Rouen, representing a Scene in the Interview between Francis I. and
Henry VIII., on the Field of the Cloth of Gold.]
Michael Angelo was born on the 6th of March, 1475, and died on the 17th
of February, 1564, without having shown any signs of decadence; greater,
possibly, by his genius than by his works, he is the personification of
the Renaissance. It would be, perhaps, irreverent to say that this age
was an age of decay; we might fear of desecrating the tomb of Buonarotti
if we laid to his charge that his grand boldness led ordinary talents
astray; and it is not a pleasant subject of thought that, influenced by
two currents of ideas--one coming from Italy, the other from
Germany--the art of the century operated to its own suicide. When the
very soil itself seemed to be shaken, and the Christian pedestal which
had formed both its grandeur and power overturned, what could be done
in the way of opposition to the downfall of Art by Jean Goujon, Jean
Cousin (Fig. 291), Germain Pilon, François Marchand, Pierre Bontemps,
those stars of French sculpture in the sixteenth century?
[Illustration: Fig. 291.--Statue in Alabaster of Philip Chabot, Admiral
of France, by Jean Cousin. Formerly in the Church of the Célestins,
Paris, now in the Museum of the Louvre.]
A final manifestation of the old religious feeling was, however,
apparent in the tombs of the Church of Brou, designed by Jean Perréal,
the great painter of Lyons, executed by Conrad Meyt, and carved by
Gourat and Michael Columb; also in the mausoleum of Francis II., carved
by Columb and his family; in the sepulchre of St. Mihiel (Fig. 292) by
Richier; of the _Saints de Solesme_, in the tombs of Langey du Bellay,
and of the Chancellor De Birague, by Germain Pilon, &c. But fashion and
the prevailing taste now required from artists nothing but profane and
voluptuous compositions, and they adopted this line of Art all the more
readily, seeing, as they did every day, most beautiful works of
Christian sculpture mutilated by a new tribe of Iconoclasts, the
Huguenots, who seldom showed mercy to the figured monuments in Catholic
churches. The stalls of the Cathedral of Amiens, by Jean Rupin, the
rood-loft by Jean Boudin, and a number of other works of the same kind,
testify to the irruption of the Greek style, its implantation in
religious art, and its hybrid association with pointed architecture. It
is, however, only due to our sculptors of the sixteenth century to say,
that when they sacrificed themselves to the requirements of their age
in imitating the masterpieces of Italy, they approached the natural
grace of Raphael much closer than
[Illustration: Fig. 292.--“The Entombment,” by Richier, in the Church of
St. Mihiel (Meuse). (Sixteenth Century.)]
Cellini, Primaticcio, or any of the other Italian artists who were
settled in France; that they combined in the best possible way the
mythological expression of the ancients with our modern ideas, and
that, thanks to them, France is enabled to point with pride to a natural
art, original and independent, which has been handed down to our days in
direct succession by Sarrazain, Puget, Girardon, and Coysevox.
[Illustration: Figs. 293, 294.--Gargoyles on the Palace of Justice,
Rouen. (Fifteenth Century.)]
ARCHITECTURE.
The Basilica the first Christian Church.--Modification of Ancient
Architecture.--Byzantine Style.--Formation of the Norman
Style.--Principal Norman Churches.--Age of the Transition from
Norman to Gothic.--Origin and Importance of the _Ogive_.--Principal
Edifices in the pure Gothic Style.--The Gothic Church, an Emblem of
the Religious Spirit in the Middle Ages.--Florid
Gothic.--Flamboyant Gothic.--Decadency.--Civil and Military
Architecture: Castles, Fortified Enclosures, Private Houses, Town
Halls.--Italian Renaissance: Pisa, Florence, Rome.--French
Renaissance: Mansions and Palaces.
When the Christian family, humble and persecuted, was beginning to form
itself into congregations; when it was forbidden to consecrate any
special edifice to the performance of the services of its religion--a
religion which opposed to the gorgeous ceremonies of polytheism the most
austere simplicity--any refuge might have seemed good enough which
offered to the faithful the means of assembling themselves together in
security; any retreat must have appeared sufficiently ornamented which
would recall to the disciples of the crucified Saviour the mournful
events preceding the glorification of that Divine sacrifice. But when
the religion proscribed one day found itself on the next the religion of
the State, things changed.
Constantine, in the mighty ardour of his zeal, wished to see the worship
of the true God efface in pomp and in magnificence all the solemnities
of the heathen world. In expelling the idols from their temples, the
idea could not have suggested itself of using these buildings for the
new religion, because they were generally of excessively limited
dimensions, and the plan on which they were built would have but
indifferently answered the requirements of the Christian ceremonial.
What was necessary for these services was principally a spacious nave,
in which a large congregation could assemble to hear the same word, to
join in the same prayer, and to intone the same chants. The Christians
sought, therefore, among the edifices then in existence (Fig. 295), for
such as would best answer these purposes. The _basilicas_ presented
themselves; these buildings served at once as law-courts and places of
assembly for tradesmen and money-changers, and were generally composed
of one immense hall, with lateral galleries and tribunes adjoining it.
The name of _basilica_, derived from the Greek word _basileus_ (a king),
was given them, according to some writers, from the fact that formerly
the kings themselves used to administer justice within their walls;
according to others, because the basilica of Athens served as a tribunal
of the second archon, who bore the title of king; whence the edifice was
called _stoa basiliké_ (royal porch), a designation of which the Romans
preserved only the adjective, the substantive being understood.
[Illustration: Fig. 295.--Basilica of Constantine, at Trèves,
transformed into a Fortress in the Middle Ages.]
“The Christian basilica,” says M. Vaudoyer, in his learned treatise on
architecture in France, “was most certainly an imitation of the heathen
basilica; but it is of importance to observe that from one cause or
another the Christians, in the construction of their basilicas, very
soon substituted for the Grecian architecture of the ancient basilicas a
system of arches reposing directly on isolated columns, which served as
their supports; a perfectly new contrivance, of which there existed no
previous example. This new mode of construction, which has generally
been attributed to the want of skill in the builders of this period, or
to the nature of the materials they had at their disposal, was, however,
to become the fundamental principle of Christian art; a principle
characterised by the breaking up of the range of arches, and by the
abandonment of the system of rectilinear construction of the Greeks and
Romans.
“Indeed, the arcade, which had become the dominant element of Roman
architecture, had nevertheless remained subject to the proportions of
the Greek orders, of which the entablature served as an indispensable
accompaniment; and from this medley of elements so diverse was produced
the mixed style which characterises the Greco-Roman architecture. But
the Christians, in separating or breaking up the arcade, in abandoning
the use of the ancient orders, and in making the column the real support
of the arch, laid the foundations of a new style, which led to the
exclusive employment of arches and vaults in Christian edifices. The
Church of St. Sophia at Constantinople, built by Justinian in the middle
of the sixth century, affords the most ancient example of this system of
construction by arches and vaults in a Christian church of large
dimensions.”
Transported to the East, the Latin style there assumed a new character,
owing especially to the adoption and generalisation of the cupola, of
which there were some examples in Roman architecture, but only as an
accessory; whereas, in what is called Byzantine architecture, this form
became dominant, and, as it were, fundamental; thus, at all periods and
at each time that the architectural influence of the East made itself
felt in the West, we see the cupola introduced into buildings. The
Church of St. Vital at Ravenna affords, in its plan (Fig. 296) and in
its general appearance, an example of this influence, which is quite
Byzantine.
Edifices of Latin architecture, properly so called, are rare, we might
almost say that they have all disappeared (Figs. 297 and 298); but if
some churches in Rome, whose foundation dates back to the fifth and
sixth centuries, can be considered as specimens of this first period of
Christian art, it is in the arrangement of the plan much more than in
the details of execution, which for a long subsequent time since have
been united with the work of later periods.
In the days when Christianity was so triumphantly established as to have
no fear nor scruple to utilise, in the construction of its churches, the
ruins
[Illustration: Fig. 296.--Church of St. Vital, at Ravenna. Byzantine
style. (Sixth Century.)]
of the ancient temples, it generally happened that the architect,
conforming himself to new requirements, endeavoured, by a prudent return
towards the traditions of the past, to avoid those striking
incongruities which would have deprived of all their value the
magnificent materials he had at his disposal. Hence arose a style still
undecided; hence mixed creations, which it will suffice merely to
mention. Then we must not forget--to say nothing of the case in which,
as in the old Roman city, Christian basilicas might be built with the
marble of heathen sanctuaries--the monuments of this same Rome were
still the only models that presented themselves for imitation. Finally,
for this architecture which the Christian religion was to create as its
own, it was obvious there would be an infancy, an age of groping in the
dark and of uncertainty; and at length that there should be a separation
from the past, and a gradually experienced feeling of individual
strength. (Fig. 299.)
This infancy lasted about five or six centuries; for it was only about
the year 1000 that the new style--which we see at first made up of
“recollections” and weak innovations--assumed an almost determinate
form. This is the period called Norman,[49] which, according to M.
Vaudoyer, has left us some monuments that are “the noblest, the
simplest, and the severest expression of the Christian temple.”
[Illustration: Fig. 297.--The Church of St. Agnes, at Rome, Latin style
(Fifth Century). Restored and debased in the Seventeenth Century.]
[Illustration: Fig. 298.--The Church of St. Martin, at Tours (Sixth
Century). Rebuilt or restored in the Eleventh Century.]
“Three years after the year 1000, which was supposed was to be the last
year of the world,” says the monk Raoul Glaber, “churches were renewed
in nearly every part of the universe, especially in Italy and in Gaul,
although the greater number were still in a condition good enough to
require
[Illustration: Fig. 299.--Remains of the Church of Mouen, in Normandy.
Architecture of the Fifth or Sixth Century.]
no repairs.” “It was to this period, that is to say, the eleventh
century,” adds M. Vaudoyer, “must be assigned the greater number of the
ancient churches of France, grander and more magnificent than all those
of preceding centuries; it was then, also, the first associations of
builders were formed, whereof the abbots and the prelates themselves
formed a portion, and which were essentially composed of men bound by a
religious vow; the Arts were cultivated in the convents, the churches
were built under the direction of bishops; the monks co-operated in
works of all kinds.... The plan of the Western churches preserved the
primitive arrangement of the Latin basilica--that is, the elongated form
and the lateral galleries; the most important modifications were the
lengthening of the choir and of the galleries, or of the cross, a free
passage established round the apse (Fig. 300); and, lastly, the
combination of chapels, which grouped themselves around the sanctuary.
In the construction the isolated columns of the nave are sometimes
replaced by pillars, the spaces between which are filled up with
semicircular arches,
[Illustration: Fig. 300.--Notre-Dame, Rouen, ogival style. (Thirteenth
Century.)]
and a general system of vaulted roofs is substituted for the ceilings
and timber roofs of the ancient Latin basilicas.... The use of bells,
which was but sparingly adopted in the East, contributed to give to the
churches of the West a character and an appearance quite their own, and
which they owe particularly to those lofty towers that had become the
essential part of their façade.”
The façade itself is generally of great simplicity. We enter the edifice
by one of three doors, above which runs, in most cases, a little gallery
formed of very small columns close to each other, supporting a range of
arcades; and these arcades are often ornamented with statues, as we find
in the church of Notre-Dame at Poitiers, which--together with the
churches of Notre-Dame des Doms, at Avignon; of St. Paul, at Issoire; of
St. Sernin, at Toulouse; of Notre-Dame du Port, at Clermont, &c.--may be
considered as one of the most complete specimens of Norman architecture.
In churches of this style, as for instance those of St. Front, at
Périgueux; of Notre-Dame, at Puy en Velay; of St. Etienne, at Nevers,
are seen also some cupolas; but we must not forget that the Byzantine
architects, whose migrations towards the West were constantly taking
place at this period, could not fail to leave traces of their
wanderings, and we must acknowledge that, especially in our own country
(France), where Oriental influence was never more than partial, the
union of the two architectonic principles produced the happiest results.
The Cathedral of Angoulême, for example, is justly regarded as one of
the edifices in which Oriental taste harmonises the best with the Norman
style.
At the beginning of this period, the bell-towers were of very little
importance; but gradually we find them rising higher and higher, and
attaining to great elevations. Some cathedrals on the borders of the
Rhine, and the Church of St. Etienne at Caen, are examples of the
extraordinary height to which these towers were built. In principle, we
may add, there was only one bell-tower (Fig. 301); but it generally
happened that two were given to churches built or restored after the
year 1000: St. Germain-des-Prés had three bell-towers--one over the
portal, and one at each side of the transept; certain churches had four
and even five bell-towers.
Norman bell-towers are generally square, exhibiting, in stories, two or
three ranges of round-arched arcades, and terminating in a pyramidal
roof resting on an octagonal base. The Abbey of St. Germain d’Auxerre
possesses one of the most remarkable bell-towers of the Norman style;
then come, although built subsequently to the principal edifice, those
of the Abbaye aux Hommes, at Caen.
[Illustration: Fig. 301.--Ancient Church of St. Paul-des-Champs, at
Paris, founded, in the Seventh Century, by St. Eloi. Restored and in
part rebuilt in the Thirteenth Century.]
The sun’s rays penetrated into the Norman church first through the
_oculus_,[50] a vast round opening intended to admit light into the
nave, and situated above the façade, which generally rose in the form of
a gable above one or several rows of small columns on the exterior. A
series of lateral windows opened on the side-aisles of the edifice;
another was pierced on a level with the galleries; and a third between
the vaulted arches of the nave.
The crypt, a sort of subterranean sanctuary, which generally contained
the tomb of some beatified saint, or of some martyr to whom the edifice
was dedicated, formed very often an integral part of the Norman church.
The architecture of the crypt, which had for its ideal object to recall
to the mind the period when the offices of the Christian religion were
performed in caverns and in catacombs, was generally of a massive and
imposing severity, well suited to express the sentiment which must have
presided over the earliest Christian buildings.
The Norman style, that is to say, the primitive idea of Christian
architecture, freed from its remaining servility to the antique, seems
to have caught a glimpse of the definitive formula of Christian art.
Many a majestic monument already attested the austere power of this
style; and perhaps a final and masterly inspiration would have sufficed,
perfection being attained, to cause the researches of the _maîtres
d’œuvre_,[51] made as they felt their way forward, to cease of
themselves. Already, too, as a sign of maturity, Norman edifices,
instead of remaining in the somewhat too unadorned simplicity of the
first period, became gradually ornamented, till in time they resembled,
from their base to the summit, a delicate work of embroidery. It is to
this florid Norman style, which in France reigns especially to the south
of the Loire, that the charming façade of the Church of Notre-Dame de
Poitiers (Fig. 302) belongs, which we have already cited as a perfect
type of the Norman style itself; the façade of St. Trophimus, at Aries
(Figs. 303 and 304), an example in the general arrangement of which the
same character of original unity does not prevail; and that of the
Church of St. Gilles, which M. Mérimée cites as the most elegant
expression of the florid Norman.
In short, let us repeat it, the Norman style, grandiose in its
austerity, still quiet and compact even in its richest phantasy, was on
the eve of _individualising_ for ever, perhaps, Christian architecture;
its rounded arches, uniting their full soft curves to the simple
profiles of columns, robust even in their lightness, seemed to
characterise at one and the same time the
[Illustration: Fig. 302.--Notre-Dame la Grande of Poitiers (Twelfth
Century).]
elevated calm of hope and the humble gravity of faith. But lo! the
_ogive_ sprang up; not, indeed, as certain authors have thought they
were right in affirming, from an outburst of spontaneous invention, for
we find the principle and the application of it not only in many
edifices of the Norman period, but even in the architectural
contrivances of the most remote times. And it happened that this simple
breaking up of the round arch, this “sharpness” of the arch, if we may
use the expression, which the Norman builders had skilfully utilised,
giving more of slenderness or graceful strength to vaults of great
extent, became the fundamental element of a style which, in less than a
century, was to shut the future to a tradition dating from six or eight
centuries, and which could with justice pride itself on the most
beautiful architectural conceptions. (Fig. 305.)
[Illustration: Fig. 303.--Tympanum of the Portal of St. Trophimus, at
Arles (Twelfth Century).]
From the twelfth to the thirteenth century the transition took place.
The Norman style, which is distinguished by its round arch, maintained
the struggle with the Gothic style, of which the ogive is the original
mark. In the churches of this period we find also, with regard to the
ground-plan of edifices, the choir assuming larger dimensions,
necessitated no doubt by increased ceremonials in the services. The
Latin cross, which was the ground-plan whereon up to this time the
greater number of sanctuaries were built, ceased to indicate as
precisely as heretofore its outlines; the nave was raised considerably
in height, the lateral chapels were multiplied, and often broke the
perspective of the side-aisles; bell-towers assumed greater importance,
and the placing of immense organs above the principal entrance gave rise
to a new system of elevated galleries in this part of the building.
[Illustration: Fig. 304.--Details of the Portal of St. Trophimus, at
Arles. (Twelfth Century.)]
The churches of St. Remy, Rheims; of the Abbey of St. Denis; of St.
Nicholas, Blois; the Abbey of Jumiéges; and the Cathedral of
Châlons-sur-Marne, are the principal examples of the architecture of the
mixed style.
[Illustration: Fig. 305.--Cloister of the Abbey of Moissac, Guyenne.
(Twelfth Century.)]
It should be remarked that for a long while, in the north of France, the
pointed arch had prevailed almost entirely over the round arch, at the
time when, in the south, Norman tradition, blended with the Byzantine,
still continued to inspire the builders. Nevertheless, the demarcation
cannot be rigorously established, for, at the time when edifices of the
purest Norman style showed themselves in our (French) northern counties
(as, for example, the Church of St. Germain-des-Prés, and the apse of
[Illustration: DECORATION OF LA SAINTE CHAPELLE, PARIS.
Thirteenth Century.]
St. Martin-des-Champs, Paris), we find, at Toulouse, at Carcassonne, at
Montpellier, the most remarkable specimens of the Gothic style. At last
Gothic architecture gained the day. “Its principle,” says M. Vitet, “is
in emancipation, in liberty, in the spirit of association and commerce,
in sentiments quite indigenous and quite national: it is homely, and
more than that, it is French, English, Teutonic, &c. Norman
architecture, on the contrary, is sacerdotal.”
And M. Vaudoyer adds: “The rounded arch is the determinate and
invariable form; the pointed arch is the free and indefinite form which
lends itself to unlimited modifications. If, then, the Pointed style has
no longer the austerity of the Norman, it is because it belongs to that
second phase of all civilisation, in which elegance and richness replace
the strength and the severity of primordial types.”
It was, moreover, at this period that architecture, like all the other
arts, left the monasteries to pass into the hands of lay architects
organised into confraternities, who travelled from place to place, and
thus transmitted the traditional types; the result of this was that
buildings raised at very great distances from each other presented a
striking analogy, and often even a complete similitude to each other.
There has been much discussion not only on the origin of the pointed
arch, but also as to the beauty and excellence of its form. According to
some it was suggested by the sight of many arches interlaced, and only
constituted one of those fantastical forms which an art in quest of
novelty adopts; others, among whom is M. Vaudoyer, attribute to it the
most remote origin, by making it result quite naturally in the first
attempts at building in stone,--“from a succession of courses of stone
so arranged that each overhung the other;” or else in wooden
constructions, “from the greater facility there was in forming with
beams a pointed rather than a perfectly rounded arch;” others consider
the adoption of the Pointed style, as we said above, as nothing but a
proof of the religious independence succeeding the rigid faith of
earlier days. A third opinion, again, is that of M. Michiels, who looks
on the Pointed style as in some sort an inevitable result of the
boldness of the Norman, and who considers the Gothic, of which it is the
characteristic, as “expressing the spirit of a period when religious
feeling had attained its most perfect maturity, and Catholic
civilisation produced its sweetest and most agreeable fruits.”
[Illustration: Fig. 306.--Mayence Cathedral. Rhenish Norman. (Twelfth
and Thirteenth Centuries).]