Bk. VIII. Ch. II. VERONA. 309 to satisfy themselves with this part of their designs, and a great many of their most important churches have, in consequence, not even now been completed in this respect. Instead of recessing their doors, as was the practice on this side of the Alps, the Italians added projecting poi-ches, often of considerable depth, and supported by two or more slight columns, generally rest- ing on the backs of symbolical animals. No part of these porches, as an architectural arrangement, can be deemed worthy of any con- mendation ; for in the first place, a column planted on an animal's back is an anomaly and an absurdity, and the extreme tenuity of the pillars, as compared with the mass they support, is so glaring that even its universality fails in reconciling the eye to the disproportion. In the present instance the porch is two stories in height, the upper being a niche for sculpture. Its almost exact resemblance to the entrance ]^orch below is therefore a defect. Above there is generally a gallery, sometimes only in the centre ; sometimes, as in this instance, at the sides, though often carried quite across ; and in the centre above this there is almost invariably a circular window, the tracery of which is frequently not only elaborately but beautifully ornamented with foliage and various sculptural devices. Above this there is generally one of those open galleries mentioned before, following the slope of the roof, though frequently, as in this instance, this is replaced by a mere belt of semicircular arches, sug- gesting an arcade, but in reality only an ornament. Verona. Almost every important city in Lombardy shows local peculiarities in its style, arising from some distinction of race or tradition. The greater number of these must necessarily be passed over in a work like the present, but some are so marked as to demand particular mention. Among these that of Verona seems the most marked and interesting. This Roman city became the favorite capital of The- odoric the Goth — Dietrich of Berne, as the old Germans called him — and was by him adorned with many noble buildings, which have either perished or been overlooked. There is a passage in the writ- ings of his friend Cassiodorus which has hitherto been a stumblino-. block to commentators, but seems to find an explanation in the buildings here, and to point to the origin of a mode of decoration worth remai-king upon. In talking of the architecture of his day he speaks of "the reed-like icnuity of the columns making it appear as if lofty masses of building were supported on upright spears, which in regard to substance look like hollow tubes." i It might be ^ "Quid dicamus columnarum jnn- 1 limissimas quasi quibusdam erectis has- ceam proceritatem ? Moles illas sub- 1 tilibus contineri substantive qualitate
