
 HAVE failed to discover who was the builder of this church. The 
 style of its architecture is very elegant, and at the same time fully 
 developed ; and as it bears no trace of cither Byzantine or Gothic 
 influence, I call it Lombard, and assign it to the fourteenth century. The 
 workmanship in marble of the well-designed entrance doorway, and the masterly 
 execution of the terra-cottas, show an advanced stage of decorative art ; whilst 
 the carving of the statues, the arrangement more complicated than is observed in 
 older buildings, the variety of line and of proportion bear witness to experience 
 and mature taste. The perspective effect produced by sloping cornices and 
 pinnacles, one rising above the other, is thoroughly picturesque and pleasing, as 
 may be judged from our Plates. In my notes on the church of San Francesco, 
 at Pavia, I have already insisted on the all-importance in building of judicious 
 design, of just proportion, and, above all, of striking perspective. This church 
 of San Rustico seen from afar is admirable for its very tapering lines ; whilst 
 a nearer leisurely inspection brings to light the high finish of its workmanship. 
 The facade was evidently not commenced and completed by the same artist ; 
 much of the lower portion, the entrance-door excepted, appears to be by a 
 different hand, as certain bricks are still visible in the wall apparently prepared 
 for an arrangement of the windows which was never carried out. 
 
 A peculiar feature of frequent occurrence in the architecture of those times 
 is a huge facade, towering in parts above the roofs of the aisles connected with 
 it, and presenting, as it were, a vast screening frontage. The idea, doubtless, 
 
44 Facade of the Church of SS. Fermo e Rustico. [Plates id & 27. 
 
 was to impart an air of magnitude to the church, but such expedients should be 
 eschewed : a sounder rule is, that outside aspect and scale should correspond 
 with internal dimensions. 
 
 The upper part of the west front is tinged with a deeper shade of red than 
 the lower, the bricks having obviously been coloured red either with varnish 
 or with oil pigment. Be it which it may, it remains in good preservation, and 
 has resisted that oxidation which mostly dyes old brick of a dark grey hue. 
 The story goes, though I vouch not for its authenticity, that this colour was 
 prepared from the blood of oxen, which, sinking into the brick, stopped up the 
 pores with a kind of enamel that kept out damp and defied oxidation. 
 
 L. 
 
. The Campanile oF St. Rustico._ Caravaggio. 
 
 28. 
 
Plate 28. 
 
 THE CAMPANILE OF SAN RUST/CO, CARAVACGIO. 
 
 l±±X±U 
 
 JEHIND the church of San Rustico stands a little church or shrine, 
 like that in the Borgo di Caravaggio, and belonging to the same order 
 of architecture, both having probably been designed by one and 
 the same architect, perhaps Giovanni Battista Battagli of Lodi, who nourished 
 about the end of the fourteenth century. Artists usually term the end of the 
 fourteenth and beginning of the fifteenth centuries the epoch of the Renaissance 
 even for architecture and its decorations; but I demur to this, recognising no 
 season of revival but one unbroken course of progress. And if they would 
 name Renaissance a return to the Greco-Roman type, I maintain that the 
 classic school awes me by no authority beyond that of the equally reasonable 
 Byzantine, Lombard, or Gothic. The Bramantesque, or Cinqueccnto style, 
 being in fact the old Greco-Roman enriched by good ideas borrowed from other 
 orders, seems to me well suited to modern Italy ; it is at once beautiful and 
 elegant, as exemplified in the facade of the Certosa of Pavia, and in many noble 
 monuments of the period. 
 
 The architect who designed this campanile, was one of those who, like 
 Bramante, reverted to the classic style. 
 
 This campanile, although its summit was never completed, deserves the 
 Plate we give of it as illustrating how such a structure may be adequately de- 
 corated by the economical use of simple brick. Had it been left plain it must 
 
 N 
 
+6 
 
 The Campanile of Sa?i Rustico, Caravaggio. [Plate 28. 
 
 equally have been built of brick ; and the cost would then scarcely have been 
 less than was actually incurred to combine four square walls with varied cor- 
 nices and sundry compartments, thus investing the entire campanile with an 
 architectural character. To unite simplicity with thrift is a far more difficult 
 task than might be imagined, as architects know to their cost ; and this 
 campanile is a fair specimen of such a combination. 
 
 L. 
 
 Wis— »— b— 
 
 —WWW" 
 
Plates 29 to 33. 
 
 THE CERTOSA AND CONVENT OF PA VIA. 
 
 } English feci. 
 
 IVE miles from Pavia, opposite the village of Torre del Mangano, on 
 the 8th September, 1396, Galeazzo Visconti, duke of Milan and 
 lord of Pavia, laid the first stone of the famous Ccrtosa of Pavia. 
 Three years later the convent was tenanted by twenty-six Carthusian monks, to 
 whom the duke assigned as endowment various neighbouring farms, which pro- 
 duced a considerable income ; charging this, however, w ith a fixed annual sum 
 devoted to carrying on the unfinished building. 
 
 It is not our purpose to give a description of this magnificent monument, 
 which the historian Guicciardini calls ' perhaps the finest monastery beyond all 
 others ;' nor or the abundant art treasures which it contains : these have already 
 been repeatedly described.' We will confine ourselves to those portions of the 
 cloister which are embellished by terra- cottas. 
 
 We think we are correct in stating that the architects who took part in 
 erecting the Certosa of Pavia belonged to that body of artists who pro- 
 fessed modern freemasonry, and which considered the individual artistic intel- 
 ligence ot each member as the common stock of all. From this society 
 proceeded technical knowledge, the fruit of long practice in the art of con- 
 
 20 30 40 50 
 
 1 See alsoL. Gruner's text to his 'Fresco-Decorations' the history of this magnificent convent is 
 (part ii. p. 49 fl.), where all that is worth knowing of 
 
48 General View of the Certosa and Convent of Pavia. [Plates 29 to 33, 
 
 struction ; secrets of solidity in building ; rules for the preparation and the use 
 of material ; mastery of the divers properties of stones, of clays, of lime, of 
 plaster, of timber, &c. In fact, in the structures of those times, the ground- 
 plan of the building, the arrangement of supporting piers, the skilfully masked 
 buttresses helping to resist the thrust of the arch, the bulge of walls, convey 
 valuable lessons. It is very exceptional for cornices or decorations formed of 
 tcrra-cotta or of bricks, to be found even at this day broken or displaced by 
 
 General Vie™ ofllie Chureli of the Certain, Perviet. 
 
 any degree of exposure to the elements ; so that, as we have already observed 
 in speaking of the tower of San Gottardo, this material has defied and still defies 
 frost, damp, dog-days, and, in one word, all sorts of bad weather. The injuries 
 sometimes suffered by such structures are traceable either to original inexact- 
 ness in fitting piece to piece, or to violent shocks which they have undergone, or 
 to the slow unceasing growth of weeds which, taking root in seams and chinks, 
 exerted a wedge-like power. Generally speaking the mortar used to unite 
 stones and bricks was so well mixed, and composed of such just proportions and 
 
Plates 29 to 33.] General Vie-w of the Certosa and Convent of Pavia. 49 
 
 of such fine and thoroughly purified sand, that time has but conferred upon it 
 a hardness and solidity beyond those of the very bricks and stones. 
 
 In those times there existed neither appropriate academies, nor public schools 
 of art, nor works gathered together for consultation ; yet we find in those speci- 
 
 Terra-cotta Pilaster, Certosa. Cornices of Terra-cotla, Certosa. 
 
 mens derived from the Certosa of Pavia all that may interest a student of the 
 constructive art, an art always connected with the beautiful and with poetry. 
 The Certosa of Pavia, both by the suppression of the Cistercian monks who 
 inhabited it, and by the loss of the sheets of lead which protected its roof, has 
 certainly sustained some, yet only slight, damage ; neither have walls given 
 way, nor fissures been formed. The artists of those days were all somewhat 
 encyclopaedic : architects were at once sculptors and painters, and thus had 
 ample scope for the play of fancy. Before the first stone was laid they foresaw 
 the pictorial and perspective effect of the finished building ; an all-important 
 perception, not perhaps sufficiently observed at the present day. 
 
 o 
 
50 General 'View of the Certosa and Convent of Pavia. [Plates 29 to 33. 
 
 From whatever point the Certosa of Pavia is viewed, the perspective lines 
 appear admirably disposed ; either pointed, or pyramidal, or curved, or jutting, 
 &c, they offer infinite varieties of perspective ; all is harmonised, but with 
 variations which relieve the eye and agreeably take possession of the fancy. 
 Guided by a powerful instinct, those artists, besides variety of form and line, 
 studied combination of materials and colours, relieving the too great darkness 
 of terra-cotta by interpolation of marble and surfaces of stucco. 
 
 At San Lanfranco, a church in the outskirts of Pavia, part of the cortile 
 and ancient cloister still remain ; and we find there replicas in terra-cotta of 
 some details in the cortile of the Certosa and in the church Del Carmine, of 
 Pavia, several of these pieces bearing the inscription, Abbas Lucas, F. F. 1464 
 (Abbot Luke caused to be made) ; from which may be inferred that the terra- 
 cottas of the period all originated in one workshop. 
 
 Studying the cortiles of the Certosa of Pavia, the cloisters which encircle 
 them appear at the first glance uniform ; but close examination reveals, on the 
 two opposite sides, variety of composition or diversity of arrangement, and fresh 
 combinations of geometric forms, of square with circular, all justly proportioned, 
 sometimes large and sometimes small. So also we find, on running the eye 
 along, the statuettes and small heads alternating with statues, busts, and 
 heads on a large scale, and the inlaid work that surrounds them with foliage, 
 little birds and fruit ; the masses all most richly ornamented. Amid such 
 pomp of fancy and abundance of invention, simplicity, which is ever coupled 
 with true beauty, bears rule, and makes clear the primary conception and 
 arrangement ; whilst an examination of the minute details of foliage or 
 small heads in terra-cotta brings to light the exquisiteness of the Gothic 
 carving, grapes and other fruits appearing as of the most luscious kinds, 
 thanks to skilful management of their little shadows. Everywhere is traceable 
 the hand of the painter-poet, who having conceived the many-sided whole, 
 wrought it out piece by piece, including each minor detail, whether of statuette 
 or of small head, the whole being fashioned by a master-hand, and instinct with 
 piety, energy, life. 
 
 It must, however, be allowed, that the artists who had to do with the Cer- 
 tosa of Pavia owed much to that civilisation which already, in matters of art, 
 
Plates 29 to 33.] General View of the Certosa and Convent of Pavia. 5 r 
 
 had made great progress, and had become widely diffused, and that in building 
 this famous monastery they enjoyed a very appropriate field for displaying their 
 talents ; w hile the funds, the want of which so often strangles genius, were 
 not lacking to them. Those who had charge of the growing work were Cis- 
 tercian monks, men devoted to the contemplative life, and misanthropic rather 
 in semblance than in reality ; who, whilst ostensibly detached from worldly 
 things, yet took pleasure in animating the walls, the doors, the passages, the 
 pilasters, &c. of their cloister with artistic life. 
 
 The monastery is an extensive parallelogram of about 140 yards by no, 
 and is surrounded on its four sides by a lofty and ample cloister formed of 123 
 arches. Along each of three sides of the cloister 24 cells are ranged symme- 
 trically. 
 
 The outer southern side, which looks towards the two unequally sized courts 
 of the Certosa, the larger of these being of very considerable extent, presents 
 the most splendid elevation. Below is seen a graceful portico, of which the 
 arches are supported by slim, well-proportioned pillars, formed alternately of 
 white marble and of Veronese mandorlato, and crowned by varied capitals, the 
 arches themselves being corniced with terra-cottas of a fine fiery red colour : the 
 roof too is visible, which formerly displayed a pleasing grey tint when coated 
 with lead. Behind is seen one side of the church with its chief tapering 
 steeple, which serves as cupola, and is all of white stone pierced and wrought into 
 small arcades. Beyond the porticoes stretches a range of piers which serve 
 to buttress the internal arches of the nave. These enclose a series of most 
 elegant side-chapels built of white marble, in the best style of Cinquecento 
 architecture, each different from its fellows, all enriched with little figures, 
 grotesques, little cupolas, little pinnacles, and such like ; the white marble 
 relieved admirably by the dark background of bricks and terra-cotta cornices 
 on the side of the central aisle or nave, the roof of which is supported by two 
 ranges of arcaded galleries meant for passage, whilst the arches of these arc 
 sustained by pilasters. To enhance the beauty of this coup d'ceil, the principal 
 cornices facing towards the cortiles were coloured with a varnish resembling 
 o.l ; the hues have now well nigh vanished, but enough remains to indicate 
 how each part was coloured. Nay, the very chimneys which emerge from the 
 
5 2 General V tew of the Certosa and Co?ivent of Pavia. [Plates 29 to 33. 
 
 convent roofs are designed with great architectural elegance ; so prodigal were 
 these men of artistic work, as though seeking in all directions a vent for their 
 redundant imagination. Specimens of the chimneys and clock turret of the 
 Certosa appear in the body of our work. (See Plate 33.) 
 
 O. 
 
Front view of St a Maria in Strada at Monza 
 
 34-. 
 
Plates 34 & 35. 
 
 SANTA MARIA IN STRADA, AT MONZA : THE FACADE AND 
 PRINCIPAL ENTRANCE. 
 
 Scale | 
 Plate 3 4- ) 
 
 HIS building, the work of Bonino di Campione, engineer and architect 
 of Milan Cathedral, belongs to the middle of the fourteenth century, 
 and to the dawn of a change in architectural style and ornamenta- 
 tion. The pupils or imitators of Giotto introduced into their decorations 
 geometrical figures, as squares, triangles, rhombs, rhomboids, hexagons, octagons, 
 circles, &c, which, in their hands, blended admirably with architectural lines 
 and ornaments ; whilst, at the same time, the Gothic style came into fashion in 
 Italy. Hence arose and flourished in its day a mixed style compounded of 
 Lombard and Gothic, which combined geometrical forms with a little Gothic. 
 The designer of the Gothic cathedral of Milan w y ould naturally be disposed to 
 produce another work of the same type, such as the church we are now 
 considering. At a period when the religious severity of elder times ceased to 
 be characteristic of the prevalent style of ecclesiastical building, it was very 
 readily abandoned in such a church, or rather shrine, as this of Santa Maria in 
 Strada. The upper part of this church is covered with terra-cotta ornaments : 
 the subjects of the squares, which form a sort of cornice and frame to the great 
 round window, and those which flank it on either side, are all different from one 
 another, and must, therefore, have been modelled one by one. This is also the 
 case with certain minor squares round the same window, with the door of 
 
 p 
 
54 
 
 Santa Maria in Strada, at Monza. [Plates 34 & 35. 
 
 entrance, and with each leaf and ornament lavished on these arch-heads. In a 
 word, every detail must have been wrought separately, and been treated as a 
 theme on which the artist was left to the free exercise of his fancy within the 
 resources of the plastic art. The styre of foliage is Gothic. Below, towards 
 the base, we find a region of colour commencing with gilded grounds ; next 
 come geometrical compartments, imitation marbles, and fillets of bright colours. 
 The effect when new must have been magnificent. Had the whole surface 
 from top to bottom been covered with such patterns in terra-cotta, the result, 
 though rich, would have wearied the eye by its monotony ; but as it is, a wise 
 arrangement of coloured details below throws out to advantage the upper por- 
 tion. No great precision was bestowed on each compartment and ornament ; 
 bricks are joined together in a somewhat slovenly fashion, straight lines and 
 curves lack sweep and continuity, and the technical portions show negligence. 
 Hence many of the tcrra-cottas have fallen out, and many are broken ; the whole 
 has suffered severely from frost and stress of weather ; whilst of the doorway 
 there now remains merely a fragment of the upper portion, and its general 
 outline has only been guessed at by studying traces left on the wall by terra- 
 cottas no longer there. Neither was it a light matter to decipher the paintings, 
 great patience being needed to elicit their meaning from marks, vestiges, and 
 scratches. L. 
 
Plate 36. 
 
 DECORATIONS OF TWO WINDOWS AT THE SIDE OF 
 THE CATHEDRAL OF MONZA. 
 
 HESE two somewhat lofty and noble windows, w ith their remarkably 
 rich and beautiful framework, give light to the sacristry of Monza 
 Cathedral. The original plan may have been thus to decorate the 
 entire court, but if so it was never carried out. The style is derived from the 
 Lombard, but modified by the Bramantesque, and belongs to the very beginning 
 of the sixteenth century. The architect is unknown. The framework is in 
 a ruinous condition, having apparently been moulded of an inferior clay, which 
 is highly granular, and may have contained much earthy and organic matter. 
 
 L 
 
MBHlillBlllBllBl W 
 
Upper portion of the Santiiano near Crema 
 
 38 
 
Plates 37 & 38. 
 
 THE SANCTUARY OF CREMA, CALLED SANTA MARIA 
 DELLA CROCE. 
 
 i r ? \ j 
 
 Plate 38. 
 
 HIS building was erected between 1490 and 1500, and is the work of 
 Giovanni Battista Battagli, an architect of Lodi. It belongs to the 
 period of Greco-Roman or classic revival, which I mentioned when 
 writing of the campanile of San Rustico, Caravaggio ; and its simple design is 
 very happily conceived. The lower portion, which surrounds the internal drum, 
 whereon the cupola is based, is Bramantesque, or of the Cinquecento. The 
 drum, which sustains the great cupola, shows something of the Lombard style ; 
 a variation attributable, as I think, not to accident but to design, and which 
 serves in fact to distinguish the central portion from its adjuncts, making of it 
 one complete feature, each order of architecture giving saliency to the other. 
 The Bramantesque (for by what other name shall we call it ?) is the simplest 
 style imaginable ; in which architecture constitutes the decoration of the archi- 
 tecture itself, although there are also certain minute carvings not discernible 
 from a distance. Thus in the church we are considering, the projections serve- 
 as antechambers whereby to approach the shrine, whilst the quasi temples aloft 
 with their small cupolas answer no purpose beyond that of ornament. 
 
 The classic school revived by Bramante was regarded as an innovation by 
 many architects of that day, who adhered to their accustomed style of design, 
 
5 8 
 
 The Sanctuary of Crema. [Plates 37 & 38. 
 
 even in buildings erected later than 1500. Others adopted the new style 
 exclusively. Others, again, had skill enough to profit by both schools ; and 
 amongst these last must be reckoned the architect Battagli, as is proved to us 
 by this very shrine of Santa Maria della Croce. 
 
 This building bears out my observation, that the more recent brick is of a 
 deeper shade of red than the ancient. Such later bricks are more liable to 
 atmospheric oxidation ; and on an oxidised surface dust and mud effect an 
 easy lodgment, so that in time an entire edifice assumes an earthy-brown or 
 dark-brown tint. Thus the encroachments of damp and wet are encouraged, 
 which pave the way to the action of frost; finally, the material itself gives 
 way ; and thus it is that many comparatively modern buildings, amongst which 
 must be included Santa Maria della Croce, present an aspect of greater age 
 than their ancient predecessors. 
 
 L. 
 
Plate 39. 
 
 CORTILE OF A PRIVATE HOUSE, IN PA VIA. 
 
 HIS house, which belongs to the beginning of the sixteenth century, 
 stands opposite the church of the Carmine, and only two sides of its 
 cortile remain. The figures, carvings, and tcrra-cotta ornaments, all 
 carefully carried out with a certain pedantic conceit, are of a dark-red colour. 
 Our artist found the walls dirty and ill-conditioned, and the paintings scarcely 
 recognisable ; yet under the pretty little portico, especially on the cross-lunettes 
 of the vaulting, certain charming and delicate ornaments in chiaroscuro, with 
 here and there a fillet or background of colour, remain in good preservation. 
 
 L. 
 
Plate 40. 
 
 UPPER PORTION OF A HOUSE, IN PA VI A. 
 
 HIS house is now a mere ruin : the Plate represents it after an ima- 
 ginary process of restoration, by which the fragments of the four 
 sides have been combined to form a sort of whole. This house- 
 stands in one of the streets situated between the church of the Carmine and 
 the cathedral. L. 
 
II Portion of the Palace of the Visconti and Sfnrza at Cusago 
 
Plate 41. 
 
 PART OF THE PALACE OF THE VISCONTIS AND SFORZAS 
 AT CUSAGO. 
 
 } Mttres, 
 
 _ '|° English feet. 
 
 HIS palace, abandoned and neglected for centuries, is now occupied 
 by the steward and some inhabitants of the village and environs of 
 Abbiate Grasso. In days of yore it served as a summer residence for 
 some of the later Dukes of Milan, especially when hunting in the neighbouring 
 woods of the Ticino. The few terra-cotta cornices now to be seen are clumsily 
 modelled and put together, whilst the frescoes display a certain amount of 
 painstaking, and arc executed in very bright colours ; amongst which are a 
 yellow and a green, finer than any we now possess. The thin lines marked on 
 the walls for the friezes, &c, are simply scratches made on the lime when 
 freshly laid and still wet, and are rudely and irregularly done. All show that 
 whilst a competent artist designed the decorations, their execution was left to 
 inexperienced youths or mere workmen. 
 
 L. 
 
 L_l L 
 
Plate 42. 
 
 ELEVATION OF A HOUSE IN PA VI A, NEAR THE 
 HOSPITAL. 
 
 AVIA, once capital of the Longobardic kingdom, subsequently the 
 residence of several Dukes of Milan, became in consequence not only 
 the head-quarters of persons attached to the court, or occupying 
 official positions, but also of the noblest and most honourable families. Hence 
 Pavia, beyond many of its sister cities, is rich in remains of old houses, one ot 
 these ruinous dwellings forming the subject of our present Plate. The windows, 
 carefully executed in terra-cotta, are well preserved ; but the paintings, with 
 even such incisings as traced foliage and ornaments, have almost utterly vanished, 
 not only through the agency of time, but yet more it may be by reason ot 
 repeated whitewashings. The coat of whitewash, originally perhaps clumsily 
 laid on, has in its turn in great part peeled off the walls, and thus a clear 
 field remains on which a discriminating and expert eye, aided by an ingenious 
 guess, may track out the original design. 
 
 s 
 
Plate 43. 
 
 WINDOW OF A PRIVATE HOUSE, IN PA VI A. 
 
 RECTED in a side street to the left, but visible from the Corso 
 Ticmo as you pass beyond the University, stands this window, of 
 rather large size and much broken. The painting of the small 
 columns of the upper cornice, and a fragment or two below the window, are 
 brightly coloured and distinct ; all else is lost, thanks to repeated restorations 
 of the fabric of the wall. The incised work has been traced out on a remote 
 angle of the house, abutting on the neighbouring Contradella. 
 
Plate 44. 
 
 CASA ARC7MBOLDI, NOW BUSCA, NEAR MILAN. 
 
 Mttres. 
 
 Scale 
 
 Platt 44- J ■ ? 't Q __ 'i 5 English feet. 
 
 VEN to the present day this great country house has retained its 
 lordly aspect, thanks to the plan and structure of the house itself, 
 of the spacious cortile by which it is approached, of the wall of 
 enclosure which surrounds cortile, house, and garden alike, and of the two 
 lodges which flank the entrance to the great cortile. It is now inhabited by 
 a steward and his dependents. What few tcrra-cottas there are remain in good 
 condition, but their ornamentation is too minute to be distinguishable, except on 
 very close inspection. The paintings are all much defaced, yet some idea can 
 be formed of them by bringing together such portions of the design as, because 
 occupying sheltered situations, have suffered less by stress of weather. Our 
 Plate represents the facade towards the court ; that towards the garden is 
 somewhat different. Above the apartments is built a superb tennis-court or 
 open saloon, of which the wall that supports the roof is constructed with wide 
 pilasters, between which stand two small arches supported by slender columns ; 
 thus the saloon is adequately decorated both within and without. There are 
 no soffits. The beams which sustain the roof and constitute its decoration 
 being adjusted with some elegance and well-shaped, produce an ornamental 
 effect overhead ; whilst the form of the roof, which rises highest at the centre, 
 imparts to the whole a spacious and noble appearance. Within, the wall piers 
 are rudely painted with niches, ornaments, and fillets of two colours ; such 
 
jo Casa Arcimboldi, now Busca, near Milan. [Plate 44. 
 
 painted niches being occupied sometimes by a warrior, sometimes by a mytho- 
 logical demigod, and sometimes by a lady in the costume of" the fifteenth 
 century. The wall of the parapet is painted on the inside with a palisade of" 
 twisted osiers enclosing flowering shrubs. This saloon or tennis-court must 
 have been appropriated to fencing matches, to gymnastic exercises, and to 
 games. 
 
 L. 
 
Plate 45. 
 
 a, UPPER PORTION OF AN ANCIENT VILLA, NEAR VARESE. 
 
 HE frequency with which 1487 is marked upon this wall indicates the 
 date when it was either built or painted ; the objects pourtrayed 
 upon it express the aristocratic ostentation of the period. Most 
 prominently, and on a somewhat large scale, appear the armorial bearings of 
 the family who owned the villa, with other shields, perhaps those of their 
 wives and near kindred, w hilst the prevailing hue of fillets, rhombs, and squares 
 records the colour of the political party to which they adhered. Rural objects 
 are also represented there, — birds, flowers, fruits, in bright strong colours, which 
 may even be over-bright, yet harmonise well with the mass of tree-foliage 
 which surrounds that portion of the house. On high are seen nooks prepared 
 for pigeons or other birds to build in, and certain yellow cross-markings arc 
 perhaps intended to suggest the idea of beehives. On the ground-floor there 
 may have been the chapel or family oratory ; the special purpose to which this 
 portion of the house was dedicated being perhaps shown by a wall-painting of 
 the Madonna with the Holy Child and S. Joseph, and by religious symbols 
 introduced amongst the window decorations. Some of the paintings are rudely 
 executed, some carefully. The idea of embellishing a country house with 
 representations of cheerful objects, such as recall rural pleasures, is decidedly 
 good. 
 
 b, UPPER PART OF AN OLD COUNTRY HOUSE AT UBALDO, 
 
 NEAR SARONNO. 
 
 HIS house, surmounted by the characteristic Italian battlements, 
 seen also in the preceding example, is approached through an 
 excessively dirty and ill-kept peasants' court, and is itself occupied 
 by peasants. L. 
 
Plate 46. 
 
 WINDOW OF A COUNTRY HOUSE, NEAR MILAN. 
 
 v a> 
 
 N hour's walk out of Milan, through Porta Nuova and Porta Comasina, 
 brings one to this house, now occupied by peasants exclusively. It is 
 a very dilapidated building, and none but a practised eye can detect 
 in it aught worthy of note. 
 
 L. 
 
 u 
 
Plate 48. 
 
 UPPER PORTION OF A CAMPANILE, AT PA VIA. 
 
 MONGST the defaced and well-nigh obliterated paintings of this 
 campanile, I have succeeded in making out this design in the 
 style of the thirteenth century, represented in our Plate. 
 
 L. 
 
 x 
 
M