SECTION XXXVI. I have called the sculpture on the Fig-tree angle the
principal one; because it is at the central bend of the palace, where it
turns to the Piazetta (the facade upon the Piazetta being, as we saw
above, the more important one in ancient times). The great capital,
which sustains this Fig-tree angle, is also by far more elaborate than
the head of the pilaster under the Vine angle, marking the preeminence
of the former in the architect's mind. It is impossible to say which was
first executed, but that of the Fig-tree angle is somewhat rougher in
execution, and more stiff in the design of the figures, so that I rather
suppose it to have been the earliest completed.
SECTION XXXVII. In both the subjects, of the Fall and the Drunkenness,
the tree, which forms the chiefly decorative portion of the
sculpture,--fig in the one case, vine in the other,--was a necessary
adjunct. Its trunk, in both sculptures, forms the true outer angle of
the palace; boldly cut separate from the stonework behind, and branching
out above the figures so as to enwrap each side of the angle, for
several feet, with its deep foliage. Nothing can be more masterly or
superb than the sweep of this foliage on the Fig-tree angle; the broad
leaves lapping round the budding fruit, and sheltering from sight,
beneath their shadows, birds of the most graceful form and delicate
plumage.
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