iS40.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



219 



Circumstances are much more favourable in France to tlie progress 

 of the art of glass painting than they are in England. The material 

 IS so much cheaper, and the remuneration expected by artists for their 

 labour is so much less, even after making all ahowances for the dift'e- 

 rence in the value of money in the two countries, that the greatest 

 obstacles in the way of experimental essays amongst us do not exist 

 there. 



It is really to be desired that some efforts will shortly be made in 

 England by men in authority, to prevent the decay of an art so beau- 

 tiful and so valuable as this which we are now considering. Its present 

 languid state is most deplorable to behold, and cannot but terminate 

 fatally unless means be taken to inspirit and invigorate those who are 

 engaged in it. It is not asked that government should form large and 

 expensive establishments for this purpose, as at Munich, such a course 

 is not necessary, perhaps, even, it would be unadvisable ; but it does 

 appear exceedingly desirable that they should, by occasional com- 

 missions and discriminating assistance, draw public attention to the 

 subject, raise the hopes of its professors, and oifer some inducement 

 for increased exertion on their part. In consequence of the improved 

 state of chemical and physical science, we have tlie means of pro- 

 ducing works in painted glass superior to anything that has yet been 

 done, were proper encouragement afforded to develop our resources; 

 unfortunately, a directly contrary opinion prevails, and this fact, 

 therefore, cannot be insisted on too vehemently.* 



Concerning the importance of stained glass, 



" glass of thousand colourings. 

 Through which the deepened glories once couldenter, 

 Streaming from oil' the sun like seraphs' wings.'' 



to increase the solemnity of an ecclesiastical building, and induce holy 

 and religious feelings — apart from its influence as a work of art — none 

 disagree ; and yet, in consequence of the niggardly and ill-advised 

 system of church building pursued at this time, few of the new edi- 

 fices which are rising in all directions — mean, contracted, and poverty- 

 stricken — afford any specimens of it. If government were to set an 

 example by the bestowal of a few windows, there are many individuals 

 and public bodies who might be persuaded to follow it. In early times, 

 when funds were needed for the erection of places of worship, the 

 mendicant monks promised all who would subscribe, that they should 

 be represented in stained glass, — that they should 



" knely before Christ in compas of gold. 

 In the wyde windowe westward, Wei neigh in the njiddell." 



Notwithstanding it be pandering to the vanity and pride of frail hu- 

 manity, we would promise this and more than this, to all who were 

 willing to aid in the improvement of our churches, and to forward an 

 art which has such claims upon the moralist and the man of taste: 

 and we would point out that, by assisting to implant a knowledge and 

 a love of art in the minds of their fellow men, they were advancing 

 their welfare, raising them in the scale of beings, and effecting a 

 national good. 



Let us hope that better times than the present are in store for the 

 lovers of this particular art — or rather, let us not be contented w ith 

 simply hoping, but diligently set our own shoulders to the wheel, and 

 vigorously assist to bring about that which we all admit to be so 

 desirable. 



MEDIEVAL ARCHITECTURE IN FRANCE.— No. 2. 

 (Continued from page 145.^ 



BYZANTINE STYLE. 



Throughout a great part of the existence of what is called Gothic 

 iirchitecture, the Byzantine style flourished in France, both in distinct 

 monuments, and as influencing other styles. In order to appreciate 

 the character of this influence, we have considered it necessary not 

 to limit ourselves to the examples afforded by France, seldom pure, 

 but to investigate its history in other countries, so that thus we mav 

 be enabled to see the extent to which it has acted on other schools of 

 art. It must be recollected that it was not until the eleventh century 

 that the Greek and Latin churches were completely separated, while, 

 during the whole period Constantinople contested with Rome for the 

 supremacy. Down to that epoch Constantinople might be regarded 

 with more propriety as the common centre of the Christian church 



It may he remarked here, that care should be employed by painters in 

 the selection of glass for their works. Glass, as now made for ordinary pur- 

 poses. IS ill-suited tor painting on. A few years ago, admirable "hiss tor 

 this object was obtainable from a factory at Dumbarion, which is not now in 

 operation. 



than Rome, most of the general councils being held in the eastern 

 empire, which was the great seat of learning. The bishops of Rome 

 and Constantinojile long contended for the jurisdiction over the pro- 

 vinces to the north of tbe Danube, and that the Greek patriarch was 

 not without his influence, may be seen in many of the monuments to 

 the north of the Alps. In France and in Germany, the examples of 

 the Byzantine style are only partial, but in the Slavonic countries it is 

 the predominant type to this day. 



PLANS. 



The first portion of the subject to which we shall call attention are 

 the dispositions adopted in the arrangement of the ground plan of 

 eastern churches, which, as was seen in the preceding article, com- 

 pletely altered the system copied from the Roman temples. Euse- 

 bius, in his life of Constantine,* describes some of the principal 

 churches erected by this emperor and his mother in different provinces 

 of his dominions. They were mostly circular or octagonal, and sur- 

 mounted by lofty doiiies. Thus was constructed the great church of 

 Antioch, dedicated to the Virgin, and called the Golden Temple, 

 erected by this prince in the twenty-second year of his reign ; it was 

 in the form of an octagon, surrounded with exedrse and chapels. 

 In the exedrae and in the porch it was lawful to bury. The 

 church of the Ascension, built by St. Helena, mother of Constantine, 

 upon the Mount of Olives, was circular, as is proved by the plan 

 drawn on wax in the Sth century, and engraved in the Ada Sanc- 

 torum. This temple and the church of the Holy Sepulchre, are the 

 reputed types of several churches built by the crusaders in their native 

 couiitries. The churches of St. Marcellin and St. Constantius at 

 Rome, are similar in their arrangements and were surmounted with 

 cupolas of stone or pottery like the Syrian monuments before men- 

 tioned. 



Fig. 6.— Church of St. 'Vital at Ravenna. 



One of the nearest approaches to the description of Eusebius is the 

 church of St. Vitalis, at Ravenna, founded in 534, while that city was 

 still the seat of the Greek exarchs. Its plan is that of an octagon 

 having semicircular chapels and exedrie on several points of its peri- 

 meter, or it may be described as round outside and octagonal 

 within. A gallery on the first floor, running round the central area, is 

 the gijTiecceum, or gallery for women, who, in the primitive church, as 

 in the eastern churches to this day, were separated from the rest of 

 the congregation. A hemispherical cupola, raised a great height 

 from the ground, covers the building, and lights it by means of win- 

 dows cut in the base. Pendents or brackets support the vault at tbe 

 points where the re-entering angles of the polygon prevent it from 

 being placed directly on the wall. The Greek architect, in construct- 

 ing this building, has had recourse to a system, of which this is an 

 early example.f Feeling the necessity for extreme lightness, since 

 the cupola is supported mainly by brackets, he has used pieces of 

 pottery in the shape of a bottle without a bottom. These vessels, 

 placed in contact, form first the base of the cupola, then the curve, 

 being continued without interruption, and in spiral, until they reach 



* Eusebius, "Vita Constantini, 1. iii, c. 50; and Abulfareius. 



T Another is to be found in the octagon baptistery at Ravenna, liiilt in .540, 



2 G 2 



