Page:Architectural Review and American Builders' Journal, Volume 1, 1869.djvu/276

 232 Sloan's Architectural Review and Builders' Journal. [Octobex': shortly after. The diminished engrav- ings, whence we have our data, are from Hawkins' " History of Gothic Archi- tecture." This church is an unmistakable in- stance of the use of the Pointed Arch, which occurs as a special characteristic of the structure, both in the vestibule and, far more significantly, in the nave. " All the arches, on each side, of the " vestibule are pointed and rest on piers " formed of Corinthian pilasters ; and " the whole of the nave, on each side, is " also composed of a long range of piers, " consisting of Corinthian columns, sup- " poi'ting, in like manner, ten pointed "arches on each side." It will be un- derstood, of course, that both the vesti- bule and the nave have, between these pointed arcades and the side walls, open aisles with vaulted roofs. The vestibule has an oblique-groined intersecting-seg- ment ceiling ; and the nave a semi-cylin- drical one, cross-groined from the capi- tals of slender pillars projected above the capitals of the piers. In both cases the clerestory division of the walls is formed of two ranges of semi-circularly- arched windows, those of the vestibule single above and double-twinned below, for every large pointed arch ; and those of the nave, in both tiers, arranged in groups of three single ones, for every large Gothic arch. In the remainder of this most interesting building, the Roman arch and the niche arch prevail. In addition to oblique transverse groinings, this erection contains the germ of the slender, banded, Gothic pillars. " The circular window at the end of each transept, in the later Gothic cathe- drals, might possibly be derived from a very large carving of stone, represent- ing a circular rose, in the west front of the Abbey-church of Clugny, as the ornament — evidently intended only to fill up the space over the portal, and between it and the summit of the build- ing, which would, otherwise, have ap- peared too naked and vacant — is so like such a window in form, and occurs so very nearly in the same situation." This Church of Clugny was no petty example. In the absence of exact measurements, we deduce — from com- parison of the human figures, introduced into the views, with adjacent portions of the edifice — that the arches both of the vestibule and the nave must have been about fifty feet high ; and the vaulted ceilings, in both cases, about a hundred ; the church itself manifestly having been between four and five hun- dred feet long. Henry of Winchester — who had him- self been a monk in the Abbey of Clugny — a few years later, A. D. 1136, built the Church of the Hospital of St. Cross, at Winchester, containing the earliest known instance of the Pointed Arch in England. It is well known, that, after the divi- sion of the Roman Empire, neither the Empire of the West, nor the Empire of the East had sufficient vigor and culti- vation to copy the choice edifices then standing, much less to produce any design architecturally new ; and, that, presently, both so far declined, as not even to compass any artistic details. The Northern barbarians made one in- cursion after another, each further in- juring the architectonic remains of former generations, until, from the inse- curity of war, none but a few church- men thought of cultivating the arts and sciences ; and these, in preference, as easier, and requiring little beyond per- sonal ability and industry, directed their attention to ancient literature, which needed no patrons. But patrons were essential to architecture, and it had none. Finally, when the Western Em- pire had merged in the rude kingdoms of the Goths, Lombards, Vandals, &c. , new structures were needed for shelter, de- fence, and worship ; and the old ones, whether preserved or downfallen, were used as quarries. It required, of course, some mechanical skill to adjust these