CHRISTIAN ARCHITECTURE.
A.D. 328 TO ABOUT 1400.
I have written more in detail concerning Ancient architecture than I
shall do of that of later times, because it is best to be thorough in
studying the beginnings of things; then we can make an application of
our knowledge which helps us to understand the results of what has gone
before, just as we are prepared for the full-blown rose after we have
seen the bud. Or, to be more practical, just as we use the simplest
principles of arithmetic to help us to understand the more difficult
ones; sometimes we scarcely remember that in the last lessons of the
book we unconsciously apply the first tables and rules which were so
difficult to us in the beginning.
I shall not try, because I have not space, to give a connected account
of Christian architecture, but I shall endeavor to give such an outline
of its rise and progress in various countries as will make a good
foundation for the knowledge you will gain from books which you will
read in future.
The architecture of Italy in the period which followed the conversion
of the Emperor Constantine is called the Romanesque order. As the
Christians were encouraged under Constantine and became bold in their
worship, many basilicas were given up for their use. The bishops held
the principal place upon the platform formerly occupied by the king
and his highest officers, and the priests of the lower orders were
ranged around them. The same altars which had served for the heathen
sacrifices were used for the worship of the true God, and from this
cause the word basilica has come to signify a large, grand church, in
the speech of our time.
[Illustration: FIG. 69.--INTERIOR OF BASILICA OF ST. PAUL'S. _Rome._]
Among the early basilicas of Rome which still remain none are more
distinguished than that of _San Paolo fuori della Mura_, or St. Paul's
without the Walls. It was ancient, and splendid in design and ornament.
In 1823 it was burned, and has been rebuilt with great magnificence,
but the picture above shows it as it was before the fire (Fig. 69).
It was built about 386 A.D. under the Emperors Valentinian II. and
Theodosius.
This basilica had four rows of Corinthian columns, twenty in each
row; many of these pillars were taken from more ancient edifices, and
were composed of very beautiful marbles, forming by far the finest
collection of columns in the world. The bronze gates were cast at
Constantinople; the fine paintings and magnificent mosaics with which
it was decorated added much to its splendor. Tradition taught that the
body of St. Paul was buried beneath the high altar.
Before the Reformation the sovereigns of England were protectors of
this basilica just as those of France were of St. John Lateran; this
gives it a peculiar interest for British people, and the symbol of the
Order of the Garter is still seen among its decorations. On account of
its associations, San Paolo was the most interesting, if not the most
beautiful, of the oldest Christian edifices in Rome.
In the early days there were many circular churches throughout Italy;
some of these had been built at first for tombs. The Christians used
churches of this form for baptisms, for the sacrament for the dying,
burials, and sometimes for marriage.
The circular temple of Vesta is very beautiful. It had originally
twenty Corinthian columns; nineteen of which still remain. This temple
is not older than the time of Vespasian, and is not the famous one
mentioned by Horace and other ancient writers, in which the Palladium
was preserved--that temple no longer exists. It is probable that many
of the earliest churches built by Christians in Italy were circular in
form, and numbers of these still remain in various Italian cities; but
they differed from the ancient temples of this form in their want of
exterior decoration. The ancient Romans had used columns, peristyles,
and porticoes; the Christians used the latter only in a few instances,
but even these were soon abandoned.
The beautiful Baptistery at Florence was originally the cathedral
of the city. It is octagonal, or eight-sided, and this form is not
infrequent in buildings of the fourth and following centuries. It
is said that this Baptistery was built by Theodolinda, who married
Autharis, King of the Lombards in 589.
This king had proposed to Garibald, King of Bavaria, for the hand of
his daughter, and had been accepted. Autharis grew impatient at the
ceremonies of the wooing, and escaping from his palace joined the
embassy to the King of Bavaria.
When they reached the court of Garibald and were received by that
monarch, Autharis advanced to the throne and told the old king that the
ambassador before him was indeed the Minister of State at the Lombard
Court, but that he was the only real friend of Autharis, and to him had
been given a charge to report to the Italian king concerning the charms
of Theodolinda. Garibald summoned his daughter, and after an admiring
gaze the stranger hailed her Queen of Italy and respectfully asked that
she should, according to custom, give a glass of wine to the first of
her future subjects who had tendered her his duty. Her father commanded
her to give the cup, and as Autharis returned it to her he secretly
touched her hand and then put his finger on his own lips. At evening
Theodolinda told this incident to her nurse, who assured her that this
handsome and bold stranger could have been none other than her future
husband, since no subject would venture on such conduct.
[Illustration: FIG. 70.--THE CATHEDRAL OF CHARTRES.]
The ambassadors were dismissed, and some Bavarians accompanied the
Lombards to the Italian frontier. Before they separated Autharis
raised himself in his stirrups and threw his battle-axe against a tree
with great skill, exclaiming, "Such are the strokes of the King of
the Lombards!" Then all knew the rank of this gallant stranger. The
approach of a French army compelled Garibald to leave his capital;
he took refuge in Italy, and Autharis celebrated his marriage in the
palace of Verona; he lived but one year, but in that time Theodolinda
had so endeared herself to the people that she was allowed to bestow
the Italian sceptre with her hand. She had converted her husband to
the Catholic faith. She also founded the cathedral of Monza and other
churches in Lombardy and Tuscany, all of which she dedicated to St.
John the Baptist, who was her patron saint.
The cathedral of Monza is very interesting from its historical
associations. Here is deposited the famous iron crown which was
presented to Theodolinda by Pope Gregory I. This crown is made of a
broad band of gold set with jewels, and the iron from which it is
named is a narrow circlet inside, said to have been made from one
of the nails used in the crucifixion of Christ, and brought from
Jerusalem by the Empress Helena. This crown is kept in a casket which
forms the centre of the cross above the high altar in the cathedral
of Monza; it was carried away in 1859 by the Austrians; at the close
of the Italo-Prussian war, in 1866, the Emperor of Austria gave it to
Victor Emmanuel, then King of Italy. This crown has been used at the
coronation of thirty-four sovereigns; among them were Charlemagne,
Charles V., and Napoleon I. The latter wore it at his second coronation
as King of the Lombards in 1805. He placed it on his head himself,
saying, "God has given it to me, woe to him who touches it!"
There are few secular buildings of this period remaining in Italy, and
Romanesque architecture endured but a short time, for it was almost
abandoned at the time of the death of Gregory the Great, in 604. During
the next four and a half centuries the old styles were dying out and
the Gothic order was developing, but cannot be said to have reached any
high degree of perfection before the close of the eleventh century.
GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE.
It is difficult to speak concisely of Gothic architecture because there
is so much that can be said of its origin, and then it has so extended
itself to all parts of the world as to render it in a sense universal.
Perhaps Fergusson makes it as simple as it can be made when he divides
Europe by a line from Memel on the shores of the Baltic Sea to Spalatro
on the Adriatic, and then carries the line westward to Fermo and
divides Italy almost as the forty-third parallel of latitude divides
it. He then says that during the Middle Ages, or from about the seventh
to the fifteenth centuries, the architecture north and west of these
lines was Gothic; south and east it was Byzantine, with the exception
of Rome, which always remained individual, and a rule unto herself.
There was a very general belief in all Christian lands that the world
would end in the year 1000 A.D., and when this dreaded period had
passed without that event happening, men seem everywhere to have been
seized with a passion for erecting stone buildings. An old chronicler
named Rodulphe Glaber, who died in 1045 A.D., relates that as early
as the year 1003 A.D. so many churches and monasteries of marble were
being erected, especially in France and Italy, "that the world appeared
to be putting off its old dingy attire and putting on a new white robe.
Then nearly all the bishops' seats, the churches, the monasteries, and
even the oratories of the villages were changed for better ones."
Such a movement could not fail to have a great influence upon
architecture, and it was at this time that the Gothic style began to
be rapidly developed; and, indeed, so far as any particular time may
be fixed for the beginning of the Gothic order, it would fall in the
tenth and eleventh centuries. The classic forms, with their horizontal
cornices and severe regularity, were then laid aside, and a greater
freedom and variety than had ever obtained before began to make itself
felt in all architectural designs.
We must first try to understand what are the distinguishing features
of Gothic architecture. Perhaps the principal one may be called
constructiveness; which is to say, that in Gothic architecture there
is far greater variety of form, and the power to make larger and more
complicated buildings than had been possible with the orders which
preceded it. During the Middle Ages the aim was to produce large
edifices, and to build and ornament them in a way that would make them
appear to be even larger than they were. The early Gothic buildings are
so massive as to have a clumsy effect, because the architects had not
yet learned how to make these enormous masses strong and enduring, and
yet so arranged as to be light and graceful in their appearance.
A second striking difference between the ancient orders and the Gothic,
is that in the former enormous blocks of stone or marble were used and
great importance was attached to this. Many ancient works are called
Cyclopean for this reason. It does not make a building more beautiful
to have it massive, but it does make it grand. Even in a less colossal
mode of building a column is more effective when it is a monolith,
and an architrave more beautiful when its beams are not joined too
frequently. But in the Gothic order the use of massive blocks is
largely given up, and the endeavor is to so arrange smaller materials
as to display remarkable constructive skill.
[Illustration: FIG. 71.--CHURCH OF ST. NICHOLAS. _Caen._]
A third and a very important feature of the Gothic order is the use of
the arch. The much-increased constructive power of which we have spoken
depended very largely upon this. The ancients knew the use of the arch,
but did not like it because they thought that it took away from the
repose of a building. Even now the Hindoos will not use it; they say,
"An arch never sleeps," and though the Mohammedan builders have used it
in their country, the Hindoos cannot overcome their dislike of it. In
the Gothic order, however, the use of arches, both round and pointed,
is unending. The results are very much varied, and range all the way
from a grand and impressive effect to a sort of toy-like lightness
which seems more suited to the block-houses made by children than to
the works of architects. The earlier Gothic arches were round, although
pointed arches are occasionally found in very ancient buildings. The
picture (Fig. 71), however, gives a just idea of the form of arch most
used until the introduction of the pointed arch, which occurred in
France during the twelfth century. Of this form the doorways of the
next cut present a fine example (Fig. 72).
[Illustration: FIG. 72.--FAÇADE OF CATHEDRAL OF NOTRE DAME. _Paris._]
[Illustration: FIG. 73.--CLUSTERED PILLAR.]
[Illustration: FIG. 74.--BUTTRESS.]
[Illustration: FIG. 75.--HINGE.]
[Illustration: FIG. 77.--IRON-WORK.]
[Illustration: FIG. 78.--GARGOYLE.]
[Illustration: FIG. 76.--NAIL-HEAD.]
[Illustration: FIG. 79.--SCROLL.]
An important characteristic of Gothic architecture was the fact that
every part of the building was so made as to show its use. Instead of
hiding the supports they were made prominent. If a pier or buttress
was to stand a perpendicular strain, even the lines of decoration were
generally made to run in that direction; if extra supports were needed,
they were not concealed, but built in so as to show, and even to be
prominent. In the details the same feeling was often shown in a very
marked degree; the hinges and nails and locks of Gothic buildings were
made to be seen, and whatever was needed for use was treated as if it
were of value as an ornament. The spouts by which the water was carried
over the eaves were made bold and comparatively large, and carved into
those curious shapes of animals and monsters called gargoyles, which
are seen on so many mediæval edifices. Many of these details of Gothic
buildings are very elegant, and serve to-day as models for modern
workmen. (See Figs. 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79.)
Among the inventions of Gothic architects the division of the interior
into three aisles, with the centre one much the highest, was very
important. By this arrangement the space was made to appear longer and
higher than it really was, and what was lost in the effect of width was
more than made up in a certain elegance of form which is very pleasing.
The three central aisles of the next cut illustrate this arrangement
(Fig. 80).
[Illustration: FIG. 80.--SECTION OF CHURCH. _Carcassone._ WITH OUTER
AISLES ADDED IN FOURTEENTH CENTURY.]
The Gothic builders gave loftiness to their edifices by the use of
spires and towers. They became very skilful in constructing them with
buttresses below and pinnacles above, so that the spires should not
detract from the apparent size of the buildings to which they were
attached (Fig. 81).
[Illustration: FIG. 81.--SPIRES OF LAON CATHEDRAL.]
In the matter of design in ornament the Gothic order had no fixed
method, except so far as its forms were symbolic. Every form of
vegetable design was employed; vines and leaves were abundant. As
a rule the use of human forms or animals as supports to columns or
other weights was avoided. If they were introduced the animals were
not reproductions of such as exist, but the imaginary griffin or
other monster, and at times dwarfs or grotesque human beings, were
represented as if for caricatures.
Sculptured figures were usually placed upon a pedestal either with or
without niches for them, and were not made to appear to be a part of
the building itself. The deep recesses of Gothic portals, the pinnacles
and niches gave opportunities to display exterior sculpture to great
advantage (Fig. 82). The interiors were also appropriate for any amount
of artistic ornament in bas-reliefs or figures that could be lavished
upon them.
[Illustration: FIG. 82.--PORTAL OF THE MINORITES' CHURCH. _Vienna._]
The most original and effective feature of ornament, however, which was
introduced by Gothic architects is that of painted glass. To this they
devoted their best talent. It is not necessary to say how beautiful and
decorative it is; we all know this, and our only wonder is that it was
left for the Gothic architects to apply it to architectural uses. We do
not know precisely when stained or painted glass was invented, but we
know that it existed as early as 800, and came into very general use in
the eleventh and twelfth centuries.
[Illustration: FIG. 83--EXTERNAL ELEVATION, CATHEDRAL OF PARIS.]
Before painted glass was used windows were made very small, and it was
some time before the large, rich style was adopted. The following cut
from Notre Dame, at Paris, gives the three stages of the change, and it
is interesting to see them thus in one church (Fig. 83).
On the left are the undivided windows without mullions or dividing
supports; next, at the right, the upper window shows the form with one
perpendicular mullion and a circular or rose window above the centre;
lastly, on the right of the lower story we see a full traceried window.
The window became one of the most important and characteristic features
of Gothic buildings. These large open spaces gave opportunity for
elegant shapes and splendid colors, both the form of the opening and
the dividing ribs, or tracery, as it was called, being made with the
utmost beauty and grace. The round windows, called rose windows and
wheel windows, were often exquisitely designed, as the following
example shows (Fig. 84).
[Illustration: FIG. 84.--WHEEL WINDOW, FROM CATHEDRAL. _Toscanella._]
The window is illustrative of the influence which climate may have on
the development of architectural style. In warm countries where spaces
were left open, window forms and painted glass were, of course, never
employed; but in more northern lands they became one of the most marked
features in important edifices.
A whole book might be written about these windows and be very
interesting also, but we can give no more space to them here.
Gothic architecture gradually extended from the centre of Italy to
the most northern bounds of civilization, and though practised by so
many nations, was as much the architectural expression of a religion
as the architecture of a single ancient nation had been the outgrowth
of its peculiar religious belief. During the Middle Ages the priests
and monks preserved learning in the midst of general darkness and
ignorance, and were the chief patrons of all art which survived the
decline of the time. They built up the Christian faith by every means
in their power. The monks were missionaries. They went to various
countries, and selecting favorable spots they founded abbeys; around
these abbeys a poor population settled; gradually churches were built,
and it frequently happened that the monks not only planned the work to
be done, but also executed it with their own hands. Many of them were
masons and builders, and several bishops were architects. St. Germain,
Bishop of Paris, designed the church in that city now called by his
name, and was also sent to Angers to build another church, and to Mans
to erect a monastery.
The finest buildings being thus made for religious purposes and under
the direction of the clergy, they must have been as full an expression
of Christianity as were the temple-palaces of Egypt an expression of
the religion of Osiris and Isis, when the kings were both priests and
sovereigns, and dwelt in these palaces. And this was true as long as
Gothic art was in the hands of the clergy and used almost entirely for
religious purposes.
Later on, when it was employed for civic edifices erected under the
direction of laymen, it became an expression of political independence
also. The freedom of thought which came with the decline of the feudal
system inspired new aspirations and imaginations in the hearts and
minds of men, and these found expression in all the arts, and very
especially in architecture. If we cannot always admire the manner in
which Gothic art was made to express these lofty desires, we can fully
sympathize with the sentiment which was behind it.
The Gothic order held undisputed sway west and north of the
geographical line of which we have spoken until the fifteenth century.
Then a revival of classical literature took place, and with this there
arose also a revival of classic art and architecture; this revival is
known as the Renaissance, or the new birth, and the period of time
is spoken of as that of the Renaissance. The effect of this classic
reaction was very great upon all the educated classes of Europe, and
its influence may be said to have endured through about three centuries.
Again, during the eighteenth century, Gothic art was revived. A
reverence has grown up for the good that wrestled with the darkness of
the Middle Ages and survived all their evils. The rough, strong manhood
of that time is now justly appreciated. Perhaps the feeling in this
direction is too much exaggerated. While our regard for a rude and
weather-stained monument of the spirit and architecture of the past may
be natural and proper, the imitation of it which is made in our day may
easily become absurd, and is very rarely suited to our purposes.
Spain is one of the countries which are on the Gothic side of the
geographical line we have drawn, and among the many splendid edifices
in that country some of the finest are of the Gothic order. There is no
national architecture there, for though the Spaniards love art and its
expression passionately, they have themselves invented almost nothing
which is artistic.
[Illustration: FIG. 85.--COLLEGIATE CHURCH, TORO. _From Villa Amil._]
But while it is true that the Spaniards invented no styles, they
did modify those which they adopted, and there are peculiarities
in the Spanish use and arrangement of the Gothic order which give
it new elements in the eyes of those who understand architecture
scientifically. To the uneducated also it appears to have a personality
of its own, something that is suited to Spain and the Spaniards; so
that, while we know that Spanish Gothic architecture was borrowed
from France and Germany, we yet feel that if the cathedrals of Paris
and Cologne were to be put down in Valencia or Madrid they would look
like strangers, and not at all well-contented ones at that; and if
the churches of Toledo or Burgos were copied precisely in any other
country, they would have an air of being quite out of keeping with
everything around them (Fig. 85).
We call the architecture of Spain before 1066 the "Early Spanish," and
from that time the Gothic order prevailed during nearly three centuries.
[Illustration: FIG. 86.--ST. PAUL. _Saragossa._]
Meantime in the south of Spain the Moresco or Moorish order had sprung
up, of which Fig. 86 gives an example. It was gradually adopted to a
limited extent, until finally some specimens of it existed in almost
every province of the country. The Gothic order was affected by it,
inasmuch as the richness of ornament of the Moorish order so pleased
the taste of the Spaniards that their architects allowed themselves to
indulge in a certain Moorish manner of treating the Gothic style. We
cannot describe these differences in words, but Figs. 86 and 87 will
make it plain.
[Illustration: FIG. 87.--CLOISTER. _Tarazona._]
As has been said, the interior decoration of all Gothic churches was
very rich and abundant. It is also true that all church furniture was
made with great care; the matter of symbolism was carefully considered,
and each design made to indicate the use of the article for which it
was intended. No altar, preaching-desk, stall, chair, or screen was
made without due attention to every detail, and the endeavor to have it
in harmony with its use and its position in the church. The following
cut shows a rood-screen, which was the kind of screen that was placed
before the crucifixion over the high altar (Fig. 88).
[Illustration: FIG. 88.--ROOD-SCREEN, FROM THE MADELEINE. _Troyes._]
The fantastic sculptures and wealth of ornament in Gothic decorations
produce a confusing effect on the brain and the eye if we look at
the whole carelessly; but when we remember that each separate design
has its especial meaning we are interested to examine them, and we
find that the variety of forms is almost innumerable. Where there are
trailing vines and lions, faith is indicated; roses and pelicans are
the symbols of mercy and divine love; dogs and ivy, of truth; lambs, of
gentleness, innocence, and submission; fishes are an emblem of water
and the rite of baptism; the dragon, of sin and paganism; a serpent,
too, typifies sin, and when wound around a globe it indicates the power
of evil over the whole world; a hind or hart signifies solitude; the
dove, purity; the olive, peace; the palm, martyrdom; the lily, purity
and chastity; the lamp, lantern, or taper, piety; fire and flames, zeal
and the sufferings of martyrdom; a flaming heart, fervent piety and
spiritual love; a shell, pilgrimage; a standard or banner, victory;
and so on, and on, we find that meaning and thought were worked out in
every bit of Gothic ornament, and that what at first appears so wild
and hap-hazard is full of a method which well repays one for the study
of it.
The Gothic order was also used in building municipal edifices,
palaces, and even for the purposes of domestic architecture. The finest
remains of this kind are in Germany, the most interesting of them all
being the castle on the Wartburg. This castle is large, grand, and
imposing. It is also well preserved. A few years ago it was discovered
that many windows and arched galleries, of very beautiful style, had
been filled up, and that frescoes and other decorations had been
covered. The Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar caused its restoration, and the
ancient halls are now quite in their original state. (See Fig. 89.)
[Illustration: FIG. 89.--PALACE OF WARTBURG.]
There are very interesting legends and historical facts connected with
this castle of Wartburg. As early as 1204 to 1208, when Hermann, Count
of Thuringia, dwelt there with his wife, the Countess Sophia, it is
related that the "War of the Minstrels" occurred. This was a contest
between several of the wandering minstrels or Minnesingers of that
time as to who should excel, and he who failed was to suffer death.
The penalty fell on Henry of Ofterdingen; in his despair he begged the
Countess to gain him a respite so that he could go for his master,
Klingsor. Her prayer was granted, and in the end Henry of Ofterdingen
saved his head, though the legend says that Satan aided him. This story
is without doubt founded on truth, but has much of fancy mingled with
it.
The next remarkable story connected with Wartburg is the residence here
of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, as she is called. This wonderful woman
was the daughter of the King of Hungary, and when four years old she
was betrothed to Prince Louis, son of Count Hermann, mentioned above.
At this tender age she was given to his family. Her life at Wartburg
was very remarkable, and I advise you to read about it, for it is too
long to be given here. At last, her husband having died in Jerusalem,
where he had gone with the Crusaders, his brother Henry drove her out
with her children to seek a home where she could. She suffered much,
and supported herself by spinning wool. But when the knights who had
gone with her husband returned, they obliged Henry to give the son of
Elizabeth his rights. She received the city of Marburg as her dower,
but she did not live long. Miraculous things are told of her, and she
is often represented by painters and sculptors.
Again, Wartburg was the residence of a remarkable person; for Luther
dwelt there after escaping from the Diet at Worms. He was called Ritter
George, and the room where he wrote and spent much of his time is shown
to travellers who visit the castle.
We come back now to Italy, the country we left when we passed from the
Romanesque to Gothic architecture. In the north of Italy where the
Gothic order had prevailed after the eleventh century, it had been
modified by the Romanesque influences and Roman traditions, in some
such degree as the Moors had influenced the Gothic order in Spain. But,
on the whole, the mediæval buildings of Northern Italy were Gothic in
style.
Rome, as we said, was individual, and her art remained Roman or
Romanesque up to the date of the Renaissance. In Southern Italy, as we
shall see, the architecture was of the Byzantine order.
Among the most interesting edifices of the Middle Ages are the Italian
towers. They were frequently quite separate from the churches and were
built for various purposes. Some of them were bell towers, and such a
tower was called a _campanile_. Others were in some way associated with
the civic power of the cities which built them; but the largest number
were for religious uses.
The _campanile_ is always square at the bottom and for some distance
up, and then is frequently changed to an octagonal or circular form and
finished with a slender spire or ornamental design.
[Illustration: FIG. 90.--TOWER OF CREMONA.]
Fig. 90 shows one of the finest square towers in all Italy. It was
built in 1296 to commemorate a peace after a long war. It is three
hundred and ninety-six feet high. It has little beauty in the lower two
thirds; above that it is more pleasing, but the two parts do not look
as if they belonged together. The tower of Italy, however, which is
most beloved and most famous is that of Giotto, beside the cathedral of
Florence. (See Fig. 102.)
Another striking feature of Gothic art in Northern Italy is seen in the
porches attached to the churches. They are commonly on the side, and
as they were usually added after the rest of the church was finished,
and frequently do not correspond to the rest in style, they look as if
they were parts of some other churches and had come on a visit to those
beside which they stand. In Italy the main portion of these porches
always rested on lions.
A porch at Bergamo is one of the finest, and certainly its details are
exquisite, and the whole structure is beautiful when it is considered
separately; but as a part of the church it loses its effect, and seems
to be pushed against it as a chair is placed beside the wall of a room.
Some of the mediæval town-halls are still well preserved, and a few of
them are truly beautiful. Perhaps the Broletto at Como is as fine a
remnant of civic architecture as exists in Northern Italy. It is not
very large and is faced with party-colored marbles.
The architecture of Venice and the Venetian Province must be treated
almost as if it were outside of Italy, because it differs so much from
that of other portions of that country. During the Middle Ages it was
the most prosperous portion of Italy. Its architecture was influenced
by the Byzantine and Saracenic orders, but is not like them; neither
is it like that of Northern Italy; in fact, it is Venetian, being
Gothic in principle, but treated with Eastern feeling and decorated
in Oriental taste; and this was quite natural since the Venetians had
extensive traffic and intercourse with the nations of the East.
[Illustration: FIG. 91.--ST. MARK'S CATHEDRAL. _Venice._]
There are few places in the world, of no greater extent, about which so
many interesting associations cluster as about the Piazza of St. Mark's
in Venice. On one side stands the great basilica, and not far away are
the _campanile_ and the clock-tower; the ancient Doge's Palace, and the
beautiful Library of St. Mark, of later date, are near by, with their
treasures of art and literature to increase the value of the whole. It
is a spot dear to all, and especially so to English-speaking people,
since the poetry of Shakespeare has given them a reason for personal
interest in it under all its varying aspects. At some hours of the day
St. Mark's seems as if it were the very centre of the earth, to which
men of all nations are hastening; again this bustle dies away, and one
could fancy it to be forgotten and deserted of all mankind, though its
silence is eloquent in its power to recall the great events of the
Venice of the past. (See Figs. 91, 105, and 106.)
St. Mark's Basilica is called Byzantine in its order, and in a general
way the term is applicable to it; but on careful examination there
are so many differences between it and a purely Byzantine church that
it would be more properly described by the name Italian or Venetian
Byzantine. Its five domes were added to its original form late in the
Middle Ages, and though there are many Eastern mosques with this
number, they are not arranged like those of St. Mark's, and so have
quite a different appearance. The portico with its five entrances is
not European in form, but the details of these deep recesses are more
like the Norman architecture than like anything Byzantine.
It is scarcely profitable to carry this examination farther, for, in
a word, the whole effect of St. Mark's is very impressive from the
exterior, and the interior is so beautiful in its subdued light and
shadow that one is satisfied to enjoy it without criticising it, and
many critics consider it one of the finest interiors of Western Europe.
The same difficulty which one finds in defining or classing the
architecture of Venice is met in that of Southern Italy, which is
Byzantine and not Byzantine, but, in fact, is that order so changed
that the name of Byzantine-Romanesque seems better suited to it than
any other term could be. We shall mention but a single example of this
order, and pass to the true Byzantine style.
[Illustration: FIG. 92.--SECTION OF SAN MINIATO. _Near Florence._]
The church of San Miniato, which overlooks the city of Florence, was
built in 1013, and is one of the most perfect as well as one of the
earliest of the churches of the Byzantine-Romanesque order in Italy.
It is not large, but the proportions are so good as to make it very
pleasing; the pillars are so nearly classic in design that they were
probably taken from some earlier building, and the effect of colored
panelling both within and without is very satisfactory to the eye. (See
Fig. 92.)
[Illustration: FIG. 93.--SAN GIOVANNI DEGLI EREMITI. _Palermo._]
There arose in Sicily in the eleventh century, and after the Norman
Conquest, a remarkable style of architecture. It belongs to Christian
art because it was used by Christians to construct places of Christian
worship; but, in truth, it was a combination of Greek spirit with Roman
form and Saracenic ornament. It makes an interesting episode in the
study of architecture. I shall give one picture of a church built by
King Roger for Christian use as late as 1132, which, except for the
tower, might well be mistaken for a purely Oriental edifice (Fig. 93).
BYZANTINE ARCHITECTURE.
This term strictly belongs to the order which arose in the East after
Constantinople was made the Roman capital. It is especially the order
of the Greek Church as contrasted with the Latin or Roman Church. It
would make all architectural writing and talking much clearer if this
fact were kept in mind; but, unfortunately, wherever some special
bit of carving in an Oriental design or a little colored decoration
is used--as is frequently done in the modern composite styles of
building--the term Byzantine is carelessly applied, until it is
difficult for one not learned in architecture to discover what the
Byzantine order is, or where it belongs.
We have spoken of its influence and partial use in Italy. Now we
will consider it in its home and its purity. Before the time of
Constantine the architecture used at Rome was employed at Jerusalem,
Constantinople, and other Eastern cities which were under Roman rule
and influence. Between the time of Constantine and the death of
Justinian, in A.D. 565, the true ancient Byzantine order was developed.
The church of St. Sophia, at Constantinople, was the greatest and the
last product of the pure old Byzantine style.
From that time the order employed may be called the Neo-Byzantine. This
was a decline of art as much as the history of Greece and the Eastern
Empire during the same period (about 600 to 1453) was the history of
the decline and extinction of a power that had once been as great among
governments as St. Sophia (Fig. 94) was among churches.
[Illustration: FIG. 94.--CHURCH OF ST. SOPHIA. _Constantinople.
Exterior View._]
The chief characteristic of Byzantine architecture is the use of the
dome, which is the most important part of its design. A grand central
dome rises over the principal portion of the edifice, and just as in
other orders courts and colonnades were added to the simpler basilica
form in the ground plan of the churches, so in the Byzantine order
lesser domes and cupolas were added above until almost any number of
them was admissible, and they were placed with little attention to
regularity or symmetry of arrangement.
[Illustration: FIG. 95.--LOWER ORDER OF ST. SOPHIA.]
As domes were the chief exterior feature, so the profuse ornamentation
was most noticeable in the interior. The walls were richly decorated
with variegated marbles; the vaulted ceilings of the domes and niches
were lined with brilliant mosaics; the columns, friezes, cornices, door
and window-frames, and the railings to galleries were of marbles, and
entirely covered with ornamental designs (Figs. 95 and 96).
[Illustration: FIG. 96.--UPPER ORDER OF ST. SOPHIA.]
The historian Gibbon describes the building of St. Sophia and its
decorations. He tells us that the emperor went daily, clad in a linen
tunic, to oversee the work. The architect was named Anthemius; he
employed ten thousand workmen, and they were all paid each evening.
When it was completed and Justinian was present at its consecration, he
exclaimed, "Glory be to God, who hath thought me worthy to accomplish
so great a work; I have vanquished thee, O Solomon!"
Paul Silentiarius was a poet; he saw St. Sophia in all its glory and
describes it with enthusiasm. It was very rich in variegated marbles.
He mentions the following: 1. _The Carystian_, pale with iron veins.
2. _The Phrygian_, two sorts, both of a rosy hue; one with a white
shade, the other purple with silver flowers. 3. _The Porphyry of
Egypt_, with small stars. 4. _The green marble of Laconia._ 5. _The
Carian_, from Mount Iassis, with oblique veins, white and red. 6. _The
Lydian_, pale, with a red flower. 7. _The African or Mauritanian_,
of a gold or saffron hue. 8. _The Celtic_, black, with white veins.
9. _The Bosphoric_, white, with black edges. There were also the
_Proconnesian_, which made the pavement; and the _Thessalian_ and
_Molossian_ in different parts.
This array of marbles was made even more effective by the beautiful
columns brought from older temples. The mosaics were rich in color, and
numerous, and many parts of the church were covered with gold, so that
the effect was dazzling.
Those objects that were most sacred were of solid gold and silver,
while such as were less important were only covered with gold-leaf. In
the sanctuary there was altogether forty thousand pounds of silver; the
vases and vessels used about the altar were of pure gold and studded
with gems. Its whole cost was almost beyond belief. At the close of
his description Gibbon says: "A magnificent temple is a laudable
monument of taste and religion, and the enthusiast who entered the dome
of St. Sophia might be tempted to suppose that it was the residence or
even the workmanship of the Deity. Yet how dull is the artifice, how
insignificant is the labor, if it be compared with the formation of the
vilest insect that crawls upon the surface of the temple!"
Of course, individual taste must largely influence the opinion
regarding the beauty of any work of art, but to me St. Sophia, which
is the chief example of Byzantine architecture, is far less beautiful
and less grand than the finest Gothic cathedrals. Comparatively little
attention was paid to the elegance and decoration of the exterior
in the Eastern edifices, while the interiors, in spite of all their
riches, have a flat and unrelieved effect. Probably the chief reason
for this is that color is substituted for relief--that is to say, in
Gothic architecture heavy mouldings and panellings, though of the same
color as the walls themselves, yet produce a marvellous effect of light
and shadow, and even lend an element of perspective to various parts
of the building. In the place of these mouldings flat bands of color
are often used in the Byzantine order, and the whole result is much
weakened, though a certain gorgeousness comes from the color. Another
cause of disappointment in St. Sophia is the absence of painted glass.
At the same time, and in spite of these defects, St. Sophia is grand
and beautiful--but not solemn and impressive in comparison with the dim
cathedral aisles of many Gothic churches in other parts of the world.
(See Fig. 97.)
[Illustration: FIG. 97.--INTERIOR VIEW OF CHURCH OF ST. SOPHIA.]
The Romanesque and Byzantine styles came at last to be so mingled that
it would be folly to attempt to separate their influence, but the
Byzantine had much more originality, and left a far wider mark.
Among the most noted examples of the latter style, beside St. Sophia
and St. Mark's, are the church of St. Vitale at Ravenna, the cathedral
at Aix-la-Chapelle, supposed to have been built by Charlemagne about
800 A.D., and the church of the Mother of God at Constantinople.
SARACENIC ARCHITECTURE.
In speaking of Saracenic architecture I will first explain that it is
one with the Moresco or Moorish order of which I spoke in connection
with Spain. The only difference is that the earliest Mohammedan
conquerors of Spain are said to have come from ancient Mauri or
Mauritania and were called Moors, while the name of _Saraceni_, which
means "the Easterns," was also given to them. Thus the Mohammedan
architecture in Spain is called both Moresco, or Moorish, and
Saracenic. Again, it is also called Arabian, but I think this is
the least correct, since the Easterns who went to Spain were not so
universally Arabian as to warrant this name. When we speak of Moresco
or Moorish architecture we speak of Spain; but the term Saracenic is
used for Mohammedan architecture in all countries where it is found,
and is a just term, for they are Eastern or Oriental lands.
In absolute fact, Saracenic architecture is that of the followers of
"the Prophet," as Mohammed is called, and would be more suitably named
if it were called Mohammedan architecture, or the architecture of Islam.
Mohammed was born at Mecca A.D. 570, but it was not until 611 that he
was commissioned, as he believed, to build up a new faith and a new
church. At first his followers were so few and so mingled with other
sects and tribes in their outward life that they had no distinctive
art. It was not until A.D. 876, when the ruler Ibn-Touloun commenced
his splendid mosque at Cairo, that the Mohammedans could claim any
architecture as their own. It is very interesting to know that there
were pointed arches in this mosque, probably two centuries, at least,
earlier than they were used in England, for it is generally believed
that they were first used there in the rebuilding of Canterbury
Cathedral after it was burned in 1174. When, however, the Saracenic
order was fully established it was so individual and so different from
all other architecture that there is no mistaking it for that of any
other religion or nation than that of Mohammed and his followers.
The picture of the mosque of Kaitbey shows one of the finest and most
elegant mosques of the East. It is just outside the walls of Cairo, and
is quite modern, having been built in 1463. This view of it gives an
excellent idea of the appearance of a fine mosque and shows the minaret
or tower, which is so important in a mosque, to good advantage (Fig.
98).
[Illustration: FIG. 98.--MOSQUE OF KAITBEY.]
These minarets are constantly used for the many calls to prayer which
are made throughout the day and night. The person who makes these calls
is styled "the Muezzin," and is usually blind. Several times during
the day he ascends the minaret and calls out in a loud and melodious
tone, "God is most great; there is no God but Allah, and I testify that
Mohammed is Allah's prophet! Come to prayer! Come to security! Prayer
is better than sleep!" This is several times repeated and is called the
_Adan_.
The form of words used for the night varies a little, ending, "There
is no God but Allah. He has no companion! To Him belongs dominion,
etc.;" this is called the _Ula_. The call made an hour before day is
the _Ebed_, and praises the perfection of God. When one is sleeping
near enough to a minaret to hear the muezzin's voice it is a pleasant
sound and helps one to realize that the care of God is ever about him;
the clear, Christian bell can be heard by more people, and this was
originally intended as a call to prayer. (See Fig. 99.)
[Illustration: FIG. 99.--THE CALL TO PRAYER.]
The principal homes of Saracenic architecture are Syria, Egypt, Mecca,
Barbary, Spain, Sicily, Turkey, Persia, and India. There are many very
interesting mosques and minarets that might be mentioned had we space,
but I can speak only of the mosque of Cordova, which is universally
admitted to be the finest Saracenic edifice in the world (Fig. 100),
and shall quote a part of the interesting description of it given by De
Amicis in his delightful book called "Spain and the Spaniards."
[Illustration: FIG. 100.--EXTERIOR OF THE SANCTUARY IN THE MOSQUE OF
CORDOVA.]
This mosque was commenced by the Caliph Abd-er-Rahman in 786, and was
completed by his son Heshâm, who died 796. The great Caliph declared
that he would build a mosque which should exceed all others in the
world and be the Mecca of the West. De Amicis, after describing the
garden which surrounds the mosque, enters, and then goes on as follows:
"Imagine a forest, fancy yourself in the thickest portion of it, and
that you can see nothing but the trunks of trees. So, in this mosque,
on whatever side you look, the eye loses itself among the columns.
It is a forest of marble whose confines one cannot discover. You
follow with your eye, one by one, the very long rows of columns that
interlace at every step with numberless other rows, and you reach
a semi-obscure background, in which other columns still seem to be
gleaming. There are nineteen naves, which extend in every direction,
traversed by thirty-three others, supported (among them all) by more
than nine hundred columns of porphyry, jasper, breccia, and marbles of
every color. Each column upholds a small pilaster, and between them
runs an arch (see plate above), and a second one extends from pilaster
to pilaster, the latter placed above the former, and both of them in
the shape of a horseshoe; so that, in imagining the columns to be the
trunks of so many trees, the arches represent the branches, and the
similitude of the mosque to a forest is complete.... How much variety
there is in that edifice which at first sight seems so uniform! The
proportions of the columns, the designs of the capitals, the forms
of the arches change, one might say, at every step. The majority of
the columns are old, and were taken from the Arabs of Northern Spain,
Gaul, and Roman Africa, and some are said to have belonged to a temple
of Janus, on the ruins of which was built the church that the Arabs
destroyed in order to erect the mosque. Above several of the capitals
one can still see traces of the crosses that were cut on them, which
the Arabs broke with their chisels.... I stopped for a long time to
look at the ceiling and walls of the principal chapel, the only part of
the mosque that is quite intact. It is a dazzling gleam of crystals of
a thousand colors, a network of arabesques, which puzzles the mind, and
a complication of bas-reliefs, gildings, ornaments, minutiæ of design
and coloring, of a delicacy, grace, and perfection sufficient to drive
the most patient painter distracted.... You might turn a hundred times
to look at it, and it would only seem to you, in thinking it over, a
mingling of blue, red, green, gilded and luminous points, or a very
intricate embroidery changing continually, with the greatest rapidity,
both design and coloring. Only from the fiery and indefatigable
imagination of the Arabs could such a perfect miracle of art
emanate.... Such is the mosque of to-day. But what must it have been in
the time of the Arabs? It was not surrounded by a wall, but open, so
that one could catch a glimpse of the garden from every part of it; and
from the garden one could see to the end of the long naves, and the air
was full of the fragrance of oranges and flowers. The columns which now
number less than a thousand were then fourteen hundred; the ceiling was
of cedar-wood and larch, sculptured and enamelled in the finest manner;
the walls were trimmed with marble; the light of eight hundred lamps,
filled with perfumed oil, made all the crystals in the mosaics gleam,
and produced on the pavements, arches, and walls a marvellous play
of color and reflection. 'A sea of splendors,' sang a poet, 'filled
this mysterious recess; the ambient air was impregnated with aromas
and harmonies, and the thoughts of the faithful wandered and lost
themselves in the labyrinth of columns which gleamed like lances in the
sun.'"
The famous palace of the Alhambra is so well known that I cannot leave
this part of our subject without one picture and one bit of description
of it from the same author, De Amicis.
The Alhambra was built about four centuries ago, and the wall which
inclosed it was four thousand feet long by twenty-two hundred feet
wide. Within this there were gardens, fountains, kiosks, and many
beautiful, fanciful structures, all of which doubtless cost as
much as the more necessary parts of the edifice. The roofs of the
different parts of the palace were supported by forty-three hundred
columns of precious marbles; eleven hundred and seventy-two of these
were presented to Abd-er-Rahman (for he was also the founder of the
Alhambra) by sovereigns of other countries, or else brought by him
from distant shores for the decoration of this splendid, fairy-like
place. All the pavements were of beautiful marbles; the walls, too,
were of the same material, with friezes arranged in splendid colors;
the ceilings were of deep blue color, with figures in gilding and
interlacing designs running over all. In truth, nothing that could be
imagined or wealth buy to make this palace beautiful was left out; and
yet we are told that the palace of Zahra which was destroyed was still
finer. All this leads one to almost believe that the "Arabian Nights"
are no fanciful tales, but quite as true as many more serious sounding
stories.
The Court of the Lions is called "the gem of Arabian art in Spain,"
and of this our author says: "It is a forest of columns, a mingling of
arches and embroideries, an indefinable elegance, an indescribable
delicacy, a prodigious richness, a something light, transparent, and
undulating like a great pavilion of lace; with almost the appearance of
a building which must dissolve at a breath; a variety of lights, views,
mysterious darkness, a confusion, a capricious disorder of little
things, the majesty of a palace, the gayety of a kiosk, an amorous
grace, an extravagance, a delirium, the fancy of an imaginative child,
the dream of an angel, a madness, a nameless something--such is the
first effect produced by the Court of the Lions!" (Fig. 101.)
[Illustration: FIG. 101.--COURT OF THE LIONS. ALHAMBRA.]
This court is not large; the ceiling is high, and a light portico
runs round it upheld by white marble columns in clusters of two,
three, or more, so arranged as to resemble trees coming up from the
ground. Above the columns the designs almost resemble curtains, and
there are little graceful suggestions like ribbons and waving flowers.
"From the middle of the shortest sides advance two groups of columns,
which form two species of square temples of nine arches each (see
cut) surmounted by as many colored cupolas. The walls of these little
temples and the exterior of the portico are a real lace-work of stucco,
embroideries, and hems, cut and pierced from one side to the other, and
as transparent as net-work, changing in design at every step. Sometimes
they end in points, in crimps, in festoons, sometimes in ribbons waving
round the arches, in kinds of stalactites, fringes, trinkets, and bows
which seem to move and mingle with each other at the slightest breath
of air. Large Arabic inscriptions run along the four walls, over the
arches, around the capitals, and on the walls of the little temples. In
the centre of the court rises a great marble basin, upheld by twelve
lions (see cut), and surrounded by a little paved canal.... At every
step one takes in the court that forest of columns seems to move and
change place, to form again in another way; behind one column, which
seems alone, two, three, or a row will spring out; others separate,
unite, and separate again.... We remained for more than an hour in the
court, and it passed like a flash; I, too, did what almost all people
do, be they Spanish or strangers, men or women, poets or not. I ran my
hand along the walls, touched all the little columns, and passed my two
hands around them, one by one, as around the waist of a child; I hid
among them, counted them, looked at them on a hundred sides, crossed
the court in a hundred ways, tried if it were true that in saying a
word, _sotto voce_, into the mouth of one lion, one could hear it
distinctly from the mouths of all the others; I looked on the marbles
for the spots of blood of poetic legends, and wearied both brain and
eye over the arabesques.... In all my life I have never thought, nor
said, nor shall I say, so many foolish, stupid, pretty, senseless
things as I said and thought in that hour."
The study of Saracenic architecture in Turkey, Persia, and India is
very interesting, but our space warns us that we must hasten to leave
this dreamy, fairy-like part of our subject and come down to later
times and more realistic matters.
[Illustration]