Page:A History of Architecture in All Countries Vol 2.djvu/399

Rh Bk. VIII. Ch. VI. ORNAMENTED DOORS AND DOORWAYS. 383 that letters and rescripts from the Greek patriarch at Constantinople used to be read, and it is perhaps as elaborate a specimen of the mode of decoration used in these churches as can be found in the province. The same exuberance of decoration continued to be employed down to the latest period of the art, and after Noi-thern forms had been intro- duced by the Angiovine dynasty at Naples. The dooi-vay from the church at Pappacoda (Woodcut No. 813) is a type of many to be found in that city and elsewhere in the architectural proA-ince. True, it is overdone to such an extent that much of the labor bestowed upon it must he con- sidered as thrown away ; but if a love of art in- duced people to labor so lovingly in it, it is hard to refuse tliem the admiration which their enthusiasm deserves. Another class of orna- mental detail in which this province is especially rich is that of bronze doors, of which some six or seven examples still remain. Of these per- haps the finest are those of the cathedral at Trani. They were made in 1160, and for beauty of design, and for the exuberance and elegance of their ornaments, are un- surpassed by anything of the kind in Italy, or probably in the world. Another pair of doors of almost equal beauty, made in 1119, belongs to the cathedral at Troja (Woodcut No. 802), and a third, which is still in a very perfect state, constructed at Constantinople, 813. Doorway of Church of Pappacoda, Naples. (From Schultz.)