Page:History of Architecture in All Countries Vol 1.djvu/485

 Bk. II. Ch. I. PROVENCE. 453 Romans Avere so remarkable ; while at Carcassone the masonry is little better than rubble. It need hardly be added that the temple displays an eleo-ance of detail which charms the most fastidious taste, while the decoration of the church is rude and fantastic, though no doubt ]>icturesque and appropriate. The last remark must not, however, be understood as a reproach to Gotliic art, for the choir of this very church, and the two outer arches shown in the woodcut No. 312, were rebuilt in the year 1331, with an elegance of detail which, in a constructive sense, would shame the best classical examples. The nave is a tentative example of a rude age, when men were inventing, or trying to invent, a new style, and before they quite knew how to set about it. The builders of Carcassone had this temple at Nimes standing, probably much more complete than it is now, Avithin 1'20 miles of them, and they were attemi)ting to copy it as best they could. It is probable, however, they had also other models besides this one, and certain that this was not the first attempt to reproduce them. The differences are considerable ; but the similarities are so great that we ought rather to be astonished that ten centuries of experience and effort had not shown more progress than we find. Prove jfCE. There are few chapters in the history of mediaeval architecture which it would be more desirable to have fully and carefully written tlian that of the style of Provence from the retirement of the Romans to the accession of the Franks. This country, from various causes, retained more of its former civilization through the dark ages than any other, at least on this side of the Alps. Such a history, however, is to be desired more in an archaeological than in an architectural ])oint of view; for the Provencal churches, compared with the true Gothic, though numerous and elegant, are small, and most of them have undergone such alterations as to prevent us from judging correctly of Iheir original effect. Among the Provencal churches, one of the most remarkable is Notre Dame de Doms, the cathedral at Avignon (Woodcut No. 313). Like all the others, its dimensions are small, as compared with those in the northern province, as it is only 200 ft. in length, and the nave about 20 ft. in width. The side-aisles have been so altered and rebuilt, that it is difficult to say what their plan and dimensions originally may Jiave been. The most remarkable feature and the least altered is the ])orch, Avhich is so purely Romanesque that it might almost be said to be copied from such examples as the arches on the bridge of Chamas (Woodcut No. 220). It presents, however, all that attenuation of the horizontal features which is characteristic of the Lower Empire, and