166 



THE CIVIL ENfilNEKR AND ARCHITECTS JOURxNAL. 



1 June, 



others come to and fro ; and even the preacher has only a portion 

 <>f tlie jieople around him. The jiriesthood, ahine, form a eompact, 

 uniform hody, which, liowever secludes itself in the choir, taken 

 up with particular functions. In this part of Cathidic duirches, 

 as well as iu tlieir whole structure, the want of community 

 is apparent ; and if it had hcen as easy to erect new churclics as to 

 chanjie a oreeil, Protestants ouj^ht never liave used Catholic 

 churches for their worship. Necessity, however, prevailed, and 

 some of these older structures deserved preservation on account of 

 their heauty. Still, it is a dereliction of duty, if new Protestant 

 churches are huilt in the form of Basilicas or the old cross shape. 



It is not our province to make any specific pro]>OK(ils for the erec- 

 tion of Protestant churches ; still, it is the duty of our architects 

 to search after, and to discover that form — provided all |iower of 

 invention has not left our a^e ! So much we may say, that, ac- 

 cordinfj; to our foref^oinn; reasoniiiir, this form ought to a])proach 

 the circular or elliptic. The rourul form may possess some disad- 

 vantages in an acoustic point of view, hut we do not douht that 

 they can be overcome by study and research. 



While thearchitect attends to the scope of a building.he has. espe- 

 cially in public buildings, also to take cure «f its charncternfljeiiiity. 

 All nations have imparted to their sacred edifices, beauty, citaracter, 

 and siihlimiti/ ; and Protestantism, if it comprehend the vocation 

 of religion, cannot neglect the above recpiisites of sacred buildings. 

 The aim of worship requires an adequate and worthy ex])ansion of 

 space. The sentiments of holy earnest, of pious peace and adora- 

 tion, will receive much additional strength from a worthy and 

 adorned locality. 



It has often been asked, u-hat constitutes the beauty of an 

 edifice.'' Surely no< the costly, glittering materials which Catho- 

 licism has scpiandered on them in Italy, partly from heathenish 

 spoils transferred there. Another — and we say a .superior mind 

 reflects from the Gothic churches of the north of Europe. The 

 temples of Pa^stum, superior to a/l the ruins of Rome, are of 

 travertine; which coarse material, however, is deified, as it were, by 

 the exquisite form and proportion. It is form which constitutes 

 beauty — whicli, after all, is but form jierfect. Both appertain to 

 the mind ; mind creates form, and then reflects, with ecstacy, on 

 his own work — the laws of its own being brought to manifestation 

 • — beaut)'. 



Certainly, before an intuitive observation, the distinctions of 

 material and form vanish. Certainly, marble is more pleasing to 

 the eye than gritstone, on account of its finer component parts and 

 colour, which both are forms. The architect cannot disdain the 

 nobler material on this account, as well as for its greater plasticity 

 and adaptation to elaborate workmanship. The custcjin to con- 

 struct public, especially sacred, buildings of noble materials, and 

 to adorn them costly and splendidly, is most ancient, and based on 

 a true sentiment of our mind. Everything rests here on certain 

 proportions and measures ; as also the connection between material 

 and form obeys the same laws. Even a building, or parts thereof, the 

 interior of a church or hall, may become heavy and cumbersome by 

 being overloaded with ornaments, on account of form being here 

 obscured and borne down by material. The latter is the case 

 with the Milan Domo, the outside of which is too rich in ornament, 

 while the inside is grand and sublime. 



The beautiful in architecture can be divided into several radii 

 which we shall attempt to enumerate, in accordance with the relation 

 of their usefulness and adaptation. The latter may be raised to 

 beauty, or even sublimity — if the size by far outstrips the bounds of 

 absolute necessity. The scope of religious assemblages requires but 

 a limited height of space; but the tendency of art soars beyond 

 that, and attempts to expand, conjointly with material space, our 

 feelings and sentiments. Another way of achieving beauty is to 

 employ greater means and aids than are absolutely necessary. The 

 building may, for instance, require pillars for its sup|)ort ; but art 

 takes hold of this want, and increases their number to the greatest 

 amount compatible witli true proportion. Finally, the scantiness 

 and stern simj)licity of the straight line may be increased by lines 

 arcuated and wavy. But to all this must be added sometliiiiy ine.i'- 

 pressible by mere words — h hich, however, may be best termed har- 

 mony, concordance, and unity of conception. Size and height — 

 fulness and diversity, the free scope of form, must all combine 

 towards unity ; and naught to ai)pear as sujierfluous, isolated, or 

 preponderant. By the observation and comparison of a number of 

 buildings, and by abstracting laws therefrom, certain rules of pro- 

 portion (numerical, geometric, and others) have been arrived at ; 

 to which ya»CT7(',s.s' architects are accustomed to adhere slavishly. 

 But the true laws of construction lie in the impression a building 

 will produce, and which the real artist will know how to anticipate 



by some sort of internal art-intnitiim ; this inward conception pre- 

 cedes all sketches on ])aper or parchment. 



Let us now endeavour to sketch that impression, which a 

 Protestant (evangelic) house of God has to produce. The usual 

 classification of the (ireek, Roman, and Gothic may serve as a 

 starting point. The Grecian temple is conspicuous for its mode- 

 rate compass, and the rectilinear fcu-m of construction. It is alto- 

 gether the type of the polytheistic mind of their builders, unable 

 to seize the greatness of One-Ood. Still, it produces the efl'ect of a 

 clear, serene majesty ; and further, the Doric may be said to be more 

 stern than the others. It seems to us the fundamental fault of 

 Michael Angelo, and other architects, who have taken the antique 

 for their prototype, to transfer the Grecian-Roman style into 

 Christian churches. The Doric colonnade would have been, no 

 doubt, the most adapted to Christian worship ; but, so far as we 

 know, that style has been used but rarely; substituting for it 

 the more slender, serene — nay, lascivious Ionian and Corinthian 

 orders, where, at times, colossal dimensions were introduced to 

 palliate the inconvenience thus arising. But already the Byzan- 

 tine or Romanic style of architecture had changed the Greek into 

 one more apjiropriate to the Christian mind, by adopting greater 

 height — thei'ehy, expanding the column to gigantic proportions, 

 and substituting the round arch for straight lines. For the exter- 

 nal ornament of churches, or even the upper parts of their inte- 

 rior, this style used thin, short columns with arches, over which a 

 profusion of sculptural and mosaic ornament is spread. The too 

 stern character of the ensemble is thereby modified, and amenity 

 added to sublimity: just the same as the worship of the true 

 Christian is tempered by mildness and love. 



Gothic church architecture has, however, achieved the greatest 

 sublimity of religious sentiment, by its pointed vaults ; but here, 

 also, a richness of ornamentation unites the serene and lovely 

 Peculiar to this style of architecture, is the mysterious and awe- 

 inspiring, which arises partly in the structural proportions and 

 forms, and partly in the painted windows, spreading a mystic 

 chiaroscuro over the whole expanse of space. If we assume, in 

 fine, that Protestantism has developed faith and adoration to its 

 greatest height and freedom, there can be no dmibt tliat the 

 character of sublimity, — viz., the pointed arch style, has to be 

 chiefly adopted. It can hardly be <loubted, that the adaptation of 

 this style will permit the carrying out the above-stated requisites 

 of Protestant worship, consequent on its very essence and mind — 

 yet, we acknowledge that a sacred edifice thus constructed will he 

 much different from a Gothic cathedral. It may be thought, that 

 the character of the structure might be somewhat modified by a 

 greater clearness and serenity of its plan and conception. Pro- 

 testantism educates towards self-thought and clear ideas ; hence- 

 forth, even its external manifestations must seek for clearness and 

 light. As the congregation has to see itself, as bibles and books 

 are to be oftener referred to than with Catholics — stained windows 

 will not be adapted, — the more so, as the frescoes proposed by us 

 as a chief ornament for the walls of the interior, would be quite 

 confused and obliterated thereby. 



Of these we shall speak in conclusion. In this respect, also, a 

 certain chaste economy, if we may say so, is to be recommended. 

 In Catholic churches, not rarely a sensual profusion of marble and 

 gold is to be regretted, and at the same time, walls and ceilings 

 are overloaded with paintings. This medley, however, of a mot- 

 ley coloration, makes an especially confusing impression on the 

 beholder. Against the painting of ceilings we must pronounce 

 most strenuously, as even with the best light it is impossible to 

 view th^i with the requisite quiet and ease; the outward quiet, 

 however, of the beholder being the necessary condition of the inner 

 satisfaction, which is the aim of all art. At times, moreover, the 

 light for such ceiling-paintings is quite a wrong one, as is the 

 case in the dome of Parma. How much of art and means have 

 been wasted in ceilings, and how slight has been the the result ! 

 On ceilings, art should not ett'ect but an adequate and harmonious 

 display of colour ; at the utmost, arabesques or facettes are to be 

 used, as is the case in some of the churches of upper Italy. 

 Figures and groups however, ought to be placed at a convenient 

 distance, and in no distorted positions or fore-shortening. If our 

 idea of a communion in Protestant congregations be assented to, 

 pictures ought to he used but rarely, and of a simple, but grand 

 character ; else they would distract the attention of the people. 

 Large historical compositions attract too much attention ; but 

 figures or heads of great and pious personages will he more a])pro- 

 priate, besides requiring only a limited space. 



If we endeavour to combine the purport of our foregoing ob- 

 servations — we have to repeat, that painting has to receive a real 

 element and substratum ; architecture, to manifest the scope of 



