The Press. — London, England, 1854-02-18 00:00:00

160 exhibited in its construction. Both its facades are alike, each divided horizontally into nearly equal portions, of which the upper is a marble wall of monumental solidity, and the lower a fretwork of shafts, arches, and intersecting circles. The columns that belong to this division, which again is subdivided into two galleries, are ofdifferent dimensions, varying from three to seven diameters in height. This strange irregularity Mr. Ruskin regards as a proof of genius : to us it would appear a defect, were we not persuaded that the architect was constrained to adopt spaces and openings which already existed, and which it was not in his power to alter. Mr. Ruskin has fallen into an error, or we should rather say adopted one, long existing, in assigning the date to both these facades. The original palace had been destroyed by fire, and that which succeeded it, built in the tenth century, had been materially injured by the same ruthless element. It had, however, been restored, repaired, and added to in a style more suitable to the rising fortunes of the republic, but still without any attempt to unite the whole into one comprehensive de sign. So reluctant was the Seignory to incur the necessary expense, that a decree had been passed condemning any individual who should even make the proposal to an amercement of a thousand ducats. In the year 1422, the reign ing Doge, Tomaso Mocenigo, having paid the fine before he spoke, proposed and carried the proscribed measure amidst the loud approba tion of the assembly (in the language of Mann Sanuto, from whom we quote), the "se doveseno refare le fazade del palazzo " vecchio." Mr. Ruskin remarks with truth that we are singularly deficient in no tires, even the most vague, respecting the history of this most interesting building, but those which we do possess should on that accountbe more prized ; and the language of Sanuto is most precise, and cannot be post poned to a vague tradition that the sea facade had been built by Filippo Calendario, who was executed for his participation in the conspiracy of Marino Faliero (1354), but who there is not the slightest evidence to prove was ever employed in the building at all. Mr. Ruskin, in his strong admiration of the exterior of the Ducal Palace, is willing to assign it to a date that favours his architectural theory, and in quoting Sanuto's words supposes them to apply to that portion of the piazzetta facade only which he thinks inferior, and to which an earlier date cannot be attributed. At the time when the completion of the Ducal Palace was decreed the great council chamber was still un finished, and part of the scheme was no doubt to connect it with the other buildings, to bring the whole under the same roof, and also to case the walls with marble, to re model the old arcades, and to decorate them in the taste of the day. Hence that want of proportion in the columns which Mr. Ruskin admires, and which the architect (we believe very unwillingly) was compelled to en dure. An arcade had, no doubt, always ex isted, two galleries were absolutely necessary to the internal arrangements, and the height allotted to both could not be increased. That the interior was completed before the facade an examination of the main wall would show. The plan of the council chamber it is known was altered in the course of its pro gress ; and that it was designed with no reference to the facade is evident by the position of its windows on the sea facade, which are not all on a level, a sacrifice of appearance that regard for internal conve nience could alone compel the architect to make. We think the evidence conclusive that this facade does not date beyond the fifteenth century, but all proof is weak in comparison with the inherent evidence the building itself affords. The piazzetta facade, excepting the six first arches at the southern extremity, is of a later date and inferior workmanship, carried on more hastily and more carelessly, as being for the sake of uniformity completed in a taste which was no longer fashionable. The great entrance called the Porta della Carta bears the armorial shield of Doge Foscari, who reigned from 1423 till 1457, when he was suc ceeded by Doge Malipiero, but it was probably finished before the arcade of the palace ad joining was commenced. The style of the THE PRESS. windows in the upper compartment are more modern : they are broken out irregularly with out regard to symmetry; the principal window on the piazzetta side bears the arms of Doge Andrea Gritti, who did not reign till 1629, nor were these windows terminated much before the fall of the republic, Canova himself, in his youth, having supplied one of the statues for a niche. The solid superstructure, so oddly built of polished marble, but so arranged as to imitate bricks laid in diamond patterns, was unques tionably the quaint device of the architect Buono: it neither belongs to theVenetian-Gothic at the beginning of the fifteenth century, nor to the revived classic at its close ; we think it highly probable that it was copied from the de sign of the old palace, vartly from respect, and partly in the spirit of imitation. Many of the ancient materials were probably used ; but the solid wall, supported by an arcade, and topped by an Arabian parapet, were pretty faithfully copied by the modern architect. The inconsistency and partiality of our author is manifested in his account of this building. According to him the sea facade, with six of the arches of the angle, were begun in 1301 and finished in the course of about a hundred years, and to this portion of the building he accords the highest praise his ample vocabulary can furnish ; and yet the decree to fill up the gap in the same style be tween the unfinished arcades and the church, in the year 1424, was " the knell of architecture " and of Venice itself." Mr. Ruskin gives a long catalogue of the allegories and puzzles which are inserted among the cauliflower capitals of the bearing shafts in the arcades, each illustrated by a motto in had Latin, inscribed on a scroll placed too high to be legible, and which, mistaking their date, he cites as a proof of the piety and inge nuity of the age. He is also profuse in his admiration of two of the three groups of high reliefs which adorn the angles of the palace. One represents the fall of man, another the drunkenness of Noah, and the third the judg ment of Solomon. The two former he assigns to the early part of the fourteenth century ; the latter to the fifteenth. "It is impos " Bible," he says, " to regard with too much " admiration the significance of this single " fact. It is as if the palace had been built at " various epochs and preserved uninjured to " this day for the sole purpose of teaching us " the difference of the temper of the two " schools."—Vol. 11., p. 301. In the selection of the two first subjects he discovers a confession of the weakness of man, in that of the latter a pregnant proof of his vanity and self-suftl ciency. Now in truth the style of all the groups marks them as belonging to the first and last division of the fifteenth century ; and the subjects have been repeated again and again by the Romish Church in all ages. The fall of man and the consequent proneness to evil, even in the best of the species, are represented in the two first; and the latter is a favourite type of Justice, and has pe culiar propriety when placed by the entrance of the national council chamber, near which all proclamations and edicts were uttered, and above which criminal sentences were published. We cannot but regret that before undertaking to write on the fine arts Mr. Ruskin should not have qualified himself better for the task by preliminary study. His knowledge, in fact, is far too limited both of authors and places. He seems familiar with no books but his own, and those he quotes much in the style in which the Old Testament is referred to in the New. His curiosity, too, seems very easily satisfied, since the appendix to his third volume contains an astonishing list of pictures and places un seen and unvisited in Venice itself, all well worthy his attention, and all accessible at any time. In pointing out the defects of his volumes, we recommend them nevertheless very sin cerely to the attention ofour readers. They con tain much valuable matter, and exhibit great talent and ingenuity in their author.We fear they are too bulky to be longlived or generally po pular. He has adopted the fashionable opi nions of the day, which he has clothed in language and with a wealth of illustration to which none of his rivals and contemporaries have attained ; but we fear they will hereafter SATURDAY, be quoted rather in proof of the extravagance to which the love of novelty hurried the writers of the nineteenth century than for the valu able matter they really contain. His style has many beauties and some defects, but he de lights in expressing with elaborate ingenuity what could be told better with perfect simpli city. It is deficient also in perspicuity. His digressions are numerous and perplexing. He travels out of his way to discuss points un connected with his subject, his metaphors and illustrations fatigue by their repetition, and his moral philosophy and his theology are out of place and unsound. The History of Yucatan from its Discovery to the Close of the Seventeenth Century. By Charles St. John Fancourt, Esq. London : Murray. COLONEL FANCOURT has done his work well. It is not easy to find a new subject for history ; but Yucatan is unexplored ground, historically as well as physically, and the late Superin tendent of Honduras knows how to profit by this advantage. He has compiled from Spanish chroniclers a narrative which is neither prolix nor jejune, but abridged to the length most suitable for English readers; the style agree able, the incidents well selected and well told ; a work without fault so far as it goes, though not aiming at any high degree of literary merit. We speak only of such qualities as are obvious to the reader ; for, not having compared Col. Fancourt's compilation with the original au thors, we can give no opinion as touching his fidelity. The book is incomplete, a second volume being meant to follow, in which the later history of the colony will be detailed,—a promise which reconciles us to what would otherwise be a grave omission—the total ab sence of any physical or geographical account of the country described. Even though this deficiency be hereafter supplied, it ought not to have been left to the last. The annals of a colony are imperfect without some mention of its climatic and external peculiarities. A map alone is insufficient as a guide. The first discoverers of Yucatan were De Solis and Pinzon, in 1506 ; but for eleven years no use was made of the knowledge by them acquired. In 1517 Hernandez, either driven by a storm or, as others say, impelled by the desire to gain renown by a discovery of his own, visited this unexplored coast. His voyage led to no material results, but ended in a battle between his crew and the natives, wherein the latter, though unused to firearms, gained the advantage by sheer courage and force of numbers. The story runs that Yuca tan received its present name from the reply of one of these people, who, questioned on the subject, replied " Tectatan," that is, " I do not understand." Similar fables are told of all navigators in all countries. Hernandez got little in exchange for his loss of men, for Yucatan still continued to be thought an island—the Spanish voyagers, notwithstanding the experience of many years, not yet being able to reconcile their minds to the idea that a solid continent interposed between them and that Asia which they thought themselves always on the point of reaching. After his return, a second expedition under Grijalva having added something to the explorer's geographical knowledge, Hernan Cortes was chosen for a third and more important voyage. The talents of this great man had produced their natural effect in raising him up a host of enemies, whose persevering calumnies at last induced Velasquez, Governor of Cuba, who had nominated him to this high comman, to recal his appointment. But the governo r ' s vacillating policy only lost him the c onfidence, without preventing the success, of his subor dinate. Cortes, dreading a formal prohibit ion to depart, was already on board and had weighed anchor. Velasquez, yielding to a stronger will than his own, reversed his sen tence of recal, and repaired to the fleet to bid him farewell. Here his displeasure found vent in words ; but Cortes, nothing abashed, ex cused himself briefly, and they parted on terms of friendship. Out of the voyage thus inauspiciously begun arose the world-wide fame of Hernan Cortes. Ho directed his efforts against Mexico, and five years passed