Page:A History of Architecture in All Countries Vol 2.djvu/326

310 310 ITALIAN ARCHITECTURE. Part XL 74G. Apse of the CHthedral, ^'erona. (From Hope's " History of Architecture.") supposed that this referred exclusively to the metal architecture of the use of which we find traces in the paintings at Pompeii and elsewhere.^ But the context hardly bears this out, and he is probably alluding to a stone or marble architecture, which in the decline of true art had aspired to a certain ex- tent to imitate the lightness which the metallic form had rendered a favorite. To return to Verona : The apse of the cathedral seems to have be- longed to an older edifice than that to which it is now attached, as was often the case, that being the most solid as well as the most sacred part of the building. As seen in the Avoodcut (No. 746) it is ornamented with pilasters, classical in design, but more attenuated than any found else- where; so that I cannot but believe that this is either one of the identical buildings to which Cassiodorus refers, or at least an early copy from one of them. At a far later age, in the 12th century, the beautiful chuix-h of San Zenone shows traces of the same style of decoration (Woodcut No. 747), pilasters being used here almost as slight as those at the cathedral, but so elegant and so gracefully applied as to form one of the most beautiful decorations of the style. Once introduced, it was of course repeated in other buildings, though seldom carried to so great an extent or employed so gracefully as in this instance. Indeed, whether taken internally or externally, San Zenone may be regarded as one of the most pleasing and perfect examples of the style to be found in the North of Italy. The cathedral at Modena is another good example, though not possessing any features of much novelty or deserving special mention. That of Parma is also important, though hardly so pleasing. Indeed, scarcely any city in the valley of the Po is without some more or less perfect churches of this date, none showing any important peculiarities that have not been exemplified above, unless perhaps it is the apse of the church of San Donato on the Murano near Venice,which is concavis canalibiis excavatas vel magis ipsas Eestimes esse transfusas. Ceris judices factum quod metallis durissimis videas expolitum. Marmorum jiincturas venas dicas esse genitales, ubi dum fal- luntur oculi laus probatur crevisse mir- aculis." In the above, metallum does not seem to mean metal as we now use the word, but any hard substance dug out of the ground. — Cassiodorus vari- orum, lib. vii. eh. 1.5. ' See vol. i. p. 372.