<;<>! -Mir AHCHITKCTI'IJK 



319 



occasionally not fur !>-hiinl, as the western portals 

 ,,i Peterborough ami York show ; but the English 

 tin nn: generally smaller and leas effective than 

 tin' IMI-MC-II "in--. 



Tin- oiitliin-of tlie English cathedrals are usually 

 very picturesque and well balanced, the western 



Kg. 11. Ainiens Cathedral. 



towers grouping harmoniously with the central, 

 and in this respect the English have the advantage. 



The vaulting of the French churches is almost 

 always quite simple in design, but in the applica- 

 tion of vaulting the English carried out their own 

 ideas. They were always fond of wooden roofs, 

 and probably tins may have led to the invention of 

 the many beautiful kinds of vaults which form so 

 fine a feature of English Gothic (see FAN-TRACERY 

 VAULTING). In England the style lasted longer 

 than on i he Continent, being retained till the time 

 of Henry VIII. about the middle of the 16th century. 



The Germans were nearly a century in adopting 

 tlif pointed style after its invention in France ; and 

 when it was introduced it retained the appearance 

 of a foreign importation. It never was so com- 

 pletely naturalised as in England. The so-called 

 i>eauties of the German Gothic are, for the most 

 part, to l>e regarded rather as excellent specimens 

 of masonry than as artistic developments of the 



\ U 1 . The open-work spires, for example, which 

 are of frequent occurrence in England, are fine 

 pieces of construction, and have a striking effect ; 

 but from the first there is a tendency to commit 

 the work to masons, who rejoice in displaying 

 their manual dexterity. The later Gothic in 



( ;-i many i* the mont Hplendid development of the 

 stone-cutter's art and the draughtsman H ingenuity ; 

 these run riot, while the artist is entirely wanting. 

 The distortions of fig. 12 may nerve an an example. 



Fig. 12. 



The Gothic style forced its way also into classic 

 Italy, but there it was never understood nor prac- 

 tised in its true spirit. It was evidently an imita- 

 tion from the beginning. The Italian architects 

 tried to vie with those of the north in the size of 

 their buildings, some of which, such as San Petronio 

 at Bologna and Milan Cathedral, are enormous. 

 The former illustrates the defects of Italian Gothic. 

 The arches are very wide, and there are few piers. 

 There is therefore a bare and naked effect, which 

 is not compensated for by any richness of sculpture 

 or colour. There is a want of scale about Italian 

 Gothic buildings, as there is about those of Italian 

 classic architecture, both ancient and modem. 

 Size alone is depended on for producing grandeur 

 of effect. No attempt is made to mark the si/e, 

 and give a scale by which to judge of the dimensions 

 of the buildings in those styles. A large classic 

 temple is simply a small one magnified. In tnie 

 Gothic architecture the case is different. Not only 

 are the general dimensions magnified in a large 

 edifice, but also the parts are multiplied. The 

 columns and shafts remain of the same size, but 

 their number is increased. The arches are enlarged 

 in proportion to the general dimensions, but the 

 caps, bases, and mouldings remain of the same 

 size as in a smaller building, and thus indicate the 

 greater size of the arch. A true Gothic building 

 of large dimensions thus tells its own greatness, 

 but in a classic or Italian Gothic edifice the size 

 has to be found out. Stained glass was little used 

 in Italy. It may have been intended to decorate 

 the walls, which otherwise have such a bare and 

 cold appearance, with frescoes as indeed is the 

 case in a few examples. The church of St Francis, 

 at Assisi, is the most remarkable building of this 

 kind, and is a very interesting example of fresco- 

 decoration (see FRESCO). Italian Gothic, however, 

 was most successful, especially in Venice and 

 Verona, in domestic edifices, the palaces of those 

 cities l>eing amongst the finest structures of their 

 kind in Europe. The medieval monuments of 

 Italy, too, are esjpecially beautiful and appropriate. 



The towns of Italy, being early enfranchised, 

 have also many municipal buildings in the Gothic 

 style ; and to these, as well as to those of Belgium, 

 allusion is made in the articles on the several towns 

 and in MUNICIPAL ARCHITECT! 1:1: 



We might, in the same manner, trace the Gothic 

 style in all the other countries of western Europe : 

 luit its history is similar in all. It is in England 

 and France that the true spirit of the style 'Was 

 most felt and the finest examples remain. Our 

 space has not permitted us to enter minutely into 

 the various styles of Gothic in each country. The 



