DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.29899#0213
Bk. IV. Ch. I.
TRANSITIONAL PERIOD.
193
small double chapel, of a form very common in Germany, but less
ornate than these generally were. At one angle of it are two spires,
represented in Woodcut No. 678 ; the
more slender of these would not excite
remark if found in Cairo or Aleppo, so
exactly does itjtake the Eastern form ;
the other, on the contrary, seems to belong
to the 16th or 17th century : it is only
one, however, of the numerous instances
that go to prove how completely art re-
turned, at.the period called the Renaissance,
to the point from which it started some
four or five centuries earlier. It returned
with something more of purity of detail
and better construction, but unfortunately
without that propriety of design and
grandeur of conception which mark even
the rude buildings of the first naissance of
Gothic art.
Belgium is rich in small specimens of
transitional architecture, and few of her 678. Spire of the Chapei of st. Sang,
more extensive ecclesiastical establishments (From a Sketch by'the Author.)
are without some features of this class,
often of great beauty. Their age has not yet, however, been
determined with anything like precision by the Belgian antiquaries ;
but on the whole, it seems that in
this, as in most other respects, this
country followed the German much
more closely than the Erench type,
hesitating long before it adopted the
pointed arch, and clinging to circular
forms long after it had been em-
ployed elsewhere, oscillating between
the two in a manner very puzzling,
and rendering more care necessary in
determining dates than in most other
parts of Europe. Besides this, none
of the Belgian buildings have yet 6V9. Window in Church at Villers, near
been edited in such a manner as to Genappe‘ “ by the Author.)
afford materials for the establishment of any certain rule. Perhaps
the most interesting specimen of the transitional period, and certainly
one of the most beautiful ruins in the country, is the abbey church
of Villers, near Genappe, a building 338 ft. in length by 67 in
width, built with all the purity of what we would call the Early
English style, but with a degree of experimental imperfection in the
VOL. II.
O
TRANSITIONAL PERIOD.
193
small double chapel, of a form very common in Germany, but less
ornate than these generally were. At one angle of it are two spires,
represented in Woodcut No. 678 ; the
more slender of these would not excite
remark if found in Cairo or Aleppo, so
exactly does itjtake the Eastern form ;
the other, on the contrary, seems to belong
to the 16th or 17th century : it is only
one, however, of the numerous instances
that go to prove how completely art re-
turned, at.the period called the Renaissance,
to the point from which it started some
four or five centuries earlier. It returned
with something more of purity of detail
and better construction, but unfortunately
without that propriety of design and
grandeur of conception which mark even
the rude buildings of the first naissance of
Gothic art.
Belgium is rich in small specimens of
transitional architecture, and few of her 678. Spire of the Chapei of st. Sang,
more extensive ecclesiastical establishments (From a Sketch by'the Author.)
are without some features of this class,
often of great beauty. Their age has not yet, however, been
determined with anything like precision by the Belgian antiquaries ;
but on the whole, it seems that in
this, as in most other respects, this
country followed the German much
more closely than the Erench type,
hesitating long before it adopted the
pointed arch, and clinging to circular
forms long after it had been em-
ployed elsewhere, oscillating between
the two in a manner very puzzling,
and rendering more care necessary in
determining dates than in most other
parts of Europe. Besides this, none
of the Belgian buildings have yet 6V9. Window in Church at Villers, near
been edited in such a manner as to Genappe‘ “ by the Author.)
afford materials for the establishment of any certain rule. Perhaps
the most interesting specimen of the transitional period, and certainly
one of the most beautiful ruins in the country, is the abbey church
of Villers, near Genappe, a building 338 ft. in length by 67 in
width, built with all the purity of what we would call the Early
English style, but with a degree of experimental imperfection in the
VOL. II.
O