. Great pictures, as seen and described by famous writers. at them; — seem always rather sur-prised if you want to; and not overpleased. Tell themyou are going to hang their picture at the upper end of thetable at the next great City dinner, and that Mr. So-and-So will make a speech about it; — you produce no impres-sion upon them whatever, or an unfavourable one. Thechances are ten to one they send you the most rubbishything they can find in their lumber-room. But send forone of them in a hurry, and tell him the rats have gnaweda nasty hole behind the parlour door, and you want itplastered an
. Great pictures, as seen and described by famous writers. at them; — seem always rather sur-prised if you want to; and not overpleased. Tell themyou are going to hang their picture at the upper end of thetable at the next great City dinner, and that Mr. So-and-So will make a speech about it; — you produce no impres-sion upon them whatever, or an unfavourable one. Thechances are ten to one they send you the most rubbishything they can find in their lumber-room. But send forone of them in a hurry, and tell him the rats have gnaweda nasty hole behind the parlour door, and you want itplastered and painted over ; — and he does you a master-piece which the world will peep behind your door to lookat for ever. I have no time to tell you why this is so; nor do Iknow why, altogether, but so it is. Giotto, then, is sent for, to paint this high chapel: I amnot sure if he chose his own subjects from the life of : I think so, — but of course cant reason on theguess securely. At all events, he would have much of hisown way in the ST- FRANCIS BEFORE THE SOLDAN 203 Now you must observe that painting a Gothic chapelrightly is just the same thing as painting a Greek vaserightly. The chapel is merely the vase turned upside-down, and outside-in. The principles of decoration areexactly the same. Your decoration is to be proportionedto the size of your vase; to be together delightful whenyou look at the cup, or chapel, as a whole j to be variousand entertaining when you turn the cup round ; (you turnyourself round in the chapel; ) and to bend its heads andnecks of figures about, as best it can, over the hollows,and ins and outs, so that anyhow, whether too long or tooshort —possible or impossible — they may be living, andfull of grace. You will also please take it on my word to-day in another morning walk you shall have proof of it — that Giotto was a pure Etruscan-Greek of the ThirteenthCentury : converted indeed to worship St. Francis insteadof Heracles
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