the older Byzantine work with Gothic and then with Renaissance, the
present building still having examples of all three styles.

The portion shown in our illustration is said to have been erected
between the years 1424 and 1442, by Giovanni Buon and his sons
Pantaleone and Bartolommeo Buon the elder; although Mr. Ruskin states
that in 1423 the Grand Council sat in the Great Council Chamber for
the first time, and in that year the Gothic Ducal Palace of Venice was
completed.

This angle, which faces the Piazetta and the Riva, is called by
Mr. Ruskin the "Fig-Tree Angle," because of the group of sculpture
representing the fall of man. The figure above the angle capital of
the upper arcade is that of Gabriel. The richly decorated capitals of
the lower arcade represent personifications of the Virtues and Vices,
the favorite subjects of decorative art, at this period, in all the
cities of Italy. The capitals of the upper arcade, no two of which are
alike, are also richly wrought with figure sculpture, the one on the
angle containing representations of the four winds.

The arrangement of the tracery above the upper arcade is worthy of
note as the placing of the quatrefoils between the arches, which
is characteristic of earlier examples, is more reasonable, from a
constructive point of view, than the later practice of placing them
above the centres of the arches.

The use of the rope moulding as a decorative finish for the angle of a
building is also characteristic of the palace architecture of Venice,
and may here be seen most effectively applied.