Of these representations of human art under heavenly guidance, the
series of bas-reliefs which stud the base of this tower of Giotto's
must be held certainly the chief in Europe. [Footnote: For account of
the series on the main archivolt of St. Mark's, see my sketch of the
schools of Venetian sculpture in third forthcoming number of 'St.
Mark's Rest.'] At first you may be surprised at the smallness of their
scale in proportion to their masonry; but this smallness of scale
enabled the master workmen of the tower to execute them with their own
hands; and for the rest, in the very finest architecture, the
decoration of most precious kind is usually thought of as a jewel, and
set with space round it,--as the jewels of a crown, or the clasp of a
girdle. It is in general not possible for a great workman to carve,
himself, a greatly conspicuous series of ornament; nay, even his energy
fails him in design, when the bas-relief extends itself into
incrustation, or involves the treatment of great masses of stone. If
his own does not, the spectator's will. It would be the work of a long
summer's day to examine the over-loaded sculptures of the Certosa of
Pavia; and yet in the tired last hour, you would be empty-hearted. Read
but these inlaid jewels of Giotto's once with patient following; and
your hour's study will give you strength for all your life. So far as
you can, examine them of course on the spot; but to know them
thoroughly you must have their photographs: the subdued colour of the
old marble fortunately keeps the lights subdued, so that the photograph
may be made more tender in the shadows than is usual in its renderings
of sculpture, and there are few pieces of art which may now be so well
known as these, in quiet homes far away.
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