634 MODERN ARCHITECTURE 



this publication must be regarded as an indispensable tool for all who 

 wish to make a serious study of medieval art. 



The first man to publish a complete book upon Gothic architecture, 

 and to show that the beginnings and the culmination of this architec- 

 ture were in France, was Professor Charles Moore of Harvard Univer- 

 sity. This excellent book, published first in 1889, had a great success 

 and was republished, with many improvements, in 1900. It is one 

 of the most original and most logical works that have been written 

 upon the subject. Mr. Moore admits as "Gothic architecture" only 

 the purest types, all very rare, and practically limited to the Isle de 

 France: the imperfect Gothic he calls "pointed architecture." This 

 system of classification is a little radical, and the expression "pointed '' 

 seems unsatisfactory, because the pointed arch was a frequent element 

 in Romanesque architecture. 



Finally, among the most important foreign works must be men- 

 tioned the book of Dr. YVilhelm Voge on The Beginnings of the Monu- 

 mental Styles of the Middle Ages. It is a history of the origins of monu- 

 mental sculpture in France, and is precious on account of the range 

 of its researches, the accuracy of its statements, and its richness in 

 comparisons. The general conclusions, however, appear in the light of 

 our present information to be capable of refutation. 



An Italian. Commandatore Rivoira. has made a very important 

 study of the Lombard influences in France, and an Englishman. 

 John Hilson. has just produced most disturbing but most convincing 

 documents with reference to Ihe origin of the Gothic style. 



In conclusion. I should like to outline the questions that have 

 to-day been settled, and those thai are still debatable. 



The chronology of the buildings and the method of their study have 

 reached the maximum of accuracy. Nowadays, indeed, we have more 

 than one example of too great accuracy. The history of our art in the 

 Middle Ages has been written and many errors have been rectified. 

 The history of our Merovingian and Carolingian epochs remains 

 obscure. In 1*91 M. de Laslcyrie pointed out Quicherat's errors in 

 the restoration of the Basilica of St. Martin, of Tours. M. Brut ails 

 and M. Ma it re are still discussing the date of St. Philibert de Grandlieu. 

 Since ISS'2. Daniel Ramee has been demonstrating how uncertain 

 arc 1 all the attributions of dates to those buildings that are regarded 

 as earlier than the year 1000. The 1 question of Oriental origins enters 

 into the >t udy of 1 he work of ( his period. MM. Last eyrie and Brut ails 

 arc 1 not prepared to u'o as far upon this point as arc 1 M. de Vogue and 

 I )ieulafov and Choisy. M. Grell. however, lias come to the conclusion 

 from his studv of I lie Basilicas of Algeria and Tunis that these devel- 

 oped along with those of Ihe Occident, and notes curious likenesses 

 between the two. Commandalore Rivoira. on the other hand, in his 

 fine work on the origins of Lombard art. makes clear that from the 



