months, with which we are already tolerably acquainted. There are,
however, one or two varieties worth noticing in this series.
_First side_. March. Sitting triumphantly in a rich dress, as the
beginning of the year.
_Second side_. April and May. April with a lamb: May with a feather
fan in her hand.
_Third side_. June. Carrying cherries in a basket.
I did not give this series with the others in the previous chapter,
because this representation of June is peculiarly Venetian. It is called
"the month of cherries," mese delle ceriese, in the popular rhyme on the
conspiracy of Tiepolo, quoted above, Vol. I.
The cherries principally grown near Venice are of a deep red color, and
large, but not of high flavor, though refreshing. They are carved upon
the pillar with great care, all their stalks undercut.
_Fourth side_. July and August. The first reaping; the leaves of the
straw being given, shooting out from the tubular stalk. August, opposite,
beats (the grain?) in a basket.
_Fifth side_. September. A woman standing in a wine-tub, and holding a
branch of vine. Very beautiful.
_Sixth side_. October and November. I could not make out their
occupation; they seem to be roasting or boiling some root over a fire.
_Seventh side_. December. Killing pigs, as usual.
_Eighth side_. January warming his feet, and February frying fish.
This last employment is again as characteristic of the Venetian winter
as the cherries are of the Venetian summer.
The inscriptions are undecipherable, except a few letters here and
there, and the words MARCIUS, APRILIS, and FEBRUARIUS.
This is the last of the capitals of the early palace; the next, or
twenty-sixth capital, is the first of those executed in the fifteenth
century under Foscari; and hence to the Judgment angle the traveller has
nothing to do but to compare the base copies of the earlier work with
their originals, or to observe the total want of invention in the
Renaissance sculptor, wherever he has depended on his own resources.
This, however, always with the exception of the twenty-seventh and of
the last capital, which are both fine.
I shall merely enumerate the subjects and point out the plagiarisms of
these capitals, as they are not worth description.