Page:History of Architecture in All Countries Vol 1.djvu/512

 480 FRENCH ARCHITECTURE. Taut H. 315. Cliurch at Aillas. 346. Church at Lonpiac. (From I.eo T)ri)uyu "Architecture au Moyeii-Agt-.") chiirch-portals in Aquitaine are comparatively simple, but even they make up for the want of sculpture by the propriety of their design and the elegance of their composi- tion. The church at Aillas pre- sents a fair specimen, on a small scale, of the class of design Avhich is jDeculiar to the fa9ades of Aquitania, though it is doubtful if the original termination of the gable has not been lost and replaced by the one shoAvn in the drawing. The fayade of Angouleme is designed on the same plan, though it is much richer. Those of Civray, Parthenay, and of many others, show the same character- istics. They appear tu have been de- signed not to ex- press the form and construction of the interior, but, like an Egyptian pro- pylon, as a vehicle for a most exten- sive series of sculp- tures exhibiting the -whole Bible his- tory. Sometimes, however, the design is more strictly architectural, as in the facade of the church at Loupiac, where sculpture is made wholly sub-