Ruskin on Corinthian CapitalsIn
The Stones of Venice (1851-3), Ruskin states that 'the two orders, Doric and Corinthian, are the roots of all European architecture' (
Works, 9, p. 34).
Ruskin complained in
The Seven Lamps of Architecture (1849) about the use of 'garlands and festoons of flowers as an architectural decoration' (
Works, 8, p. 151). He found them an unnatural arrangement of natural forms.
He contrasts this 'abuse' with architecture that places 'exuberant vegetable ornament just where Nature would have placed it'. The Corinthian capital is adduced as an example of such natural placing: it 'is beautiful because it expands under the abacus just as Nature would have expanded it; and because it looks as if the leaves had one root, though that root is unseen'. To this, Ruskin adds a more detailed analysis:
'the flamboyant leaf mouldings are beautiful, because they nestle and run up the hollows, and fill angles, and clasp the shafts which natural leaves would have delighted to fill and to clasp. They are no mere cast of natural leaves: they are counted, orderly, and architectural: but they are naturally, and therefore beautifully, placed.'
Ruskin on the Doge's PalaceRuskin wrote in
The Stones of Venice that 'The Ducal palace of Venice contains [...] three elements in exactly equal proportions -- the Roman, Lombard, and Arab. It is the central building of the world.' (
Works, 9, p. 38).