THE STYLE OF LOUIS XVI. 



455 



435- 



PARIS : ST EUSTACHE. DESIGN FOR FACADE 

 BY J. H. MANSART DE JOUY, AS ALTERED 

 BY MOREAU DESPROUX. FROM LEGRAND. 



gress was to be made, it 

 was necessary to return to 

 the straight high road of 

 Antiquity. 



SERVANDONY'S FACADE. 

 Servandony broke with 

 all the accepted rules of 

 church design. In particu- 

 lar he made no attempt to 

 express the internal arrange- 

 ments or to emphasise the 

 vertical element by frequent 

 ressauts. He placed a 

 stately pillared hall, or 

 narthex, of five inter- 

 columniations in front of 

 the church, occupying the 

 whole space between the 

 towers, and thus of such 

 importance as to constitute 

 the leading motive of the 

 design (Fig. 434). This 

 narthex is in two storeys 



with two orders, Doric and Ionic, and the fagade being intended for 

 a narrow street, not for a large square as at present, the pedestal of 

 the Ionic order is raised on a plain band, which, in perspective, would 

 have disappeared behind the projection of the Doric cornice. The 

 towers have a Corinthian order, and an attic. The majestic effect of 

 the design is in part the result of its scale the heights of the columns 

 of the two lower orders are about 46 and 38 feet respectively, and that 

 of the balustrade from the ground, 134 feet 6 inches but largely also to 

 the simplicity resulting from the reduction in the number and variety of 

 the main divisions. Its unity is attained by a skilful distribution 

 of horizontal and vertical emphasis. The former is marked by entabla- 

 tures unbroken from end to end, and the reposeful effect enhanced 

 by the quiet attitudes of the statuary and by the reinforcements of 

 the colonnades ; for the lower one has a second colonnade, and the 

 upper one an arcade behind it. At the same time the aspiring 

 character of the towers is marked by coupling the engaged columns 

 in their lower storeys and gradually diminishing their upper stages. The 

 bulk of the work was carried out between 1733 and 1745, but the 

 architects' design was constantly interfered with by the church authorities, 

 and it is difficult to determine exactly how far the design published in 

 BlondePs "Architecture Franchise," and in the main carried out, was 



