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364 364 ITALIAN ARCHITECTURE. Pakt U. spreads a halo around and over the building, which may furnish ample excuse for those who blindly praise even its deformities. But the soberer iudiifment of the critic must not be led astraA-^ by such feelings, and while giving credit for the picturesque situation of this building and a certain grandeur in its design, he is compelled wholly to condemn its execution. The two arcades which constitute the base arc, from their extent and the beauty of their details, as fine as any- thing of their class executed during the Middle Ages. There is also a just and pleasing proportion between the simple solidity of the lower, and the airy — perhaps slightly fantastic — lightness of the upper of these arcades. Had what appears to have been the original design been carried out, the building would rank high with the Alhamltra and the ])alaces of Persia and India, but in an evil hour, in 1480, it was discovered that larger rooms were required than had been oriirinally contemplated, and the upj)er wall, which was intended to stand on the back wall of the arcades, was brought forward level with the front, overjiowering the part below by its il]-]iioportioned mass.' This upj)er story, too, is far from being beautiful in itself. TIk- windows in it are not only far too few, but they are badly si)aced, squat, and ungraceful ; while tin' introduction of smaller windows and circles mars its ]>retensions to simjtlicity without relieving its ]>lain- ness. Its })rincipal ornaments are two great windows, one in the centre of each face, which appear to have assumed their present form after the lire in 1578. These are not graceful objects in them- selves, and having nothing in common with the others, they look too like insertions to produce an entirely satisfactory effect. The jiierced parapet, too, is jioor and flimsy when seen against the sky. Had it crowned the uj.j.er arcade, and been backed by the third story, it would have been as pleasing as it is now j.oor. Had the upper story been set back, as was probably originally designed, or had it been placed on the ground and the arcades over it; had, in short, any arrantrement of the parts been adopted but the one that exists, this miirht^have been a far more beautiful building than it is. One thing in this palace is worth remarking before leaving it — that almost all the beautv ascribed to its ui>per story arises from the polychromatic mode of decoration introduced by disposing pieces of different-colored marbles in diaper patterns. This is better done here than in Florence ; inasmuch as the slabs are built in, not stuck on. The admiration which it excites is one more testimony to the fact that when a building is colored, ninety-nine people in a hundred are willing to overlook all 1 In the Bodleian in Oxford is a MS. of the 14fh century containins a view of the Piazzetta. encraved in Yule's which in itself is quite sufficient to set the question at rest. In it the outer wall of the hnildinj: is shown resting on "Marco Polo," Introduction, p. xlviii., the inner wall of the arcade.