quent example. Besides a great number founded by individuals, the church and abbey of St. Antoine near Paris, those of the Filles Dieu, the Jacobins, the Carmelites, and the Cordeliers du Faubourg St. Marcel, were built by command of the king; and, out of the metropolis, the abbeys of Lis near Melun, of Longchamp near St. Cloud, and St. Mathieu near Rouen; the greater part of the abbey of St. Denis; the Hotels Dieu of Vernon, Pontoise, and Compiegne; the church and abbey of Maubuisson; the church of the nuns of Poissy, and the monastery and church of Royaumont by Pierre de Montercau, are recorded as the monuments of this munificent sovereign. At the latter end of the twelfth, or in the beginning of the thirteenth, century, moreover, sprung up a brotherhood, known by the name of the Confraternité des Ponts, founded by St. Benezet, to which belongs the honour of having erected a bridge across the Rhone at Lyons in 1244, and the Pont St. Esprit, another vast structure. The first stone of this was laid with great ceremony in 1265 by Jean de Tianges, prior of the monastery of St. Esprit, and the whole structure, above 3000 feet in length, was completed in 1309. The building of bridges and maintaining of roads at this period may be almost deemed to have been as great an act of piety as the founding of churches; and a religious association for such a purpose affords a proof of the previous barbarism and increasing civilisation of the age.

311. The wars carried by the English into the very heart of France, as well as the factions and divisions of the French nobility, put a stop to the cultivation of the fine arts, and the fine pointed style of this country ceased about the fourteenth century. The two succeeding ones were not distinguished by architectural efforts of excellence equal to those whereof we have been speaking. Before the invasion, however, of Edward III. and in the provinces at a distance from the scene of warfare, the earlier part of the fourteenth century produced some beautiful churches, among which was that of St. Ouen at Rouen, a work celebrated no less for the beauty of its composition than for the remarkable skill and delicacy exhibited in its execution. It was begun under the abbot, Jean Marc d'Argent in 1318, but not finished till near the middle of the following century. Under Charles V., whose valour and policy procured for France a more favourable aspect in the affairs of the country, many buildings of importance were undertaken and completed. The principal edifices, however, of this monarch were of a nature civil and military rather than religious. The Bastile and the castle of Vincennes were finished by him; in the latter whereof he founded, about 1379, a very beautiful chapel, on the model of the Sainte Chapelle at Paris. The Châtelet, the walls of the city near the Porte St. Antoine, the châteaux of St. Germain en Laye, Montargis, and Creil, were constructed by him, as also many improvements and additions at the Louvre. Charles VI. was more interested in preparations for the invasion of England than in the patronage of architecture: he nevertheless caused the erection of the abbey of Bonport and some other edifices.

312. Though in the fourteenth century the style of the thirteenth did not altogether disappear, its character gradually altered, especially in the continuation of the mullion work over the heads of the windows, which, from being ornamented with six foils or roses, were now branched out into the form of leaves; and the compartments of the circular windows in transepts, and at the end of naves, underwent a great change in their composition, often extremely fanciful. The vaultings of the roofs, too, were much more highly decorated. All these alterations took place at nearly the same period, or a short time after, in England, whose prosperity then enabled the artist to carry them to a much higher state of perfection and magnificence, as will hereafter be shown.

313. The fifteenth century was not more favourable to the practice of architecture in France than the fourteenth had been. It produced few buildings, nor was it indeed probable that any of grandeur and importance could have been undertaken and carried on during the constant and sanguinary contests which concluded with the expulsion of the English from its shores, by which the monarchy from its most abject degradation was once more restored to vigour and prosperity. "The architectural taste of this age," says the author whom we have so much quoted, "resembled the contemporary style of England and other countries. Many instances of tracery may be remarked, especially in sepulchral monuments and chapels; but the distracted condition of France afforded little leisure to her inhabitants for works of piety and genius; and prevented them from adding to the sumptuous structures of their ancestors any great example of that superlative beauty or richness which characterise the architecture of England at this period." The time, in fact, had arrived when it was to be superseded altogether by the disposition which soon became universal in Europe for returning to an imitation of the works of the ancients, which, begun by the artists of Italy, was soon carried into every other country where civilisation had a footing.

314. Our notice of pointed architecture in France we shall close with a short notice of the cathedrals of Rheims and Amiens, which, with Mr. Whittington, we are of opinion are two of the finest examples of the style in the world. The former, which was not quite finished till 1440, is in the form of a Latin cross on the plan; its length from east to west is 492 ft., and its breadth, measured to the extremities of the arms of the transepts, is

190 ft. The interior is divided longitudinally into a nave and choir with side aisles. The width of the transepts is 98 ft., which is equal to that of the body of the church; and the transepts, like the nave and choir, have their side aisles. The western front is composed, as usual, with three entrances, the centre one being the largest; the three being crowned with pointed arches and high pediments with their crockets and finials. The buttresses of the front rise between these pediments, terminating in slender pinnacles. Over the centre door is a very magnificent circular window, with radiating mullions, terminated at the circumference by pointed arches. Over each side portal rises a square tower, decorated in the first story with windows, and in the second with a canopy which extends horizontally throughout the façade; the height of the towers being 270 ft. from the ground. The portals are of the most superb description, the sofites of the arches being masses of canopy work, exquisitely formed and elaborately finished. This work was planned and begun in 1215, at which time the pointed architecture of England was by no means so advanced towards perfection as it was on the Continent, the cathedral of Salisbury having been commenced 15 years later.

315. The cathedral of Amiens has always been the admiration of travellers, and "claims," says Whittington, "our attention, as it seems to throw a very strong light on the history of that style, which has so long been, and probably will continue to be, distinguished by the contemptuous epithet [Gothic] it at present bears." The date of the cathedral of Amiens having been correctly ascertained, and nearly coinciding with that of Salisbury, it is fair to compare the contemporary styles from these two examples. They were begun in the same year 1220, and the original plans in both were carried through without mixture of the styles that succeeded before their completion. We entirely agree with Whittington, that of the two, Amiens is in a more perfect and advanced state of art than Salisbury, and that the French were before us in adding to the simple beauties of the former period many graces which we did not adopt till the latter. In England the prominent feature of the thirteenth century was the highly pointed arch, struck from two centres, and including an equilateral triangle from the springing to the crown or apex of the arch; and another, as Bentham (Hist. of Ely) well observes, is the employment of Purbeck marble pillars, very slender, and encompassed by marble shafts, a little detached, and a profusion of small columns of the same stone in the ornamental parts of the building. These peculiarities are found in Amiens, the arches of whose aisles resemble those of Salisbury and Westminster, as do the pillars. The vaulting, moreover, is like that of Salisbury. In plan, proportion, and ornament, however, the general character of the building differs very materially. As respects the first, the aisles to the transepts, the double ones on each side of the choir whose end is so beautifully terminated by a semicircular colonnade, are differences from Salisbury; the number of columns, too, exceeds that used in our churches of the same date, and produces an infinitely richer effect. The dissimilarity is continued in the proportions of the whole cathedral, and especially in the height in relation to the width, that of the pillars to the width of the arches, and in many other details. It is nevertheless in the ornamental part that the chief difference exists, and most particularly in the hosts of saints, prophets, martyrs, and angels, which line the doors, cover the walls, and cluster round the pinnacles. There is nothing in the church of Salisbury which approaches this. We have not, however, space to pursue the subject, and shall therefore close it with a comparison of the respective dimensions of the French with the English church.

316. A more amusing instance of the value of the investigation of architectural subjects by literary men cannot be referred to, than that of Gray the poet having compared the

cathedral of Amiens with that of Canterbury; between which structures there is not the smallest point of resemblance, except in their both being built for religious purposes. The church at Amiens suffered during the Revolution considerably less than any of the other French churches of importance.

317. In closing the view of the pointed architecture of France, it may be useful to add a list of a few of the cathedral churches in that country, with their dates and architects, before the end of the thirteenth century.

318. The pointed arch is found throughout Italy. We do not believe there was any great difference in the times of its introduction into the various countries of Europe; the earliest example in Italy is believed to be the church of San Francesco at Assisi. The cathedrals at Orvieto and Sienna, and some beautiful examples at Verona, Vicenza, and Viterbo, show that it prevailed in Italy with many modifications. It is not necessary to pursue its history merely with reference to this country; and we shall therefore content ourselves with a short account of the principal structure in it which exhibits the style. The cathedral at Milan (fig. 160.) was begun in 1336, and finished in 1387.

It is con

structed of white marble. The plan is a Latin cross, the transepts extending but little beyond the walls of the church. From west to east its length is 490 ft., and its extreme breadth 295. Each extremity of the western front has a small square tower 43 ft. wide in each direction. The length of the nave is 279 ft., and its width 197 ft. It is divided longitudinally into a central and four side aisles, and lighted by five cupolas. The transepts are also divided into a central and two side aisles, in the direction of their length. The eastern end of the church is terminated by three sides of an octagon. The architecture of the doors and windows of the western front is of Italian or Roman style, and was executed at a late period; but the whole of it ends upwards in a great gable or pediment, taking in the extreme width of the elevation. Its apex is 170 ft. from the pavement, and the sloping sides are ornamented with tabernacle work. The towers at the angles are 295 ft. high, and are horizontally divided into six stories, which, as they rise, gradually diminish in breadth, the last forming a small pyramidal spire. The faces of the towers are encrusted with tabernacle work, and canopied statues standing on corbels. In the third story from the bottom a painted window, separated into three divisions by mullions, is introduced. rest of the façade is vertically divided by buttresses into five parts, the buttresses being ornamented with statues on corbels, and terminating in lofty pinnacles. The central tower, which stands over the intersection of the transepts with the nave, rises to the height of 400 ft., being in general form similar to those which appear in the western façade. All the towers and pinnacles are crowned with statues. The roof is covered entirely with

Fig. 160.

CATHEDRAL AT MIT.AN.

The

blocks of marble, which are fitted together with such exactness that they are like one piece. The principal architect of the fabric was Zamodia, a German. It must be here remarked, that the interior of the cathedral of Milan, which is of the close of the 14th century, is in the same character of style as that which prevailed in France and Germany during the æra. Kerrich (MSS. Brit. Mus.) has very truly said, that "we have nothing which might authorise a strict comparison with the cathedral at Milan, as to the immensity of the work, or the astonishing and endless labour which has been expended upon it. Without ascending the roof, no idea can be formed of the vast profusion of elegantly carved ornaments, the Gothic work, or the astonishing number of statues and alto-rilievos which are found there; some very small, others of a gigantic size-generally speaking good. They possess, of course, different degrees of merit, as having been made in different ages. There is a singular application of them, which is seen I believe no where else. they stand upon the very summit of pinnacles and finials. The louvre in the centre of the church is very large, and of grand effect, but is disfigured by a wooden spire. The flying arches are literally feathered with crockets." We subjoin a table, with the dates and architects, of some of the principal cathedrals of Italy, in which the pointed arch is found: —

-

319. In the church of San Lorenzo at Genoa appears a strange mixture of styles: the nave is separated from the aisles by Corinthian columns, connected by pointed arches, and bearing an horizontal entablature, above which reigns an arcade, whose supports are alternately columns and piers. The internal appearance of the church is singular, from the courses of the masonry being alternately of white and black marble. The cathedral at Palermo seems to indicate a Moresque as well as pointed style, and is a curious example, whereof the representations will convey a much better idea than a description here, which, however, we should not decline, if the subject had not already been placed fully before the reader. Every example within the range of Moorish dominion unites to prove the hypothesis on which we have relied.

320. In the splendid cathedrals of Spain a style prevails wherein we find almost an amalgamation of Saracenic with that which prevailed in Europe after the introduction of the pointed arch. That at Seville, which was raised near the end of the 13th century, is 420 ft. long, 273 ft. broad, and 126 ft. high. The choir is in the centre of the church; and the interior, though as respects the plan unintelligibly split into small parts, possesses features of extraordinary beauty. The celebrated Giralda, or bell-tower, seated at one angle of it, is perhaps the most picturesquely designed campanile in Europe. The lower part, being 200 of the 300 ft. in height to which it rises, was built by the Moors towards the end of the 10th or beginning of the 11th century. It contains a staircase of so easy ascent that two horsemen may mount abreast more than half way towards its summit. The cathedral at Burgos is another exquisite specimen of the art in Spain, and has always been considered among the best examples of Europe in the pointed style, which on the Continent was always more exuberant in ornament than in this country. It has two towers ending in spires at its west end; and from the central part of the edifice a square tower of great beauty rises, whose sides are ornamented with eight pinnacles. The parts of this cathedral are elaborate, and finished with extraordinary attention to detail. At the eastern end an octagonal building is seated, crowned with a pyramidal roof. This church is said to have been executed on the designs of John and Simon of Cologne, after 1442.

321. Portugal produces a number of examples of the pointed style, one whereof, the church of Batalha (fig. 161.), is of the most magnificent description. We always differ with reluctance from Dr. Milner, and especially in the case of the Batalha, which he considers only a pleasing variety of Gothic architecture, and not to be put in competition with many of the contemporary buildings in other parts of Europe on the general principles of sublimity and beauty. Our opinion is directly the reverse. The church at Batalha is 416 ft. in length, and 541 ft. from north to south including the monastery. Its plan is that of a Latin cross, and the

interior is divided by columns into a nave, with an aisle on each side, the eastern end ter

which is constructed entirely of white King John (fig. 162.), whose pierced

minating in three sides of an octagon. The aisles are equal in height to the nave; the vaults of both being groined, and springing from clustered pillars. The side walls have two tiers of pointed windows; those of the lower tier having their radii of curvature equal to two thirds of their span, and those The windows above equal to three fourths of it.

are splayed towards the interior, their sides being ornamented with a number of small columns, wherefrom stems are produced which meet at the top of the aperture. Each window is in three divisions, separated by upright mullions, and ending in trefoil heads. Six quatrefoils are introduced between the tops of the last and the intrados of the arch. In the chancel the windows are narrow in proportion to their height, and terminate in lancet heads. The main walls are crowned by pierced The tower is ocbattlements with pinnacles.

tagonal on the plan, and receives a small openworked pyramidal spire. Attached to this church, marble, is the extremely beautiful mausoleum of spire reminds one of those in Normandy and Germany, and gives another instance of the universal consent of the age in carrying pointed architecture to the utmost limits of decoration; a desire which, connected with the changes of the times, led to its abandonment very soon after it seems to have reached the acmé of perfection.

322. We here leave the subject of pointed architecture, not without regret, because we are well aware that a much more extended notice than the limits here prescribed is necessary to do justice to it; but that regret is lessened on reflecting that in a subsequent section we shall have to consider it under the head of architecture in the British Isles. The first crusade, it is to be observed, was in 1096, about a century after which the pointed style was approaching perfection on the Continent; the last, or eighth crusade, was in 1270; and it is curious enough to observe that in about a century thereafter the expiring effort in that style appears in the cathedral at Milan. There seems to have been a series of waves of art impinging, like those of the sea on the shores of a continent, on the taste of Europe, and not felt immediately, but in, as it were, the distance of the original wave from its destination; for it is certain And this we think that the British Isles were behind the rest of Europe in its adoption. another satisfactory reason for assigning the origin of the pointed arch to the East,

SECT. XVI.

ITALIAN ARCHITECTURE.

323. The period to which we have advanced in the architecture of Italy is seen in the last section: we have now to commence a new era in the art, which, dawning in Florence, soon spread its meridian light over Italy and the rest of Europe. The French have well It is with us denominated that of the applied the term renaissance to its commencement. revival of the arts. The Florentines had at an early period, according to Villani, determined to erect in their city a monument which should surpass all that had before appeared; and in 1298 Arnolfo di Lapo, according to Vasari, but according to Molini Arnolfo di Cambio da Colle, to whom they confided its execution, had so prepared his plans that its foundations were in that year laid, on the day of the feast of the Nativity, and the name of Sta. Maria del Fiore was then given to it. This edifice, though com