Chapter VI: Pointed Italian Gothic (3)

[It is now considered that the Church of the Holy Apostles was the
original model. This church, rebuilt by Justinian, was pulled down in
1464 A.D. by Mohammad II. to furnish a site for his mosque.—ED.]

Footnote 236:

[This work has lately been undertaken by Messrs. Barnsley and Schultz,
who are preparing their drawings for publication, and hope to follow
up the task with a survey of the more important churches in Mount
Athos.—ED.]

Footnote 237:

‘Die Kunst in den Athos Kirchen,’ Leipzig, 1890.

Footnote 238:

‘Athos; or, the Mountain of the Monks,’ by Athelstan Riley, M.A.,
1887.

Footnote 239:

See the photogravure of the interior of the Catholicon at Dochiariu.

Footnote 240:

‘Églises Byzantines en Grèce.’

Footnote 241:

‘Expédition scientifique de la Morée.’

Footnote 242:

There would seem however to have been a revival in the 11th century,
possibly a reflex of that which was taking place in West Europe. And
it was during this period that the churches of St. Luke in Phoeis, the
church at Daphné and the churches of St. Nicodemus and St. Theodore in
Athens were erected.

Footnote 243:

C. Texier, ‘Arménie et la Perse.’ 2 vols. folio. Paris.

Footnote 244:

Dubois de Montpereux, ‘Voyage autour du Caucase.’ 6 vols. 8vo. Paris,
1839, 1841.

Footnote 245:

Brosset, ‘Voyage Archéologique dans la Georgie et l’Arménie.’ St.
Pétersbourg, 1849.

Footnote 246:

D. Grimm, ‘Monuments d’Architecture en Georgie et Arménie.’ St.
Pétersbourg, 1864.

Footnote 247:

Texier gives three dates to this church. In the ‘Byzantine
Architecture,’ p. 174, it is said to be of the 7th, and at p. 4, of
the 9th century. In the ‘L’Arménie et la Perse,’ at p. 120, the date
is given as 1243. My conviction is that the first is correct.

Footnote 248:

Flandin and Coste, ‘Voyage en Perse,’ pls. 214, 215.

Footnote 249:

Texier and Pullan, ‘Byzantine Architecture,’ pp. lix., lx.

Footnote 250:

I am a little doubtful regarding the scales of these two buildings.
They are correctly reduced from M. Brosset’s plates. But are these to
be depended upon?

Footnote 251:

Even if it should be asserted that this is no proof that the
inhabitants of these countries were Buddhists in those days, it seems
tolerably certain that they were tree-worshippers, which is very
nearly the same thing. Procopius tells us that “even in his day these
barbarians worshipped forests and groves, and in their barbarous
simplicity placed the trees among their gods.” (‘De Bello Gotico,’
Bonn, 1833, ii. 471.)

Footnote 252:

The principal part of the information regarding these excavations is
to be found in the work of Dubois de Montpereux, _passim_.

Footnote 253:

[See paper by Mr. Wm. Simpson in R. I. B. A. Transactions, vol. vii.,
1891.—ED.]

Footnote 254:

All the plans and information regarding the churches at Kief are
obtained from a Russian work devoted to the subject, procured for me
on the spot by Mr. Vignoles, C.E.

Footnote 255:

The first bay, as shown on plan (Woodcut No. 382), is the narthex; the
five domes come beyond it.

Footnote 256:

The particulars and illustrations of this church are taken from a
paper by Heinrich Keissenberger, in the ‘Jahrbuch der K. K. Commission
für Enthaltung der Baudenkmale,’ 1860. A model of it, full size, was
exhibited at the Paris Exhibition of 1867.

Footnote 257:

[It has been assumed that the Roman basilicas were taken possession of
by the early Christians for their own religious services, but as Mr.
G. G. Scott points out in his ‘Essay on the History of English Church
Architecture,’ “there is no well-authenticated instance of the
conversion of any Pagan basilica into a Christian church, whilst there
are abundant examples of Pagan temples converted into Christian
sanctuaries” (see Texier and Pullan’s ‘Byzantine Architecture,’ pp.
75, 103). Indeed, it is, as Mr. Scott observes, “on the face of it
improbable, if we reflect that the conversion of the government to
Christianity had no tendency to render the existing basilicas less
necessary for legal business, after the peace of the church, than they
had been before that event. Christianity, unfortunately, could not
abolish the litigious instincts of our nature, and after fifteen
centuries of the gospel the legal profession still flourishes.” The
buildings which were rendered useless by the official recognition of
the new faith were not the basilicas but the temples, the fact being
that the class of building known as a basilica (a term never used by
either the writers or architects of Byzantine times), with its wide
central nave and aisles with galleries over them lighted by clerestory
or side windows, and covered with a timber roof, constituted the
simplest and most economical building of large size which could be
constructed to hold a vast assembly of worshippers; especially as the
only features which can be looked upon as having any architectural
pretensions, viz., the columns and their capitals, could be taken
wholesale from temples and other Roman buildings. The semicircular
apse, which alone in the Roman basilica served as a court of law,
became the tribune for the bishop and presbyters.

Mr. Scott is even inclined to assign an earlier and more independent
origin for the basilican form. According to his theory the germ of the
Christian basilica was a simple oblong aisleless room divided by a
cross arch, beyond which lay an altar detached from the wall. This
germ was developed by the addition of side aisles, and sometimes an
aisle returned across the entrance, and over these upper aisles were
next constructed and transepts added, together with the oratories or
chapels in various parts of the building. Mr. Butler, in his work on
‘The Ancient Coptic Churches of Egypt,’ accepts this theory, as the
churches of Egypt are rich in evidence that favours it. At the same
time, the first great basilica erected by Constantine, viz., the
Vatican (St. Peter’s), and the Lateran, (St. John Lateran), are of too
great importance to warrant the suggestion that their origin should be
sought for in the very small though possibly earlier examples in Egypt
or the East.—ED.]

Footnote 258:

This probably refers to its foundation, for M. Cattaneo, in his work
‘L’architecture en Italie, 1890,’ judging by its ornamental detail,
places the church in the second half of the seventh century.

Footnote 259:

‘Antiquités,’ vol. i. pl. 97.

Footnote 260:

_Eodem_, vol. iv. pl. 67.

Footnote 261:

Mr. Alfred J. Butler’s work, already referred to, has thrown
considerable light on the subject, though, as he was unable to visit
any of the Coptic churches up the Nile, we are still left in doubt as
to the age of the convent near Siout and other buildings. From
comparison of the plans and descriptions given in Denon, Curzon and
Pococke of these buildings, with those in Cairo and Old Cairo, Mr.
Butler ascribes them to the fourth century, that which in fact is
claimed for them as having been founded by Sta. Helena. On this
subject he says, p. 365: “Were there no more of evidence besides to
determine the truth of this tradition, the plan of the Haikal (the
central of the three chapels in a Coptic church) would decide it
beyond question. The persistence with which certain churches are
ascribed to Sta. Helena by a people utterly ignorant of history and
architecture is in itself remarkable, and it is still more remarkable
to find that these churches are always marked by a particular form of
Haikal. Indeed, so regular is the coincidence, that a deep apsidal
haikal with recesses all round it and columns close against the wall
may be almost infallibly dated from the age of Sta. Helena.”

Footnote 262:

The older church has been so altered and ruined by the subsequent
rebuildings that it is extremely difficult to make out its history. It
seems, however, to have been built originally above the site of an old
Mithraic temple, which has recently been cleared out, and probably
before the time of Gregory the Great. It was apparently rebuilt, or
nearly so, by Adrian I., 772, and burnt by Robert Guiscard, 1084. The
upper church seems to have been erected by Paschal, 1099-1118. The
question is, to what age do the frescoes found on the walls of the
older church belong? Some of the heads and single figures may, I
fancy, be anterior even to the time of Adrian; but the bulk of the
paintings seem certainly to have been added between his age and 1084,
and nearer the latter than the former date. If it had not been
entirely ruined in 1084 Paschal would not have so completely
obliterated it a century afterwards. A considerable quantity of the
materials of the old church were used in the new, which tends further
to confuse the chronology.

Footnote 263:

Gutensohn and Knapp, ‘Die Basiliken des Christlichen Roms.’

Footnote 264:

Cicero de Legg., ii. 24; Festus, s. v.; Smith’s ‘Dictionary of
Classical Antiquities.’

Footnote 265:

The dates here given generally refer to the building now existing or
known, and not always to the original foundation.

[Mr. G. G. Scott, in his work before referred to (p. 506), after
giving a full quotation from Eusebius of Constantine’s basilica at
Jerusalem, in which he points out that the orientation of primitive
times is the reverse of that which has become general in later times,
continues his enquiry into the evidence afforded by the numerous early
basilicas in Rome itself. Of about fifty churches of early date, in
forty of them the sanctuary is placed at the western end, and of the
remaining ten (one of which is the great church of St. Paolo fuori le
Mura), there are only seven which appear to have retained their
original form, and which have an eastward sanctuary.

The exact orientation of the sanctuary in each case has been added to
the list.—ED.]

Footnote 266:

‘Il Vaticano discritto da Pistolesi,’ vol. ii. pls. xxiv. xxv.

Footnote 267:

The new church which superseded this one is described in the History
of the Modern Styles of Architecture, vol. i., page 111, woodcut 45.

Footnote 268:

It should be observed that the dosseret is first found in Italy in the
Church of St. Stefano Rotondo, built 468-482, and is there of similar
design to examples in Thessalonica.

Footnote 269:

‘L’architecture en Italie du vie au xi^e siècle.’ Venice, 1891.

Footnote 270:

‘Altchristlichen Kirchen nach Baudenkmalen und alteren
Beschreibungen,’ von D. Hubsch. Carlsruhe, 1862.

Footnote 271:

These piers were built in the 12th century, taking the place of the
columns of the original Basilican church of the 9th century, and the
arches date from the same period (Cattaneo).

Footnote 272:

It is now called S. Martino in Cielo d’Oro, from its having been
decided in the twelfth century that the other church in Classe
possessed the true body of the saint to which both churches were
dedicated.

Footnote 273:

A. F. von Quast, ‘Die Altchristlichen Bauwerke von Ravenna.’

Footnote 274:

The basilica Pudenziana at Rome has similar arcades externally.

Footnote 275:

The twenty-four marble columns are said to have been brought over from
Constantinople, but they were probably obtained from Greek quarries.

Footnote 276:

[The narthex as shown in Woodcut No. 409 is of much later date than
the church, and has been partially rebuilt on two or three occasions.
It is now (1892) being taken down, and the removal of the central
portion has uncovered the triple window which originally lighted the
nave.—ED.]

Footnote 277:

“La basilica di San Marco in Venezia,” by Cattaneo, continued by
Boito. Venezia, 1890.

Footnote 278:

Probably owing to its having been utilized to receive the relics of
St. Mark, which were temporarily hidden there.

Footnote 279:

This church, built by Justinian, no longer exists, having been pulled
down in 1464 by Mohammed II. to make way for his mosque. From the
description of it, however, given by Procopius, the plan was similar
to that adopted in St. Mark, being that of a Greek Cross with central
and four other domes. Procopius speaks of the church being surrounded
within by columns placed both above and below, probably referring to
galleries similar to those in St. Sophia of Constantinople. In St.
Mark’s the columns exist in one storey only, and the main wall is
carried up at the back of the aisles to give increased size inside.

Footnote 280:

Originally, according to M. Cattaneo, his was the vestibule to the
atrium from the south, but it is now blocked up by an altar.

Footnote 281:

[They are shown in the mosaic of the doorway of St. Alipe, executed at
the end of the 13th century, as also the filling in of the great west
window.—ED.]

Footnote 282:

‘Dalmatia, the Quarnero and Istria,’ by T. G. Jackson, M.A. Oxford,
1887.

Footnote 283:

In support of this statement he points out that twice during Christian
times it had been found necessary to raise the floor of the church.
The nave floor, which in 1857 was two steps below that of the aisles,
was raised in 1881 to the same level; but two feet nine inches below
the nave floor before it was raised there existed, according to Prof.
Eitelberger, another mosaic pavement, which must have been the floor
of the first basilica erected, and which was pulled down by Bishop
Euphrasius in 543. This lower pavement extended also under the three
chapels of the confessio, which suggests that these are part of the
first basilica.

Footnote 284:

The same polygonal form is found in the apses of St. Agatha, St.
Apollinare in Classe, St. Apollinare in Nuovo, St. Spirito, and St.
Vitale, all in Ravenna, and St. Fosca, Torcello.

Footnote 285:

The apses of two churches, of the 4th and 6th century respectively, in
the island of Paros, are similarly fitted with marble seats: in the
6th century church there are eight rows, so that the apse looks like a
small amphitheatre.

Footnote 286:

That is on the supposition that the word kirk is derived from the
Latin word “circus,” “circular,” as the French term it, “cirque.” My
own conviction is that this is certainly the case. The word is only
used by the Barbarians as applied to a form of buildings they derived
from the Romans. Why the Germans should employ κυρίου οἶκος, when
neither the Greeks nor the Latins used that name, is a mystery which
those who insist on these very improbable names have as yet failed to
explain.

Footnote 287:

The Tholos at Epidaurus seems to be an exception to this rule.

Footnote 288:

Isabelle, ‘Édifices Circulaires,’ plates 26 and 27.

Footnote 289:

M. Cattaneo states that it was built by Pope St. Simplice, 468-482.

Footnote 290:

Above the capitals are impost blocks or dosserets, the earliest known
examples of that feature in Italy.

Footnote 291:

[The Vaults over the outer aisle of St. Stefano Rotondo were built
with hollow pots, the remains of which can still be traced in the
outer walls of the 2nd aisle.

Prof. Middleton points out also the existence of rings of earthen pots
in the vault of the tomb of Sta. Helena (Woodcut No. 227), and also in
the vaults of the Circus of Maxentius, on the Via Appia.—ED.]

Footnote 292:

In this building they now show a sarcophagus of ancient date, said to
be that of Galla Placidia, daughter of Theodosius. She, however, was
certainly buried at Ravenna; but it may be of her time, and in these
ages it is impossible to distinguish between baptisteries and tombs.

Footnote 293:

Frederick Von Osten, ‘Bauwerke in der Lombardei.’ Darmstadt, 1852.

Footnote 294:

By an oversight of the engraver, the vault of the nave, which ought to
be made hexapartite, is drawn as quadripartite. [The nave was so
completely restored in the 14th century as to render doubtful the
original existence of a vault.—ED.]

Footnote 295:

Étude de l’Architecture Lombarde,’ par F. de Dartein. Paris, 1878.

Footnote 296:

These are incorrectly shown on woodcut. The central pier is nearly 4
feet wide and carried a transverse rib of the same size and of two
orders.

Footnote 297:

Ferrario, ‘Monumenti Sacri e Profani dell’ I. R. Basilica di S.
Ambrogio,’ Milan, 1824.

Footnote 298:

“Quid dicamus columnarum junceam proceritatem? Moles illas
sublimissimas quasi quibusdam erectis hastilibus contineri substantiæ
qualitate concavis canalibus excavatas vel magis ipsas æstimes esse
transfusas. Ceris judices factum quod metallis durissimis videas
expolitum. Marmorum juncturas venas dicas esse genitales, ubi dum
falluntur oculi laus probatur crevisse miraculis.” In the above,
_metallum_ does not seem to mean metal as we now use the word, but any
hard substance dug out of the ground. (Cassiodorus, Variorum, lib.
vii. ch. 15.)

Footnote 299:

See vol. i. p. 372.

Footnote 300:

‘The Land of Moab,’ by Dr. Tristram (Murray, 1873), pp. 376 _et seqq._
[The small triangular marble panels referred to in Murano are of a
very elementary character in their carving, and have scarcely the
importance attached to them by Mr. Fergusson. Besides, the same wall
decoration in brickwork is found in the apse of St. Fosca, Torcello
(c. 1008), where, however, the triangular recesses are simply covered
with stucco and painted; being closer to the eye in Murano, they
filled the spaces with incised marble slabs: in other words, it seems
more probable that the slabs were made for the triangular panels than
the converse, which is suggested by Mr. Fergusson.—ED.]

Footnote 301:

The typical example of this class is the San Giorgio at Venice, though
it is not by any means the one most like St. Pietro; many attempts
were made before it became so essentially classical as this (see
Woodcut No. 39, Vol. I. in the ‘History of Modern Architecture’).

Footnote 302:

From the boldness of the construction, M. Cattaneo is induced to place
the erection of the building at the end of the 11th or beginning of
the 12th century.

Footnote 303:

The four square towers of San Lorenzo, Milan, and the circular
campanile by the side of the cathedral of Ravenna, are the earliest
examples known, the latter dating from the commencement of the 5th
century.

Footnote 304:

[The tower of St. Satiro at Milan (879 A.D.), is considered by
Cattaneo to be the most ancient campanile known in which the wall
surface is broken up with flat pilasters or vertical bands in relief,
and divided into storeys by horizontal string courses, with ranges of
small blind arches below, carried on corbels, and may be regarded as
the prototype of the most characteristic Lombard towers.—ED.]

Footnote 305:

‘History of Medieval Art,’ by Dr. F. M. Reber, translated by J. T.
Clarke. New York, 1887.

Footnote 306:

‘Dalmatia, the Quarnero and Istria,’ by T. G. Jackson, A.R.A. Oxford,
1887.

Footnote 307:

Schultz, ‘Denkmäler der Kunst der Mittelalters in Unter-Italien.’
Folio, 1860.

Footnote 308:

The polygonal form given to the apse externally shows the direct
influence of Byzantine art.

Footnote 309:

The cornice projects 1 ft. 10 in., and consequently overhangs the base
by 13 ft.

Footnote 310:

The present cathedral is only a portion, viz. the transept of a much
vaster edifice which was never completed; but the beautiful unfinished
south front and portions of the gigantic nave and aisles still exist
on the western side of the present cathedral, and the drawings of it
are preserved in the archives of the Duomo.

Footnote 311:

[Since this was written the façade has been completed to harmonize
with the rest, but not in accordance with the original design, if we
may judge by the painting in Sta. Maria Novella, which shows side
gablets similar to those of the cathedral of Siena.—ED.]

Footnote 312:

If we may trust Wiebeking, the first two bays of the nave from the
front were vaulted in 1588, but the work was suspended till 1647, and
completed only in 1659. Yet no difference can be perceived in the
details of the design.

Footnote 313:

The plan and section being taken from two different writers, there is
a slight discrepancy between the scales. I believe the plan to be the
more correct of the two, though I have no means of being quite certain
on the point.

Footnote 314:

‘Dispareri d’Architettura.’

Footnote 315:

Within the last few years a façade has been added to Sta. Croce, but
about which the less said the better. It is wretched in design.

Transcriber’s Notes

This book often uses inconsistent spelling, particularly with respect to accents. These were left as printed unless the author showed a clear preference for one form.

Some presumed printer’s errors have been corrected, including normalizing punctuation. Page number references in the Table of Contents were corrected where errors were found. Further corrections are listed below with the original text (top) and the corrected text (bottom).

every pains has been taken
every pain has been taken p. xxii

progres
progress p. 48

cotemporary
contemporary p. 50

formula
formulæ p. 77

Sedinag
Sedinga Illustration 27.

longed ceased
long ceased p. 219

Nor is is
Nor is it p. 247

ines
lines p. 372

Roumeia
Roumeïa p. 372

Nimes
Nîmes p. 385

Vogüe
Vogüé p. 423

neo-Byzantine
Neo-Byzantine p. 455

iconicon
icon p. 460

orginally
originally p. 538

turned the
turned to the p. 558

100 ft. to
100 ft. to 1 in. Illustration 451.

467. Illustration 467 (missing number added)

next
next to p. 596