STYLE IN ARCHITECTURE. 3^ 7 



walls with small opening's, the church became, as in the old 

 saying, " like Hardwicke Hall, more glass than wall." Out- 

 side it was a forest of flying buttresses — or a fliitter of arch 

 buttresses, as Wren picturesquely called them. These 

 buttresses were surmounted with pinnacles, which are a marked 

 feature of this style. 



It is a commonplace architectural criticism that the Gothic 

 style never acclimatised itself to Italy. Frequent attempts 

 were made, but it is generally recognised that they resulted 

 in failure, for such we must reluctantly call even IMilan 

 Cathedral itself. Contrast it with French Gothic Beauvais. 

 The pinnacles of the northern example are no mere ornament, 

 but are necessary to counterpoise the thrust of the flying 

 buttresses which support the vaults. If they were knocked off 

 the church might collapse, but if the " thousand spires " of 

 Milan were removed the stability of the building would not be 

 impaired. 



The windows, to suit the climate of Italy, are comparatively 

 small, and the solid mass of piers between proportionately 

 large. Thus the walls alone, without the flying buttresses and 

 pinnacles, would of themselves be strong enough to support 

 the vaulting. 



Tennyson rightly praised " the height, the space, the gloom, 

 the glory of Milan." For the characteristic of all Italian 

 churches is the rnagnihcent gloom, " the dim religious light," 

 though Milton thought that the essence of charm, even of an 

 English church. 



In the failure to transplant Northern Gothic into Italian soil 

 there lies a moral for us, for to a larger degree even must the 

 style of large heat attracting windows, which is the essence 

 of Northern Gothic, wither as an exotic in the still brighter and 

 hotter climate of .South Africa. 



Renaissance. 



The development of Renaissance Architecture (or the classic 

 revival) all over Europe is yet another instance of the need 

 of creating the means. Tlfe new birth of freedom in thought 

 and action brought with it a new mode of life and consequently 

 new demands on the architect of the period. As in Greece, in 

 the age of Pericles, Rome at the beginning of the Christian Era. 

 and North-we-st Europe at the time of the Crusades, so again 

 in the i6th century development and invention came quicklv on 

 the heels of necessity. 



What is great and lasting in the style is the development on 

 the lines of organic building to suit the needs of the age. The 

 " style is the man," and so is it also the nation, and ifits needs 

 he noble, nobility must reveal itself in architecture. 



The Renaissance styles have much practical interest to us, 

 because they are the styles which are supposed to prevail in 

 most of our modern city buildings. If all but the greatest 

 Renaissance architects pedantically copied the remains of 

 ancient architecture, we to-day must too often confess our- 

 selves but secondhand copyists, with the resultant danger that 



