DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.20658#0190
I
176 ARCHITECTURE IN LANDSCAPE.
" On tlie same principles they formed the spreading ramifications of the stone-work in the
windows, and the stained glass in the interstices ; the one to represent the branches and the other
the leaves of an opening grove; and both concurred to preserve that gloomy light which inspires,
religious veneration and dread. Lastly, we see the reason of their studied aversion to apparent
solidity in these stupendous masses, deemed so absurd by men accustomed to the apparent as
well as real strength of Grecian architecture : for the surprising lightness of the Gothic building,
united with real strength, was necessary to complete the execution of their original idea of a
Sylvan place of worship."
A very ingenious artist of this country, in a valuable work lately published, has made some ob-
servations on the Gothic architecture, which cannot fail to be of service to the student:—
" In the architecture of the Greeks and Romans/' says our author, " the columns were parti-
cularly admired for the happy effect of their proportions: but it will be found that little or no
regard has been paid to these in the Gothic column, in which the shaft is seldom if ever dimi-
nished. The plan of the Greek and Roman column is always round; but that of the Gothic is
of almost every shape, being frequently found in the form of an oblong lozenge ; so that the co-
lumn appears to increase or lessen, as viewed on the longer or shorter diameter.
" In the most-admired Gothic edifices no regard seems to have been paid to the proportion
between the length of the shaft of a column and its diameter: there are no rules to be deduced
from the Gothic practice, as from that of the ancients, to fix the proportions of the column and
its parts: neither are there determined intercolumniations or fixed spaces between the columns,
although, in different buildings, these are found nearly to approach each other. Examples of
the widest differences are common ; for instance, in the nave of the cathedral of York, and the
aisles of the conventual church of Newark-upon-Trent; both Gothic buildings deservedly ad-
mired, but which differ widely from each other, both in the proportions of the columns and in
the intervals between them.
" The Gothic column, by not being diminished towards the top, and having no entablature,
is the better suited, in point of stability, to support the arch which springs from it. Whoever
examines compositions in Greek or Roman architecture, as sometimes executed, with arches
springing from diminished columns, will be fully convinced of the truth of this observation ; and
discover that the architects of Gothic edifices did not give to their columns their peculiar form,
from ignorance or want of taste, but from a regard to superior utility, an object ever to be pre-
ferred in the mind of an artist.
"• The capitals of columns, in the architecture of Greece, gave invariable distinctions to the seve-
ral orders: in the Gothic they are varied at pleasure, without any relation to the diameter or length
of the shaft; and are generally so diminutive as not to become essential parts of the column.
" The horizontal lines which form the entablature of the Greek and Roman orders appear to
interrupt the eye of the spectator, as if intended to arrest his attention, to examine the beauty of
the column, as a composition distinct from the other parts of the building; whereas in a Gothic
edifice all the parts are united.
" The striking effects of a Gothic building are produced by taking in the whole, in all its re-
lations ; but in the Greek and Roman architecture our pleasure often arises^ in a great measure^
from contemplating the elegance and fine proportions of its several parts.
« On
176 ARCHITECTURE IN LANDSCAPE.
" On tlie same principles they formed the spreading ramifications of the stone-work in the
windows, and the stained glass in the interstices ; the one to represent the branches and the other
the leaves of an opening grove; and both concurred to preserve that gloomy light which inspires,
religious veneration and dread. Lastly, we see the reason of their studied aversion to apparent
solidity in these stupendous masses, deemed so absurd by men accustomed to the apparent as
well as real strength of Grecian architecture : for the surprising lightness of the Gothic building,
united with real strength, was necessary to complete the execution of their original idea of a
Sylvan place of worship."
A very ingenious artist of this country, in a valuable work lately published, has made some ob-
servations on the Gothic architecture, which cannot fail to be of service to the student:—
" In the architecture of the Greeks and Romans/' says our author, " the columns were parti-
cularly admired for the happy effect of their proportions: but it will be found that little or no
regard has been paid to these in the Gothic column, in which the shaft is seldom if ever dimi-
nished. The plan of the Greek and Roman column is always round; but that of the Gothic is
of almost every shape, being frequently found in the form of an oblong lozenge ; so that the co-
lumn appears to increase or lessen, as viewed on the longer or shorter diameter.
" In the most-admired Gothic edifices no regard seems to have been paid to the proportion
between the length of the shaft of a column and its diameter: there are no rules to be deduced
from the Gothic practice, as from that of the ancients, to fix the proportions of the column and
its parts: neither are there determined intercolumniations or fixed spaces between the columns,
although, in different buildings, these are found nearly to approach each other. Examples of
the widest differences are common ; for instance, in the nave of the cathedral of York, and the
aisles of the conventual church of Newark-upon-Trent; both Gothic buildings deservedly ad-
mired, but which differ widely from each other, both in the proportions of the columns and in
the intervals between them.
" The Gothic column, by not being diminished towards the top, and having no entablature,
is the better suited, in point of stability, to support the arch which springs from it. Whoever
examines compositions in Greek or Roman architecture, as sometimes executed, with arches
springing from diminished columns, will be fully convinced of the truth of this observation ; and
discover that the architects of Gothic edifices did not give to their columns their peculiar form,
from ignorance or want of taste, but from a regard to superior utility, an object ever to be pre-
ferred in the mind of an artist.
"• The capitals of columns, in the architecture of Greece, gave invariable distinctions to the seve-
ral orders: in the Gothic they are varied at pleasure, without any relation to the diameter or length
of the shaft; and are generally so diminutive as not to become essential parts of the column.
" The horizontal lines which form the entablature of the Greek and Roman orders appear to
interrupt the eye of the spectator, as if intended to arrest his attention, to examine the beauty of
the column, as a composition distinct from the other parts of the building; whereas in a Gothic
edifice all the parts are united.
" The striking effects of a Gothic building are produced by taking in the whole, in all its re-
lations ; but in the Greek and Roman architecture our pleasure often arises^ in a great measure^
from contemplating the elegance and fine proportions of its several parts.
« On