Part 1

LECTURES

ON

THE RISE AND DEVELOPMENT

OF

MEDIÆVAL ARCHITECTURE

LECTURES

ON THE

RISE AND DEVELOPMENT

OF

Mediæval Architecture

Delivered at the Royal Academy

BY SIR GILBERT SCOTT, R.A., F.S.A., LL.D., ETC.

IN TWO VOLUMES--VOL. I.

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS

LONDON JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET 1879

_The right of Translation is reserved._

_Printed by_ R. & R. CLARK, _Edinburgh_.

PREFACE.

Only half of the following Lectures were delivered by me, as the _Professor of Architecture_, at the Royal Academy. The first seven were delivered while Professor Cockerell held the Chair; but, owing to his infirm state of health, I being then an Associate, was, in conjunction with Mr. Smirke, called in to relieve him of this duty. The eighth and ninth Lectures were prepared six years later, after Mr. Smirke had retired, and those which follow, when I had succeeded him in the Professorship.

The Lectures are naturally somewhat disconnected; and having been written both at various times and for audiences often changing, may be found in some instances to repeat the same facts and ideas, for which, as well as for too great a prolixity of style, I beg to apologise.

They were written with much zeal; and, thanks to my staff, and to my pupils, my sons, and others, they were magnificently and profusely illustrated; more so, perhaps, than any such Lectures had ever been before.

They have lain long in abeyance; but it seemed to me, that “for better for worse,” and notwithstanding the lapse of time, they ought to be published, and Mr. Murray has most kindly undertaken to do this for me.

In correcting them for the press, I have made only verbal alterations, or corrected accidental errors, or omitted a few harsh expressions. Where I wished to amplify, I have done so by notes. The illustrations have been mainly drawn by my friend and assistant, Mr. W. S. Weatherley, chiefly from those exhibited when the Lectures were delivered, with additions from my more recent sketches, and will be found to contribute largely to the elucidation of the text.

GEO. GILBERT SCOTT.

LONDON, _February 1878_.

* * * * *

_At the time of the sudden and deplorable death of Sir Gilbert Scott in March last, more than 200 illustrations had been made and engraved. The remaining ones are completed in conformity with his marginal directions._

_Many of these were prepared by me for the Lectures ten years ago, and all have been compared with Sir Gilbert’s sketches, with the diagrams in the MSS., and redrawn. The engraving is by “Leitch’s photographic process.”_

_Some valuable woodcuts, lent by permission of Mr. Fergusson and Mr. Murray, have also been inserted among the letterpress._

W. SAMᴸ. WEATHERLEY.

20 COCKSPUR STREET,

LONDON, S.W.

CONTENTS.

VOL. I.

LECTURE I.

The Claims of Mediæval Architecture upon our Study.

Introduction--Art follows the course of civilisation--Three _primâ facie_ claims Gothic Architecture has upon Study--Additional claim, that it is Christian Architecture--Objections to the title--Explanations of the term--Byzantine the earliest Christian style--Summary of the Historical claims of Mediæval Architecture--Its intrinsic claims--Abstract beauty--Advantages of an arcuated over a trabeated style--Facility in decorating construction, and in converting structural features into elements of beauty--Adaptability to varied climates--Unites all arts in one--Painted glass--Sculpture--Foliated sculpture--Gothic Architecture suited to the severest and most elegant styles--Beauty of external outline--Delicacy of mouldings--Religious solemnity of the interior of its temples--The spirit with which the study of Mediæval Architecture should be undertaken--How to be pursued--Practical objects for which it should be followed up Page 1

LECTURE II.

Sketch of the Rise of Mediæval Architecture.

Anomalous state of things in Western Europe after the destruction of the Roman Empire--Art almost extinct--Saved by the Western Church and the Eastern Empire--Architectural elements of the new races--Charlemagne’s attempts to revive art--Primitive art in England and the north of France--Dawn of better things--Architecture of the tenth century--Schools of art and science--Bishop Bernward’s works--Origin of early styles in France and Germany--Early architecture of Rome--The arcuated and the trabeated systems--Development of Romanesque--Its leading characteristics--Romanesque and Pointed architecture not TWO styles, but ONE--Barrel vaults--Groined vaults--Oblong bays--Main arches of groined vaulting changed from the semicircle to the pointed arch--Flying buttresses--Groin ribs--The pointed arch arose from statical not geometrical or æsthetical motives--Wall ribs remain round long after the wider arches become pointed--Two modes adopted to avoid the difficulty of oblong groining over naves--Sexpartite vaulting Page 37

LECTURE III.

The Transition.

Gradual refinement of Romanesque--French architects the earliest to systematise the pointed arch--The English before the Germans--The Italians from the Germans--Fully acknowledged in France 1140--Suger’s work at St. Denis--Carving in French churches--Corinthianesque outline of capitals--Distinctly Byzantine capitals--A route by which Byzantine foliage may have reached France--The importation indisputable--Its effects seen in Early English capitals--West front of Chartres--Fluting on basement of doorways--Cathedral of Noyon--St. Germain des Pres, Paris--Cathedral of Sens, prototype of the Choir and Trinity Chapel at Canterbury--Nôtre Dame, Paris--A new kind of foliage--The capital “à crochet”--English transition--Incipient specimens--Refined Norman--Pointed style, with reminiscences of Romanesque--William of Sens--William the Englishman--Influence of French work--Oakham Castle--Glastonbury Abbey--Cathedral of St. David’s--Temple Church, London--Chichester Cathedral--Tynemouth Abbey--Hexham Abbey--Unfoliated capitals--Round moulded capitals--Characteristics of English and French transition--The German transition--Practical lessons from studying these changes--Principles to which the transition was pioneer Page 69

LECTURE IV.

The Thirteenth Century.

Mediæval architecture usually classified under heads of centuries--Actual points of change do not coincide with these divisions--Auspices for the development of the Early Pointed style--Great works in England and France--Artistic disturbance in Germany--Progress in Italy--Energy pervades every branch of art--Perfected Early Pointed a natural growth from Romanesque--Leading characteristics--Columns--Bases of Columns--Capitals--Plan of the abacus--Circular plan--Whence this arose--Moulded capitals--Windows--Bases of buildings--Cornices and foliated bands--Doorways--French and English compared Page 137

LECTURE V.

The Thirteenth Century--_continued_.

St. Saviour’s, Southwark--Choir of Temple Church, London--Chapel at Lambeth--Westminster Abbey--Its Italian mosaic work, monuments, and ancient reredos--Chapel of St. Etheldreda, Holborn--St. Alban’s Abbey--Priory Church, Dunstable--Stone Church near Gravesend--Waltham Cross--Jesus Chapel, Cambridge--Ely and Peterborough Cathedrals--Warmington Church--West Walton Abbey--Crowland Abbey--St. Mary’s and All Saints, Stamford--Ketton, Grantham, and Frampton Churches--Lincoln Cathedral--Southwell Minster--Newstead Abbey--York Cathedral--St. Mary’s Abbey, and St. Leonard’s Hospital, York--Skelton Church--Beverley and Ripon Minsters--Fountains, Rivaulx, Whitby, Kirkham, and Guisborough Abbeys--Chapel of the Nine Altars, Durham--Hexham and Dryburgh Abbeys--Chapel of Holyrood--Elgin and Glasgow Cathedrals--Furness Abbey--Southern examples--Most great churches in France vaulted, not so in England--Universal excellence of workmanship from 1175 to 1400--Domestic architecture of France, Germany, Italy, and England--Influence of thirteenth century work on our artistic practice Page 170

LECTURE VI.

The Rationale of Gothic Architecture.

Contradictory opinions as to the character and origin of Gothic Architecture--True causes of its origin--The arch--The Romans eminently practical--Two defects in their architecture--Practical improvements--Use of small materials--Arches in rims--Sub-ordinating rims--Imposts--Pilaster capitals--Decorative columns--Romanesque arch decorations--Labels--Clustered columns--Weight of arches on columns--Doorways--Windows--Rejection of ancient rules of proportion--Efforts to improve construction and decoration in the twelfth century--Absolute demand for an arch of less pressure and for an abutment of greater resistance--_Ribbed_ as distinguished from _arris_ vaulting--Reasons for adopting the former--Pointed arch as effecting proportion Page 215

LECTURE VII.

The Rationale of Gothic Architecture--_continued_.

The bases of a thirteenth century church indicate the plan and construction of the vaulting--The system of mouldings--Windows, their development--Rationale of stained glass--A general principle of ornamentation common to all good architecture--The roof--Secular buildings--Cloth market Yprès--Warehouses, Nuremburg--Windows in secular and ecclesiastical buildings--Trabeated architecture in its truest forms--Fireplaces--Chimney-shafts--Oriel and Dormer windows--Ceilings--Subordination of external design to internal requirements--Designs adapted to the materials most readily obtained--Conditions demanded of our future architecture--Gothic architecture well fitted to unite these conditions Page 246

A Digression concerning Windows Page 276

LECTURE VIII.

On the Practical Study of Gothic Architecture.

Evident ignorance or neglect of those who practise Gothic architecture--Faithfulness of others--The styles should be learned from ancient buildings--Our knowledge to be continually revived and added to--Hints to students--The study of Lincoln Cathedral, Canterbury Cathedral, and examples in London--Libraries and museums in London--Foreign travel--Examples in Paris, and other parts of France--Germany, Italy, Spain, etc. etc. Page 290

LECTURE IX.

On the Study and Practice of Gothic Architecture.

Every-day business and practical work to go on _hand in hand_ with the study of ancient buildings--How best to be accomplished--The study _from books_--Artistic and archæological portions cannot be wholly disconnected--Heraldry--A knowledge of the history of art absolutely necessary for the study of Mediæval architecture--Greek art the parent of Gothic sculpture--Ruined cities of Central Syria--Mahometan styles--Our own form of church the direct inheritance from the earliest Christian temples--Training _as artists_--Choice among specimens of different Mediæval periods and styles--Examples especially recommended--Practical studies of ancient buildings in connection with their _structural_ and _mechanical_ qualities--Vaulting--Timber-work--Stone-work, etc. etc.--The _actual practice_ of Mediæval architecture--The _repairs_ and _restoration_ of ancient buildings Page 331

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

CONTAINED IN VOL. I.

FIG.

Ely Cathedral. Western Porch _Frontispiece._

PAGE

1-14. Diagrams explanatory of the various systems of Romanesque Vaulting 52-63

15. St. Denis. Interior of one of the Apsidal Chapels 78

16. Do. Exterior of do. 79

17. Do. Part of Capital from do. 79

18. Greek. Acanthus, from the Choragic Monument to Lysicrates, Athens 81

19. Roman Acanthus, from the Temple of Mars Ultor 81

20. St. Denis. Scroll from 82

21. Do. Part of a Cornice 82

22. St. Mark’s, Venice. Capital from the church of 83

23. St. John’s, Constantinople. Do. do. 83

24. St. Frond, Perigueux. Do. do. 83

25. Do. do. Fragment of do. 83

26. Column of Marcion, Constantinople. Capital from 84

27. St. Germain des Pres, Paris. Do. 85

28. Lincoln Cathedral (north-west Portal). Capitals from 85

29-33. Chartres. Enriched shafts from 86

34. Cathedral of Noyon. Interior of one of the Apsidal Chapels 89

35. Do. Exterior of do. 89

36. Do. Plan of do. 89

37. St. Germain des Pres, Paris. Two Bays of Choir 92

38. Do. do. Western Doorway 93

39. Cathedral of Sens. Interior view 94

40. Cathedral of Sens. View of Choir Aisles 96

41-42. Do. Capitals from do. 97

43-46. Nôtre Dame, Paris. Capitals from 98-100

47-48. Do. do. Carving from 101

49. St. Leu, near Creil. Capital from the Apse 101

50. Nôtre Dame, Paris. Capital from the West Front 101

51. St. Eusèbe, Auxerre. Capital from 101

52. Noyon. Capital from the Apse 102

53. Laon. Capital from 102

54. Sens. do. 102

55. Nôtre Dame, Paris. Capital from 102

56. Sainte Chapelle, Paris. do. 103

57. Do. part of Capital from 103

58. St. Remi, Rheims. Capital from 103

59. Fountains Abbey. View across Nave 104

60. Kirkstall Abbey. View of South Transept 105

61. Durham Cathedral. The Galilee 106

62. St. Mary’s Abbey, York. Vestibule of Chapter-house. View from Cloister 107

63. St. Mary’s Abbey, York. Do. View from Chapter-house _To face_ 108

64. St. Mary’s Abbey, York. Plan of Vestibule of Chapter-house 108

65. York Cathedral. Archbishop’s Palace, Fragment of 109

66. Ripon Minster. Bay of Choir _To face_ 109

67. Ely Cathedral, South Transept. West end 110

68. St. Cross, near Winchester. Capital from 111

69. Canterbury Cathedral. View of Choir _To face_ 112

70. Do. Do. Trinity Chapel 112

71. Do. Capitals. William of Sens 112

72. Do. Trinity Chapel. Capital. William the Englishman 113

73. Oakham Castle, Rutlandshire. Capital from 114

74. Chapel of St. Joseph of Arimathea, Glastonbury. Exterior view 115

75. Chapel of St. Joseph of Arimathea, Glastonbury. Interior view 116

76. St. David’s Cathedral. Internal bay of Nave _To face_ 117

77-78. Do. Capitals from 118

79. Temple Church, London. View of Circular Aisle 119

80. Chichester Cathedral. Do. Eastern part _To face_ 120

81. Tynemouth Abbey. The Choir “ 120

82. Hexham Abbey. South side of Choir 121

83. Bridlington Priory Church, Yorkshire. Capital from 122

84. Ripon Cathedral. Do. 123

85. Fountains Abbey. Do. 123

86. St. Cross, Hampshire. South Aisle of Choir 124

87. Durham Cathedral. Chapel of the Nine Altars _To face_ 140

88-91. Bases of Columns from Bridlington: St. Mary’s Abbey, York: St. Stephen’s, Caen: Veselay: and Westminster Abbey 150-151

92-93. Sections of early Bases 152

94. Rollestone, Notts. Capital from 154

95. Chartres. Specimens of carving from 154

96. Southwell Minster. Capital, etc., from 154

97. St. Quentin, Aisne. Capital with angular Abacus 156

98. Canterbury Cathedral. Capital from Crypt 157

99-102. Moulded Capitals from Salisbury, St. Alban’s and Westminster, with sections 157-158

103-107. Base Moulds of Buildings 164

108. St. Alban’s Cathedral. Ornament in Western Portals 167

109. Do. Western Portals, south entrance _To face_ 167

110. Temple Church, London. View of Choir 173

111. Chapel of St. John Baptist, Westminster Abbey. Conventional foliage 177

112. Do. do. Natural do. 178

113. Retabulum, or moveable Reredos, formerly belonging to the High Altar, Westminster Abbey _To face_ 181

114. Iron grille, Queen Eleanor’s Tomb, Westminster Abbey 181

115. Chapel of St. Etheldreda, Ely Place, Holborn. Side Windows 183

116. Ely Cathedral. Western Porch. _Frontispiece._

117. Ely Cathedral. Eastern Front 190

118. Peterborough Cathedral. Circular Window, West Front 192

119. Peterborough Cathedral 193

120. Lincoln Cathedral. Rose-window North Transept 197

121. Do. View from the South-east 199

122. Do. South-east Portal _To face_ 198

123. Palais des Podestats, Orvieto, Italy. Domestic Windows 206

124. Torre di Santa, Ninfa, Palermo. Do. 206

125. Meslay, near Tours. Do. 207

126. Cluny. Houses at. Do. 207

127. Gostar. The Emperor’s House. Do. 207

128-129. Cologne. Houses at Do. 207

130. Gloucester. West Gateway, College Green. Do. 208

131-133. From an old building called Canute’s Castle, Southampton. Domestic Windows 208

134. Moyse’s Hall, Bury St. Edmunds. Do. 208

135. Oakham Castle, Rutlandshire. Do. 209

136-137. Diagrams of Arches 223

138-140. Diagrams showing development of Piers 224

141-143. Diagrams illustrating the development of the Clustered Column 226

144. St. Trophimus, Arles. Cloisters, north side 229

145. Bridlington Priory Church. Part of remains of Cloisters 230

146-147. Diagrams showing the effect on proportion by the introduction of the Pointed Arch into Romanesque work 243

148. Laon Cathedral. Respond in Choir Aisle 248

149-151. Diagrams explaining the system of moulding 248

152. Cloth Market at Yprès _To face_ 262

153. Warehouses at Nuremburg 262

154-156. Diagrams concerning Windows 278

157. St. Pantaleon’s Church, Cologne 278

158. Burgh Church, Norfolk. Chancel, Window from 279

159-164. Diagrams of Rere-arches 280

165. Broughton Church, Oxfordshire. Window from 283

166. Christchurch, Hants. North Transept, do. 283

167. Stone Church, Kent. do. 284

168. Chancel, Brecon Priory 285

169. Winchester Cathedral. De Lucy’s work 286

170. Furness Abbey. Bay of Chapter-house 287

171. Chapel of St. Etheldreda, Holborn. West Window _To face_ 287

172. Do. do. East do. “ 287

173. Salisbury Cathedral. Chapter-house 288

174. Lincoln Cathedral. Easter Sepulchre 305

175. Do. Capitals north side of Choir 306

176-177. Westminster Abbey. Carved Capitals from 311

178-179. Westminster Abbey. Angels, from the Triforium of the South Transept 312

180. Westminster Abbey. Mosaic from the Tomb of the Children of Henry III. and Edward I. 313

181. Temple Church, London. Capitals, West Door 314

182. Montmartre. Capitals from 319

183. St. Julien le Pauvre, Paris. Plan of Choir 320

184. Do. View of Choir 321

185. Do. South Aisle of Choir 322

186. Do. Chapel, south side of Choir 323

187-188. Nôtre Dame, Paris. Western Portals. Corbels from 324

189-191. St. Martin aux Champs, Paris. Capitals from 325

192. El Barah, Central Syria. Capital from 336

ERRATA.

Page 81, Fig. 19, _for_ Temple of Mars, Ultor, _read_ Temple of Mars Ultor. “ 94, line 26, _for_ Choir at the Trinity Chapel, _read_ Choir and the Trinity Chapel. “ 170, Contents, line 6, _for_ Stanford, _read_ Stamford. “ 175, foot-note, _for_ Beavais, _read_ Beauvais.

MEDIÆVAL ARCHITECTURE.

LECTURE I.

The Claims of Mediæval Architecture upon our Study.