CHAPTER VIII

GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE IN EUROPE

The first decades of the 12th century were marked throughout Europe, as far as architecture was concerned, by the final breaking loose from the Roman traditions that had so long been accepted as binding, and the revolt against which had been inaugurated more than a hundred years before. The struggle between the old and new methods of building very clearly reflected that of the people for greater freedom of thought and action in the countries in which it took place. The keynote of both was an aspiration after nobler things, and, in architecture, a yearning for religious expression, typified by the pointing upwards of the spires and pinnacles of churches and cathedrals, coincided with the craving of builders for increased lightness and grace of structure. The lofty vaults and complicated systems of buttresses of the Gothic style bore striking witness to the ambitious daring of their designers, a daring more than justified by its results.

The term Gothic, that now calls up a vision of ethereal beauty, was, strange to say, first given to the style that grew out of the Romanesque by the artists of the Renaissance as an expression of their contempt for what they looked upon as outworn methods of building, similar to those of the Gothic barbarians in warfare. It very soon, however, lost all association with this most inappropriate comparison, becoming synonymous with all that is most beautiful in the architecture of the period to which it is applied.

The most important characteristics of Gothic buildings are the introduction, wherever possible, of vertical or very sharply pointed details, such as highly pitched roofs and gables, spires and pinnacles, pointed arches and pointed vaulting, flying buttresses, that grew ever slenderer and more decorative, leading downwards from the roof, and counteracting the tremendous thrust of the suspended vault of stone, all of true structural value. To these must be added the minor peculiarities of slenderer columns than those of Romanesque buildings, several being often clustered together, mouldings cut into the stone of the capitals of the columns, arcading &c., instead of projecting beyond the surface, the grouping of several windows under the arch, and the increase in the beauty of their tracery. The so-called lancet or long narrow window with stilted head, pointed like an arch, is specially distinctive of Early Gothic, and was later supplemented by the more elaborate rose window, the stained glass in them, and in the more complex groups, adding greatly to the aesthetic effect of the whole building, the many coloured light from them relieving the monotony of the stone work.

The general appearance of the interior of a Gothic cathedral, with its long perspective of nave, aisles, and choir, its finely proportioned triforia and clerestories, and, above all, its graceful arches leading up to their points of union in the soaring roof, may justly be called a poem in stone, whilst its exterior is equally remarkable for the close correlation of all its parts, producing an impression of consistent unity of design. An added charm is given alike to the interior and exterior by the combined richness and quaintness of the decorative sculpture, in which is clearly illustrated the delight in symbolism of the mediaeval craftsmen, who, working in close accord with architect and builder, supplemented effigies of heroes and heroines of the faith, royal patrons, &c., with emblematic animals, fruit, flowers, and foliage, welding the most incongruous forms into an elaborate and beautiful scheme of ornamentation.

It was in Northern France that the Gothic style was first developed, and there, as elsewhere, it passed through three phases. The first, characterised by comparative severity of style and simplicity of decoration, prevailing in the 12th and 13th centuries; the second, to which the name of Rayonnant is sometimes given, on account of the ray-like window tracery, in the 14th; and the third, known as the Flamboyant, because of the flame-like tracery and general brightness of the ornamentation, in the 15th century.

A hint of the coming change was, as has already been shown, given in many a Romanesque building, notably, to quote but two cases in point, in the Cathedral of Evreux, and the Church of S. Etienne, Beauvais, but it was in the Cathedral of S. Denis, near Paris, founded in 1140, that the full significance of that change was revealed. It retains, it is true, round-headed arches above some of its windows and a few projecting decorative mouldings, but in other respects it is essentially Gothic, its double aisles foreshadowing those of the later Notre Dame of Paris, which may justly be said to be an epitome of the development of the pointed style in France. Specially dear to the French nation on account of its intimate association with many thrilling episodes of its history, it remains, in spite of all the vicissitudes through which it has passed, so far as its general structure is concerned, very much what it was when first completed in the late 13th century. The noble western facade, with its profuse and ornate ornamentation, and the fine square towers flanking it, each pierced with effective openings and adorned with grotesque gargoyles, contrast with the slender central spire--which, by the way, is modern--tiers of graceful flying buttresses, and the numerous groups of pinnacles, whilst the long line of the great roof ridge brings into relief the comparative intricacy of the design of the rest of the building, especially of the extremities of the transepts with their fairy-like arcading, beautiful sculptures, and grand rose windows.

The most distinctive details of the interior of Notre Dame are the massive piers and symmetrical arches of varying width of the nave, the simple but most effective vaulting of it, the double aisles and the choir; the shortness of the transepts, atoned for by the unusual length of the semicircular apse, with its circlet of chapels; the combination in the clerestory of pointed-headed and rose windows, and, above all, the exquisitely proportioned and spacious triforium, which surmounts the whole of the double aisles and forms a circular gallery with arcaded openings, harmonising alike with those of the nave below and the clerestory above, and a stone vault of pointed intersecting arches springing from slender clustered columns.

Contemporaneous with Notre Dame is Laon Cathedral, the original and characteristic chevet of which was replaced in the early 13th century by a square termination, in imitation it is supposed of some English church, but which otherwise resembles the Cathedral of Paris, especially in its fine western facade and open vaulted triforium. In the Cathedral of Chartres, founded in the 12th century, but practically rebuilt in the 13th after its almost complete destruction by fire, the further progress of the style may be studied, its arches being more stilted and its nave and choir wider than those of its predecessors, whilst its closed-in triforium is significant of the ever increasing height of the roofs, necessitating the strengthening of the walls, a change that was, however, quickly succeeded and, to a great extent, neutralised by the piercing and filling in with glass of the wall behind the arcading. Other characteristics of Chartres Cathedral are the noble sculptures of the west front, that are not only among the finest but the least injured in France, those of the south and north porches that are scarcely inferior, the dignified towers surmounted by beautiful and graceful spires of different but harmonious designs, and the double tier of flying buttresses of the nave. The last named are moreover of unusual construction, each consisting of two parts, the upper strengthened by an arcade with round-headed arches, springing from massive stunted piers, that seem to connect the advanced Gothic of the rest of the building, with the late Romanesque style.

The Cathedral of Rheims is another typical Gothic building with a western facade, the deeply recessed central portal of which is especially fine, resembling those of Notre Dame, Laon, and Chartres; a remarkably effective central tower that rises nearly sixty feet above the high-pitched roof; a well-developed chevet, a walled-in triforium similar to that of Chartres, a noble series of clerestory and several grand rose windows filled with very beautiful stained glass.

In the Cathedral of Amiens French Gothic architecture touched its highest point of excellence, before the over exaggeration of its distinctive peculiarities sounded the note of decadence. Begun in 1220, when all the structural problems of the pointed style had been finally solved, it was completed in 1272, and although it has more than once been seriously injured by fire, it has been so successfully restored that it still remains one of the noblest churches of Europe, the one thing detracting from the solemn beauty of its general external appearance being the later Flamboyant spire, that is quite out of character with the rest of the building. Its great height and breadth; the symmetry of its proportions; the dignified simplicity of its vaulting, which in nave, aisles and transepts, chevet chapels and ambulatory is of similar design, the centre from which the ribs radiate being in every case so situated that these ribs are all of equal length; the grand sculptures and fine arcading of the great west front, the towers of which, though they differ in detail, harmonise well with each other; the exquisite statues and bas-reliefs of the transept portals; the combined strength and grace of the many flying buttresses; the admirable system of lighting, windows occupying the whole of the space between the main arcades of the nave and the roof; the beautiful and varied effects of perspective from many different points of view in the interior; with the minor detail of the marvellous carvings in the choir, justify the claim that Amiens Cathedral is the crowning glory of Gothic architecture and an ample vindication of its principles.

In the contemporaneous Beauvais Cathedral, that was intended to rival that of Amiens in its height and in the ethereal lightness of its stilted arches, a convincing proof was given of the danger of carrying those principles too far, for the vaulting of the choir collapsed before the completion of the building, which, though it was restored and added to later, still remains unfinished. With it may be mentioned the Sainte Chapelle of Paris, the window tracery in which is very fine; the Cathedral of Coutances, which has a very fine central lantern tower--that is to say, one with windows that throw a light upon the centre of the interior of a building--and a beautiful tapering spire; and the Cathedral of Lisieux, with a very characteristic chevet and vaulting resembling that of the Cathedral of Amiens.

The Cathedral of Le Mans, already referred to in connection with its noble Romanesque nave, has a most beautiful late 13th century Gothic choir, with one of the finest chevets in France. The aisles, that at the western end of the building are single, develop at the transepts into a double circlet, with chapels radiating from them, whilst the choir has exceptionally fine 13th and 14th century stained glass windows. The general effect of the interior, in which the solemn dignity of the nave contrasts with the almost ethereal beauty of the choir and its surroundings, is most impressive, whilst the exterior with its graceful flying buttresses and pinnacles is equally fine.

The Cathedral of Bourges is another typical 13th century Gothic building which, though it is without the usual transepts, has a beautiful apse, the ambulatories of which have unusually wide spaces between the columns, double aisles flanking the nave as well as the choir and chevet, producing a unique impression of vastness, whilst the exterior is equally effective with its five grand western portals, a long main roof unbroken by towers or spires, and a series of steeply pitched supplementary roofs above the chapels of the eastern end.

Dating from the same period as the cathedrals just noticed is the fortified Abbey of Mont St. Michel, that has been again and again rebuilt, and in which the gradual evolution of the Gothic style in France can be well studied, especially in the lovely chapel justly called the Merveille or the Marvel, that, with its cloisters, is still much what it was when finished in 1228, whilst the Chatelet or Gate-house, with its massive round towers and the various abbatial buildings, such as the Salle des Hotes or Guest-Hall, are equally characteristic of French domestic architecture of the same period. On the other hand the Abbey Church, that crowns the mount, has been so much-restored and modified that little of the original structure remains, except the crypt which, with its massive piers and arches and many supplementary chapels, is practically the same as that from which uprose the famous abbey, the building of which was a labour of love to so many successive abbots.

The Church of S. Pierre, Caen, which has a fine tower with a beautiful pierced spire, is a good example of the second period of the Gothic style in France, and at Rouen the Rayonnant and Flamboyant phases are exceptionally well illustrated. The Abbey Church of S. Ouen was built entirely in the 14th century, and, with its characteristic high-pitched roofs over each bay of the aisles, its lofty towers--those at the west end with tapering spires--its delicately sculptured portals, double tiers of flying buttresses, triple division of arcades, triforium, and clerestory in the nave, the number and beauty of its stained glass windows, its graceful clustered piers, that rise without a break from the ground to the springing of the vault, and its beautiful chevet, with its circlet of eleven chapels, is an epitome of all the most characteristic features of Gothic architecture.

The Church of St. Maclou in the same town is a fine gem of Flamboyant work, with its stilted arches, tapering spires and pinnacles, and lavish internal and external decoration, whilst in the Cathedral of Rouen can be recognised details of each of the three stages of French Gothic, combined with those of the later Renaissance. The western facade, lateral portals, towers, spires, and fine rose windows are typically Flamboyant, and the general view of the interior, with its long vista of nave and choir, its slightly pointed arcading, two tiers of which divide the nave from the aisles, and, above all, its simple but most effective vaulting, is essentially that of an early example of the pointed style, that of the Lady Chapel being especially effective.

Good secular examples of the Gothic style in France are the Palais de Justice and Hotel de Bourgtheroulde, both at Rouen, the Chateau of Coucy near Laon, the Hotel de Cluny, Paris, the Chateau de Pierrefonds in Normandy, and, most characteristic of all, the House of Jacques Coeur at Bourges. It was, however, in Belgium that Gothic municipal and domestic architecture reached its noblest development, the great halls of the towns being remarkable for their dignified and massive appearance, and, except in the latest examples built after the decadence had set in, for the severe restraint of their ornamentation. Of rectangular plan, and several stories in height, with steeply pitched roofs, the gable ends adorned with many pinnacles, and the long sloping sides broken by dormer windows, contrasting with the rows of pointed-headed lights in the walls beneath, and lofty central tower of ornate design, these noble buildings, of which those at Ypres, Bruges, Brussels, Ghent, and Tournai are the best, are the chief pride of the cities to which they belong. They rival in the affections of the people even the cathedrals of contemporary date, although those of Antwerp, specially noteworthy for its seven aisles, Louvain, the nave and transepts of which, as already stated, are Romanesque, whilst the choir is a fine specimen of Early Gothic, Brussels, Ghent, Louvain, and Liege are all noble structures, resembling those of France in general plan, though most of them are shorter and of greater width.

In Spain, as in France, Gothic architecture passed through three phases: the first, that prevailed in the second half of the 12th and the first of the 13th century, to a great extent the outcome of the Romanesque; the second that succeeded it and lasted until the beginning of the 15th century, distinguished by great dignity of structure and appropriateness of ornamentation; the last, that prevailed until nearly the middle of the 16th century, corresponding to a great extent with French Flamboyant, though it lasted longer and was considerably modified by Moorish influence.

To the first period of Gothic architecture in Spain belong the Cathedrals of Santiago de Compostella, of cruciform plan with a vaulted roof, semicircular headed arcades and windows, and an ornate western facade recalling that of Chartres; Zamora, Taragona, and the older of the two at Salamanca, the three last retaining the characteristic cimborio, or low dome, already referred to in connection with Romanesque work in Spain, rising from the intersection of nave and transepts, but of more complex structure than in earlier examples, the ribs of the vaulting being upheld by pendentives and the whole surmounted by a secondary dome of considerable height pierced with windows, and at Salamanca flanked by four circular towers. Unfortunately, in later Spanish ecclesiastical architecture this beautiful feature was abandoned, and the Cathedrals of Toledo, Leon, and Burgos are of the French type, with chevets, double aisles, clustered pillars upholding pointed arches, vaulted roofs, ornate decorative arcading, fine open triforia, and lofty clerestories. The exterior of that of Burgos is especially ornate, with three pinnacled towers, tapering open-traceried spires rising from those at the western end. In the 14th century the cruciform plan, which had so long prevailed, was replaced in Spain by one without either aisles or transepts; the buttresses that had previously been introduced outside the building to resist the thrust of the vaulting, were brought within the walls so as to make the nave one vast vaulted hall, flanked by lateral chapels as in the fine Cathedral of Gerona and the Church of S. Maria del Pino at Barcelona. Later, however, this comparatively simple mode of structure was superseded by vast complicated buildings such as the Cathedral of Salamanca and that of Segovia, both dating from the 16th century, the vaulting of which is especially complicated, with very ornate ribs, whilst the towers closely resemble those of contemporaneous Moorish mosques.

The Gothic style, that was alike alien to the Italian temperament and unsuited to the Italian climate, never really took root in Italy, the soil of which was thoroughly impregnated with classic traditions. The horizontal cornice, so characteristic of Greek and Early Roman architecture is of frequent occurrence, the round arch was long retained in combination with pointed highly-pitched roofs, and spires are rare, whilst the beautiful groined vaulting, the flying buttresses, and the exquisite window-tracery, that lend so great a charm to the cathedrals and churches of France and England, are very seldom met with. There was no gradual evolution in Italy from Early to Late Gothic, and for this reason it is usual to treat Italian buildings in the pointed style in three geographical instead of chronological groups, namely, the northern, central, and southern. To the first belongs the Cathedral of Milan, the largest Gothic building in Italy, the exterior of which is somewhat spoiled by its over-decorated western facade, though the effect of the long rows of lateral pinnacles, the numerous flying buttresses, the low conical dome and lofty spire is very fine. The interior, with its vast nave, double aisles, and complex apse, its lofty piers, with capitals consisting of life-sized figures in niches, and its noble clerestory, presents an appearance of grandeur unequalled by any other Gothic church in Italy. The Certosa or Carthusian Monastery, the facade of which is a century older than the rest of the building; the Churches of S. Maria del Carmine and S. Michele, both at Pavia, the latter with a very typical campanile; the Cathedral of Genoa; the Churches of S. Anastasia and S. Zenone at Verona, are all good examples of Italian-Gothic, whilst amongst secular buildings in the same style in Northern Italy, the Ducal and other palaces at Venice, such as the so-called Ca' d'Ora are remarkable for the beauty of their proportions, the effectiveness of their window-grouping, and the general appropriateness and grace of their decorative details, especially of their balconies.

In Central Italy the Cathedrals of Florence and Siena are specially typical, the former, with its dome of considerably later date than the rest of the building, contrasting with the Campanile or Bell Tower named after Giotto, the latter being noteworthy for the combination of a dome with pointed arcading and horizontal cornices, and the association on the west front of rounded with stilted arches, the last a peculiarity also of the cathedral at Orvieto, the facade of which is one of the most beautiful in Italy.

The Gothic work of Southern Italy is far more florid than that of the rest of the peninsula, and this is equally true of that of Sicily. In the churches of both, as in the earlier Romanesque buildings already noticed, Saracenic, Greek, and Roman influences are alike noticeable, especially in those of Naples and the Cathedrals of Palermo, Monreale, and Messina, the three last named combining the pointed arch distinctive of Gothic, with the elaborate surface decoration so characteristic of the Norman style.

German architects did not adopt the pointed arch until considerably later than those of the south and west of Europe, but to atone for this they delighted in highly pitched roofs with stilted gables, and lofty towers, with pointed roofs and tapering spires. The exteriors of their buildings differ very greatly from the interiors, in which the round-headed windows and semicircular arches of the Romanesque style are retained, enriched, however, with beautiful and ornate carving. The term round-arched Gothic is therefore often applied to the earliest phase of the style in Germany, of which good examples are the Churches of the Holy Apostles, of S. Martin and S. Maria in Capitolo, all in Cologne, the Abbey Churches of Arnstein and Andernach and the Liebfrauenkirche at Treves, the last built on the foundations of a much earlier chapel.

The second phase of Gothic architecture in Germany, in which the pointed arch was substituted for the semicircular, did not begin until the second half of the 13th century. To it belong the greater part of the Cathedral of Strasburg, which combines, with much beautiful Romanesque work, a typical Gothic facade with a fine open tracery spire, a companion to which was designed but never erected. The Cathedral of Freiburg, with a graceful and ornate spire, the Church of S. Stephen at Vienna, with aisles almost as lofty as the nave, portions of the Church of S. Sebald, Nuremberg, the decorative sculpture of which is remarkably fine, and, above all, the Cathedral of Cologne, the noblest example of German Gothic, with an exceptionally symmetrical plan, which in spite of the fact that the building extended over more than a century, and that the west point was only completed in the 19th century, was not departed from, so that it remains a unique specimen of mediaeval design. It has a noble nave, double aisles, one of which is continued round the eastern apse and is divided into seven chapels, forming a picturesque chevet. Massive towers with a tapering central spire and many pinnacles flank the western entrance, elaborately decorated buttresses break the long lines of the walls, and from the intersecting nave and transepts rises a slender but most effective spire.

To the third period of Gothic architecture in Germany belong Ulm Cathedral, which has a nave of exceptional height; the unfinished Church of S. Barbara at Kullenberg, with a very picturesque chevet, the exterior of which is most lavishly decorated, and a steeply pitched roof of unusual height, with soaring towers and pinnacles; S. Catherine at Oppenheim, the over ornate complex decorative carvings of which are specially typical; and the parish Church of Thaun, the western portal of which is remarkably fine.

With these ecclesiastical buildings may be named the town halls of Lubeck, Brunswick, Munster, and other German towns, which, though they are neither so beautiful or so characteristic as those of Belgium, are of noble and symmetrical proportions, whilst a word of recognition must also be given to the beautiful domestic architecture of Germany, especially that of Prague, Nuremberg, and Frankfort all rich in survivals of mediaeval times.