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I may as well connect with these notes respecting the arcades of the Ducal Palace, those which refer to Plate XIV., which represents one of its spandrils. Every spandril of the lower arcade was intended to have been occupied by an ornament resembling the one given in that plate.
§ XVIII. I have kept the inquiry into the proper ornament of the archivolt wholly free from all confusion with the questions of beauty in tracery; for, in fact, all tracery is a mere multiplication and entanglement of small archivolts, and its cusp ornament is a minor condition of that proper to the spandril.
The frescoes of Giotto and his school enrich every spandril and interspace with their simple, serious forms no other such place to study the art of that early day but a Virgin enthroned among saints by Lo Spagna, a disciple of Perugino's, made a pure light in the obscurity: it had all the master's golden transparency, like clear shining after the rain.
The suspension-bolts are enclosed within spandril pillars of cast iron, which give great stiffness to the superstructure. This system of longitudinal and vertical bracing has been much admired, for it not only accomplishes the primary object of securing rigidity in the roadway, but at the same time, by its graceful arrangement, heightens the beauty of the structure.
In the spandril of the arch on the south side of the chancel is a marble medallion of the Duke of Wellington, presented by his son, and in the corresponding position on the north side one of the Duke of Marlborough, presented by the Earl of Cadogan. The stalls are of stained oak. The altar is of oak, with walnut panels and ebony shafts.
The spandril of each arch is filled with a saint in a grotesque position amongst Gothic foliage, and there is in many respects a marked contrast to the casts of examples of the Renaissance period which are in the Museum. Period: XV. Century.
§ VIII. There are, however, three spaces in which the wall veil, peculiarly limited in shape, was always felt to be fitted for surface decoration of the most elaborate kind; and in these spaces are found the most majestic instances of its treatment, even to late periods. LXI.; the half of which, or the flank filling of any arch, is called a spandril.
§ IX. The methods of treating these spaces might alone furnish subject for three very interesting essays; but I shall only note the most essential points respecting them. One of the spandril decorations of Bayeux Cathedral is given in the "Seven Lamps," Plate VII. fig. 4. It is little more than one of these Euston Square spandrils, with its circles foliated.
A central circle on the face contains a shield with a rampant lion, enamelled in blue; round it is a quatrefoil made by four larger circles which overlap at the reentering angle. The spandril spaces are filled with dragon-like monsters on a green ground. The ring and the shield show metal.
The cathedral is a basilica with nave and aisles. The main apse is octagonal outside and semicircular within; the apse to the north aisle also exists; that of the south aisle has been replaced by a square chapel. The nave arcade consists of six bays of round arches, resting on five pairs of columns which, though they are made up with plaster and painted, are probably antique, since the caps differ enormously in height and column and cap frequently do not fit. Some of the capitals might be late Roman, but most of them are very rude imitations. Super-abaci are used. The ciborium is hexagonal and rests on six columns of Greek cipollino, with the top and bottom mouldings worked on them; the caps are Byzantine of the sixth or seventh century, but without super-abaci. The front arches have huge Renaissance swags in the spandrils and a moulded cornice with classic enrichments; at the back are three ninth-century panels with arch and spandril in one piece, carved with ornament similar to that on the baptistery of Calixtus at Cividale; the pyramidal roof terminates in a carved finial. The greater part of the building is of the thirteenth century. The church, having become ruinous in 1237, was restored in 1287, and again in 1438 and 1490. It is now the chief parish church of the diocese of Veglia. The west door belongs to the last restoration; in the tympanum is a poorly carved Piet
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