Marquis of Brandenburg, caused to be erected in Tuscany, were built during the same period, and in the same Greek manner, as may be seen in the abbey of Florence, in that of Settimo, and the others. All these buildings, as well as the vestiges of those that are ruined, bear testimony to the fact, that architecture still maintained itself in life, though grievously degenerated and departing widely from the excellent manner of the antique. And of this we find further proof in many old palaces, constructed in Florence after the ruin of Fiesole, in the Tuscan fashion, but in a very barbarous and ill-proportioned manner, as witness those doors and windows of immoderate length, and the aspect of those acute pieces[1] in the vaulting of their arches, which were peculiar to the foreign architects of those times.
In the year 1013, we nevertheless perceive, that the art had regained somewhat of her ancient vigour ; and this we infer, from the rebuilding of that most beautiful church San Miniato sul Monte, constructed in the time of Messer Alibrando, citizen and bishop of Florence ; for to say nothing of the marble ornaments by which it is embellished, both within and without, the fagade gives us clear proof that the Tuscan architects here made efforts to imitate the fine proportions and pure taste of the antique in columns, arches, cornices, doors, and windows, correcting and improving their perceptions by the study of that most ancient temple, the church of San Giovanni, in their own city. At the same period, painting, which had been little less than totally extinguished, was seen to be slowly regaining life, as may be proved by the mosaic executed in the principal chapel of this same church of San Miniato.[2]
From this commencement, then, the arts of design began to make progress in Tuscany by slow degrees, advancing gradually towards a better state of things, as we see from the first steps taken by the Pisans towards the construction of their cathedral, in 1016 ;[3] for in those days it was a great
- ↑ Quarti Acuti, perhaps the zigzag, introduced into Italy about the twelfth century.
- ↑ The Mosaic in the apsis of San Miniato is not of the eleventh, but the end of the thirteenth century (1297), as we learn from an inscription on the frieze. — Florentine Edition, 1846.
- ↑ The cathedral of Pisa was not commenced in 1016, but in 1063, as appears from an inscription on the façade.
