Page:A History of Architecture in All Countries Vol 2.djvu/291

Rh liK. VII. Ch. II. LATE SPANISH GOTHIC. 275 SectiDii of Church wt Villeiia. (From "iMon. Arch d'Kspana."; Scale 50 ft. to 1 in. rally they are like those of the French ; but owing to the vast extent they attained at Gerona, Manresa, and elsewhere, the one lean rib in the centre and the absence of any ridge-rib make themselves more painfully felt than even in the French examples. When in the 16th century the architects tried to obviate this defect, it was not done as in England by constructive lines representing the arches, but by waving curved lines spread capriciously over the vault, which was thus cer- tainly enriched, but can hardly be said to have been adorned. In one or two instances, the late Gothic architects aimed at the introduction of new principles, not perhaps in the best taste, but still so striking as to merit attention. In the church at Villena (1498-1511), for instance, all the columns are ornamented with spiral flutings so boldly executed as to be very effec- tive ; and as this spiral ornament is consistently carried throughout the design, and the -parts are suffi- ciently massive not to look weak- ened in consequence, the whole design must be admitted to be both pleasing and original. The exteriors of these 16th-century churches have a much more modern look than their interiors. From the buttresses being internal, the external walls are jjerfectly flat, generally terminating upwards by a cornice more or less classical in design. The windows are fre- quently without tracery, and are ornamented with balconies, and Renaissance ornaments are often intermixed with those of Gothic form in a manner more picturesque than constructive. At times, how- ever, they exhibit such a gorgeous exuberance of fancy that it is im- possible to avoid admiring, though we feel at the same time that it would be heresy to the principles of correct criticism to say that such a style was legitimate. Aniong the minor examples of the age, perhaps the most remarkable zs the church or chapel of San Juan de los Reyes at Toledo, built by Ferdinand and Isabella as a sepulchral chapel for themselves, though not used for that purpose. It is thus the exact counterpart of our Henry VII. 's Chapel, and of the church at Brou in Bresse. As its founders were at the time of its erection among the richest and most prosperous sovereigns' in Europe, all that wealth could do was lavished on its ornamentation. It is as rich as our example, and richer than the French one. But, on the Avhole, the palm must be awarded the Eoglish architect. There is more constructive skill, and the con- struction is better expressed, at Westminster than either at Toledo or Brou ; though it is difficult not to feel that the money in all these