question
of interesting speculation merely: for the distinction between the true
and false grotesque is one which the present tendencies of the English
mind have rendered it practically important to ascertain; and that in a
degree which, until he has made some progress in the consideration of
the subject, the reader will hardly anticipate.

Sec. XVII. But, first, I have to note one peculiarity in the late
architecture of Venice, which will materially assist us in understanding
the true nature of the spirit which is to be the subject of our inquiry;
and this peculiarity, singularly enough, is first exemplified in the
very facade of Santa Maria Formosa which is flanked by the grotesque
head to which our attention has just been directed. This facade, whose
architect is unknown, consists of a pediment, sustained on four
Corinthian pilasters, and is, I believe, the earliest in Venice which
appears _entirely destitute of every religious symbol, sculpture, or
inscription_; unless the Cardinal's hat upon the shield in the centre of
the impediment be considered a religious symbol. The entire facade is
nothing else than a monument to the Admiral Vincenzo Cappello. Two
tablets, one between each pair of flanking pillars, record his acts and
honors; and, on the corresponding spaces upon the base of the church,
are two circular trophies, composed of halberts, arrows, flags,
tridents, helmets, and lances: sculptures which are just as valueless in
a military as in an ecclesiastical point of view; for, being all copied
from the forms of Roman arms and armor, they cannot even be referred to
for information respecting the costume of the period. Over the door, as
the chief ornament of the facade, exactly in the spot which in the
"barbarous" St. Mark's is occupied by the figure of Christ, is the
statue of Vincenzo Cappello, in Roman armor. He died in 1542; and we
have, therefore, the latter part of the sixteenth century fixed as the
period when, in Venice, churches were first built to the glory of man,
instead of the glory of God.

Sec. XVIII. Throughout the whole of Scripture history, nothing is more
remarkable than the close connection of punishment with the sin of
vain-glory. Every other sin is occasionally permitted to remain, for
lengthened periods, without definite chastisement; but the forgetfulness
of God, and the claim of honor by man, as belonging to himself, are
visited at once, whether in Hezekiah, Nebuchadnezzar, or Herod, wi