318 



GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE 



dexterity of execution, and the architect's place 

 was usurped by the freemason. 



It is in the cathedrals of the 12th and 13th 

 centuries, above referred to, that we find the 

 noblest development of the Gothic style. Every- 

 thing tended to this result. The nation was 

 united in the effort all the science, all the arts, 

 all the learning of the times were centred in the 

 church. In it, and that almost exclusively, the 

 sculptor, the painter, the historian, the moralist, 

 and the divine, all found scope for the expression 

 of their ideas on the sculptured Avails, porches, and 

 niches, or the painted windows of the cathedrals 

 the churches of the people. The development of 

 the decorative features progrjssed simultaneously 

 with that of the constructional. The Roman acan- 

 thus and other enrichments were long followed, but 

 gradually modified (as above mentioned) by Teu- 

 tonic influence as shown in the hunting and fight- 

 ing, as well as religious scenes represented in the 

 ' historied ' capitals and sculptures of their archi- 

 tecture wherever they penetrated. This style of 

 carving became traditional, and was adhered to for 

 centuries by the monastic orders. But at the re- 

 vival of the 12th century these traditional forms 

 were gradually departed from, and the architects 

 sought inspiration for their sculpture directly from 

 nature. At first the foliage was treated conven- 

 tionally, but gradually came closer to nature, till 

 in the completed style of the 14th century each 

 leaf and flower exactly imitated the shape and 

 embodied the spirit of the natural type. Mould- 

 ings, buttresses, pinnacles, and all the smaller 

 features following the rule of nature were in- 

 finitely varied and beautiful. These will be treated 

 of under their separate heads. 



The progress or the Gothic style in other countries 

 is no less remarkable than in France. At no time 

 in the world's history did any style of architecture 

 ever spread so wide, or give rise in such a short time 

 to so many splendid buildings. No sooner had the 

 style been invented in the central provinces of 

 France, than it immediately spread over the west 

 of Europe, superseding all other styles, and pro- 

 ducing similar splendid buildings wherever it went. 



We shall note shortly a few of the peculiarities 

 of the style in England, Germany, and Italy. It 

 spread also over the south of France and Spain ; 

 but in the latter countries it presents the char- 

 acter of an imported rather than that of a native 

 or freely-adopted art. 



English Gothic. At the Conquest in 1066 the 

 Normans introduced their round-arched style, some 

 fine specimens of which still exist both in England 

 and Scotland St Cross, near Winchester ; Durham 

 Cathedral ; Kelso and Jedburgh Abbeys, &c. But 

 these buildings are not copies of those of Normandy. 

 The English have always, in adopting styles, given 

 them a national impress. As it was with the 

 Norman, so it was to a still greater degree with 

 the pointed Gothic, which was introduced into 

 England about 1174 by William of Sens, who 

 superintended the rebuilding of Canterbury Cathe- 

 dral. The English architects soon began to follow 

 out a pointed style of their own. They borrowed 

 much from France, and worked it out in their own 

 way, forming what is now called the Early English 

 style. The differences between the early Gothic of 

 France and England extend to almost every detail. 

 The mouldings, bases, caps, pinnacles, buttresses, 

 and foliage of the latter are all impressed with the 

 early English feeling. In France the character of the 

 early Gothic is one of unrest a constant struggle 

 forward. In England the effort after progress is 

 not so distinct -that of carefulness and complete- 

 ness prevails. In the plans of the cathedrals the 

 differences are marked ( see figs. 10, 11), as the 

 accompanying plans of the cathedrals of Salisbury 



and Amiens show. The eastern termination of a 

 French cathedral or church is invariably circular 

 ended or apsidal a form derived from the early 

 Christian apse. The English cathedral, on the con- 

 trary, has almost always a square east end. The 

 French transepts have almost no projection beyond 



Fig. 10. Salisbury Cathedral. 



the line of the aisles ; the English ones have great 

 projections Salisbury (q.v.) and Canterbury (q.v.) 

 having two transepts. The French cathedrals are 

 short and very loft v ; the English, long and compara- 

 tively low. The French buildings are perhaps the 

 grandest and most aspiring, the English the most 

 finished and picturesque. 



The construction of the exterior of the ' chevet ' 

 or apsidal east end was a difficulty with the French 

 and Germans, and, as at Beauvais and Cologne 

 (q.v.), resembles an intricate and confused mass of 

 scaffolding. One of the churches in which this 

 picturesque feature is most successfully carried out 

 is St Ouen, Rouen. The great complication of 

 pinnacles and flying buttresses which marks so 

 many of the great French churches is here reduced 

 to a minimum. This difficulty was avoided by the 

 English square ends, which afforded scope for a 

 large field of stained glass in a single great 

 traceried window, as in most of the English 

 examples. 



The western portals of the French cathedrals, 

 such as Rheims (see DOOR) and Amiens (q.v.), are 

 among the boldest and most magnificent features 

 of their architecture. In these the English were 



