DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.29899#0215
Bk. IV. Ch. I.
CATHEDRAL OF ANTWEBP.
195
Antwerp cathedral is one of the most remarkable churches in
Europe, being 390 ft. long by 170 in width inside the nave, and cover-
ing rather more than 70,000 sq. ft. As will be seen by the plan
(Woodcut No. 680), it is divided into seven aisles, which gives a vast
intricacy and picturesqueness to the perspective ; but there is a want
of harmony among the parts, and of subordination and proportion,
sadly destructive of true architectural effect ; so that, notwithstanding
its size, it looks much smaller internally than many of the French
cathedrals of far smaller dimensions. If the length of the nave had
been divided into ten bays
instead of only six, and the
central aisle had been at
least 10 ft. wider, which
space could easily have been
spared from the outer one,
the apparent size of the
church would have been
greatly increased ; but be-
sides this, it wants height,
and its details show a de-
cadence which nothing can
redeem.
Its magnificent portal,
with its one finished tower
406 ft. in height, was com-
menced in 1422, but only
finished in 1518, and is more
in accordance with the taste
of the 16th century than
of the original design.
Although from the lateness
of its date it is impossible to
be satisfied either with the
outline or the detail, it is
still so gorgeous a specimen
of art, and towers so nobly
over the buildings of the city, as to extort our admiration, and a
man must have very little feeling for the poetry of art who can stop
to criticise it too closely.
The spire at Chartres (Woodcut No. 627) is more elegant in out-
line, but the design of its base does not accord with that of the upper
part, and its effect is injured by the great height of the building to
which it is attached. That at Strasburg is very inferior in outline,
so is St. Stephen’s at Vienna, and it is not quite clear that the open-
work spires of Freiburg and Cologne are not mistakes. The base of
o 2
680. Plan of the Cathedral at Antwerp.
Scale 100 ft. to 1 in.
CATHEDRAL OF ANTWEBP.
195
Antwerp cathedral is one of the most remarkable churches in
Europe, being 390 ft. long by 170 in width inside the nave, and cover-
ing rather more than 70,000 sq. ft. As will be seen by the plan
(Woodcut No. 680), it is divided into seven aisles, which gives a vast
intricacy and picturesqueness to the perspective ; but there is a want
of harmony among the parts, and of subordination and proportion,
sadly destructive of true architectural effect ; so that, notwithstanding
its size, it looks much smaller internally than many of the French
cathedrals of far smaller dimensions. If the length of the nave had
been divided into ten bays
instead of only six, and the
central aisle had been at
least 10 ft. wider, which
space could easily have been
spared from the outer one,
the apparent size of the
church would have been
greatly increased ; but be-
sides this, it wants height,
and its details show a de-
cadence which nothing can
redeem.
Its magnificent portal,
with its one finished tower
406 ft. in height, was com-
menced in 1422, but only
finished in 1518, and is more
in accordance with the taste
of the 16th century than
of the original design.
Although from the lateness
of its date it is impossible to
be satisfied either with the
outline or the detail, it is
still so gorgeous a specimen
of art, and towers so nobly
over the buildings of the city, as to extort our admiration, and a
man must have very little feeling for the poetry of art who can stop
to criticise it too closely.
The spire at Chartres (Woodcut No. 627) is more elegant in out-
line, but the design of its base does not accord with that of the upper
part, and its effect is injured by the great height of the building to
which it is attached. That at Strasburg is very inferior in outline,
so is St. Stephen’s at Vienna, and it is not quite clear that the open-
work spires of Freiburg and Cologne are not mistakes. The base of
o 2
680. Plan of the Cathedral at Antwerp.
Scale 100 ft. to 1 in.