Page:History of Architecture in All Countries Vol 1.djvu/593

 Ek. II. Ch. ex. COLLEGIATE CHURCHES. 561 The style of the choir of this church may be fairly judged from the view of the southern porch (Woodcut T^o. 413). This has all that perfection of detail Avhich we are accus. Jllilll'/'^ '^ tomed to admire in Cologne Cathedral, and the works of the time of our Second Edward, combined with a degree of light- ness and grace pecu- liar to this church. The woodcut is too small to show the details of the sculp- ture in the tympa- num above the doors, but that too is of exquisite beauty, and being placed where it can be so well seen, and at the same time so perfectly pro- tected, it heightens the architectural de- sign without in any way seeming to inter- fere with it. This is a somewhat rare merit in French portals. In most of them it is evident that the architect has been controlled in his design in order to make room for the immense quantity of sculpture which usually crowds them. On the other hand, the position of the figures is often forced and constrained, and the bas-reliefs nearly unintelligible, from the architects having been unable to give the sculptor that unencumbered space which was requisite for the full development of his ideas. 413. Southern Porch of St. <Juen .it lloueii. (From Chapuy.) It would be easy to select numerous examples from the collegiate and parish churches of France to extend this series. Our limits will not, however, admit of the mention of more than one other instance. The sepulchral church of Brou en Bresse was erected between 1511 and 1536, by Margaret of Austria, daughter of Maximilian, and aunt of Charles V., Emperor of Germany. It was therefore nearly contem- porary Avith Henry VII.'s Chapel at Westminster, and thus affords the means of comparison between the English and French styles of the day, which is wholly in favor of our own ; both are the most florid VOL. I. — 36