EVOLUTIONARY PRINCIPLES 45 



the windows were enlarged and filled with luxuriant tracery, 

 and ornament was prodigally lavished upon every coign of 

 vantage. From this stage it proceeded to what is known 

 in England as the Perpendicular, and in France as the 

 Flamboyant manner. Here the decadence was perceptible, for 

 the manner of building began to contradict its own essential 

 principles. The soaring arch flattened ; the window usurped 

 upon the wall ; horizontal lines tended to dominate in the 

 construction ; structure, in many details, was sacrificed to 

 effect ; decoration, while it became more conventional, grew 

 more abundant. Yet it is clear to those who study the history 

 of Gothic architecture that this Perpendicular or Flamboyant 

 style was no less a distinct evolution from the Decorated, 

 elucidating factors which were implicit in the purer manner, 

 than was Euripides a development from Sophocles. Never- 

 theless, the type could hardly advance further without 

 committing suicide ; and consequently we find that Gothic 

 dwindled into nothingness during those years which imme- 

 diately preceded the Renaissance. It was not Palladio who 

 dealt a death-blow to Gothic architecture. His pseudo- 

 classical style, corresponding to the humanist culture which 

 overspread Europe from Italy in the sixteenth century, only 

 served to fill a void already patent. The most remarkable 

 point to notice about the progression of Gothic architecture 

 is that it pursued the same course from inceptive energy to 

 efflorescence and decay in all the countries of Europe simul- 

 taneously. We can trace similar and contemporaneously 

 successive stages in France, England, Germany, Belgium, 

 and Spain, underneath the local differences of each nation's 

 monuments. And here it may be remarked, that the national 

 characteristics of each district manifested themselves with 

 greatest distinctness in the period which preceded the dissolu- 

 tion of the type. English Perpendicular, I mean, is more 

 obviously separate from French Flamboyant than English 

 Decorated from French Decorated ; while the later town- 

 halls of Belgium bring specific qualities to light, which are 

 latent in Flemish buildings of an earlier stage. Italy alone, 

 so far as Gothic is concerned, stands apart from the comity 



