CHAP. 11
1. Taran fs marked likeness between the virtue of man and
the enlightenment ofthe globeleihabite—the same diminishing
‘radaton in vigour up tothe Hints of their domains, the same
‘essential separation fom thee contraries—the same twilight at
‘the meating ofthe two: a something wider belt than the He
here the work rolls int night, that strange twilight of the
vires; that dusky debateable land, wherein zeal becomes ine
tence and temperance becomes severity, and justice becomes
truly, and faith superstition, and each and all vanish foto
loom,
Nevertheless, withthe greater number of thm, though their
Alinsess inreases gradually, we tay mark the moment of their
sunset; and, happily, may turn the shadow back by the way by
which ie Bad gone down? but for one the line of the horizon is
irregular and undefined; and this, te the very equator and
airdle of them all—Trth; that only one of which dhere are n0
degrees, bot breaks and rent continslly; ha pill ofthe earth,
yet a dloudy pill; that golden and narrow lin, which the very
powers and vires tha lan uponit bend which policy and pre
ence conceal which Kindness and court x modify which eourage
‘overshadows with his shield, imagination covers with her wings,
fand charity dims with her tears, How dificult must the mainte
nance of tat authority be, which wile thas to restrain the hos
tty of all the worst principles of man, as also to restrain the
disorders of hia bes shich is continually assaulted by the one
snd betrayed bythe aher and which regards with thesameseve-
rity the lightest and the boldest violations offs law | There are
Sone fats alight in the sight of love, some erors slight in thera sre Lowe oF soz
‘estimate of wiadom ; bt tr forgives ao ins and endures no
‘We do nt enough consider this; nor enough dread the slit
nd condousl occasions of ofeace against her, We are too
‘much in the habit of looking at falsehood in its dark-
‘est associations, and through the colour of
purposes. That indignation which we profess to feel
‘at deceit absolute, i indeed only at deceit malicious.
"We resent calumny, hypocrisy, and treachery, because
‘they harm us, not because they are untrue. Take the
deteaction and the mischief from the untruth, and we
are little offended by it; turn it into praise, and we
may be pleased with it, And yet
nor treachery that do the largest sum of mischief in
‘the world; they are continually crushed, and are felt
only in being conquered, But it is the glistening and
softly spoken lie; the amiable fallacy; the patriotic Ii
of the historian, the provident lie of the politician, the
zealous lie of the partizan, the merciful lie of the
fiend, and the careless lie of each man to himself,
that cast that black mystery over humanity, through
which we thank any man who pierces, as we would
‘thank one who dug a well ina desert; happy, that the
thirst for truth still remaine with us, even when we
have wilflly left the fountains of it.
3 worst
is not calumay
= Dyn ito mre pei "dott
‘own cued and are cli being conquered” mut be mle at
‘tees, Tal we how eww yar all se Sno
Sonus bw ne sts fhe apr nd, evel
sre tase op sam Fi
Ie would be well if morass les fequenty confused. the
‘greatness ofa sin with is unpardooableness. The two characters
frealtogeher dines. The greatness of fault depeads partly
(on the nature of the parson against whom itis committed, partly
‘pon the extent oft consequences. Is pardonableness depends,
‘humanly speaking, on the degree of temptation to it. One
clas of crcomstances determines the weight of the ataching
‘nishment; the oer, the claim to remission of punishment: and
‘Shoe i isnot alway easy for mato estinate che relative weight,
nor always possible fr them to know the relative consequences,
oferine, i 6 usually wise in them to quit the care of such nice
‘measurements, and to Took to the othr and clearer condition of
cbt, eteeming chose faults worst which are commit
‘under least temptation, T donot mean to diminish the Mame
ofthe ijaious and mations sin, ofthe selish and deliberate
falsiy: yet i seems to me that tbe shortest way to check the
darker forms of dost isto act watch more serupulous aginst
those which have singled untegarded and uncharted, with the
current of cur fie. Do not let ut Ue at all. Do not think of
‘ove falsity ab harmless, and another as sight, and another as
unintended. Castthem lle: they may be light and acidental;
but they are an ugly sot from the smoke f the pi, for all that
and itis better that our hearts abould be swept clean of them,
‘without over cae as to whichis largest or Blackest. Speaking
truth is Hike writing fir and comes only by practice; i ele
matter of wil than of habit and T doubt if any occasion can
be trivial which permis the practice and formation of such a
habit, To speak and act truth with constancy and
precision is nearly as difficult, and perhaps as merito-
rows, as to speak it under intimidation or penalty;
and it isa strange thought how many men there are,
as I trust, who would hold to it at the cost of fortune
oF life for one who would hold to it at the cost of a
Little daily trouble. And seeing that of al sin there is,3 see ase oF 28on
‘perhaps, no one more flatly opposite to the Almighty,
no one more “ wanting the good of virtue and of being,”
‘than this of lying, it fe surely a strange incolence to fa
{nto the foulness of it on light or on no temptation, and
surely becoming an honourable man to resolve, that,
whatever semblances or fallacies the necessary course
‘of his Ife may compet him to bear or to believe, none
shall disturb the serenity of his voluntary actions, nor
diminish the reality of his chosen delights.
TH, Tf this be just and wise for trths sake, mach more sit
acces forthe sake ofthe delights over which she has influence
Fr, as I advocated the expression of the Spirit of Sacrifice in
the act and pleasures of men, aot as if thereby those ats could
furter the case of religion, but Bocuse most assuredly they
right therein be infaitely ennobled themselves, 20 T would
have the Spirit or Lamp of Truth clear in the hearts of ovr
artists and handierafmen, aot ar if the tuthal practice of
handicrafts could far advance the cause of tu, but because T
‘would fin ste the handicrafts themselves urged by he spurs
(Of chivalry: and it indeed, marvelous to see what power and
Coniverality there are in this single principle, and how ia the
consling or forgetting of it lies half the dignity or decline of
fvery art and act of man, [ have before endeavoured to show
its range and power in plating; and I believe a volume, instead
cofachapte, might be written on its authority ver all that is
feat in architecture, Bat I mast be content with the force
ot few and familar instance, baieving that the occasions of is
manifestation may be mote easly dicovered by a desie tbe
‘ue, than embraced by aa analyse of uth,
‘Only iia very necessary inthe outset to mark clearly wherein
‘consats the exence of illiey 38 distinguished from fancy."
spiny ioe pone wat + early inp wor
any? st for ty mow at eke a ning at oly pt
‘Signo bt nd one ee oh snd Gas oe ch eer
‘rus um op rae 2
IIL For it might be at frst thought that the whole
kingdom of imagination was one of deception also,
Not $0: the action of the imagination is a voluntary
gs absent or
possible; and the pleasure and nobility of the ima-
ination partly consist in ite knowledge and contem-
plation of them as such, i « in the knowledge of their
actual absence or impossibility at the moment of their
apparent presence or reality. When the imagination
Aeceives, it becomes madness. It is a noble faculty so
long as it confesses its own ideality; when it ceases to
confess this, itis insanity. All the difference lies in
the fact of the confession, in there being no deception
It is necessary to our rank as spiritual creatures, that
‘we should be able to invent and to behold what 18 not:
‘and to our rank as moral creatures, that we should
‘know and confess at the same time that itis not.
TV. Again, it might be thooght, and has been thought, that
the whole art of painting Se nothing cse than an endeaveur to
ecuive. Not 0? it is onthe contrary, a statement of eran
facts ia the claret posible way. For instance: I desire to
give an acount of @ mountain o of rock; I begia by teling
fis chage, But words will not do this dstiety, and Craw te
shape, and any, “This was its shape” Next: T would fain
represent its colour; but words will nt do this ether, and dye
the paper, and say," This was ie csloue” Such a prosess may
‘be arred on unt the scene appearsto exis anda high pleasure
say be taken ints apparent existence. Thies a communicated
acto imagination, but no lie. The lie en consist only in an
seri fis existence (which ie never for one instant made,
Seana ew he iets gare kaon thom tobe mA
‘am ia tar wo of ey epee 00 do
summoning of the conceptions of 1* ‘ree Ler oF TROT
Implied, or believed), or else in false statements of forms and
colours (which ar, indeed, made and belived to our great lis,
continually). And observe, also, that so degrading thing =
‘deception in even the approach and appearance of it that all
pling which even reaches the mark of apparent realisation i
tlegraded in so ding. T ave enough insisted on this pont ia
another pace.
V. The violtions of truth, which dshonour poetry and
ining, ar ths forthe most part confined tothe treatment of
their subjects, But in architecture another and a ess sable,
‘more contemptible violation of trth is posible; a direct flity
of aserton respecting the ature of material, or the quanti
oflabour. And this sin the fll sense of the word, wrong
fe ia aa truly deserving of reprobation as any other moral
elingency itis unworthy ace of architects and of aatons
and ithas been a sign, wherever thas widely and wth toleration
‘existed of a cingular debacement of the ars; that itis not a
sign of worse than this, of general want of severe probity, can
be accounted for only by ourknowledge ofthe strange separation
‘whichis for some centuries existed between the art and all
‘other subjects of human intlleet as mater of conseenes. This
withdrawal of concientiousness {fom among the faites con
‘cemed with art, while thas destroyed the arts themselves, has
alo rendered in a measure mugatory the evidence which ether
‘wise they might have preseated respecting the character of the
respective nations among whom they Iave been edsvated;
otherwise, it might appear more than strange that a nation 50
Aistnguished frie general uprightnes and faith asthe English,
shoal admis in thir architectare moe of poten, coneaient,
fd deo than any other ofthis or of pat time
‘They are admitted inthouhslessness, but wich ftal eect wpon
the aria which they are practised, If there were no other causes
or the failsres which of late ave marked every great oxion
for architectural exertion, these petty dishonestes would be
‘enough to account forall Tes the frst step, and not the last,
towards greatness, to do away with these; the first, because
se tase oF taoTH. a
so evidently and easly ia our power. We may not be able to
command good, or bentifl, or inventive, architecture but we
fam command an honest architecture: che meagrenss of poverty
‘may be pardoned, the stemness of wiity expected; but what is
there but som forthe meanness of deception ?
VI. Architectural Deoets are broadly t be considered under
three heads —
Tat, The miggestion fa made of structure o suppor, other
‘han the trae one ; as in pendants of late Gothic rots.
‘2nd. The painting of surfaces to represent some other material
‘than hat of which they actly consi (ar inthe marbling of
wood) o the deceptive representation of sculptured onatnent
upon them.
‘i, The use of castor machine-made oraments of any kind
‘Now, may be broadly stated, shat architectre willbe sole
exactly in the degree in which all these false expedients are
Avoided. Nevertheless there ar certain degresef them, which,
‘owing to thor feequent usage, of to other causes, have so far
Tost che mature of deeit at to be admissible; as, fr instance,
-Flding, which isin architectare no deceit, because itis therein
‘ot understood for gold; while in jewellery iis a deceit because
it iso understood and therefore altoether to be reprehendad.
So that there arise, ia the application of the strict rules of
Tight, many exceptions and niceties of conscience’ which fet us
28 briely ae posible examine.
VI1, ts Strucral Deceits!” 1 have Hmited these to the
determined and purposed suggestion ofa mode of seppart other
than the trie one The architect i not downd to. exhibit
structure: nor are we to complain of him for concealing it any
‘more than we shold regret tat the outer surfaces ofthe human
frame conceal much ofits anatomy ; nevertheless, that balding
‘wll generally be the nobles, which to an intelligent eye discovers
fhe great secrets ofits srocire, ax an animal form does, alk
‘ough fom a earls observer they may be concealed. In
uta ee nds yal a ae consider in hieFa se Lae oF tor,
the vating of Gothic rot iti no deceit to throw the strength
into the sibs of i and make the iotermediate vault a mere
hell Such a structure would be presumed by an fotligent,
fbverve, the fist time he sa sucha roof: and the beauty of ts
tracer would be enfanced to him fthey enfesod and allowed
the lines of i main strength. If, however, the intermediate
Shell were made of wood instead of stone, and whitewashed t0
Took like the rst—thie woeld, ofcourse, be direct deceit, and
altogether unpardonable
“There iy however, certain deception necessarily ocurrng in
Gothic architectare, which relates ot to the points but tthe
rmannes, of support. The fesemblanee in its salts and ribs to
the enteral lations of stems and branches, which has been the
round of so muck folsh specalation, necessarily induces in the
Ind ofthe epecator a sense or bli of eorespondent iateral
Sractre; that ito say, of a Sbrous and continuous strength
from the root into the limbs, and aa elasticity communisted
ards sient forthe support of the ramified portions. The
fen of the real condions,of = great weight of cling thrown
‘upon certain narrow jointed lines, which have atendeney party
to be evushed, and partly t separate and be pushed outwards, it
‘wih difieaty received; and the more 20 when the pillars woud
‘esi unassisted, oo alight for dhe weight, and are supported by
enteral fying buttresses as inthe ape of Beauvais, and other
Sich achievements ofthe bolder Gothic. Now, there i a nice
‘question of conscience in thi, which we shall arly see bat by
Considering that when the mind informed beyond the possiblity
of mistake at the tre ature of things, the acting it with a
Contrary impression, however stint, # no dishonesty, but, on
‘he contrary a legitimate appeal tothe imagination, Forinstance
the greater pat of the happines which we have n contemplating
loud, rest from the impression of their having: masive,
Tuinous, warm, and mosntan lke surfaces; and our delight in
the sky frequently depends upon or considering it a8 a blue
‘vault, Bat i we choose, we may know the eontar, in oth
instanes and easly aacerain the cloud tobe a damp fog, or &
sre 14sr oF Tart ”
rit of snow dakes; and he sky to be aightless abyss. There
fs therefore, ao dishonesty, while there is much delight, inthe
inresnblycontary impression. a the same way, 0 long ase
see the somes and ots, and are not decived at to the points
of sopportin any pice of architecture, we may rather praise than
regret the dexterousarices which eompel us to fel ae if there
‘were fibre ints safe and if in its ranches, Nor seven the
encelment ofthe support ofthe external buts eprehemsible,
so log as the pillars are not sensibly inadequate to their duty.
For the weight ofa rot is acrcumstance of which the spectator
generally bas 20 ides, and the provisions fr, consequently, i=
‘eumstances whose necessity of adaptation he could not unde
sand. Tt sno deceit therefore, when the weight to be bore
is necessarily unknown, to conceal also the means of bearing it
leaving enlyto be pereived so much ofthe support asi indeed
adeqsate to the weight supposed, For the stats do, indeed,
bear a5 much as they are ever imagined eo beat, and the system
‘of aded supports no more, at a mater of conscience, to be
eshibited, than, in the human or any other form, mechanical
provisions for those faneions which are themselves unpercived.
But the moment that the conditions of weight are compre.
hended, both truth and fang eequte that the conditions of
support should be alo comprehended. Nothing can be worse,
ithe a jug by the taste or the consciene, than afetedly
Inadequate supports suspension in air and other such wicks
snd vanes"
‘VILL. With deceptive concealments of structure are 1 be
lased, though still more blamenble, deceptive ascmpsonscf i,
=the introduction of members which should have, of profes
Ihave, a duty, and have none. One ofthe moss genera instances
ofthis will be found inthe form of the Rying buttres in late
1 Purine ar hte spe kb Me Hope oS Sep woh
1. ot owen 9, boas Ite even Se Sepia
ac bp Kig Coleg Chae Canin ecm
‘he mary ala peel oh oro spn
Deyn dein8 ‘rum naar of U7
Gothie. The we of that member i ofcourse to convey support
fom one pier to another when the plan of the building renders
it necenary or desinble that the supporting masses should be
ded into groupe; tke most frequent necessity of this kind
arising from the intermediate range of chapels or aisles berween
the nave or choir walls and ther spring piers The natural,
healthy, and beautiful arrangement ie that of a steeply sloping
‘tar of stone, sustained by an arch with it spandsl carried
farthest dowa on the lowest side, and dying into the vertical
of he outer per; that ler being, of cour, not square, but
‘ather a piece of wall eta eight angles to the supported walls,
fd if peed be, crowned by a pinnacle to give it greater weight.
“The whale arrangement ie exquisitely carried oat inthe choi of
Beauvais, In later Gothic the piasacle became gradually a
decorative member, and was woud in all places merely forthe
sake of ts beauty. There is 90 objection to this; iti just as
Tefal to build a pinacl frie beauty as a tower but also the
Jutiresbucatne decorative member and was usd, Sst where
iewas not wanted, an, stconly, in forms in whieh i ould be of
ro use, becoming a mere Be, aot between the pier and wal but
between the wall and the top of the decorative pinnacle, thus
sttaching faelf to the very point where its thrust, it i made
fny, could not be resist. The most flagrant instance of his
Iarbas that I remember, (hough i preva gatlly in allshe
spires ofthe Netherlands) ix the lantern of St. Ouen at Rove
‘where the pier buuzes, having an ogee carve, Jooks about
sinch ealeulated to beara dust as a switch of willow ; and
the pinnacles, huge and richly decorated, kave evidently no work
todo whatsoever, but stand round the central tower like four
{dle servants as they are—herldie supporter that central tower
being merely a hollow crown, which needs no more butresing
than a basket does, In fact, I do at know any thing more
strange or unwise than the praise lavished upon this lantern; i
js one ofthe bast pees of Gothie in Europe its lamboyant
treceries being ofthe lst and ost dogradet forms; and
* se Arends I.
‘Tue Lowe op re »
‘tr plan and decoration resembling, and deserving litle more
credit than the burt sugar oraments f elaborate confectionery.
‘There are hardy any of the mageifcent and serene methods of
constrostion inthe early Goth, which kave not, the course of
time, been gradually thinned and pared away into these skele-
tons, which sometines indeed, wheather lines traly fallow the
structure of the original masses, have an interest Uke that of
the fibrous framework of leaves from which the substance has
been dissolved, but which are usually distorted ae well a ema
ated and remain but the sickly phantoms and mockerce of
things that were; they are tp tue architects what the Greck
host was to the armed and living fre; andthe very winds
that white through the thread of them, ae to the depasoned
‘echoes ofthe ancient walls 2520 the voice of the man was the
Dining of the specs
1X. Perhaps the mos frit source of these kinds of corp
Yion which we have to guard agnict in recent times, is one
hich, nevertheless, comes in a "questionable shape," and of
hich it isnot easy to determine the proper laws and limits; T
mean the use of ion. The definition of the at of architecture,
given in the fit Chapter, is independent of its mates
Nevertheless that art Raving been, opto the beginning of the
resent century, practised for the most part inlay, sone, or
wood thas resued that the sense of proportion and the laws of
structure have been based, the one altogether, the eter in great
ary on the necessities consequent on the employment of those
‘materials; and thatthe entire or principal employment of metalic.
Sramework woul therfore, be generally tata departure fom
the fist principles of the ar.” Abstactedly thee appears no
reason mhy ion should ot be used ae well as wood and the
‘ine is probably nee when a new system of architectural laws
will be developed, adapted ently to metalic constriction.
But I belive thatthe tendency ofall present™ sympathy and
eat” oe day ih | nt) pp the ergs
expe whch Ie spy Eeveing Hl hd hy sar ta Sat
shor ery Eagan in ean nt rv anesosion i o lint the He of acitttre to sn-mtalic
ort and at not wut rneon. For achtrtre being in
Io peanon te cae avn laconic the
fot af arty wil lay precede in any orbaros ai, the
pos fh ee men ie fr he ang
{he mangement fon, I fit tence and scat we
tat tte, depend pon he wo of mal cre
uly aod on the sue ofthe erty tht sy cay,
Sloot sone’ and ay 1 ok cone tbe geno ft
{iat aco the che digae frcitestare Mtr
Sd nce the le rly penn om costae of
iwi el right in far ax uy, even in pros af
tno advanced sens he stele and pre of er
ue
Stat wheter thie te gtd me oF no the et that
very iden repent ss proportion, Jesoaion, contraction,
sth we tea rf ab ang Sg
Spends on pecsappston och water: ad st
Ina unbl t tcye te infec of hse pie ad
Teheve tat my readers wl be ely a my be peas
ferme to me to anne tat tre nite docs no ait
Eilts comtacive mata and tha suc works ca
ion coneal sre of Rowen Cathe or the ion roof ad
pln of eras stats ad of some of oar cule ae
Mov rhc a ale, Vet eviet that meta ay ad
Somtines ms ener ino the censteton to cain ete
Sale in wooden achiec, an therefore, as gate
Tc ad elegy intone} ner con we wl nye the
‘Cnc ariee the power of supporting ote, pnne, oF
rcv by ton brand we eth 1 dante howe
Se ep allowing Brash ison cae sound he dome of
Florence orth bls of Slay hice ro nding
fhe cour tower, however we wosk! act ll nto he
Sl apy of the gio cr ad he esp, we ms Bd
vwcasn a rule which may enable ust sop somewhere, This rule i
ier
T think, that metals may be used as a coment but not
‘me xe oF or a
8 a saffort, For as coments of other kinds are often
9 strong that the stones may casier be broken than
separated, and the wall becomes a solid mass, without
for that reason losing the character of architecture,
there is no reason why, when a nation has obtained
the knowledge and practice of iron work, metal rods
oF rivets should not be used in the place of cement,
‘nd establish the same or a greater strength and adhe
rence, without in any wise indueing departure from the
types and system of architecture before established ;
hor does i¢ make any difference, except aa to sight.
Hiness, whether the metal bands or rods so employed
be in the body of the wall or on ita exterior, or set az
stays and cross-bands; so only that the use of them
be always and distinctly one which might be super
seded by mere strength of cement; as for instance if a
pinnacle or mullion be propped or tied by an iron band,
itis evident that the iron only prevents the separation
‘of the stones by lateral force, which the cement would
Jhave done, had it been strong enough, But the
‘moment that the iron in the least degree takes the
place of the stone, and acts by ite resistance to erush-
ing, and bears superincumbent weight, or if it acts by
‘ts own weight as a counterpoise, and so supersedes
the use of pinnacles or buttresses in resisting a lateral
‘rus, or if in the form of a rod oF girder, it is used to
do what wooden beams would have done as well, that
instant the building ceases, so far as such applications
‘of metal extend, to be true architecture."
wot rhc” ed apg poet Gy ay[ioe
Shan inte tna s maar
eee ee
gee eee
eee ee
Se rae aes
ene neers a
eee uate
Seer eee creer eeas
ae ee cea
eee es
See ee
eet eee
Tey eer
eee ee rere
ne are
‘ue tase oF ROTH. a
rae of the dovciling and various adjusting of stones; for when
any artioe is necessary to help the mort, certainly this ought
tw come before the use of meal, fort isbothsaferand morc honest
1 eannot ste that any objection can be made tothe fting of the
stones in any shapes the architec pleases; for although ie would
notbe desirable ose builngs pt together ike Chines psley
there must always bea check upon sach an abuse ofthe practie
in its difelty; nor is it necesary tat it shoul be always ex
bite, so that tbe understood by the spectator as an ade
help, and that no principal stones ate introduced in potions
spparently imposible for them to sean, although a idle here
‘and thers in unimportant features, may sometimes serve to dre
‘the eye tthe masonry, and make i interesting, ab well at 9
sive a delightful sense of a kind of necromantic power in the
architect, ‘There is prety one in the lintel of the lateral door
of the cathedral of Prato (Plate IV. fig. 4); where the mainte
‘nance of the visibly separate stones altsnate marble and serpen
tine cannot be understood uni thei rescuing seen below
Bath Block i of couse, ofthe frm given in fig 5.
ZXIIL Las, before leaving the mbjet of structural desi,
1 would remind the architect who thinks that Iam unnecessary
and narrowly liiting his resources or his a, thatthe highest Amon
fteatness and the highest wisdom are shown, the first Mesa
ina measure dependeat on dhe use of metal let not
security are
toch ute be reprehendeds so only that as much is done as may be,
inant sey nd sh eke
Boece iE Stun neyo rb oe
sit an ela oe me ey
well cect nein yt realy
Tuten eg ri
Sohgryertan rs
Sy ngage ee a
Sear en fatten sa
fs and no tg onthe ttn Sah
oni eee Append
by & noble submission to, the second by a thoughtfal ei
Providence for, certain voluntarily admitted restraints. mt
Nothing is more evident than this, in that supreme
government which is the example, aa itis the centre,
of all others. The Divine Wisdom is, and can be,
shown to us only in its meeting and contending with
the dificulties which are voluntarily, and jor the sate
of that eontat, admitted by the Divine Omnipotence:
and these dificulties, observe, occur in the form of
aturel laws oF ordinances, which might, at many“4 se to oF raUTH.
times and in countless ways, be infringed with appa-
rent advantage, but which are never infringed, whst-
ever costly arrangements or adaptations their obser
‘vance may necessitate for the accomplishment of given
purposes. ‘The example most apposite to our present
subject is the structure of the bones of animals. No
reason can be given, I believe, why the aystem of the
higher animals should not have been made capable, as
that of the /nfuoris is, of secreting flint, instead of
phosphate of lime, of, more naturally still, carbon ; so
framing the bones of adamant at once. ‘The clephant
fr shinoceres, had the earthy part of their bones been
‘made of diamond, might have been as agile and light
fas grasshoppers, and other animals might have been
framed, far more magnificently colossal than any that
walk the earth, In other worlds we may, perhaps, see
such creations; a creation for every element, and
clements infinite, But the architecture of animal
dors is appointed by God to be a marble architecture,
hot a flint nor adamant architecture; and all manner
of expedients are adopted to attain the utmost degree
of strength and size possible under that great limite
tion, ‘The jaw of the ichthyosaurus is pieced and
riveted, the leg of the megatherium is afoot thick, and
the head of the myodon hat a double skull; we, in our
‘wisdom, should, doubtless, have given the lizard a stecl
jaw, and the myodon a cast-iron headpiece, and for-
{gotten the great principle to which all creation bears
ie Lan oF sno 6
may seem, not only authoritative perfection, but even
the perfection of Obedience—an obedience to His own
Jaws: and in the cumbrous movement of those un-
wwieldiest of His creatures, we are reminded, even in
His divine essence, of that attribute of uprightness in
the human creature; “that sweareth to his own hurt,
land changeth not.”
XIV, and Surface Deccits, Those may be generally defined
a the indocng the spposition of some form of material which
‘oes not actualy exist; as commonly ia the painting of wood
to represent marble, of in the painng of omaments in doep-
tive rele, e, But we must be careful to observe, thatthe ev
of them consists slays im deftly attempted dation, and
that itis a matter of some nicety to mark the point where
‘Secepton begins or ends
“Thus, for instance, the roo of Milan Cathedral is seemingly
covered with elaborate fan tracery, forcibly enough painted to
tenable iin its dar and removed postion, to dectve a careless
fuerver This is, of course, gross degradation ; i destroys uch
fof the dignity even ofthe rest ofthe bulding, and isin the very
‘rongest erm to be reprehended.
“The oo o the Sistine Chapel has much architectural design in
rill ingle with the Ggures ofits fesoes; and the ef
Be increase of dignity
Tn what lies the distinctive character?
{In eo points, principally »—The first thatthe architecture i
so closely associated with the figures and has so grand fellowship
‘vith them in its forms and east shadows, that both are at once
Tate to be of a piece; and as the Rigures must necessarily be
‘painted the arehitectare is known to beso too. There is thas
0 deception,
“The second that 80 great a painter as Michael Angelo Arseni=
‘would always stop short, in euch minor parts of his Sv:pne
design, of the degree of vulgar force which would be Siti
witness, that order and system are nobler things than
power. But God shows us in Himself, strange as it6 {ue Lax oF TRUTH
necessary to induce the supposition of their reality;
and, strangely aa it may sound, would never paint
badly enough to deceive.
‘But though right and wrong are thus found broadly.
‘opposed in works severally so mean and to mighty
the roof of Milan and that of the Sistine, there are
works neither so great nor so mean, in which the limits
of right are vaguely defined, and will need some care
to determine; care only, however, to apply accurately
the broad principle with which we set out, that no form
ror material is to be desi represented,
XV. Evidendy, thea, painting confessedly suc, is no desep-
tion; it does not assert any material whatever. Whether it be
‘on wood or on stone or, as naturally wil be supposed, on plaster,
oes not mater. Whatever the material, good painting makes it
amore precious; nor ca it ever bes to deceive respecting the
round of which i gives ue no iaformation, To cover brick wth
plaster, and this plaster with fresco, therefore, perfectly legit-
‘mate; andas desiablea mode of decoration, asi i constant
the great periods. Verona and Venice ate now scen deprived of
‘more tha lf theis former splendour it depended far more on
‘ther frescoes than thei masbles. The plaster i this casei tobe
considered asthe geno groandon panel orcaavas, Dut tocover
brick with cement, and to divide this cement with joins that it
say lok Hike stone, isto tell a flechood; and is just a8 ote
temptiblea procedure asthe other noble.
TE bing Inf to pine then, i i awful to pnt everthing ?
So long as the painting ia confensed—yes; bit if, even inthe
lightest degre, he sense oft be lost, and the thing painted be
‘supposed rel—no. Let us take afew instanses. In the Campo
Santo at Pisa, cach fresco is surrounded with a border composed
‘of flat coloured patterns of great clegance—no part of it ia t=
tempted relief ‘The certainty of da surface being thos secore,
the figures though the sie of life, donot decuive, andthe artist
‘tu Le or Teor o
thenceorward is at liberty to pt forth his wile power, and to
lead us through fils, and groves, and depth of pleasant land.
scape, and soothe us withthe sweet clearness of far of sky, and
yet never loe the severity of his primal purpose of echitecural
‘ecoetion
In the Camera di Correggio of San Lodovico at Parma, the
trellises of vine shadow the walls 2¢ if with an acteal arbour
and the groups of cldre, peping through the oval openings,
Tascous ineslour and faint in light, may well be expected every
instant to break though, or hide bchind the covert. The grace
oftheir attitudes, and the evident greatnes of the whole work,
‘mark chat it is painting, and barely redcem it from the change
falsehood; but even so saved, itis utely unworthy to tke
place among sobleor legitimate architeeural decoration.
Tn the cupola of the duomo of Pazma the sime painter has
represented the Assumption with so much deceptive power, that
he has made a dome of some thity fect dameter loa ikea
‘loudewrapt opening inthe seventh heaven, erowded with arash
ing Sea of angels. Is this wrong? Not 20: forthe subject at once
precludes the possibly of deception. We might have taken the
Vines fora verable pergola, and the children for its haunting
Fagaai: bot we know the stayed cloud and moveless angels
must be man’s work let him put is wost strength to i and
‘welome; he ean enchant us, but eanot betray.
‘We may thas apply the rule to the highest, ae well asthe
art of dally cezurenee always remembering that more ito be
Tongiven tothe great painter than to che mere decorative wore
‘man; and this especially, bcaare the former, even in desepive
portion, will ot wick us so grossly; as we have jst sen in
Corrggio, wherea worse painter would have made the thing lok,
Tike feat one, Theres, however, in room, ils, or garden
decoration, some Sting admission of tickers ofthis kind, as
of pictured landscapes at the extremities of alleys and areades,
and caligs like skies, o painted with proloagations upwards of
the architecture of the wall, which things have sometines a
certain Toxury and pleasureablenes in places meant for idleness,8 sie tasr o 07
and are innocent enough as long as they are regarded as mere
ys
TXVL Touching the fale representation of material, the ques:
tion is infinitely more simple, andthe Inw more seceping all
sich imitations ae utterly base and inadmisfle. Te is melan-
choly to hiak of the time and expense los in marbling the shop
fronts of London alone and of he waste of our resources in aba
Ite Vanities, fa things about which no moral ears, by which no
‘eye is ever arrested, unless pinflly, and which donot ad one
Wht to comfort, oF cleanliness, oF even to that great object of
commercial art—conspicuousnes. But in architectuecf higher
rank, how mach more iit be condensed Thave made ita
tule inthe present work not to blame specially; but 1 may,
perhaps, be pernittd, while Texprest my sincere admiration of
the very noble entance and general architecture of the British
“Muscum, to expres alto my ragret tha the noble granite foun
dation ofthe staircase should be mocked at ite landing by 20
Jmietion, the more Bameable because tolerably succes. ‘The
only effect of i isto eas suspicion upon the true stones below,
and upon every bit of granite afterwars encountered. One feels
fa doube, after tof the honesty of Memnon himsel. But even
this, however derogatory to the noble atchitecture around ii
less painful han the want of fling with which, in eur cheap
modern churches, we suf the wall deorator to erect about the
lar frameworks and pedinentsdaubed with mottled colour, and
to dyein thesame fashion such skeletons ce eareatares of eokomns
as may emerge above the pews this snot merely bad taste; it
is no unimportant or excusable evr which brings even these
shadows of vanity and falechood into the house of prayer, The
firs condition which ust feeling requires in chute furniture
that i should besimple and unaected, nt fiious nor tawdry,
Te-may not be ia our power to makeit bei, bt lett a least,
be pure and if we cannot permit mush to the architec, do not
lee us permit anything t» dhe upholsterers if we keep to solid
stone and sold wood, whitewashed, if we like, fr clealines
‘sake, (for whitewash has go often been uscd as the dress of aable
sue tae or treme, a
things tha it has thenee received a kind of nobility ite it
rust be a bad design indeed, which is gromly ofenive. I re
collect no instance ofa want of ered character orf any macked
and painful ugliness, in the simplest or dhe most awkwardly bull
village chureh, where stone and wood were roughly and nakedly
used, and the windows Laticed with white plas, But the
smoothly stuccoed wall the Hat rots with ventilator rmaments,
the barred windows veith jaundiend borders and dead ground
square panes, the gilded or bronzed wood, the painted iron, the
‘wretched upboltery of eartains and cushions and pew head ad
altar rlings and Biemingham metal eandlesticks, a above all,
the green and yelow sickness of the flze marble—dinguses al,
‘observe; fallehoods all—who are they who like these things?
‘who defend them? who do them? Thave never spoken to any
fone who ike tem, though to many who thought them ates
of mo consequence. Perhape not to religion; (hough T eannot
but believe that there are many 9 whom, as to mel, such
‘things are serious obstales to the repose of mind and temper
hich should procede devotional exertises ) but to the general
tone of our jodgment and feling—yes; for ansuredly we shall
regard, with tolerance if not with action, whatever forms of
‘materi things we have ben in the habit of associating with our
‘worship, and be litle prepared to detect or blame hypoctny,
reanness, and digguige in other kinds of decoration, when we
sulfer objets belonging wo the mot solemn of all services to be
tricked out in farhion so fttious and unseemly.
XVIL. Palatng, however, isnot the onky moe in which ma-
terial may be coneraled or rather sinlated; formerly ta conceal
is, a5 we have seen, no wrong. —Whitewath, for instance though
‘often (by no means always) to be regretted a a concealment,
‘ot to be blamed as falsity. It shows itself for what i i,
‘and asserts nothing of what is beneath it. Gilding hae become,
from its frequent use, equally innocent. Te is understood for
‘what it i a film merely, and i therfore, allowable to any
‘extent: T'do not say expedient: i ie one of the most abused
‘means of magnfcence we possess, nd I mich doubt whether° sme nase oF merTH,
ny use we ever make of lances that los of pleasure, which,
Soom the frequent sight and perpetal suspicion of i, we suet
in the contemplation of any thing cat is wry of gold. 1 chink
gold was meant to be seldom soca, and to be admired as a
precious thing; and T sometimes wish tat wuth should oo far
literally preval as that all should be gold that glitered, or rather
that nothing should glitter that was not god, Nevertheless
[Nature here does not dispense with such semblance, But uses
lightfor it: and T have too great love fr old and saintly at to
prt with is burnished field, orradiant nimbus;oaly i hosld be
sed with respect, and to express magnificence, or sacredness,
And notin lavish vanity, rin sign painting, its expediene,
Iowever, any more than that of colour, its not ere the place
speak; we arc endeavouring to determine whats lawful, not what
is desirable, Of other and less commoa modes of disguising
surface, at of powder of lapis Izu, or most imitations of
coloured stones, I need hardly speak. The rule wil apply to all,
alike, that whatever is pretended, is wrong ; commoaly enforced
also by the exceeding ugliness and insiicient appearance of such
methods as lately ia the style of ronovation By which half the
houses in Venice have been defaced, the brick covered fist with
‘stucco, and this painted wih igang veins in imiaton of labacter
Bue there is one more form of architectural ftion, which 20
constant inthe grent periods that it needs respect judgment
mean the facing of brick wih prosious sone.
XVIIL It is well known, that what is meant by @
church's being built of marble
only that a veneering of marble has been fastened on
the rough brick wall, built with certain projections to
* receive it; and that what appear to be massy stones,
are nothing more than external slabs.
[Now it is evident, that, in this case, the question of
right is on the same ground as in that of gilding. If it
be cleanly understood that a marble facing does not
in nearly all eases,
sme tase oF RoE st
pretend or imply a marble wall, there is no harm in
it; and as it is also evident that, when very precious
Stones are used, as jaspers and serpentines, it must
become, not only an extravagant and vain increase of
expense, but sometimes an actual impossibility, to
‘obtain mass of them enough to build with, there is no
resource but this of veneering; nor is there any thing
to be alleged against it on the head of durability, such
work having been by experience found to last as long,
and in aa perfect condition, a¢ any kind of masonry.
It i, therefore, to be considered as simply an art of
mosaic on a large scale, the ground being of brick, oF
any other material; and when lovely stones are to he
obtained, it is a manner which should be thoroughly
‘understood, and often practised. Nevertheless, as we
esteem the shaft of a columa more highly for its being
of a single block, and as we do not regret the loss of
substance and value which there is in things of solid
sold, silver, agate, of ivory; so I think that walls them-
selves may be regarded with a more just complacency
4 they are known to be all of noble substance; and
‘that rightly weighing the demands of the two prin-
ciples of which we have hitherto spoken—Sacrifce
and ‘Truth, —we should sometimes rather spare external
fomament than diminish the unseen value and con-
sistency of what we do; and I believe that a better
manner of design, and a more eateful and studious,
if less abundant, decoration would follow, upon the
consciousness of thoroughness in the substance. Ané,
Indced, this isto be remembered, with respect to all the pointss ‘hur Lo or ravri
wwe have examined; that while we have traced the limits of
Troon we have not xed those of that high rectitude which
refuses Heense, Ita thus trae that there is no falsity, and mich
‘beauty, in the wse of extemal colour, snl that it ix Lawfal t
saint either pictures or patter on whatever surfaces may stem
toneed entchment. But tis not less tus that auch practices
are estentilly unarchitetral; and while we cannot say that
there i acual danger ia an over we of them, seeing that
they have bean afuyys used most lavishly in the times of most
noble are, yet they divide the work into two parts and kinds,
fone of lest durability than the other, which dies away fom it
Jn process of ages, and leaves it, unless it have noble qualities
ofits own, naked and bare. That enduring noblese I shoul,
‘therefore, call uly architectural; and isnot ual this has bees
Sceured that the accessory power of paiting may be ell in,
for the delight of the immediate time; nor this 35 T think, un
every resource ofa more stable ind has been exhausted, The
true colours of architecture are those of natural stone,
fand T would fain see these taken advantage of to the
full, Every variety of hue, from pale yellow to purple,
passing through orange, red, and brown, is entirely at
‘our command; nearly every kind of green and grey
‘also attainable; and with these, and pure white, what
harmonies might we not achieve? OF stained and
variegated stone, the quantity is untimited, the kinds
innumerable; where brighter colours are required, let
‘lass, and gold protected by glass, be used in mosaic—
ind of work at durable as the solid stone, and
incapable of losing its lustre by time—and let the
painter's work be reserved for the shadowed loggia
land inner chamber, Tis is the true and faithful way
ff building; where this cannot be, the device of ex-
ternal colouring may, indeed, be employed withoutcrue taur oF THOM ss
ishonour; but it must be with the warning reflection,
‘that a time will come when such aids must pass away,
and when the building will be judged in its lfelessnes
dying the death of the dolphin. Better the less bright,
more enduring fabric, ‘The transparent alabasters of
‘San Miniato, and the mosaics of St. Mari’, are more
‘warmly filled, and more brightly touched, by every
return of morning and evening rays; while the hues of
our cathedrals have died like the irs out of the cloud
and the temples whove azure and purple once famed
above the Grecian promontories, stand in their faded
whiteness, like snows which the sunset has left col.
XIX. The lst form offillacy which twillbe remembered we
tad to deprecate, was the subatation of castor machine work
for that ofthe hand, generally expressible as Operative Desi.
“There are two reasons, both weighty, agaist this practice
one that ll ast and machine work is bad, as work; the other,
that iis dishonest. Ofitsbadness shall speak in nother place,
‘Hat being evidently no ecient eason agaist its use when other
fannot be had, It dishonesty, however, which omy mind,
fof the grosses kind, I thik, asufcient reason to determine
Abente and unconditional rejection of
“Omament, a Ihave often befine cbserved, has two enicely
Aisin sources of agreableness: ong that ofthe abstract beaty
tf its forma, which, forthe present, we will xppoteto be the same
wheter they come from the hand or the machine; the oer, the
‘enve of hurt Ibo and are spent upon it. How great this
Tater influence we may pea judge, by considering that there
ie nota chute of weeds growing ia any eenny of ruin” which
as nota beauty inl espects ary equal and in some, immese
1 1d yaa meni ae i, 1
SSP ae gma Sy nr ett oOPy {He Lowe oF sont,
surly superior to that of the most elaborate sculpture of ix
stones: and that al our interest inthe carved work, our sense of
fits richness, shoug te teniola les ich than the Knot of east
Desde it; of ts delicacy though tia thousand es delicate
ofits admiraMenes, though a milinfld lose admirable; results
from our consciousness ofits Being the work of poor, umsy,
toilome ma Ite tue dlightelacs depends on oar discover-
ing in tthe recon of thoughts and tens and als, and hear
breakings-—of eecoveries and jeyflneses of races: all hi caw
be traced by a practised eye; but, granting t even cbacue, ts
presumed or understood; ad in that isthe wert ofthe thing,
js as mach as the worth of any thing else wecall precious. The
‘worth afa diamond i simply the understanding of the time
‘st take to lok for it before tis found; andthe worth of an
frmament i the time it must tke before ie can be cut, Tt has
an intrinsic value besides, which the diamond hae not; (ora
‘iamond has no more real beauty than a piace of glass) but To
not spel ofthat a present; I place the two on the same groin
and T suppose that hand-wrought oraament ean no more be
frenerlly known fom machine work, than a diamond can be
Kowa fom paste: ay, thatthe later may deceive, fora momeat,
the mass a5 the other the jeweller’, eye; and that it can be
detested only by the closest examination, Yet exaclly as a
‘woman of fecing would not weae fale jewels so would a bilder
‘of honour dada fase omaments, ‘The wing of them jst at
dlowaright and inescasabe ae. You use that which pretends
toa worth which ie has not; which pretnds to have eat and
to be what ie did not, and is ot; ii an imposition, 2
vulgarity, an impeniaence, and a sin. Down with it to the
‘round, grind it to powder, leave its ragged place upon the wal,
father; you Ive not paid for i you have no business with
‘you do not want it. Nobody wants armaments in this word,
coe nets ed the tener harmony ofa. Ser ate he
lpn eens pp CV
or af cums on nthe gr eno ea, cat a
ncn ena ng singed hin the et ss
‘ux Lo oF RUTH ss
Ita oi a ce
soe eal Lt See
‘nlite tn ac og
isan een se
Ta a ey pn er bra me
spree ely Sh ed at
Sy el ie a mer
neces en ie Va,
Shc yay awe Se
i is le ei te nh
Sane
STi neo eis ht to
oft ei a a hy
Sec ene a aap he
pac ated ayy
Poa tl yi ya
sedtvicend atlas Sn cB
a nostic koe Fp ga as
we eh miei oa Sc
feet tect oli ts
tors hes sn lee
sity" hyn ce nae
iy ea wo oi nee tae
lat tintrendsy cscs
crypenes pan eos neo
vee pehgmieepe nee ae
Senne
Se
Soames
‘Eevee ntepataten obo ay "Pestle6 sine tase op oT,
worthless; anda pine of tra cotta, raf lasur of Pais, which
thas beea teoughe bythe human hand, is worth all the stone in
Canara ext by machinery. It, indeed, possible, and even
‘nut for men to sink into machines themscives, 30 that even
hand work has all the characters of mechanism; ofthe diference
‘tween living and dead hand-wore {shall spel: presently jal
that [ask at presenti, what i i lays inoue power eo secure
the confession of what we have done, and what we have given
‘sothat when we wie stone at all” (sinesallstone i naturally sup
posed o be carved by hand) we mst not earve it by machinery
either must we use any artical stone est nto shape, nor any
stucco oraments of the colar of stone, or which might fa any
‘wise be mistaken fori as the stucco mouldings ia the corte of
the Plato Veeshio at Florence, which cast a shame and
sspicon over every part of the building. But for dutle and
fosile material, as clay, ioe, and bronze, since these wll sully
De supposed to have beta east or tampa it isa ou pleasure
to employ them as we will; remembering that they become
precious, or others, jst in proportion to the hasd-work pon
‘them, ort the clearness of their reception ofthe hand-awork of
their mould, But I believe no eause to have been more
active in the degradation of our national feeling for
beauty than the constant use of cast-iron ornaments.
‘The common ison work of the middle ages was as
simple as it was effective, composed of leafage cut fat
cout of sheet iron, and twisted at the workman's will
No omaments, on the contrary, are 0 cold, clumsy,
and vulgar, so essentially incapable of a fine line oF
shadow, as those of cast-iron; and while, on the score
of truth, we can hardly allege any thing against them,
since they are always distinguishable, ata glance, from
se fie the rents nat couple en" The cocaion en
Athos bower ee nega eoagy and
‘te awe oF tre, 7
‘wrought and hammered work, and stand only for what
they are, yet I feel very strongly that there is no hope
‘of the progress ofthe arts of any nation which indulges
fn these vulgar and cheap substitutes for real decora-
ton. ‘Their ineficiency and paitriness I shall endea-
vour to show more conclusively in another place;
enforcing only, at present, the general conclusion that,
if even honest or allowable, they are things in which
we can never take just pride of pleasure, and must
never be employed in any place wherein they might
either themselves obtain the credit of being other
and better than they are, or be associated with the
‘thoroughly downright work to which it would be a
sgrace to be found in their company.
‘Such ate, believe, the thee principal kindsoffilsey by which
architecture Table to be corrupted’ there are, however, ther
and more subtle forms oft galt which es les easy toguaed
by definite Iw, than bythe wateflnes of a manly and una
fected spirit. For, as it hasbeen above noticed, there are certain
kinds of deception which extend to impressions and ideas only;
of which some are, indeed, of noble we, a that above refered
to, the aorescent look of lofty Gothic aisles bit of whch the
‘most part have 50 much of legerdemain and tickery about thew,
{hat they will ower any tye fa which they considerably preva
nd they are likely to prevail when once they are amid, blag
apt to cate the fancy alke of uninventvearchitctandfecinge
fess spectators; just as mean and shallow minds are in other
‘ates, delighted with the sense of overreaching, of tekled
withthe const of doteting the tention to over seach: and
dthen sublctis ofthis kind are accompanied by the display of
‘sich dexteros stone-cating, or architectural sleight of hand, 35
‘may become, even by itsel a subject of admiration, it isa great
hance if the pursit of them do not gradually dw us says ‘mE ar oF Ror,
fom all egard and eae forthe nobler character of the at, and
nd in ie total paralysis or extinction. And against this there
no guarding, but by stern disdain ofall display of dexterity
and ingenious device, and by puting dh whole force of our fancy
into the arrangement of masses and forms, caring 20 more how
these masses and forms are wrought out, than great psinter
cares which way his pencil tikes" Te would be easy to give
‘many instances ofthe danger of these wicks and vanities; but I
Shall confine myself to the examination of one which as, as 1
think, been the exsoe of the allo Gothic architecture throughout
TBarope, I mean the sytem of intersctoal mouldings, which,
‘on accnon of ite great importance, and for the sake ofthe general
reader, I may, perhaps, be pardoned for explaining clementarly
TXXI. Irmust in the Best place, however, refer to Professor
‘Will's account of the origin of eacery, given in the sixth chap
ter of his" Architecture of the Middle Ages since the pub
Tiaton of which I have been not ile amazed to hear of any
attempis made to remciate the inexcumbly abeurd theory of
its derivation fom imitated vegetable form—inexcusaby, Tsay,
cause the smallest acquaintance with early Gothie architecture
‘would have informed ehe supporters of that theory of the simple
fac, that, exactly in proportion &o the antiquity of the work, the
imitation ofeach orgie forms less and inthe earliest examples
does not exis at all There cannot be the shadow of a question,
in the mind of a person fasiiariged wih any single sere of con
secative examples that tracery arose fom the gradual enlarge
‘ment of the penetrations of the shield of stone which, usally
‘supported by a central pila, oceupied the had of exly windows
Profesor Will, perhaps, confines his observations somewhat too
abyolutely tothe double subarch Uhave given, ia Plate VIL fg
‘an interesting case of re penetration ofa high and simply
treed shield, fom the church of the Brenitai at Padua. But
the more frequent and typical frm scat ofthe double subare,
eat ner deca vy mh Rove, ich may oa tn
ands pd pr echey Hama: arterial
‘Sarton aye ated bt a tay be‘roe tase o rar Pa
decorated with varios perengs ofthe space between ead the
superior arch; with a simple weal under a round are, in the
‘Ablaye aux Hames, Caen (Plate IIL. fg. 1); with's very
Deautlly proportioned quatretl in the tforiam of Eu, and
that ofthe choir of Lien; with quatrefi, aif, and sept-
fol a the eranaept towers of Roven, (Pate U1. fg») swith a
trefoil awlewanly, and very smal quatrefil above, at Coutnces
(Plawe TIE fg. 3): then, with multiplications of the same
fares, pointed or round, giving very clumsy shapes of the inter.
imeiate tons, (ig 4, fom one of the nave chapels of Rowen,
fg. from one of the nave chapels of Bayeux) and finaly, by
thinning out the tory cbs reaching conditions ike tat ofthe
lorious typical form of the clerestry of the apse of Beanvas,
(ig. 6).
XXII. Now, it will be atid that, doring the whole of this
process theatenion x kepe ie n he forms of the penetrations,
that isto say, ofthe lights at acon fom the Interior not of the
Intermediate stone. All che grace ofthe window a inthe etline
ofits lighe; and I have drawn all thee tracerice at seen from
within in oeder to show the effect of the Tight thus treated, at
Sirs in fr off and separate stars, and then gradvally enlarging,
approaching, uasl they come aad stand over us, a it were,
filling the whole space with their elgence. And i inthis
pause ofthe star, that we have the great, pur, and perfect form,
of French Gothic; it war at the itssant when the rudeness of
the intermediate space had been finaly conquered, when the
light had expanded to it falls, and yet ad not los its adit
sity, prinsipaity, and visible fret enssing of the whole, cht
wwe have the most exulsite flag and most fauless judgments
fn the management alle ofthe tracery and decorations, have
given, in Pate Xan exquisite xample of it froma panel deco
‘ton of the butzesses of the north daoe of Rouen; and inorder
thatthe reader may understand what truly fine Gothie works,
sd how nobly ities fantasy’ aed aw, as well or ou ne
Ate porpos, wil be well dat he should examine its sections
and mouldings in dtl (they ae described inthe fourth Chapter,60 sme naqr oF TROT
{ svi), and thatthe more carefully, because this design belongs
toa pesiod in which the most important change took place in
the prt of Gothic architecture, whic, pehaps,ever resale fom
the natural progress of any art. ‘That tracery masks a pase
between the lying ase of one great eling principle, and the
faking up of another; a pause as marked, as clear, as con
Spicuoas to the distant view of afer Ges, ab to the distant
lance of the traveller is the clminatng sdge of the mountain
hain over which he has passed. Tt was the great watershed of
Gothic art. Before i, all bad been ascent; afer it all vas
decline; both, indeed, by winding paths and varied slopes; both
interrupted, like the gradual rise and fll ofthe gasses of the
Alpes by great mountain outers, slated or branching from the
entral chain, and by retrograde or parallel dircetons of the
alleys of acces, But the track ofthe human mid is traceable
Up to that glorious ridge, ina continvou line, and thence down-
wards, Like a silver one—
‘mi sn ig le
esha Hwee ater
‘Ad at that point and tht instant, reaching the place that wat
rnearet heaven, the builders looked bac, for the last te, tothe
tay by which they had come, and the eens throwgh which hee
tly conse had passed. They taraed away from them and hee
rmoming light sl descended towards a new horizon, fora tne
inthe waomth of western sua, but plangiag with every Forward
step into more cold and melancholy shade
TXXIIL, The change of which 1 speak, is expressible in few
words; but ote more important, more radically influential, oud
fotbe, It was the subrittion ofthe fixe forthe mass, as the
‘ment of decoration
socom wht, hat Mise e Dain i aie oo
‘rn Lae oF RET 6
We have cen the mode ia which the openings or penetration
ofthe window expanded, until what we, at fi, awkwat forms
of ntermedite stone, became delete lies of tracery; and T
have been careful in pointing et the peculiar attention bestowed
‘on the proportin and decoration ofthe mouldings of the window
at Rouen, in Plate X, as compared with earlier mouldings, be-
‘aus tat beauty and eare are singly significant. They mark
thatthe taceries had cawgit dese of thearehitact” Up tothat
tine, up to the very last instant in which the reduction and
thinning ofthe itervening stn was consummated, his eye had
bees an the openings only, on the stare of Tight. Heid not
care aout the stone; a rue border of moulding war all be
needed, ie was the penetrating shape which he was watching,
But when dat shape had received its last posible expansion,
land when the stonework became an arrangement of graceful
and parla ine, that arrangement, ike some form in a pct,
‘unseen and accidentally developed, stack suddenly, ineitably,
‘onthe sight. Te had Iieally not Been seen before. Te Hashed
fut in an instant av an independent form. Te berame a feature
ofthe work. The acitet took it under his eae, thought over
4 and dinette ite members a2 we ee.
‘Now, the gree pause was atthe moment when the space and
the dividing tone-work were both equally considered, It did
ot ast fity years.” ‘The forms ofthe tracery were seized with
2 cildch delight inthe novel source of beauty; and the inter
vening space was cast aside, as an element of decoration, fo
‘ever. Thave confined myzel in following this change, tthe
‘window, asthe feature in which ieiclearet.Buthe transition
‘the same in every member of arcitocure; andits importance
‘an hardly be understood, unless we take the pain to trace i a
the universal, of which lusatons,itlevant to our present
‘orpose, wl be found in the third Chapter. T pare bere the
‘question of truth, relating to che treatment ofthe mouldings
tenth Dienst Arec he etd atonal
(Site medicine oe acy tar "Toit ead eaeoe swe tase oF Rem
XXIV. The reader will observe that, up to the fast
! expansion of the penetrations, the stone-work was
necessarily considered, as it actually is, «if, and un-
ylelding, It was s0, also, during the pause of which I
have spoken, when the forms of the tracery were still,
severe and pure; delicate indeed, but perfectly frm.
‘At the close of the period of pause, the first sign of
serious change was like a low breeze, passing through
the emaciated tracery, and making it tremble. It began,
to undulate like the threads of a cobweb tifted by the
wind. Itlost
duced to the slenderness of threads, it began to be
considered as possessing also their Rexibility. The
architect was pleased with this his new fancy, and set
himself to carry it out; and in a litte time, the bars of
tracery were caused to appear to the eye as i they had
‘been woven together like a net, This was a change
‘which sacrificed a great principle of truth; it sacrificed
the expression of the qualities of the material; and,
however delightful its results in their first devetop-
‘ments, it was ultimately ruinous,
essence as a structure of stone. Re-
For, observe the difference between the supposition
of ductility, and that of elastic structure noticed above
in the resemblance to tree form, That resemblance
was not sought, but necessary; it resulted from the
natural conditions of strength in the pier or trunk,
‘and slenderness in the ribs oF branches, while many of
the other suggested conditions of resemblance were
perfectly true. A tree branch, though in @ certain
sense flexible, is not ductile; it is as firm in its own
‘ur Lane of There 63
{form as the rib of stone; both of them will yield up to
certain limits, both of them breaking when those timits
fare exceeded; while the tree trunk will bend no more
than the stone pillar. But when the tracery is assumed
to be as yielding as a silken cord; when the whole
fragility, clasticity, and weight of the material are to
the eye, ifnot in terms, denied; when all the art of the
architect is applied to disprove the Grst conditions of
his working, and the fist attributes of his materials;
‘is is @ deliberate treachery, only redeemed from the
charge of direct falschood by the visibility of the stone
surface, and degrading all the traceries it affects exactly
in the degree of ite presence.”
XXV, Butihe decning and morbid nate ofthe Inter architects
snot satisfedwith dhusmuchdenepton. ‘They were delighted
withthe subtle charm they had erated and thoaght only of
increasing its power. The next step was to consider and repretent
the tracery as not only ductile, but pentrale; and wien two
‘mouldings met each othe, to manage their interoestion, so that
fone should appear to pass through the ether, retaining its
independence; or when two ran parallel to ch other, {0 re
present the one a8 partly contained within te other, and party
Apparent above it. This form of flty war that which eased
hear The flexible raceres were often beaut, though they
‘were noble; but the penetrated traceres, rendered, a8 they
finaly were, merely the means of exhibiting the dexterity ofthe
stone-cutter, ansibiated both the beauty and dignity of the
fd hin, sn mow afin, suded Ie bance of being
gh pace by reo WHT ave x be yen nd ih
EMA ct lt oo et al6 sue tase or meer
Gothic types. A system 9 momentous in its consequences
deserves some detailed examination.
XXVI_ In the drawing of the shafts ofthe door at Lisieux,
under the spade ia Plate VIL, the reader will sce the ade
fof managing the intersection of sinlar moulding which was
‘iver athe goeat periods. They melted into each other,
fad became one at point ofthe crosing, or of ntact; and even
the mggeston of se sharp intersection as thisof Lisieux is usualy
‘voided (this design being, of conse, only a pointed frm ofthe
trler Norman arcade, in which the arches are interlaced, and
Tie each over the preediag, and nder the fllowing one, 38 in
Ansci’s tower at Canterbiry,) sie, in the plarality of designs,
‘when mouldings mest each ther, they coincide trough some eon
[Herable portion of ther carves, meeting by contact, rather tha
by inerscetion; and atthe point of coincidence the seton of
‘each separate moulding becomes common to thetwo thus meted
ino each other, This, inthe junetion of the circles of the
‘window ofthe Palazzo Foscai, Pate VIIL, given accurately in
fig. 8. Plate TV., the section across the Fines fs exacly the same
ss thatacross any breaeof the separated monlding above, a5. Te
‘Sometimes however, happens that two dierent mouldings mect
(och other, This was seldom permitted ia the great periods,
land, when took pee, was most awkwardly managed. Fig. 1.
Plate IV. gives the juction ofthe mouldings of the gable and
‘vertical, in the window ofthe spire of Salsbury, That ofthe
{able ib composed ofa single, and that of the vertical, of a
Aloe caveto, decorated with ball flowers; andthe larger single
moulding swallows up one of the double ones, and pushes
forward among the smaller alls withthe most Blundering and
cmsy simplicity, Incomparing the seaons its tobe observed
‘hat inthe upper one the lie @ 8 represents an actal vertical
fn the plane of the window; wil in the ower one, the Tine «
represents the horizontal in the plane of the window, indicated
bby the persputive ined
'XXVIL, The very awkwardness with which such oceurrences
of dticaly are met by the ealer builder, marks his dike of the
‘rue Lane op sun, 6s
system and unwiliagnes to attrat the ye to sch arrangement,
‘Ther is another very clumsy on, inthe joneton of the vpper
and subarches ofthe trifrum of Salisbury; but itis kept in
the shade, and all the prominent jnctons are of mouldings ice
each other, and managed with perfect simplicity. But 20 soon,
asthe atention of the builders became, a8 we have just soon,
fixed upon the lines of ouldings instead ofthe encowed space,
those lines bayan to preserve an independent existence wherever
they met; and diferent mouldings were studiously aoc,
in order to obtain variety of intersectonal line. We most, how
ver, do the late builders dhe jase to ote tat, in one case,
the habit grew out of feling of proportion, more refined than
‘tht of eavier workmen, It shows iself fist inthe bases of
Alvded pillars, oe arch mouldings. whove smaller shafts ad
‘rgially bases formed by the continued base of the conta, oF
‘other larger, ealunne wih which they were grouped; but tbe
felt when the eye ofthe architect became fastidious, that the
dimension of moulding which was right for the base ofa Targe
shaft, was wrong for that of» small one, cach shaft had an ide
pendent base at fist, chose of the smaller died simply down on
that ofthe larger; but when the vera eetons ofboth eae
complicated, the bases ofthe smaller shats were considered t0
exist within chose ofthe ge, and the placesof theiremergence,
on this supposition, were calculated with dhe ulmost sey, and
ct with siagule precision; so that an elaborate Inte base of a
‘divided column, a, for insta, of tone nthe nave of Abbeville,
Tooks exactly a fit smaller shafts had all been fished to the
‘round St each with ts complete and intiate base, and then
the comprehending base of dhe ental pier had ben moulded
‘over them in clay, aving their points and angles eickiag out
Ther and there lke the edges of sharp exystals out of a nodule
‘ofearth. The exhibition of tecnica dexterity in wo of this
indi often marvellous, the strangest posible shape of sections
being calculated to a hairs breadth, and the ocumence of the
under and emergent forms beng rendered, even in places where
they are so slight shat they can hardly be detected but by the66 se tote oF ToT
Ie is impossible to render a very elaborate example of
this kind intelligible, witht some fifty measured sections but
fig 6 Pate IV. isa very interesting and simple one, fom the
trent gate of Roven’" Its par ofthe tate of one ofthe narrow
‘rs between itsprincipal niches. Thesquare column &, having
Biba with the profile pr, i supposed to contain within itself
fouther similar one, set diagonally, an lied so far above the
inclsing one, as that the recessed part ofits pro shal fall
Dehind the projecting part ofthe outer one. ‘The ange of is
‘oper portion exactly meets the pane of the side of the upper
Fhelosing shaft 4, and would, therefore, not be sen, unless two
‘eri cuts were mae to exhibit i which form two dae fines
the whole way ap the shaft. Two small pilasters rer, lke
Tastening atch, dhrough the junetion, onthe ontof the shafts
‘The sections taken respectively a the levels, will explain
the hypothetical conszucion ofthe whole. Fig 7. a base oF
Sone rather (for passages ofthis form oocur again and again on
{he sha of famboyant work) of one of the smallest piers ofthe
plesals which supported the Tost statues of the porch is
Zecton below would be the same as #, and its construction,
Mer what has been said of the other base, wil be at once
perceived
XXVIL, There was, however, i this kind of involution,
mich to he dite aswell az reprehended; the proportions of
" Pofnor Wiis wy Ti at mer wh eed ad we
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qanttes were always as beautiful ax they were iatiate; and,
‘though the lines of itesetion were harsh, they were exquisitely
‘opposed tothe fower-work af the iatepoving mouldings But
the fancy did not stop here; it rose from the bases nto the
sche and there, nt ding room enough for its exhibition,
withdrew the exptale fom the heads even of engi shat,
(ve cannot but admire, while we rege, the boldness ofthe men
‘who could defy the authority and enstom ofall the nations of the
cath fora space of some three thousand years) in oner tat
the arch moldiags might appear to emerge fom the pill, at
its base they had been Tost in i and not terminate on the
sbacus ofthe capital; then they ran the mouldings actors and
‘rough each other, a¢ the point of the arch; and finaly, not
Sindng ther nataraldzetons enovgh to furnish a2 many oc
sons of intersection asthe wisbed, bent them htherand thither,
and et off their ends shor, when they had passed the pint of
Jtereeton. Fig. 2. Plate IV, i part of fying butress fom
the apse of St. Gervais at Flas, in which the moulding whose
setion iraely given above at f (taken vertcally throgh the
point) is arid thrice through eel inthe eros hi and two
arches; and the Mt filet s cut of sharp at the end of the eos
tar, for the mere pleasure of the truncation. Fig. i all of
the headof a door ia dhe Stats of Sues in which the shaded
part of the section of the joint, ¢ ge that of the arch inoue
lng, whichis three tines redulientd, and six times intersected
‘by itself, the ends being cutoff when they became unmanageable,
‘This syle is, indced, ear exaggerated in Switaeland and Ger-
‘many, owing tothe imitation ia stone ofthe dovealing of wood,
paricalarly of the inerseringof beameat the anges of ehlets;
‘butt only frnshes the more plain instanceof the danger of the
fallacious system which, fom the begining, reprened. the
German, and, in dhe end, ruined the French, Gothie, Te would
be too pif a tsk to fallow further the cavcatares of frm
and ecentices of treatment, which grew out of thie single
abase—the fattened ach the shrunken pili, the lifes ora
ment the ny moulding, the distorted aad extesvagant foliation,8 sme vase oF RUTH
‘nil the time came when, over these wrecks and remnants,
‘eprived of all nity and principle rose the foul torent ofthe
renaissance, and swept them all way
So fell the great dynasty of medizval architecture” Tewas
because it ad fost ow strength, ad disobeyed its own awa
~~ feeause is oer, and consistency and organisation, had een
Token through that it ould oppose no resistance the shot
‘overwhelming innovation, And this observe all bsause it had
Shore a single wuth. From thatone surtnder ofits integrity,
from that one endeavour tonarume the semblance of what itwas
tot aro the multitdinous forms of disease and deerepinude,
fokich rotted away the plas ofits supremacy. Tt was Bot
Teese its time was come; i was not Because it was
scorned by the classical Romanist, or dreaded by the fthul
Protestant, ‘That scorn and that fear it might have sue
‘ves and lived it would ave stood fot i stern comparison
Ivith the enerated senstality ofthe renaissance; it would ave
Tien in enewed and pure honowr, and with anew sul, from
{he ashes into which ® rank, giving wp. its glory, asi had
‘recived it for the honour of Godbat is own truth was gone,
fd fsa forever. There was no wisom nor strenge eft in
ft to raise ie rom the dust; andthe error of zal, andthe soft.
tse of lary, smote it down and dizolved itaway. Tt is good
for us to remember this ar we tad upon the bare ground of is
foundation, and stumble over ite scattered stones. Those rent
lleton of pierced wall Uioagh whic ou eacwinds mean and.
rman, strewing ther joie by joint, and bone by bon, alo.
the bleak promontories on which the Pharos lights eame once
ftom houses of prayer those grey arches and quiet ses
tinder which the seep of our valleys fed and rest on the turf
thae as buried their ltars—thoveshapeless heaps, tht are not
> The song pgp vey pete rly The
sot west ptt ty men anal en of FO
TEGkCAD pull dh ttn ft pd Nome mt at
Se icine wet an coup allen sce
ovate oponis
ofthe Barth, which lit our fds into strange and sudden banks
‘flowers, and stay our mountain streams with stones that are
‘ot their own, have other thoughts to ask frm us than those of
‘mourning forthe rage that despaied, or the fear that forsook
them. I was not he obber, note fanati, nt the Maspemer,
‘who sealed the destruction tht they had wrought; the war, the
‘wrth, the trom, might have worked thie worst, and the strong
walls would have rise, and the slight pillars would have started
‘gain from under the hand of the destroyer. But they could
ot se out ofthe runs of ter own violated teat,