John's death. First, his declaration
to Herod, "It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife:" on
which he is seized and carried to prison:--next, Herod's feast,--the
consultation between daughter and mother, "What shall I ask?"--the
martyrdom, and burial by the disciples. The notable point in the
treatment of all these subjects is the quiet and mystic Byzantine
dwelling on thought rather than action. In a northern sculpture of this
subject, the daughter of Herodias would have been assuredly dancing;
and most probably, casting a somersault. With the Byzantine, the debate
in her mind is the only subject of interest, and he carves above, the
evil angels, laying their hands on the heads, first of Herod and
Herodias, and then of Herodias and her daughter.
PLATE VIII.--The issuing of commandment not to eat of the tree of
knowledge. (Orvieto Cathedral.)
This, with Plates X. and XII., will give a sufficiently clear
conception to any reader who has a knowledge of sculpture, of the
principles of Giovanni Pisano's design. I have thought it well worth
while to publish opposite two of them, facsimiles of the engravings
which profess to represent them in Gruiier's monograph [1] of the
Orvieto sculptures; for these outlines will, once for all, and better
than any words, show my pupils what is the real virue of mediaeval
work,--the power which we medievalists rejoice in it for.
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