Page:A History of Architecture in All Countries Vol 2.djvu/304

288 288 PORTUGUESE ARCHITECTURE. Part II CHAPTER IV. PORTUGAL. CONTENTS. Church of Batalha — Alcoba^a — Belem. SO little attention lias been jDaid to the subject of Gothic architecture in Portugal that it is by no means clear whether it contains any churches of interest belonging to that style. There are certainly some splendid remains at Belem near Lisbon, and fragments at least elsewhere ; but those Avho have described them are so little qualified for the task by previous study, that it is impossible to place reliance on the correctness of their assertions regarding them. One church, however, — that at Batalha, — has met with a different fate, and having arrested the attention of Mr. Mur]jhy, "the illustrator of the Alhambra," was drawn l)y him, and published in a s])lendid folio work at the end of the last century. As might be supposed from the date of the work, the illustrations do not quite meet the exigences of modern science, but it is at all events one of the best illustrated churches in the Peninsula, and seems in some respects to be worthy of the distinction, being certainly the finest church in Portugal, It was erected bv King John of Portugal, in fulfilment of a vow made during a battle with his namesake of Spain, in the year 1385, and was completed in all essentials in a very short period of time. From the plan (Woodcut No. 732) it will be seen that the form of the original church is that of an Italian basilica — a three-aisled nave ending in a transept with five chapels ; the whole length internally being 264 ft., and the width of the nave 72 ft. 4 in. It is therefore a small building compared with most of the Gothic churches hitherto described. To the right of the entrance, under an octagonal canopy which once su])ported a German open-work spire, are the tombs of the founder and of his wife Philippa, daughter of John of Gaunt ; beyond this the octagon expands into a square, in a very Eastern fashion, to accommodate the tombs of other members of the royal family who are buried around. The whole design of this part is one of the most suitable for a family sepulchre to be found anywhere. The wonder, however, of the Batalha, or rather what would have been so had it been completed, is the tomb-house which Emanuel the Fortunate commenced for himself at the east end of the church.