25S 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



[AuGtrsT, 



g; HISTORY OF DECORAXn' E SCULPTURE IN FRANCE. 



By Albekt Lenoir, Architect. 



(Translated for the Civil Engineer and Arcliitecfs Journal, from the 

 Heme Generate de I'Arehitfclure.) 



GAULISU PERIOD. 



In the earliest ages men, in however rude a condition, have always 

 been fond of decorating their dwellings, an impulse to which the Celts 

 and the Gauls gave way, and of which we tind many evidences in their 

 monuments. On the coasts of Britany, and on the sides of Druidic 

 monuments, we see rude sculptures of rays and spirals so combined as 

 to produce something of a decoration. On the well known peulvan or 

 jough obelisk of Kervuatou in Finisterre, we fijid the head of a bull 

 represented in such a way as to enable us to comprehend the outline. 

 All other monuments wliich preceded the civilization of Gaul by the 

 Greeks and Romans, except those of the Druids, having perished, we 

 are deprived of the opportunity of describing the mode of ornamenta- 

 tion adopted by the Aborigines. 



GREEK PERIOD. 



The Phoceans, as is shown by the remains preserved in the Museum 

 of Marseilles, brought into Gaul the elements of Asiatic art, which 

 I'tbey used with taste. In 1773 M. Grosson, an inhabitant of that city, 

 published a quarto volume,* in which are engravings of many ancient 

 monuments, found within the boundaries of the old colony. Notwith- 

 standing the mediocrity of the representations, we can easily recognize 

 on some of the tombs, decorated with bas reliefs and inscriptions, how 

 completely they had succeeded in imparting a classic taste, the 

 crowns of "olive leaves, and wreaths of flowers and foliage boast the 

 same elegance as on the coasts of Attica or the Peloponnesus, Caria or 

 Ionia. On the borders of the territory of the Greek colony, in a place 

 called Le Bas Vernegues, near the Pont Royal, on the road from Aix to 

 Lambesc, is to be seen a temple of the Corinthian order, evidently of 

 a Greek character, both as regards its general composition and the 

 Style of its raouldiugs and ornaments, as may be judged by the follow- 

 ing engraving. 



Fig. 1— Leaves of the capital of VernSgues. 



The capital of a grave form, notwithstanding the richness of its de- 

 tails, is decorated with sharp cut leaves, like those still to be seen at 

 Athens, and on the coasts of Asia Minor. It reminds us of the foliage 

 used in the decoration of the capitals of Pompeia, sculptured in the 

 Hellenic school. In the temple of Verm'gues, the bases of the columns, 

 the mouldings of the pedestal, and the ])roportions of the architraves 

 have evidently been designed and executed by Greeks. 



The influence of the Asiatic colony was not limited to the bounds 

 of the Marseillese territory, but was felt throughout Gaul, and thus it 

 is we find at Vienne in Dauphiny, and at St. Remy-en-Provence, the 

 ancient Glanum, traces of oriental art, as readily to be recognized there 

 as in the fragments of the Phocean metropolis. 



When Gaul came under the power of the Romans the Greek spirit 

 still survived, as we may see in the case of the two cities just men- 

 tioned. At Vienne, the capitals of the temple of Augustus and Livia, 

 were executed on the Greek plan, as may be ascertained by the finely 

 executed sharp leaves, and in the Museum of Vienne, formed in the 

 cella of the temple maybe recognized more than one fragment which 

 shows the Greek chiseLt 



* Recueil des Antiquiles et Monumcns Marseillais, 1 vol. 4lo., Marseille, 

 X77o. 



t The reader may consult Antiqtiites de Vienne, 1 vol. in folio, by M. Reg, 

 Director of the Museum of Vienne. .^ . ., 



The tomb of St. Remy, raised for a Roman personage, as the in- 

 scription, figures and bas relief show, was also of Greek workmanship, 

 this we can trace in the fragment of a capital represented in the fol- 

 lowing engraving, and further proved by the Greek contour of the 

 mouldings. 



Fig. 2— Leaves of the capital of St. Remy. 



The capitals surmount the colunms, decorating the upper part~of 

 the tomb ; the sculpture of them is broad and well massed. 



The triumphal arch at Orange is a monument cotemporary with the 

 first victories of the Romans in southern Gaul, in it we trace some- 

 thing Greek, every detail serving to remind us, in some degree, of that 

 school. The composition of the mouldings of the entablature, and 

 particularly those at the top of the architrave bring to mind the pro- 

 files seen in the ancient edifices of Asia Minor ; a cavelto is seen sur- 

 mounting a line of ova, reposing on a string of pearls, a detail com- 

 pletely Ionian.* The modillions, decorating the principal cornice of 

 the arch, have a remarkable peculiarity which is met with in the 

 octagonal monument at Athens called the Tower of the Winds, and as 

 we shall hereafter see reproduced in the Maison Carree at Nimes, aa 

 edifice of a later date than that on which we are now treating. These 

 modillions are sculptured in an inverse way from those which de- 

 corate all the ancient entablatures, the larger part, instead of rest- 

 ing against the cornice so as to form a console, is on the contrary 

 near the outer edge of the corona, a very rational arrangement by the 

 bye if we consider this part of the decoration as being derived from 

 a wood building, and as the expression of the pendent extremities of 

 the rafters, supporting the tiles. The resemblance between this enta- 

 blature at Orange, and the Athenian edifice, which as it is described by 

 Vitruvius,t must be of ancient date, comes in confirmation of the in- 

 fluence exercised by Greece on architecture and its details iu southern 

 Gaul. A specimen of the Greek palmetto is to be found in the midst 

 of the foliage of the upper ogee of the impost of the Arch at Orange. 

 The cotlres, decorating the arches are executed with more delicacy 

 than in any Italian monuments, particularly iu the double arches, where 

 we observe a happy arrangement which adds to the finish of the exe- 

 cution. In general, the Roman monuments of southern France show 

 in their ornamentation a lightness of touch which may be attj-ibuted 

 to the Greek school ;is introduced by the Phocean colony. 



We have already shown what Hellenic elements are observable in 

 the tomb of St. Remy ; the same we have to notice in the triumphal 

 arch of that town, particidarly in the double arches decorated w ith. 

 arabesques. The archivolts of this monument, as well as those of the 

 triumphal arch of tJrange, are decorated with foliage and fruits, taken 

 from the produce of the country, an interesting ornament as it makes 

 us acquainted with the state of culture at that date.S 



ROMAN PERIOD. 



Out of Provence we perceive a considerable change in the style of 

 ancient architecture, approaching to the Roman forms, of which Nimes, 

 one of the richest cities of Europe in antiquities, affords many exam- 

 ples, having been for a long time opulent enough to construct fine 

 buildings. Augustus gave walls to Nimes, as is attested by an uiscrip- 

 tion on the gate, still bearing his name. The Corintliian capitals of 

 the pilasters of this gate are executed with breadth, and remind us of 

 the style at that period adopted at Rome. To the same emperor b 

 attributed a portico which decorated the fountain of the Baths, the 

 fragments of which are preserved on the site of the Temple of Diana. 

 In the Maison Carrce are two of the finest bases ever sculptured by 



• .See the works of M. Choiseuil Gouffier and of the Dilettanti Society of 

 London. 



t Vitruvius, book 1, chapter 6. 



\ See the introductory plates lo the History of France, by Jorand, JoulTray 

 and K. Brecon. 



