The American Architect and Building News, Vol. 4

Book excerpt: Excerpt from The American Architect and Building News, Vol. 4: July December, 1878 The great monuments of Sicily belong to two periods, - to the two periods of Sicilian greatness. There are the works of the Greek commonwealths, and there are the works of the Norman kings. Of Roman remains there must be much below the ground, and there is something above; but they do not form a marked feature, as in Italy and Provence. Byzantine and Saracen rule have indeed left their stamp behind them; but it is a stamp impressed at second-hand. Constantinople and Batrdad are dumb as far as their own voices are concerned, though both speak plainly enough by the tongue of a Norman dragoman. Of the later mediazval styles, the examples are, to our taste, greatly to be preferred to any of. The kind on the Italian mainland; but till quite the end of the period they hold a very second ary place when compared with the masterpieces of French, German, and English art. The days when Corinth sent her eets to colonize Syracuse, and the days when Palermo sent her eets to harry Cor inth, are the two great times whose mighty records in stone still abide on Sicilian ground. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works."