This object is farther forwarded in the Italian cottage, by
putting two or three windows up under the very eaves themselves, which
is also done for coolness, so that their tops are formed by the roof;
and the wall has the appearance of having been terminated by large
battlements and roofed over. And, finally, the eaves are seldom kept
long on the same level: double or treble rows of tiling are introduced;
long sticks and irregular wood-work are occasionally attached to them,
to assist the festoons of the vine; and the graceful irregularity and
marked character of the whole must be dwelt on with equal delight by the
eye of the poet, the artist, or the unprejudiced architect. All,
however, is exceedingly humble; we have not yet met with the elevation
of character we expected. We shall find it however as we proceed.
29. The next point of interest is the window. The modern Italian is
completely owl-like in his habits. All the daytime he lies idle and
inert; but during the night he is all activity, but it is mere activity
of inoccupation. Idleness, partly induced by the temperature of the
climate, and partly consequent on the decaying prosperity of the nation,
leaves indications of its influence on all his undertakings. He prefers
patching up a ruin to building a house; he raises shops and hovels, the
abodes of inactive, vegetating, brutish poverty, under the protection of
aged and ruined, yet stalwart, arches of the Roman amphitheater; and the
habitations of the lower orders frequently present traces of ornament
and stability of material evidently belonging to the remains of a
prouder edifice.
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