A R C H I T 
hotvcver, contends, that this opinion is not fufficiently fa¬ 
voured by the obfervations of feveral learned travellers, 
who have accurately furveyed the ancient mode of build¬ 
ing in tliofe parts of the world. Thus Cornelius Le Brim, 
an indefatigable and inquifitive traveller, has pubiiflied 
many views of eaftern buildings, particularly about the 
Holy Land : in all thefe, only one Gothic ruin, the church 
near Acre, and a few pointed arches, occur ; and thofe 
built by the Chriftians, when in polfeflion of the country. 
Near Ifpahan,'in Perfia, he gives feveral buildings with 
pointed arches : but thefe are bridges and caravanferas, 
whole age cannot be afcertained ; confequently are as like¬ 
ly to have been built after as before the introduction of 
this ftyle into Europe. At Ifpahan, the grand market¬ 
place is furrourided by divers magnificent Gothic build¬ 
ings ; particularly the royal mofque, and the Talael Ali- 
kapie, or theatre. The magnificent bridge of Alla-werdie- 
chan, over the river Zenderoet, 540 paces long and feven- 
teen broad, having thirty-three pointed arches, is alfo a 
Gothic ftruCture; but no mention is made when or by 
whom thefe are built. The Chiaer Baeg, a royal garden, 
is decorated with Gothic buildings ; but thefe were, it is 
laid, built only in the reign of Sclia Abbas, w ho died anno 
1629. One building indeed, Mr. Grol'e fays, feems at firft 
as if it would corroborate this alfertion, and that the time 
when it was erected might be in home degree fixed ; it is 
the tomb of Abdaliah, one of the fuccelTors of Mahomet, 
probably him furnamed Abu Beer. “ If this tomb (fays 
lie) is fuppofed to have been built foon after his death, 
eftimating that even to have happened according to the 
common courfe of nature, it will place its erection about 
the middle of the feventh century : but this is by far too 
conjectural to be depended on. It alfo feems as if this was 
not the common ftyle of building at that time, from the 
temple of Mecca; the arches-of which are femi-circular. 
The tomb here mentioned has but one evidence to prove 
its antiquity; that of being damaged by the injuries of 
time and weather.” 
With regard to the fuppofition, that this kind of archi¬ 
tecture was brought into Spain by the Moors, and thence 
introduced by way of France into Britain; “ it may, on 
firfl fight,” fays Mr. Grofe, “ appear plaufible ; though 
the only inflance adduced to corroborate the fact, on the 
evidence of correft drawings, is the mofque at Cordua in 
Spain; where, if we may judge from the views pubiiflied 
by Mr. Swinburne, moft of the arches are circular or horfe- 
flioe fafhioned, though a few pointed arches, formed by 
the interfeCtion of two fegments of a circle, undoubtedly 
appear. And, if thefe arches were part of the original 
ftruCture, it might be fomewhat in favour of the fiippofi- 
tion; but, as that edifice has been feveral times altered and 
enlarged by the Mahometans, it will be neceflary to afeer- 
tain the date of the prefent building, before any decifive 
conclufions can be drawn.” There are feveral pointed 
arches in the Moorifh palace at Grenada, called the Al¬ 
hambra ; but, as that was not built till the year 1273, 
long after the introduction of pointed arches into Europe, 
they are as likely to be borrowed by the Moors from the 
Chriftians as by the Chriftians from the Moors. The 
greateft peculiarity in the Moorifh architecture is the horfe- 
fhoe arch, which, containing more than a femicircle, con¬ 
trails towards its bafe, by which it is rendered unfit to 
bear any confiderable weight, and is therefore only calcu¬ 
lated for ornament. Among the drawings of the Moorifh 
buildings given in Les Delicts de I'EJfpagne, faid to be faith¬ 
ful reprefentations, there are no traces of the Gothic ar¬ 
chitecture there, as well as in the Moorifh caftle at Gib¬ 
raltar, the arches are all reprefented circular. All this, 
however, feems to throw but little light on the fubjeCl ; 
for it is moft likely that the Moors, as well as other na¬ 
tions, at different periods, adopted different modes of build¬ 
ing ; fo that, upon the whole, there does not appear any 
authentic documents to fubvert the generally-received opi¬ 
nion, that this ftyle of architecture originated in any other 
wav than that we have already mentioned ; which has late- 
Vom If. No. S9 . 
E C T U R E. S S 
ly received additional force from the obfervations of Mr- 
Murphy, in his excellent defeription of the church of 
Batalha, in the province of Eftremadura, in Portugal, to 
whom ourfelves, and the public, are under infinite obliga¬ 
tions, for his zeal to co-operate in refeuing from oblivion 
this magnificent ftyle of architecture. 
The marks which principally conftitute the character of 
this ftyle, which we now proceed to deferibe, arc its nu¬ 
merous and prominent buttreffes, its lofty domes, fpires, 
and pinnacles, its large and ramified windows, its orna¬ 
mental niches or canopies, its fculptured faints, the deli¬ 
cate lacework of its fretted roofs, and the profufion of or¬ 
naments lavifhed over the whole building: but its peculiar 
diftinguifliing characteriftics are, the fmall cluttered pillars, 
and pointed arches; which, though laft brought into life, 
are evidently of more fimple and obvious conftruCtion than 
the round or fernicircular ones; two flat ftones, with their 
tops inclined to each other and touching, form its rudi¬ 
ments; whereas a fernicircular arch appears the refult of 
deeper contrivance, as confifting of more parts; and it feems 
lefs probable that chance, from whence all thefe inventions 
were firft derived, fliould throw feveral wedge-like ftones 
between the tops of two others fet perpendicular, fo as 
exactly to fit, and fill up the interval. 
Of the NORMAN GOTHIC PILLAR. 
The pillars of this kind of architecture are as (lender as 
thofe of the ancient Gothic are heavy and maflive ; and 
yet, though they appear (lighter and weaker than any of 
the Greek or Roman orders, yet it is remarkable that they 
are ftronger than either; polleiling, from their peculiar ap¬ 
pearance, a deception in this refpect that the nicelt eye 
cannot deteCt. In proof of this we need only mention, 
that, although the Gothic columns in the weftern part of 
Weftminfter abbey appear to be much flenderer, weaker, 
and of lefs diameter, than the Corinthian columns in the 
portico of St. Paul’s, which are four feet in diameter, yet 
they are actually full fourteen inches more in their diame¬ 
ters, and confequently more than half as (trong again; 
becaufe 16, the lquare of the diameter of one of the Co¬ 
rinthian columns in the portico of St. Paul’s, is lefs than 
two-thirds of 26 eight-twelfths, the lquare of the diame¬ 
ter of thefe columns in Weftminfter abbey : a light, airy, 
and deceptive, effect, in the Norman Gothic pillar, not to 
be equalled in any of the columns ereCted by Greek or 
Roman architects in any part of the world. 
The grand effect fo univerfully admired in Gothic ca¬ 
thedrals, feems to arife from the artful diftribution of the 
pillars, with their concomitant feenery. Their magni¬ 
tude, and relative fituations, require to be proportionate 
to the laws of ftatics and optics. The clutter of little 
lhafts, and the intervening mouldings on the fuperficies of 
each pillar, give them the appearance of inftability, and 
feem fuperfluous at firft light; but, on tracing their con¬ 
tinuity 'upwards, we find them branching out in various 
directions, in the ribs of the nave and aile vaults, and. 
converted into archivolts in the (ides of the navel The 
manner in which thefe pillars are ufually placed, is rather 
Angular, but well calculated for effeCt and refiftance ; the 
(ides of each forms an angle of forty-five degrees with the 
collateral wall, by which thtyr repulfion is greater than if 
placed parallel, in the fame ratio the diagonal of a lquare 
bears to its fide. The capitals are commonly adorned with 
carvings of leaves and flowers, and even of animals ; lotne- 
tim.es with cherubims, angels, See. either engraved of in 
relievo. The cornices are generally ornamented with caft 
vings of different devices in ovals, rounds, diamonds, dr 
fquares; and the modillions are moftly arched. The lhafts 
oi the columns are often ornamented on the furfaces with 
lozenge net-work, wreaths of leaves and flowers, fpirals, 
&c. and, when the (haft conlifts of a chiller of fmall pil¬ 
lars, it is common to fee them bound round as it were 
with fillets, or entwined with a band or ribbon in a fer-' 
pentine direction. Elevations of the pillars general ly u fed 
in the ailes of churches, may be feen in the followin° View 
.2 of 
