Page:History of Architecture in All Countries Vol 1.djvu/586

 554 FRENCH ARCHITECTURE. Part H. llie longest, as it certainly is one of the most majestic of all. This cathedral possesses also another Southern peculiarity of more ques- tionable advantage, in having five aisles in three different heights. The section (Woodcut No. 407) will exj^lain this. The central aisle is 117 ft. in height, those next to it 66 ft. high, the two outer only 28. These last a])pear to destroy the harmony of the whole, for on an inq^ection of the l)ullding, the outer aisles do not apjiear to belong to the design, l)ut look more like afterthoughts. At Milan, Bologna, and other places in Italy, where this gradation is common, this mistake is aoided, and the effect proportionably increased ; and excej)t that this arrangement does not admit of such large window spaces, in other respects it is not quite clear that, Avhere double aisles are used, it would not always be better that they should be of different heiglits. This arrangement of the aisles was never aii'ain fairlv tried in France : but even as it is the cathedral of Bouro-es must rank after the four first mentioned as the finest and most perfect of the remaining edifices of its class in that country. It is singularly beautiful in its details, and happy in its main proportions ; for owing to the omission of the transept, the length is exquisitely. ada])ted to the other dimensions. Had a transept been added, at 'east 100 ft. of additional length would have been required to restore the harmony ; and though externally it would no doubt liave gained by such an adjunct, this gain would not have been adequate to the additional expense so incurred. The greater part of the western facade of this cathedral is of a later date than the building itself, and is extended so much beyond the pro- ])<)rtions required for effect as to overpower the rest of the building, so tliat it is only from the sides or the eastern end that all the beauty of this church can be appreciated. As far as regards size or richness of decoration, the cathedral of Orleans deserves to rank as one of the very first in France, and is remarkable as the only first-class Gothic cathedral erected in Europe since the Middle Ages. The original church on this site having been destroyed by the Calvinists, the present cathedral was conniienced in the year 1601 by Henry W. of France, and although the rebuilding proceeded at first with great vigor, and the Avork was never wliolly discontinued, it is even now hardly completed. Considering the age in which it was built, and the contemporary specimens of so-called Gothic art erected in P^'rance and England, it is wonderful how little of classical admixture has been allowed to creep into the design of tliis building,* and Iiow closely it adhered to every essential of the style adopted. In ]>lan, in an-angement, and, indeed, in details, it is so correct, that it requires considerable knowl- edge to define the difference between this and an older building of the same class. Still there is a wide difference, Avhich makes itself felt