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Article ARCHITECTURE AND ARCHÆOLOGY. ← Page 3 of 3 Article ARCHITECTURE AND ARCHÆOLOGY. Page 3 of 3 Article NOTES ON LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND ART. Page 1 of 2 →
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Architecture And Archæology.
actual security . I am quite aAvare that AVO find many ugly buildings , and many buildings of a fantastic outline , that belong to the Romanesque period . In Germany , and CA-OH in France , I could point out both one and the other ; but it is certain that in that period a very beautiful type of composition appeared , the simplicity of Avhich , and its independence of additional ornament , stamps it Avith a degree of
refiiicment Avhich is scarcely preserved in tho more advanced stages of Mediaeval architecture , AAiien features of mere decoration became abundant . The best architects of tho renaissance evidently felt this , and in their ecclesiastical structures , for ivhich they found , no available precedent in ancient classical architecture , they returned to this Romanesque typoand aud in a short space of time a largo number
, of churches were erected , showing a full appreciation of those early models . Many would , at a short distance , be taken for buildings of a date anterior to the thirteenth century . The cathedral of Fax , south of Bordeaux , ivould , at first sight , be pronounced Romanesque : it is , in fact , Revived Italian , except an incomplete Gothic tower at tho west end . At a village between Epeniay and Reims I noticed a
church at a distance , ivhich I made sure of as a- fine Romanesque specimen . On examining it , I found it clearly post-Gothic . I may have been disappointed at the time , bub it IIOAV proves valuable to mo as an example . "When I had the honour of reading a paper at tho South Kensington Museum , rather more than a year ago , I showed some drawings of Spanish churches in the revived Italian
style , Avhosc general outline had altogether a Romanesque character . I am still of opinion that these churches might be studied to advantage in tho present day , as securing really lino architectural features at little or no sacrifice of convenience , and at no exorbitant expense . In Ital y tho combination of the low lantern toAA-er ivith the lofty campanile , was continually reproduced ; and still further
grandeur ivas obtained by expanding tho central lantern into a spacious dome , Avhich became the predominant feature both external !) - and internally . Such domes had indeed boon more than suggested by the early Byzantine and circular churches , but the rcvii'ei's of classic art worked them out with an elaborate care in regard to proportion , and often Avith a success which almost reminds us of the
elaboration of the column in Greece . That of St . Peter ' s , as it is tho largest , is , to my mind , the finest example that can be brought forward . I have endeavoured to procure a tolerably true outline , comparing my sketch with an engraving that appeared to me a very exact architectural elevation , and making corrections accordingly . Many prints and drawings make it too round and heavy , and most of the photographs
I have seen arc taken from a point that does not show it to the best advantage . But though St . Peter ' s is the finest example , it is but one out of a vast number , ivhich exhibit a great variety of forms and proportions , nearly all of them pleasing to the eye , and giving quite as much character to the Italian landseajio as the Gothic toiver or spire does to the Eimh ' . sh .
Had the dome been congenial to the Gothic , it would surely have been introduced in that style , a style which certainly is not ch . irgeable with timidity in adopting new forms and combinations . The arrangement of tiie central part- of Ely Cathedral oH ' cral opportunity for its adoption . Yet AVO find au octagan , with a Gothic A-anlting adapted to it , in the best ivay the architect could devise , and that
architect was one of snore than ordinary fertility of vescource . Without fur a moment depreciating the grandeur of aline Gothic interior . I must observe that the Classic style contains elements of at least equal grandeur , if not greater . The churches of St . Andrea , in Mantua , St . J ' usti ' na , and the cathedral in Padua , are not inferior in solemnity of effect , to any Gothic edifice whatever . Had St . Paul ' s been
carried out according to the design preserved by the model , I can conceive no interior that would have been equal to it . An impression of vastnoss would have been produced by mcans totally opposite to those employed in Gothic ; and , to judge from the model , even more effective , Avhile the variety of perspective A-iows , and the fine alternation of light and shade in broad masses , Avould have given a picturcsquencss scarcely rivalled in the eminently picturesque Miedheval styles . If I am right iu believing that there is a picturcs-
Architecture And Archæology.
qucness of repose as well as of action , a pieturcsqucness depending rather on breadth and mass than on intricacy and multiplicity of parts , then I cannot be Avrong in asserting that the Classic may meet the Gothic even on its own ground , on at least equal terms . Still , if constructive consideration should render a pointed arch desirable under any cirenmstauces , its
admission docs not necessarily involve that of the whole Gothic system . The pointed arch ivas used before Gothic Avas developed , and in localities Avhich Avere the last to receive the Gothic stylo . Saracenic architecture has the pointed arch , but it is not Gothic , neither are those domical buildings in Aquitania Avhich employ tho pointed arch , Avithout an approach to Gothic mouldings , in the support of their
pendentives . But oven supposing the pointed arch to have belonged exclusively to the Gothic , wc may borrow it if we really ivant it , Avithout professing to revive the style . It is not an architectuao to pass away Avithout influencing any succeeding style : ive are not obliged to choose between accepting all or none . There is one very important element of Gothic ivhich we should be foolish to reject , and of which
if I mistake not , the Renaissance architects saw the value , and by its means considerably modified the rigidity which might have resulted from a strict imitation of the ancient Classic : I mean , the oblique surface of decoration . The
use of this much facilitates the enrichments of our buildings , while wc excluded heavy and incongruous ornament , and enables us to retain such beauties of Gothic sculpture as are not inconsistent with a more severe and refined stjde . As , in advocating the revived Classical style , I would not urge the rejection of everything Avhich belongs to the Gothic , still less am I anxious to defend the glarin g defects AA'hich
characterise so many specimens of the Classic . I Avould not perpetuate the cold formality of most of our professed imitations ofthe Greek , nor the feeble , unmeaning , uninteresting character which prevails in so much of our work that claims a derivation from the Roman . But a discussion upon the defects that may be enumerated in Classical buildings and upon the causes ivhich , independently of Medireval
sentiment , have tended to bring tho Classical style into disrepute , would occupy a great length of time , and I am not sufficiently master of the subject to enter full y into it . I believe , however , the greatest defects in tho style are of a superficial character , and admit of removal . By clearing them away AVO shall give it a Aitality and vigour which its evident congmity Avith the practical spirit of the age
cannot fail to preserve ; while the consistent stability of its nature , the A-eiy reverse of that restless tendency to change which is one of tho essential elements of Gothic , Avill make it- a permanently elfcctivc style , at least till the present conditions of society become altogether changed .
Notes On Literature, Science, And Art.
NOTES ON LITERATURE , SCIENCE , AND ART .
Our readers may be ' aware that , fur confirmed drunkards , certain asylums or retreats have been established amongst our neighbours ayent the Tweed , where ardent spirits cannot bo obtained without undertaking a considerable journey . Dr . Christison has published a Treatise On some of the Medico-Legal Relations of the Habit of Intemperancein ivhich he remarks : —Three I visitedin
, years ago , company with a medical friend , an establishment of the kind on the island of Sieve . It is about a mile from a magnificent rocky coast , in : i . sliming valley ivhich descends from the precipitous mountain IH-. iven , and it is within walking distance of Lock Corruisk , Cflen Sligaclam , tho Spar Cave , and other rare scenery of this famous island . The neighbourhood abounds in subjects for the pencil—there is good angling in all directions ; an interesting
botany , a rare geology , and no want of material for the fowler or ornithologist . The proprietor is a well-informed medical man , and also cultivates a farm , In summer and autumn lie rccieves not a few visitors , who intermingle on a footing of equality with the inmates , so that these are by no means cut oil' altogether from ordinary society . Wliisky may be had by walking twelve miles of a good road , but no nearer—and only by deciding the solitary
spirit-dealer of the place , ivho is under a promise not to supply any of the anchorites of Strathaird ; or it may be got fourteen miles oil' by a road so rugged that a fair pedestrian may do it in live hours . Here we found ten gentlemen—cases originally of the
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Architecture And Archæology.
actual security . I am quite aAvare that AVO find many ugly buildings , and many buildings of a fantastic outline , that belong to the Romanesque period . In Germany , and CA-OH in France , I could point out both one and the other ; but it is certain that in that period a very beautiful type of composition appeared , the simplicity of Avhich , and its independence of additional ornament , stamps it Avith a degree of
refiiicment Avhich is scarcely preserved in tho more advanced stages of Mediaeval architecture , AAiien features of mere decoration became abundant . The best architects of tho renaissance evidently felt this , and in their ecclesiastical structures , for ivhich they found , no available precedent in ancient classical architecture , they returned to this Romanesque typoand aud in a short space of time a largo number
, of churches were erected , showing a full appreciation of those early models . Many would , at a short distance , be taken for buildings of a date anterior to the thirteenth century . The cathedral of Fax , south of Bordeaux , ivould , at first sight , be pronounced Romanesque : it is , in fact , Revived Italian , except an incomplete Gothic tower at tho west end . At a village between Epeniay and Reims I noticed a
church at a distance , ivhich I made sure of as a- fine Romanesque specimen . On examining it , I found it clearly post-Gothic . I may have been disappointed at the time , bub it IIOAV proves valuable to mo as an example . "When I had the honour of reading a paper at tho South Kensington Museum , rather more than a year ago , I showed some drawings of Spanish churches in the revived Italian
style , Avhosc general outline had altogether a Romanesque character . I am still of opinion that these churches might be studied to advantage in tho present day , as securing really lino architectural features at little or no sacrifice of convenience , and at no exorbitant expense . In Ital y tho combination of the low lantern toAA-er ivith the lofty campanile , was continually reproduced ; and still further
grandeur ivas obtained by expanding tho central lantern into a spacious dome , Avhich became the predominant feature both external !) - and internally . Such domes had indeed boon more than suggested by the early Byzantine and circular churches , but the rcvii'ei's of classic art worked them out with an elaborate care in regard to proportion , and often Avith a success which almost reminds us of the
elaboration of the column in Greece . That of St . Peter ' s , as it is tho largest , is , to my mind , the finest example that can be brought forward . I have endeavoured to procure a tolerably true outline , comparing my sketch with an engraving that appeared to me a very exact architectural elevation , and making corrections accordingly . Many prints and drawings make it too round and heavy , and most of the photographs
I have seen arc taken from a point that does not show it to the best advantage . But though St . Peter ' s is the finest example , it is but one out of a vast number , ivhich exhibit a great variety of forms and proportions , nearly all of them pleasing to the eye , and giving quite as much character to the Italian landseajio as the Gothic toiver or spire does to the Eimh ' . sh .
Had the dome been congenial to the Gothic , it would surely have been introduced in that style , a style which certainly is not ch . irgeable with timidity in adopting new forms and combinations . The arrangement of tiie central part- of Ely Cathedral oH ' cral opportunity for its adoption . Yet AVO find au octagan , with a Gothic A-anlting adapted to it , in the best ivay the architect could devise , and that
architect was one of snore than ordinary fertility of vescource . Without fur a moment depreciating the grandeur of aline Gothic interior . I must observe that the Classic style contains elements of at least equal grandeur , if not greater . The churches of St . Andrea , in Mantua , St . J ' usti ' na , and the cathedral in Padua , are not inferior in solemnity of effect , to any Gothic edifice whatever . Had St . Paul ' s been
carried out according to the design preserved by the model , I can conceive no interior that would have been equal to it . An impression of vastnoss would have been produced by mcans totally opposite to those employed in Gothic ; and , to judge from the model , even more effective , Avhile the variety of perspective A-iows , and the fine alternation of light and shade in broad masses , Avould have given a picturcsquencss scarcely rivalled in the eminently picturesque Miedheval styles . If I am right iu believing that there is a picturcs-
Architecture And Archæology.
qucness of repose as well as of action , a pieturcsqucness depending rather on breadth and mass than on intricacy and multiplicity of parts , then I cannot be Avrong in asserting that the Classic may meet the Gothic even on its own ground , on at least equal terms . Still , if constructive consideration should render a pointed arch desirable under any cirenmstauces , its
admission docs not necessarily involve that of the whole Gothic system . The pointed arch ivas used before Gothic Avas developed , and in localities Avhich Avere the last to receive the Gothic stylo . Saracenic architecture has the pointed arch , but it is not Gothic , neither are those domical buildings in Aquitania Avhich employ tho pointed arch , Avithout an approach to Gothic mouldings , in the support of their
pendentives . But oven supposing the pointed arch to have belonged exclusively to the Gothic , wc may borrow it if we really ivant it , Avithout professing to revive the style . It is not an architectuao to pass away Avithout influencing any succeeding style : ive are not obliged to choose between accepting all or none . There is one very important element of Gothic ivhich we should be foolish to reject , and of which
if I mistake not , the Renaissance architects saw the value , and by its means considerably modified the rigidity which might have resulted from a strict imitation of the ancient Classic : I mean , the oblique surface of decoration . The
use of this much facilitates the enrichments of our buildings , while wc excluded heavy and incongruous ornament , and enables us to retain such beauties of Gothic sculpture as are not inconsistent with a more severe and refined stjde . As , in advocating the revived Classical style , I would not urge the rejection of everything Avhich belongs to the Gothic , still less am I anxious to defend the glarin g defects AA'hich
characterise so many specimens of the Classic . I Avould not perpetuate the cold formality of most of our professed imitations ofthe Greek , nor the feeble , unmeaning , uninteresting character which prevails in so much of our work that claims a derivation from the Roman . But a discussion upon the defects that may be enumerated in Classical buildings and upon the causes ivhich , independently of Medireval
sentiment , have tended to bring tho Classical style into disrepute , would occupy a great length of time , and I am not sufficiently master of the subject to enter full y into it . I believe , however , the greatest defects in tho style are of a superficial character , and admit of removal . By clearing them away AVO shall give it a Aitality and vigour which its evident congmity Avith the practical spirit of the age
cannot fail to preserve ; while the consistent stability of its nature , the A-eiy reverse of that restless tendency to change which is one of tho essential elements of Gothic , Avill make it- a permanently elfcctivc style , at least till the present conditions of society become altogether changed .
Notes On Literature, Science, And Art.
NOTES ON LITERATURE , SCIENCE , AND ART .
Our readers may be ' aware that , fur confirmed drunkards , certain asylums or retreats have been established amongst our neighbours ayent the Tweed , where ardent spirits cannot bo obtained without undertaking a considerable journey . Dr . Christison has published a Treatise On some of the Medico-Legal Relations of the Habit of Intemperancein ivhich he remarks : —Three I visitedin
, years ago , company with a medical friend , an establishment of the kind on the island of Sieve . It is about a mile from a magnificent rocky coast , in : i . sliming valley ivhich descends from the precipitous mountain IH-. iven , and it is within walking distance of Lock Corruisk , Cflen Sligaclam , tho Spar Cave , and other rare scenery of this famous island . The neighbourhood abounds in subjects for the pencil—there is good angling in all directions ; an interesting
botany , a rare geology , and no want of material for the fowler or ornithologist . The proprietor is a well-informed medical man , and also cultivates a farm , In summer and autumn lie rccieves not a few visitors , who intermingle on a footing of equality with the inmates , so that these are by no means cut oil' altogether from ordinary society . Wliisky may be had by walking twelve miles of a good road , but no nearer—and only by deciding the solitary
spirit-dealer of the place , ivho is under a promise not to supply any of the anchorites of Strathaird ; or it may be got fourteen miles oil' by a road so rugged that a fair pedestrian may do it in live hours . Here we found ten gentlemen—cases originally of the