At Beauvois--The magnificent old houses supported on columns of
workmanship (so far as I recollect) unique in the north of France,
at the corner of the market-place, have recently been destroyed for
the enlarging of some ironmongery and grocery warehouses. The arch
across the street leading to the cathedral has been destroyed also,
for what purpose, I know not.
At Rouen--The last of the characteristic houses on the quay is now
disappearing. When I was last there, I witnessed the destruction of
the noble gothic portal of the church of St. Nicholas, whose
position interfered with the courtyard of an hotel; the greater part
of the ancient churches are used as smithies, or warehouses for
goods. So also at Tours (St. Julien). One of the most interesting
and superb pieces of middle-age domestic architecture in Europe,
opposite the west front of the cathedral, is occupied as a cafe, and
its lower story concealed by painted wainscotings; representing, if
I recollect right, twopenny rolls surrounded by circles of admiring
cherubs.
At Geneva--The wooden projections or loggias which were once the
characteristic feature of the city, have been entirely removed
within the last ten years.
At Pisa--The old Baptistery is at this present time in process of
being "restored," that is, dashed to pieces, and common stone
painted black and varnished, substituted for its black marble. In
the Campo Santo, the invaluable frescoes, which might be protected
by merely glazing the arcades, are left exposed to wind and weather.
While I was there last year I saw a monument put up against the
lower part of the wall, to some private person; the bricklayers
knocked out a large space of the lower brickwork, with what
beneficial effect to the loose and blistered stucco on which the
frescoes are painted above, I leave the reader to imagine; inserted
the tablet, and then plastered over the marks of the insertion,
destroying a portion of the border of one of the paintings. The
greater part of Giotto's "Satan before God," has been destroyed by
the recent insertion of one of the beams of the roof.
The tomb of Antonio Puccinello, which was the last actually put up
against the frescoes, and which destroyed the terminal subject of
the Giotto series, bears date 1808.
It has been proposed (or at least it is so reported) that the church
of La Spina should be destroyed in order to widen the quay.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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