636 MODERN ARCHITECTURE 



Mr. John Bilson has shown that Durham Cathedral in England had 

 groined ribbed vaults between 1093 and 1104, and M. de Lasteyrie 

 has not been able to bring any convincing arguments against this. 

 The groined ribbed vault must then have been of Anglo-Norman 

 origin, for M. Lefevre Pontalis has not succeeded in maintaining 

 against the arguments of M. Anthyme Saint-Paul the attribution 

 of the groined ribbed vaults of Morienval to an earlier date than 

 1120, and no other French example can with certainty be assigned 

 to an earlier period. 



As to the Gothic style itself, MM. de Lasteyrie, Moore, Gonse, and 

 Lefevre Pontalis believe it to have originated in the Isle de France. 

 M. Dehio alone believes it was due to the collaboration of the master 

 builders of France, Picardy, Burgundy, Lombardy, and Anjou, an 

 hypothesis that neither M. Saint-Paul nor I myself regard as in- 

 admissible. 



M. de Lasteyrie has shown, as has M. Marignan, that, contrary to 

 the opinion of M. de Vogue, the statued portals of Saint Denis and of 

 Chartres are earlier than those of Saint Gilles and of Aries. They were 

 all built in the second half of the twelfth century, but the typical 

 model came from the North and not from the South. This fact is 

 definitely decided, and there is no longer any discussion except as to 

 differences of a few years with regard to the dates of Chartres and 

 Le Mans. 



An error in terminology with reference to the end of the Middle 

 Ages was started when Courajod gave the name of Burgundian School 

 to the work of Flemish sculptors who worked at Dijon at the end of 

 the fourteenth and during the fifteenth century. It is interesting 

 to see that Belgium itself, following this classification, displays its 

 national sculpture under the title of Burgundian School. I found 

 recently in Flanders at Douai fragments that are contemporary with 

 the famous tombs at Dijon, and identical in style. The Flemish art of 

 Dijon was not in any way different from that of its native land. The 

 origins of this Flemish art, however, were French, as Mr. Koechlin 

 has now demonstrated. Finally, there is still discussion as to how 

 great was the Italian influence in the French Renaissance. The 

 lamented Eugene Miintz, in a clear exposition of the character of this 

 influence, while restating the story of Laurana and his works, does 

 not throw into sufficient light the personal character that the French 

 architects and sculptors succeeded in giving to their imitations of 

 Italian art. On the other hand, the late Leon Palustre showed 

 himself most illogical in exaggerating this originality and in mini- 

 mizing the influence of the Italians in France. M. Vachon has taken 

 up in this spirit the parts played respectively by Boccador and 

 Chambiges in the building of the Hotel de Ville of Paris. His ar- 

 guments rest, however, on engravings and tapestries of doubtful 



