ourth and eighth sides of the apse, and in the outermost _but two_ in
the third and ninth; in neither case having any balance to it in its own
group, and the real balance being only effected on the other side of the
apse, which it is impossible that any one should see at the same time.
This is one of the curious pieces of system which so often occur in
mediaeval work, of which the key is now lost. The groups at the ends of
the transepts correspond neither in number nor arrangement; we shall
presently see why, but must first examine more closely the treatment of
the triangles themselves, and the nature of the floral sculpture
employed upon them.

[Illustration: Plate IV.
SCULPTURES OF MURANO.]

Sec. XXIII. As the scale of Plate III. is necessarily small, I have
given three of the sculptured triangles on a larger scale in Plate IV.
opposite. Fig. 3 is one of the four in the lower series of Plate IV.,
and figs. 4 and 5 from another group. The forms of the trefoils are here
seen more clearly; they, and all the other portions of the design, are
thrown out in low and flat relief, the intermediate spaces being cut out
to the depth of about a quarter of an inch. I believe these vacant
spaces were originally filled with a black composition, which is used in
similar sculptures at St. Mark's, and of which I found some remains in
an archivolt moulding here, though not in the triangles. The surface of
the whole would then be perfectly smooth, and the ornamental form
relieved by a ground of dark grey; but, even though this ground is lost,
the simplicity of the method insures the visibility of all its parts at
the necessary distance (17 or 18 feet), and the quaint trefoils have a
crispness and freshness of effect which I found it almost impossible to
render in a drawing. Nor let us fail to note in passing how strangely
delightful to the human mind the trefoil always is. We have it here
repeated five or six hundred times in the space of a few yards, and yet
are never weary of it. In fact, there are two mystical feelings at the
root of our enjoyment of this decoration: the one is the love of
trinity in unity, the other that of the sense of fulness with order; of
every place being instantly filled, and yet filled with propriety and
ease; the leaves do not push each other, nor put themselves out of their
own way, and yet whenever there is a vacant space, a leaf is always
ready to step in and occupy it.

Sec. XXIV. I said