Page:Architectural Review and American Builders' Journal, Volume 1, 1869.djvu/355

 1868.] The Cathedral of Milan. £95 ferent pattern, so that the grand general walk, from its apt resemblance, is, in Milan, termed " The Flower Garden." All the buttresses and tower-buttresses run up into spires, sometimes single, at others clustered, each spire terminating in a statue, instead of a foliaged finial. This, as a general characteristic, is entirely unparalleled, in artistic Gothic, although actually pioneered by the Bap- tistery of Pisa, built in 1 060. The effect is both charming and superb — with an enormous addition to the cost, which, even with floral finials, must always be very great. The statue of the Virgin, which surmounts, at once, the lantern spire and the tabernacle itself, is eigh- teen feet in height. The main tower is finished in two concave sweeps, grandly carrying the sight upwards to the observatory and the very pinnacle. Although the Gothic of this superb edifice is certainly unique, it is unmixed, except, as before detailed, in the western front. The east end, or tribune, is probably the most ancient, or the original, portion of this minster. It is calculated that the niches and pinnacles of the exterior will require a population of about 4500 statues. Of these more than 3000 are executed, and in place, besides the bas reliefs. The excellent sculptures of the central door, hy Bono, Castelli, and Yismara, about 16S5, may be especially pointed out. The interior of this magnificent place of worship is as gorgeous and rich as the exterior is elegant and chaste. Its re- ality, simply told, might so exalt a master imagination, as to disappoint it, in the ultimate visiting; but the imagi- nation would require to be very superior, indeed, to soar beyond the plain reality. The attentive reader will not find us tedious in quitting the outside and de- voting a few pages to the inside of the shrine. It is as well, perhaps, here, to remark, that papers of this description are not designed for architects, already, as a class, well read in all such matters ; but to cultivate a taste for professional essays among our general readers, who need lighter food as a provocative to the more solid architectonic feast. Our pages, be it remembered, are always open to the masters of the profession, wishing to address their younger breth- ren in either general or special articles. Meanwhile, these will pardon us for not always addressing themselves, but, occa- sionally, those, not only not educated to the point of criticism, but hardly in the rudiments. Not as a perfect edifice of its style, by any means, do we consider the Cathe- dral of Milan. We have already pointed out the faults of the main or west front ; and there is an equally serious defect, as to the general proportion, in the comparative lowness and absence of gradual taper, in the mass of the central tower : but, estimated as an entirety, it is the conception of great genius, ade- quately embodied throughout. As a model, it would be very defective; but, as a fact, it is veiy effective. John- Henry Parker objects to the material, saying, " The Cathedral of "Milan is veneered with white marble, "and, although, from its great extent, " the effect on the whole is very magnifi- " cent, yet, in point of style, it is un- " doubtedly very bad ; the open, pierced "parapet, standing out against the sky, " has the appearance of being cut out of "card-board." Yet it must be under- stood, that this marble is, in reality, not crystaline carbonate of lime, but a very compact limestone, which does not admit of a high polish. The proportions of many fine build- ings are completely obscured, in most points of view, by crowded, low or petty surroundings. With true prescience, in its projector, the site allotted for the Duomo is quite commensurate, in its extent and associations, with the conse- crated dignity and lofty port of the glo- rious edifice it upbears.