Page:History of Architecture in All Countries Vol 1.djvu/511

 Bk. II. Ch. II. AQUITANIA. 479 termination of a basilica was effected, the French adhered to it with singular constancy. I am not aware of their ever having built a circular church afterwards which was intended to stand alone ; and there are very few instances of basilicas of any importance without this form of apse. Some, it is true, have been rebuilt on old founda- tions, with square eastern ends, but this is rare and exceptional, the chevet being the true and typical termination. The church at Conques and that at Toulouse both show it fully and beautifully developed, though externally the chapels hardly fit j.leasingly into the general design, and look more as though their addition were an afterthought. This, however, was soon afterwards remedied, and the transformation made complete. The solidity with which these churches were built, and the general narrowness of their proportions as compared w^ith the domical churches of the same time and district, enabled the architects occasionally to attempt some splendid erection on the intersection of the nave and transepts, Avhich is the spot where height should always be aimed at. The dome at Cruas in the Provencal district has already been described (Woodcut No. 324). The church at Conques lias one as important, though dissimilar ; but the finest is that of St. Sernin at Toulouse (Woodcut No. 344), which rivals the designs of our spires at Salisbury, Norwich, and elsewhere, but its height being only 230 ft. from the ground, it cannot be compared with them in that respect. The 3 lower stories only are of the age of the church ; the 2 upper were added long afterwards, but were adapted with ]-emarkably good taste. Though differing in design and detail, their general form and outline is such as to accord most happily with the older structure on which they are placed ; there is nevertheless a sameness of design in ]>lacing so many similar stories one over the other, merely diminishing in size, which is not altogether pleasing. The general effect, however, is good, and for a central object it is, if not the finest, certainly one of the very best which France possesses. As in all French styles, the western fa5ades of the Southern churches are the parts on which the architects lavished their orna- 7nents with the most unsparing hand. Generally they are flat, and most of them now terminate squarely, with a flat line of cornice of slight projection. Beneath this there is generally a range of arches filled Avith sculpture or intended to be so — the central one, and that only, being used as a window. Beneath this is the great portal, on which more ornament is bestowed than on any other feature of the building. Some of these gateways in this province, as in Provence, are wondrous examples of patient labor, as well as models of beauty. They possess more than the richness of our own contemporary Norman portals, Avith a degree of refinement and delicacy which our forefathers did not attain till a much later age. Some of these