THE STYLE OF THE EMPIRE. 



493 



paper the treatment has considerable charm, which, however, seems to 

 evaporate in execution, leaving nothing but a frigid correction. In 

 the same category may be mentioned the chapels at Quiberon and 

 Orange (1825) both designed by A. N. Caristie (1783-1862). 



CHURCHES. The Empire produced no church of note the Made- 

 leine, as stated above, was not originally intended for worship. But 

 under favour of the Restoration, the Catholic revival brought about a 

 renewed activity in church-building. Its most important examples are 

 the parish churches of Notre Dame de Lorette (1823-36) by Louis 

 Hippolyte Lebas (1782-1867), and St Vincent de Paul (Fig. 464) 

 (1824-44) by Lepere and his son-in-law, J. H. Hittorf (1793-1867). 

 Both are examples of the basilica 

 type, reintroduced by Chalgrin at 

 St Philippe du Roule. In plan 

 and section, however, they come 

 much nearer to the early basilicas 

 of Rome and Ravenna, while 

 their detail is without the austere 

 purity of the late eighteenth cen- 

 tury, and is influenced by various 

 periods of the Renaissance. Both 

 have a double aisle divided by a 

 colonnade, and a triumphal arch 

 leading into an apsidal choir, and 

 neither has a vaulted roof, though 

 they differ in several other 

 respects. As regards the exterior, 

 Notre Dame has a tower placed 

 over the square choir between the 

 nave and apse, while St Vincent 

 has towers at the west end of 

 the outer aisles connected by a 

 high blank wall, against which 

 stands a hexastyle pedimented portico three columns deep. This church 

 stands high, and is approached by an elaborate lay-out of steps and 

 terraces. A number of churches of this period conform more or less to 

 this type of design, e.g., those of Bercy (1823), St Germain-en-Laye 

 (1827), and Vincennes (1830). But classical architecture for ecclesiastical 

 purposes, however much diluted with Byzantine or Renaissance elements, 

 was beginning to be looked on askance, and the Gothic Revival was at 

 hand. The restoration of mediaeval churches was undertaken with 

 as great archaeological accuracy as the age could muster, and new 

 churches in mediaeval styles began to arise. One of the earliest serious 

 attempts at a Gothic place of worship seems to have been the chapel 



7 ff wjj- j 



464. 



PARIS : ST VINCENT DE PAUL, BY 

 LEPERE AND HITTORF (1824-44). 

 PRINCIPAL FACADE. 



