DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.29899#0529
Bk. YIII. Ch. IV.
CONVENÏ AT BELEM.
509
lavish amount of expenditure in carving and ornament was thouglxt
to be the best means of attaining beauty. The church from this
cause may almost be considered a failure ; its two sepulchral chapels
being in fact by far the most interesting and beautiful parts of the
structure. It may be observed also that the open-work spire agrees
much better with the semi-Oriental decoration of the churches both
of Burgos and Batalha than with the soberer forms of the more
Northern style. One is almost tempted to fancy that the Germans
borrowed the idea from Spain rather than that Spain imported it
from the North. Till we know more of the age of the cathedrals of
Leon, Oviedo, and other cities in the North of Spain, the point cannot
be determined ; but it seems by no means certain but that further
knowledge will compel the Germans to resign their clairn to this
their single alleged invention in the pointed style.
Next in importance to the church at Batalha is that at Alcobaça,
commenced in the year 1148, and finished in 1222. It is a simple
and grand Cistercian abbey-church, not unlike that at Pontigny
(Woodcut No. 643) in style. Its total length is 360 ft. ; its height
about 64. The nave is divided from the side-aisles by twelve piers, the
arches of which support vaults of the same height over the three
divisions—a circumstance which must detract considerably from the
beauty of its proportions. The east end is terminated by a chevet
(called by the Portuguese a charola) with nine chapels.
The monastery attached to this church, formerly one of the most
splendid in the world, was burnt by the French in their retreat from
Portugal.
At Coimbra there are still some remains of Gothic churches ; the
principal of these is the old cathedral, which, though much destroyed,
still retains many features belonging to the same age as that of
Alcobaça.
In the same town is the church of Sta. Cruz, rebuilt by French
architects in the year 1515, in the then fashionable flamboyant style
of their country ; and in complete contrast to this is the small but
interesting Round Gothic cliurch of Sta. Salvador, erected about the
year 1169.
The church of the convent at Belem near Lisbon, though one of
the latest, was intended by its founder, Emanuel the Fortunate, to
be one of the most splendid in the kingdom. It was commenced in
1500, but not finished till long after the Renaissance had set in, so
that (in the interior especially) it is very much disfigured by incon-
gruities of every sort. The southern portal, however, is wholly in
the style of the first years of the 16th century, and is as elaborate an
example of the exuberant ornamentation of that age as can be found
in the Peninsula. It is, of course, full of faults, and by no means
worthy of imitation ; but its richness in figure sculpture and in
CONVENÏ AT BELEM.
509
lavish amount of expenditure in carving and ornament was thouglxt
to be the best means of attaining beauty. The church from this
cause may almost be considered a failure ; its two sepulchral chapels
being in fact by far the most interesting and beautiful parts of the
structure. It may be observed also that the open-work spire agrees
much better with the semi-Oriental decoration of the churches both
of Burgos and Batalha than with the soberer forms of the more
Northern style. One is almost tempted to fancy that the Germans
borrowed the idea from Spain rather than that Spain imported it
from the North. Till we know more of the age of the cathedrals of
Leon, Oviedo, and other cities in the North of Spain, the point cannot
be determined ; but it seems by no means certain but that further
knowledge will compel the Germans to resign their clairn to this
their single alleged invention in the pointed style.
Next in importance to the church at Batalha is that at Alcobaça,
commenced in the year 1148, and finished in 1222. It is a simple
and grand Cistercian abbey-church, not unlike that at Pontigny
(Woodcut No. 643) in style. Its total length is 360 ft. ; its height
about 64. The nave is divided from the side-aisles by twelve piers, the
arches of which support vaults of the same height over the three
divisions—a circumstance which must detract considerably from the
beauty of its proportions. The east end is terminated by a chevet
(called by the Portuguese a charola) with nine chapels.
The monastery attached to this church, formerly one of the most
splendid in the world, was burnt by the French in their retreat from
Portugal.
At Coimbra there are still some remains of Gothic churches ; the
principal of these is the old cathedral, which, though much destroyed,
still retains many features belonging to the same age as that of
Alcobaça.
In the same town is the church of Sta. Cruz, rebuilt by French
architects in the year 1515, in the then fashionable flamboyant style
of their country ; and in complete contrast to this is the small but
interesting Round Gothic cliurch of Sta. Salvador, erected about the
year 1169.
The church of the convent at Belem near Lisbon, though one of
the latest, was intended by its founder, Emanuel the Fortunate, to
be one of the most splendid in the kingdom. It was commenced in
1500, but not finished till long after the Renaissance had set in, so
that (in the interior especially) it is very much disfigured by incon-
gruities of every sort. The southern portal, however, is wholly in
the style of the first years of the 16th century, and is as elaborate an
example of the exuberant ornamentation of that age as can be found
in the Peninsula. It is, of course, full of faults, and by no means
worthy of imitation ; but its richness in figure sculpture and in