lR-i7.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECrS JOURNAL. 



33 



COLOGNE CATHEDRAL. 



{TVith an Engraving, Plate V.) 

 It is not a century since Christiein architecture was praised for its 

 barbaric mignificence. Tlie admiration accorded to it differed in 

 degree, but was identical in nature, with tliat given to the grotesque 

 Indi.in pagoda, or the fantastic extravagancies of Louis Quatorze. 

 Vitruvius had reduced the proportions of temple architecture to nu- 

 merical calculation, and shown how many times the height of a co- 

 lumn should exceed its width: but as there was no book extant in 

 which cathedral architecture was similarly treated, it was condemned 

 as unsystematic and inharmonious. The plumb-line and foot-rule 

 were then the critic's stock-in-trade; with these implements the 

 " noble art of criticism" was worked out with all the mechanical pre- 

 cision of plane surveying. 



After a time, however, the bright thought was suggested that, 

 perhaps, the medisval architects were not the barbarians they had 

 been taken to be ; that, with all their caprices and apparent defiance 

 of rule, there might be some method in their madness, if it could but 

 be found out. It was questioned whether there might not be other 

 harmonies more subtle than those which are capable of being settled 

 by the multiplication-table. And when these heresies in architecture 

 had once been started, they were not forthw ith silenced as visionary ; 

 but, on the contrary, spread and multiplied exceedingly. It is true, 

 that the orthodox Academies and "legally constituted authorities" 

 had nothing to do with the promulgation of the new doctrines, and 

 that one of those Royal Societies who have been kind enough to 

 undertake the protection of art — namely, the Academie Royale des 

 Beaux Arts at Paris — did in its wisdom pronounce, in June ISIG, a 

 strong anathema against the revival of Pointed architecture. But, 

 notwithstanding the resistance of this and other very solid bodies to 

 external pressure, it has become more or less evident to all who are 

 concerned in the matter, that the opposition, whether passive or 

 active, was quite too late and might be safely disregarded. 



Now, among all mho love Art for its own sake, and who can, there- 

 fore, appreciate its existence independently of the aid of arithmetic, 

 a general conviction seems to be growing up, that the most eloquent 

 defence of their doctrines has been set forth on the banks of the 

 Rhine. Universal consent appears to point to the fact that there 

 stands the noblest and mightiest of all monuments of mediffival thought 

 and skill. — The Cathedral of Cologne, wasted by time and the 

 elements, despoiled by French soldiery, despised by classic connois- 

 seurs, and neglected by its own proper guardians, has come to be 

 considered the most beautiful of poems which man's hand has ever 

 written in stone. 



But this builded poem, though it excel all others in beauty, is yet 

 one of the least complete; so to speak, only a few books of it remain, 

 and those have been sadly marred by the notes and emendations of 

 commentators. Accordingly, the promulgators of the new architec- 

 tural doctrines were desirous to repair the injuries which false friends 

 and professed enemies had inflicted upon Cologne. But the work of 

 reparation had scarcely been begun, before it was found out that 

 another work, far more magnificent, might be attempted with every 

 prospect of success — namely, that of completion. Now, in order to 

 comprehend the magnitude and boldness of this project, it is requi- 

 site to understand clearly the original plan and design of the building, 

 and to what extent the intention of *.he first architects had been 

 carried into eflect. 



The design of the building coraprehende<l, in the first place, two 

 enormous towers at the west end, surmounted by spires ; and this part 

 alone, as it surpassed in magnitude everything similar to it in the 

 world, so also would have been superior in the costlinesss of its de- 

 corations. For the spires were each o have attained the height of 

 536 feet — a height nearly double that at Lincoln, and exceeding that 

 at Salisbury by 132 feet; and the profusion and delicacy of sculpture 

 would have outvied Strasburgh itself. The height of the nave in- 

 ternally was to have been 150 feet, and some idea of its magnitude 

 may be formed from the assertion, that it is of sufficient capacity to 

 No. 113.— Vol. X.— Febbcart, 1847. 



contain the Chapel of King College, Cambridge, completely with- 

 in it. The nave at Cologne was to have double aisles, including 

 which, its total breadth would be the same as its internal height, 

 namely 150 feet. The approximate equality of the breadth and 

 height of the nave is observed in most of the English cathedrals. 



Besides the parts described, there were double transepts, and 

 beyond them the stately choir delineated in our engraving, which is 

 the only complete part of the building. The external height of the 

 choir is 208 feet— as nearly as possible the height of the towers of 

 Westminster Abbey ! 



The total length of Cologne Cathedral is not very great compared 

 with its width, being 500 feet. In this respect it is exceeded by 

 three of our own cathedrals— Winchester, Ely, and Canterbury, and 

 equalled by two others — York and Lincoln : and it is curious to ob- 

 serve, that while in these edifices the length is six or seven times the 

 breadth, in the great continental church the length is only three times 

 and one-third the breadth. 



Of the vast pile thus contemplated, comparatively little has been 

 actually executed. The choir, as we said, is the only complete part. 

 In each transept a portion of the east walls is erected. Of the nave 

 little is built, and there exists a great gap, which is covered in by 

 teisporary walls and roofs: the northern aisles are in the most perfect 

 condition, seven compartments in their roofs being groined over, and 

 the windows being finished and filled with stained glass; but in the 

 southern aisle the windows had only reached the springing of their 

 arches. In the grand western facade of the cathedral there is a large 

 vacant space between the north and south towers ; and of these 

 towers, the southern only had reached to the height of the nave and 

 choir-roofs, the northern being only just commenced. 



It will be seen, therefore, that the work of completing this Cuthe- 

 dral excels in magnitude that of erecting almost any other. And 

 this consideration alone can give us an adequate notion of the bold- 

 ness and enthusiasm which must have actuated the Germanic nations 

 when they undertook this gigantic task: for though the mere magni- 

 tude of the work may be understood from the foregoing dimensions, 

 their vaiiety and intricacy can only be ascertained from minute local 

 inspection. The tracery is different in every window (the manufac- 

 ture of "Gothic windows" at so much a dozen being a somewhat 

 later invention). The whole structure, as may be seen from the view 

 of the choir, would tower above a forest of finials, pinnacles, and 

 flying buttresses. Every part seems literally covered with the luxu- 

 riant overgrowth of delicate sculpture — rich canopies for figures of 

 the saints, crockets carved into the semblance of roses with the 

 minuteness of nature; every beautiful form which Flora could sug- 

 gest, and every strange form which a fantastic imagination could 

 create, seem here embodied in stone. Amidst flowers and foliage 

 and clustering fruits, appear strange fabulous monsters, dragons, 

 griffins, and winged unicorns. The demons and bobgoblinu who, as 

 every one knows, used in olden time to play such terrible pranki 

 about the mountains of the Rhine, here live again, long after the 

 printing press and the steam engine have laid them low. — As you 

 walk round the building, look up suddenly, and you will probably sec 

 some fantastic merry devil grinning at you from beneath a water- 

 shoot or corbal ; suddenly turn the angle of a buttress, and you find 

 that a troop of little imps have been watching you round the corner: 

 while within the gorgeous choir, solemn figures of the saints look 

 down from their lofty niches, and gigantic angels seem to hover high 

 up above the altar. Towards dusk, it requires strong nerves to look 

 at these mysterious forms without awe, for they gain in apparent 

 size, and look tenfold more mysterious, in the twilight ; and no one, 

 probably, would like to be locked up all night in Cologne Cathedral, 

 with no other company than these saintly eliigies, the sepulchral mo- 

 numents, and the reliques of the Three Kings.* 



* The account of the works of Cologne Cathedral will be continued, with additional 

 Engravings : for the one now presented to our readers we are indebted for the original to 

 " Gailbabaud's Ancient and JUudern Architecture.'' 



