Page:History of Architecture in All Countries Vol 1.djvu/639

 Bk. III. Ch. III. CHURCHES. G07 CHAPTER III. HOLLAND. CONTENTS. Churches — Civil and Domestic Buildings. THE moment Ave pass the boundary line which separates Belgium from Holland, we feel that we have stepped at once into a new architectural province. At last we have got among a people of pure Aryan or Teutonic race, without one trace of Turanian or Celtic blood in their veins, and who, consequently, carry out their architect- ural designs with a matter-of-fact simplicity that is edifying, if not charming. It is not that the kingdom of Holland is deficient in the possession of Mediaeval churches — far from it — she possesses as many Gothic cathedrals as we do, and their average dimensions are equal to those which adorn this island ; they belong also to the same age : but the result is wonderfully different. The Dutch did not work out any part of the style for themselves ; they attempted no novelties, and did not even give themselves the trouble to understand perfectly the style they were employing. They were then, as now, a religious people, and Avanted churches, and built them according to the only pattern then available. No one can say that their churches were not perfectly adapted to the form of worship then prevalent, and in dimensions and dignity perfectly suited to the wants of the communities who erected them. Notwith- standing all this, they are only vast warehouses of devotion, and are utter failures as works of art. If any one wishes to perfectly realize the difference between mere ornamental construction and ornamental construction which is also ornamented, he cannot do better than study carefully the design of these Dutch churches. Their dimensions are frequently grand, their proportions generally pleasing, and the subordination of the parts to each other often most judicious. On the other hand, the pillars of the pier arches are almost always round — the vaulting shafts poor, and never carried to a sufiicient resting-place — the windows want mullions and tracery — the vaults are domed and stilted — the ribs lean — and everything, in fact, is pared down as closely to mere utility as is pos- sible in such a style. In France or in England, in the same age, every stone would have spoken out and had a meaning ; and every