Page:History of Architecture in All Countries Vol 1.djvu/505

 Bk II. Ch. II. AQUITANIA. 473 41 ft. 6 in. clear between the piers, while in the church of Cordeliers it is 53 ft., and except the thickness of the outer wall — about 4 ft. — the whole of the floor-space of the span is utilized in the interior. In so far as internal effect is concerned, this is no doubt judicious ; but, as may be seen from the view (Woodcut No. 337), the absence of any delineation of the line of buttresses externally produces a flatness and want of accentuation in the lower part that is highly objectionable. As will be observed from the section, the whole of the width of the buttresses is included in the interior on the one side. On the other it is excluded above the roof of the aisle, but a gallery (Woodcuts Nos. 836 and 337) joins the buttress at the top, giving the effect of a cornice and a gallery above. The church is of brick, and all the peculiarities of the style are here found exaggerated ; bit there are few churches on the continent which contain so many valuable sug- gestions for a Protestant place of worship, and no features that could not easily be improved by judicious handling. It was built in a country where Protestant feeling existed before the Reformation, and where cx)nsequently architects studied more how they could accom- modate congregations than provide show-places for priests. Besides those which are built wholly according to this plan, there are a great number of churches in this ja'ovince which show the influence of its design in more respects than one, though, having been rebuilt in a subsequent age, many of the original features are necessarily lost. The cathedral at Bordeaiix is a remarkable example of this, its western portion being a vast nave without fdsles, 60 ft. wide internally, and nearly 200 ft. in length. Its foundations show that, like that at Angouleme, it was originally roofed by three great domes ; but being rebuilt in the 13th century, it is now covered by an intersecting vault of that age, with two stories of windows, and an immense array of flying buttresses to support its thrust., all which might have been dispensed with had the architects retained the origi- nal, simpler, and more beautiful form of roof. The cathedral of Tou- louse shows the same peculiarity of a wide, aisleless nave, leading to a choir of the usual construction adopted in tliis country in the 13th and 14th centuries ; and many other exam])les might be quoted where the influence of the earlier style peers through the Northern Gothic which succeeded and nearly obliterated it. Chevet Churches. The Gothic churches of this province are neither so numerous nor so remarkable as those of the domical class we have just been describing ; still there are several examples, far too important to be passed over, and which will serve besides in enabling us to introduce the new form of church building which became prevalent in France,