DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.32037#0018
Xll
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.
consequence of which they presumed to apply the denomination of
“ English Architectuve” to the cathedrals and other edifices in which
it prevails. The origin of the pointed arch, after the most earnest
and active researches, still remains a very obscure question; but
the period of its becoming a prominent feature in the architecture of
Europe seems to have been incontrovertibly ascertained; and all the
variations of style successively prevalent in England, from the time
of its introduction to the latest use of the pointed arch, have been
minutely traced, and their respective ages discovered by the evidence
of historical records, or satisfactory analogy. Whether the architects
of France or Germany preceded their English brethren in the march
of invention, or not, must remain unsettled tiil the monuments of
those countries shall have been thoroughly investigated, and their
proportions and details exemplified by geometrical delineations; for
the verbal descriptions of travellers are of very little practical use,
and perspective views can seldom be relied upon,—critical accuracy
in such productions being too commonly regarded of small import-
ance in comparison with a pleasing effect.
The ancient architecture of Normandy has undergone a tolerably
accurate examination, and some of its principal monuments have
been made familiar to the English architect, through the exertions
of his own countryman.* This commencement will, it is hoped,
stimulate the French nation to undertake the task of investigation
on a liberal and extended scale. The Society of Antiquaries of
# “ Account of a Tour in Nonnandy,” by Dawson Turner, Esq. F.R.S. 2 vols. 8vo,
1820.
“ The Architectural Antiquities of Normandy,” by J. S. Cotman. Folio, 1820.
“ Specimens of the Architectural Antiquities of Normandy,” by Augustus Pugin,
Architect. 4to, 1828.
The latter work is on a similar plan to the English “ Specimens of Gothic Archi-
tecture.” It contains eiglity plates, in which are displayed some edifices of great interest
to the architectural student; particularly the two abbeys erected at Caen by William the
Conqueror and his Queen Matilda, the catliedral of Bayeux, and the exquisite church of
St. Ouen at Rouen, together with some beautiful specimens of domestic architecture, of a
style quite unlike any thing in England.
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.
consequence of which they presumed to apply the denomination of
“ English Architectuve” to the cathedrals and other edifices in which
it prevails. The origin of the pointed arch, after the most earnest
and active researches, still remains a very obscure question; but
the period of its becoming a prominent feature in the architecture of
Europe seems to have been incontrovertibly ascertained; and all the
variations of style successively prevalent in England, from the time
of its introduction to the latest use of the pointed arch, have been
minutely traced, and their respective ages discovered by the evidence
of historical records, or satisfactory analogy. Whether the architects
of France or Germany preceded their English brethren in the march
of invention, or not, must remain unsettled tiil the monuments of
those countries shall have been thoroughly investigated, and their
proportions and details exemplified by geometrical delineations; for
the verbal descriptions of travellers are of very little practical use,
and perspective views can seldom be relied upon,—critical accuracy
in such productions being too commonly regarded of small import-
ance in comparison with a pleasing effect.
The ancient architecture of Normandy has undergone a tolerably
accurate examination, and some of its principal monuments have
been made familiar to the English architect, through the exertions
of his own countryman.* This commencement will, it is hoped,
stimulate the French nation to undertake the task of investigation
on a liberal and extended scale. The Society of Antiquaries of
# “ Account of a Tour in Nonnandy,” by Dawson Turner, Esq. F.R.S. 2 vols. 8vo,
1820.
“ The Architectural Antiquities of Normandy,” by J. S. Cotman. Folio, 1820.
“ Specimens of the Architectural Antiquities of Normandy,” by Augustus Pugin,
Architect. 4to, 1828.
The latter work is on a similar plan to the English “ Specimens of Gothic Archi-
tecture.” It contains eiglity plates, in which are displayed some edifices of great interest
to the architectural student; particularly the two abbeys erected at Caen by William the
Conqueror and his Queen Matilda, the catliedral of Bayeux, and the exquisite church of
St. Ouen at Rouen, together with some beautiful specimens of domestic architecture, of a
style quite unlike any thing in England.