86 A R C H I T 
of tlie SeClion of the church of Batalha, given by Mr. 
Murphy, in the mean time the annexed plates of a Nor¬ 
man Gothic column, and enriched capital and entablature, 
which are adjufted to geometrical proportions, may ferve 
to illuftrate an idea for practice, fhould an architect he 
difpofed to raife ftruCtures in the Gothic ftyle, or adapt 
it to tire pUrpofe of frontifpieces to churches, chapels, 
d’welling-.houfes, &c. 
Of ARCHES. 
The writers who have hitherto treated on this fubjeCt, 
have principally directed their attention to the pointed 
arch, which they feem to conlider as the leading clia- 
raCteriftic of this fpecies of architecture. Many learned 
difquifitions have been written concerning its origin, but 
it dill remains unexplained. Mr. Murphy, in his in¬ 
genious publication above-mentioned, profelfes to have 
bellowed much thought on this part; and flatters him- 
felf, that, though his conjectures have the peculiarity of 
being entirely new, they may be allowed to approach as 
near to certainty as the nature of the fubjeCt will admit. 
“ If (fays he) the pointed arch be confidered detached 
from the building, its origin may long be fought for in 
vain, and this, perhaps, is the reafon it has eluded the 
researchers of fo many ingenious men ; but, on the contra¬ 
ry, if we examine it in a relative view, as a part in the 
competition of the w hole, it will become more eafy to ac¬ 
count for it's form, or for that of any other component part. 
If we take a comprehenfive view’ of any of thefe ftruCtures 
externally, we (hall perceive that not only the arch, but 
every vertical part of the whole fuperftruCture, terminates 
in a point. And the general form, if viewed from any of the 
principal entrances, (thedation from whence the charac¬ 
ter of sin edifice fhould be taken,) will be found to have a 
pyramidal tendency. The porticoes of the drd dory, whe¬ 
ther they be three or five in number, are reduced to one 
at the top, and this is fometimes crowned with a lofty pe¬ 
diment, which might more properly be called a pyramid, 
as we fee in the tranfept front of Wedminider Abbey, and 
of York Minder. If we look further on, in a direct line 
with its apex, we frequently fee a lofty fpire, or pyramid, 
fifing over the interfedtion of the nave and tranfept. Each 
of the buttrefles and turrets is crowned with a (mall py¬ 
ramid. If niches are introduced, they are crowned with 
a fort of pyramidal canopy. The arches of the doors and 
windows terminate in a point; and every little accedory 
ornament, which enriches the whole, has a pointed or 
angular tendency. Spires, pinnacles, and pointed arches, 
are always found to accompany each other, and very 
clearly imply a fydem founded on the principles of the 
pyramid. 
“ It appears evident, from thefe indances, that the py¬ 
ramidal form actually exids throughout the feveral com¬ 
ponent parts, and the general difpodtion of the edifice ap¬ 
proaches as near to it, at lead, as the ordonnance of an 
hidorical painting w hich is (aid to be pyramidally grouped. 
Hence we may comprehend the reafon why the arch was 
made pointed, as no other form could have been intro¬ 
duced with equal propriety, in a pyramidal figure, to an- 
fwer the different purpofes of uniformity, fitnefs, and 
ftrength. It is in vain, therefore, that we feek its origin 
in the branches of trees; or in the interfe&ion of Saxon 
or G recian circles ; or in the perfpeCtive of arches ; or in 
any other accidental concurrence of fortuitous circum- 
ftances. The idea of the pointed arch feems clearly to 
have been luggeded by the pyramid, and its origin mud 
confequently be attributed not to accident, but to ordina¬ 
tion. But, granting for a moment that any of the above- 
mentioned conjectures were true, w’e fhould be as far as 
ever from afcertaining the principles of thefe edidces. 
There never was a fpecies of architecture the properties 
of which could be determined from the arch alone. Even 
in the Gothic, where it forms fo confpicuous a part, it 
does not govern in the compofition, but follows the gene¬ 
ral order of things, as it is not a cauie, but a concomitant 
E C T U R E. 
part, and its pointed termination is a confequence arifing 
from a general actuating principle. 
“Whether the Gothic architects were the inventors of 
this arch, or borrowed the idea of it from others, is not 
cafy to determine ; but it is very reafonable to fuppofe 
that it originated with themleives, as they were the only 
Icientific builders known to have ufed the pyramidal figure 
in the compofition of their edifices, except the Egyptians ; 
and it is generally fuppofed that the latter were ignorant 
of the art of condructing arches, though, 'in other ref- 
pects, an ingenious people. But the Gothic architects, in 
udng this arch, did no more, in my opinion, than the 
Greeks or Romans would have done in fimilar circuiri- 
ftances. For, if vvt fuppofe for a moment, that an Athe¬ 
nian artid of the age of Pericles, or a Roman architect of 
the Augudan age, had been called in to finifh a Gothic 
ftruCture that had neither doors nor windows, he could 
not, I think, have introduced any other but a pointed 
arch, in an edidce where every part grew up to a point, 
without being guilty of a direef violation of the laws of 
art, and of the precepts fo drongly inculcated in the ar¬ 
chitecture of his own country. The rule obferved by the 
Gothic architects, of adapting the form of the arch to the 
general figure of the edifice, is, I believe, confonant with 
the cudom of the anqients, though I cannot dnd that any 
writer, ancient or modern, has taken notice of this cir- 
cumdance. The Grecian temples, which were chiefly of 
an oblong form, have their doors and windows terminated 
horizontally, In all the dedgns that I have feen of the ruins 
of that country; fome exceptions may perhaps be found, 
but they never occur, except where propriety was made 
fubfervient to convenience. 
“ The Romans, who indulged in a greater variety of 
forms, furnifh us with many examples wherein this prin¬ 
ciple of uniformity is obferved ; the doors and windows 
of their quadrangular edifices being, generally fpeaking, 
clofed horizontally in the manner of the Grecians, and 
the apertures of their rotund edifices terminated with fe- 
micircular arches, as we fee in the amphitheatre at Ve¬ 
rona, and in the Colifeum, the theatre of Marcelliis, the 
temple of Bacchus and Faunus at Rome, &c. to which 
uniformity thefe building's are indebted for a great part of 
their beauty. Of this the author of the ingenious In¬ 
quiry into the Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and 
Beautiful, appears to have been perfectly fenfible : ‘ It 
is in a kind of artificial infinity we ought to look, for the 
caufe why a rotund has fucli a noble eft'eCt. For in a ro¬ 
tund, whether it be a building or a plantation, you can no 
where fix a boundary ; turn which way you will, the fame 
objeCt (till feems to continue, and the imagination has no 
reft. But the parts muft be uniform, as well as circularly 
difpofed, to give this figure its full force ; becaufe any 
difference, whether it be in the difpofition, or in the fi¬ 
gure, or even in the colour of the parts, is highly preju¬ 
dicial to the idea of infinity, which every change muft 
check and interrupt, at every alteration commencing a 
new feries.’ Indeed, there is no fpecies of architecture 
that has the leaft claim to excellence, wherein this uniform 
confent of parts has not been confidered as indifpenfabiy 
neceffary to the general effeCt and harmony of the compo¬ 
fition. We even find it obferved in thofe fimple ftruCtures 
of the Egyptians, that refemble a fruftrum of a pyramid ; 
which ftruCtures probably firft fuggefted the idea of doors 
with oblique fides, narrower at the top than at the bottom, 
as defcribed in the fixth chapter of the fourth book of Vi¬ 
truvius. Doors of this fort, having fitnefs to recommend 
them, in a building of that kind, as well as convenience, 
on account of their (hutting themfelves, a property they 
derive from the nature of their figure, were wifely adapted 
in thofe artlefs times, and would be equally proper now, 
if fimilar reafons fhould juftify their reftoration. 
“ Upon the whole, if the form of the arches, employed 
in clofing the apertures of a regular edifice, contributes 
in any degree to the effeCt and harmony of the comport- 
tion; it is probable, that the order here afligned to each 
appears 
