The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Brochure Series of Architectural
Illustration, Volume 01, No. 06, June 1895, by Various

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Title: The Brochure Series of Architectural Illustration, Volume 01, No. 06, June 1895
Renaissance Panels from Perugia

Author: Various

Release Date: October 2, 2006 [EBook #19444]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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THE BROCHURE SERIES

OF ARCHITECTURAL ILLUSTRATION.

VOL. I. JUNE, 1895. No. 6.

RENAISSANCE PANELS FROM PERUGIA.

The carved walnut panels from the choir stalls of the Church of San
Pietro de' Casinense in Perugia, designed by Stefano da Bergamo in 1535,
which are given as illustrations in this number, are excellent examples
of the ornament of the later period of the Italian Renaissance. This
form of ornament was first used in flat painted panels upon pilasters,
such as the well-known work of Raphael in the Loggia of the Vatican,
suggested by the Roman work discovered in his time upon the Palatine. It
was afterwards applied to all sorts of objects where rectangular spaces
were to be decorated. Its characteristics can hardly be better described
than in the following extract from Mr. C. Howard Walker's articles upon
the Study of Decoration in _The Technology Architectural Review_:--

"The motives on the pilasters were of two kinds: the continuous scroll,
starting from a strong base leaf and rising in equal volutes, with
alternating direction to right and to left, and filling the panel. This
motive needed always to be balanced by its opposite, and was
consequently seldom used. It had its prototype in the magnificent scroll
from the Forum of Trajan. The other motive was that usually used, and
capable of infinite variety, that of a central axis, the ornament
diverging from it symmetrically on either side. This motive was borrowed
from colored decorations on the Roman walls. It is a most difficult
class of ornament to handle, as so much depends upon relative
distribution, proportion, and relief of mod