iS40.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



143 



MEDIEVAL ARCHITECTURE IN FRANCE.— No. 1. 



Whatever may be the opinions of individuals wilh regard to the 

 merits of the Gothic style, it has so strong a hold on our sympathies, 

 und so many advocates and supporters, that it can neither be neglected 

 in a professional point of view, nor be decried as unimportant. As a 

 branch of instruction its study is imperative, nor is it less so as coming 

 within the domain of the antiquarian and the artist. Linking us, as this 

 style does, in a common bond with surromiding nations, abounding in 

 monuments not merely of local but of universal interest, its history 

 in other countries affords not only pleasure, but becomes of value as 

 tending to illustrate its progress here. To no other country does this 

 apply more strongly than to France, where the architectural associa- 

 tions, like the political relations of the country for many centuries 

 were interwoven with our own, springing from the same parent stock, 

 and from time to time forming alliances wliicli tended to keep up the 

 mutual connection. At the same time the later and closer connection 

 of France with the lower empire both in the east and the west has 

 given rise to modifications which either never existed here, or of 

 which the vestiges have become extinct, as in the case of the Roman- 

 esque and Byzantine Gothic, of which monuments are to be found 

 there replete with the highest interest. It is for these reasons there- 

 fore that as we know that it would be acceptable to our readers we 

 are induced to profit by the present opportunities afforded by French 

 periodicals and other authorities of presenting a short account of the 

 French Medieval styles in a familiar form. 



In our second volume, page 193, will be found a valuable paper by 

 Mr. Foynter, on the comparative chronology of English and French 

 medieval architecture, founded on the investigations of M. Comon, of 

 the Antiquarian Society of Caen. 



COMPARATIVE CHRONOLOGY OF FREMCH AND ENGLISH MEDIEVAL 

 ARCHITECTURE. 



950, 



1000 ^Romanesque. 



Norman . 

 Early English . 

 Decorated English 



Perpendicular . 



Secondary or Gotliique 

 Ravonuant. 



Tertiary or Gothique 

 Flamboyant. 



fllOO ^Transition. 



11150 J 



J 1200 I Primordial Gothic. 



1 1250 { , . , 



n3oo|^'"=p<"-"''- 



1 1350 i2d epoch. 



fHOOjJ 



J 1450 > 1st epoch. 



1 15001 oj 1 



li5ao[2'iep°*- 



Taking this as our basis, the first style to which our attention is 

 directed is the Romanesque, a style of which we have no example in 

 this country. 



THE ROMANESQUE STYLE. 



Applying the term of Romanesque style to those monuments imitated 

 more directly from Roman architecture, we find a variety of speci- 

 mens erected between the fifth and twelfth centuries bearing all the 

 impress of their origin, and throwing much light on the history of the 

 art. It was only about the fifth century after several invasions of the 

 barbarous hordes, that sufficient tranquillity was restored in France to 

 allow of the erection of new edifices, and of the repair of the old ones. 

 The conversion of the Franks under Clovis to Christianity, created a 

 necessity for buildings suitable to the new form of worship, to which 

 the Roman temples were ill adapted. Instead of narrow sanctuaries 

 secured by thick walls, the ceremonies of Christianity required large 

 covered buildings, in which the congregation csuld participate in the 

 services. It seems that under these circumstances the architects of 

 that period sought for the type of their designs in the ancient syna- 

 gogues of the Jews, and the civil basilicas of the Greeks and Romans. 

 To the former they were naturally led by tradition and association, 

 while in the latter they found a conveniency of disposition suitable to 

 the extended wants of large communities. Thus were the caves in 

 which the early Christian sought refuge, supplanted by the new edi- 

 fices which from being built at Constantinople and Rome, served as 

 models to other Christian countries. Hiding from persecution it was 

 only in caves and in the hollows of rocks that the first votaries could 

 worship in peace, and yet even in these places of banishment they had 

 already introduced greater pretension in the disposition. At Mont- 

 majour, near Aries, one grotto church is laid out with two parallel 

 naves, while in that fine specimen of a primitive temple at Sutrium, 

 in Etruria, the space formed in the rock is divided into a vestibule, a 

 nave divided by pillars so as to form side aisles, and a sanctuary. 

 With greater liberty of worship more display was aimed at, and rude 



attempts were made to rival the labours of the past. In these essays 

 it was natural that the relics of Roman art should be referred to as 

 models, and plundered for materials, although as they could neither 

 appropriate Roman genius nor transfer Roman skill, they necessarily 

 fell behind their masters in success. Who can mistake the source, 

 whence the annexed entablature and capital is derived, and many as 

 strong can be adduced. Thus also the details of the onler in the porch 



Fig. 1. 



of the Cathedral at Avignon, the Franks employed not only bricks 

 similar in form to those of the Romans, but used those which they ob- 

 tained from the destruction of other edifices. 



The ground plan of the Romanesque edifices is evidently referable 

 to the sources already alluded to, and we have in Fortunatus, a poet 

 of the sixth century, and Gregory of Tours descriptions of several 

 churches which serve to confirm this to the utmost extent. Such 

 were the primitive basilicas erected in Paris, Tours, Clermont and 

 other cities of Gaul. We find that they were spacious, of an oblong 

 form, divided into several naves by rovNs of columns of marble, doubt- 

 less obtained from the pagan spoils, and arranged parallelly to the 

 lateral walls. At the hemicycle in the end, used as a sanctuary, was 

 placed the altar, in the position called in Vitruvius the tribune, which 

 in Christian edifices was always single, or at one end only, while in 

 those of an earlier period, as in the basilica of the Foro Trajano at 

 Rome, a tribune was occasionally placed at each end. Of the early 

 specimens of the Christian basilica, if we may so terra it, one of the 

 best preserved, is that of the Cathedral of Parenzo in Istria, built in 

 the sixth century. Frequently however these buildings were of a cir- 

 cular form, many of which are to be found in Italy, w hile in France 

 there is St. Germain I'Auxerrois, called St. Germain the Round : 

 several were consecrated by Constantine, both in the east and the west. 

 Occasionalljf the circular form was combined with square naves, of the 

 kind before described, something in the style of the church of the Holy 

 Sepulchre. The church built by Perpetuus over the tomb of St. Mar- 

 tin, near Tours, was a fine example of this last combination, and the 

 accompanying engraving shows a restoration of the ground plan, from 

 the description of tTregory, of Tours. 



U 2 



