represented by the two examples in Plate IV.: 1, from St. Antonio,
Padua; 2, from Sens in France.

[Illustration: Fig. XXXIX.]

Sec. XII. I wish, however, at present to fix the reader's attention on the
form of the bracket itself; a most important feature in modern as well
as ancient architecture. The first idea of a bracket is that of a long
stone or piece of timber projecting from the wall, as _a_, Fig. XXXIX.,
of which the strength depends on the toughness of the stone or wood, and
the stability on the weight of wall above it (unless it be the end of a
main beam). But let it be supposed that the structure at _a_, being of
the required projection, is found too weak: then we may strengthen it in
one of three ways; (1) by putting a second or third stone beneath it, as
at _b_; (2) by giving it a spur, as at _c_; (3) by giving it a shaft and
another bracket below, _d_; the great use of this arrangement being that
the lowermost bracket has the help of the weight of the shaft-length of
wall above its insertion, which is, of course, greater than the weight
of the small shaft: and then the lower bracket may be farther helped by
the structure at _b_ or _c_.

[Illustration: Fig. XL.]

Sec. XIII. Of these structures, _a_ and _c_ are evidently adapted
especially for wooden buildings; _b_ and _d_ for stone ones; the last,
of course, susceptible of the richest decoration, and superbly employed
in the cornice of the cathedral of Monza: but all are beautiful in their
way, and are the means of, I think, nearly half the picturesqueness and
power of mediaeval building; the forms _b_ and _c_ being, of course, the
most frequent; _a_, when it occurs, being usually rounded off, as at
_a_, Fig. XL.; _b_, also, as in Fig. XXXVIII., or else itself composed
of a single stone cut into the form of the group _b_ here, Fig. XL., or
plain, as at _c_, which is also the proper form of the brick bracket,
when stone is not to be had. The reader will at once perceive that the
form _d_ is a barbarism (unless when the scale is small and the weight
to be carried exceedingly light): it is of course, therefore, a
favorite form with the Renaissance architects; and its introduction is
one of the first corruptions of the Venetian architecture.

Sec. XIV. There is one point necessary to be noticed, though bearing on
decoration more than construction, before we leave the subject of the
bracket. The whole power of the construction depends upon the stones
being