Page:History of Architecture in All Countries Vol 1.djvu/581

 Bk. II. Ch. IX. FRENCH GOTHIC CATHEDRALS. 549 Externally it ]iossesses two western spires, and one octagonal lantern over the intersection of the nave and transept, which, both fur beauty of detail and appropriateness, is the best sj)ecimen of its class, and oidy wants the crowning spire to make this group of towers equal to anything on this side of the Channel. Notre Dame de Dijon is another example of the same early and elegant age, but possessing the Burgundian peculiarity of a deeply recessed porch or nar- thex, surmounted by a fayade of two open galleries, one ovei- the other, exactly in the manner of the churches of Pisa and Lucca of the 11th and 12th cen- turies, of which it may be considered an imita- tion. It is, however, as unsatisfactory in ])ointed Gothic, even with the very best de- tails, as it is in the ]>seudo-classical style of Pisa, forming in either case a remarkably un- meaning mode of deco- ration. The cathedrals of Sens and Auxerre are ]>ure examples of pointed architecture. The latter (a.d. 1213) internally rivals per- haps even Coutances. Nothing can be more elegant than the junc- tion of the lady chapel liere with the chevet ; for though this is almost ahvays pleasingly arranged, the design has been unusually successful in this instance. The two slender shafts, shown in the Woodcut No. 401, just suffice to give it pre-eminence and dignity, without introducing any feature so large as to disturb the harmony of the whole. In the great church at St. Quentin, the five chapels of the chevet have each two pillars, arranged similarly to these of the lady chapel at Auxerre ; and though the effect is rich and varied, the result is not N< 402. Plan of Cathedral at Troyes. (From Arnaiid, " Voyage dans le Departenieut de I'Aube.) Scale 100 ft. to 1 in.