Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 9.djvu/91

Rh It will be observed, that in point of date the "style Roman pur" is scarcely represented in our own country, and that the "Transformation Romano" coincides (at least in its early style), with what we should call very pure Norman, which in its most flourishing state occupied the reign of Henry I., or the first thirty-five years of the twelfth century. The period between this and the full establishment of the early English might be divided into two transitional epochs, the disappearance (or nearly so) of the round arch concluding the one, and of the square abacus the other. But it is well known that in French architecture the square abacus does not disappear as long as the style retains any of the characteristics of the thirteenth century, a circumstance which very much adds to the difficulty of drawing an exact line between contiguous transitional styles. A Romanesque appearance is in fact retained, especially in the pier arches, to a very late period; their soffit is but little removed from that of the twelfth century—one, or two square orders, with the torus at the edge; nothing is added beyond an increased depth and boldness in the hollows which define the torus—we observe little of that varied and carefully-designed series of mouldings which marks our own early English, and which doubtless contributed to the purity of our ecclesiastical architecture to a very late period. These remarks will probably not be found to apply to Normandy and Brittany, but they will, I think, hold good in the greatest part of France.

The difference between the northern and southern Romanesque has often been noticed by French antiquaries. The latter, like that of Germany, has the character of an independent style, capable of a perfection of its own, and it deserves study as one whose full development might lead to very important results. The northern Romanesque, which includes that of the district under our consideration, is, on the contrary, a style of transition, showing at an early period the elements of Gothic. The "style Roman pur" is in fact no more than a rough material; the texture and fashion it is to assume are determined at a later period. As early as the eleventh century, the principles of a transformation are evident, and this proceeds gradually and irresistibly; England had her full share in the movement, and I question whether she was not occasionally to be found in the