DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.29899#0090
70
FRENCH ARCHITECTURE.
Rart II.
very generally the case in the Sonth ; ancl where painted glass is not
used, and fresco painting is the principal mode of decoration, such a
system has many advantages. The outer walls are scarcely ever seen,
and by this arrangement great internal extent and appearance of
gigantic strength is imparted, while the whole space covered by the
building is available for internal use. But where painted plass is the
principal mode of decoration, as was the case to the north of the Loire,
such a system was evidently inadmissible. Then the walls were
internally kept as flat as possible, so as to allow the windows to be
seen in every direction, ancl all the mechanical expedients were placed
on the outside. Admirably as the Northern architects managed all
this, I cannot help thinking, if we leave the painted glass out of the
question, that the Southern arçhitects had hit on the more artistic
arrangement of the two ; and where, as at Alby, the
lower parts of the recesses between the internal
buttresses were occupied by deep windowless chapels,
and the upper lights were almost wholly concealed,
the result was an extraordinary appearance of repose
and mysterious gloom. This character, added to its
simplicity and the vastness of its vaults, render Alby
one of the most impressive churches in France, and
a most instructive study to the philosophical inquirer
into the principles of eflect, as being a Gothic church
built on principles not only dissimilar from, but
almost diametrically opposed to, those which we
have been usually accustomed to consider as indis-
pensable, and as inherent requisites of the style.
The church of the Cordeliers at Toulouse is
another remarkable example of this class, and ex-
hibiting its peculiarities in even a clearer light than
that at Alby. Externally its dimensions in plan are
udï), rian ui omucn ui tiit;
Cordeiiers, at Touiouse. 273 ft. by 87. Those of King s College Chapel at
Cambridge, which is the building we possess most
resembling it in plan, are 310 ft. by 84. But the nave of that chapel
is only 41 ft. 6 in. clear between the piers, while in the church of the
Cordeliers it is 53 ft., and except the thickness of the outer wall—-
about 4 ft.—the whole of the floor-space of the plan is utilised in the
interior. In so far as internal eflect is concerned this is no doubt
judicious ; but, as may be seen from the view (Woodcut ISTo. 571), the
absence of any delineation of the line of buttresses externally produces
a flatness and want of accentuation in the lower part that is highly
objectionable. As will be observed from the section, the whole of
the width of the buttresses is included in the interior on the one side.
On the other it is excluded above the roof of the aisle, but a gallery
(Woodcuts Nos. 570 and 571) joins the buttress at the top, giving the
FRENCH ARCHITECTURE.
Rart II.
very generally the case in the Sonth ; ancl where painted glass is not
used, and fresco painting is the principal mode of decoration, such a
system has many advantages. The outer walls are scarcely ever seen,
and by this arrangement great internal extent and appearance of
gigantic strength is imparted, while the whole space covered by the
building is available for internal use. But where painted plass is the
principal mode of decoration, as was the case to the north of the Loire,
such a system was evidently inadmissible. Then the walls were
internally kept as flat as possible, so as to allow the windows to be
seen in every direction, ancl all the mechanical expedients were placed
on the outside. Admirably as the Northern architects managed all
this, I cannot help thinking, if we leave the painted glass out of the
question, that the Southern arçhitects had hit on the more artistic
arrangement of the two ; and where, as at Alby, the
lower parts of the recesses between the internal
buttresses were occupied by deep windowless chapels,
and the upper lights were almost wholly concealed,
the result was an extraordinary appearance of repose
and mysterious gloom. This character, added to its
simplicity and the vastness of its vaults, render Alby
one of the most impressive churches in France, and
a most instructive study to the philosophical inquirer
into the principles of eflect, as being a Gothic church
built on principles not only dissimilar from, but
almost diametrically opposed to, those which we
have been usually accustomed to consider as indis-
pensable, and as inherent requisites of the style.
The church of the Cordeliers at Toulouse is
another remarkable example of this class, and ex-
hibiting its peculiarities in even a clearer light than
that at Alby. Externally its dimensions in plan are
udï), rian ui omucn ui tiit;
Cordeiiers, at Touiouse. 273 ft. by 87. Those of King s College Chapel at
Cambridge, which is the building we possess most
resembling it in plan, are 310 ft. by 84. But the nave of that chapel
is only 41 ft. 6 in. clear between the piers, while in the church of the
Cordeliers it is 53 ft., and except the thickness of the outer wall—-
about 4 ft.—the whole of the floor-space of the plan is utilised in the
interior. In so far as internal eflect is concerned this is no doubt
judicious ; but, as may be seen from the view (Woodcut ISTo. 571), the
absence of any delineation of the line of buttresses externally produces
a flatness and want of accentuation in the lower part that is highly
objectionable. As will be observed from the section, the whole of
the width of the buttresses is included in the interior on the one side.
On the other it is excluded above the roof of the aisle, but a gallery
(Woodcuts Nos. 570 and 571) joins the buttress at the top, giving the