e Corte del Remer, near the
Rialto, as well as in St. Mark's; and by circular disks of green
serpentine and porphyry, which, together with the circular sculptures,
appear to have been an ornament peculiarly grateful to the Eastern mind,
derived probably in the first instance from the suspension of shields
upon the wall, as in the majesty of ancient Tyre. "The men of Arvad with
thine army were upon thy walls round about, and the Gammadins were in
thy towers: they hanged their shields upon thy walls round about; they
have made thy beauty perfect."[52] The sweet and solemn harmony of
purple with various green (the same, by the by, to which the hills of
Scotland owe their best loveliness) remained a favorite chord of color
with the Venetians, and was constantly used even in the later palaces;
but never could have been seen in so great perfection as when opposed to
the pale and delicate sculpture of the Byzantine time.

Sec. XXX. Such, then, was that first and fairest Venice which rose out
of the barrenness of the lagoon, and the sorrow of her people; a city of
graceful arcades and gleaming walls, veined with azure and warm with
gold, and fretted with white sculpture like frost upon forest branches
turned to marble. And yet, in this beauty of her youth, she was no city
of thoughtless pleasure. There was still a sadness of heart upon her,
and a depth of devotion, in which lay all her strength. I do not insist
upon the probable religious signification of many of the sculptures
which are now difficult of interpretation; but the temper which made the
cross the principal ornament of every building is not to be
misunderstood, nor can we fail to perceive, in many of the minor
sculptural subjects, meanings perfectly familiar to the mind of early
Christianity. The peacock, used in preference to every other bird, is
the well-known symbol of the resurrection; and when drinking from a
fountain (Plate XI. fig. 1) or from a font (Plate XI. fig. 5), is, I
doubt not, also a type of the new life received in faithful baptism. The
vine, used in preference to all other trees, was equally recognized as,
in all cases, a type either of Christ himself[53] or of those who were
in a state of visible or professed union with him. The dove, at its
foot, represents the coming of the Comforter; and even the groups of
contending animals had, probably, a distinct and universally apprehended
reference to the powers of evil. But I lay no stress on these more