314 



GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE 



arcade. It has also been stated that the style was 

 imported from the East during the Crusades, and 

 that the medieval architects had but little to do 

 Avith its origin. More careful study of the Gothic 

 buildings which remain to us has dispelled these 

 fanciful ideas, and settled the origin and progress 

 of the art on historical as well as internal evidence. 



To trace Gothic up to its primary elements we 

 have to go far back in the world's history. Many 

 diverse styles have prevailed at different epochs 

 and in different countries, and the later styles have / 

 invariably been influenced by those which preceded 

 them. All the various styles of architecture may, 

 however, be classed under two groups, the represent- 

 atives of which are Greek architecture and Gothic 

 architecture. These are the two typical styles, and 

 in them are contained and exhibited in a very pure 

 form the elements from which all other styles are 

 produced. This is true in the same sense as it is 

 also true that all things in nature are derived from 

 a few piimary elements. But as there are many 

 varieties in nature, so there are many develop- 

 ments of the two typical forms of architecture, all 

 of which may be classed as styles. 



The principles which underlie the two great 

 divisions of architecture are structural in character ; 

 for the decorative features of all true styles are 

 founded on the construction. The first of these 

 divisions is distinguished by the employment of 

 the horizontal beam as the method of spanning 

 openings ; while in the other the arch is the 

 means used for the same purpose. All other 

 specific differences of style are subordinate to 

 these leading factors. Of these divisions Greek 

 architecture is accepted as the highest type of 

 the trabeated style i.e. the style whose princi- 

 pal feature is the straight lintel ; Gothic, as 

 the type of arcuated architecture, in whicli the 

 voids are spanned by arches. These typical forms 

 present many varieties, Roman Architecture ( q. v. ) 

 being the transitional form between them. The 

 trabeate form of construction was common to the 

 primitive inhabitants both of Greece and Italy. 

 The early Romans' buildings were therefore tra- 

 beate in principle, and their exteriors were decor- 

 ated with columns crowned by straight architraves 

 and cornices. But in course of time they gradually 

 introduced inside these, and hidden from view, a 

 real construction with arches and vaults. These 

 constructional elements had long been in use 

 amongst the Etruscans in Italy for drains, bridges, 

 gateways, and other utilitarian purposes, and by 

 slow degrees they obtained recognition as architec- 

 tural features in the elevations. Their use gradu- 

 ally extended, especially in the construction of in- 

 teriors, and by means of vaults the Romans were 

 able to roof in large areas without encumbering 

 the floor with pillars. This was found to be a 

 very advantageous and lasting system of construc- 

 tion, and under the empire was carried out in 

 many important examples, as, for instance, in the 

 baths of Caracalla and Diocletian, the Basilica of 

 Maxentius, &c. In their works of public utility, 

 where use, not decoration, was the chief object, 

 the Romans always adopted the arch as the fittest 

 mode of construction as in their Aqueducts (q.v. ), 

 bridges, &c. The arch thus came gradually more 

 and more into use ; and about the time when the 

 barbarians first overran the provinces the arcuated 

 form of construction was universal, and some 

 attempts had been made to conform the trabeate 

 decoration to the circular arches by bending the 

 architrave round the curve as in the palace of 

 Diocletian at Spalato in Dalmatia. 



To the Romans, therefore, is due the introduction 

 of an arcuated construction with a well-developed 

 internal, and a partially-developed external, decora- 

 tion. The early Christians adopted their forms of 



construction and decoration from the Romans. 

 They were also indebted to them for the plans of the 

 buildings which became the types of the Christian 

 sacred edifices during the middle ages. There 

 was no new style created by the early Christians. 

 Their buildings were all founded on Roman design 

 till about the 10th century. The Basilica (q.v.), 

 or Roman court-house and market-place, was 

 found to be admirably adapted for early Christian 

 worship, and the general opinion has hitherto been 

 that the church was derived from the basilica. But 

 this view has been combated by Professor Baldwin 

 Brown in his work From Schola to Cathedral 

 (1886), in which he derives the form of the nave 

 from that of the scholae, or halls of meeting of guilds 

 permitted under the empire, amongst which the 

 burial societies of the Christians were numerous ; 

 whilst he attributes the apse, a very prominent 

 feature in early churches, to the memorial cellse 

 erected by pagans and Christians alike in the 

 cemeteries, and afterwards introduced along with 

 the bodies of saints into the churches. There can 

 be no doubt, however, that the circular temples 

 were the prototypes of the Christian Baptisteries 

 (q.v.) which usually accompanied the basilicas. In 

 erecting their buildings the Christians not only 

 adopted the plans and mode of construction, but 

 used the actual materials of the buildings of the 

 Romans, many of which had been destroyed by the 

 barbarians. Where such materials were abundant 

 as in Rome and central Italy the early Christian 

 architecture very closely resembled that of the 

 Roman buildings which had preceded it. But in 

 more remote districts the builders, finding no ready- 

 made materials at hand, had to design and prepare 

 new ones. In doing so they followed as closelv as 

 they could the Roman originals, but their buildings 

 partook more of the constructional than the 

 decorative elements of Roman architecture. The 

 Roman ornament thus dropped out of use ; and 

 when, in process of time, decoration was desired, 

 each new people followed its own ideas. The 

 traditional Roman decoration thus became to a 

 great extent lost, and new styles developed. In 

 this way the Teutonic tribes introduced into their 

 architecture the scenes of hunting and fighting in 

 which they rejoiced, the ornament showing the 

 figures of animals and men intermixed with the 

 acanthus leaves and other foliage of Roman 

 design. 



The different forms of vaulting developed by the 

 Romans were followed throughout the empire 

 during its decline, but gradually special forms 

 were adopted in the different provinces. Thus the 

 architects of the East preferred the dome as the dis- 

 tinguishing feature of their style, and those of the 

 West retained the plain tunnel-vault. The former 

 style is called Byzantine (q.v.), and has been the 

 type of all Eastern medieval architecture ; and the 

 latter Romanesque (q.v.), and has been the origin 

 of all the medieval architecture of western Europe. 

 This Romanesque style varied much in different 

 provinces being more Roman in type in central 

 Italy and Provence where Roman examples 

 abounded, and more Gothic on the Rhine ana in 

 Switzerland and Lombardy where the Teutonic 

 elements prevailed. Roman forms were still 

 adhered to in the Gothic provinces as late as the 

 9th century, when we find Charlemagne erecting 

 his great mausoleum at Aix in imitation of San 

 Vitale at Ravenna, which was itself derived from a 

 Roman original. 



History. The various modifications in different 

 countries all contributed to the general progress of 

 the art ; but, as might be expected, it is to the 

 banks of the Rhine where the successors of Charle- 

 magne chiefly dwelt that we must look for the 

 first step in the development of Gothic architecture. 



