Oberon ! behold high overhead,
The glorious dome in air outspread,
Poised o'er Egeria's fountain !
All the concave's fretted bound,
Attempered into harmony,
By faintest bloom of roseate light,
Slow spreading from that Dome on high,
Artful, scarcely visible canopy,
Suffusing all its sculpture bright,
Like blush that dawns on Beauty's cheek,
Its source, its power, 't were vain to seek!
Still apparent in this old photograph from the nineteen-eighties, the red canopy stretched behind the frame. The strong southern sunlight filtered through this cloth as roseate light; the effect must have been bewitching. The "thorny fretwork" (Ruskin - Stones of Venice) of the frame is styled in the same manner as appears in the tympanum of the gothic arches below.
No comments:
Post a Comment