a concise history of

western
architecture

R.

FURNEAUX JORDAN

UOM^

\<jJiLu^

A CONCISE HISTORY OF

WESTERN ARCHITECTURE

R.

FURNEAUX JORDAN

A CONCISE HISTORY OF

WESTERN
ARCHITECTURE

\m
HARCOURT, BRACE JOVANOVICH, INC

To E.M.FJ.

(Q 1969 BY THAMES AND HUDSON LIMITED

All

rights reserved.

No part of this publication

may

LONDON

be reproduced,

or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,

including photocopy, recording, or any information storage
retrieval system,

without permission in writing from the publisher.

Reprinted ig84

Library of Congress Catalog

Printed and

and

bound

in

Card Number: jg^ggsSS

Spain by

Artes Graficas Toledo S.P.A.

D.L. TO-291 84

CONTENTS
6

Preface

CHAPTER ONE
Introductory

23

CHAPTER TWO
Classical Greece

45

CHAPTER THREE
The Roman Empire

71

CHAPTER FOUR
The Byzantine Empire

95

CHAPTER FIVE
Western Christendom

125

CHAPTER

SIX

Western Christendom
167

Romanesque

I:

II

Gothic

CHAPTER SEVEN
Renaissance, Mannerism, and Baroque in Italy

213

CHAPTER EIGHT
Renaissance, Mannerism, and Baroque outside Italy

259

CHAPTER NINE
The Return to Classicism

283

CHAPTER TEN
The Nineteenth Century

307

CHAPTER ELEVEN
The Modern Movement

338

A Short Bibliography

340

List of Illustrations

355

Index

"t

PREFACE

This book

main

at the

dawn

an attempt, in a very small compass,

is

Western architecture from the

trends of

of history to the present day. Even more,

show how

attempt to

look

to

it

and forms of

the actual structure

architecture were almost always the product of time

space - of circumstance more than

and actions

Man's thoughts

his religion, politics, art,

technology and

the things from

which an

architecture

a civilization, rightly interpreted,

tion of the society

man and

little

to the

thing he

is

to

an

art

tied

either in

This

more marked than

the painter, poet,

in

can withdraw

to

some

without

is

artist,

at least also

by

special twist or

own

era.

purposes and executed

limits, this dialectical

any other

sort

He

time or space. In architect

art.

To some

own

law

extent
in^

generation -

of ivory tower; the architect

the product of a

would be an

of

an iron law

composer, sculptor - although

never. Architecture
It

art

may design it a
man; what he can

evitably a child of his time serving his

stances.

is

True, the

some

give

practical

to

The

are

designing, and

always within severe practical

is

born.

produce something not of his

cannot be elsewhere
ture,

is

may

worse than the next

better or

never do

it.

all his artefacts.

skill

is

and climate

a very precise reflect

is

which produced

reason of his taste or

charm

and

will.

aspirations, as well as landscape, geology

concerning

an

is

hundred circum/-

arid task to study the architecture

glancing

at the

circumstances.

R.F.J.

Chapter One

INTRODUCTORY

All European

culture, not least

beginnings outside Europe. Prehistoric

much

widely over
thin

on

its

man had spread

He was

of the habitable world.

ground but he was

the

had

architecture,

its

many thousands of years

there.

And

through

yet,

- whether hunter, shepherd

or

fisherman - he had never organized himself into any kind

of community larger than the family or the group of

families

we call a tribe. His energy was concentrated upon

survival in a hard world, following his flocks from

pasture to pasture, picking berries as he went.

marvellous uninhibited talent of a child

of a savage

his cave, the resourcefulness

his hut.

baskets,

He

many

invented

pots,

things

canoes - but, never

He had the

when
when

painting

building

spears, fish-hooks,
settling,

he never

invented the town.

Only when man could

to

'civilization',

and

therefore architecture,

This liberation was the

It

came,

deltas,

this

where the

upon

first

map we

comes into existence

was black and

reeds. If

from

tion spreads outwards

at

the valleys of the Tigris

we

plot the

and

in their

fertile,

first

and

civiliza^

shall find, not that civiliza^

a centre, but rather that

more than one

are several tiny caterpillars

like

revolution in the story of man.

alluvial soil

world

thraldom

come into being.

to start with, in the great river valleys

one could build with

tions

himself from

economy could anything

hunter/fisher

the

free

point, that there

of culture upon the globe

and Euphrates

it

in

Mesopotamia,

of the Nile in Egypt, of the Indus in north^'west India

and of the Yangtse

in

China. They

all

had one thing

in

INTRODUCTORY

Common,

Each of these

a mastery of irrigation.

valleys

most of all the Nile - when the annual snows melted

the

in

mountains hundreds of miles away, was flooded. The

silt^bearing water crept inch by inch over the level fields

depositmg

When man

precious load.

its

control this flood, with dykes, ditches

then his corn seed was returned to

fold.

It

and

was

many were

the

even leave the

It is

man

possible for one

upon mind,
and

sold.

and

far

that ideas

So

in

Upper Egypt,

mind can sharpen

came

the city there

came

first

in the Delta

and then

mathematicians,

prostitutes

scribes, doctors,

and

and

astronomers and
merchants,

actors,

was

architects. It

in

And with

also into history not only priests

and

and

Mesopotamia

into history the city.

kings, but lawyers

potters, artists

itself

and techniques can be exchanged

China),

there

many,

in cities.

in the Nile Valley (as also in

away

for

They might

freed for other tasks.

especially in cities that

to

hundred^

several

grow corn

to

how

and water-wheels,

him

and come together

soil

learnt

the beginning of all

things.

As

sixteenth^'Century

Spain and England accepted the

challenge of the sea and of a

Rome

New

World,

as

ancient

accepted the challenge of a continent and built

an empire, so Egypt accepted the challenge of reeds and

swamps and
nation.

hot sand and flood, and built the

Other people came

similar ways, but

first

into existence in not dis^

Egypt was unique.

To

Nile

live in the

Valley was to be enclosed, from birth to death, within a

geography and a routine of extraordinary simplicity.

There were few things

Egyptian mind; such

impress themselves

to

psychological impact was

Itself

- source of

regularity of sun,

the grave.

It

all

they were,

as

terrific.

moon and

was out of

things that the Egyptians

however,

the

stars; there

was

the fear

made

the

their

There was the Nile

was

there

life;

upon

mysterious
fertility

and mystery of

their

and

these

complex hierarchy

of gods, and their strange reHgion. In the service of that

8

religion they

made

their art

and

their architecture.

Egyptian theology, with

its

The

animal/'headed gods, was complicated.

strange

most important thing was the belief that survival

death depended

upon

Immortality was only for privileged royal and

might hope

world beyond the

in the

to

after

body.

the preservation o{ the

beings, except that a servant

INTRODUCTORY

pharaohs and

deified

priestly

be a servant

servitude to his

stars, in eternal

At the day of resurrection the spirit or Ka of the

dead man would enter once more into his body; the body
master.

must be

moment. In

there, intact, ready for that

historic times the fact that the dry desert

to preserve the

came

skill,

world's
corpse

sand had helped

the idea of what

be called 'the good burial'. For three thousand

to

years that idea

high

body may have suggested

pre-'

first

was an obsession. Embalming became

one of the most important sciences in the

civilization.

was embalmed

or

followed logically, once the

It

mummified,

that

preserved in an impregnable tomb.

difficult.

The

impregnability of the

problem, and indeed the

Impregnabihty had

to

basis,

it

must

also be

This was more

tomb became

the

of Egyptian architecture.

be provided in more than one

form, security for the cadaver, and security for the dead

man's possessions his jewels.

his wives, his furniture, his

The accumulated

Egypt, with which the world's

objets

d'art

museums

food and

Ancient

of

are filled,

once in tombs, awaiting a second existence

were

at

the

resurrection. The tomb was not only an impregnable

monument;

it

was

a storehouse, a chapel

and

work of

art.

The Egyptian tomb had

to

to

be not only durable,

it

had

look durable. Apart from prehistoric graves - which,

Reconstruction of the tomh^complex

of Zoser

at

showin^ the Step

by ritual buildings,

entrails

jars for food,

ointment and

tombs were

the mastahas of

the earliest historic

%:\7\:^^

BC),

Pyramid surrounded
all

within a stone-'

faced wall: (a) entrance; (b) hall of

pillars;

(c)

ceremonial

court;

(d)

storeAiouses ; (e) double^throne and (f)

shrines of Upper and Lower Egypt; (g)

and (h) south and north buildings and

courts, possibly

stration of

however, already contained

Saqqara (c.2680

symbolizing the admini^

Upper and Lower Egypt;

mortuary temple; (j) south tomb.

Pharaoh's tomb

lies

(i)

The

under the pyramid

the I-III Dynasties of the

Archaic Period

(c. 3

B c). They were mainly near Memphis, a

tombs were small with stepped

name coming from

top (their

little

south of

Old Memphite Nome. These

Cairo, capital of the

mastaha

200-c. 2700

the

and

sides

Arabic

flat

bench

for a

of the type found outside the doors of Arab houses). They

were almost solid but somewhere in the heart of the mass

of mud^brick or masonry was a

series

chamber containing

the burial

dead, with

Saqqara.

Columns

ridded stem
III.

in

the shape

tulips shaped flowers

in

of
and

this false

offerings could be

of the soul.

mastaha

was faced with limestone blocks brought

from the mountains bordering the Nile Valley. These

were

and accurately cut

finely

for their

place in the

the north court (h, in

i); the builders did not yet trust

stone enough to

dead, and where the priest could say prayers

for the repose

papyrus - with

was

body. This recess

to the

where

also served as a small chapel

The

there

blocked^up door. Through

door the Ka or soul could return

to the

the sarcophagus of the

impedimenta. Externally

all his

recess simulating a

made

ofrooms, including

make them free-standing.

Symbolic of Lower E^ypt,

the

papyrus

became a common decorative motif

sloping walls. Functionally, therefore, the mastaha was

designed to achieve permanence. Aesthetically

designed

it

involved metal tools, mathematics, trans^

and organized labour.

port

was

look permanent in an impressive way.

to

Technically

it

apparent simplicity -

It

was, in

architecture. It

was

a great development.

It

pyramids, while the

little

was

fact

for all

also the

clearly the

recess or

its

germ of

embryo of

chapel was

the

be

to

developed eventually, in Upper Egypt, into the great

mortuary temples of Thebes on the west bank of the Nile

Luxor. The

at

fine stone^cutting

of a masonry tradition which was

start

golden thread through

The

first

scale

10

It

Known as the
was

the

to

run Hke a

the architecture of Europe.

Memphis and

development of the

in form.

high;

all

'pyramid' was buik as early

Sakkara, between

III

of the mastaha was the

as

the Nile.

f.2680 bc, at
It

was

a larger

mastaha^ not truly pyramidical

Step Pyramid,

tomb of

the

it is

some 200

^ttt

Pharaoh Zoser of the

Dynasty, and formed part of a large and very

sophisticated

group of buildings. Most of

these are in

sham - simply

effect

mere

the

on

solid rubble cores

of stone

fact that they are

importance.
over

facades

of tremendous

is

double throne symbolized Zoser's rule

Upper and Lower Egypt, and

in a small sealed

all,

number of features

two kingdoms. At

exist in duplicate to represent the

the heart of

- but

chamber next

to the

pyramid, was the grim seated statue of Zoser, once

with malachite eyes

and

Pyramid
once a

itself

Museum).

in the Cairo

come

maturity.

to

Layout,

setting, as well as painting and sculp"

become

have

ture,

now

is

has here

civilization

plan, vista

(this

part

The

of architecture.

has long since

lost its facing,

giant's

to

clear-cut

staircase

Step

but was

The

Heaven.

whole group was contrived, considered, designed.

know

the

name of

His technical

the architect.

was

skill

imagination that was

but

great,

now

He was
was

it

Imhotep.

the creative

recognized for the

time as a divine attribute of man. Imhotep was

a

High

honour
later

Priest

of

Re

the

in this world,

ages he

Sun God, and was

and of immortality

was revered

as a sage

and

We

first

made

assured of

in the next. In

as the

patron god

j,

Giza. Below,

Cheops
Chephren

little

right.

the

north of Memphis, on the rocky plateau

Mykerinus;

and

Above,

now

the

pyramids of many
courtiers, austere

sizes,

mastaba

tombs

basalt,

free-standing

of

and unadorned funerary temples cut

with beautiful precision, underground passages and,

almost always, wherever one might be, the sharp apex of
a

pyramid against the blue sky

their

or the stars. There, with

golden furniture, jewels and spices around them,

kings and queens, princes and princesses, were buried.

There, during the

IV Dynasty, the three largest pyramidal

tombs were

by three pharaohs, Cheops, Chephren

built

and Mykerinus: each pyramid was

life

and of eternal servitude

The

largest (c.2575

symbol of eternal

to the king.

Bc) was buik by Cheops.

It

was

<!^
^nr

in every sense a climax, historically

and

aesthetically.

masonry

IV Dynasty:

rows o{

for the burial

mortuary temple by

Its severe

of the

of Giza, was the royal cemetery - an orderly arrangement

of windless courts paved with green

mastaba

Nile where Chephren's body was

teristic

to the

pyramids of
foreground),

tombs, for the courtiers, are visible at the

embalmed.

of medicine.

the

BC,

(c.2^'/^

is

charac^

the piers are

INTRODUCTORY

Although Imhotep's work at Sakkara was a brilliant

revolution - virtually the creation of architecture as an
art

was only one of a

it

Dashur, leading

to the apotheosis

Pyramid contained
stone.
lost.

It

was 480

Each

series

of Giza. This Great

and a quarter million tons of

six

feet

- Sakkara, Medum,

high before the apex stones were

side of the square base

mathematical error of about

003

was 760

per cent.

pyramid of Mykerinus

Giza

conjectural

Four

(a

at

reconstruction).

rubble ramps were built, pro^res-^

sively higher, around the stone casing of

the pyramid.

men dragged
Nile,

on

Up

in place,

the

removed and
the side

joints

of an inch - jeweller's

onez-fiftieth

work unexcelled by

the builders of the Parthenon.

impressive were the actual mechanics of

men worked
The blocks of

construction. Herodotus says that 100,000

for

twenty years fed on a diet of onions.

stone,

some of them 20

feet

from the quarry by barge

by 6

feet,

would be brought

height of the Nile flood,

at the

three

stone,

sledges;

crews descended.

of these teams of
brought from the

The

between them were

Almost more
the

with a

Each polished

block weighed about two and a half tons.

5 Building

feet,

by

Once

the fourth

the

the capstone

was

ramps would

and then dragged up

hundred

feet

ramp

above the

both ends of the journey

at

river.

to the

Wedges,

Pyramid

site,

rockers, levers,

be gradually

the stone facing

polished

but they had to be handled

visible at

cradles

and

sledges were

was the wheel - no

carts,

all

no

used.

The

pulleys,

missing element

no cranes.

The Great Pyramid

mystical
is

a valid

symbol of a

The

culture.

meaning of the measurements and proportions

unknown;

it

mathematics not

is

certain,

as a

mystique, an end in

Greek

this

is

mere

itself

attitude to

however, that here

we have

tool of the engineer, but as a

God

is

a mathematician.

mathematics

as art that

It is

would seem

Instead of pyramids,

have come into the world with the tomb o{ Cheops.

The pyramids mark the culmination o{ the Old

Kingdom - monolithic, immutable, austere, puritanical.
There followed an interregnum and a 'dark

VII

to

age'

pharaohs

mortuary temples at Thebes Such

was

the

(XIX

Ramesseum

oj

'Kameses II

Dynasty), seen here from

the

court looking towards the pillared hall

The

court

was decorated with

colossal statues of the

Osiris (see also

to

later

built

pillars

III.

reliejs

pharaoh as
ij).

the

The

anc

god

squat

beyond have both papyrus and

lotus^bud capitals

- the

Then once more, about 2000 bc,

history. With the rise of the Middle

Dynasties.

Egypt emerges into

Kingdom

pharaohs a new capital was established

at

Thebes, 300 miles south of Memphis. In 1370 bc,

Amenhotep IV (Akhenaten) was to

at Amarna (now Tel-'el^Amarna)

build a
to

the

Thebes, but the Theban area remained in

metropolitan province of Egypt until
the

Roman Empire two

enter

upon

thousand

its

city

north
effect

of
the

absorption in

years later.

the age of the great temples.

new

We

now
13

INTRODUCTORY

This development in the

no corresponding change
burial', the preservation

was

for use in the next,

is,

of architecture

use

in

life

The 'good

or religion.

of the material things of this

still

pyramid had been

bility, so far

a failure. Their massive impregna-'

and

sacrilege

Nevertheless the dead must

and

must

there

and

sacrificial offerings

now

The fact
tomb and

from protecting the tomb, had advertised

existence. Pilfering

possessions,

life

the basis of all belief

however, that functionally both the mastaha

the

signifies

The

be hidden.

in the mastaha wall,

still
still

had been rampant.

be buried with

all their

be a sacred place for

tomb must

prayers. In short the

mere

offering niche, once a

recess

had already become a considerable,

but nevertheless subordinate, chapel of the pyramid.

now assumed overwhelming

tombs of the
hills.

to

deified

Here and

give the

(i.e.

importance.

mortuary temples) related

to the

pharaohs buried deep in the Theban

Deir el^Bahari, the temptation

mountain tomb some

-

irresistible.

On

great architectural

combine tomb and temple - was

to

still

A number of
really

there, as at

frontispiece

the whole, however, the

worked. The temples, on a

new

tombs.

Some may

tomb of
amassed

the

boy

are

king,

was

treasures,

There

be there

many

all

deep

known,

the

Tutankh^Amun, with

its

still.

well

is

substantially intact until 1922.

Karnak

originally

compound, with

their

beautiful single temples throughout

the Nile Valley, but at

of temples,

As

system

were built near the

vast scale,

while the dead kings were sealed in

river,

It

Theban Empire were

the great temples of the

funerary chapels

its

there

is

whole complex

contained within a sacred

a sacred lake bearing a

The compound was approached from

colony of ibis.

the Nile by

an

avenue of carved couchant rams. These temples were

built

There

is

unless

we

to

14

through the centuries by a whole

Rome,

series

of pharaohs.

nothing comparable in the Western world

think of each

Roman

emperor adding a forum

or the cathedrals being

four or five centuries.

The main

added

to

through some

core around

which

the

Jll

If

11
If
fl
II

jl

o a
i>anirWiaMic

rest

grew was

the great

iiiuiia>-,<iaiiiug

Temple of Amun, begun

in the

XII Dynasty (1991-1786 bc). Other pharaohs added

Temple of Amun

Precincts of the

^kdmak (XI J Dynasty

Approaching from

temples, pylons or temple courts until the end of Egypt's

history.

The dead

other gods,

was

but deified pharaoh, absorbed into the

would be worshipped. His

interest, therefore,

of rams

avenue

The

which

that

of

Amun

was

merely a large version, had usually an outer court open

to the sky

but with columns round, as in a cloister; then,

that,

a large

columned

hall followed

by the

sanctuary; then beyond that again a rabbit-warren of

rooms where the priests lived and planned

The

central

room of this

the holy of holies

temple rooms
lit

if at all

all

- by

small hole in the

inner

where the

their

complex was

cult statue

was

ceremony.

Nile

the

one

(a),

by

the

enters

the

Tuthmosis

III

kept.

The

8~ioJ

festival hall of

The

(d).

length

is

(I-VI), added by

successive pharaohs. Further pylons on

VII-X)

lead towards the

Temple of Mut, standing

in a

separate

enclosure like that of Monthu (e).

to the

Temple of

Amun

III (g).

The

Next

are the sacred

lake (f) and a temple added by

the shrine,

at

after).

see also Ills.

to the

interrupted by pylons

another axis (

beyond

(c,

past the sanctuary

typical temple, of

and

Temple of Amun proper, which stretches

from the great courtyard (b) through the
hypostyle hall

personal.

Rameses

precincts are completely

walled

looked inwards upon courts, and were

a small shaft of sunlight penetrating a
flat

stone roof

The

enclosing wall (the

15

INTRODUCTORY

had no windows; moreover

temenos) therefore

it

was

double so that the whole temple was surrounded by

All the columns,

totally inaccessible security corridor.

the walls,

all

were completely covered with incised

and hieroglyphs - hymns

pictures

to the deities

and

statements of self/glorification by the pharaohs.

The avenue of rams - which began

8-10 Hypostyle
Dynasty).

hall,

Below,

and

plan

section

looking alon^ the main axis: the more

massive central columns, with papyrus

capitals,

clerestory

support
lighting

lower pillars

(compare

at

have

111. 6,

roof with

higher

the

sides.

lotus^hud

of the

same

The

capitals

showing

stone grilles.

treatment

the

One

clerestory
sees

the

were

all

with

As

planned with

Egyptian

of masonry - columns and

symmetry, on a single

so often throughout history

in the

The

grand manner -

central

doorways,

hall
axis.

- whenever planning

the real basis ot

for instance,

most curiously cut away so

were the pylons. These

prominent

feature of every

they are 140

hieroglyphs, so delicate that they do not

feet

it is

the procession.

have

that banners

is

their lintels

and standards

pairs of pylons are the

most

times

become

At Karnak

pennons, and bearing in very low

accounts of the glory of pharaoh, about

relief epic

eight

Egyptian temple.

high - near/solid masses of masonry,

slotted for masts flying

covered with slightly incised figures and

mass

strict

columned

the

its

walls of tremendous weight and mass

detract from the junctional

and

the entrance, the court,

landings

could pass through unlowered. Flanking each doorway

date).

Opposite, a view across the hall along

a-a,

stage

(XIX

Karnak

at the

life

size.

Symmetry and grandeur have

part of architecture.

We are led by this symmetry and grandeur all the way

from the avenue of rams into the outer court, and from
the court into the hypostyle hall. This hall
significance.

columns

It

is

are very massive,

single slabs can bridge

vistas

columned

and

and

hall.

The

is

of great

cylindrical

are closely spaced so that

from one column

to another.

The

the glimpses from one side of the hall to the

LOt^^

INTRODUCTORY

and dramatic. The

Other are mysterious

by 160

feet.

each 69

Down the centre

feet

is

hall

is

320

feet

an avenue of 12 columns,

high and nearly 12

feet in

diameter. These

On

have bell^shaped capitals based on the lotus blossom.

of

either side

are other

columned

high and 9

avenue or 'nave' of columns,

this central

each with 60 columns, 42

areas,

diameter. Since the central avenue has

feet in

columns higher than those of the

roof of the central area

of the side

halls.

some 20

is

area

feet

on

either side, the

higher than the roof

This means that there

between the higher and the lower

roof,

is

a vertical wall

and

These admit daylight into the

of lighting - where one

than another part -

an

light

effective

grilles.

high up. This method

part of a building rises higher

called 'clerestory lighting'.

is

found again and again

nave of a cathedral

hall

can

that this

be pierced by windows - actually by large stone

is

feet

It

is

in history, as for instance in the

when

method.

It

high up, above the

it

above the

rises

aisles.

It

keeps the source and glare of

eye,

and

yet lights brilliantly the

central area of a large building. In the case of the hypostyle

hall at

Karnak

shafts

of

forest

it

must have been

sunlight

brilliant

particularly dramatic

penetrating

of columns. Here and there the

the richly painted hieroglyphics

added

light,

to the history

shadowy

would

catch

and carvings, while

the

would be

in almost complete

colour and

drama have here been

outer parts of the hall

shadow. Mystery,

light

the

of architecture.

The simple geometrical forms of Egyptian architecture,

clean and clearz-cut, unadorned except for

reliefs

and

incised hieroglyphs, bore a perfect relationship to the

landscape.

They were

the level desert.

in the

in contrast to the peerless sky

and

They were an echo of the rock formations

mountains beyond the Valley. This,

in early days,

may have been chance. By the time of the XVIII Dynasty

(1570-13 14 Bc)

there

is

little

doubt but

that

the

Egyptians had become conscious, aesthetically conscious,

of the relationship of architecture

18

lies

to landscape.

The proof

in the temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el^Bahari.

MT

mrrai

>^rr:r

12

The

temples of

(XIX

larger

Rameses

II at

Dynasty), before

higher ground.

two

of the

its

Simbel

removal

consisted of four seated statues of the

The

temple,

hollowed out of the rock, was entered

between the two pairs of figures

platforms were fronted by colonnades, on the

back wall of which

are incised

and painted

reliefs telling

to

The stupendous facade

pharaoh, each 6^ feet hi^h.

The

rock^cut

Ahu

of the Queen's divine birth, her expeditions and archie

tectural achievements.

From

the upper platform there

wide view of the Nile, but Deir el^Bahari can

is

also be

approached by a mountain path from the Valley of the

Kings where the Queen

The main
deliberate

herself was buried.

point about Deir el/Bahari, however,

simplicity

of

its

architecture,

subordination to the dramatic landscape.

its

reads'

from

pattern of light
far off.

and shade

the

complete

A few strong

horizontal lines contrast with the verticality of the

The broad

is

in the

cliff.

colonnades

Richness, ornament and sculpture are

almost wholly omitted since they could never compete

with the surroundings.

ture in landscape

20

Egypt passed on

An

understanding of

must be added
to

Europe.

architec/-

to those things

which

of the mountain was

If the temple at the foot

INTRODUCTORY

to be part

of the landscape, two courses were open to the builder.

The

first,

as at

Deir

was

el^'Bahari,

would hold

strong lines, such as

to design

with a few

own

against the

their

overwhelming precipice above them, and

The

sculptural ornament.

sculptural architecture

was

other course

on such

avoid

to
to

produce a

a grandiose scale that

would hold

its

own. This seemingly impossible

was undertaken

at

Abu

too,

Abu

Simbel were

it,

task

Simbel on the Upper Nile by

carving the actual face of the mountain.

at

all

built in the

The two

XIX

temples

Dynasty by

ij Just

Simbel

Rameses

about 1250 BC.

II,

The

certainly stupendous, holding

the

mountain

side,

but also

its

when

larger

own

of the two was

not only against

seen from far off across

the river.

A forecourt led to a great facade,

and 100

feet

beyond

sanctuary -

was

It

out of the living rock.

facade one passed into a vestibule with eight

columns representing
Osiris;

wide

was carved with four

Rameses, each 65 feet high -

made possible only by cutting them

this

feet

high. This facade

colossal seated statues ot

Beyond

119

that

the

was

King
a

in the likeness of the

columned

hall

and then

a complete temple underneath a

really the application

god
the

mountain.

of the technique of tomb

building to the making of a temple. (The formation of a

modern
blocks,
level

reservoir has involved cutting out the temple in

and removing

it,

to

be reconstructed

above the water.)

Egyptian building perfectly mirrors

it

was

free

extraneous influences such as an alien culture.

see

it,

however,

it is

misleading.

It

More

creators.

its

than any architecture there has ever been,

all

higher

at a

from

As we

appears to us as

if

it

were wholly an architecture of death. The palaces and

the houses have all vanished centuries ago.

All we

know

of them must be deduced from the paintings and the

contents of the tombs.

The

house, an

affair

of reeds, hanging mats and

wooden columns, must have had a certain airy elegance.

The gardens were formal. The jewel boxes, the bracelets

living

inside the large temple at

(III.

rock

Osiris, the

12), statues cut

represent

Abu

from

Rameses 11

god of the dead

the

as

14 Model of an Egyptian house, from

the

tomh ofMeket^re at Thebes (c.2000

BC).

deep,

shady

portico

with

painted papyrus columns looks out on a

small walled garden where

round a pool: as

in

all

trees

sur^

hot climates,

water and shade were highly prized

of lapis lazuli, turquoise and gold, the stone vases, the

gazelles

and dogs

gaming,

the

these

pink alabaster, the golden discs

carved

flamingoes on
beds, chairs

in

and

barges

artificial

for

sailing

among

for

the

lakes, the fragments of lovely

stools, the use

of quartz and faience -

all

things were of an elegance appropriate to the

dappled sunlight of verandahs, shadowy rooms and the

tinkle of fountains
If in

style,

- the

structure

specific contribution to
it

laid the

architecture of an aristocracy.

and ornament Egypt's

direct or

any European style was negligible,

foundation of an attitude

was durable.

22

first

to architecture

which

Chapter Two

CLASSICAL GREECE

The

and influence of Classical Greece became

culture

the basis of a
territories

whole Hellenic world.

It is

found

in the

invaded by Alexander the Great, throughout

Magna Graecia and ultimately in the Roman Empire.

The great Classical Age, however, consisting virtually
of the two generations of Athenian history dominated by
Pericles in the fifth century

perihelion of a comet
a

thousand archaic

b c, has been likened

to the

a long, slow preparation through

years, a short blaze

of achievement,

then the long, slow decline.

The

of modern

story

Greek

enters

first

began centuries

Age
was

that

we

upon

earlier,

begins for us

when

but

is

it

not until the Periclean

and the

of law. That age

rule

moment. As Lewis Mumford has

'The mind remains

world and passes

at a

written:

suspended; the eye looks

delicately

discriminates,

the

the stage of history. Civilization

find intellect

a creative

round,

man

beholds

inquires,

the

bound from sprawling

natural

fantasy to

continent, self/defining knowledge.'

For

thirty

centuries

the

Egyptian

carved the same hierarchic figures

nose,

same

loincloth,

same

eye,

Archaic

same

a simple exercise

torso:

repeated to the point of technical perfection.

already, even in

had

craftsman

- the same

times, the

Then,

Greek sculptor

is

observing and analysing. Even the most Archaic Greek

statue

is

because

carved by Pygmalion;
it

is

Unlike the
Luxor,

it is

realistic

it is

but because

carefully delineated

more than

it

about
is

to breathe,

instinct

with

not
life.

pharaohs on the walls

a glorified hieroglyph.

at

23

CLASSICALGREECE

So

too With the theatre.

If,

with the passing of tyranny,

custom had become law, then with the

tragedies of

Aeschylus and Sophocles what had once been

myth became drama. To

priest

first

one and then more were added, giving

the clash of
at

mind upon mind, and

war with

sacerdotal,

destiny.

and

rise to

man

the spectacle of

Greek drama remained formal and

with the

priests

always enthroned in the

and was ultimately absorbed

'stalls',

ritual

the single actor - originally the

both the theatre and the church, only

into the history of

to

be liberated once

again in the time of Shakespeare.

And as with
was Plato who
ment -

sculpture and drama, so with thought.

down

laid

It

the ideal condition for govern-'

that a philosopher should be a

king and a king

should be a philosopher. This condition was

fulfilled

under Solon, when law and order replaced custom.

Nature and
hubris

became

thyself,

was

began

society

to

be understood. Dislike of

- intellectual pride - and the precept 'know

the

the balanced

axioms of Greek thought; the

mind, 'nothing

The Greeks were

basic to the

to excess'.

not unaware of the problems of their

Violence was curbed but

culture.

ideal

it

existed. Slavery

economy. Cruelty was disliked but

was
dis^

regarded. Homosexuality and infanticide were defended

with cold reason.

mined

The

the integrity of

stunted role of
life.

women

under-'

The Greeks were always

conscious of the nearness of the primitive - hence their

aloofness. In so far as they were

the

Aegean,

it

was

aware of a world beyond

wholly barbaric world. The hosts of

Persia or the ancient dynasties of Egypt were

pale.

Greek democracy, when

reduced

itself to

it

came

to

beyond the
the point,

the votes of a few thousand Greek^born

adult males.

In the

last analysis,

attitude to the

however, Greek wisdom was an

human mind and

the

human

body.

The

Greeks had rejected the gods of Egypt, without adopting

the

24

monotheism of

the Jews.

They conceived

the gods

of Olympus not only as embodying the powers of nature.

but also as beings anatomically perfect while possessed of

human

frailty.

As

such they

made

for those statues they

made

sublimating the
the

human body

theology by

hierarchy in poetry, myth,

drama

a peninsula of jagged bays

is

and headlands, of inlets running

each inlet

their

superb sculptures, by idealizing

Greece

architecture.

The

shrines, the temples.

and by enshrining the functions

itself,

Olympic

of the whole

and

deities in

of them, and

statues

Greeks overcame the basic crudity o{

classicalgreece

far into the

mainland,

separated from the next by the mountains. The

climate produced rigorous and athletic

was almost an

invitation to carve

men;

them

the marble

as if they

were

gods.

The Greeks were

that they traded a

Euxine

a maritime people only in the sense

little

to the east

as far as

Spain

to the

west and the

- made poetry out of their wine^dark

sea,

and would

city

than cross the mountains.

rather sail

round the

coast

However

from

city to

they looked

inwards upon Hellas rather than out upon the great

world.

They could

never,

the

like

Romans, have

organized an empire. Even more did they look inwards

upon

the city itself- isolated

When

that

its

own arm

of the

sea.

threatened from without, as in the wars with the

Persians, the

was

upon

Greek

cities

the city states such as

could band together, but

Athens, Sparta and Corinth

were the object of patriotism and

effort.

was

the public

works of Athens, not of Greece,

civic rather than national.

Age expended

compounded of the

its

genius.

It

Greek

was upon

architecture

Periclean

it

that the

That genius was

virtue of perfectionism

and

the vice

o( self^absorption.

As with sculpture, drama, law and philosophy, so with

architecture: absolute perfection

within clearly defined

limits.

was sought, but only

The

Greeks, for instance,

were never engineers. Architecture

great families

divided into two

- the trabeated and the arcuated, beamed

and arched; Greek

refinement

is

the

architecture

is

Greek temple,

trabeated.

With

structurally,

all its

was no

25

CLASSICAL GREECE

advance upon Karnak or Stonehenge. The Greeks knew

the arch but they never exploited

it.

They never attempted

dome

cover a large space with vaults or a

to

Romans were
meticulous

to

They were

do.

fitting together

stone,

their

of stone blocks, but they were

means -

crude but strangely poetic religion,

to the status

skill in

hand^

mathematics

with

obsession

mystical thing - an end, not

human body

by the

fascinated

not otherwise interested in structure. Their

ling

as the

as

their strangely

their adoration

of the

with the consequent elevation of sculpture

of a dominant

art

these

were the elements

from which Greek architecture derived.

Greek town,

at

almost any date, must have been

just a collection of white^walled houses

tiled roofs

of low pitch,

with

like the temple.

roofs or

flat

Each house

looked inward upon a small court, and presented an

almost windowless wall to the

of
1

The Palace of Minos

(c.i6oo

EC)

jlights

and

The

columns, with their unusual

taper, are a

lecture

Knossos
stair^

world with regular

landings.

hot countries where there

Politics
at

had an elaborate

case, the first in the

all

supporting

street

were an

and drama an

affair

the temple as a

almost

all

affair

the

is

- the

timeless house

seclusion of

women.

of the market place - the agora -

of the open^-air theatre. This

medium

left

only

an architecture which had

of the human anatomy -

for

attributes

downward

hallmark of Cretan archie

proportion, balance, grace, precision and subtlety; but

which was

also

marmoreal and sculptural.

The

origins of

Greek

drawn from more than one

source.

that decorative but irrational affair

volutes as
lands.

its

capital - is found

From

CLASSICAL GREECE

and
The Ionic column -

architecture are uncertain,

the sea/'girt

in

with curious

spiral

an archaic form in many

kingdom of

Crete, from the

beautifully decorated apartments of the Palace of Minos

at

Knossos, there came

cision

and

and

refinement.

Greece the great

The Cretan

spreading

unfortified,

central court

to

gift

of pre/

palaces were vast

out irregularly around a

and including workshops and

There was an ornamental fa9ade

at the

storehouses.

west; the rooms

were usually frescoed, the wooden columns brightly

painted.
the

About 1450 bc, Knossos was conquered by

Mycenaean war/lords of the Peloponnese: through

them, Cretan influence passed to the mainland.

The whole

basic concept of the

columned temple

probably came from the house of the Mycenaean chief"

tain.

Mycenaean

palaces were

more formal

plan

in

than those of Crete, and stood in citadels, on strategic

hills.

Within

religious

the walls were a

and domestic. (There

number of
is

buildings,

parallel

in

the

conglomeration of church, chapel, tombs and palace

for the ancient

kings of Ireland, on the Great

Rock

of Cashel.) Outside the citadel were the royal tombs,

oi^

16 The

throne room at Knossos^ huilt

by the Mycenaeans after their conquest

c.

14^,0

BC.

original:

the

The hi^h^hacked
wall-painting,

hut

griffins

and plants,

fragments

is

its

drawing of wingless

refined

stiff

throne

with

is

a copy based on

The Treasury ofAtreus

BC),

(ijth century
hive tomb some

The

$0 jeet

and

other,

heads

corbelled

the

Mycenae

across and high.

stone courses of the vast

smoothly

the

at

a 'tholos' or bee-'

out,

one

have

doors

dome

are

over

the

triangular

the true principle of the arch

wedge-shaped voussoir

- was

not yet

understood

i8 Isometric
at

Mycenae.

reconstruction of the palace

A staircase

led to the throne

court (c).

round

(As

at

Knossos,

downward)

this lay the

hearth,

III.

at

is

the so-called Treasury of

A walled passage leads to a beehive/-

Mycenae.

shaped chamber about 50 by 50

megaron

corbelled vault

approached

through a columned portico and vestibule.

taper

Atreus

most famous

the great

room with four columns

central

the

twoflights (a)

room (b) and

Beyond

(d), a single

in

which

5, the

columns

all

made of

overlapping stones.
beehive tombs

tiers

feet,

rises to

of carefully cut,

The span of

(tholoi)

which

slightly

the largest o^ these

was only exceeded by

Pantheon, over a thousand years

later.

that of the

Among

the

buildings within the Mycenaean citadel was the chieftain's

own

house - the megaron -

much

tion of the house of Odysseus.

It

like

Homer's

descrip^

was a single simple room

with a central hearth, preceded by a vestibule and - most

significantly
a 'house'

- an outer portico with columns.

had

to

When

be built for the statue of the god or

goddess, the prototype was this chieftain's house, a

rectangular

room with

a portico.

The

architect

and

the

sculptor might, in the course of centuries, transmute this

wooden house

into a

marble shrine, but basically

it

remained a house, never a place of assembly, never a

church, and almost always upon a high place.

temple was always

set

The

apart from the town, not only by

being put in a sacred enclosure, but usually also upon a

headland, a citadel or acropolis.

The

rectangular temple with low-pitched roof

surrounding colonnade basic

upon

of Athens,

the world.
Ionic.

the

form of the Greek temple. There were many

variations
city

the peristyle

and

- thus became

the theme.
the most

is

Those temples

These

are the

On the Acropolis,

above the

famous group of buildmgs

are in

two

names given

styles,

to the

the Doric

in

and

two kinds of

whole unit -

'order' used: this

term

column with

base below and entablature above.

There

are

its

three

main

refers to the

- Doric, Ionic and

'orders'

Cormthian. The Doric Order, plamest of

simple moulded capital and no base (the

made it more

slender

and added

has a slimmer column, with, as

the

a base)

Romans

the Ionic

we have

has a

all,

later

Order

seen, a capital

two linked volutes; the Corinthian, with

consisting of

1^ Pottery model of a shrinefrom Argos

its

richly carved capital bristling with acanthus leaves,

was used
details

far

more by

the

Romans

and proportions of

than the Greeks.

The

the 'orders' were minutely

(late 8th century

marks
to

prescribed in the

first

Vitruvius, rather as

They became
architecture.

century

if they

ad

by the

had been

BC)

a single

room

fronted hy a portico of two columns,

it

a stage in the evolution from house

temple

Roman architect

laid

down

by God.

the vocabulary of the language of classical

Durmg

the last four or five

hundred

years

thousands of architects have been obsessed by these

20 The Classical Greek orders:
A, Doric; B, Ionic; C, Corinthian,
(i)

Stylobate;

shaft;

(^)

(2) attic base; (j)

(^a) abacus; (4b)

capital;

echinus; (4c) Ionic volute; ( ^d) Corin^

thian volute with acanthus leaves; (<,)

architrave; (6) triglyph; (j) metope;

(8) frieze; (g)

dentils;

(10) facia;

(11) cyma

29

'orders',
21,

22 The Doric Order

Paestum.

at

Below, a corner of the Archaic

'Basilica'

BC). The

columns

(mid^6th century

The

- and

and

The Greeks
races.

spreading

Greeks,

discretion

have an exonerated taper - an early use

of entasis

sometimes

capitals.

however,

They may have been

Though

compared with the Parthenon

it

includes

still

2g),

some of the same refinements

all the horizontals are slij^htly curved.

The

three

temples

at

Paestum

far

as the

who had come

lonians

came over

south in a
the sea

series

of

from Asia

Minor; they were Oriental, sensuous, effeminate, colour/

ful.

Character was,

as always, reflected in architecture. In

were

originally plastered, to hide flaws in the

local travertine stone

The

Dorian,

Steppes - hardy,

rigorous, practical

migrations.

One race was

away

heavy

(III.

right.

two

a tribe of northern

shepherds from as

built a century later.

flexibility,

The Dorians were

the other Ionian.

'Temple of Neptune',

them with

believed themselves to be a blend of

Virtually every thin^^ above the architrave

the

used

of intelligent design.

great artistry.

has been destroyed.

Opposite,

to the exclusion

bringing together on the Acropolis these two

styles

of

temple building - the plain, sturdy Doric and the

ornamented Ionic - the Athenians believed that

elegant,

two poles of

they were giving expression to the

nature, luxury
It is

in the

their

and abstinence.

Greek colonies

in Sicily

and on

the Italian

below Naples

Reconstruction of the vast Archaic

Temple of Artemis

we find the Doric Order in its

sternest form. The Temple of Concord at Agrigento
(f. 500-470 Bc) and the three temples at Paestum - the
coast

2J

that

were some
spaced

and Temples of Ceres and Neptune,

mid^sixth to the mid/fifth century b c -

so/called Basilica

dating from the

They

are the best^preserved examples.

are, in

a sense,

archaic - having few of the refinements of the Parthenon

Doric - but they do have a splendid, almost primeval

strength.

The columns

are stout, the capitals huge,

the stones ponderous.

all

When we
the Ionian
the

first

effect

Greek colonies

as early as c.540

high.

nearly 400 feet long, the

The workmanship and

technically refined;
brilliant

Artemis (the

Roman

bc, and then

56 B c, more or less on the original foundations.

The temple was

feet

overwhelming.

we turn to
of Asia Minor. At Ephesus

great temple of the goddess

rebuilt in

is

seek the Ionic style in isolation

Diana) was designed

50

The

and

it

with colour.

was

richly

columns over
carving were

ornamented, probably

at

Ephesus (begun

C.S40 BC), looking across the portico:

a triumph oj engineering - the columns

60 feet high and widely

as well as a rich display of the

ornate Ionic

Order

When we turn to

CLASSICAL GREECE
is

loss as

Athens

The drama of the primeval

well as gain.

gone but

on

here,

sharpened

its

own

pomt of

to a

in the fifth century b c, there

has

terms, civilization has been

perfection.

On

the Acropolis,

ancient and sacred ground, there were earlier buildings.

They were ruined

would have

seen

Then, under

its

them

stupendous

effort

was made.

itself- that high rock outside the city

sides built

kind of podium

Wars, and Socrates

blackened by smoke.

as stones

Pericles, the

The Acropolis
- had

in the Persian

up and

its

top flattened to form a

for the temples.

This separation of the

temples from the town was deliberate.

As

normally had no place in the

had the

street, as

shrines they

Roman

temple or the Christian church. Equally important,

however, was the

fact that the

temples could be

seen

from

the streets, rising above the wall of the sacred enclosure

- a continual reminder of the gods, like the medieval

bell

chiming the hours

the temple

24 Plan showing

the

major buildings

on the Acropolis at Athens (see pp.

33~'5)> ^^^ ^^^

below (h).

Theatre of Dionysus

From

the Propylaea at the

west (a),jlanked by the Pinacotheca (b)

and Temple of Nike Apteros (c), the

Sacred Way led toward a colossal
statue of

(e)

Athene

stands

goddess's

(d).

partly

old

on

temple

The Erechtheum
the
(f),

site

replaced by the Parthenon (g)

32

of the

which

was

had

This distant view of

profound influence upon

was designed

so that

Forgetting

minutiae,

its

for prayer.

it

its

should be 'read' from

we may

form.

It

far off.

think of the temple -

specially the bold

Parthenon -

and simple Doric

as a series

peristyle

of the

of alternating bands of light and

25 The Acropolis
natural

hill,

platform.

dark formed by the columns and the shade between

them. Oi^ course there was delicate ornament on the

Parthenon but

it

was not intended

not be seen, except from near

scale

was

and could

Here one can

up

see,

to

form

from

left to

Propylaea, the Erechtheum and

the Parthenon.

The simple form of the

it 'read' well from

Greek temple made

far

the intermediate

Athens stands on a

built

of

of richness, neither delicate nor bold - the Gothic

pinnacle or the

have been

Roman

useless

on

the Acropolis.

planners. In that they

in the

Corinthian Order - that would

sometimes said that the Greeks were not town^

It is

be

to. It

to be seen,

ri^ht, the

at

much

had no formally

grand manner, such

true.

Such

selfz-conscious

as

Rome

laid out cities

or Paris, this

magnificence

is

may

the attribute

of an imperial capital rather than of a small city

state.

In a higher sense, however, the Greeks were superb

designers of

cities.

We

see this in the careful

way -

geometric but not formal - that they arranged the agora

and

The

the temple groups in cities such as Miletus or Priene.

buildings on the Acropolis

sight to be almost

haphazard

would seem

in their placing.

certainly not formally planned, as the

at first

They were

Romans might

33

^.
Ui
26 Model

reconstruction of the Athenian

Acropolis, C.400
steep

approach,

BC.

This shows the

with

the

drama of the scene until

had reached the summit and

stood with the Parthenon on his

the

Erechtheum on

trance the

little

his

left.

their

arrangement and balance and

As

relationship are in fact extremely skilful.

one beheld

Propylaea

screening the full

the visitor

have liked; but

ri^^ht

At

and

them from

the Propylaea, there

There was the

the en^

Temple of Nike Apteros

acts as a foil to the larger buildinp

the entrance to the Acropolis, that

the right,

and

position

was

left

the

mass of the Parthenon on

much

smaller but

resolved by the

enormous

and helmet

Finally, the

statue of Athene

visible to sailors out

on

Parthenon, an example of

cleat/'cut sculptural precision,

it

more complex

Erechtheum. Between these two the com^

flashing spear

Aegean.

from

was no symmetry. There was balance.

large simple

the

intricate

- her
the

on

is

was

itself so

placed that

could never be seen except against the sky ... an

astonishing piece of town planning, never to be repeated.

One
pylaea.
is

ascended the Acropolis by a ramp

This building, designed by Mnesicles

not a temple.

It is

a glorified

to the

Pro^

437 b c,
gateway or porch - a
in

covered hall with a Doric portico facing the ramp, and

another opening out onto the Acropolis.

It

had an

adjoining wing, the Pinacotheca or painted gallery.

Near

by, perched

Nike Apteros 34

Callicrates in

on

podium, was

the

the Wingless Victory

little

Temple of

- designed by

426 B c. This was an exquisite Ionic temple

gem

in miniature, a
to the large

from

less

than

feet

1 3

long, forming a

mass of the Parthenon when both

foil

are seen

2^ View and plan of the Erechtheum

Athens, begun by Mnesicles in ^21

2"],

in

B C. The
far off.

Although

Athene
the buildings

seen from a distance,

it

on

the Acropolis could be

was only when one had passed

through the Propylaea onto the plateau that one could

right)

are

the

them

a smgle glance,

all, at

whole drama of the

and could then appreciate

scene.

It

was

brilliant stage

The most venerable temple was always the Erechtheum,

built

by Mnesicles in 421

temple.

The new Erechtheum was

the most sacred myths

Nearly

BC on

all

the

and housed

site

still

connected with

the most sacred relics.

Greek temples - although variable

were rectangular and had a surrounding

Erechtheum

is

unique.

number of rooms.
never finished,

It is

which

It

is

its

partly explains

of holies.)

It

an upstart

Athene

affair

peristyle.

all

massing;

its

The

it

was

unusual form.

have

shrines there. (Athene's second shrine

rather

in size

small and yet contains a

irregular in

Erechtheus, Poseidon and

- was

of an older

the

their separate

- the Parthenon

compared with

makes use of the Ionic Order

this

holy

three times.

the east,
to

it

and a rostrum with female figures

instead of columns.

The

ruins in the foreground, above, are those

of the ancient temple of Athene (f

111.

management.

to

Ionic colonnades of different

('caryatids')

see

room

and other gods. Attached

three

size,

temple contained shrines of

(in the large

24)

in

<Ml^<

.^

if^'

^m
r

in three different sizes.

most remarkable

Its

feature

the so/'called Caryatid Portico, not truly a portico at

but a rostrum. Sculptured maidens, 7

difficulty

his

IS

The

overcome.

skilfully

maidens in such an easy pose

which

tablature

The Caryatid

burden.
force

they carry

on

Portico

inherent

sculptor has carved

marble

that the

en-'

heads seems no

their
is

all,

9 inches high,

The obvious

of columns.

place

the

take

feet

is

a very ornate tour de

which, had the Erechtheum ever been

finished,

might have been a jewel in the centre of a long blank

wall.

The Parthenon, like the Erechtheum, replaced an older

temple, but on a new site a little to the south of the older
one. The Parthenon was dedicated to Athene Parthenos
- the virgin Athene
adult

and

who had

been miraculously born,

armed, from the head of Zeus.

fully

447 bc, by the

begun

in

crates.

Phidias was the master sculptor.

The

stylobate,

Parthenon stands

228

feet

on which

long and loi

was

and Calli^

architects Ictinus

or stepped plattorm,
is

It

wide.

feet

the

The
jo North porch

peristyle

which ran

56 columns,

columns

at

all

all

round the temple consisted of

of the Doric Order. There are eight

each end (instead of the usual

six), leaving a

the

top

in

columns,
widely

columns on each
giving a central
entrance.

The

side (the south side

column

is

There were 17

now incomplete),

suggestive of 'side'

portico at each end

or

fj^ures

28).

Slender

hi^h,

are

25 feet

spaced,

Above them
space opposite the central entrance.

of the Erechtheum (at

III.

an

^ivin^

in the

Ionic

unusually
airy

effect.

frieze white marble

were attached

to

a grey

stone

background

no

was two columns

deep, giving greater shelter at the entrance.

The

shrine

2g,

ji

View of the Parthenon from

the

north-west (opposite), and plan. Begun

in
its

44^

BC by Ictinus and Callicrates,

simplicity

Within
divided

by

ambulatory
at the

is

deceptive (see p.

40).

the temple the shrine faced east,

columns
(III.

west end-

j2).
left

into

nave

and

columned room

- served as

a treasury

37

^2

Recofistruction of the sanctuary in

the Parthenon, looking towards the ^old

and

ii'ory statue

of Athene by Phidias.

An

ambulatory was screened off by a

double tier of Doric columns. The lights
in

arrangements and roofing are un^

known:

here the artist suggests a cof"

fered wooden

ceiling,

and sunlight entering

by the eastern door alone

or naos of the older

Greek

feet

and archaic Parthenon had been 100

long and had, therefore, been called the

Hecatompedon;

this

name was

transferred to the naos

of the new temple. This was about 63

with columned

aisles.

It

feet

contained,

wide, probably

in

roughly the

position where the altar stands in a Christian church,

the 40>'foot statue of the goddess

Athene

gold by Phidias. Also enclosed in the

to the jtiflfiij^he

44

feet.

in ivory

cella^

and

in addition

temple had another room, about 63 by

This was called iht Parthenon and gave

its

name

The word means virgin, and this

room may have been the home of the virgins who cared
to the entire building.

for the

temple and tended

hieratic treasury

38

with a bronze

its

lamps.

of the Acropolis,

grille.

its

It

was

also the

doors being closed

The Parthenon

has no

windows.

How was

it lit

This

classical Greece

has always been a controversial matter. Since the seven/

teenth century the building has been too ruinous to

allow any theory to be

The

such theories.

There

tested.

however, three

are,

hypethral theory

large rectangular hole in the roof immediately

This seems unlikely. There

shrine.

arrangement in the floor

though

relatively little

the hole

no

above the

signs of

any

might be in Athens. Also

there

would cause an ugly break

The second

perfect.

are

draining off rain-water -

for

building which had, above

was

that there

is

in the roof line of a

all

things, to be aesthetically

is

that the roof of the Par/'

theory

thenon, and of other temples, was of timber with thin

roofing

of Parian marble or alabaster. These,

slabs

though not transparent, would be

lucent to give a diffused

such roofing slabs

glow within
and

exist

was no

this

is

sufficiently

trans^

the shrine.

Many

an

attractive theory

below the roof The

assuming that

there

third theory

that the great eastern doors

and

is

that the

Greek sunshine gave

the horizontal

upon

ceiling

beams of the

all

rising

the light

it

was on

dim and holy

the outside of the

Parthenon that the Greek genius discovered

The

Parthenon today

the limitations

clarify

limitations

it

were

and

hall.

just a

It

lies

ideals

detail

was not

large

primitive, in every other

Athens was
and

its

power

to

of Hellenism. The

complex. In essence

veranda of columns around a rectangular

and

its

roof,

timber, has long since vanished.

richness

only in

severe, the ideals sublime. In essence

Parthenon was simple, in

was

itself

beauty of a ruin being adventitious, the signi^

ficance of the

the

open
needed left

sun shining directly

the golden statue. In spite of these

mysteries of the shrine,

were

way

it

was

a very small place.

size,

probably only of

Structurally

it

was

sophisticated.

The Greeks,

chose perfection -

rejecting

a counterpart of

the polis, the tiny city state, with inchoate empires all

around. "It was upon the simple carcass of the marble

hall that they

expended

their skill.

They kept

the basic

39

CLASSICAL GREECE

made of

but

simplicity,

was much more than

elaboration. This

55

View

across

the

west end of the

correction of optical

Parthenon, with the boldly fitted Doric

refinement of form.

columns of the peristyle on the left, and

engaged columns in the cella wall on the

as a

thing divine.

and

feeling,

right.

Round

the

top

of

this

wall ~

originally shaded by a coffered ceiling of

which a fragment remains

at the end

ran the famous frieze of the Panathenaic

web of

a vast

it

was

It

It

was

the supposed

much more

illusions,

geometric

than the

the expression of mathematics

in this marriage of mathematics

of precision and sensuality, that the Greeks

invented beauty.

The

circle,

the ellipse, the parabola: these are the

elements that comprise this deceptively 'rectangular'

procession

building.
the

It is

a rectangle

without right angles. This

approach of the sculptor rather than the

Could

is

architect.

Ictinus have carved his temple out of one block

of marble he would have

an

fulfilled

ideal.

As

it

is

the

blocks were ground one on another, with water and

marble dust between them,

until a hair joint

had been

achieved. Every horizontal line - steps, cornice and so

on - has

a barely perceptible

much

radius of as

as

two

miles.

and sturdy columns not only

appearance of

upward

The

bulge by eleven^'Sixteenths

sag, they also

entasjs.,

inwards so that

their central axes, if

a mile

where the sky

light
ally

is

The columns

above the

earth.

and

blocks are identical, each has

the other side of the temple.

extended upwards,

the diffusion of

apart, are fraction^

No

so on.
its

two marble

mirror image only on

The whole

subtly towards the pyramidal

very slightly

The corner columns,

might make them seem further

.

all tip

them and

seen between

nearer together

simple, unadorned

taper but, to prevent any

of an inch - the

would meet

curve, with a

building tends

- grace tending towards

strength.

Apart from
Phidias's
integral

the long^vanished

sculptures

shrine,

were in three 'movements',

with the architecture.

the pediments

Athene of the

the birth of

First,

were the

Athene

at

statues in

one end of the

temple, and Athene's contest with Poseidon for the

of Attica

at

against the

soil

the other end. These pediment sculptures

are over life-size; they are in the

40

all

shadow which

round and stood out

they cast

on

the wall behind

CLASSICAL GREECE

them. Like the columns themselves they were large

enough

to 'read'

from the

Second, and next in

streets

scale,

of the

city.

were the carvings on the

metopes - the slabs which, alternately with solid blocks,

formed a

above the columns and below the

frieze

The metope

cornice.

showing

struggles such

between the Centaurs and the Lapiths,

as the battle

are slightly less

intended

sculptures,

than

to 'read'

life-'Size

only

and

after

in high relief; they

were

one had climbed the

steps

of the Propylaea, and could view them across,

say, the

width of the Acropolis.

Third, the famous Parthenon

frieze.

This, not to be

confused with the metope carvings just referred

placed

The

^4

Theatre

Athens (c.jjo
great theatre
vision

in

Dionysus

of

BC)

was

the

therefore, be seen until

the world, with perject

originally

there

was meant

to

itself

Thus

frieze

has as

it

could be in very low

its

could not,

be seen -

relief

was

at

as

one

the wall

The whole

subject the Panathenaic procession to^

wards the ancient image of the goddess Athene kept

would

have been a narrower stage (at the top),

adequate for the small cast of a

it

It

stood under the colonnade and looked up

fast

and acoustics for an audience of

Hellenistic:

the top of the wall of the cella.

in

^0,000. The present stage arrangement

is

at

to,

the

Greek

Erechtheum and

famous

the

in

ceremony at the shrine. The most

figures are the lightly

prancing cavalry; the most

play, and a circular orchestra where the

chorus performed,

beautiful are the gods seated in easy conversation over

between actors and

the eastern

audience

doorway.

W^r-^'.-^'b-A^-^
M^-r

V'f

7/

4fi:/;' T'

'>*'^.,.

.^

^^

~.

Deep

CLASSICAL GREECE

in the crevices of the carving tiny traces of colour

have been found. All the sculptures were certainly highly

coloured, as were

the shrines

all

Mediterranean world
temple

may

for a

and sarcophagi of the

thousand

The whole

years.

even have been coloured. Those pale gods

may once have borne the touch of Madame Tussaud.

This is inescapable. The mouldering and moonlit ruin
- pagan

- was

or medieval

product of the Romantic

Movement. What the modern tourist thinks as he mounts

what were

the Acropolis,

the thoughts of the generation

of Byron or Chateaubriand, are thmgs that would have

incomprehensible

been

as utterly

with

his precise

mind

he

as

is

to the Periclean

Greek

to us.

At the foot of the Acropolis is the Theatre of Dionysus,

dating from
is

30 B c.

The

perhaps more beautiful and better preserved, but the

Theatre of Dionysus
theatres
all

Epidauros (350 B c)

theatre at

and indeed

the

is

been beyond

The Greeks

build a covered theatre.

to

means

their structural

all

Greek

way of Rome, of

the ancestor, by

the theatres in the world.

nor attempted

prototype of

neither needed
It

would have

to construct a

roof

J5 One of

did they attempt

up an auditorium of steeply raked

of arches and vaults,

their

own

did the Romans. Instead, the

as

perfect

Out

and

vision

Dionysus seated

perfect

thirty

Except

for the

the theatre as

Dionysus.

stage,

sufficient

actors. In front oi^ the

where the chorus commented on

The

the action of the play.

for

with

Theatre of

was narrow, but was

number of

marble thrones

the

seats,

thousand spectators. The

for the very limited

orkestra^

again, in

perfection within

acoustics,

it,

was the

at

Once

of doors, on marble

with a wall behind

stage

site.

temples, they aimed

limits.

build

on a substructure

seats

Greeks chose a naturally sloping

fact, as in the

to

the

front seats

use of the entire priesthood.

absence of scenery,

we know

it

were splendid

all

the essentials of

were present in the Theatre of

honour

in

the

front row of the Theatre of Dionysus.

The

Nor

of such enormous span.

the seats of

vast majority of the audience sat on

the tiers of marble steps, visible in the

background, built on the sloping hillside

Chapter Three

THE ROMAN EMPIRE

We

shall never quite

know what

it

was

that caused a

small Latin tribe to conquer the world and to build

that empire

from which we

are all

come - our

the

At

Roman Empire

tine

from somewhere

stretched

It

postal system
it

in Scot/-

What were the qualities of such

in

for

which

said Seneca,

superb administrators.

'came into the world with a

other.'

The

everything that the Greek was not.

The

one hand and a spade in the

Roman was

( i), the

Colos^

the Vestals (4), the Temple of Antonio

nus and Faustina f 5 j and the Temple of

Castor and Pollux (6). Off it to the

Temple of Augustus (y),

south lay the

the Basilica Julia

built cities.

sword

led past the

Temple of Venus and Roma (2), the

Basilica of Maxentius (j), the House of

with roads, law, garrisons and a

- organized and exploited, and

'The Roman',

the

Way

ad,

These were not ephemeral conquests. This was the

Rome -

From

seum

embraced much of Arabia and North Africa.

Empire which

right.

Sacred

Hill on the

and

land, north of Hadrian's Wall, right across to the Persian

Gulf

Rome c.AD

towards the Colosseum, with the Pala^

height, by the third century

its

Detail of a model of

joo, looking from the Capitoline Hill

laws, our

learning, our religion, our roads, our agriculture

our architecture.

j6

Saturn (g).

(8) and

To

the

the

Temple of

north stood the

AEmiliana (10) and the Curia

The
Imperial forums lay beyond,
(11).
built by Vespasian (12), Nerva (1^),
Basilica

Caesar

(14), Augustus (1^) and

Trajan (16). In the foreground is the

Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus (ly).

The public buildings have colonnades;
the private houses are plain

Greek and
Greece

failed,

Roman was
brilliant.

Roman were at opposite poles. Where

Rome was destined to succeed, while the

the

where the Greek had been most

to fail

The Athenian was inward^looking,

temptuous of the non-'Hellene; the

marched

to the

ends of the earth,

Roman

first

con^

legionary

conquering and

then absorbing the subject peoples, until not even the

emperors were necessarily

The Greco'-Roman
love/hates of history.
as effeminate
life,

and

relationship

with Greek thought.

was one of the

The Roman

tricky,

from the nursery

Roman.

and

yet all

despised the Greek

Roman

to the university,

Roman

great

intellectual

was

saturated

architecture adopted the

45

THE ROMAN EiMPIRE

trappings of the Greek

nices, etc.

- and

style

yet, so

- columns, pediments, cor^

unimportant

is 'style'

compared

with culture, the two architectures express the extremes

of human thought.

The Greek was

a deeply religious

architectural achievement
shrine.

The Roman, on

was

artist.

the temple

the other hand,

His

greatest

- the carved

saw

architecture

primarily as structure; he was absorbed by the enclosure

of space, of large floor areas, by means of vaults or domes

feats ot

engineering in stone, brick or concrete.

Roman was
in his use
ing.

of ornament, carving, mosaic, paint and gild/

These things,

dams
The Maison Carree at Nimes
( c. 16 BCj is the best^preserued Roman
temple. With its portico - of Corinthian

cohmns its

only on the entrance side and

bi flight

of steps

response of the

planning:

it

Roman

emphasizes the

all

too often, concealed the splendid

temple of town^

civic architecture in the street

rather than the

Greek

acropolis

or silos, the utilitarian structures

and aqueducts -

are

some of the

monuments, exemplifying

The

Roman

he

also the greatest vulgarian of history, lavish

simplicity of the underlying structure. Like our

^7

contrast

its

Roman

own

bridges, roads

Empire's

finest

finest qualities.

between the Greek temple and the

temple reveals the whole character of a people.

The Greek

temple, as

ai^d isolated.

we have

The Roman

seen,

was

a shrine, aloof

temple, like some Baroque

church, was a feature in the

street;

it

had

great flight of steps leading to a richly carved

portico.

One was

is

a quality of empire builders.

monumental form, one of the

left

to the

The Greeks

world.

Corinthian

was an

a tribute to the deity; the other

monument. Such

expression of imperial pride, an urban

pride

It

was, in

its

greatest things that

had

also

THE ROMAN EMPIRE

a facade with a

most

Rome

a wonderful sense

of town planning, but of a different kind - restrained

and exquisite
the

we have

as

already seen in our analysis of

buildmgs of the Acropolis. The Greek town of

Miletus has been called *one of the most splendid city

plans ever made',

combmmg

On

of a basic grid.

analysis,

great artistry with the use

however,

Greek work of the fourth century

modest - an agora and
extension of the

colonnaded

town on an imperial

we

BC

find that the

is

street.

extremely

j8 Looking

from

further

scale belongs to the

formal. All the

is

rest

Hellenistic;
is

it is

symmetrical and

Roman. The Roman gave

to

history not only engineering as the basis ot architecture,

mental

art.

The Roman

as

conscious and

monu^

virtually invented the capital

j6)

the

Temple of Castor and Pollux

stand, on the right.

On

the

(6)

still

the

Temple of Antoninus and Faustina

( ^), transformed into a church

directly

but also town-planning

Roman jorum

towards the Colosseum; three columns

from

second century and

along the

the Basilica Julia (8, in 111.

Maison

on the Sacred

it

stands

and, like the

Carr'ee, has a portico only at the

front

--^-

-^-"^ife^i.

^x\

Way

left,

THE ROMAN EMPIRE

Rome

city.

in

itself

was

the

first

of a long line culminating

And

Vienna, Paris and Washington.

ward expression of imperialism

with that out^

came

there

also into art

the 'grand manner' - the formal axis, the triumphal

arch, the culminating palace, the avenue,

and

With
there

which

also the

a city

is

made

Rome

and

palaces, theatres, temples, court?,

The Seven

with
skill

were covered with them. With

many were

their gilding

their large internal spaces,

In

Roman

other qualities.

We

art

and

may

the Classical age

sculpture,

produced

Basilica of Maxentiiis in

forum, finished sometime

It

consists

of three

coffered tunnel vaults,

aisle

the

after

vast

of the

Roman

AD jij.

niches

III.

^o).

The

the highest

expect to find

produced

all

we

kind.

little

look

for

fine, dignified

daring and

large,

or

refined

efficient

The Greeks of

architecture

of the highest order; Imperial

and

Rome

vast quantities of both, mostly second-rate.

areas of ancient

Rome

were slums.

Huge gim^

crack tenement blocks frequently collapsed, burying the

inhabitants in the ruins.

Each of

emperors, however,

mark upon

the

more important

with

which buttressed

the hi^h groin vaults of the central hall

(see

Large

all

serene,

architecture

ornament of

structures; lavish

surviving north

demanded

either

and even grandiose planning;

The

many,

of the engineer.

exalted.

jQ

Hills

their carvings

intensely vulgar;

The Roman was seldom

little

city,

innumerable types of building of

tenements, libraries, villas and so on.

of

vanity.

emergence into history of the capital

this

came

fountains

power and

the symmetrical attributes ot

all

tlie

decorative facing has

only partly due

left

his

to the policy

pacification of the

mob

the city. This

was

of 'bread and circuses', the

by doles and entertainments.

No

vanished, exposing the brick and mortar

whichjorm

the core of most great

and Byzantine buildings

Roman

doubt the amphitheatres,

baths in

Rome,

theatres,

arenas

and public

like the victories abroad, increased the

40 Reconstruction of the Basilica of

Maxentius (see 111. jg), looking to^
wards

western apse.

the

The nave

is

covered hy three massive coffered groin

vaults, makings large clerestory

possible

thermae

formed

scheme similar

(Ills.

hy

45,

piercing

44).
the

windows

to that in the

Aisles
big

are

lateral

buttresses

prestige

of the imperial power, but the emperors also

liked to

set

city.

own

the seal of their

The triumphal

magnificence upon the

arches, the equestrian statues, the

paved and colonnaded forums, the temples and the

courts were for posterity.

Rome,

for all this

grandeur, was a piecemeal

grandeur was mainly due

to

series

work of his

little

regard

Rome's wonderful

predecessor.

its

of pretentious

additions planned by each emperor with too

for the

city:

site,

the hills north of the Tiber, prevented any great system

of symmetry. Each of the six imperial forums must be

judged
as a

in isolation.

whole, and

for later builders

imagination.

is

Rome

now
that

We can

the larger forums

could never have been seen

so ruinous
it

still

became

it

a quarry

can be seen only through the

trace,

however, the outline of

and many of the buildings. Some of the

triumphal arches remain,

as

do the columns of Trajan

and Hadrian. The Pantheon,

great thermae

were

all

have been mutilated

structure remains as

the

virtually

and

Colosseum and

the

indestructible.

They

but their

basic

stripped,

Rome's precious

gift to the

world.

A substantial portion survives of the great Basilica Nova

of Maxentius, finished by Constantine

was groin^vaulted

after

ad

313.

It

in three vast bays, buttressed by mas-'

sive partitions in the aisles.

One of these

aisles still

stands

complete, with deeply coffered transverse tunnel vaults.

49

THE ROMAN EMPIRE

The Romans needed

They

large buildings.

liked the

massive and the durable, stone, brick and mass concrete.

They were

fortunate in having Pozzolana cement, the

best in the world.

Their architecture had

round arch, and they exploited

way of using

fully.

it

and

The

arch

on

When

it.

in position the arch

is

may

timber centering

be removed.

is

tem^

between

is fitted

stones

the last voussoir

number of wedge-shaped

voussoirs - are placed

the keystone

basis the

its

small stones to span a wide area.

porary arch of timber called 'centering'

the walls,

as

is

complete and the

Only

the crushing

strength of the material, capable of disintegrating under

own weight, sets

Romans frequently
its

The

span of the arch.

a limit to the

built arches with spans

of over 80

feet.

series

of arches

may

be built side by

This,

side.

obviously, will form a semi^'circular roof - a tunnel

This

vault.
if

is

the most elementary form of vault. Equally,

over a circular space a

meeting

at the centre,

section through a

number of arches

the result

dome

at

is

any point

is

and domes

arcades, vaults

dome.

was

be,

beam

exerts a direct

the arch.

are all variations

outward

Any

the wall over.

outward

downward

The Arabs have

sleeps'. It exerts

upon

stylistic

the

changes

Not

pressure.

so

a saying that *the arch never

thrust,

always trying

arch, vault or

opposed by

thrust

cross-'

the basis of European architecture.

might

an arch. Arches,

theme of the arch. This theme, whatever

there

are built, all

to

push

dome must have

counter^force such

this
as

another arch, a thick wall or a buttress. In Gothic

architecture the buttress
feature,

but decorative or not

be there even

somewhere

if,

as in

its

Roman

in the structure.

principle

architecture,

must always
it

is

hidden

This system of thrust and

counter^thrust,

while giving wonderful scope

to

planner,

one of the limitations of arcuated

build/-

ing.

50

became an important decorative

is

also

the

A continuous tunnel vault exerts tremendous thrust

along

Its

base and must

rest

on

a suitably thick wall; this

Lintel

^1

exerts thrust

(h)

construction

downwards (a) ;

directly

exerts force
the

round arch

downwards and outwards

a tunnel vault (c) therefore exerts

continuous pressure

wards

all

along

its

downwards and out^

In a groin

length.

vault (d), on the other hand, four arches

intersect, concentrating the thrust at the

corners; the sides can therefore he open,

hut should idealhheequal in width.

succession o fmomvaultsy e

is

possihle,

with high clerestory windows, so long as

the corners oj each hay are huttressed

(see

is

cumbersome

windows.

It

in itself

creates

exemplified in the

and an obstruction

to

111.

40)

adequate

an architecture of weight and gloom,

Romanesque

style

of the pilgrimage

roads (see p. 103).

The Romans, however,

method known

as the groin vault.

This consists of two

tunnel vaults over a square bay;

intersecting

problems

discovered the more ingenious

j , it

concentrated the thrust

of the vaulting bay;

total abolition

four corners; 3,

2,

it

made

it

at the four

of the wall except for buttresses

it

enabled large

it

corners

possible, in theory, the

windows

to

high up under the arches of the vaults - the

4,

solved five

at the

be inserted
clerestory;

enabled the timber centering used for one bay of

51

THE ROMAN EMPIRE

vaulting to be dismantled and used again for the next

bay;

5,

it

enabled several square bays to open one from

the other.

The

mam

halls

of the great thermae usually

consisted of three square vaultmg bays, each about 80

feet,

givmg

long, splendidly
filling the

^2, 4j

(AD

Thermae of Caracalla, Rome

211-ij): air view from the

west, and plan (opposite).

may

The

semicircular area in the foreground

site
still

view

air

easily be collated with the plan

the

is

the

of the calidarium ( ^). The ruins

show the massiveness of Roman

structure.

The

highly symmetrical nature

of the plan, as well as

main

entrance,

between

small baths and shops;

halls; ( j ) fri^^idarium

with tepidarium

rows of

(2) entrance

(4) central

hall,

south; ( f^) cali^

darium; (6) private baths; (y) suda^
toria;

nasia;

lit,

and with

side aisles

addition,

space between the buttresses. All the main

structural elements of the great cathedrals

vaults, clerestory - as

we

find

them

- nave,

aisles,

thousand years

now inherent in European architecture.

The Roman thermae were not mere public baths;

later,

feet

were

were an

essential part

exercise

and culture during

of public

life,

they

centres for business,

the day, centres for pleasure

during the night. Agrippa, Trajan, Caracalla and Dio^

is

(opposite) are

clear. Its chieffeatures

(i)

vastness,

its

wide and 240

a rectangular hall 80 feet

cletian all
cities

- no

gave large thermae in the larger provincial

less

than eleven in the North African

Timgad. The vaulted

halls,

the

main

city

of

architectural

legacy of the thermae, were only the core of a vast

com/

to the

(8) open peristyles;

(10) park with

( g)

^ym^

(11)
(12) lecture halls and lib^
(ij) reservoirs; (14) Marcian
trees;

plex of rooms and courts.

for instance,

were a

fifth

The Thermae of

Caracalla,

of a mile across. They were laid

out in a small park with a running track, a grandstand

stadium;
raries;

aqueduct

"and a wrestling arena.

the tepidarium opened,

While

had

the

main

hall, off

which

three bays of vaulting, the hot

bath

(caJ 'iidri'^*^)

^^^^^

Hnr"H

This

envisage as gorgeously painted and

The

dome we must
with steam.

filled

heating was achieved by forcing hot

brick flues built under the floor

the walls.

The cold bath -

elaborate as the others

to the sky.

its

and

air

in the thickness of

the frigidarium

decoration, but

The thermae needed

through

- was

was open

a big water supply.

the fourteen aqueducts bringing water across the

pagna

to

as

OT

Cam^

Rome, one was wholly reserved for the Thermae

of Caracalla.

The

subsidiary rooms included

many

private

massagez-rooms and dining^halls.

There

theatres, libraries, lecture halls, as well as

bath/'tooms,

small

53

The

^4

Thermae of

tepidarium of the

Diocletian

(AD

j0 2)

converted by

Michelangelo into a church, Sta Maria

degli

Angeli

scale

and

ing,

of such

Basilica
the

in

Rome shows

clearly the

structure, as well as the li^ht^

Roman

vaulted halls as the

ofMaxentius

central

hall

Caracalla (4,

of

in III.

(Ills,

the

^g, 40) and

Thermae of

^j)

were two gymnasia

for the training

was highly formal and

cost

of youths.

The

plan

rigidly symmetrical at the absurd

of duplicating every item of accommodation on

either side

of the main axis. Symmetry must have been

thought of as synonymous with grandeur.

The Roman
scientific

vaulted hall gave Europe

structure.

It

thermae also show the

purpose building.

was
first

its

first

large

semmal building. The

functional plan of a multi^'

A replica of the hall of the Thermae

of Caracalla could be seen until recently in the now^

demolished concourse of Pennsylvania Station,

New

York (1906-10). The Thermae of Agrippa (20 bc)

have vanished, so have the Thermae of Trajan. The

Thermae of Diocletian (ad

three

302),

thousand bathers, were similar

Caracalla; the vaulted hall

may

still

accommodating

to the

Thermae of

be seen, converted

by Michelangelo in the sixteenth century into the

54

Church of Sta Maria degH Angeli.

In devising the groin vault the

Romans went

solving the problem of a highly archie

way towards

tectural, fireproof roof over a large area.

one Hmitation.

The

fact that the arches

of the vaulting bay had

to give a level

bays,

and

module.

was

left

on

the

four sides

all

same height -

on

a system of planning

to the builders

eleventh century to
steeply

all to rise to

There remained

roof line - necessitated square vaulting

imposed

this
It

a long

make

a square

of St^Denis in the

the breakthrough, to build

pointed arches over short spans,

less

steeply

4S,

46 Plan and

theon

in

pointed arches over wide spans, thus giving complete

flexibility

of plan. Meanwhile, however, despite

tyranny of the square bay, the

Romans were

this

able to

building vaults only over

square bays inhibited the plan so building

domes only

over circular spaces also inhibited the plan. In the

Romans

gave

to their

circular

to solve the

dome

Pantheon

ad

left it to

problem of effectively placing

over a square.

(as rebuilt

dome

Byzantine

successors a magnificent inspiration, but they

Byzantium

recesses,

The

The Romans also developed the arcuated system in

the dome. The essential problem of dome building, hoW''

of the Pantheon the

cut into at a

but

120-4;

an absolute

an attached portico.

low
their

The

Pan^

circle

^^

with

thick walls are

level by

niches and

mass

carried

is

up

around the base of the vast coffered dome.

build on a very large scale.

ever, they never solved. Just as

(AD

Rome

different scales),

section of the

On

its

own

terms, the

120-4) ^^^ o"^ of the

domes of the world, with Hagia Sophia

in

five great

Byzantium,

big open 'eye' at the top lights the

room,

while

reducing

the

therefore the thrust, of the

weight,

dome

and

^7

^"

Pantheon, showing
panelling.

Note

columned

recesses

colonnettes.
lit

view

iSth^century

The

through the

its

original

the

of

marble

alternation

interior is dramatically

'eye',

of the dome,

bolized

the

sun

of

and niches flanked by

^ivin^ a spotlij^ht

effect; surrounded by bronze stars

cojjers

the

at

in the

this

opening sym^

the

centre

of the

universe

Duomo

the

Paul's in

in Florence,

Rome and

St Peter's in

London. Hagia Sophia covered

floor area but

was not impressive

the greatest

externally; the later

domes of Florence, Rome and London - being

have

their

tremendous outward thrust countered by

being chained in

domes,

The

at the base.

as well as the simplest,

The Pantheon

is

is

feet

dome

is

It

56

is

would

was dedicated

planets. Jts sphe rical

The_great

impressiv e of

Pantheon

exactly the same,

and

semi^circular. In other words, a sphere 142

6 inches in diameter

Pantheon.

the

m ost

a circular temple, 14 2 feet 6 inch es

in diameter. Its internal height

the

sur-'

lanterns - have dramatic skylines, but have

mounted by
to

St

'eye' in the

form

is

fit

exactly inside the

to the deities

symT)o lic

dome, 27

of the seven

ot the

cosmos?^

feet across, is the

oriTy"^

source of light, and was symbolic of the sun; the bronze

stars originally set in

dome was once

Exter nally the

tiles

each coffer were the

so that seen fro

of heaven.

covered with gjolden

48 The Pantheon,

the surrounding hills

the central altar, the

it

again

priest sacrificed a beast

smoke wound upwards

to

'eye',

while the single shaft of sunlight cast

shadows downwards.

If the halls

among

interiors

the most

Pantheon
spite

of

was no
ing.

Its

is

among

with

less impressive

columns

is

The

unjluted

characteristically

portico

Corinthian

Roman -

must always have been awkward

in

relation to the rotunda

of the ancient world, the

- or because of

it

all

time.

In

- the Pantheon

solution to the essential problem of dome builds

The

content.

rotunda, though large,

and with

The rotunda

the lower part

IS it

giant

its

which once

tiles

now

of the thermae were

the most solemn of

simplicity

ever invented,

gaudy

all

is

externally than internally.

hut

the

stripped of its marble

sheathing and the gilded

covered the dome,

symbol ized the sun._When the

upon

stars

far

is

the simplest form

that simplicity the

has a wall 20

feet

Romans were

thick and only in

below the Hne of the dome's

thrust

The

wall's

cut into by recesses for altars or statues.

57

:^"^

^mmmm

full

thickness

is

taken up above the dome's springing

level so that the thrust

weight

at the

dome's

can be met by piling mass and

base, while the

the simple expedient of omitting

means of the

central 'eye'.

the limits of a

dome

direct

The

is

lightened by

altogether, that

is,

by

The whole problem, within

over a circle,

is

thus met in the most

manner.
arch, in

us such

its

development

monuments

a simple arch
as bridges

S8

it

apex

it

as the

as vault

and dome, gave

thermae or the Pantheon.

As

gave us such highly functional things

and aqueducts. The

Pont du Card near Nimes

finest

is

probably the

in southern France

(cad

14).

JnS^'*
-fiaMPt-*-'*^'

"

"^

*t^
It

was 900

feet

across the valley,

long and carried the water channel

1

80

feet

above the

river

Card, on

three

4g The Pont du Gard,

1

4, carried the

Nlmes
ranges of arches.

Its strictly utilitarian

by the fact that the projecting stones

character

is

shown

which were used

to

support the centering and scaffolding were never cut

in a

the river.

built about

water supply of the

AD

city

This virtuoso use of arches -

the bridge still stands to its full height

the

of

channel some 180 feet above

finest

Roman

display

is

of pure

engineering

back. This was engineering rather than 'architecture' the

;

Romans
known that

would have been astonished could they have

it

works. Thanks

would be regarded
to the

as

one of

thermae and the fountains, Rome's

water consumption was about the same

torian

their finest

London, but of

the city only fragments

the

now

as that

of Vic^

many aqueducts supplying

remain.

A substantial part

59

THE ROMAN EMPIRE

of the Segovian Aqueduct in Spain

however, survive:

does,

another splendid range of arches

it is

The most obvious

use of the arch

is

ment, the triumphal arch. Indeed,

it

Romans had

as there

and

io)

under the Emperor Augustus.

built

the

(ad

was

to

may

be said that

with the arch,

a pathological obsession

dome

be a Byzantine obsession with the

One Roman emperor

arch to his own glory.

Gothic one with the tower.

another built a triumphal

after

smgle monu/

as a

The Arch of Trajan

at

more elaborate and

often their ornate realism obscures

Ancona (ad 113) stands simply

and proudly on the quay; it commands the eye whether
from land or sea. The triumphal arches in Rome are
the nobility of the basic arcuated form.

mitted that, in the end,

who
Arc

in

1807 built the

finest

the

must be

ad/-

Emperor Napoleon

triumphal arch of

the

all,

de Triomphe in Paris.

much more

hidden

important use of the arch was in the

While

structure.

now

Palatine are
as

was

it

It

was

it

on the

Prior to the invention of the

steel

the arch or vault alone that could carry a

superstructure,

made

villas

only a legend, their foundations exist

vaulted cellars.

girder

and

the palaces

and

possible the

it

was

this

Roman

function of the arch that

theatre.

The Greek

theatre,

such as the Theatre of Dionysus in Athens, was a

wonderful auditorium, never excelled. But,

seen (pp. 42-3)
since the

it

was

in

seating could be supported except

The Romans could

theatres

wherever

it

on

necessarily built

Greeks knew of no way

as

a sloping

which

on

we have
site

the raked

the solid earth.

build their theatres and amphi^'

suited them, the seating supported

by range upon range of arches.

Both the

theatre

important in

and

Roman

arenas were not - as

given over

to

the amphitheatre or arena were

architecture
is

more

culture.

The

popularly supposed - wholly

throwing Christians

secutions were occasional episodes.

60

and

often used for violent

to lions.

The

and dangerous

The

per/

arenas were

sports, tattoos.

50

The Arch of Trajan at Ancona

iij) was purely decorative and

(AD

ceremonial, standing in isolation on the

end of the quay. While simpler than the

arches in

Rome,

it

has the same features

a central opening with flanking features

framed by columns, and an

above the cornice.

The

'attic'

stage

tripartite division

of the triumphal arch gave architecture a

new mot f (see,

e.g. Ills,

igg, 201, 204)

naval displays - for which purpose they could be flooded

- and

for gigantic spectacles, often sadistic

and obscene.

Equally the theatres were not devoted entirely

to

bawdy

comedies; serious drama, including the great Greek

plays,
selves

was performed

to full houses.

were a step forward in the long

The

theatres

them^

story that runs

the simple outdoor arenas of ancient Crete to the

from

modern

opera house.

The Romans

turned the plain skena wall which had

backed the Greek

stage into

columns, niches and

an elaborate

statuary,

although

set
it

piece with
still

lacked

any naturalistic scenery. They enlarged the stage and

greatly increased the backstage

with

elaborate

productions.

promenades were

now

accommodation
Restaurants,

to

cope

foyers

and

major part of the theatre plan.

Almost all the larger Roman

cities

- Verona, Pompeii,

Nimes, Aries, Pula - had big amphitheatres and

61

THE ROMAN EMPIRE

theatre as well; even small towns, such as

(St
in

Albans)

in Britain,

Jordan (ad 100)

had

one

theatre. Jerash

good provincial example.

is

at least

Verulamium

had stepped stone seating supported on

roof,

but

this

was apparently only over

the stage.

even in a northern climate, the cheaper

of the Elizabethan theatres were not covered.)

theatre seated four

many

5i

The

(c.AD

staj^e

at

Sabratha

200) was backed by

in

Libya

three tiers

of coloured stone columns. Actors entered

through three passaj^es marked by taller

columns, such as the one visible on the

right.

Below

front
reliefs

is

the stage

curved
is

and

- whose

raised

decorated

with

the semi' circular orchestra;

AD

50.

feet

feet

is

seats

The Jerash

hundred, about twice

Opera House. Aspendus

that at

(We

good

in

Asia

preservation, but the

Orange

in

Provence, built

This seated seven thousand. The diameter

of its half^circle

and 45

five

a similar theatre in

most magnificent
about

thousand

as the Paris

Minor has

with an ornate back wall. There was a timber

recall that,

as

an

from the wings, and

orchestral area, actors' entrance

large stage

vaults,

It

is

deep.

340

The

high. There are

feet.

The

stage

was 203

feet

great surrounding wall

still

stone corbels

on

this

wide

was 116
wall to

support the masts from which was slung the velarium or

stage

The

back of the
was most elaborate - a kind of Roman Baroque -

awning,

and the

for

shading the

central niche

seats.

still

wall

at the

holds a white marble statue of

stone seats rise on vaulted cor^

around

it

ridors.

Large halls on

stage served as foyers

either side

of the

Augustus. The most complete ornate

frons) survives at Sabratha in

stage wall (scaenae

North Africa.

The
in

largest

Rome.

It

finished by
ruins, but

the

of the amphitheatres was the Colosseum

Domitian twelve

enough

is

whole building.

and

rises

on

ad 70
Much of

was begun by Vespasian

flat

years later.

had

53 Colosseum,

82)

in

shows

below.

a big ellipse

site

where

there

feet

by

was once

therefore to be built

and some

radial,

The amphitheatre

hills.

up on

5 1 3 feet,

Both plan and

a lake,

All the
a

most

some concentric

and some containing

seated

but could be cleared in a few minutes.

down upon

the

fifty

thousand,

The

seats

were

divided by horizontal gangways into four classes - the

two lower being

box was
at the
feet.

at

for those

of patrician rank.

The imperial

one end of the arena, the gladiators' entrance

opposite end.

Beneath

it

was

The
a

was 287 feet by 180

maze of rooms - stores, dressing/arena

itself

rooms, animals' dens and so on. With the floor of the

arena

position

of the

(1-4)

emperor's

620

It is

in the vaulted corridors, looking

street

the

entrance (a), gladiators' entrances (h),

the exit staircases. In the intervals the audience could

stroll

yoThe com^

emperor's box (c) and consul's box (d).

now removed many

of these can be seen.

The

section

show

clearly the

system of radial walls which supported

the

seating,

ridors

and provided access

and promenades.

The

cor-^

section

(across the right half of the plan) also

shows
ellipse

(AD

Rome

half-^section.

preserved to enable one to envisage

elaborate series of vaulted corridors,

with the

plan and

posite plan of the four storeys

it is

between the Esquiline and the Caelian

stone seating

and

in

52,

right

the position of the masts

- which

top

supported the velarium

shading the imperial box

5^ Colosseum, Rome. Note

the use

superimposed orders, each with

of

own

its

from masts, was moved round

velarium, slung

hot afternoon wore on;

said that sailors

it is

as the

manipulated

entablature, in the form oj halj^ columns

attached to piers, and pilasters on a plain

wall.

Behind

were promenades

the arches

the ropes. In fact this velarium

may have done

than shade the imperial box.

The
is

outer wall of the

Colosseum

divided into four storeys.

is

157

The lower

eighty arched openings, separated by

feet

high, and

three each have

Roman

versions

of the orders - Tuscan (plain and unfluted),

35,

Opposite,

<)6

(c.AD

120)

above:

Petra

at

rock^cut

'Treasury' opens

orthodox

way

to frame

an

un^

a kind of circular

- playing with
way that looks

temple with an ornate top

shapes and motifs

forward

to

Baroque

Below: Timgad,
typical

Roman

triumphal

arch

bottom, then Ionic, then Composite.

in

(111.

built

is

In the southern half

c.AD

100 on

From

colonnaded

lie

is

articulated by pilasters.

at

the

solid wall

The

of

structure

of mass concrete faced with brick, the brick casing

actually forming the shuttering into

was poured. The Colosseum

is

which

the concrete

equally impressive as a

2^1).

grid plan.
the

the top stage

the

main

structure

Some

the

forum (top

picture) and theatre

vinces,

and

as a piece

of planning for large crowds.

of the most exotic

outlying

street runs eastward, bisecting the town.

left in the

The

upper pediment oj the

the

more

little

cities

Roman

architecture

is

in the

of the Empire, more in the Eastern

where old cultures

pro^-

existed, than in the bleak,

barbaric lands of Western Europe. Jerash and Petra

Lebanon, Timgad

in Jordan, Baalbek in

Africa and, above

imposition of the

Roman
The

or oriental culture.

many
as

Palmyra ...

all,

result

is

these

show an

upon an existmg Greek

a

heady mixture, and in

of these towns there are architectural features such

broken pediments and curving walls which were

not seen again until the

century

Rome. The

is

older than

rise

Rome, but

columns

is

the

been

'rose red city, half as old as time'

the actual rock, are late

stylized; so too

of Baroque in seventeenth-'

theatre at Jerash has already

mentioned. Petra - the

style

all

North

in

its

dramatic tombs, cut from

Roman,

extremely rich and

town gateway, where Corinthian

are used purely as sculptural decoration.

Palmyra was an

ment on one of

oasis city,

the

first

Asian caravan

camp, then

settle-'

routes, then finally

Roman town. It reached the peak of its great

prosperity about ad 270. Rose Macaulay wrote in The

a wealthy

Pleasure of Ruins:

'What we

see today,

ochre^coloured colonnades, the

with

its

the fabulous

Temple o[

the

Sun

pillared court, the great fields of ruins like a

garden of broken daffodils, lying within the long low

shattered

line

oi^

Justinian's

wall,

is

Graeco-'Roman

S7

lined

(late

main
with

street at

Palmyra,

Corinthian

in

Syria,

colonnades

of the more

florid

There was a big marble/

period.'

paved forum. The surrounding

streets

were colonnaded

2nd century). The brackets held

bronze statuettes

end o( each was focused upon

and the

vista

either

triumphal arch or another colonnade.

at

the

columns gave shade

Many

to the footwalks.

The

of them

have projecting stone brackets about two^thirds of the

way

up. These bore bronze statues, and

had mats hung from them

the shops. This gorgeous
to the

may

to give additional

and

lively scene

Emperor Severus whose empress was

also

have

shade

owed much
a Syrian.

Baalbek (the Greek Heliopolis or City of the Sun)

rich

in

marble and

It

was

built

of Caracalla, and has two of the

better preserved

Temple of Bacchus
most complete

(late

Roman

portico has a ceiling

incredible richness.

mainly in the time

finest

diameter.

It

temples outside

of the two, the so-called

second century), has one of the

interiors to

have survived. The

made of solid

blocks of marble of

The

less

well preserved temple, that

of Jupiter, has monolithic columns 65

feet in

is

magnificently sited, with the

is

temples on rising ground.

Rome. The

to

was

the

crowning

feet

high and 7

feature of a vast

town-'planning sequence; a huge hexagonal court and

a propylaea with bronze gates were only a part of

66

ramp

led

down

to a crypt

beneath the

altar

it.

where a

could be kept ready

sacrificial beast

interior

the

in

for slaughter.

of the temple was described by a French

nineteenth

own

weight of its

century as

'groaning

THE ROMAN EMPIRE

The

traveller

beneath the

luxuriance'.

In the face of such buildings as the Pantheon, the

Colosseum

must take second

place.

population, in certain
port of Ostia
six storeys

Roman

or these Asiatic temples, the

were

Under
cities

the pressure of increasing

- notably

Rome and

large tenements of brick with as

built.

Though

house

these

might

easily

many

its

as

become

squalid rabbit-warrens, they were a rational solution to

the

problem of housing

large

numbers where buildings

land was expensive. Unlike the typical

they

had windows

Roman

villa,

to the street.

>,8 Reconstruction of the 'Temple of

Bacchus' at Baalbek (late 2nd century).

The walls have two

Any

simple Mediterranean town o( today, on the

other hand,

Roman

may

give

some

idea of what the middle^class

house looked Hke: white walls,

no windows

porting^ a coffered

At Its

best

it

roof and sometimes an inner court.

was simple, cool and secluded. In Pompeii,

of niches linked

wooden

ceiling.

In the

up a flight of steps at the far end,

arrangement was repeated with

shrine,
this

to the street, a flat

tiers

by giant Corinthian half^columns sup-'

columns ofgreen marble, and crowned by

a broken

pediment

i-i

where many wealthy Romans had

some

their villas,

5p Opposite, above

houses were more elaborate than others, but were

Apart from

the forum, the theatre

and other public buildings, Pompeii was a town of

narrow

streets,

the stone paving

the chariot wheels.

group of houses,
if the

owner was

otherwise

all

Each house,

filled a

into grooves

ad

shops;

lined

street

with

houses

with

a fuller's

shop on the

and

left

is

advertised by walUpaintin^s

by

was

a door and,

an open shop

to the street;

rooms looked inwards.

sometime before

walks,

or each back-'to-'back

block. There

a shopkeeper,

the

worn

paved

still

raised

basically of this type.

Via delV Ahhon^

danza, Pompeii.

79, the year

dates

It all

when

from

Vesuvian

the

eruption both buried and preserved the town. Luxurious

villas,

such

House of

as the

House of

the Vettii, the

Pansa or the House of the Faun might have

colonnaded
and the atrium with a central pool -

internal courtyards

around

cloister

it,

the peristyle with a

around which the public rooms,

for services

and

tainment, and the family rooms were grouped.

effect as

shaded

several

one entered from the

vista slashed across

street

was

with sunlight.

enters

The

total

that of a long

The decoration

of these rooms - richly coloured panels framing painted

fantasies

in the likeness of arbours,

little

temples or

dancing nymphs - was among the more charming of

the sophisticated styles of history.

'Pompeian' rooms
60,

61

Opposite,

House of the
appears
it

Vettii,

below,

and

left:

Pompeii. Its layout

in the plan, left: entered at

(a)

had, in addition to bedrooms, a major

atrium

(b), peristyle

and garden (c),

rooms (d), large triclinium or

reception

dining-room (e)

the peristyle; in a

all these

opening off

more private area

to

were the women's quarters (f),

kitchen (g) and a small atrium with
the right

shrines of the ancestors (h).

Opposite,
atrium

below,

with

its

the

pool

view from
(b,

in

the

plan)

towards the peristyle (c)

69

found among the

62 Detail of a model of Hadrian's Villa

are

(c.AD

Empire

Many

ijo).

were symbolic
'Poikile'

was

(6)

of

its

features

thus the pattern for the

meeting^place in Athens; the 'Canopus'

Canal

do)

Erechtheum

lined with copies of the

caryatids

to

an

At

the

led

'Egyptian' shrine, the Serapeum.

hub of the scheme was the palace ( i J

with its courts, of which the most re"
markable

around
circular

sophers'

is

the

were

Piazza d'Oro (2);

libraries

(j), the curious

Naval Theatre

( ^), the 'Philo"

it

Hall'

( ^),

stadium

baths (8) and storerooms (g)

In

Rome

itself

some

galleries)

Only

outside

the

and

Golden House of Nero (except

the other palaces have

Rome, where Hadrian's

all

Villa

for

vanished.

(cad

130)

stretches for over a mile near Tivoli, are there pools,

fountains,

courts,

Greek sculpture and

the

ruins of

colonnades, libraries and music^rooms. Here the great

Emperor, creator of the Pantheon,

the

(y),

and of Georgian and Regency

England.

philosophers'

the

France,

in

rich interiors both of the First

Greek

ideal

serene years.

who

almost realized

of the philosopher-'king, passed

his last

Chapter Four

THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE

The

sequel

logical

to

Roman

architecture

Early

is

West

Christian. But the story of architecture in the

forms such a continuous whole that

not to disturb

it.

it

seems preferable

have therefore chosen

Byzantine architecture (a combination,

briefly,

to deal

with

put

very

to

of Roman and Eastern currents) before going on

developments in the West that were

to the

Carolingian and Romanesque

On

it

25 July in

AD

to lead via

Gothic.

to

306, outside the walls of York,

Constantine was acclaimed Emperor of the World, his

legionaries raising
later,

him

aloft

upon

a shield.

Seven

years

in the Edict of Milan, Constantine gave freedom

and oflBcial standing to the Christian Church. Although

Constantine was baptized only on

his

deathbed, he

proclaimed himself the Thirteenth Apostle and believed

that after death he

would be absorbed

into the Trinity.

His choice of a saviour and messiah, out of all the multi^

farious deities available to
political. It secured for

the people.

upon

Even

so,

him

him, was opportunist and

the loyalty o{ the

with the subject

tribes pressing

the frontiers of a dying Empire,

in peril,
capital

and

from

Rome

Rome

to the old Hellenic

The new
night'

hard

herself was

in 334 Constantine decided to

zantium upon the shores of the Bosphorus.

momentous

army and

move

his

town of By/
It

was

most

decision.
city

which

'arose like

an exhalation in the

was renamed Constantinople, but

the culture of

which it was the heart will always be known as Byzantine.

That

city

was founded upon

a key strategic

site,

the

71

THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE

meeting^place of all the maritime and caravan routes of

the ancient world. Cities as far apart as

were within
within

its

knowledge.

its

and Christian

many

of

immediate

while Peking was

orbit,

was intended

It

to

races calling themselves

Greek

be a great Latin

Although governed by emperors

capital.

submerged by the

But Christian

culture.

- Romaioi -

Roman

the Latin elements were in fact soon

existing

Venice and Kiev

it

remained from

the fourth century to the fifteenth, from the arrival

Constantine until

seemed

to

some men

Byzantium
almost
to

all

to

Turks

That

in 1453.

fall

be the end of the world.

Greek world were Greek - and married

inherited the artistry of the

individual

the structural

it

to the

it fell

oi^

artists

and engineering genius of Rome.

It

could escape neither the colour nor the mysticism of the

East.

All

this

Byzantium exploited

Church which was

architecture,

both in

intent,

upon showing

had been transmuted

of the

to the glory
its

liturgy

that the teachings

and

its

of Jesus

an institution which was

into

imperial, powerful, hierarchical, sacerdotal

and

divine.

The result was one of the great architectures of history.

The key, the sign manual, of Byzantine architecture
the

is

dome. To understand

those basic structural forms of

of which travelled westwards

this

we must

Roman

to

glance

architecture,

one

be ultimately developed

Europe; while the other

into the cathedrals of medieval

eastwards to be developed into the

travelled

at

domed

churches of the Byzantine Empire.

Roman

was

architecture

rich

and complex, but two

main elements may be detached from

Among
there are

the various great halls that the

Romans

built

two basic types - the rectangular and the

circular.

Whatever

Roman

architecture

followed upon the

the

the total picture.

long^aisled

stylistic

changes might transform

during the thousand years that

fall

of the Empire,

basilica

and

the

it

is

vaulted

obvious that
hall

of the

thermae - both rectangular - contained in embryo almost

72

all

the structural elements of the Gothic cathedral.

The

and the vaulted

basilica

architecture,

of the long
bays,

all

merged

hall

make medieval

to

an architecture of the long perspective,

of the repetitive rhythm of vaulting

vista,

dim and

leading to the

distant mystery of the

sacrament concealed within the chancel.

The Byzantine

story

quite different. Gothic

is

Byzantine architecture are best

them

one another: they

to

point.

by opposing

clarified

are contrasts in structure,

and decoration. Rome, however,

A more impressive achievement than the Roman

handling of the rectangular hall was the circular

The

greatest

dome

history (see pp.

lit

the

Romans

one of the

internally at least

circle

plan

the starting--

still

is

and

by a circular eye

truly great buildings

at its

was cosmic.

a complete

It

an imperial and

to

was

built

by Hadrian

but must have been admired by Constantine.

pagan and Roman, and

yet also

of

apex - must have had

tremendous emotional appeal

It

the Pantheon,

The Pantheon -

55-7).

hierarchic mind.

was

built

hall.

was

It

was

a perfect expression

of the Byzantine mind.

The Pantheon was

which

not the only

the Byzantine architects

more than academic

Roman

must have studied with

Another was

interest.

building

(AD

64 Minerva Medica, Rome

260 and later) plan, and section along

6j,

appears

Temple of Minerva Medica,

AD

260, with a

dome

80

feet

pagan nymphaeum of

in diameter.

The Minerva

Medica, however, was not a square but a decagon,

involving only tiny pendentives

at

each of its ten corners.

Ribs within the thickness of the dome concentrated the

thrust

on

massive

to the ten

piers, so that

ten piers there need be virtually

apses could

open out from

The

the entrance axis.

original design

the so^-called
Crete

in

dome

black on the plan.

rested

on

The

decagon,

con^
hut^

tressed by nine small apses; pendentives,

(The
apses proved inadequate, and buttresses at the top in the plan - and large
however embryonic, were

there.

exedrae were added)

between those

no wall, and ten spacious

the central area, a

Roman

foreshadowing of Byzantine achievement.

Some Roman domed

- had been turned

buildings - mausolea, thermae

into Christian churches,

new domed churches had been

ing

is

the fourth^century S.

built),

West

which seems

the

dome

to

built: the

Lorenzo

at

and

most

Milan

a few

interest^

(since

re-'

foreshadow S. Vitale. But in the

never became an accepted architectural

73

THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE

Even

feature.

in the East, the precedents before Jus^

and most of them

tinian are few

Church of

The
first

dodged

the Resurrection at Jerusalem)

by being roofed with

real issue

Constantme's

(e.g.

wood

the

rather than stone.

story of Byzantine architecture, therefore, involves

the solution of the structural problems mherent

dome

building; second, the discovery of a decorative

system suitable for such buildings; third, the integration

of plan and
In

fact,

liturgy, or

of course,

solution

is

what we would

call 'function'.

any great architecture, the

final

unity wherein structure, decoration

and

as in

function are indissolubly one.

Magnificent
clearly to

its

exerts thrust

was

as

own
and

concentrated

the

dome

limitations.

at

Roman

or

dome

giant igloo with walls 20

outward push of

all

dome. The

its

it is

the leastflexible of all plan forms

it

Unlike the

round

its

designed

thrust

base,

to

and

just a

meet the

Pantheon

circular

not planning. The

is

circle is

- incapable of development

meet the functional requirements

The

arcuated;

The Pantheon was

feet thick,

magnificently simple; but

more elaborate

is

the four corners of each vaulting bay,

needs continuous abutment.

to

pointed only too

Gothic - where the

continuous thrust

exerts

it

therefore needs abutment.

intersecting vault is

the Pantheon,

of, for

example, a

ritual.

structural

and planning problem of the Byzantine

architect was, therefore, quite simply that of building

circular

domes over square

spaces.

Once

that

was done

then, clearly, the sides of the square could be penetrated

by arches and open out into other squares, other areas of

the plan. Square could

by

its

own dome.

flexibility.

on -

IS

building.

When
74

into square, each topped

This gave the planner

The arrangement of the

central area, the

so

open out

semi^domed

in fact

How

much

greater

various spaces - the

apse, the vaulted aisles

and

one of the great charms of Byzantine

was

it

one draws a

triangular areas are

done?

circle inside a square, four

left

over at the corners.

roughly

When a dome

was

built over a square

somehow
concrete.

to

it

was

these four corners that

be bridged - whether

On

THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE

had

in stone, brick or

a small scale various devices were used

a simple stone slab from wall to wall might serve.

On a

big scale something more truly structural was needed.

The

solution

was eventually found

The pendentive

is,

as

it

in the 'pendentive'.

were, a small triangular segment

of dome rising from each corner of the square; these four

segments meet

may

to

form a

circle

upon which

the true

dome

then be built: the transformation from square to

^5

A dome, like an arch, exerts pressure

downwards and outwards

The

circumference.

As

therefore circular (a).

vault,
thrust,

the

all

wall must

The problem of placing

is

continuous

resist

of thrust (see

line

its

with a tunnel

and can only he cut

below the

round

simplest support

into

III.

well

^6).

dome over

square, thus liberating the wall

and

the

plan, can he solved in two ways. In the

first, the corners are bridged

with straight

stone slabs (b) or a series of small arches

'squinches'

formed

(see

until an octagonal base

Conques,

III.

second, curved triangular segments (c)

'pendentives'

are

is

g^). In the

inserted

into

the

spaces between the four arches that form

the

square.

solution,

Sophia

This

seen for

(III.

is

the

instance

Byzantine
at

Hagia

ji)

7S

THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE

key

Byzantine architecture

to

Once

buttress to Gothic.

the

The

been achieved.

circle has

way

open

is

is

as

much

ribbed vault and

as are the

the architect has this key then

dome always

central

attracted the

Byzantine builder, but once this method of setting a

on

had been arrived

a square

own dome

its

producing a

other,

domed bay

cluster

whole

could be

of square

alongside each

became almost comparable

then

in scale.

alternatives.

series

set

Three

large

dome

of domes. The Byzantine

Gothic vaulted bay; always, however,

Roman

were

at there

dome,

Instead of one central

bays each with

the

permutations and combinations of

to all

dome building.
The dominating

pendentive

domed

it

the

to

remained large

bays are enough to

span the iSo^foot length of St Mark's, Venice, while ten

vaulted bays are needed to span the length of the nave

York

The one

Minster.

object of the Gothic builder

of weight and mass,

to get rid

at

was

to let in light, to arrive at

most delicate possible structure - what the modern

the

engineer calls 'point loading'.

He

architect.

preferred

Not

so

the Byzantine

Roman weight. He supported

many

building on a few large masses rather than upon

columns. Compare the plans

of, say,

his

Hagia Sophia

or

St Mark's with those of late Gothic cathedrals; the

'blacks'

the

on the Byzantine plans

Gothic plans they

What

one might

are therefore

it

Greek

this

we

cross with

domes -

this

many and

the single central

see

on

and

small.

Byzantine plans

dome with all secondary

apses completely subordinate

a big scale at

more

we see

few and big, while on

call the archetypal

spaces such as aisles

to

are

are

Hagia Sophia;

2,

the

or less equal arms, covered by

in St Mark's, Venice.

A structural system produces a decorative system. The

structural system of Byzantine architecture gave large

masses below and curved surfaces above - the smooth

soffits

The
76

or under^surfaces of

ribs, the richly

tracery of

domes and unribbed

moulded

Gothic do not

piers, the

exist east

vaults.

muUions and

of Venice, hardly

east

66 St Mark's, Venice (hegun io6j)

shows how

work

the

mass and

scale of Roman

persisted in the typical

Greek

cross plan.

crossing

Vast domes cover

the

and thejour roughly equal limbs;

at their intersection they rest

piers

Byzantine

(see

111.

88).

on massive

low narthex

surrounds the western end

The Byzantine

o{ Milan.
material

which could be

and upon

the

soffits

laid

upon

the massive walls

The Byzantine

of the domes.

such a system; they took

architects did not invent

the

system needed a 'covering'

it

from

Romans and transformed it for their own purpose

the walls a sheathing of marble, for the

domes and

for

vaults,

mosaic. In details like colonnaded screens, there was

much

fine

Byzantine carving, on the main structure very

little.

The Byzantine Empire was

rich

in

marbles - a

miraculous quarry of whites, greys and greens. Mosaic

may

be of glass or marble.

It

consists of millions of tiny

cubes, each about a centimetre across.

decorated during the day's

each cube

is

the

cement

threefold. First,

almost

is

surface to be

covered with cement;

then pressed into position by the craftsman's

thumb while
is

work

The

as if it

it

is still

wet.

The

glory of mosaic

can form a continuous covering,

were molten, running over curved surfaces

and round corners; second, the

irregularities

of the

mosaic surface demand the simplest drawing - any

attempt

at

naturalism

is

disastrous,

and

it

was

this

which

gave such a wonderfully hieratic and stylized quality

to

77

THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE

the figures of Byzandiic art; third, the shghtly different

angles at

which

and

surface to catch the light here

dome gave

the

minimum

that

there, so that there

The

amidst the gloom.

scintillation

whole

the tiny cubes are placed cause the

small

windows

of light needed

is

in

for this

effect.

Thus

does Byzantine architecture emerge with

qualities of a great style

decoration. But

- function?

than

them

for

and

the integration of structure

what of that

What was

functional
inside

.the

it

other element in architecture

Churches

all for?

laboratories;

things

certain

no

are

less

happen

which they must be designed. The

liturgy

of the Byzantine Church and the Byzantine plan were

also

and decoration - an

like the structure

This has been disputed;

unity.

highly centralized plan -

- provided

was thereby

apse.

This

is

Ravenna

to

relegated to a

or

Hagia Sophia

dome, but

minor place

misunderstand the Byzantine

Roman

with the Western or

it

has been said that the

it

a central area beneath the

altar

confuse

as at

integrated

that the

in a small
liturgy, to

liturgy

where

the climax, the elevation of the sacrament, takes place at

end of

the

that long vista

of nave and chancel. This

climax, however, was not the supreme

moment

of the

Byzantine ceremony.
Visualize the space beneath the

That

in Constantinople.

or columns,

above

it

is

250

feet

dome of Hagia Sophia

space, uninterrupted by steps

long and over 100

the mosaic saints

area

and
is

galleries.

The marble

empty. There

is

wide. Far

and the Christ Pantocrator

glow dimly. The people crowd

aisles

feet

into the surrounding

floor

of the vast central

a droning of priests.

curtains in the distant apse the sacramental

Behind

rites

'Great Mystery' - are being secretly performed.

Patriarch, the clergy
sional entrance.

Household

By
78

and

Minutes

also take

up

the acolytes
later the

make

Imperial and Divine

their position

had been elevated

The

their process

beneath the dome.

the time of Justinian, in the sixth century, the

ritual

the

to the status

of a divine

whole
ballet.

The marble

floor,

encrusted robes.

blossomed with

formerly empty,

The supreme moment

is

when

Patriarch

61 Hagia Sophia, Istanbul (j,^y).

sees

how

the

semi^domes at each end

and right) and

and Emperor exchange

chalice.

This

is

what

and share

the Kiss of Peace

the

dome was

built for.

It

the

was

first

great

church of Hagia Sophia was

Constantine in 360, but was burnt

riots

of 532.

It

was

in 537 Justinian

Wisdom
thee'. (It

(left

the massive buttresses at

the side (foreground) support the central

dome, and

how

the

dome

itself,

braced by

forty miniature buttresses, could have a

quite specific function.

The

One

to the

built

ground

by

ring

of windows round

its

base.

The

Islamic minarets were added later

in the

rebuilt with incredible speed so that

was able

to dedicate

with the words: 'Solomon,

it

to the

Holy

have vanquished

should be remembered, however, that the brick

carcass of a Byzantine building could be completed

and

put into use long before the surface decoration of marble

or mosaic

was begun.)

Hagia Sophia

is

a vast rectangle, 250

feet

by 220

feet,

with an inner and an outer narthex, or porch, and

79

r-^^

1
68
from
in

Section of Hagia Sophia, Istanbul,

east to west.

which

the thrust

to the ground,

line

Note

and

both the

of the dome

is

manner

The main body of the

formerly an atrium or forecourt.

church has surrounding

aisles,

50

feet

wide, vaulted and

carried

the unifying horizontal

which divides the marble^covered

walls from the mosaic^couered domes and

These

galleried.

separated from the central area

aisles are

by very beautiful colonnaded screens - each column a

single

marble shaft. The

reduce the central liturgical

aisles

vaults

250

area to

feet

by 107

diameter, but the space

The dome

feet.

covers

it

107

is

extended to

is

feet in

east

and

west by large semi^domes. These in turn open out into

the semi^circular spaces called exedrae.
is

seated

and four

upon

a square, supported by four pendentives

great arches.

taken to the

The main dome

These four arches have

and west by

east

the

their thrust

semi-'domes just

described and to the north and south by four huge

feet,

which emerge externally

The whole arrangement can

be understood only by

buttresses,

each 60

above the

roofs of the aisles.

feet

reference to the plan

by 25

and diagram.

It

has been likened to

a mass of soap bubbles rising out of each other.

domes

resist

the thrust of the

thrust eventually reaches the

the

first

point o^ impact.

engineering.

not

all

It

the semi-'domes

80

Below

main dome, and then

their

ground over 100

from

It

is

feet

miraculous

feat

of

could have ended in aesthetic chaos had

from a single horizontal

interior.

The semi^

and main arches been sprung

line

running round the whole

this line all the walls

marble, above this line

all

were sheathed in

was mosaic. This gave

unity.

The

dome - i8o

big

ribbed. This

feet

above the

floor

actually

is

unusual in Byzantine work, but

is

it

THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE

does

dome to pass down forty ribs, and

windows to be placed between the

enable the thrust of the

enables forty small
ribs, at the

made

base of the dome. This circle of diffused light

the blue

and gold mosaic

glitter. It

origin of the saying of Procopius that the

was

dome

also the

of Hagia

Sophia was suspended by a chain from heaven.

The

object of the architects,

Isidore of Miletus,

was

to

moving
of Hagia Sophia
arena,

build an interior both

and functional. The spaces

aisles,

Anthemius of Tralles and

exedrae, conches, vaults

and domes -

all

open

6g Plan of Hagia Sophia,

great central dome

half^domes, which are

by apses

outwards and upwards, one from the other, giving

changing

vistas,

glimpses; everything

half^'hidden, yet everything

is

is

mysterious and

revealed. Procopius has

it

for us in

its

contradictions

space and mass, mystery and

clarity.

light

The

and gloom,

vaults float, the

to the

Istanbul.

The

buttressed by two
in turn

supported

north and south. In addi^

tion great buttresses stretch out from the

four central piers

(III.

tural system of curves

square;

described

is

tresses

6^). This struct

is

then set into a

vaulted aisles pierce the

and open

into

colonnades (III. jo)

but^

the nave through

THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE

columns perform a choral dance,

the central

dome hangs

from the sky. Procopius also described the colours: the

mosaics, the

shimmer of

greenish, the blue

the crisp carving

and

on

grey marble on the walls, the

the yellow^veined marble shafts,

the capitals, the mother/of'pearl, the

dangling golden lamps.

Hagia Sophia was

the

conclusion of the

logical

Byzantine system - structural, decorative, functional. In

the other churches of Constantinople
at large

and of the Empire

the function could not, of course, be exactly that

of Hagia Sophia, since the Emperor did not appear in

them. But

it

became normal

whole of the nave and

for the

into the aisles, the galleries

dome
had

for the clergy to

congregation to be crowded

and

the narthex.

ji

JO,

The

ejject

Sophia,

of the interior of

with

dim

the

light

glinting on mosaics and the mystery of

one

opening

space

difficult to

into

another,

is

convey by photographs. The

aisles are separated from the central area

by screens of columns (right) - single

shafts of marble said to have
the

Temple of Artemis

cushion^ shaped

capitals

mainly with the

staccato effect.
site)

shows

at

drill,

come from

Ephesus. The
are

giving a

carved
crisp,

The general view (oppo^

clearly

the

geometry

of

placing a circular dome over a square,

with the big pendentives as fine areas for

display of mosaic

The

central

thus retained the same liturgical meaning that

in the imperial cathedral, since

it

was beneath

the climax of the Eucharist took place.

Ha^ia

occupy the

it

it

that

^/

F>^

and plan of SS. Sergius

and Bacchus, Istanbul This church J 2,

Interior

75

slightly earlier than

Hagia Sophia -

is

an

octagon surrounded, except on the east

side,

by a

domed

roughly square

central area

is

only

f^

aisle.

The

2 feet across,

so that the pendentiues bridging the eight

corners are quite small.

pendentiues,

They

nevertheless.

are true

The

eight

spaces between the piers are closed by

triplets

of arches alternately straight and

curved

None of Justinian's
Hagia Sophia
related to

it

other churches attempted to rival

in magnificence, but several

design. SS. Sergius

of them are

and Bacchus,

also in

Constantinople, was begun some years before Hagia

Sophia.

It

made

full

of the surrounding
rises

above the

This

aisle

aisle.

The main

aisles, is a

across, leaving the

aisle.

use of the lovely Byzantine concept

central area,

domed octagon

which

only 52

feet

remaining space for the circumambient

opens out into the central area through

colonnades: the whole charm of the constantly changing

vista

is

exploited. Nevertheless, the

dome

is

still

built

only over an octagon, not over a square: the great

structural step

had

yet to

be taken.

j^, 75

Interior

and plan of S.

Ravenna (S47)Bacchus,
octagonal.

the

-L/^f

central

Here,

rounding aisle

is

openings between

The same
IS

is

true

of S. Vitale in Ravenna. This church

an octagon over lOO

Bacchus
galleried

it

has

feet across.

Like SS. Sergius and

surrounding

- leaving an octagonal

central area just over half

the total diameter. This central area

than the

aisles

- vaulted and

aisle

is

taken up higher

and then domed. Certain

structural issues

were evaded rather than solved. The pendentives

corners of an octagon are negligible
at the

corners of a square.

at

the

compared with those

The dome

itself

was

built

of

hollow clay pots - the bottom of one pot inside the

mouth of

the next

below

it

- giving

lightness as to almost eliminate the

dome of such

problem of

(This device was used thirteen hundred years

thrust.

later

by

area
the

also octagonal,
it

and

Vitale,

Sergius and

domed

however,

are all curved in plan.

still

SS.

is

sur^

and

the

the central area

This produces a

subtler interpenetration of spaces

j6 S.

Vitale,

one

looking

is

marble

Ravenna.

columns

carved with the

across

In this detail

the

whose
drill (cp.

choir,

capitals
III.

past
are

Bank of England, London.) The

in the

glory of S. Vitale

in

lies

its

mosaics.

On

one

side of the

chancel are huge figures of Justinian and his courtiers;

jo), to^

wards the mosaic showing the Emperor

Justinian with his court. All the surfaces
are either marble or mosaic

John Soane

opposite are the Empress Theodora and her ladies. These

mosaics are supreme works of

art.

Worthy of them

are

the coloured marble shafts with their white capitals.

These

capitals are carved

more with

the drill than with

the chisel, giving a staccato crispness of light

and shade.

St Irene at Constantinople (begun in 532, but restored

after

564 and again

general scheme.
a

drum

in

The

740) follows Hagia Sophia in

its

eighth^century rebuilding added

beneath the central dome, probably the

first

instance of that feature.

fifth

major church built by Justinian has

disappeared and
description.

It

is

known

was,

nople.

Its

arm and

only through Procopius'

however,

influential of them all: the

probably

Holy Apostles

at

the

most

Constantly'

plan was a Greek cross with domes over each

a fifth over the crossing.

It

was copied almost

immediately in the rebuilt church of St John

which had an
86

entirely

extra

dome

at the

producing a nave with two bays.

at

Ephesus,

end of the west arm,

J J,

jS St

restored

Irene at Istanbul (he^un 552,

^64 and J40)

is

virtually

smaller version of Hagia Sophia.

major differences are (a) that

it

The

has two

domes instead of one, thus giving the

interior a more longitudinal movement,
and (h) that

the eastern

dome has

low

drum, the result of Stlucentury altera^

tions.

Note

at

arrangement of

the

east end

the

tiered stone seats

early

for the

clergy

87

THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE

These great churches of Justinian had a propaganda

purpose as well

devoted a whole book

political authority

dominant

is

The

mean

lasted,

and beyond

been

as has

set

all

the

before Justinian

and

dome, but

this

other types of design.

had been

prolific

the variety of church

plans continues to be surprising right

It is

Blue Mosque

(the

was

said,

the exclusion of

Empire

Eastern

invasion.

for

and they

religious orthodoxy,

architectural invention,

in

They stood

an almost exact copy of Hagia Sophia).

Their hallmark,
did not

and

to the Buildings.

pattern for architecture for as long as the

Byzantine Empire
of 1609-16

Procopius

as a utilitarian or rituaHstic one.

down

to the

Arab

impossible here to do more than indicate

a few of them, without pausing to trace the relation

between one school and another.

Constantine's
(before 333)

Church of

had combined

an octagonal

east

the Nativity at

a double^aisled basilica

Mary

end. St

Ephesus

at

century) had a nave and transepts, both with

long chancel with double

basilica.

The

first

is

double^aisled chancel
Plan

of the

Siman (4J0):

Martyrium,

a highly unusual design

a central octagon

saint

and a
at

church of St John
aisled transepts

at

and

centering on the shrine of the

under the crossing.

Egypt

during

the

fifth

produced

century

several

churches in which a basilican nave was combined with

a trefoil east

transepts.
this

z^r:^^- -^^^.TL^

aisles,

Qalat^

with jour long aisled arms converging

upon

all

(early fifth

likewise a fairly con^

Ephesus was more elaborate, with

-jg

with

John o( Studion

St

aisles.

Constantinople (founded 463)

ventional

Bethlehem

way

end of three apses serving

The

Nativity

at

as

chancel and

Bethlehem was remodelled in

and Palestine were

in the sixth century. Syria

areas of bold experiment, including very early churches

with quatrefoil plans (again seeming

SS.

Sergius

amazing

and Bacchus and

fifth^century

long arms meeting

to

look forward

Vitale)

S.

to

and the

Martyrium of Qalat^Siman, with

at a central

octagon. In Anatolia,

longitudinal and central^'Space churches were combined.

Such
by the

regional variations were not entirely obliterated

new

trends

set

by the capital.

One

finds different

elements of Justinian's churches assimilated in different

depending

areas,

on

largely

the religious or political

Mesopotamia and Coptic Egypt

situation at the time. In

of the old

austere versions

was eagerly taken up and developed

Zara

at

and Bacchus; while

in the

on Ochrid

in a rather provincial

(early ninth century) has

called 'a cousin several times

centred

dome

Balkans, on the other hand, the

persisted. In the

way. St Donat

without domes,

basilica,

been

removed' of SS. Sergius

kingdom of Greater Bulgaria

evolved during the ninth

there

century a type of high barreWaulted hall^'church with a

dome over the crossing.

By far the most architecturally

o{ the provinces

fertile

of the Byzantine Empire during the seventh

centuries (in fact

independent)
intellectuals

it

was

for part

and

artists

of that time politically

Some of

was Armenia.

it

had

to

the

leading

of the Byzantine world were

Armenian; one of them, Trdat, was

Sophia when

to eleventh

in charge of Hagia

surmounted by a dome on a drum. They

are usually fairly small in scale.

The

palace church of

Zwartnots, built between 641 and 666, was a brilliant

variation

on the idea of SS. Sergius and Bacchus.

a circular exterior

through three

and

circular church of Zwartnots, in

had

dome on

ver^

of the centraUspace plan with cir^

cumamhient aisle (see Ills. J2-^ and

sion

101). In the quatrefoil centre one solids

walled lobe held the altar (b) while the
other three (a) rose through the arcade
(c), gallery (d)

It

a quatrefoil inner arcade rising

leading to a high

storeys,

80 The

Armenia (6^1-66), was another

be repaired in 989.

Armenian churches mostly embodied some form of

central planning

15m

dome

and clerestory (e). The

rested on four arches

(f) and a high,

windowed drum (g)

drum. The roughly contemporary church of the Holy

Apostles

at

Mschet, the ancient capital of Georgia, was

another version of the quatrefoil - four arms meeting

central

dome with

at a

four square chapels in the corners.

Trdat himself designed

Am

Cathedral, a longitudinal

church of three bays, but given a central emphasis by a

dome

over the middle bay.

The dome

several other progressive features are

including the pointed arch.

churches are notable

excel in sculpture.
city

for their

has collapsed, but

still

is

be seen there,

Where most Byzantine

mosaics, Armenian ones

That of the churches

of Aght'amar

to

particularly

in the old royal

fine.

Armenian

89

The

Holy
of the

Chmh

Lht-omr (rS-^O

Cm!

"f'^^'""

01

'"'

m the

vormtms
.(the mmy Armemm
entrAvllrhejou,amsm-l2
sqmre m
cetLml irm ore
comers
ZerJopsei m^e. / the
the

use

the

ore

oj

The
smoU poly^omt forms.
.s choroctercircles
od
Xfs m yids
istic

of

Armenia
Metropole Cathedral

S2 The Little
Athens (C.12S0),

is

7.d'ornament,Lch
earlier

90

Greek

on a very small

of

buildings

^t

removed from

was strong

influence

in

neighbouring lands of

the

Anatolia and Georgia, where

Armenia

century.

thirteenth

it

persisted

itself

the

until

ceased

THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE

exist

to

and has only

politically in the early eleventh century

recently been recognized for the astonishing architectural

centre that

The

it

was.

eleventh century brought

new

types

deriving from earlier models but offering

new

oi^

plan,

scope for

8j The Monastery of Nea

church with very

spatial

and decorative

crowned tall octagonal drums

by the generally small

In the Balkans domes

effects.

size

(their height

made possible

of the buildings).

Nea Mom,

Mom on

the

Island of Chios ( 1 042-^,6) has a fine

dome over
teriors

tall

arches carrying the

complex plan.

The ex"

of Byzantine churches are always

subservient to their interiors.

Here

the

mosaics and carved capitals are except

on the island of Chios (1042-56), contains

with a

on

dome on an

a simple

with

its

church

octagonal drum, which in turn

a square; the east

It is

end opens into

and impressive design,

mosaics and

original

tionally rich

rests

three apsidal chapels.

especially

when

seen

marble veneer. Most

popular of all was the quincunx or

cross-'in-'Square plan:

a square divided into nine bays with the central 'cross'

articulated

by domes. This occurs,

Hosios Lukas and

century onwards.
scale

all

for

instance,

at

over Greece from the eleventh

Many

of these churches are on the

of parish churches in the West. In Athens the Little

Metropole Cathedral

(c.

1250)

is

the smallest 'cathedral'

91

r
T

84, 8^

St John

the Baptist,

Gracanica

(ij2i), above, and the Holy Apostles

at

Salonika ( iji2-i^), below, both show

the outstanding characteristics of this late

phase of Byzantine work:

very

tall

proportions and small domes on polygonal

drums

in the world,

exterior

with a 9^foot dome; the charm of

its

derived from the old marbles and stones built

is

into the walls.

The much

earlier

Kapnikarea

(c.

1060)

is

rather similar.

In 1204 Constantinople was sacked by the Crusaders.

Although

it

later

recovered

its

autonomy, and although

painting and mosaic recovered their

from
tious.

this

vitality, architecture

time onward became conservative and repeti/

A church such as the Holy Apostles at Salonika

(13 12-15)

is

still

based on a variant of the cross^in^

square plan, though

its

spaces are in fact organized in a

novel and complex way.

The church

at

Gracanica, in

Serbia (1321) takes these ideas even further. Both the

interior elevations

and the

exterior

drums of the domes

are given unprecedentedly tall proportions.

Finally, a brief note

One

Empire.
adopted

at

is

Kiev

on two

Russia.

in 988.

masonry of which

still

areas outside the Byzantine

Christianity

The

tecture spread to

where the

to

on

was

a plan based

accommodate

built

on the

extra aisles.

Christianity and Byzantine archie

Novgorod and

earliest

eventually to

Moscow,

of the Kremlin cathedrals, the Dor^

mition (1475-9), though designed by a Renaissance

Italian,

kept the same quincunx plan and

St Basil's, of 1555-60,
that

is

West

other postscript

is

five

a last exotic fantasy

began in Byzantium a thousand

The

8j In Russia, the
(iojj-46,

Cathedral

style

of Kiev

reconstruction

above) was basically that of Salonika.

substantially survives,

quincunx but expanded

officially

great cathedral of Kiev, the

early in the eleventh century

From Kiev Byzantine

was

86,

on themes

years before.

Venice, the only

in direct contact with

domes.

city

of the

the Eastern Empire.

St

The fantasy of St
(is, ^^-60,

below)

architecture in

Basil's in

Moscow

shows Byzantine

its final

exhaustion

88, 8i)

The Byzantine

style in

Europe. Above, St Mark's

(begun

io6j);

P'erigueux

below,

(began

Both have Greek

Western
Venice

in

St^Front

c.1120,

in

rebuilt).

these

in

is

all

low

purely Byzantine church,

important respects a

in proportion, clad in

at

cross plans covered by

domes, with windows

Mark's (begun 1063)

domes;

marble veneer,

its

five

domes gleaming with mosaic.

From Venice Byzantine inspiration travelled west weakly

and

sporadically. In the thirteenth^century S.

Antonio

both have, at the crossing, massive piers

pierced with arches. St

Mark's

Byzantine and was no doubt

('II
is

the

Santo')

at

fully

model

for the more Romanesque St^Front

struction

nave,

Padua

the Byzantine system of dome con-'

was applied

transepts

Romanesque

to a basically

and

chancel

France,

the

with

churches

Angouleme Cathedral seem

to

by

five

an

example

consistently Byzantine

which follows

as

ambulatory.

of

Anjou and

as a solution to the

aesthetic style.
is

St^Front

St Mark's in being a

Greek

at

The

cross covered
in the

nineteenth century, the chancel^arm to a completely

qualities

so

that

is

hard

the

original

to assess.

extent

o^

only

Perigueux,

domes; but the whole church was rebuik

design,

In

have absorbed some

Byzantine influence, though more

problem of vaulting than

Gothic plan with

its

new

Byzantine

Neither S. Antonio nor

St-'

Front ever had any mosaic or anything approaching

Byzantine decoration.

It

is

St Mark's that

must be

regarded as the Western outpost of the Byzantine

spirit.

Chapter Five

WESTERN CHRISTENDOM:
I

The

medieval Christendom

The

earliest

halls or,
It

was

Rome and

between Imperial

link

archit ectural

is

Christians in

ROMANESQUE

known

as 'Early Christian'.

Rome

met in houses, hired

under pressure of persecution, in the catacombs.

there that

pagan

rites

were adapted

to

Christian

needs and that the teachings ofJesus were transmuted into

a 'Church'.

fourth

and

The

fifth

first

actual churches

centuries

- were

eased or after the Edict of

Church won peace

built

- mainly

when

in the

persecution

Milan (ad 313) whereby the

at the cost

of subordination

to the

Some of these early churches, much

changed, survive in Rome; they were the germ o f
secular power.

Western building through over a thousand

The word

'basilica'

is

confusing.

years.

The pagan

basil ica

go Plan of the Basilica of Trajan, Rome

(^8-1 12): (a) entrance, (b) altars
surrounded by

was

a concourse, a place of assembly, a bourse.

The word

did not imply any specific architectural torm.

Basilica of Constantine, for instance,

The

was a big vaulted

libraries,

tribunals

(d) Trajan's

the double apses,

in

apses,

(c)

Column. While

continuous aisles and

lateral entrance do not

appear

in

Early

Christian churches, the basic concept of a

hall like

Trajan,

one of the

much

halls

larger,

of the thermae; the Basilica of

had only

a timber

roof

It

was

in

lar^e assembly hall with nave

was

and

aisles

clearly established

95

gi

Restored

Trajan,

interior

Rome:

of the Basilica of

double

aisles,

a colon"

fact virtually a

and well

lit; it

nave with columned

had good

aisles. It

sight lines. In other

naded gallery, clerestory lighting and an

an excellent prototype

open timber roof

Christian

churches.

essential that

In

these

everyone should

no

but, as yet,

the

for

large eastern

earliest

was cheap

words

was

and simplest

churches

first

it

was

it

see the celebrant at the altar

limb

for choir or ritual

needed, only a simple semi^circular apse for the

was

altar.

Architectural elaborati on was delibe rately eschewed.

The long
became
S.

was

aisled basilica

the basic

met the case well and thus

form of the Early Christian church.

Clemente, Rome, dates from the twelfth century, but

built over the remains

In addition to the nave and

of"

a fourth^'Century basilica.

aisles

retains the

it still

atrium

or forecourt with

ablutionary fountain, and a large

narthex or porch

wh ere

the

"baptized coul d hear the service.

Peter

St

(c.

The

and

the

un^

original Basilica of

330) was built by Constantine, but the

present church has

S.

penitents

Paolo fuori

le

wiped out

Mura

is

of the

earlier one.

a nineteenth^century

copy of the

all traces

fourth/c entury basilica, b ut probabl y gives an impres/

sive

idea

of the original.

founded by Sixtus
in the larger
Section of Old St Peter's, Rome
(c.jjo). Like the Basilica of Trajan,

^2

above, the church had double aisles and

timber roofs; but in

it,

as in other Early

Christian churches, the elevation was of

two storeys only - arcade and

There was

clerestory.

a transept at the far end, with

a single apse opening directly off

96

it

III in

ad

Sta

Maria Maggiore was

432, but

Baroque church.

is

now embedded

We

how

have already seen

Roman dome

the inspiration of the

passed eastwards to suffer a sea-'change

into Byzantine architecture.

We now have to see how the

long basilican plan passed westwards

ultimately into the
tion

to

be transformed

Gothic cathedral. This transforma^

must be traced in terms of plan,

decoration.
the nave,

The

two

a basilican

basilican plan consi sted of no

aisles

and

the apse.

church such

immediately the

s tructure

lin e

as,

say,

and

more than

But when we glance

S.

Clemente,

we

at

nave

for the use

g4 S. Clemente, Rome

of priests and

( 12th cen^

tury, built over a ^th^century basilica)

plan, and view of the chancel.

An

atrium

(a) leads into a simple rectangular church

with nave and aisles and,

in its original

form, a single eastern apse.

of the altar (h)
by

'cancelW

is

To

the west

the choir (c), enclosed

(d)

and Jrniked by

the

Gospel amEo (e) and Epistle ambo (f).

1 his encroachment oj the chotr upon the
nave

see

of the can celli, the marble balustrade

fencing; off nearly half the

g^,

is

clear in the

photograph above

choir and forming, in

fact, a

some

had overflowed from

early date, ritual

'chancel' Already then, at

.

come thenave - however

the nave. In the centuries yet to

elaborately

it

might be vaulted - remained an

normally reserved

expanded
planning

the apse into

for the kity.

until in the

It

was

the

aisled hall

apse

little

end we have such miracles of

as the chev et of chapels

around the

east

French cathedrals, or the long cha ncel and Lady

ofEngland. The

story

which

end of

Cha pel

of the church plan, therefore, from

the fourth to the fourteenth century

really the story

is

eastern limb.

its

If the basilica

columned

hall

germ of the medieval nave - as a

with clerestory - t was the Roman vault
was

the

Medie val

architecture

to c over a la rge

space with a

that inspired medieval structure.

developed from the attempt

made

fireproot root

no

ot stones

than cou ld be

larger

carried by a pack-horse. This process will take us

g^,

g6 Romanesque

achievement and

Gothic virtuosity: above, Ste^Foy

Conques (he^un c.io^o;

1

see

the

also p.

ij) with high tunnels-vaulted nave, and

i4gg;

St

bold eleventh-century arches

say

of,

from

Ste-Foy

at

at

crossing covered by a lantern on squinches;

below,

Conques,

to the airy fantasies

of such sixteenth-century

Gothic as St Anne at Annaberg, Louviers or Henry VII's

Chapel

at

Westminster.

Anne,

see also p.

of

Annaberg (begun
iS4) ~ the functional

This long story

two

usually divided into

is

stone vault transformed into a fantastic

Romanesque and Gothic.

pattern of ribs

style^^in

It is

'styles'

R omanesque

true that the

England, 'Norman') used the semi-circula rarch

and was heavy and thick walled, whereas Gothicaising.

the pointed arch, achieved flexib ility
the same,

the

the

to

Durham, when

styles

wou ld_

choir a nd

when
its

All

have b eeii_incoiii2re-

medieval

build eL

they began

work

The
in

doubtedly building in the Romanesque

years later,

lightness.

development was continuous a nd our

subdivisions into

h ensibie

and

builders

at

09 j, were unstyle ;

some

six

they had reached the vaults overlHe

aisl es

they wer e tentativel y ex plo ring the

pointed arch and rib

vault -

moment

of useful innova-

tion but not, for them, a conscious stylistic development.

It

was, in

arches

and

fact, to

be another thirty years before pointed

rib vaults

would be

St-Denis, thereby creating a

consciously exploited at

new

style.

gj~gg

Rome
Church

Part of the lifeAi ne betwe en

and Romanesque CJBrixwortl
in

England

the baptistery at

century, bottom)

The

680,
in

anJ

lejtj

France (6th

show some knowledge

of classical forms
plunder.

(c.

Venasque

partly

Gallarus

due

to

Oratory

in

Ireland (jth century, below)

is

conu

pletely unclassical corbelled structure

The 'Dark Ages' may have been

was once supposed. Western Europe,

so barbarous as

nevertheless, has

little

the legions in the

Charlemagne

neither so dark nor

between the departure of

to offer

fifth

800.

century and the coronation of

In southern

E urope

the great

monastic establishments were an assurance that

tion

might survive thr

however, such

fall

of

Rome;

ar chitecture as there

little

mainly within the remote sphere of the

Ihe asceticism of
Alexandria found
to return eastwards,
to

the
its

civil iza^

the

in

was

north,

tound'

is

Irish missionaries.

hermits in the desert outside

way

to that

wild Atlantic world,

bringing Christianity

to Britain

Scandinavia. In Ireland there were such things

s^eventh^century Callarus Orator^^ near Dingle

spectacular corbelled

Michael.
ai sled

there

The Hall

basi lica,

was

of the Kings

at

at

as the

or the

Skellig

Tara was probably an

with the throne in an apse. In Britain

the fairly

brian churches

domes of the mona stery

and

at

advanced masonry of the Northum^

Jarrow and Hexham, both about 680,

and such ambitious buildings

as

Brixworth, with^jWQ.

rows of arches constructed of Roman bricks on principles

derived from

Roman

Gaul there are scanty

churches - indistinguishable

remains. In

remains of a few basilican

from simple Mithraic temples - and there

able sixth/century

domed

baptistery at

is

the remark^

Venasque. Clovis

'S>

had accepted
as

form of Christianity

a barbarous

as early

Charles Martel, in the eighth century, had

496.

secured France forever against Islam.

But

new

find a

The

chapter in architecture.

Rh meland

pilasters as part

of a vivid

Aachen

(Aix^la^

design. In Charlemagne's palac e at

101
^lij).
(III.

Palatine Chapel,

Bawd
j^),

chapels.

while

it

dtl

S.

floor

gallery, for

communicated with

hesitating

betw een Byzan tium and Rome, between The

dome and

O do

of Metz,

palace has a large octagonal

w ho

Ravenna,

We stern

It

was designed

designer

Its

looked East,

aisled

was

to the

The

for inspiration.

on the other hand,

entirely

Emperor,

the palace

Western Christendom was

marble work.

singularly complete.

at

if

The

he basilica.
fine

as

is still

palace,

was public

the

it

Vitale

for palace

set the pattern

The ground

the

Aaclmy(jg2-

would seem

Chapelle)

cnapelwith

V itairat Ravenna

gatehouse of tjje

ab bey of Lorsch ( eighth century) has almost

pure Corinthian columns and

100 Abbey gatehouse, Lorsch (c.Soo)

we can

not until the age of Charlemagne that

It IS

in

792 and

a northerner,

church of S.

great hall of the

like that a? lara,

was an

with Charlemagne's

basilica

hrone in a apse.

"^ What, we may

to ignore the

^Did

ask,

compelled the West on the whole

Byzantine

dome

of the basilica?

in favour

liturgy dictate architecture, or vice versa^.

already seen (pp. 78-9)

monastic nature
plan.

of the

have

the hierarchical nature of

Church demanded

the Byzantine

different

how

We

a central

dome. The

Western Church called

for a

Apart from Charlemagne's Palatine

Chapel, the West sought inspiration

Roman

in the

basilica. TlTe_basilicajjite^all^_sm^

glamour of the an cient Constantinian Church.

As Roman

rule disintegrated

andfirsTtHemshops and

then the great abbots became the civilizing elements,

architecture

changed

new

the big churches a

style that

we

call

radically.

With

architecture crystall i zed

Romanesque. This

lHf ee~ttiings ffonrRomeJ*fro in"tne

^^

building in general

of these things a

it

and

it

fro

got

articulated, heavy, logical

and

nto the

building

yet mystical.

le ngth;

m Roman

got the semi^circular arch.

new kind of

architecture derived

basilica

from the thermae the groin va ult

the emergence of

It

made

strong,

Whereas

ROMANESQUE

had been long and low, the

the basilica

Romanesque church was talland

vig orous, piercing the

j

skvline with

JS

been

its

towers.

and

a single shaft,

unaersurtace,
heavily

the

m oulded^

Roman column had

Ro man arch had a smooth

Whereas
the

the

Romanesque

pier

and arch were

the structural forces within the building.

s parse.

Th is was

emphasized

articulated. Str ong lines

no___lgnger a

Ornament was

MedjtgTjiiTeanstY]jj]^
hjil^ ^-^

rnar ble veneer; it_waj_3^norther n_sjylgjDfmasonry.

The

walls of a

arch, door, or

Romanesque building

window, j)enetrating

are thick.

a thick

wa

have a very broad undersurface. In Byzantine

ture this

actual

might be a good background

building

it

created

centering or Talse work'

had

difficulties.

to

for

ll,

An

would

architec/'

mosaic. In

The

^.u^^'^t

timber

be both elaborate and

Maria Laach^iogj-i
'quintessential

u had

scaffolding.

also to be supported_j rom the floor

The

urge

to

lighten this timber centering

on

was

.^1 \

the

corporating the Western themes of long

nave, transept and steep^roofed towers.

The towers
strong ;

if,6)

k.omansque church, in^

in

the

western choir, not

Romanesque

foreground mark a

uncommon

in

German

mm
loj Arches
Cathedral

the

in

(c.

cylindrical piers,

and hearing no
column.

I04

The

nave of Gloucester

o8j) spring from

relation to the classical

vaults are Gothic

Diagram}howing

etween

two

big

almost unornamented

arcades,

the

difference

the first

with

square piers and unmoulded arches, the

second moulded,

i.e.

with the mouldings

to

with those of the piers.

Wider timber

centering

wood under

the

curved framework

the arch

is

major factor

development of the

in the

correspond

of the arches articulated

of

needed for the

however, built

as a series

style. If

the arch was,

of rings, then only the lower or

inner ring needed centering. In

then acted as

itself this

centernig for the remaining rings, until the whole arch,

former
to the thickness

of the wall, was complete

as a series

of

concentric mouldings.

Here and

there

as in the

Benedictine churches
c.

(e.g.

nave arcades of English

Tewkesbury and Gloucester,

1087) the moulded arch springs from a cylindrical

The

effect

is

clumsy, the design unresolved.

If,

pier.

however,

each ring has a corresponding moulding in the support/

ing pier, then that pier

is

articulated to accord with the

arch above: one part of a building responds to another

part.

Also, t he

lines

of thrust in the arch

carried visually to the p:round

pound Romanesque
with profound
S.
at

Ambrogio at Milan

(altered in

11 81).

This

were,

articulate d or

com^

pier replaced the

effect. It

Conques (begun

it

can be seen

at its

are, a s

RflinanjiQlumn
simplest in, say,

(late eleventh century), in

f.

1050), or

at

This compound

Ste^Foy

Mainz Cathedral
pier

was of course

moulded

pier

of the

Roma nesque chur^

- high

destined to be refined into the

Gothic cathedral.
J-

The

basic section of a

nave and lean-to

aisles

- had,

in

embryonic form, been

inherent in the basilica. Tnis was two-tiered, with an

arcade below dividing the nave from the

clerest ory

areas,

windows

notably

in

in the plain wall above. In

and

many

Germany, Romanesque churches

retained this arrangement.

of two^tier

different type

chur ches on the pilgrimage roads

elevatio n appears in the

to

aisles,

Santiago de Compostela, and in central France: herT

the clerestory
rests direct!)'^

not

want

result in

eliminated and the heavy tumieT vault

is

on the

such churches

forium or 'dark

The

is

as

aisle,

itself,

interior.

opening into the nave

The

Arcade, tritorium, clerestory -

was standard

d ark

it;

The

the

and
tri^

could be anything from a proper

storey'

above the

Conques, Santiago

a massive,

arcade on solid wall.

~and

builders obviously ^id

weakening the wall by piercing

to risk

Clermont-Ferrand

gallery

triforium.

three/tier

to a blind
io<

arrangement -

106

Two^storey elevations (in

both cases, looking west in the nave).

is

toundal l_over Europe

Saxony

Qiiedlinbur^ in

m England.

century, above) the triforium

to

wall between

blank

The

clerestory.

piers

are

and

alternately
1 1

8), the

unlike those at Gloucester, being

obvious

echoes

Nave and
wooden

At

reduced

arcade

square and cylindrical (see p.

latter,

is

At

12th

(early

of classical

aisles

are

columns.

covered by jlat

roofs.

Santiago de Compostela (c.iojZf-

11 SO, left)
vanished.

it is

The

gallery; above

it

the clerestory

triforium

is

which has
an

open

spring the tunnel vaults

of the nave. Transverse arches dividing

the vault into bays rest on shafts

run the full height of the wall.

are

which

The piers

moulded

yt

nit ri (XT

%^


Everywhere the changes were rung on the basic

/arrangement by varying the

'

by varying the subdivisions of the triforium; by

storeys;

compound

choosing between columns and

arcade; and of course by
surface decoration.

of the

relative proportions

pier in the

The

usmg

front

piers for the

mouldmgs and

different

mouldmg or roundel

nave arcade might be taken up the

of the building,

to the

full

emphasis, anotlT er~"v isual

height

wooden roof or

cross-beam of a

the springing of the vault. This wall^shaft gave

vertical

of the

line^

of

st

force,

to

rong
in

design where
verflcality was everytl
""""

<

For the smooth undersurface

; vault an

the

01

Roman

groin

even more elaborate centering had been needed

than for a simple arch - virtually a timber mould of the

whole

inside of the building.

must have been

I

But
(c.

The

halls

of the thermae

a forest of timber during construction.

in the vaults

of the crypt of Auxerre Cathedral

1030), for instance,

we

how

see

there

dividing one vaulting bay from the next.

1

oj Southwell Minster nave

trijorium has arches as wide as those

of the arcade below;

it

also

has arti^

dilated piers, whereas those of the arcade

are cylindrical

108

Auxerre

(c.iojo):

the

Cathedral
intersections

crypt

of

the

cross vault are left as groins, but each bay

is

separated

arch

104

from

the

arches

The wooden

fc.i ijo),

a variation within the three^tier elevation.

The

are

next by a heavy

centering used in one bay could

re/'Crected in the

of timber.

now

be dismantled and

next bay - a great saving in the cutting

When,

however,

we

look

at the

abbey

at

log Mainz Cathedral

and

after

1181).

(nth

century

Giant quadripartite

vaults cover the nave in a douhle^hay

system (seep. 118). Unlike the Auxerre

crypt, there are simple diagonal ribs to

mask

the groins

and

to

simplify con-'

struction

Pontigny, a hundred years

Durham,
ribs, in

Mainz

or, again, at

there has been a iurther development.

interle c!ing

by

or at

later,

edg es

ot the

The

grom vaults are now strengthened

Centen^

themselves each a distmct arch.

is

necessary totuild each of these arches but not, as hitherto,

__^

'

>-

fortHe~whole vaulting bay. The builder had created a

and had only

lobster^pot ot arches,

to bri dge

from arch

to

arch with small stones This form of v ault with diagonal

.

ribs

dividing

the

first

it

form

into four
of the

is

the 'quadripartite' vault.

ribbed vault

wtnuhTwi tlT^ll

ultimate diaphanous co mplexity, gave

As

a concept, bold

and simple

The moulding of
stone roof, like

was now unity

all else,

it

It is

Goj hic

its

its

magic.

was Romanesque.

the vaulting ribs

meant

that the

was now highly articulated There

.

bet ween all parts of the building.

And

if

out of this attempt to reduce the centering there had

grown

a structural system , then out of this structural

system there had also

grown

a decorative system^

105

4^r

^m^m'
"'^:

1 1 1

The

Canigou

is

interior

of SuMartitudu^

remarkable for

date in

its

having lono tunnel vaults which

rest

only

on a central arch and on eioht columns

r

with

rough

capitals.

There

is

neither

gallery nor clerestory

The earliest buildings to which the term 'Romanesque'

is

Romanizing

applied are really crude

Lombardy, Dalmatia
Milan

Prato,

(^r.8 3

structures,

in

Catalonia. S. Vincenzo in

or

3j, tor instance,

has vaulting only in

the apses, while S. Pietro, Agliate, near

Milan (^.875)

has tu nnel vault s, not groin vaults. These churches, like

some

early basilicas,

and one
in

have only t hree apses - one centra l

end of each

at the

Dalmatia (c.876) actually

way, the^ambulatoryand
In Catalonia

at least

but St Donat

aisle

anticipates, in

radiati ng chapel

and romantic

arrangement.

two churches, Sta Maria,

fairly sophisticated vaults.

in~setting,

and

Zara

an archaic

(949) and Sta Cecili a, Montserrat (c.957) are

buildings with

at

Amer

humble

Picturesque

carefully restored,

is

the

monastery of St-'Martin''du''Canigou in the Pyrenees

(c.

all

1009).

It

has long tunnel vaults over nave ana

suppo rted on columnar

esque, the structure

Roman.

shafts
_

the plan

is

aisles,

Romans
107

J 1 2 Ideal p lan for

Gall (c.SToj.'In
the parts
aisled

can

church

be

the

monasterv/f St

this

redrawn version
the

long^

transept,

apsed

identified:

with

ends and round towers at the west; the

monastic quarters around the cloister

the south

and

east

of

to

the church; in the

western and far southern area, quests'

workrooms, servants'

lodgings,

stables,

quarters,

a school,

plan for a

spiritual,

mercial centre

etc.

regularized

cultural and

com^

here, fully

developed seemingly

Fre nch chevet.

vaults, a series

longitudinal

T ournus

is

also

for the

first

time,

remarka ble

for

was
its

the

stone

of experimen ts v^ith tunnel va ults (both

and

transverse),

quadrant

vau lts

and

groin vaults , carried out in the early years of the eleventh

and twelfth

centuries.

ROMANESQUE, J

MONKS'

'

CEMETERY
Xm

CLUNYIII

"A

CEMETERY

<

-^

CLOISTEf

'

[J L-^V^'- /^ <f
i.A=^

/%ri

CLOISTER
Porta

Lavabo'.Oi

Germanorum
Gihiee

"

^2S^
of

<3

PALACE .1
.COURT J
(Atnum of
.

>

CELLAR
b
a

ca

"2^1

AbBots'PalaXce
8te<J=.-3

SERVICE'
COU RT SOUTH-

VISITORS'

_^CHAPEL

Great

\j

O
NARTHEX

LJylBrotherj'qirs o

HANGAR

<#

inished

,;

Tstable

Portal

GATE

STABLE

HOSPICE HALL

In

Gothic

CII80-I220

STABLE

finished la ISrh

century

APPROACH COURT
60
200

CREAT-GA|Te

en

n7ff
GrToLE WAUL

H
FT.

i^

Opposite: plan of the monastery of

Cluny

in

u^j,

projected

includin^^

buildings (showing Professor Conant's

The general grouping is

III.
112). Near the

latest research).

standard

(cp.

entrance are stables and guests' quarters;

the centre

around the

cloister

is

reserved

for the abbot, monks and lay^brothers;

beyond

this

600

infirmary

the

isolation. In the

stands

in

plan of the church (some

note the double aisles,

feet long)

double transepts with apsed chapels, and

the chevet with

ambulatory and radiating

chapels

1 1

6 Model of the

third church at

1088-C.1121), from

elements seen

in

Cluny
The

east.

the plan, opposite, are

clearly recognizable

low eastern and

the

apse with chapels,

larger western transepts

with their chapels. In addition there are

great towers over the two crossings and

over the western transept arms

One of the great institutions

- instrumental

was

the

of the

Romanesque world

m bringmg the St Gall ideal to fruition -

Cluniac

Or der. The monks came

Cluny,

to

in

southern Burgundy, in 915, and for three hundred

were a great cultural

years

church

at

force.

Clu ny, begun about

churches from Spain

to

Germany.

was complete by 1121, with

_^under a pointed barrel vault,
septs,

The

and some of the

finest

rebuilding was the

The second abbey

955,

threes-storey

double

death in

for sixty years until his

the great

twin tran ^

work of Abbot Hugh of Sem ur,

Order

Among

aisles ,

elevation

of all Romanesque sculpture.

all

approved the plans

other

Th e vast third church

one of the great builders of

ally

inspired

for

time: he governed the

1

109,

and person^

about a thousand churches.

Cluniac

priories

such churches

as

III

Paray^le/ Monial
the pattern of

(c. 1

Cluny

00 ) and

and no triforium.

ran through

all

with

different,

high

groin

Cluniac

architecture.

There were

local

so on.

Many Cluniac churches

Corinthian carving, and each was noble in

rich

vaulting,
.

20) followed

A common ideal of magnificence

Lombardic, Spanish and

colour

- Burgundian, Provencal, Saxon, Swiss,

variations

had

(c. 1

Vezelay contemporary with

III;

Autun, was completely

vaults

Autun

many^towered

its

all

lighting

silhouette,

prim arily a

setting

for

the

its

and

Cluiirac

ps almody^

Another

which

institution

architecture to maturity

was Europe

was

brought

the pilgrimage.

parties

yet

we hear o f Santiago

de Compostela in north/'western Spain

s

Not

network of pilgrimage routes with every

cathedral a shrine, but as early as 844

James,

Romanesque

on of Zebedee.

of two hundred

the roads of France.

as the shrine

of

g;eneration later pilgrims, in

at a time,

These roads

were streaming

down

started at Aries,

Le

Puy, Vezelay, St^Denis and Chartres where there were

1

ly,

above)

18 ParayAe-'Monial
and

Vezelay

(c.

were both Cluniac, hut they

pletely

similar to

glimpsed

design.

Cluny

1 1

oo,

right)

differ

com^

ParayAe-^Monial

III,

between

(c.

1120,

is

with an ambulatory

narrow

piers,

and

pointed transverse arches supporting a

tunnel vault. Vezelay, on the other hand,

has high groin vaults and round trans^

verse

arches,

coloured stone

112

strikingly

banded

in

already churches of note.

at

On

Roncevaux.

They converged upon Spain

each of the

pilgrimage church H. S t^Martin at

Limogesf^Ste/'Foy

at

at

road s was a great

five

T ours,^St/M artial

Conques/ St^Sernin

^and^of course?Santiago de Compostela

Those
century,
at

churches,

five

all

show Romanesque

in

Conques - perhaps th e most

the others^are

all

maturity.

its

beautiful

of the order of 300

As

highly developed plans.

feet

Toulouse

itself.

by the

finished

at

is

early twelfth

The church
the smallest;

long,

and have

forecast a generation earlier

by the ambulatory and chapels of St^Philibert at Tournus,

the ais les have

the

now become p rocessional way s around

whole building, culminating

or beneath the high altar

Each of

- the last

these churches

stereotomy and vaulting.

large

in the shrine behind

stage of the pilgrimage.

shows

skill

As we

have seen, the typical

in plan ning, in

pilgrimage church has a two/storey elevation,

with massive tunnel vaults

forium^ there
lit

"

from the

is

aisle

no

cler estory,

pringing abov e the

and

the interior

windows. Each was

is

built high,

tri^

d imly
with

1^^ Pilgrimage
typical

plan

appears

Compostela (begun
runs

aisle

right

c.

The

churches.
at

Santiago

loy^, above).

round

the

de

An

building,

merging with the ambulatory; there are

two eastern apses on

two towers
t erior

the transepts,

west end.

at

end of

Toulouse^egun c.1080,

ambulatory

th^

and

The ex^

reflects the plan. I n the east

,St^ernin
lejtj,

at the

and

numerous

chapels are clearly expressed (cp. Cluny,

III.

116)

building up to the octagonal

crossing tower, finished in Gothic times.

The church

is

of brick

113

ROMANES Q^UE

towers

and each had p erfect

acoustics for the

Roman

chant.

The

generation

which saw

the

growth of the Santiago

work of

pilgrimage and the earUer

the Cluniacs also

witnessed a spiritual awakening in the monastic world.

Carthusians, Premonstratens ianwnd Cisterci ans were

all

founded

The

between 1080 and 11 20.

in the forty years

Cistercians were never *anti^Cluny', but by the

example of

austere

their

they brought about the

life

By

decline of the Cluniacs.

the year 1200 there were

some seven hundred Cistercian monasteries. The monks

chose remote and well^-watered
sever ely plain

monk

could

and uniform

feel at

home

all

in

sites.

any of them. Towers, paints

Pont[^ny,

Cistercian

whose simplicity contrasts with

elaborate

Cluniac buildinp.

izth^century
tresses

chevet

church
the

The

with flying

more
late

ends,

larger monasteries,

still

he churche s (both destroyed) had square

and two^storey

Pontigny (begun

elevations with clerestories.

140), with

its

chevet o f c.

185-1210,

hut^

has a continuous outer ring of

chapels; there are no towers

very plain;
east

The churche s were

extremely simple. Rebuilding about 11 30 gave

Citeaux and Clairvaux new,

121

we re

over Europe - a Cistercian

ing and sculpture were excluded.

at first

Their abbeys

is

probably very like the

at

Clairvaux. F ontenay

final
1

form of the great church

39-47)

is

the oldest surviving

122 Fontemy (ii^g-^j),

tercian ideal.

hut there
is

is

The

the

Cis^

piers are articulated,

no sculpture and the east end

The arcade
walU shafts carry

austerely square.

pointed, and

is

slightly

the trans^

verse arches of a pointed tunnel vault

Cistercian

complex and must

The

wishes^

site

is

wo oded,

represent St Bernard's

buildings spacioCTS

th e

within their walled enc lo sure, also well proportione d

and of

fine ashlar,

but completely unadorned. There

are transverse barrel vaults

feature found, for

in tEe'aisIe s,

example,

at

Cistercian

Fountains (1135-50) in

England.
It is

not possible to consider

in terms of
instance,

what we now

the loose boundaries of

is

architecture

call 'countries'. Clearly, for

Normany and England were

of architecture. Clearly,

fessor

Romanesque

also,

a single school

monastic influence ignored

Romanesque Europe. As Pro^

Kenneth Conant has written 'Tlie^^omanes^e

s tyle

of fascinating by-ways and local schools. This

115

i2^

Abbey,

Jerichow

(c.i2oo).

almost

church,

brickwork.

ijo) and
wooden

It

Brandenburg

Premonstratensian abbey

wholly

of

excellent

has a raised choir (cp.

III.

two^ storey elevation below a

ceiling

has been

its

charm

for

many

lovers of the arts, and, in

consequence, the historians have generally analysed

a series of quasi^independent regional

the great

movements and chief

it

as

phenomena. Yet

institutions of

Romans

esque times with their architecture were inter^regional.'

Many

of these regional schools must here be taken

granted, and only one or

two considered

in detail.

materials influenced building everywhere.

On

for

Local

one sense

both Romanesque and Gothi c were born of the splendid

Jimestones of France In the Netherlands an d northern
.

Germany

the clays ultimately gave us a great school of

brick building, while the

12^ Opposite: west front of St^Gilles-^

du^Gard (c.iijo), very Roman with

its

composition based upon a triumphal

arch,

its

pilasters

Corinthian

and jambs,

Provence acquired

around the tympana, and

its

style derived from antiquity

moulding
sculptural

own

of

Ita ly_and

Mediterranean character

through the decorative and sculptural use of marble.

The fragmented

columns, fluted

classical

its

Rom anesque

variety

geological

while the importation of

to

map

of schools - lim estone,

Norman England

of England gave a

sa ndstone, flint, brick

Caen

stone from

Normandy

gave a material beautifully textured

for the carver.

Il6

Northern,

Roman, Byzantine and

even

Islamic

elements

are

found

varying

in

Apart from Charlemagne's

specifically

Aachen, Byzantine influence

where the rulers - in an attempt
at

everywhere.

degrees

is

Byzantine work

evident in Sicily,

to rival the

Emperor

of the East - imported craftsmen from Byzantium. St^

Front

at

a lmost

Perigueux

(c. 1

120) in

Aquitame

structurally

is

wholly Byzantine the plan almost identic al

,

Mark's in Venice.

that of St

Angouleme

(1105-28) and the abbey of Fontevrault

other examples in

(c.

to

Cath edral
1119) are

AquitaineoRomanesque_churches

with domes over square bays. Islamic influence, while

strongest in Spain, also appears in Sicil y

and on

French pilgrimage roads into Spain.

evident, for

It

is

the

example, in the doorways and large^cusped arches a t

Moissac and in the cathedral and St^Michel/d'Aiguille

atj

^ Puy-.

li^

tradition, they

way. The

Card

(c.

Provence on the other hand, true

continued

fa cade

to build

handsomely

to their

in a Latin

of the Cluniac priory of St^Gilles^du^

1170), and St^Trophime at Aries, with

twelfth/'century cloister walk, are Provencal

of Roman simplicity.

its late

examples

12^ Above:

central apse oj

Monreale

Cathedral, Sicily (hegun 1174).

interlacing^ arches

and

discs,

The

themselves

patterned and forming a rich design on a

light

ground, show Islamic influence

ROMANES QJUE

Burgundian

If the

of planning,

synthesis

126

In this detail of the ruins of Notre-'

Dame
its

at

fumieges (io^y-66) we

two most

distinctive features:

see

(a)

douhk^hay system of the nave (cp.

Ills. 1 0^, 1 og) giving alternate cylin^
the

drical piers

and compound piers with

walUshafts which carried a flat wooden

roof,

and (h) one of the two west towers

(cp. III.

28).

crossing^arch

At

the top

is

the western

made

regional schools

was uniquely capable of a

intellect

structure

and carving, other

Languedoc

their contributions.

advanced the progress of vaulting

- already mentioned -

such great churches

Conques. Apart from

as

domed pseudo^Byzantine

in

the

churches, there was also in

Aquitaine a special Loire group which

with

built

surprising maturity such things as the abbey of St^

Benoit^surxLoire as early as 1060; even before 903 St^

Martin

The

Tours may have had vaulted

at

Romanesque churches

greater

plan

basilican

aisles.

nave and

of

aisles,

followed the

all

though with the

addition of transepts and eastern chapels they were by

the twelfth century far

removed from

them

In most of

basilicas.

certain buildings
tions

on

and

and

the nave

columns

separated by rows of uniform

or piers, but in

were varia^

form of alternating supports.

These usually consisted of a simple rhythm of

columns
aisle

compound

with

thin^thick,

or with

more

correspond thus

Two

with

bays of the

one bay of the nave:

where groin or rounds-arched

bays

all

which was

could, by this means, be kept square,

great help

thick/-

alternating

piers

slender piers.

to

were

aisles

in certain areas there

this pattern, in the

pagan

the original

rib vaults

were

used - pending the liberating force of the pointed arch.

We

find this system all over Europe, in such otherwise

Modena and

diverse buildings as Jumieges in France,

Michele

S.

at

Pavia in

different system

Hildesheim

Italy

was introduced

to every

This

triple

pier,

in

England.

St Michael at

in

bay of the nave there were three

corresponding bays of the

columns, one

and Durham

aisle,

making

two columns, one

rhythm of two

pier,

and

so on.

rhythm became popular throughout Lower

Saxony, but in the great churches of the Rhineland

the double^bay system that

we

such a monumental building

Hi

a royal

mausoleum with

length of 435

feet,

the

same

find,

it is

lending variety to

as the cathedral at

Speyer

and with

a total

a fine crypt

as Chartres.

of the great phenomena of the medieval world -

One

second only

- was

to

its

inheritance from the

Normans. By

the impact of the

Roman Empire
the beginning of

Vikings

the eleventh century these intelligent, vigorous

had been living

in

France

hundred

for over a

had become not only French and

years.

feudal,

They

but also

patrons of monastic orders and of great master masons.

They

created a civilization as far south as Sicily, as far

north

became

The Romanesque of Normandy

Iceland.

as

in the English cathedrals built

the

turn

with such energy

after

a consistent structural system, applied

Conquest.

Norman Romanesque -

like

Norman

rule

- was

heavy, strong, uncompromising, but also highly artic^

ulated.

While

the

mouldings were simple squares and

and even

the

capitals often only plain 'cushions', the architecture

was

roundels, the ornament largely abstract

masonry of a high

nevertheless orchestrated

concentric ring

oi^

every arch

had

order. Every

a square or a half'
'!<

column

correspond

to

arches springing

to

it

in the pier

awkwardly from

below (moulded

cylindrical piers as at

and Tewkesbury have been men^

Gloucester, Malvern

tioned on p. 102; they

may

be regarded as an English

Benedictine aberration). Moreover, the sheer richness of

- possible only in a

a multiplicity of concentric arches

thick wall

may

- became

in itself a

kind of ornament,

as

one

innumerable doorways of English village

see in the

churches. Within the nave, however, apart from mass,

scale
to

and harmony of parts, almost

the only concession

emotion was the strong division between the bays by

the great emphasis put

an unbroken

vertical

upon

the wall^shaft, taken

band from

lay not only the strong articulation

floor to

up

roof In

in

this

of the bays themselves,

but also the germ of that soaring quality, that aspiration,

that

was

to

be the essence of Gothic - though

less

in

England, paradoxically, than in France.

The Romanesque of Normandy was worked

early as

c.

1040

at the

abbey of Jumieges. There,

out as
as

we
-'Mm

Dt4rham

12'j

In

much

enriched version of the douhle^hay

system supports hi^h

All

Cathedral nave, a

rib

Norman

chevron mouldings; transverse

mouldings,

separate

and with heavier

the

twin

that to

plan there are two bays of the

keep the bays square on

aisle to

one of the nave:

ijo.

the ribs are decorated with typically

arches, slightly pointed

bays

vaults ofc.

we find

have already seen,

the wallz-shaft

is

system appears

used only on alternate

at

Durham, begun

in 1093

Jumieges never was vaulted (the

vaulting

carried

transverse

Durham

there

arches

came

for

the historic

piers.
;

The same

but whereas

wall-'shafts

wooden

at

most

ceiling),

moment when,

at

instead

of using round arches and the usual vaults, the masons

chose to roof the cathedral with rib vaults: the choir was
rib^vaulted by 1104, but this vault
infilling

- had

to

- owing

be rebuilt. In the nave

(r.

to faulty

1130) the

vaults are of a highly unusual type consisting of

two

twinned quadripartite vaults per bay, separated by

pointed transverse arches. Here were the germs of the

Gothic
120

fully

style,

though below

Romanesque.

these vaults

Durham was

The Norman
brought

England

to

storey elevation

We

towers.

style

in

of church/'builcling which was

1066 typically involved a

three-'

and cruciform plan, sometimes with

find this in St-'Etienne at

Caen, William

own foundation of c. 1068. Among

Norman works to survive in England is

the Conqueror's
the earliest

the north transept of

Winchester

with large/jointed masonry.

is

(f.

The

(c.

1079) - very plain,

flowering of the

style

exemplified in the groin^vaulted crypt of Canterbury

1100-1120) and in the great naves of Ely and

Peterborough.

The
Ages

story

is,

of Italian architecture during the Middle

on the whole,

Lombardy, from

different.

the ninth

The

early

churches of

century, radiated a

new

building system throughout southern Europe which,

well as the
at the

ending

the exterior

at the

style as a

top in a

was

in the

form of

vaults. Orna/'
pilaster^strips,

row of shallow, blank

whole spread

to the

as

in Carolingian buildings

same time, involved the use of stone

ment on

to

good masonry used

arches.

The

Rhineland, then returned

northern Italy in the eleventh century to be embodied

^8

West

front of

SuEtienne) Caen

Nave

(be^un c.iobS).

and

aisles

are

expressed by the division into wide and

narrow bays, separated hy fat

buttresses.

arcaded

Above

towers,

the

strikingly

before the addition of

the

aisles

development of

Gothic

Norman
rise

two
even

high
spires.

For

this theme, see Ills.

ij6, 142 and 14^

1 2g Ely Cathedral nave (begun c.iiio)

shows the three^storey Norman arrange^

ment of arcade, gallery and clerestory with

a passage in the thickness of the wall.

The

capitals

walUshafts

On

are plain

vast

rise to a

The

cushions.

wooden

ceiling.

the right the corner of the crossing,

originally square,

is

canted for the

century octagon (III.

64)

^th^

Abbondio and S. Fedele in Como.

in such churches as S.

At

the time there

h^gun

was widespread experimentation with

breadth,

rib vaults: the magnificent

Milan may have had

its

church of S. Ambrogio in

rib vaults before

Durham, though

present vaultmg almost certamly dates from

The

chaotic state of Rome after the

fall

after

1 1

17.

of the Empire

ripartite

S.

Miniato,

rib

square bays.

vaults,

in

Note

the

sponse of the piers

to

in

vast

its

nave

the

covered

splendidly

c.g4o,

Roman

C.1060).

like

however

and

MilmJ^hoir

S. Ambrogio,

by

is

quad-'

domed^up

articulated

re^

arches and vaults,

the absence of a clerestory

meant an almost complete cessation of building; while

the cathedrals were

Pisa for instance

ing

much on

at

Rome

slept.

Elsewhere,

at

Florence, a style emerged depend^-

surface enrichment for

no innovation
little

and

built

in plan,

decorative arcades

no attempt

and

rich

its effect.

There was

At

vaulting.

at

Pisa

marble facing are used

ijo Opposite: S. Minia to

lorence

ferent

southern

northern.

throughout, even in the Gothic Baptistery and

Santo.

S.

Miniato

Monte

al

in

Florence

beautifully proportioned in a classic way,

is

and

'a

first

Roman

it

synthesis

has a

wooden roof Pevsner

of Tuscan

simplicity

and

believe that S. Miniato

transept at Winchester.

intellect

poise'. It

was

is

built before the

Romanesque

scale

Monte,

is

almost

is

dif^

from

Roman;

the piers are copies of classical columns,

simple,

with some recused antique capitals; the

rich in

called

it

and grace with

difficult

The

al

shows how

Campo

choir
aisles

marble inlay;

(cioyj),

indeed to

is

raised over a crypt;

nave and

have open timber roofs; and the

richness

Roman

of the
in

marble facing,

inspiration,

is

itself

more evident

than any structural vigour

Norman
123

1^

F
I

^^^^^^^^^^^^^H

Chapter Six

WESTERN CHRISTENDOM:
GOTHIC
II

The Middle Ages, from

the Reformation, are like

the time of

some

Charlemagne

vast tapestry, rich

to

1J2 Rheims Cathedral nave (designed

and

C.1210). The Gothic style depends on a

balance

glowing,

We

may

with

filled

detail

both sublime and squalid.

seven hundred years; as the

details

woven through

think of this tapestry as being

work comes

become more complex,

to a close the

more

also

precise

and

forces,

of

Romanesque

against

as

reliance on mass.

What began

as a story

of pious abbots and

fighting chieftains, framed in heavy

Romanesque

arches,

ends with the extreme sophistication of the monastic

heraldic

the

orders,

mercantile

cities

through

It

of an aristocracy,

of northern Europe and

and

the splendours

protocol

miseries of the

Italy,

and with

Crusades; while

runs the golden thread o^ Gothic

all

the discipline of

Gothic

it

art,

structure.

Medieval architecture was European but,

twelfth century,

the

after

the

emanated mainly from France, and

the

exterior of a Gothic cathedral the system

whereby the thrusts are transmitted

is

frankly exposed. Pointed arches channel

the weight of the vault to a

defined.

the

On

At

points.

carry

it

to

few

selected

these points flying buttresses

the

ground;

to

counter the

outward thrust of the vault, they are

weighted with heavy pinnacles. The new
structural theory
a

new

aesthetic.

went hand

in

hand with

Flying buttresses were

seen as leapingflights of stone; pinnacles

became displays of sculpture and orna^

ment; windows, now safely as wide as
the spaces between the buttresses,

were

filled with patterns of bar-'tracery,

pro^

bably invented here at

Rheims in the
Most import

early years of the century.

has

come

to

be called 'Gothic'. This

is

no

less

true

because technically there was, in our sense, no such

thing as France. There was Brittany, a

fief

on

tant, all these

features were welded into

a unity

the fringe

of the Celtic world; there was Normandy, expansionist

and

practical, creating the administrative structure with^

out which no great architecture can exist; there was

Burgundy, with

great river system

long chain of abbeys -

and

its

and

for travel.

to or

its

and

its

big

fairs

a land fervent for building

There was Aquitaine, which belonged

was influenced by England during much of the

medieval period.

And

then there was Provence, once

a province of the Empire, represented in the

Senate,

and very

Roman

in

its

life

Roman

and laws, learning

125

GOTHIC

and

art

...

a civilizing link

between Antiquity and

Christendom.

Above

was

there

all

the central

domain of

the

He

de France. This was the ancient realm of the Capetian

monarchy, taking one back almost

to the last days

of

Hugh Capet, in the tenth century, had

'august kmg of France and Aquitaine'. By

Charlemagne.
been called

making
set

the coronation an eighth sacrament he

above

Brittany

other feudal lords, as 'the eldest son of the

all

Church'.

had been

Only

and

slowly

the rest

did

Normandy, Burgundy,

come under

the royal sceptre, but

the disputations of the University of Paris decided both

ijj Loches, one of

the ^reat castles of

France.

The

centre

the old keep ('donjon') of about

is

rectan^^ular

tower

in

the

1100. In front of it stand the bastions

and curtain walls of the later castle. The
slope ('batter') of the wall and the

the theology

the East

introduced into

military

tecture by advances in the technique

archie

of war

the

law of Christendom.

had succeeded

Paris did in the

Rome

As Byzantium

as a worldz-capital so

West. The He de France became a

was safeguarded. From Paris

He de France - St/Denis, Laon,

casket wherein civilization

and

the cathedrals of the

keeled plan of the bastions are sophistic

cations

and

Chartres,

Amiens, Beauvais, Le Mans and Bourges -

the structural

and

aesthetic principles of

,-^'

i^!tu

'-,-r.^;_i

_-^0^

"4ti*^

kJ^-a-l,

Gothic went

Europe by the

forth, carried across

The
as

monarchy,

centralized nature of the French

as well

sacramental prestige, enabled the kings of France

its

to pursue a consistent policy

political

- architectural

as well as

- through many generations.

Every part of medieval Europe

Gothic

this

great master masons.

distinguishable

yet

each

and have each

their

own

history,

are

and

of the great structural

truly only a local variant

is

own stamp upon

German, Spanish, English

architecture.

all

set its

theme evolved by the builders of St^Denis, Sens, Laon

and Chartres. In the

esque churches

Amiens and
compared.

more than

little

Roman-'

Normandy and England,

say,

of,

almost identical;

early twelfth century the

hundred

are

years later,

11

Salisbury must be contrasted rather than

And yet,

in spite of the differences, the former

ij_ If

is

a central example, the latter a provincial

same

the

style,

Europe where

sible in winter,

"ift~^

T^

the Gothic.

Gothic architecture must be seen in a Gothic Europe,

a

flS

example of

travel

was

difficult in

but almost always

were made only

summer, impose

fruitful since

for serious reasons

journeys

the pilgrimage, the

i54 The Cloth Hall

its

at Bruges,

overwhelming tower raised

in

with

1482,

expresses the secular, mercantile wealth

of one of the most prosperous towns of

medieval Europe

crusade, the commission to build a cathedral. Gothic

architecture

must

also be seen as a

system, in

which each man had

function.

The Church

manors and

thousand

castles.

castles

The

show

an end,

fine

Church but

to

merchants, the burghers and the

The power of

in the

guild,

that long before the

these chartered

Middle Ages came

to

building was not just a function of the

also a

town

symbol of worldly
that a

man

the wealth of the

Church.

success.

Moreover,

could apprentice himself

and thereby become

independence of the town was

was

ten

guild halls, warehouses and big gabled market

squares

was

aristocracy

was of tremendous importance. Cloth

corporations

it

monastic orders built

- Germany alone once had

guilds built the towns.

halls,

and

his specific place

and parish churches. The

cathedrals, abbeys
built

or the

product of a caste

craftsman.

The

Gothic

art as

as vital to

127

GOTHIC

While
castles

bishops built churches, the aristocracy

the

and the merchants towns,

and barns. The hovels of

mills

cottages,

the peasantry built

the twelfth

century, without glass or chimneys, have not survived,

but by the fifteenth century - as

villages
finest

may

many

be seen in

and farms - Western Europe had one of the

vernaculars in history.

This great wealth of building

reflected

system of customs and institutions.

an elaborate

The Seven

Sacra^

ments and the Seven Deadly Sins covered almost every^

JJ5 In

this

window

at

Suffolk,

i^th^ century stained ^lass

Lon^ Meljord Church

the

knight

kneels

under

in

miniature vault complete with capitals

thing from birth to death, and were planned

were a thousand local

cults,

with

their

There

for.

holy

and

trees

wishing^wells, which, like the greater heresies, had to

and buttresses

be stamped out: the

this,

too,

was

Church became more

of the pilgrimage, which,

already in

Romanesque

greater

specialization

and

There was the

reflected in architecture.

institution

militant

as

we have

seen,

times seems to have led to a

of church

with

plans,

aisles,

ambulatory and radiating chapels. In Gothic the plan/

ning of these eastern chapels was taken
extremes of ingenuity. The Crusades -

two hundred and

momentous
Frankish

as

fifty

years

for architecture.
castles in the

further

to

six

of them in

- were an

institution

Apart from such things

Holy Land,

there

was

the

undoubted feedback of Saracenic influence upon Gothic

upon mathematics and upon manners.

The institution of the siege - a very formal operation -

art,

development of the

dictated the progressive

within the

castle

Romance of

the

wall - as

we may

see

it

castle,

while

portrayed in the

Rose - the troubadours inspired the

'paradise', the enclosed

garden with fountain and

trellis,

forerunner of the Elizabethan parterre. Chivalry, with

mystique of knighthood and

became

its

heraldic

its

emblems,

a basis for decoration, particularly in that last

blaze of Gothic that

The emotional

we

see in

Tudor England.

appeal of Gothic structure was such

that for the carver, broderer or glazier, the representation

of architectural elements in miniature became in

itself a

decorative motif. In the canopies above saints' heads, for

we may

instance,

whole

see

mullioned windows,

all

was

that architecture

Like medieval

the

life,

mches high -

a few

dominant

and

a sure sign

of the age.

art

medieval architecture was highly

systematized. Every part

part.

vaults, flying buttresses

Gothic

was dependent upon every other

Function, structure and decoration were, more than

From

in any other style, an absolute trinity.

complex

plan one can deduce, almost, the smallest cusp; from the
carved boss one can deduce the form of the vault, and so

back

to the

What,

system of abutment and to the plan.

then,

was Gothic

architecture? First:

system whereby a fireproof roof of stone had

by thick walls

thrust resisted, not

building, but by external buttresses.

from the twelfth

so

the wall
at all,

As

was

outward

Romanesque

the style

developed

system was

to the sixteenth century, this

by putting mass and strength into the

exploited

buttresses

as in

its

it

- where

it

was needed - and by paring away

that there

itself,

was

in the

end

virtually

nothing but very big windows between

no wall

buttresses.

many small panels of glass had to be supported,

and since such windows had necessarily to be wind^

Since the

resisting,

they were subdivided

tracery. This, in turn,

worker

that his art

Gothic

as

by mullions and by

gave such scope

became

as

much

to the stained^glass

the concomitant of

mosaic had been of Byzantine. This

manifestation of Gothic - the lantern church that

window and

buttress

- was

the goal towards

Although when we look

front of Wells
see a

at, say,

as

is

a carved

the west

we

was a Greek temple,

to

receive sculptured figures, this

that almost every stone

the

1240)

(begun c 1200) or of Rheims

building designed,

is all

which

Middle Ages moved. Second: Gothic was

architecture.

last

is

(c.

secondary to the fact

carved for

its

position in the

building, carved with mouldings. Every element - rib,

mullion, shaft, arch,

qualities
tion.

jamb -

thus incorporated the three

of architecture: function, structure and decora^

The mouldings of each

stone

added

to

its

efficiency

129

ij6

of Rheims
Cathedral (c.12^0) we see how conu
In

west front

the

pletely Gothic

Every stone

is

a carved architecture.

moulded

is

to fit

into

the

sculptural scheme, the vertical elements

ruthlessly

asserting

themselves against

the horizontal. In this

of the classic

extreme statement

French Gothic facade,

the

twin towers have become open cages of

stone;

the

nave

whose tracery
and

is

is

lit

by rose window

like the veins

of a flower;

the great portals, filled with statuary

and projecting outward under separate

gables

to

get greater depth, stretch

a third of the

way

to the

upward

tower tops

by reducing

its

by expressing

weight, and added to

decorative nature

its

of force - tension, rhythm, thrust -

lines

throughout the building. The larger buttress played a

similar structural

where

it

and

was needed,

aesthetic role:

at right

it

placed weight

angles to the line of thrust;

divided bay from bay externally as the

tall

it

Romanesque

vaulting shaft had already done internally.

The key

features

pointed arch;

and

^,

2,

of Gothic architecture were:

the

the flying buttress; j, the vaulting rib;

the moulding.

tentatively

1,

Each of

these

had been only

foreshadowed in Romanesque. The pointed

arch had, for instance, been used in the third church at

130

Cluny about

100, but

nobody

ever dreamt that

it

might

revolutionize the plan.

The

flying buttress, to carry the

thrust of the nave vault across the aisle to the outer wall,

was used by Romanesque

builders, but

was hidden under

the lean-to roof of the aisle, never exploited architect-

The

vaulting rib also, of course, existed in

Romanesque

times, but only in so far as the essential

turally.

crossmatches

and diagonal arches of the square vaulting

bay were exposed

heavy

as

ribs

below the smooth

of the vault; a multiplicity of delicate

ribs to

patterned roof was solely a Gothic thing.

esque

articulated

pier,

corresponding

to the

was

moulded;

in a sense

with

&

form a richly

The Romans
and

squares

soffit

roundels

:--J

c^,,.

concentric rings of the arch above,

real

mouldings,

as

an aesthetic

treatment of the stone, were, however, something that

emerged,

as at

Although

these were key features of

ture the thing

which

technically possible,

how

the

Romans,

truly liberated

was

Gothic architect

Gothic, making

the pointed arch.

it

We have seen

in the halls of the thermae,

buik un^

ribbed quadripartite vaults over square bays, and did so

on

a very big scale.

heavily ribbed

We

have also seen

Romanesque

vaults,

'./U-

Chartres and Wells, only around 1200.

how

there

were

but also virtually

ij7
{

Vault

1^1 2-4-/ J,

structure

and superb

art,

fact,

both

in spite of courageous

Roman and Romanesque

by Benedikt Ried. Where-'

as the ribs of most

Early and Hioh Gothic

buildings were functional, Late

masons

only over square bays. In

St Barbara, Kuttenberg

in

Gothic

so mastered the vault that they

could use ribs merely

to

form

delicate or

fantastic patterns

ij8 Beauvais Cathedral

in

i22z^ and

century,
in

left

shows

two flights -

to the limits

Even

so,

of what was
the collapse

284 was due not to their

bad foundations. The tran^

of the vaults in

sept front

begun

the flying buttress used

possible in stone.

height but to

choir,

unfinished in the 16th

shows

the lavish late Flam-'

boy ant style of decoration

131

GOTHIC

builders were always subject to the tyranny of the square

bay. Ifthe ridge of the vault

on

the arches

was

to

run

level,

four sides of the bay must

all

same height and - since

neither

Roman

nor

then clearly
the

all rise to

Romanesque

builder could conceive of an arch other than the semi/

circular

- the vaulting bay must be square. Both

and Romanesque builders occasionally

problem by
this

stilting or

must be regarded

tried to solve this

depressing the semi^circular arch

as a botch.

The pointed arch - since

pointed

it

could be steeply or

slightly

will - resolved the situation completely.

at

one of the great breakthroughs of architectural

Once

Roman

It

was

history.

was accepted and understood,

the pointed arch

then a vaulting bay could be rectangular instead of

square, with steeply pointed arches

on

short sides,

its

and

shallower arches on the long sides. Indeed, by varying

the steepness of the various arches

and

ribs the

bay could

be almost any shape that was necessary to conform with

the function of the plan.

Examples

are the

rhomboidal

bays of the ambulatory, the polygonal chapels of the

French chevet and the polygonal chapter-'houses of

England.

The

technical advantages of the pointed arch were,

tremendous.

therefore,

Viollet/'le^'Duc,

according

Nikolaus Pevsner, has overestimated them;

difficult to

do

so.

The

and

rectangular

it

to

would be

pointed arch, by making possible

shaped bays, completely

irregularly

emancipated the plan. The pointed arch made possible a

multiplicity of vaulting ribs;

all

spring from one shaft,

of different curvature;

all

could

all are

height.

The

ribs

the

same

of any given vaulting bay did not

necessarily all rise to the

in western France,

rise to

same height. The

might be

slightly

ridge, specially

curved so

as to give

each bay a domical appearance. But the important thing

is

that,

rib

with the pointed arch, the height

would

designer.

132

rise

By

Gothic was

was under

which each

the absolute control of the

the early fourteenth century,

fully

to

when

English

developed, no fewer than eleven ribs

From Romanesque

13P

groin vault

to

tierceron vault:

Gothic

A. The

square
round arch requires a

vaulting hay

huilt
with round arches ts
If a vault
on
arches
the
then
over a rectangular bay,
on
(raised
stilted
shorter side must he

the

straight sides, as
the

at 'a') to rise to

shown

same height

The

pointed arch, with

Rexihility, solves this

extreme

its

The

prohlem

arch

(i)ts steeply pointed;

over the short side
side (2) IS less
arch over the longer
the

pointed;

steeply

longest span,

the diagonal

ohtusely pointed,

and yet

all

arch

the

across

(3)

the

'^^7

even semucxrcular
rise

three can

to

the

same

In the
level ridgeAine.
height, giving a
arches are rihs,
Gothic vault these

weh
forming a stone

to

hold the lighter

cell
infilling in each

Additional

rihs

(4,

'tiercerons'.
added, called

5>-^) ^'^
They smplu

the size oj
construction hy reducing
aesthetically, they
each cell of the vault;

kd

opened the

way for

the

Late

Gothic

ceiling. The
highly decorative
at diferent
rihs
awkward junction of
use
the
of the boss
hy
angles was masked

vault,

GOTHIC

rose

from each

Exeter nave.
ideal of the

dome

By

tiny capital

on the vaulting

a biological analogy

Roman

or

Romanesque

we may

builder

possible, while the ideal of the

was

make

to

say that the

was

or vault like a turtle shell, with as

soffit as

a vault like a

of

shafts

to

make

smooth

Gothic builder

mammalian

skeleton, an

organic complex of spine and ribs - structural and tense,

yet also unified.

The

pointed arch also

opposed

to the

of the building

of support.

and

It

141

St^Denis Abbey Church:

the

ambulatory; opposite, above,

plan.

The

tiarthex (on the left of the

plan, in black) and the chevet (on the

ri^ht)

were

rebuilt

by Abbot Su^^erfrom

C.11J4 onward, and represent the very

earliest

examples of the Gothic style. The

chevet (ri^^ht) in particular

opportunities for
bility

shows what

lightness

and

flexi^

were provided by the pointed arch

and the

rib vault.

Not

only could spans

of different widths easily be brought to the

same

height, but the vaultin^^bay itself

could be of any plan.

The nave and

transepts of

St^Denis were

High Gothic

a century after

134

rebuilt in

Suger

square bay, thus causing the

to

be distributed over twice as

made

The

total

into organic

weight

many

possible the large traceried

was brought

vault above.

140,

possible the rectangular as

the slenderer supports of triforium

so that all

ri^ht,

made

points

windows

and nave arcade,

harmony with

the

pointed arch caused a more precise

concentration of thrust

whole

of the

lightening

sequent

the abutment, with a con^

at

apparent miracle of the flymg buttress.

qualities of

and

structure

The

the

aesthetic

Gothic were only possible because of the

technical qualities

stated the nature

development in

inherent in the pointed arch.

we now

of Gothic in general
specific

Having

turn to

its

examples.

One of the greatest of medieval patrons of buildmg was

Abbot Suger of
abbey

church

St^Denis. Finding his Carolmgian

inadequate

narthex, then started to rebuild the choir in

left

book showing

he

pilgrims,

for

built

He

140.

has

the medieval attitude to architecture

- a mixture of daring innovation and mystical symbolism.

That the chevet was

of

Crown of Thorns was

The

master

only, perhaps, that

mason

is

ambient

aisle

not

named;

good building was taken

technology rather than an

Denis has not only

The

art.

interior, full

pointed arch

but also, in

complex

of intriguing
is

effect,

shows

for granted,

chevet

at St^-

a second outer aisle

and

vistas

used throughout;

plan, but already this

giving us marvellous

this

polygonal chancel with a circum^

running through the chapels. The

only part

system of symbols running through the whole

building.

as a

the

new

it

an

airy

perspectives.

The

result

had

to

is

be over such

new-found

flexibility

spatial possibilities.

is

135

The new

Throughout
great

was consecrated

choir of Stz-Denis
the

He de France and beyond,

wave of emulation. In

in 1144.

there

was

central France alone Sens,

Noyon and Senlis were built between 1140 and 1220.

Then came the great cathedrals of Paris (1163-1235),
Laon (i 163-1225), Bourges (i 190-1275), Chartres
194-1260), Rheims

(1

210- 1300), Le Mans (1220-

(c.i

Amiens (1220-88).

64) and

Chartres had actually been

begun simultaneously with St^Denis, but only

front

was

ever built (an earlier

and was burnt

it

marvellous

in 1194).

marriage

already belong to the

some of
austerity.

instance,

The lower

Gothic

centuries.

centre,

including

famous

the

Portail

work

begun

window of plate
with

tracery

is

The Flamboyant

11^4.
left

was added

the

Renaissance

circular

contemporary
begun

church,

present

the

The

1134.

in

the

to

after

on

spire

the

i^oj, on the eve of

in

143

transept

(c.

Cathedral

Chartres

11^4-1260).

architecture,

generation of Gothic.

About

some Romanesque

is still

the walls;

set

is

it

in

the arches barely pointed

Only by

very large lancet

and

without

still

had reached

the time the builders

the clerestory did they begin to

pairs

and crown them with

Earlier

group the

wheel of

lancets in

'plate^tracery',

consisting of patterns cut through the thickness of the

wall - hinting

at a different

kind of window. However

with Rheims, barely twenty years

architecture

that

is

almost

like

later,

lace,

we have an

with

its

fully

developed bar^tracery where patterns are made by stone

'bars* in the

Opposite:

and

the

part of the

Royal, and the towers belong

tracery.

magnificent portals, a

The famous stained glass at Chartres, for

may be likened to a series of glowing banners

windows,
the

Its

these churches there

hung upon
1^2 Chartres Cathedral facade, of
standard two^tower type, spans

church remained behind

of sculpture
first

the west

windows - appearing dark

rather than, as

was

against the light

the case with plate^tracery, light in the

dark wall - and arcading. This

is

also

an architecture

Gothic builders had favoured a four^

storey elevation (see

masons

returned

III.

to

14"/).

the

Here

three^storey

arrangement, retaining the shallow

forium and eliminating

buttressing

role

was superseded by

The

lancets were enlarged and

crowned by a

stained glass.

running from floor

vertical

emphasis

to

the

clerestory

wheel of plate tracery (visible top

and filled with

tri"

whose

the gallery,

external flying buttress.

the

that in

its

height and lightness had reached the most

thrilling extremes

hundred

of which stone was capable. Within

Abbot Suger's achievement at St^

that we have the High Gothic style of

years of

Denis we may say

France.

These cathedrals have certain things in common. They

left),

all

have very broad but cruciform plans - that

is,

tran^

Shafts

vault increase the

septs

of slight projection. Notre^Dame in Pans, with

double

aisles

and complete unity throughout

its

its

length,

^^BB^B

**

Glli ilillll

111"

t^^^i

45 English and French Gothic

cathedrals differ in their position and in
i44>

form

their

(be^^un

grassy

c. 1 1

below)

80,

isolated

close,

Wells

142-j).

(see pp.

stands

from

in

A rniens

(begun 1220, opposite) domi"

Hafed'its

town

houses

like a

pressing

Amiens

soars,

massive

towers

width of the

ment

is

great ship, the small

in

round

Wells

aisles.

two

the orna^

integrated with the structure; at

Wells it seems rather to

tion.

its

beyond the

At Amiens

like those at

Rheims

are overwhelmingly vast

(III.

ij6)

and cavernous;

are insignificant,

made

unnecessary by a grander entrance

in the

those at

side

Wells

at

all

have cavernous doorways. Not only

Chartres were the doorways a

field for

sculpture; the

portals of

Laon, Rheims and Amiens

great things of architecture.

are

among

the

Most have western towers,

or

substructures intended to take towers. In fact externally

few

of these

cathedrals

were ever

completed.

builders of Chartres intended nine towers -

The

two on

the

west front, two on each transept, two flanking the apse

and one

central tower at the crossing

- with

spires rather

be surface decora-'

Finally, the three western portals of

Amiens,

cathedrals nearly

Where

it.

spreads,

extending

be thought of as the reaHzation of an ideal. These

town.

the

may

of the north tower, at the

left

than the mere conical roofs of the twelfth century.

came
sheer

nearest to the ideal with five

fleche

completed towers. The

height and fragility of French

excluded the

possibility of a

was enough.

Laon

Gothic usually

heavy central tower - a

146 Ri^ht:
Cathedral
aisles

the

interior

(iig2~i2js)

which

are

used

in

of Bourses
^^^
a

douhle

uniquely

impressive way.
to a

one

The main arcade rises

great height and through its arches

sees,

as

it

were,

a second interior

elevation, complete with arcade

through

the second aisle

to

leading

triforium

and clerestory

147,

148

Opposite:

the

choir

of

Noyon Cathedral (begun c.u^o, above)

shows
vation.

the

Early Gothic four^storey

The

ele-

choir of Beauvais Cathedral

(below), begun

in

after the collapse

122^ but

altered later

of the original vault

in

1284, attempts a different solution by

glazing the triforium; its total height
is

almost twice as great as that

of Noyon

140

High Gothic

Internally the great

threez-storey

arrangement.

First, there

opening through into the

and

cathedrals present a

aisles;

is

second, the triforium;

third, the clerestory flooding the

From

nave with

light.

clerestory level there springs the ribbed vault.

bay from bay,

cross/rib, dividing

is

more heavily moulded than the other

Romanesque - and

much a series

so

the nave arcade

what we

so

The

no longer much
ribs

as

it

in

vv^as

see here in the vault

is

not

of bays as a pattern of equal ribs growing

organically from the vaulting shafts.

It

is

mainly in ringing the changes on the

relative

proportions of arcade, triforium and clerestory that the

made one

builders of mature French Gothic

differ

from another. The triforium which,

cathedral

after all,

only

screened the aisle roof, tended to disappear or to be glazed

like the clerestory; this

had happened by the late thirteenth

At Le Mans and Bourges

century.

by introducing double

the pattern

is

varied

each with a complete

aisles,

elevation -

three^storeyed at Bourges, two-storeyed at

Mans. The

great increase in height during the thirteenth

shown by

century

is

mere 85

feet

from

than a century

the difference between

floor to vault,

later, its total

in three storeys,

Noyon,

and Beauvais begun

:

height

is

where Noyon had

157

feet

Le
a

less

- achieved

four.

English Gothic was derived from France, but soon

developed a character of

its

own. Archaeologists of the

English Gothic into

early nineteenth century divided

four

main

categories,

knowledge can now

style
^.

c.

c.

out. First

was Early English, the

1275. Decorated was, as

its

name

implies, the

of ornate carving and more inventive tracery,

spatial

as

fill

greater architectural

of plain lancets or simply traceried windows, from

175 to

style

which our

experiments;

it

flourished

as well

from c.1290

to

1380. Perpendicular originated in the 1330s with the

disappearance of the characteristic curves of Decorated;

set

back by the Black Death,

and

persisted

with

little

it

reappeared in the 1360s

variation until the sixteenth

century. In every case the dates given

do not represent the

i^g-iz^i Comparative plans,

to scale,

of St Elisabeth, Marburg (i2jj-8j),

absolute beginning and end of a style; as always, old

ideas persisted alongside

Amiens Cathedral (begun 1220) and

Marburg - only

a parish church

characteristically
end,

(begun

Cathedral

Salisbury

German

1220).

has a

trefoil

east

with apsed transepts and choir of

equal length.

Amiens

wide and

is

Lady Chapel

chevet; the large axial

tion to its length,

is

narrow

is

in rela"

choir,

and

William of Sens,
commissioned

disastrous

a master

to design the

by a Frenchman

for a

fire

mason of

new

Canterbury.

at

ingenuity,

was

Though

built

choir.

Norman archbishop, the new work

does have certain English

traits:

it is,

for instance,

lower

than contemporary French cathedrals. William of Sens

incorporated the Cluniac device of double transepts,

'

a square ambulatory

a cloister

74 there was

and compartmented'

beyond the nave there are double tran^

septs,

1 1

inventions.

unified,

with shallow transepts and an elaborate

exceptional. Salisbury

In

new

around the

square^ended Lady Chapel;

and chapterAiouse

lie

to

which

in turn

Salisbury,
partial

became an English

Lincoln,

form -

at

feature, reappearing at

Worcester,

Exeter and York.

Hereford

was

It

and -

a device

in

which

the

lengthened the whole eastern limb, thus providing

for

south

the large choir of monks or canons.

Many

of the English

cathedrals were monastic churches, whereas the French

were built

ecclesiastical point;

ture

not just an

of great importance

for architec/

and town planning. The English cathedral was very

long from
Ij\1

it is

This

is

for the secular clergy.

remained

east

to

west,

relatively short,

while the French cathedral

especially in relation to

its

great height

(Westminster Abbey,

long and 80

feet

Rheims

is

460

feet

feet

cathedral, in the

high

to the

long but 124

*close',

its

trees;

it

springing of the vault;

feet

high).

The French

The English

little

cathedral,

has great groups of towers rising above the

could afford

origin of so

GOTHIC

560

is

middle of the town, dominated the

houses like a hen with her chicks.

in

for instance,

many

to

be long and low.

It is

English cathedrals which

the monastic

may

explain

the English neglect of the west front: while the west

doors

of Salisbury or

especially in

or

Amiens,

Wells

are

mere mouseholes,

comparison with the great

the

builders

portals of Rheims

lavished their attention

on

porches and doorways used by the congregation, on the

opposite side from the monastic buildmgs.
If

Canterbury was

monuments of the

still

rather French, the other classic

Early English

style.

Wells, Salisbury

Canterbury

1^2
(hegim

1 1

William
retains

y<,),

Cathedral

the

Englishman.

some

features

Romanesque

choir

by William of Sens and

(low

The

design

English

of

proportions,

some

round arches, zigzag ornament) com-^

bined

with

Gothic

others

(crocket

from

early

capitals,

French

sexpartite

vaults in the western bays, and coupled

columns

a speciality of Sens). It

was

such combinations which, together with

the

use

of Purbeck

marble,

were

to

characterize the development of English

Gothic

143

and Lincoln,
is

are very English. Wells,

vigorous and

fresh.

The windows

begun about

190,

are single lancets,

^53 Opposite: Wells Cathedral nave

ijth

(early

the triforium a series

oi^

continuously^moulded lancet

openings, the arcade richly and deeply moulded; where

in Chartres at the
at

Wells there

ornamented

same time

there are four attached shafts,

are twenty^four.

screen,

The

low and

tions

is

due more

facade

made even broader by

than

to

to the setting

and

is

was

the device of

to the

Its

main propor^

any excellence of sculpture.

built in

solidity.

triforium,

without capitals, just visible

1^4 Air view of Salisbury Cathedral

from the south-east (top right, in the
plan on p. 142). Part

added

to part,

the design pulled together only

by the

one generation and - except

for

its

site;

great

14th-century

is

spire.

stands as a

model Early English

cathedral.

The

Note

the 'screen'

facade which projects beyond nave and

aisles,

and

the polygonal chapter-house

both English specialities.

it

the

superb foliage capitals and the continuous

mid-'

fourteenth/century spire - has been scarcely altered since,

so that

have

Note

a heavily

In 1220 Salisbury was founded afresh on a virgin

it

something of Norman

clustered

thick, still

through the arches

placing the west towers beyond the width of the nave.

fame

The

century).

piers, relatively

position

may

be

Amiens

(III.

The

cathedral's

compared with that of

4^)

windows
and

are mostly plain lancets, but in the triforium

in the eastern parts there are

which correspond

foiled circles

The

punched

horizontality of the interior

emphasis, such

vaulting shaft, to

as a

together. Instead, the horizontal

- by two other

the triforium

is

Lady Chapel
a

style,

and

decoration Salisbury

English ideal:

rib.

IS

there

effect

sculpture.

church, with

its

tends to be

as

is

one vast

more

The

It

ribs

years,

of Wells,

compared with
but the internal

its

space can

total

English building, with

to

its

deep

and Lady Chapel,

compartments.

One

over/

be explored.
<:.

1230,

we have

the begin/

feature, the enriched vault.

To

the

of the classic quadripartite vault other

ribs, called 'tiercerons', are

same point and

church

buttresses,

like that

often

is

hall because

Lincoln, of

ning of that English

main diagonal

its

seldom noted. The French

a series of

whelms, the other asks

at

In

shafts.

on

clearly articulated

The facade,

transepts, articulated choir, chancel

In the nave

linear

height and shallow transepts,

great

be grasped instantly.

tends to be

The

supported

vaults

were originally no flying

of their differences

felt

ii

moment,

somewhat

Purbeck

during the same

built

especially

as austere as a Cistercian

a screen with tiny doors.

Amiens,

tiers

Outside, Salisbury also expresses an

there

is little

the three

the use of blackish^

low and spreading,

it is

in separate parts

is

vertical

roofed by a simple quadripartite vault

is

it

without a ridge

and

with

monolithic

extremely slender

Wells,

stressed

seen,

decorative shafting.

for

hall^church

tiny

tie

the masterpiece of this

is

no

is

characteristic of the

the multiplication of mouldings,

brown Purbeck marble

plate^tracery.

we have

as

is,

of English Gothic. There

characteristic

like

French

to

and

quatrefoils

rise to

the

added

same

that spring

height.

Here

at

from the

Lincoln

seven ribs spring from each corbel, giving fourteen

compartments

to

the vault.

In addition to these the

Lincoln master added a continuous

the ridge,

other ribs

its

potentially

awkward

masked by carved

bosses.

rib

running along

intersections with the

The ridge rib, which

^5^ Opposite:

^55'

interiors

the

Amiens Cathedral (below),

in

1220,

both begun

epitomize the contrast between

English and French Gothic:.

tall, its heij^ht

Amiens

is

emphasized by walUshafts;

Salisbury's length

is

accentuated by hori^

The

zontal division.
is

of

and

(above)

Cathedral

Salisbury

Amiens

chevet of

immediately visible; the square chancel

wall of Salisbury

lies

near the end of a

mysterious perspective

1^-] Lincoln

In the vault
structurally

Cathedral nave (c.i2^o).

more

emphasized by
the

ribs are

ridge

the use of a ridge rib.

is

With

vault

the

of bosses,

addition

used than are

The

necessary.

is

becoming a decoration as well as a roof

1^8

The Angel Choir

Cathedral (begun 12^6)

mentally different
nave, but there

everywhere.
choir

takes

is

The
its

is

not funda^

in structure

now

Lincoln

at

from

the

carved enrichment

angels,

name,

from which
appear

in

the
the

spandrels of the gallery

147

became standard
and minimizes

With

England, again emphasizes length

in

height.

Angel Choir

the

at

Lincoln,

summer of English Gothic. Every

foliated, every spandrel

vault itself
ribs

\>.i

and

i^

bosses.

eight lights,

It IS

in the

capital

and corbel

and arch ornamented, and

as

Both triforium and

is

the great east

is

the

clerestory are filled

window:

this,

with

its

more complex - though smaller - than

is

anything in France

'f^

are nearing the

further enriched with additional tierceron

is

with tracery,

lO's

we

at the time.

development of tracery - the introduction of

uneven numbers of lights and eventually the appearance

l!^<

of the double curve, with consequent fantasy in the

treatment of the
(/'

\&

r.

1290) -

If,

however,

England,

should look
3 (J Efljf window, Carlisle Cathedral
(c. 1 go) : the heginnings oj Decorated
J

(note especially Carlisle,

that the Decorated style

apparent.
style in

window head

as

at, say,

it

we would

is

most immediately

get at the essence

of the

governed space and structure, we

Begun

the nave of Exeter Cathedral.

in 1280, only sixty years after Salisbury, here indeed

is

There

is

architectural consistency of a different kind.

no carved ornament,

virtually

bundles of ribs

down

yet

from the clustered

to the clustered piers there

an inch of plain wall; the vaulting

ribs

multiplied unnl the nave seems a stone

is

hardly

have been

forest.

Strong,

masculine, even severe, fully moulded throughout, this

is

indeed the orchestration of stone.

More

radical structural innovation appears in the choir

of Bristol Cathedral, begun in 1298. Clerestory and

triforium have vanished; the aisles are the full height of
the choir.

Like Exeter nave,

the play of light

ornament. In
ribs,

its

it

is

more dependent upon

and shade on mouldings than

central vault

we

see

it is

introduced

upon

'lierne'

small ribs laid across the vault from one main rib to

another

to

form such patterns

as stars

a motif carried to

extremes of complexity in the Perpendicular vaults oi

England and

the Late Gothic vaults of

aisles at Bristol
IS

show

Germany. The

that desire to play with space

so characteristic of the

moment

which

in England: the vaults

come down

in cones

span from side

to curious strainer arches,

to side at the

Nearly forty years

built

on

later,

in

springing of the nave vault.

1 3 3

under the central tower

8,

huge

and

strainer arches

were

161

In

Wells

at

is

in

to strengthen the
its

nave

the

of Exeter

vault

Cathedral (hegim 1280) the increasing

number of
effect

crossing piers; here the device

equally odd,

which

ribs

not

only

achieves

an

of enrichment but almost abolishes

the division into bays

form almost

in fact grossly out of scale with the rest

of the building, but the point of departure

desire to provide a startling

if

is

the same: the

sometimes dubious -

solution to a structural problem.

160,

162 Opposite, below, and

left:

Bristol Cathedral choir (begun i2g8).

Here

the

Decorated

style

is

seen

not

merely as surface decoration but as a

different kind

of structure. The

the full height of the choir, like a

halUchurch;

in

the

central

ditional 'lierne' ribs run

rib

to

another.

down on

to

The

bridges,

aisles are

German

vault,

ad^

from one main

aisle

vaults come

creating a

unique

vista

149

t^

-^-;

the Decorated style.

round the

It

is

rich in

ornamental arcading

This arcading has complex threes

walls.

dimensional ogee arches complete with

shafts, pinnacles,

The

carving, a

ripple of oak leaves, runs over all; the gilding

and colour

crockets

and

vaults

in miniature.

all

can only be imagined.

If at

first

English Gothic had been derivative, by the

fourteenth century

decorative motif,

it

had

in the ogee curve a

which was

to

become

the

unique

dominant

motif on the Continent from about 1375 until well into

the sixteenth

century.

became an overriding

Whereas

in

England

it

never

architectural device, in France

whole buildings seemed

to

be clothed in

brittle lace, as

Tour de Beurre (148 5-1 500) and other parts oi^

Rouen Cathedral; the structure of Stz-Maclou at Rouen

the

La

16^

Trinit'e,

Vendome (148^-

1^06). The centre oj

the

the faqade

Flamboyant, flame Aike,

shows

character

oj French tracery at a date when English

tracery
linear

was already assumino

character

oj

the

the

recti-'

Perpendicular

style

66 Tour

de Beurre,

(148^-1^00). Here

Rouen Cathedral
the wall surface

is

practically abolished and the whole tower

seems a play oj
tracery

light,

shade and filigree

a sculptural

rather than

an

architectural conception

wmsiLii^

151

(c.i$oo) and

La

Trinite at

Vendome

is

enveloped in

hence the French name

flickering flames of tracery

for

the style, 'Flamboyant'.

Germany

In

a similar stage

was reached with

the lacy,

but not Flamboyant, openwork spire of Freiburg Minster,

finished about 1340.

was

at first

Like the

rest

finished, to the original design,

essentially

French, with

emphasis. But

as

German masons
form

in the hall

height.

The

its

begun

clerestory

i6j
(c.

Freibur^^im^Breis^au
340).

Germany

Minster

specialized both in

single west towers (as opposed to the

tower Ja^ade popular

France) and

in lacy

this

168

Franciscan

dark

two^

England and

openwork

spires,

of

one was extremely influential

which

(c.

in

Church,

408). The Gothic

Romanesque

choir,

Salzburg
added

to a

nave, superbly com-'

bines the tall slender piers of the traditional hall-church

with the star vaults

that

were becoming a favourite feature

with

German

152

architects

1248 (and

extreme height and

style

vertical

developed,

evolved a characteristic architectural

church, with nave and

decoration, as in France

years the basic

of equal

and England,

but for nearly three

ornate,

and triforium vanish

The church

aisles

form remained the same. The

consequently the arcade,

building.

in

m the nineteenth century)

time passed and the

became more and more

hundred

Germany

influenced by the Gothic of the He de France:

the great cathedral at Cologne,

is

of Europe,

has

entirely; the aisles,

rise to

and

the full height of the

become

columned

hall,

and

6g

The

(he^im

German;
insistent

choir

1248)
its

of Cologne Cathedral
is

more French

than

glazed trijorium and

its

emphasis on high, soaring pro^

portions look hack to the most ambitious

of the Ile^de^France cathedrals, Beauvais,

still

under construction at the time. Like

Beauvais,

it

remained unfinished through^

out the Middle

Ages

153

ijo The final phase

in rih^ vaulting: in

the parish church at

Langenstem, near

Kassel, probably after i^oo, the actual

vault

is

seen through a separate net of

any

ribs

without

The

angularity of the rib profiles and of

structural function.

their junctions is typical

of the moment

iji Choir of St Lorenz, Nuremberg

(begun 14^4) - a hall^church, with tall
piers merging into a spiky
aisle

vault.

windows have something of

The
the

it

is

the

windows sending

tall aisle

between the slender

Again and

again, at St Elisabeth, Marburg,

Gmund

Schwabisch

1387, and the Franciscan church

Germans maintained

the

the superficial changes of the

St Lorenz,

St

Gothic

we

in 1434)

in

all

In the choir of

style.

we can also see in English

Anne, Annaberg, begun

in

Salzburg in 1408,

at

drama of height through

Nuremberg (begun

the q ualities that

begun

1351, Landshut in

in

1233,

Perpendicular tracery

the

of light

piers that illuminate the interior.

mechanical, angular quality of English

at

their shafts

see

some of

Perpendicular.

1499, has ribs

which

snake across the surface of the vault, weaving fantastic

patterns.

Nowhere more than

Gothic pushed

in

Germany can one

to extremes, the twisting

of stone into shapes that are macabre

the ribs

is

this late

development of skeleton

phase in

vaults,

where

form a net below, and separate from, the surface

of the vault
Italian

grand

the

and tormenting

as well as fantastic.

Perhaps the most curious feature of

Germany

find

itself

Gothic, for

scale,

all

can never,

its

to a

beauties of colour

and

its

northern mind, seem truly

medieval. Internal tie-beams were always preferred to

external buttresses,

and

surface decoration

- usually

in

the

form of coloured marble panelling - preferred

structural articulation. Siena

the

Cathedral

most poetic town plans in the world.

zebra^'Striped marble,

ning innovation.

same time

as

It

without

bays and yet

little

Abbey

at least

note,

however, that

Gothic nave of only four

nave!

The

Italians

may have

of the He de France, but between the

Roman Empire and

thing

an essay in

about half as long again as the twelve bays

of Westminster

known

It is

built, incredibly, at the

Amiens. One should

is

part of one of

either structural or plan^

was being

the cathedral at Florence has a

the

is

to

fall

the time of Michelangelo

was not forgotten -

size

and

scale.

of

one

We see

it

again in the Florentine church of Sta Maria Novella

(c.

1278) and in the vast Venetian church of SS. Giovanni

Paolo, begun in 1246.

At

S. Francesco,

Bologna, in a
172

SS. Giovanni
1

sive as

it is,

brinp out

Gothic.

Italian

Paolo,

Venice

246). This vast church, impress

(hegun

circular piers

the limitations

Widely spaced

of

arches,

and large areas ofplain wall

Romanesque, or even

surface belong to a

Roman,

while the use of

aesthetic,

beams shows

tie^

a complete rejection of the

Gothic system of abutment and of the

which that system could achieve

effects

1']}

Siena Cathedral ( 1 24^,-1 j8o).

The west front,

Pisano,

is

designed by Giovanni

clearly influenced by the great

west fronts of Northern Gothic, but the

whole conception

is

different; the central

doorway even has

round arch.

The

veneer of black and white marble, like the

separate
Italian

bell" tower,

is

legacy

from

Romanesque

155

74 The Dole's Palace

14th

century

Mark's Cathedral,
Piazzetta

Venice (late

in

c.i4<,y)
at the

adjoins

St

far end of the

city

where almost everything

too

is

building of which the chief quality

and the same

true of the late

is

to the left
It is

an intriguing experience

is

we have

big,

an impressive

Gothic

edifice in

for the student

The

basically

French,

though

having only two storeys

clerestory

it

ture to stand in the Piazza in Venice, to look

style

differs

size,

Milan.

of architect

ij^ Toledo Cathedral (he^un i22j),

looking across the transept.

up

at

St

is

in

arcade and

Mark's and
traceried

at the

Doge's Palace. In the big cusped,

and ogival arches of the Palace we discern an

outpost of Gothic.
centre to have

An

outpost - too remote from the

imbibed anything of the

principles of the lie de France, but

the same. In St Mark's,

on

great structural

Gothic of a kind,

the other hand,

we

all

see in the

golden mosaics of domes and pendentives a western

outpost of Byzantium. There, on the frontier between the

Latin and the Greek churches, the two

styles

may

be seen

butting, quite Hterally, one against the other.

The

other province of the old

tradition of size

was Spain.

1521) has an area half again

largest

Empire

to cling to the

Seville Cathedral
as big as

(c.

1401-

Milan and was the

building in the medieval world. Already in the

eleventh century Santiago de

Compostela had by

its

size

alone given prestige to Spain as a stronghold of Catholic

building. Burgos Cathedral, built between 1220 and
1

is

550,

IS

the

first

example of Spanish High Gothic. There

German workmanship in the later

Flamboyant vaulting and

parts,

notably in the

in the west front with

almost certainly designed by a

its

spires,

German from Cologne.

i-j^

Bmgos

Cathedral

ambulatory

(begun 1221). Spanish Gothic of

period

was

still entirely

this

dependent upon

France, but the later sculpture and the

heavy metal grilles

change

But the cathedral

is

its

('rejas') completely

originally austere character

largely, needless to say, a derivative

of French Gothic, mainly through the influence of

Coutances.
tory aisle,

The

low, strong thirteenth^century

with forbidding iron

hints at that

ambuk/

grilles to the chapels,

grim character which runs through almost

is

all
is

Spanish Gothic. Toledo Cathedral, begun in 1227,

very close to Bourges in

and lower, with

its

plan; but

it is

both broader

a two^'Storey elevation of arcade

and

7 7 Seville Cathedral (c. 1401-1^21)

the largest church in Christendom,

and unlike any

aisles

vast
and

glazed clerestory. Characteristically Spanish

is

the ornate

choir enclosure west of the crossing.

other.

south, one sees the

with their

triple flying buttresses,

the ornate transept^front.

tower beyond

an

is

heightened in the

^&

Here, from the

fat^ roofed nave and

Islamic

6th century

The belU
minaret,

179 ^f Gloucester Cathedra!

(c.ijjy-^y, right) the Perpen^

178,
choir

dicular style

enormous

is

east

fully established,

window,

the

the strong vertical

emphasis, the rectilinear arrangement

of

window

lights

and wall panels, and

multiplicity of vaulting ribs.

College Chapel,

iS^S'

Mow),

Cambridge

window

the

the

At Kin(s
(finished

tracery

is

recognizably of the same type, but the

roof is now fan-vaulted, enabling it to be

evenly panelled as well

80,

81

Opposite

the ideal of the

glass or 'lantern' church was attained in

the Sainte-Chapelle, Paris (above), as

early as c.1240.

The

choir of

Minster f below j, added

Chapel
of the
single,

Aachen
Palatine

i
555, shows the development
Sainte-Chapelle scheme - a

in

apsed room, completely glazed -

on a very large scale

158

to the

A century and a half

In England, Gothic died slowly.

Perpendicular

styhzed

of increasingly

imperceptibly into Tudor.

ness of Decorated

Black Death,

It is

was brought

to

often held that the rich^

This

ornament and

with

more than a decade before

less vertical

name.

it

could also

More

genius.

was introduced

style

the south transept of Gloucester

was

arid,

structural

important, the Perpendicular

true that Perpendicular

not true, in two

is

While Perpendicular could be

blaze

its

an end in 1349 by the

to

be succeeded only by the poverty^

stricken style of Perpendicular.

ways.

almost

died

Cathedral in

1-7,

1 3 3

Black Death.

the

in

It

is

often economical, with end^

stone panelling covering the walls

- hence

On the other hand this grid of panels was often

continued, in the form of mullions and transoms, to form

those

huge windows which, both

for their stained glass,

fifteenth^'century

as a source

were one of the great things of

England. All through Gothic we find

Beauvais choir,

this desire to substitute glass for wall.

begun

in 1235,

of light and

had been

triumph of clerestory lighting,

while the Sainte-'Chapelle, begun a few years

a

tall, aisleless

vault;

chapel with

later,

windows almost from

Aachen Minster followed

suit in

was

floor to

1355. But

it

was

not until nearly three centuries after Beauvais that this

consummated

craving for light was

in King's College

Chapel, Cambridge.

The

fifteenth

century was also the golden age of the

English parish church, the big 'lantern church' with big

windows. Buik by mercantile

wealth, these churches were
rather hard in detail

great spaciousness.

rather than ecclesiastical

all large, all brilliantly lit,

and with very slender

More

elaboration

is

piers giving

found in chancel

screens, private chapels, splendid towers and,

in those carved timber roofs of which

(i

394-1402) was merely the

The

above

all,

Westminster Hall

largest.

'poverty' of Perpendicular

is

the further enrichment of the vault.

also repudiated

by

The metamorphosis

of the English vauk from a structural roof to a decorative

182
(

Canterbury

Cathedral

nave

i^jg-i/^o^). Henry Yevele was one

of the great English master masons, and

among
follow
is

the first
in detail.

whose career we can

His work

at

Canterbury

a fluent exercise in Perpendicular.

emphasis

is

vertical,

the

The

mouldings

multiple and thin, the triforium merely

panelled.

The

Gloucester

(III.

ij8) -

vault

like
is

that

at

an ornate

ceiling

18j Gloucester Cathedral cloister (be^

gun after IJSO- ^^^ f^^wly inventedfan
vault

is

on a miniature

scale,

but the

pattern of ribs of equal length and equal

curvature forming halficircles

The

is

vaulting rib has become merely a

moulding

ceiling

was

a headlong process.

The

Perpendicular

first

clear.

was already an un/

vault, in the choir of Gloucester,

disciplined tangle of ribs

The

control.

and

bosses.

typical four^centred

Such design needed

Tudor

arch in time

gave the builders a vault with a flattened apex - virtually

a

flat

and
ribs

in

stone ceiling, heavily ornamented with lierne ribs

bosses,

and held up on

forming the true vault.

either side

bury

in canopies over

in cloisters such as Worcester (c.1372)

(i

397-1412).

Norman

nave

at

On

clusters

of

On a small scale this occurred

church and college porches,

and

by the

a big scale

one

tombs

and Canter^

recalls that the

Winchester was redesigned by William

Wynford, between 1394 and 1460, with

the

heavy

eleventh^century piers transformed or replaced by

flat,

angular Perpendicular mouldings; that Henry Yevele's

great nave at

Canterbury

(i

391-1403) was one of the

masterpieces of English Gothic; that the next generation

began the building of St George's Chapel

and

that every

at

Windsor,

one of these had the kind of roof described,

a rich stone ceiling clipped

between the two halves of the

The

greatest

master carpenter

working with the

vault.

There was
after

184

to be

one more phase of vaulting. Shortly

1351a master mason

the vault

is

ribs indefinitely the

effect, solid stone.

just a series

oj

the

- Hugh Herland daring we have seen in

and nearly 21 feet

long, project

if

from

you increase the number of

vault becomes, in

Gloucester realized that

roof

master masons. Hammer^heams, a yard

thick

at

timber

Middle Ages, that of Westminster Hall

in
London (1^^4-1402), shows a

whole

In Gloucester cloisters

of inverted stone cones with the

the wall to

narrow

the span,

there are arched braces as well.

where one
tracery in

sees

wood;

delicate

the

and

Every^

Perpendicular

hammer^beams end in

carved angels

simulacrum of ribs carved upon

come

to

their surface.

be called Tan^'vaulting' and

is

This has

the typical roof of

Tudor Gothic.
Architecture not only
historical changes.

had

transferred

Even

reflects

before the

patronage from

but also foreshadows

fall

of Wolsey in 1530

Church

to

Crown,

English Gothic was blazing forth the piety and power of

burghers and princes.

The

last

phase was secular in

161

GOTHIC

spirit,

royal in fact

mainly collegiate chapels which

might, in architectural terms, look back to the Sainte^

Chapelle but

also

looked forward

to

Chambord

or to

Longleat. Although the great colleges of Oxford and

Cambridge were

basically

with an almost monastic

ecclesiastical

life,

foundations,

those of the fifteenth

and

sixteenth centuries form a bridge between the purely

sacerdotal colleges of the

schools

and

Middle Ages and

the secular

colleges of the post^Reformation era.

were founded by kings, statesmen and merchants,

as

by churchmen.

students' cells
1

8<)

Trinity College, Cambridge, in the

i-jth century.

entered

Around

through

the

the

Great Court

gatehouse

(jore^

also a rare

and hall (jar

side),

living quarters jor teachers

as

well as

and students

a court,

may have had monastic

dominated by
roots,

but was

example of an English contribution

to the

history of planning.

ground), are the chapel (right). Master's

lodge

as well

Their planning, with blocks of

grouped around

chapel and hall,

They

In

44 1 Henry VI

Chapel, and

in

started

to

build Eton College

1446 King's College Chapel,

Cam^

i^^ Henry
minster

VII's

Chapel,

West^

London (i^oj-ig).

Abbey,

This astonishing roof - with

its

stone

pendants apparently hanging from a fan

vault

Gothic.

is

the

last

go no further, while
building

blaze of English

The handling of masonry could

is

the spirit of the

royal and secular rather than

ecclesiastical:

it is

the end in

more senses

than one

bridge, finished in

begun

in 148

1,

15 15.

while Henry VII's great mausoleum

end of Westminster Abbey was

the east

1503 and

5 19.

These buildings

Perpendicular. In so
they

matter/'of/'fact,

qualities are,

With

far as their style

absolute

logicality

the

and those

to

glass,

miracle.

is

is

and

buttresses carry the

case of

when we

The plan of King's

the

of masonic

filled

in fact a

is

turn from the plan to the decora^

we

skill.

of the vault, with

at
its

emblems, the

realise that this

This

Henry VII's Chapel

like stone

whole

an and rectangular stone cage

the vault itself that

tour deforce

from

stretch

with no hint that the building

It is

Those

plan and structure.

tion, the shields, the heraldic beasts, the

glass

angular, rigid,

windows

weight and thrust of the vault.

College Chapel

between

built

Perpendicular.

are

really

at

are the last flowering of

however, limited

buttress to buttress,

with

Windsor was

St George's,

is

is

a great

even more true in the

Westminster.

The

lace-'

astonishing pendants,

is

end of English Gothic. There was nothing more to do.

163

41

Hf^l

v%

Sj Opposite

Gothic, but - as at

ornament

is

in

is

still

the jantastic

known as 'Manueline',
Manuel oj Portugal

88 The

dral

is

basically

Tomar -

style

destable

Batalha

in the cloister at

fc.i<^i^} the concept

all the

encrusted

after

octagonal Capilla del

(1482-^4)
crowned

in

with

King

Con^

Burgos Cathe^
a

star

vault

upholding a central lantern oj openwork

tracery

Window

Si^

of the chaptcr^house at

Tomar (c.1^20).
::ion

cnly

mark

partially

Decorative

Ingcnuit) and imagi^

this strange

be

motifs

work which can

counted as
include

shells, tree^roots, ropes

Gothic.

vegetation,

and navigational

instruments

We are a
the

it is

million miles from the arches of Durham, but

end of the same

we would

If

cross

find any later

Pyrenees.

the

stor)'.

At

Condestable (1482-94)

Gothic than

Burgos,

we have

in

the

this

we must

Capilla del

the Spanish version of

this

marriage between Gothic architecture and heraldry.

At

Segovia, in 1532 -

height of his career

in the

when Michelangelo was

- Gothic

Manueline ornament

Tomar

f.

1520,

we

see

pretend that the Middle

still

at

flourished. In Portugal,

Batalha in 15 15 and

only the

Ages

last

still

become

Europe.

the secular

at

frenzied effort to

exist.

was no longer an overriding concept;

to

at the

it

Christendom
had collapsed,

and sovereign powen of modern

Chapter Seven

RENAISSANCE, MANNERISM, AND

BAROQUE

The word 'Ren aissance* was on ce used

European architecture from

to

designate

the rebirth of the classical

in htteenth/century Florence, through

traditioii

lour hundred

years, to the

and Industrialism

at the

emergence

end of the

ot

some

Romanticism

eighieeiuli ceuiuiy.

1^0

IN ITALY

Lagoon facade of the Libreria

in Venice, byjacopo Sansovino

Vecchia

(iS3^J

194)- High Renaissance

^^^ P-

was an attempt

architecture

to revive the

of Rome.- The basic classical

elements appear over and over again and

glories

are easy to recognize, e.g. the combination

Through

all

that time, trorri

Naples

Dublin, trom

to

Petersburg to Virginia, the architectural vocabulary of

Rome was

Greece and

the basis of design.

movement

has subdivided this whole

criticism

Renaissance

Mannerism,

proper.

Modern
into

of large Doric and Ionic columns - Doric

below, Ionic above, each with
base, capital

Neo^'

its

correct

with piers

carrying arches (cp. the Colosseum,

54J.

Baroque,

and entablature

At

the

same time

way

the

III.

these

elements are handled can be extremely

Classicism, Greek Revival and so on. These terms must

individual.

be used, but there can, of course, be no rigid dividing

oval openings in the frieze, the insertion

line
It

*the

of smaller columns by the upper windows,

between them.

the precise balance of upper

has been said (by Professor Nikolaus Pevsner) that

Gothic

style

Here, for instance, the use of

was

created for Suger,

Abbot of

St^

storeys all

show

the genius

and lower

of one par^

ticular architect

Denis, counsellor of the kings of France, the Renaissance

for the

merchants of Florence, bankers

Europe'. This statement

is

to the

kings of

illuminating even if it leaves

out a good deal. Gothic architecture was born in France

and, however

many

palaces or castles were built,

was

The Renaissance was born in

however many churches were built, was

primarily ecclesiastical.
Italy

and,

primarily royal

and mercantile -

specially north of the

Alps. Great architectures, however, such

as

Renaissance, are not 'created' overnight.

periods of gestation
necessity

they

and

and of historical

come

about.

It

are the
forces.

Gothic and

They have

product of functional

They

are not invented,

has often been said that the sack of

Constantinople in 1453, and the consequent

flight

of

i6j

RENAISSANCE

IN

ITALY

scholars to Florence,

classical

Renaissance.

The

monument of the
Renaissance, 1420-^6: Brunelleschi's
igi

first great

dome, raised without centering over the

trefoil

Gothic

east

end

Cathedral. Though Gothic

it

of Florence

work.

The drum,

dome and

the

of
the

the 'cause' of the

had almost nothing

It

to

do with

scholars

who

had no

interest in classical architecture.

may have
the

The

it.

migrated west taught their hosts Greek but

At

most they

stimulated an interest in antiquity. Several of

most exquisite Renaissance buildings were in

fact

in structure,

could never have been built without

Brunelleschi's study

was

Roman

bricks

double^ skinned

crowning lantern

set

erected thirty years before the

Milan was

while the cathedral

at

debased Gothic

years later.

fifty

of Constantinople;

fall

still

being built in

The Renaissance was

pattern for the future

enlightenment.

known

so

little

a great

was born

It

awakening and

a great

had

in Italy because Italy

of the glories of Gothic towers and vaults,

and remembered

Roman

so vividly the glories of the

Empire.

The Florentine banking house of the Medici family had

representatives all over Europe. Several Medicis

had been

mayors of Florence in the thirteenth century. Cosimo

de'

Medici and

common

were

were great
attractive

grandson, Lorenzo the Magnificent,

his

citizens

They made Florence

princes.

city

in

by rank; by right of culture they

the

Europe. 'The charm which [they]

exercised over Florence', wrote Burckhardt, 'lay

their political capacity

the

first

To them we owe

painting, sculpture, literature, but the

that the Renaissance

the

basis

The

first

great

in

merchant

not only palaces,

overwhelming

was accepted by

of culture.

less

than in their leadership in the

They were

culture of the age.'

patrons of history.

most

fact

the Florentines as

achievements of the

Renaissance - until the time of Michelangelo - were

virtually a

Roman Revival.

historical air

was

of Tuscany, some kind of Roman Revival

as natural

later,

In the climate, landscape and

and

inevitable as, four

hundred

Gothic Revival was in the North.

the so-called

And

years

indeed

'Tuscan proto^Renaissance' of the thirteenth

century provided as persuasive a model for Brunelleschi

as the

remains of ancient Rome.

Like many Renaissance

168

(i

artists

Filippo Brunelleschi

377-1446) was a goldsmith by training, and

versatile

.a

"1--

-.:

'^M3^

'll-ilil'iailiiiil'ltal i;j!IU|tJllili,

-^.-l_i_X_i

J_iJJiJl_

'i>&0
assas

^SLiX^rlitittr pTTTi

RENAISSANCE

IN

ITALY

many

in
to

crafts.

build the big

He was

chosen by competition in 1420

dome over the existing

cathedral.

He was

chosen because he alone had devised a method of

supporting the centermg - erecting

upon

it

a timber

platform which he slung by iron chains from the dome's

drum.

He

then built the most graceful of the world's

domes. Perched on a drum

base,

and was weighed by

the consequent
the

outward

dome, burying

in

it

lacked

all

abutment

at its

To

resist

a lantern at the top.

chained in

thrust, Brunelleschi

thickness a series of timber

its

baulks fastened together with iron bands. This dubious

device was probably the only solution, pending the
scientific use
later.

of pre^stressed concrete

five

dome

of Brunelleschi's

a sense part of old

is

first.

and then
Foimdlin^^

hay

of the arcade

Hospital,

Bnmelleschi (1421-4)

of the

Florence,

to

crown

Christendom

thing to do.

At

it

The

silhouette

slightly pointed, thus

;

in

still

but to create a

skyline for a princely city by raising the

One

years

All Renaissance and Baroque domes were thus

chained in; that of Florence was the

igz

hundred

new

dome on a drum,

with a lantern, was a Renaissance

about the same time Brunelleschi was

by

also building the

Foundling Hospital where he again

achieved astonishing grace. In

the

this

famous plaques by Andrea

Corinthian Order used

Never, however, do

Renaissance

Roman

della

are

Robbia, and a

in a deliberately scholarly

we

architect

charming arcade

way.

find Brunelleschi or any other

actually

model: that had

to

copying

complete

await the Classical Revival

of the eighteenth century.

Grace

allied

with strength would seem

mark of Brunelleschi's work. His

S.

to

be the

hall/'

Lorenzo and Sto

Spirito are both basilican churches with a nave arcade

of semi^circular arches, and semi^circular vaults over the

aisles.

In Sto Spirito, each bay of the

semi/circular apse or niche for an

aisles

altar.

each element outlined in grey stone

The

(jpietra

its

own

result,

with

has

serena)

is

wonderful symphony o[ semi^circles. The grace of this

symphony

has

the columns.

its

counterpoint in the strong simplicity of

igj Sto
by

Spirito, Florence (i

Nave and

Brunelleschi.

covered

by flat

coffered

crossing by a dome.

4^6-82),
choir

ceilings,

The purist

are
the

treatment

of the arcade - with chunks of entablature

above each capital

- was

scarcely seen

again until the 18th century (III.

^jz)

Brunelleschi also designed but never completed two

centralized churches

domes,

central

plan.

that

is,

polygonal churches with

vaguely Byzantine in

classical in style,

Again and again Renaissance

Brunelleschi to

Wren, were

to

hanker

after

the architect

geometric fascination of this type of plan.

tural or

from

architects,

It

has

been suggested that while the medieval or basilican plan

led

man onwards

towards the distant mysteries of God,

the centralized plan

man

glorified

and

reject

But we

and

typically Renaissance in that

him

himself by setting

things;
it.

was

that

influential

it

was

this

know from

which made

Church

Renaissance architect, Leone Battista

more divine, since

the

of all

the writings of that brilliant

Alberti, that the centralized plan

the time

at the centre

it

- according

the circle

is

to

was

in fact regarded as

neo^Platonic theory

the perfect, divine, form.

at

The

objection of churchmen to the plan was related instead to

liturgical function. In the Eastern

partakes of the bread

central

and wine

Church,

the priest

directly beneath the

dome. The Western Church, on the other hand,

celebrates the entire Eucharist at

an

altar in a chancel, in

171

full

view of a congregation

who

stand behind the priest

Nothing of liturgical

facing the

altar.

therefore

happen beneath

centralized plan

the

dome. In

central

which Renaissance

climax of function did not coincide.

Rome and

both St Peter's in

architect's

architects so

plan was a centralized octagon, but that

first

as glorified basilicas

The famous
Todi -

by Cola da Caprarola

in 1508, perhaps

by Bramante - had an

'ideal' plan,

at

from

triumph of
Cola

a design

based on a Greek

arms

finds a

Humanism

symbol

even in

and

in the villa

space churches, built up within a pyra^

years

midal outline. Three of the four apses are

round

I
- the
the Catholic South -

the palace, not least the

da

palaces of Florence.

differentiated by being

all

the secular nature of the Renaissance

Caprarola: one of the few large centraU

polygonal; the sanctuary apse - right -

built

different functions.

Sta Maria della Consolazione,

by

church of Sta Maria della Consolazione

However,

i^oS),

the

a victory for the clergy over the architects.

have

(he^un

longed

London

cross with four equal arms; these four identical

Todi

the

significant that

It is

St Paul's in

both buildings ultimately emerged

ig^

would

build for their patrons, the climax of plan and the

to

at

significance

of the

The

fifteenth

palaces were built in the middle

century for such

mercantile families as the Medici, the

princely

Pitti,

and

the Strozzi,

is

the Pandolfini.

Unlike the

and

They vary

in detail but

which were

villas

set

conform

among

to type.

the fountains

cypresses of the surrounding hills, these palaces are

fundamentally urban. Each

built right

masonry

up

fills

a city

block and each

to the street frontage, presenting a cliff

to the outer

is

of

world. Each has an internal courts

yard of shaded and colonnaded charm. Each relegates to

the

ground

f^oor

stables, kitchens

such subordinate things

grilles.

offices,

and guard^rooms. These rooms

have quite small windows

heavy

as

The

grilles

to the street,

often

covered with

themsevles, as in the case of

the Palazzo Pitti, were often fine

works of

art,

their

metallic quality being a foil to the rusticated stonework.

Each palace has great suites of state apartments on the

first floor - the piano nohile - with coved and painted
ceilings. Externally this gives a splendid area

172

of blank

wall above each range of windows. Each palace has a

ig^,

ig6 Palazzo Strozzi, Florence

(hegun by Benedetto da Maiano

continued by

The

Cronaca,

impression of

the

huge

shadow of

All

is

the

the important

inward upon the

48g,

power given by

massive overall rustication

cornice.

in

i^gj-ic^oj).

quiet

the

increased by

overhanging

rooms look

and cool courtyard

173

RENAISSANCE

IN

ITALY

crowning cornice
the street by

that of the Palazzo Strozzi overhangs

more than seven

feet,

shadow. The facades, while having

were

austere.

Often the

greatest

casting a mighty

and

scale

enrichment was the

craggy character of the rusticated masonry

Alberti's Palazzo Rucellai, very

What

is

to

or, as in the

flat pilasters.

more important than individual fagades

fact that here

was

dignity,

had been created

new urban

type,

is

the

which

be found throughout the centuries in the Georgian

square, the Pall Mall clubs, the

wealthy businessman,

now

Wall

neither a

bank. The

Street

churchman nor

feudal lord, had found his architectural symbol. More^

modern

over, the

street,

the 'corridor' of stone frontages,

had, for better or worse, been invented.

Leone
leschi,

Battista Alberti

primarily

Raphael and Leonardo

Giotto,

sculptors;

were primarily painters. This coloured

was

architecture. Alberti, however,

more

like Brunei/'

Michelangelo and Bernini were

Florentine.

(1404-72) was,

their

a dilettante, a writer,

He

interested in theory than in practice.

Leonardo

regarded as second only to

in

horseman and

linguist,

has been

being the

He

complete and universal 'Renaissance Man'.

as

view of

excelled

athlete, as conversationalist, playwright,

composer and mathematician.

years a civil servant in

He was for some

Rome, with ample time

the ruins of Antiquity.

The

to

study

ancient Greeks had con^

ceived their temples in mathematical terms; in his Ten

Books on Architecture Alberti tried

laws. His theories

rest

upon

to

formulate similar

number of fallacies such

man is made in the image of God; 2, that a

spread-eagled man fits into a circle; and 5, that the circle
as: i, that

is

therefore the basis of a divine

these things are false.

The
this

circle does not

harmony

The image of God

exist in Nature. Le

in nature.

not

is

known.

Corbusier, in

century and with equal dogmatism, has proclaimed

quite a different system of proportions derived from

in quite a different posture.

174

All

function and

size.

Is

Such systems

an Alberti church,

man

also ignore

for instance,

Sta

i^7

Maria Novella, Florence.

Alberti completed the facade

the lower part

work

is

is

medieval -in

of which

4^6. His

based upon a module, represented

by each of the dark squares below the

round window. Volutes link nave and
aisles (see Ills. 224, 255, 275/ The
marble veneer used throughout was one

of

ancient

Rome's

most

persistent

cultural legacies

equally perfect as architecture if halved in size? Clearly

not,

although

fore,

its

proportions remain the same and there^

presumably, equally divine. All

invalidate the fact that Alberti

was

does not

this

a marvellous

example

of the *Renaissance Man', or the fact that the proportions

of his buildings, even

if

they

owe more

to his

unerring

eye than to his theories, are always in themselves superb.

Alberti's

thought
us

all

sensitivity

and puritanical

restraint

- he

churches should be pure white inside - gave

some remarkable buildings. He completed

the facade

of Sta Maria Novella in Florence (1456), introducing

the motif of large volutes to link the heights of nave
aisles

a feature with

centuries,

an enormous progeny through the

from Vignola's Gesu onwards - and

modelled the Gothic church of S. Francesco

(1450)

as the

and

mausoleum of

at

re^

Rimini

the Malatesta family. S.

Francesco has a west front based

upon

Roman
1^8 Tempio Malatestiano fS. Fran^
cesco),

Rimini. Alberti began the

modelling- neverfinishedfacade, with

arches,

is

its

in

re^

144J. The

half^columns andflanking

derived from a

Roman

arch at

Rimini. Note the row of deep niches along

the side, in the thickness of the encasing

stone wall, intended to hold tombs

175

200 S. Andrea, Mantua

i()<),

yz), by Alherti,

is

raised on a

i^jo-

podium,

with an even j^rander 'triumphal arch'

facade than the

The

Tempio Malatestiano.

scale is fully

Roman,

the central

arch emphasized by smaller elements on

each

side.

Internally

the

east

end

is

treated like a centraUspace church, with

transepts

and choir oj equal

length.

aisles are replaced by alternately

The
larj^e

and small chapels, seemingly hollowed

out of the thick wall

- another Roman

device

triumphal arch, austere and with every piece of carving

perfectly placed,

and

externally a series of deep arches

down the sides for the sarcophaguses of the Malatesta and

their court. Alberti also

Mantua:

designed two

S. Sebastiano (1460), later

fine

much

churches in
altered,

had

the centrahzed plan that Alberti advocated, but based

upon

square and

not

upon

Sebastiano and Alberti's other

Andrea

(c.

'divine'

circle.

S.

Mantuan church,

S.

upon high

1470), are raised

platforms or

podiums - another Albertian theory. The most influential

Andrea were

aspects of S.

facade,

also

based

reduction of the
tresses;

the

on

aisles to

internal

the

its

use of the pedimented

triumphal arch,

and

its

chapels within the thick but^

elevation

of a

consists

series

of

overlapping triumphal arches.

In Tuscany and

Lombardy - mainly

and Mantua - and

at

Urbino

Renaissance had been born. In

international style, giving

in

Rome

Florence, Milan

the
it

Marche, the

became

a great

Europe an architecture destined

endure

to

Europe the Gothic

begun

for instance,

much

for three centuries,

nephew of

style.

The Palazzo
an

in i486 by

Sixtus IV,

Florentine palaces that

its

is

so

Bramante arrived

had given

della Cancelleria,

unknown architect for

much larger than the

scale alone

And

of the Renaissance in Rome.

the century,

as Paris

marks the

arrival

201 Part of

della Cancelleria,

Palazzo

(he^im i486).
with, here,

rhythm ofa triumphal arch

- against a background of flat rustication
the alternating

derive from Alherti's

Florence

then, at the turn of

treatment

Bramante

Rome

The superimposed pilasters -

in

in the great city.

the facade of the

scale

is

is

(III.

Palazzo Rucellai

2og);

North

the

Italian;

window
the

vast

Roman

(1444-15 14) was born in Urbino when Piero della

Francesca was painting there, and

when Laurana was

building one of the most poetic palace-'towns in

En

route, as

it

were, from

Urbino

to

Rome, Bramante had

worked on two churches

in Milan.

presso S. Satiro (1482-6)

and

delle

Italy.

He

built Sta

Maria

the east end of Sta

Maria

Grazie (1492); these had a

new and

very delicate

ornamentation - delicious arabesque fantasies in stone,

set

against plain

Lombardic brickwork. With Raphael,

Sangallo and Michelangelo, Bramante must be regarded

as

one of the four leading architects of the High Renais^

sance ... a Renaissance now, in

Rome, come of age.

177

202 Tempietto

Rome
by

at S. Pietro in

Montorio,

(1^02), by Bramante. Regarded

as 'classical Roman', its

Palladia

gravity marks the beginning of the

Renaissance.

Order

is

The

severe

High

Roman Doric

preferred to the more decorative

Corinthian, and a straight entablature

preferred to an arcade.

Note,

vertically symmetrical balusters

too,

the

and the

Bramante
dome - now Baroque - to be a

niches scooped out of the walls.

meant

the

pure hemisphere

much from Leonardo da Vinci.

Leonardo - most 'universal' of men - was never actually
Bramante had

an

learnt

but in that

architect,

problems

structural

were

sketches, for instance,

centralized plan -

Moreover,

if

fertile

continually

circles,

Greek

function and liturgy

it

made

charming

little

the

polygons.

crosses,

the centralized

was not ruled out

chapel or the family mausoleum.

Brunelleschi's

His

stirrmg.

show many permutations of

plan unpopular with the clergy,

the smaller

brain geometric and

for

From

Pazzi Chapel (begun in

1429) in the cloister of Sta Croce, Florence, to Michel^

angelo's

century

great

Medici Mausoleum

later, there

the finest

was

502, soon after

S.

Lorenzo

One

of

were many such monuments.

the circular Tempietto of S.

Montorio. This
1

at

Pietro in

monument was built by Bramante in

his arrival in Rome, on the supposed site

of the crucifixion of St Peter, and was, therefore, a kind

178

of sacred reliquary.

The

basilica

commissioned Bramante

church of the Western World.

cross

Pope, and
called a

ism.

It

ITALY

IN

of St Peter's began in 1505. In that year Pope

Julius II

Greek

RENAISSANCE

long, fantastic story of the rebuilding of the old

to rebuild the

mother

centralized plan

with four equal arms - was approved by the

this, for

some

inscrutable reason, has been

triumph of Humanism over

was, inevitably, a short-lived

because the Pope died in

51 3

It

clerical

obscurant^

triumph - not

least

did, however, give us

the 'Bramante plan', a vast affair with a central spherical

dome, four huge

sixty

when

apses, four corner towers.

the foundation stone

was

Bramante was

laid.

The church

then took exactly one hundred years to build, almost

every notable

Another
his

Roman architect of the time being involved.

fifty

years passed before Bernini

colonnaded

Piazza.

Bramante's

could create

was

plan

metrically brilliant, liturgically impossible; in

geo^'

which of

20 J

Upper

Belvedere

level

in the

by Bramante.

The rhythm of the walk,

based on a triumphal arch,

smooth,

Cortile del

of the

Vatican (begun 1S03),

'cut out'

is

marked by

elements set

in

layers

against a background offat rustication.

four equal apses does one put a high altar,

it

under the

dome -

and

if

one puts

The

wall

never done in a Byzantine church

large niche ('exedra')

is itself an

ancient

in

the

end

Koman feature

which way does

monstrous

which always haunted

in scale, a quality

The foundations of Bramante's

dome of St

support the

The church was

the celebrant face?

Peter's;

scheme. Raphael wanted

four central piers

also
it.

still

remains of his

little else

transform the Greek cross

to

plan into a Latin cross, by adding a nave, but died before

could be done. Peruzzi reverted

this

Greek

to the

cross in

an even more elaborate form than Bramante but - again

fortunately - funds ran out. Sangallo cut
204, ^^5 ^^0^^' Bramatite's plan for

St Peter's

m Rome

Michelangelo 's

( i^o^^jSj.

Below:

B ra^

(c.1^46). Where

down

the plan,

but could not refrain from suggesting an enormous

domed porch

or vestibule. Magnificent but useless,

Roman

in the ancient

manner, Michelangelo yielded

to

demands of structure, and laid down

enormously thick walls and four single
massiue piers. The church is oriented the

as

was Constantine's

west rather than

basilica

to

the

and abortive

first

project for St Paul's,

Michelangelo was appointed

and

instance,

What

some of

the silhouette of the

feet

London.) In 1546

architect.

St Peter's - the fine scale of

above the

is

good

finished after his death

by

is

mainly

tied in

Then

Porta.

della

in

the detail, for

dome -

floor,

is

Although designed by Michelangelo

chains.

is

Wren's

said to have been the inspiration for Christopher

The dome, 250

to the east

was

never built. (This Sangallo plan, with the big porch,

mante planned a complex web of walls,

hollowed out with niches

it

his.

by ten
it

at

was
the

beginning of the seventeenth century. Carlo Maderna

built the present nave, transforming the

Greek

Latin cross. Architecturally

to

portico, intending to tack

was never

built,

it

was

on

to the

Greek

cross plan.

but the scale of the giant order

necessarily fixed the scale of

new

this

Michelangelo had designed a big western

disastrous.

It

church from

Maderna's nave and of his

What, however, was merely

fagade.

monumental when combined with

the

large

and

main mass of the

building and crowned by the dome, becomes monstrous

when
the

206

St

Opposite:

Giant
grouped

pilasters
in

some

pairs,

80

frame

oddly angular windows.

plain, leads the eye

Peter's,

up

Rome.

feet

niches

high,

and

An attic, severely
to the

great

own

so on,

is

extremely confused.

right.
its

Furthermore,

lateral

Worse

extensions

still,

of course,

the fact that the forward projection of the nave simply

cuts off the

The

view of the dome from the Piazza.

final

plan of the church has an internal length of

dome

intended by Michelangelo as a hemi^

sphere

its

whole of Maderna's fagade, with

and
is

isolated as a fagade in

over 600

feet,

The dome is

and
1

37

width across the transepts of 450

feet in

diameter.

feet.

As a plan it is hopeless.

RENAISSANCE

IN

ITALY

but fortunately so large that

The

scale of most

the

main

letters

of the detail

pilasters

Column. The
feet

it is

only 7

is

inscription

high

is

seldom used
grotesque.
feet

on the

the entablature

Such things were

had been begun on

Julius

had

II

internal frieze has

is

the height of a

201
an

^^f^^'^^ (j/5f Peter's,

8th^ century painting. Michelangelo's

was

scheme

continued

nave, foreground.
the altar

due

Rome, from

to

The

and most of

in

Maderna's

hundred

it

had

to

go on.

and Bramante had sown, Bramante's

feet

What

successors

demonstrates the Renaissance and

architects' ability to

detail quite superbly;

height of

necessary; once the building

that scale

to reap. St Peter's

Baroque

The

whole.

than Trajan's

less

cottage; the baldacchino over the altar a

high.

as a

it

handle stone and sculptural

also demonstrates that the age

was incapable of any sustained co-operative

trative effort in order to

or adminis/

achieve unity.

In Bramante's plan for St Peter's the internal spaces,

haldacchino over
the decoration are

Bernini (see p. 202)

such

as apses

and chapels, seem

to be as

it

were hollowed

out of the immensely solid mass of the walls and

piers.

20 8, 2og The Palazzo Vidoni^Caf^

farelli in

shows

Rome

the

Bramante

(c.i<,i^), by Raphael,

palace

design

by

invented

'House of Raphael' a
heavily rusticated ground storey, below a
in the

'piano nobile' with

paired

windows

set

between

columnsFThe Hi^h Renaissance

achievement

is

clearly seen if one

com^

pares this richly sculptural facade with

thefrst palace design

orders,

Alberti's

Florence (below), of

This highly sculptural concept

is

the

first

of the Baroque. Elsewhere, however,

distant glimpse
as

in

his

little

Tempietto and in the two Vatican courts - the Belvedere

and the Damaso - Bramante firmly retams his High
Renaissance mastery of the harmony of parts. In

this

was followed by Raphael (1483-1520). Raphael,

he

like

Bramante, was born in Urbino, and was buried in the

Pantheon - a signal honour

architecture,

problem,

to the greatest

apart from his advice

his contribution

altered,

shows

Rome

It is

(c.

Peter's

between the

Roman High

strong, solemn, deeply

his

1515), although

clearly the difference

Florentine Renaissance and the

sance.

on the St

was modest. Nevertheless,

Palazzo Vidoni/CafFarelli in

much

of painters. In

shadowed.

It

Renais^'

may

be

contrasted with Alberti's Palazzo Rucellai in Florence

where the decoration

patina. This contrast

had

is little

shows

more than

a careful surface

the road that architecture

travelled in less than a century, the distance

the Early

and High Renaissance.

between

to

make

use of the

Palazzo Rucellai.
1

446-^ 1

RENAISSANCE

IN

ITALY

This increasing

desire

for

'Roman'
and

architecture led to a greater study

210

Lo^ia of

Rome
fresco

(he^^un

work and

ried out

the

iS'6).

Madama,

The

elaborate

stucco arabesques, car^

by Giulio Romano, were based

upon newly discovered

Equally

Villa

Roman

is

Roman

much more

the Villa, with a circular courtyard

and

rooms whose curving surfaces seem hoU

and how

of the imperial past existed then than

now! These remains then included much of

Golden House of Nero and of

decoration of the

models.

the intended plan of

in

greater under^'

standing of the actual ruins of the Empire

very

quality

and

palaces

In

villas.

was upon

it

and pamtings of Nero's palace

interior

of

new

doxically this

his

Madama

Villa

characteristics

Although

and

(15 16). Para/

more Trivolous'

or

may have accounted

for

interest in the

decorative aspects of Roman art

many

the arabesques

that he based the rich

lowed out of immensely thick walls

glowing

other

Raphael became Super/

15 15

intendent of Antiquities, and

the

of the next phase, Mannerism.

the sculptural quality of

Baroque may be

already glimpsed in Bramante's plan for St Peter's, or the

Baroque

Brunelleschi's skyline, neither

in

city

Renaissance nor Baroque are adequate terms

to designate

the architecture of Italy through the sixteenth

teenth

Between

centuries.

the

Roman

Sangallo's Palazzo Farnese, of the

and

Much had

a century.

the

be

to

word 'Mannerism'

strength

of

there

for that

lies

over

purpose

has proved useful.

The Renaissance and

to the

and

fitted in,

and seven/

High Renaissance,

Baroque of Bernini's Piazza,

the full

High

the

High Renaissance - right up

time of Raphael, Sangallo and Michelangelo - had

balance,

harmony and Roman

however, had different

ideals.

It

gravity.

attained

Mannerism,
its

effects

by

deliberate discord, by emotional tension, by elegance,

scenic

or

effect

could flout

Mannerist architects

decorative fuss.

the Vitruvian rules

all

and could be more

romantic, more individualistic than their immediate

predecessors.

To compare and

contrast, say, the Palazzo

Farnese of 1530 and the Palazzo Massimi, of only a few

years later,

may make

The Palazzo

the point.

Farnese (1534-50) was designed by

Antonio da Sangallo (1485-1546), and completed by

184

Michelangelo.

Its

sheer strength

and

185/foot frontage, together with

fine scale,

make

it

its

major achieve/

ment of

High Renaissance. Each window

the

upon an

beautifully proportioned aedicule laid

is

equally

well proportioned expanse of plain wall. Michelangelo's

doorway (1546) is a wonderful demonstration of

how monumental scale can be created by the build-up

central

of all the subordinate

details, the

big things

because the small things are small.

The

lookmg

big

balustrade of the

balcony, the cartouches of arms, the larger cartouche

1 1

Plan

designed by

of the palaces

in

Peruzzi for An^elo

and Pietro Massimi,

i^JS-

window

crowning

all,

scale to the

enormous rusticated arch

Rome
however,

we

the

and

grilles,

so on, all give

in the centre.

turn to the Palazzo Massimi, only

When,

five years

(left)

Opening

off a curving road, each has a vestibule

(a), grand cortile (b) and minor court (c)

later,

we

two palaces

palace (actually

arranged

something has happened. This

realise that

two

for

little

brothers, cleverly

have a single frontage) was designed by

to

Baldassare Peruzzi (1481-1536). Peruzzi was the friend

of Bramante, Raphael and Sangallo, but

Massimi

new and more

initiated a

Italian architecture.

It

original phase o{

was an innovation.

beginning of Mannerism. Apart from

its

picturesque courtyard,

qualities

much

of

detail

windows framed

all

thin

is

and

quite unclassical

easel pictures

whim,

is

heroic, the

if a delightful

Massimi

is

to

It is

very elegant but

are

more

Its

upper

like prettily

the wall than anything

called a

window. They

Peruzzi.

The

charming. Classicism

is

after

as

above

Farnese

now an
real

to the

Palazzo Farnese has

an example of the High Renaissance.

this,

however,

to the top storey that

he

Sangallo's death, one can see that in Michel-'

angelo himself the

It

are

Antiquity.

been maintained

strongly.

whim, of

Michelangelo's doorway

If one looks

and

and masculine

an aesthetic viewpoint, rather than a

submission

added

marks the

originality

rather affected.

hung upon

which Sangallo would have

attitude,

the strong

of the High Renaissance.

its

its

It

has a curious and gently

it

curved facade which ignores

Palazzo

his

was

in architecture,

new Mannerist

current

was running

he, in fact, in painting, in sculpture

who more

than any other

and

man was

responsible for leading art in that direction. Qualities

21^ Palazzo Massimi

alle

Colonne,

Rome
hy

( iS3S> ^^ ^^^ ^^i^^ '" ^^^- 2^^)>

Peruzzi. Note its individualism,

even

eccentricity

its

framed

like pictures,

detail

and

flat

with

the

masculine

e.g.

windows

and the use ofjiat

rustication

- compared

directness

of the

Palazzo Farnese, below

natural to his temperament
tension,

suffering

generation,

who

- physical

- became the

regarded

strength, violence,

ideals

him with almost

of the next
supernatural

reverence.

Michelangelo (1475-1564), born

at

Settignano near

Florence, lived to be ninety. In that long

genius

meals

little rest.

at the

He

slept

life

he gave his

with his boots on and took his

work bench. In

spite

of the wide training of

many Renaissance artists, Michelangelo did in fact

move from painting and sculpture to architecture without

so

212,

Palazzo Farnese,

214

(1^^4-40),
Sangallo

designed by

and completed -

window over
below),

the

doorway

with

rest

the

(opposite,

and the upper storey

windoW'^frames

Rome

Antonio da

where

on twin consoles

by Michelangelo. Smaller parts, such as

the balcony
tell

the

really

and cartouches, build up

eye

how

large

the

to

building

is

187

RENAISSANCE

IN

ITALY

any

specific schooling.

enormous tomb

carve an

to

nothing, and

of Moses.

His commission

To

left

us

little

for

to design

Julius

more than

the

II

and

came

famous

figure

house the tomb, however, meant no

than the rebuilding of St

to

less

While Bramante was

Peter's.

planning and laying the foundations of the new

basilica,

Michelangelo's energies were diverted to the painting of

the Sistine Chapel.

He

resented having been, as he

thought, ousted by Bramante, and

was only

it

after the

death of Bramante and Sangallo that he was able to

remodel St
httle

the

more than

was

It

Peter's
a

- a task that had by then become

scaling^down operation.

in 1520, after his

completion of the Sistine and

abandonment of the papal tomb,

came back
(the

to

Florence to

mausoleum of

the

work on

its

ante^room and

2i<,

Biblioteca Laurenziana, Florence

by

(1^24-^j),
vestibule

Michelangelo.

carried out in dead white

is

sombre grey.

The

which had

to

- give

contrast

and

columns,

coupled

apparently carried on brackets

nerist illogicality

The

- Man^

height to a room

with

the

long

perspective of the library itself (visible

beyond)

another Mannerist

trait

full

Medici Chapel

Medicean Library) together

staircase.

be described as Mannerism

anything Hke

the

Michelangelo

Medici family) and on the

Biblioteca Laurenziana (the

with

that

The

total

at its finest.

Baroque. There

is

Not

scheme may
yet

have

we

no struggle against

^^

"----J

no

the laws of nature,

very

little

classical

plasticity

deliberate distortion,
.

elements to

spatial quality

only a certain arbitrary use of

fulfil

of the library

Michelangelo's

sublime objective.

a
is

purely Mannerist.

architectural

first

no anarchy,

The

It is

work without

support of sculpture, an astonishing

feat for

also

the

one uiv

Medici Chapel

216

Florence

ture

may

be.

The

however

vestibule, a

staircase, goes further.

'sculptural' the architec-'

tall

Here he

room containing

the

actually recessed his grey

and

columns they

are correct, even austere, but they

S.

iS2i)>

The

architecture.

tures

- complex

doors,

a frieze

usters above the

Lorenzo,

designed

hy

Their

architectural fea^

niches set above

the

with upside-down bal-

monument,
strangeness

right

are

creates

distinctive, disturbing effect, increased

by

the combination of cold, angular masses

and plain surfaces with unusually

cate

marble columns back into the thickness of the wall.

in

Michelangelo as a marriage of sculpture

unique.

trained in architecture,

(be^un

deli-

ornament and mouldings

As

seem

to

support nothing (actually they support the roof trusses

and

their curious position

was

to a certain extent dictated

by the existing buildings) and

upon huge

to stand, inexplicably,

balusters slightly out of alignment with them.

The Medici Chapel, 40

feet

square,

is

symphony

in

white marble and black Istrian stone. Unlike the library

it

was, of course, designed primarily

sculpture

Lorenzo

as a setting for

for those great seated figures

de' Medici,

and

for the

of Giulio and

semi-'recumbent figures

189

RENAISSANCE

ITALY

IN

of Day and Night,

Dawn

and Evening. Here,

as in his

Palazzo Farnese doorway, Michelangelo achieves scale

down

by a continual breaking

which runs

large pilaster

the full height of the chapel, to

flankmg the niches. This chapel,

the smaller pilasters

like the

of the elements from the

Parthenon or the portals of Chartres,

marriage

between

and

sculpture

is

a perfect

architecture

- the

highest architectural ideal, regardless of style, as long as

which buildings were

stone remained the material of

made.

The

Capitol,

when Michelangelo

work on

started

it

in

1538, was a scene of confusion, a planless collection of

2

Rome, laid
by Michelangelo ( i^j8-i6i2). A

out

Plan of

monumental
into

the Capitol,

staircase leads

up the

hill

piazza ingeniously arranged

to

give a sense of enclosure; in a clockwise

direction

the

from

Capitoline

the

left,

The

dei

is

del

Conservatory

ancient equestrian statue of

Aurelius

this

above the Forum. From

hill

He

chaos he welded a masterpiece of town^'planning.

seized, as

it

were,

Rome, and on

upon one of

mam

the

axial lines of

that he created the central space

around

the buildings are

Museum, Palazzo

Senatore and Palazzo

old buildings on the historic

Marcus

the focal point, at the centre

of a complex pavement (see

III.

ziS)

which he then

set

the Palazzo dei Conservatori

1563-8),

and the Capitoline

the Palazzo del Senatore (1573- 16 12)

Museum

(1544-55). These buildmgs had

to

be finished

by the next generation, but they demonstrate Michel/

angelo's mastery over the use of the 'giant order' - the

taking of the

column

or the pilaster through

with, perhaps, a smaller

the

windows on

smaller

one,

column

and thus

to the

the

column flanking

ground

acts as a foil,

to the

giving scale

again, the

to the larger

building as a whole, and, indeed,

whole urban complex. Thus

by a relationship of

the arcade or

Once

floor.

tivo storeys

parts.

One

is

grandeur built up

also notes the skilful

placing of the three buildings - not

at right

angles

and

not concealing each other but, nevertheless, enclosing

three sides of the central space. In the

space - a focal point -

is

middle of that

the great equestrian statue of

Marcus Aurelius. The broad approach

pattern of the paving, the

and

levels

is,

stairway, the

whole arrangement of

in the highest sense of the

steps

word, sculptural.

Michelangelo here created a new node in the plan of

Rome. As town-'planning
190

it

ranks with the piazzas of

Venice, Florence, Urbino or Siena, but unlike them

its

design was basically the

work of one man.

The work of Michelangelo's younger

highly individual as

it

common urge to
monumentality of the Roman

often

escape from the sober

contemporaries,

is,

reflects a

Renaissance into something more dynamic, expressive

1544 a pupil of Raphael, Giulio

or fantastic. In

Romano

(1492/9-1546) designed himself a house - almost a

palace
this

at

Mantua.

A typical example of Mannerism,

house combines a rigid basic formality with con^

siderable license in the handling of its detail: a

218 Palazzo del Senatore on the

Capitol, Rome, largely designed hy
Michelangelo,

and

on

steps,

basement storey

i<,yj-i6i2.

built

Standing opposite the

it is

raised

which gives

it

prominence over the buildings on either

side.

All

the facades are

giant order of pilasters;

palaces

this

is

governed by a
in

enriched

the

by

fanking
smaller

columns on the ground Jioor, just

visible

The

ancient

at

the

left.

statuary

is

Roman

pediment

without a horizontal member, a smooth string^'Course

slipping, as
set

in

flat,

it

were, behind the keystones, and

ornamented frames. Again, one can only

compare the Farnese

architecturally,
earlier

Giulio

Mantua;

windows

this

is

or even the Palazzo

different

Romano had
is

world.

Some

Pitti;

this,

ten

years

built the Palazzo del

typically Mannerist with

its

Te

at

rhythms of

191

21 g

hi the

Palazzo

a^erated
almost

Mantua
used ex^

rustication to create an effect

monumental

details are playful.

directly

del Te,

Romano

(^S^S~3S)> Giulio

on

surrounds;

to

strength,

but

of

the

Pediments are placed

the

'rocky'

window^

a seemingly symmetrical

in

composition, the bay between columns at

the right turns out to be

narrower than

that at the left

220 The house

Giulio

its

designed by

for himself (c.i^^^)

appears formal
position, but

Mantua

at

Romano

its

parts

general

com-

show Mannerist

freedom - the string-course which becomes a pediment, the squeezed-in windows, and the varied rustication carried
out, as at the

Palazzo

del Te, above, not

in stone but in stucco

221

Palazzo

Bevilacqua,

Verona

(<^-^53^J> Sanmicheli's Mannerist variation on the High Renaissance

palace

theme (cp.

111.

208). Above, a pattern

of overlapping triumphal arches

is

created,

with alternately large and small windows

- now
columns

shuttered;

Roman gateway
alternating

spirally fluted

near by.

rhythm

angular rustication

192

the

were inspired by

is

an

ancient

Below, the

emphasized by

unevenly spaced Tuscan columns and

rustication, but

Bering

its

it

its

lively use

of

also has a certain strength as if remeni''

High Renaissance

Mannerist space also has

forerunners.

its

own

character. Architects

could deliberately build perspectives. This, of course,

was not an exclusively Mannerist

monotonous

unrevealed

climax.

but the long,

S.

Giorgio

Maggiore,

Venice,

if 6^5. Serene
columns and arches, of a purity that is
wholly un^Mannerist, create a spacious

nave ; beyond them the eye

mysteriously

glimpsed

is

drawn

monks'

to the

choir,

behind the altar

of some Mannerist designs

perspectives

would seem contrived

feature,

222

designed by PaUadio in

to

draw one on towards some

Vasari's

of the Uffizi in

court

Florence (begun in 1560), the interior of Palladio's S.

Giorgio Maggiore in Venice (designed in 1565), or the

which
power of 'suction' - the

Biblioteca Laurenziana itself all have this quality,

Nikolaus Pevsner has called the

spectator

About
built a

which

is

sucked into the heart of the design.

this

time Michele Sanmicheli (1484-1559)

number of palaces
are

the

in

Palazzo

Verona, the most notable of

Pompei

(c.1529)

which

is

conservative for its date and in the Bramantesq ue tradition,

heavily columniated

and

rusticated;

and the Palazzo

193

i^Awjfei

'ijiiiTri !f__

Hit

ii~

i-

i^

s.

22J

In this air view of Venice

we

see

one of the most famous and harmonious

urban

spaces

in

the

world,

throughout

the

Mark's (top

right), the long

Marco

centuries.

From

St

Piazza S.
it

the Piazzetta,

is

bordered by the Doge's Palace on the

right

and Sansovino's Libreria Vecchia

on the

left.

sovino's
the

Beyond

the library

Zecca (Mint).

two squares stands

St Mark's, providing
vertical accent

At

the

1530),

(f.

which

Mannerist with

distinctly

its

is

on the other hand

alternation of

wide and

developed

stretches out to the left; linking

with the lagoon, bottom,

Bevilacqua

is

the

San^

hub of

narrow bays, triangular and segmental pediments and

spirally fluted
fortifications

columns. Sanmicheli was famous

a sideline for

- and the Porta del Palio

in 1524,

tions

shows

such

as

at

many Renaissance

for his

architects

Verona, a town gate begun

a skilful use of plain stone

cartouches and columns,

ornamental

set

against a

background of rustication.

textural

Campanile of

the indispensable

Jacopo Sansovino (1486-1570)

Vecchia

in

built

the

Venice (1536). This building

is

Libreria
a display

not merely of a style but of architectural ingenuity.

Although

so wildly different in date

and

style

from the

Doge's Palace on the other side of the Piazzetta,

matches

it

and

therefore

is

in scale

Piazzetta -

much more

and sculptural
a

it

richness or chiaroscuro,

contribution to the unity of the

a contribution in fact to town-planning, so

important than

style.

In the design of

its

facade Sansovino was faced with the old problem of how

194

to place

small openings over larger ones while,

at the

22i\,

22<)

The Gesu

in

Rome

(hegun

iS^S), by Vignola anddella Porta,

set a

pattern jor later facades in Europe (Ills.

^33> ^7S) ^"^ ^^^^

Jesuits

in

transmitted by the

New

the

centre of the facade

is

World.

The

treated as a kind

ojjwo^ storey ed temple -front, which is

linked to the lower sides by volutes. The
plan, below, tries

to

get the best of both

worlds by having both a long nave and

same time, avoiding too

storey.

He

solved

it

storey actually are

great a

neatly.

mass of wall

m the upper

The windows of the upper

narrower than the openings below,

but they are flanked by colonnettes and

it

is

these

colonnettes that reduce or mitigate the apparent wall

mass between the windows. Sansovino's

Mint (La Zecca) with

may

its

last

work, the

wildly exaggerated rustication,

be seen as yet another variety of Mannerism, com^

parable to the garden facade of the Pitti Palace (1558-

70) by the leading Florentine architect of the time,

Bartolommeo Ammanati.

Among the most influential of all Mannerist buildings

(for

reasons other than purely architectural)

Gesu, the chief church in

Rome

influenced by
(i

507-73).

combine

for
it.

some four hundred

The

The Gesu

architect

the

of the Jesuits and of the

Counter/Reformation. Hundreds of churches

Europe have,

was

all

years,

over

been

was Giacomo Vignola

has been described as an attempt to

the centralized

and the longitudinal plan. In

that the aisles, following the

example of Alberti's

S.

a big central space.

The

as chapels (cp.

200)

III.

aisles are treated

226 Lon^hena's Sta Maria

in

Venice (16^2)

is

della Salute

very

rich,

very

Venetian, piling up diverse elements and

culminating

in

hemisphere).
place

and

is

the

in

the

dome (a

abutting the

enormous

Primarily,

however,

town-planning:

this

Campanile of St Mark's

two gateposts

at

volutes

typically Venetian

the

entrance

its

church
are the
to

the

Grand Canal

Andrea

Mantua,

at

side^'chapels,

and

the 'crossing', this

are

reduced

that there

may

to

an explosion of space

is

be true.

The

followed Alberti in using large

to link the

two

at

building was begun

by Vignola in 1568 and continued by

latter

merely vestigial

della Porta.

The

scrolls or volutes

of the facade. This device also

storeys

succeeded in hiding the buttresses, features necessary in

a vaulted

church but hitherto untranslatable into the

classical vocabulary.

Wren

walls (see pp. 244-5).

^^

concealed his behind

false

was Longhena (1604-75),

Sta Maria della Salute in Venice,

who

at

actually equated

scroll

and

of his

dome, dominating the rich Venetian scene which

buttress so that they

form part of the

silhouette

can absorb so much.

To Vignola must
Julius

garden,

(c.

Pope

1550), a typical Italian villa with a formal

summer rooms,

fully related to the

196

also be ascribed the Villa of

grand

grotto

and fountains,

cortile

all care/'

a great semi^'Circular

colonnade forming one facade of the

villa.

The

Villa

Farnese at Caprarola (1559-73)

building; Vignola

fortress-'like

podium which
approach

already existed,

both ramps and

oi^

a strange pentagonal

is

made
and

the

IN

ITALY

most of a high

created an impressive

steps.

In Genoa, strong,

heavily designed palaces mainly with courtyards

steps exploiting the steep sites,

RENAISSANCE

and

were built by Galeazzo

Alessi (1512-72), a pupil of Michelangelo, or under

Alessi's influence.

In spite of the almost universal acceptance of Manner^

ism in northern and central

many ways
period

the most original architect of the

stands

Palladio

ture.

largely

(1508-80)

'Palladian'

has

man who was

Italy, the

outside

of

The

*Palladian'. Palladio
cool, serene

and

had

refined.

word
world -

very

English-'Speaking

become almost synonymous with

Almost any house with

classical architect

a portico

a style

whole

This was Andrea

it.

Vicenza.

at least for the

in

may

be dubbed

which was

personal,

His two major churches in

Venice - one has already been mentioned

22J In the Villa Farnese at Caprarola

(iS59~73) ^" existing podium with

having a

corner bastions gave Vignola the oppor^

Mannerist preoccupation with perspective - S. Giorgio

tunity to create a luxurious 'fortress' on a

Maggiore (designed in 1 565), and

curious

II

as

Redentore

(i

576-7),

double

are part

of the

tourists' familiar scene. It

was, however, in

houses inland from Venice, in and around Vicenza, that

pentagonal
staircase

invented by

is

plan.
a

Bramante

levels of the Belvedere

The

version
to

great

of that

link the

Court

two

RENAISSANCE

IN

ITALY

Palladio gave his best to the world. Admittedly Palladio's

Quattro Libri

dell'

work, but buildings such

(c.

gave added fame

Architettura
as

1550) or the Villa Rotonda

rank

among

the

most

the Palazzo
(f.

15

to his

Chiericati

50-1) will always

civilized houses ever designed

without pomposity, symmetrical without

aristocratic

being forced, elegant without effeminacy. In the purity

of their design they purged Mannerism of its affectations.

228-2^0
work,

The

which

serenity

endeared

century Englishmen,

is

of Palladio's

him

to

i8th^

here evident.

The

symmetry of the Villa Rotonda

absolute

(opposite)

shows an

clear on the

is

idyllic,

The Palazzo
is

richer; statues decorate the

III.

igo) and pediments. Note,

both buildings,

how

no other reason

of the private house

of importance. Also, in spite of the great

cool

beauty already attained by the Italian garden, these

relationship between house

though

in

level

Palladian villas established a

has

roof (cp.

new

if for

lifted the architecture

Vicenza

(below)
it

to a

memorable

elegance,

Chiericati in

same

than that they

are

plan; the view

almost Arcadian, scene.

the

These buildings

colonnades are

terminated at the sides by arches

the Villa

facade;
raised

it

on

new and more

and garden.

A house such as

Rotonda does not have merely

is

symmetrical on

all fronts,

podium approached by

formal

a symmetrical

and being

also

great flights of steps.

it

acquires something of the quaHty of a glorified gazebo

or garden temple.
into the garden
ture

The main

and park.

adapting an Italian
Palladio's

pp. 265-6).

was

style to the

popularity

English gentry
(see

It

and nature which -

axis

who

with

was extended outwards

this

spite

marriage of architect

of the

difficulties

of

English climate - assured

those

eighteenth/century

ventured upon the

Grand Tour

''^'^*^A^-

COKSPECTVS

23
in

St Peter's and

the

yth

O VtT BJ

BA.SUJiLiL

the

century.

PORTICVS

AB

Piazza, Rome,
Bernini's

oval

A.I^:LkSV

V^i

^^^J^^^^^^^'^IU V(WT 111(^^1 l.tXaB^THQ^ ADJAIIEX TI VM

For the birth of the next architectural

we must return

to

simplicity with the

its fine

complexities

of the enormous

One

sees

here

also,

church.

how

however,

of the grand gesture.

view of the dome from below (see

p.

180).

In

the

background

Vatican Palace with, just

Belvedere Court

(III.

20^)

is

visible,

the city

We have seen how Michelangelo's

replanning of the Capitol was part of a

new and

dramatic understandmg of town-planning. Sixtus V,

Maderna's projecting nave would cut ojj

the

the Baroque,

Rome. Rome had always been

colonnade forms a magnificent prelude,

contrasting in

style,

the

at

end of the sixteenth century, inaugurated an ambitious

the

programme of

the

straight

new

rebuilding,

streets

the Piazza del

and

involving the cutting of

the creation of new focal points

Popolo, the Piazza

course, the Piazza of St Peter's.

came

Navona and, of

None

of these projects

to fruition until after his death, but they

beginning of that proud, confident, rhetorical

differentiates

Baroque from the

self/'Conscious

The Piazza

mark

the

spirit that

clever sophistication

and

ambiguity of Mannerism.
del

Popolo - created over

the centuries

is

an enormous urban space, the meeting-'point of several

200

streets

and, in

itself,

a link

between the gardens on the

Pincian Hill and the Vatican City on the other side of

the Tiber.

The Piazza Navona

with fountains
related to the

down

its

length

is

the

an elongated

RENAISSANCE

IN

ITALY

place

whole being subtly

two Baroque churches on

the long side, one

of which, S. Agnese, has a facade by Borromini.

The Piazza of

St Peter's

was

at first

intended

to

be

completely closed - virtually an outdoor extension of the

church

itself,

are the

open

thus acquiring real meaning.

side

of the

ellipse

As thmgs

towards the Via della

and completely

destructive

of any feeling of enclosure. Bernini's sketch

for closing

Conciliazione

the

gap

exists

is

distracting

but has never been used. Even

as

it

2j2 Detail of the Piazza of St Peter's,

Rome, designed by Bernini in 16^6. The

is,

colossal

Tuscan columns are made of

however, with the magic curving perspective of those

travertine, the coarse

noble and unadorned columns, the marbles and the

the temples at Paestum (Ills. 21, 22)

golden stone used

in

RENAISSANCE

IN

ITALY

The

fountains, the Piazza almost redeems St Peter's.

columns

are

of the Tuscan Order, the plainest and most

adornment

puritanical of all;

not in the application

lies

of any carving, but rather in the actual shape of the great

which

curves, in the architecture itself-

The
was

Baroque.

Piazza was Bernini's masterpiece, and Bernini

cannot

really

distinct

as

Baroque

of the

archetype

the

architecture

Baroque
from Baroque planning -

much

Sta Susanna. This has

Baroque

developed
unified idea

smaller church

the qualities of a

all

building.

relatively

simple,

expressed as direcdy as possible and with

is

Columns, demi^columns,

the utmost force.

pediments and sculpture

Baroque, however subtle

later

in detail. Bernini

is its

pilasters,

climax. This

rise to a single

quality of directness, of emotional certainty,

mark of all

when

was ultimately

to St Peter's

a failure) designed the facade of a

Rome,

artist.

be said to have begun before 1600,

Carlo Maderna (whose front

in

true

is

it

is

the hall/

may become

most typical exponent because he

united the arts of sculpture and architecture. But his two

greatest

Francesco

rivals,

Cortona, were in
for

volume and

Borromini and

many ways

da

Pietro

his superiors in their feeling

material.

In 1624 Bernini had begun the erection of the baldac/-

chino over the high

altar

High Renaissance

restraint

affair, a

hundred

feet

of St

is

All

Roman and

has vanished. This huge

twisted

columns and

an extravagance

that Michel^

high, with

outrageous silhouette,

angelo would have disliked.

Piazza that

Peter's.

its

It

is

the austerity of the

surprising, not the sensuality of his other

is

work. In the Cornaro Chapel (1645-52), in the church

of Sta Maria della Vittoria, he

famous

voluptuous and

glass.

altar,

This

is

superbly done.

202

we

truly

himself

The

of St Teresa and the Angel, dramatic,

figures

above the

is

ecstatic, are beautifully

magically

lit

poised in space

from above through yellow

the art of illusion, of the theatre, but

Only

in

is

Spain perhaps, or Bavaria, can

find such titillation of the passions

by

artifice.

2J5 Sta Susanna, Rome. The scheme

(i^gj-i6o^)

of the facade

as the Gesii, hut

the

Maderna

the

is

same

has used all

elements more forcefully

classical

(there are columns as well as pilasters),

pulling

design

the

together

strong central emphasis

to

give a

the essence of

Baroque

254 Cornaro Chapel, Sta Maria della

Vittoria, Rome (164^-^^; from an
iSth^century

painting).

combines architecture

Bernini

and sculpture

single dramatic composition.

here
in a

The figures

of St Teresa and the Angel above the

altar

are

lighting

superbly

and

in

related

composition

other and to their setting.

members of
in

the

On

both
to

in

each

either side

Cornaro family, carved

marble, watch as thoughfrom theatrical

boxes

203

The

Scala Regia (1663-6), that tremendous stairway

between the Piazza of St

ments,

is

and the papal

Peter's

another Bernini masterpiece.

It

forms the

entrance to the Vatican Palace, but had to be

a

narrow and awkward

and the Palace

came

itself

site

dramatic

itself

relies

very

to

be a

to

stair

seems to add something

upon any

It

is

its

plan.

This increases the

air.

Carlo Maderna

in

had

is

a solid central block with

and

to left

ground

Rome
the

winp

right; instead of a rusticated

floor,

there

Most of the facade

is

an open loggia.

by Bernini, but the

is

upper windows, with

perspective frames,

their curious

show

the

shanu

hand of

Borromini

in fact been

2J5
in

Opposite: Bernini's Scala Regia

the

Vatican

Pa^'

(i66j-6)

is

made

to

seem longer by reducing the height and

width as

Bernini also collaborated with Borromini on the

lazzo Barberini. This palace

Barberini,

instead of a building round a court,

there

Palazzo

628) Maderna opened out

specifically

the false perspective

processional

plan

lined

- at any rate as you go up - and

to

In the

real

is

*trick'

the tapering of the

apparent length of the

little

richer in

is

it

manages somehow

Baroque device. The only

due

mto

Necessarily

result.

continuation of the Piazza into the Palace.

with columns but

fitted

between the Galilee Porch

smaller in scale than the Piazza

yet

mam

A brilliant piece of planning over^

the difficulty with

ornament and

apart^

2^6

(be^un

up

is

it

ascends.

mysteriously

A
lit

landing half-way

from

the side

begun by

1628 and so represents a collaboration

20$

257
(

S. Andrea al Quirmale,

i6<)8-j8)

plan

with

which,

flexibility,

Baroque

was

its

to

architects.

placed transversely

appeal

Here

is

many

to

the

between three major Baroque

the

main

facade, with

its

At

architects.

first

glance

superimposed orders, might

and

plasticity

oval

the high altar

the middle of the long side to the

the sculpture

Rome

Bernini's essay in the oval

left.

is

High Renaissance;

be of the

is

second^storey

in

arches,

windows

are

then

set

we

notice that the

heavily chamfered

in

giving very nearly the illusion of a vaulted

All
corridor.

Maderna's plan

is

fully

by Bernini

Baroque with an

entrance through a vaulted undercroft leading to a large

oval salon carved
stair is also

The

as

it

were - out of the

first

which made

project for the

its

tomb of JuUus

Baroque. Bernini's S. Andrea

Giacomo

al

Monte Santo

all

lie

206

It

The main

appearance in Michel^

up by Vignola and became almost

S.

solid.

contained within an oval.

oval plan,

angelo's

al

a sign

II,

was taken

manual of the

Quirinale, Maderna's

Corso and Rainaldi's Sta Maria

in

have oval plans. The explanation may

partly in fashion, partly in the flexibility of the oval.

was

eagerly copied in the next century in

Germany.

2j8,

2jg

Fontane,

Carlo

S.

Rome

alle

(begun

Quattro

6jj)

Bor^

romini's immensely subtle variation on

the oval plan.

At

towards

high

the

the

left,

altar

we

are looking

(top,

in

the

plan below). Semi^cirdes, segments and

straight lines all
to create

Francesco Borromini

mason and was over

first

(i

thirty

599-1667), was trained

when,

major work, the church

Fontane. This

is

in 1633, he began his

S.

Carlo

a tiny church, so small that

no more than a chapel, but

and with

oi^

it is

alle

Quattro

it is

virtually

packed with ingenuity

architectural innovation.

complex, based on two equilateral

Its

plan

triangles

is

highly

with arcs

and segments drawn from various points of their

section, but

resolves itself at the level

it

an oval, and

at

architecture here
all

plastic,

the undulating forms there

inters

dome into
The whole oi^

of the

the lantern into a circle.

becomes

as a

almost molten. Beneath

is still,

of course, the ghost

of a classical building - the absolute freedom of Ron-'

away - but

champ

is

to this

single link with the classical past,

still

three centuries

subject only

Borromini

treated architecture as abstract sculpture. Internally, in

spite

of an exaggerated height in the order, the apses and

merge

into each other

a single sculptural unity

240 S. hio della Sapienza, Rome

(1642-60). Bonomini has here based
his

plan on ajix^pointed star with three

lobes
this is

and

three points, ana

taken upwards

how

see

dome

a fantastic

24T The

facade

Fontane

Quattro

to

we

be developed into

Borromini's

last

of S.
in

Carlo

Rome

work,

has

qualities as the interior (Ills.

alle

(166'/),
the

same

2^8, 2^g).

Classical elements are used with

utmost freedom, concave plane

convex.

The

upper storey

little
is

the

set against

'temple' placed on the

reminiscent of Petra (III.

55y), while the larger cupola on the roof

resembles

Baalbek

208

the

'Temple of Vesta'

at

.a-

niches

facade

flow one into

is

surfaces,

a series

another,

while externally the

and convex

alternating concave

oi^

swaying and swerving. This quality of abstract

modelling - even
entablatures, vases,

if

it

is

compiled from such thmgs

pediments - informs

all

Borrommi's

work. The church of S. Ivo della Sapienza uses the

pointed
its

star

(two interlocking triangles)

as

six^

as the basis

of

plan, while S. Filippo Neri uses one concave front

for a

whole building. Borromini's

S. Ivo (a fantastic spiral motif)

Fratte,

develop their

freedom.
setting

The same

spatial

spires for S.

and

ideas

plastic qualities,

S.

Carlo,

Andrea

with

even

delle

more

achieved by the

of curve against curve, are found in his

con/-

temporaries and immediate followers. Pietro da Cortona

242 The cupola of Borromini's S.

which again

recalls

Baalbek,

Ivo,

develops

out of the six segments of the interior

(III.

240).

fantastic

It is then

spiral

surmounted hy a

ending

an

in

equally

fantastic wrought^iron flourish

24J

The facade of Sta Maria

Pace,

Rome

makes

it

della

16^6-yJ, hy Pietro da
Cortona, takes the Gesu scheme and
(

fully three-dimensional, bring-

ing the upper level

forward

in a

curve

and introducing a semi-circular porch

below.

The

tension

interlocking motifs

of these

mental pediment inside

one

recalls

tightly

especially the segthe

Michelangelo

triangular

(III.

216)

209

2^4

Dome

sima

of the chapel of the Santis^

Sindone,

Turin

Cathedral

(i66j-go). Guarini's greatest interest

was in vaulting. Here he combines ideas
from Gothic and Islamic architecture to
produce a unique dome built up by tiers of
segmental arches resting on one another.

Each

is

(i

596-1669) gives them an extraordinary

feeling

of

tension in his facade for Sta Maria della Pace, a church

whose

influence

throughout

reverberated

century. Further north, in Piedmont,

(1624-83) took them

to lengths

wilfully extravagant. His

Guarino Guarini

which

Chapel of

next

the

still

the

seem almost

Holy Shroud

pierced, admitting light

(Santissima Sindone), Turin, has a

ascending

series

dome made of an

of segmental arches standing on top of

one another; the dome of S. Lorenzo, in the same

consists

of an eight^pointed

flying ribs, the

silhouetting

dome

them with

star

conceived in terms of

itself floating

light

from

city,

its

above them and

windows; while the

Palazzo Carignano, of brick, projects the concave^

convex-'Concave scheme on to the long horizontal front

of a secular palace,
Louvre. All these

as

Bernini had wanted to do

qualities,

perfection in Borromini's S.

210

in

at the

however, are shown

to

Agnese in the Piazza Navona

Rome, mainly in the fine modelling of the twin towers.

245

At

S. Agnese,

in

Rome

(begun

16^2), Borromini not only flanked

his

dome with twin towers but devised

plan which gives those towers indepen^

dence of the main building

were, a sculptural entity.

This church,

on the long side of the

each, as

it

Piazza Navona,

plays a major town-planning role

246 Palazzo Carignano, Turin (begun

but especially in the
clear of the

main

way

that they are, as

it

were,

swung

building. In the Baroque of southern

Europe Borromini had come

as

great

liberating

i6j8). Guarini gives

sections, in a

from
influence;

Germany

and elsewhere,
(p. 250),

we

as far afield as

England and

can detect his influence.

interest to the long

facade by alternating concave and convex

Bernini.

entirely

of

way which seems to derive

The texture and ornament,

brick,

is

character

**'*^^i
im^imr^'

almost Arabic

in

Chapter Eight

RENAISSANCE, MANNERISM, AND

BAROQUE OUTSIDE ITALY

The

story

of Italian architecture has been taken up

end of the seventeenth century because there

is

to the

properly

Palace of Charles

24'j

(he^un

1^26),

Designed with

speaking no break, and each phase emerges from the one

that preceded

it.

trace the spread

now

But we must

go back in time and

of Renaissance ideas outside

Italy.

This

is

ten years after

this

V, Granada

Pedro

Machuca.

a circular courtyard only

Raphael's Villa Madama,

has an austere classicism which was

not achieved in northern Europe until

much
a

by

later

complicated subject because development within any

one country was neither continuous nor

influence

came i n

waves depending

arbitrary

"political circumstances,

logical. Italian

largely

on

and the Netherlands, for instance,

could be influenced by Italian Mannerism without ever

going through a

real

in all countries

where the Gothic

rooted the

aTa

new

style

Renaissance phase

was

novel form o( ornanient.

architecturf^ui

Ge rmany

th us

evaluate in

is

its

was deeply

1 he,jal
irliest
ist

art

pti aj^e

of

Engjand^ and

France,

a hybrid

own

tradition

only applie d sup erficially

at first

Renaissance

Moreover,

at all.

which

is

difficult

to

terms,.

In Spain, although Gothic churches went on being

built

with undiminished confidence, the pure Italian

Renaissance

style

appears

at

an extremely early

unfinished Palace of Charles

Machuca, was begun

in 1527

at

date.

The

Granada, by Pedro

and has

a circular courts

yard with superimposed Doric and Ionic columns.

austere classicism

of Philip

II

is

Its

taken even further in the vast palace

outside Madrid, the Escorial,

begun by

Juan Bautista de Toledo and completed by Juan de

Herrera (1563-84). This

is

monastery and cathedral,

its

plain,

its

combination of palace,

exterior almost completely

church on a centralized plan, simple and

213

248

Escorial, near

Madrid

z^6}-8 4),

begun by Juan Bautista de Toledo and

finished

by Juan

de

severest classical style,

Herrera.

In

in the choir of

monumental

monastery and school. The big cathedral,

between the

whose dome and towers

prisingly

the range

of monastic

rise

cells,

here above
is

the focal

point of a vast complex including some

fifteen courts

and

way that recalls Bramante. Diego de Siloe,

Granada Cathedral,

created an equally

the

housed palace,

it

impressive in a

with

effect,

piers.

perspective

Early Spanish Renaissance

when compared

restrained

excesses that were to succeed

France gained

cloisters

coffered

its first

the

to

vaults
is

sur^

Baroque

within a generation.

it

glimpse of the Renaissance in

1494 when the armies of Charles VIII of France crossed

Alps and marched down into the plains of Lombardy.

They got as far as Naples but a year later - with all Italy

the

in

arms against them - had

Seventeen years
sance prince,

Those two

later

it

to fight their

was Francois

I,

way home.

the true Renais^

who entered Milan at the head of his troops.

expeditions

direction of the

had

changed

the

cultural

Western world.

When the French soldiers invaded Italy, Michelangelo

and Bramante were

at

the

hei ght

of

Bnmelleschi and^Alberti ^lready dead.

seemed

214

to those

medieval Frenchmen

some expedition

to

heir

It

po3vers,

must have

as if they

were on

another planet. St Peter's was only

RENAISSANCE OUTSIDE

half built, but the glories of the Early Renaissance were

I

costume - was

paintings, furniture,

ITALY

Florence - palaces,

The impact of Medicean

all there.

And

immense.

also

for the Italians the

French Court offered a new

outlet, for

although

it

was

nevertheless

glittering

and wealthy. Leonardo da Vinci,

for instance,

was

was among those

the

Mom

little

a medieval court

still

who returned with the French

Lisa in his baggage

cliff

That Fran ce should suddenly

needless

to

In evitably, to begin with,

cera mics,

jewellery

allowed his way.

welcome

armies

he died in the end

chateau of Amboise on a

palace s^ was,

it

at the

above the Loire.

building Italian

start

o ut of the

say,

question.

was in small things -

it

silks,

craftsman was

Italian

would not have been

Architects

o f French master masons

to this last generation

designed by

Go thic

world.

T he

Italia n, or the Italian pattern

books, might be allowed to influence ornament, marble^

work

or the like , but, after

masters of their

What we
tion

all,

craft.

find going on, therefore, in this

of the French Renaissance,

is

castle in, say, the early fifteenth^century

the Tres Riches Heures du due de Berry y

affair,

white

the chateaux of the

to wered

illuminations of
see

it

turreted. If we look at

It is

the

highly

as a

we find the same thing.

The romanticism of
have to await Victor Hugo;

battle

medieval

first

blood.

it

at the

French courtiers in the

the sixteenth century,

of the Renaissance

and

we

genera^

first

curious

between old and new. If we look back

romantic

masons were

the French

part of

in their

Middle Ages did not

here, in the very

first

phase

had begun almost before they were

dead.

And

yet

the Renaissance chateau

is

not a

castle.

Azay^le^Rideau, Chenonceau, Chambord, Blois -

between 1508 and 1520 - were none of them

castles

^ The

life

all

fortified

within was civilized, cultivated Irid

luxurious. These palaces of the Loire Valley were not

planned in the high

classic

manner,

as

(c.i^2g),

de Silo'e,

is

another

whol e world had

their

Cathedral

Diego

example of early Spanish Renaissance

at its grandest. This view shows one of
the

Their achievement and indeed

been a

Granada

2^g
that the

were the Strozzi

monumental

from
choir

the

coffered arches leading

ambulatory

into

the

circular

RENAISSANCE OUTSIDE

or the Farnese, but they did have big

ITALY

hearths

and

great

and paneHing. They had^moreover - unHke

-

castles

rooms of state,

windows looking outwards uponTawnT

large

and upon

parterres,

a secure world.

The

battlements

have become a huge crenellated cornice, the moat a

pond, and the donjon 250 The

I

win^

staircase

at

tower

Bio is (begun

extraordinary

stylistic

in the

Francgis

iS^S)
mixture.

'^

^"

The

elements of the early French Renaissance

classical

balustrades

pilasters,

'grottesche'

and

decorate a stair supported

upon Gothic arches and vaults

superficially,

we

fireplaces that

Corinthian

Chenonceau - a gazebo. More

at

around the doors and windows and

is

it

find actual classical detail - Ionic

pilasters

bo oks. They

would be

It

Taney

dress' air

are the only

pity

if

nii?~nt" ifq|T^

outward and

and Francois had

sign that CHarles

and

with panels of arabesque ornament.

These mino rfrmper ies must havecnme

pattern

lily

stylistic

ever been to Italy.

and

the over^'ornamentation

of these palaces on the Loire were

to

blind us to their real qualities. Blois, the largest, and also

a royal house,

is

a collection of buildings, dating from

around

the thirteenth to the seventeenth century,

a large

quadrangle. The Ejily Re na^sancej^ortion - c I5I525 -

richly

is

and deeply carved with ornament and

heraldic d evices.

The most

tamoijs featureis the staircase

tower - half inside and half outside the building - a

fantastic

mixture of Gothic and

Corinthian
that

we can

pilasters carry
first

ribbed vaulting.

and

in

which
Blois

It is at

discern the nature of this chateau style -

white limestone, small purple^black

roofing

classical,

slates

as inlaid panels, steep roofs

used both for

and conically

roofed turrets with elaborate chimneys and dormers, and

much

carving everywhere.

meadows of

The

central France,

setting

hunting

was

forests,

the green

and

the

river Loire.
It

like

47)

men made fantasies

Chenonceau and Chambord. Chambord (15 19-

was from such ingredients

is,

at

that

one and the same time, a medieval

castle

out of

Mallory, an Italianate palace, a sophisticated pastiche.

first

glance

it is

also a fortress. Its plan

an outer court, and a disused moat.

shows an inner and

At

all its

corners

has enormous circular towers, severely plain. All

however,

is

At
it

this,

mere preparation, a platform upon which

:sfiSL. m/jufff

w.mim, mitm^
'

iiiiik-^>gfes-3^s^ 'O 'y^^-'^i!*

the architect, Pierre

the roof.

It is

like

Nepveu, could

and minarets

From

far

,g'j!EU-3w?wil

Mmm,M3m>L^m
-

no roof in the world. Turrets, towers

all

luxuriate

upon

the lead

Catherine de Medicis watched the

loger.

set his tour de force

and chimneys, pinnacles, belvederes, cupolas,

lys

'^t ^*MWBWfeBy,sagwrrxr:'l!PtsaS>gygfet^;.jsfeijm^'

'iJ^Mk'':

down

village in the sky.

the

How

avenue

it

fleurs^de-'

flats,

with her

stars

where
astro^

seems like some

fairy

significant that the architect

should take that non/Italian, that northern and Gothic

thing - a high/pitched roof- and use
his

pyrotechnic display of Italianate

Only

little less

fantastic

is

it

as a setting for

detail.

Chenonceau (1515-23)

Chateat4

2^2

2<^i,

with scores of conical

first,

as a cluster

secondly,

all

turrets carefully

from the avenue of approach and then,

mirrored in

still

water. In

was more picturesquely extended Philibert de

placed to be seen,

56

Chenonceau

and moat are medieval, hut

I'Orme - by means of a ballroom

Chambord
towers,

tiers

keep

the plan of the

keep has a new, Italian, symmetry.

the

the architect being

de

The round

(iz^ig-^j).

The

offlat pilasters are characteristic of

moment, as

the

is

strapwork decora^

tion on the roof; the fantastic skyline

carried

arches over the river, the sunlit water reflected

on

unique

is

in its scale

upwards
255

Chateau

river

Cher. Far

de

Chenonceau, on the

left is the

Its conical roof is echoed

old 'donjon'.

hy the main

block (he^un

iS^S), replete with tur-'

chimneys and ornate dormers of the
same genre as at Chambord. Beyond this
rets,

on the right

is

Philibert de I'Orme's

wing

bridging the river ( iSS^)> ^'^^^ ^" upper

storey added in the late

Bullant

6th century by

2^4 ^^^^ screen at SuEtiemie^du^

Mont, Paris {c.1^4^), probably by
Philibert de

on

to a

plain ceiling. Azay^le^Rideau (15 16),

marizes on a small scale the

style

sum^ J

of the greater Loire

I'Orme

chateaux.

It is

which

a style

idyllic chapter to the history

model

in

its

day added a

of architecture;

it

slightly

proved a

for nineteenth/century copyists.

255 Detail ojLescot's work in the Cour

du Vieux Louvre, Paris (be^un 1^,46).

disastrous

Note

French architecture; the same mixture of the old and the

the

rich

carving,

the

pedimented

and

windows,

the segtnental pediments

the use oj

columns rather than pilasters

It

represented, in fact, only the traditional current of

new may
churches

*^y9?f*9'?VH

yi^- A*"-

y^. .*,* A**- .yj*-- "^^..^J'-A

'

be noted in some of the sixteenth^century

of Paris.

St-'Eustache

(1532-89)

and

St^

Etienne^du/'Mont where work went on throughout the

sixteenth

century,

were both

planned

as

five^aisled

churches, with irregularly grouped towers, flying but^

tresses

and

steep roofs.

That such

pediments, columns, balustrades

drip with

pilasters,

and

makes them,

so on,

structures should also

du^Mont, however,

is

rood screen thought

to

at best, curiosities.

noteworthy

St^Etienne^

for a truly fantastic

be by Philibert de I'Orme.

The more progressive spirit is seen in de I'Orme's

other work and in that of his older contemporary Pierre
Lescot. Lescot had been employed by Francois
replace the old Gothic castle of the

thing of his

own

time.

Work

to

Louvre with some^

began

in

1546 and coiv

tinned under various architects for the next century -

-nrT^-.'-.

fcii!#

indeed, if one counts

all

the subsequent expansions of

the building, for the next three centuries. Lescot's

(approximately a quarter of the

displays

some

reputation

work

Cour du Vieux Louvre)

lovely carving by Jean

De rOrme's

rests

on

Goujon.

his

2z^6 Galerie Francois

One

at

(of which only the circular chapel, the gateway

Fontainebleau

use

Primaticcio.

of the frSt lon^ galleries ; the first

of strapwork;

forms

chateau

1,

(1533-7), hy Rosso and

in stucco

elegant

Mannerist

and paint

Anet

and the

25 7 The circular chapel at Anet ( 5 4^52), by de I'Orme, shows an unusually

Trontispiece' survive)

Premier

Livre

proposed a

de

and on

l' Architecture

new and

book

his influential

(1569)

in

the

which he

ornate order, the 'French Order', to

go alongside the Doric, Ionic and Corinthian.

The

influence of Italian visitors continued to be strong

throughout the sixteenth

and seventeenth

Serlio built the chateau of Ancy^le^Franc,

to

Fontainebleau are attributed

to

besides devising the Galerie Francois

centuries.

and extensions

him; Primaticcio,
I at

Fontainebleau

germ of most subsequent Flemish and English

(the

interior decoration),
for the

never begun.

who

designed a remarkable mausoleum

Valois family to be built at St^Denis, unfortunately

It

was probably

these Italian professionals

established the 'artist^architect' in France,

the architect

might be

whereby

superb performer on the drawing/

board, but lacking in realism (a curious position

still

which

haunts the studios of the Ecole des Beaux^Arts).

mature

and subtle

classical forms

handling

of pure

RENAISSANCE OUTSIDE
^

TALY

Something

was happening

like this

but ^ith the inevitable time-lag.

in

England

too,

When Henry VIII and

Francois embraced each other on the Field of the Cloth

of Gold in 1520, the glittering chateaux of the Loire

Valley were already

In England there was no

built.

architectural sign that the Renaissance existed. Torrigiano

had, between 15 12 and 15 18, introduced the Italian

High Renaissance
Westminster

style in his

Abbey

tomb of Henry VII

- a work of the

greatest purity

England Cardinal Wolsey was

in

only just beginning to build himself a house

Court. Moreover,
to Italy

and

and

Chambord

brilliance, but hardly architecture. In 15 15

was building, but

at

when

was

the house

at

Hampton

finished

its

debt

Antiquity was no more than a few busts

to

of Roman emperors on the gatehouse, a few putti in the

spandrels of the hall roof

and

rangles
glorified

its

great

Oxford

Medici nor

or

a Valois

With

hall,

its

would have

own

called

began

was even more of a hybrid.

all

a palace. In

it

downfall, gave

own

nearly

quad/

Neither

college.

king. Henry's
in 1538,

its

Hampton Court was

Cambridge

1525, Wolsey, sensing his

gatehouse,

it

to his

most ambitious palace. Nonsuch,

decoration,

Its

by foreign craftsmen, introduced a wealth of

Renaissance motifs.

amalgam of

Its

structure

was an undisciplined

traditional elements.

With

large circular

corner towers, a crenellated cornice and conical roofs.

Nonsuch
first

deHberately emulated

Chambord.

Renaissance building in England.

No

It

was

trace

the

of

it

remains.

Between the building of Nonsuch and the

great

Elizabethan

houses

lies

first

of the

an and generation in

English architecture. Here and there,

as at

Court

in Suffolk, both

in Somerset

and Hengrave Hall

Barrington

about 1530, a more than usually elaborate house might

be built. In the main, however, in those years the English,

having never

learnt Renaissance

manners, were content

with non^Renaissance houses. In a hundred manor/

220

houses or semi/fortified farms medieval

life

went on,

as

unaware of palaces

in

Rome

or Florence as of the

mountains on the moon. In any case those arid

been
the

filled

by the Reformation with

Dissolution of the

all its

Monasteries,

had
repercussions -

the

years

consequent

agrarian and educational revolutions, the Marian persecu-'

2<,8,

25^

(begun

1^1^,

terracotta
gate.

Wolsey's Hampton Court

has

top)

roundels

on

two

the

Italian

crenellated

Nonsuch (i^j8-^8, ahove) -

hoth grander and later

Chambord, while

its

- had

towers like

traditional

half^

timber structure was covered with Italian

tions, the

wars with France. There had been no time or

stucco decoration

reason for building.

The

only exception to this rule concerns the group of

buildings initiated during the reign of

Edward VI by

221

old Somerset House, London

260

^547~5^)> J^^^ ^ drawing by John

Thorpe. Here we see a real attempt to

The

create a genuinely 'Italian' building.

centre

is

treated like a triumphal arch,

wings are made

the

into

unified

conu

and

the Protector Somerset

wide

now

own London

Qld Somerset House,

palace,

completely disappeared, marks the beginning - a

premature beginning

as

transpired - of true Renais^

it

positions (topped by open strapwork);

welUspaced
in

rusticated

classical

windows

sance architecture in England.

are

masonry, and there

balustrade along the roof

These were men of

sympathies and European education.

intellectual

Somerset's

his circle.

had

It

a symmetrical

set
is

facade using the three orders, a triumphal arch motif for

pedimented windows and a crowning

the entrance,

balustrade. Inside

was

a courtyard of semi^circular arches

on Tuscan columns. The influence of

diminishing strength) in such

reflected (with
as

home

Longleat, the Wiltshire

John Thynne. Longleat, begun

genius.

It

axes.

court the important rooms

and indeed

park,

in 1553,

Although

bay windows.

It

all

the house

building
later

is

houses

of Somerset's friend

abandons the use of the

on both

metrical

this

is

a stroke of
is

sym^

around a

large

orders, but

built

look outwards upon the

a composition of square

is

has one thing in

common

with the

Loire chateaux - the desire to exploit joy in a secure and

sunlit world.

It

avoids, however, the French nostalgia

for a dressedz-up castle.

more

Italian than

roof

It

it

is

has leaded

Longleat

French;
flats.

as

it

This

is

is

also in another respect

stands,

suppresses the

not only non-'French;

most radical departure from the whole English

tradition.

Longleat, therefore,

is

simply a rich and

elaborate essay in fenestration; as such

222

it

tour deforce.

it

is

a brilliant

The
of the

men working

at

Longleat

(his share

is

RENAISSANCE OUTSIDE

One

560s contain several pointers to the future.

ITALY

unknown

but must have been a minor one) was Robert Smythson,

soon

to

emerge

in 1563 the

architecture

as the leader

first

English

of English architecture.

literary

And

introduction to classical

was published, John Shute's

First and

Chief

Grounds of Architecture.

Longleat belongs
years of

Mary Tudor and

Ehzabeth.

upon

to a period

Then

of transition, the uneasy

the early part of the reign of

quite suddenly the Elizabethan

England became not only

us.

Age

is

European power

but also - with the circumnavigation of the globe, the

defeat of

Spain and the founding of Virginia - a world

power of
ebullient
in

new

and

kind, mercantile, secular, cultured,

self/confident.

architecture.

This found

its

expression

Antiquity and Italian fashions were

incidental; the basis of Elizabethan architecture lay in

and splendour. Elizabeth herself built very

little
England never had its Louvre or its Escorial - but
patriotism

the cult of sovereignty, the desire to entertain

the

Queen,

as

and honour

well as the desire to display wealth and

power, were the mainspring of a

new kind of

manifest in clothes, coaches, drama, ships, gardens

art,

and

houses.

261, 262 Longleat (hegun iSS3)> ^^^

Elizabethan ideal of a great mansion.

Some features were inspired by Somerset

House, such as the balustraded roof and
the

way

unified;

in

which the projecting bays are

but

windows

the

are greatly

enlarged, creating glittering facades

in a

Late Gothic church. The house

symmetrical on

both

pletely rectilinear.

now

axes,

as
is

and com-'

The important rooms

look outward upon a safe world

223

RENAISSANCE OUTSIDE
ITALY

These huge mansions - the homes not of royalty but of

noblemen and merchants - were

and 1620. They have
of the

novelty
different.

and

the spaciousness, glitter

all

Loire

between 1580

built

But they

chateaux.

quite

are

In their craftsmanship - their leaded lights,

mullions and panelling - they are a

chapter of

last

medievalism; in the columns and entablature around a

door or fireplace they are Italianate; in

their grotesque

strapwork and curved gables they are Flemish; in actual

and

rather vulgar.

It

owed much

really

and

Serlio,

They are very

unique.

fact they are

was only

to Italy

English, very splendid

in detail that these houses

to Italian writers

to the fact that 'Italianism'

English

air.

houses'

and

John Summerson has

it is

Apart from

was

called

so

such

much

as

in the

them 'prodigy

an apt description.

the scale

and richness of decoration

dis^

played by these houses, significant changes were also

taking

place

planning.

in

desire

for

symmetry,

impressive rooms and ordered sequences led to the trans^

formation of the

hall,

'high table' and oriel

house where

warmth,

all its

into

which, with

screens passage,

its

window, had been

the centre of the

inhabitants could gather for meals and

something more

This had already happened

at

like a

grand

Hardwick by

vestibule.

the

the sixteenth century. Elsewhere, the needs of

end of

symmetry

were ingeniously combined with the old arrangement in

disguise, for instance at

WoUaton. By

century, however, the hall

had become secondary

'presence chamber', the dining^hall

least the

long

at

'long gallery'. This

Hatfield -

history of planning.

for the guests,

and

- over 150

feet

latter

was an English contribution

With one long

furniture, the other for great

to the

and numerous other

chambers, whole wings of 'lodgings'

not

the turn of the

to the

wall for pictures and

windows looking on

to the

garden, the long gallery was one of the most charming

rooms

ever designed.

WoUaton
224

(finished in 1588), like Longleat

Loire chateaux,

is

yet

and the

another outward/looking house.

26j Long

gallery

(be^im i6oj).

at

House

Hatfield

typical arrangement,

windows along

ifgrander

than most, with

one side

(compare Fontainehleau,

2^6). The Jacobean decoration

is

111.

abstract

and on the whole fiat, except jor the big

stone fireplaces;

the motifs are panels,

strapwork and the classical orders

taking a positive pleasure in the world outside

windows. The design,

as

we know from

in the nearby parish church,

the

first

his

its

own

tombstone

was by Robert Smythson -

genius in English architecture since the close of

now to realize this

revolutionary moment, the moment when, in security,
one could forget the arrow^slit window and when -

the

Middle Ages.

thanks

and

to centuries

glaziers

it

It

is

difficult

of effort by church builders, masons

was

technically possible to build bi

muUioned windows and

fill

them with leaded

lights.

The windows of these Renaissance mansions were

the

application to secular use of the methods used in glazing

Perpendicular churches, the adaptation

homes o[

the

windows

of,

say,

to rich

men's

Gloucester choir or

King's College Chapel, symbolic in themselves of the

shift

of patronage from

Church

to laity.

264 Wollaton Hall

Robert Smythson.

(finished

i^SS), by

Its stylistic features

come from an odd assortment of sources

Italian Renaissance, Flemish pattern-'
Gothic

books,
tourelles

The plan

the roof
'great

even

in

the

extremely novel (while

is

based on Serlio)
the centre,

and

fantastic castle architecture.

lit

and

the hall rises through

by a clerestory just above

is in

chamber'

turn surmounted by a

266 Hardwick Hall

26^,

ic^go-j),

probably by Smythson. The plan, above,

is

-If-

1
:

The great

ffi

leaded

!i

windows of Wollaton look outward,

Where Longleat

indeed, more than those of Longleat.

compact and symmetrical. For thejirst

time the hall

(A)

sive vestibule
its

fulfilled

room,

with

is

treated as an impress

- though
traditional
the

originally
role

'screens

as

passage'

flanked by pantry (B), buttery

(D). The

kitchen

chapel

it still

dining^

(E)

(C)
is

(opposite,

big

initials

gridAike

Wollaton has

towering up like a turreted

fairy

the house, to be brilliantly

lit

and

at the

rounding roof

level.

There

mock

windows,

note

the

in

huge

central hall,

casde from the middle

oi^

by windows above the sur^

are

square

fantastic

also

Serlio's

books,

have

derived from the Poggio Reale in Naples; in fact

been
it

was

'towers',

and

the

of the proud builder, Elizabeth

Shrewsbury, displayed

corner towers, almost detached from the main building.

Wollaton may, through

above),

corners heightened to form

the

court,

(a)

back of the house.

Outside

had an inner

strapwork on

something quite new.

Hardwick Hall (1590-7) is almost certainly

attributed to Smythson. The phrase 'Hardwick

be

to

Hall,

the skyline

more

glass than wall' explains the excitement

have caused in a world where

still

peasant - glass was an extravagance.

at

least

it

must

for the

The plan, compared

with Longleat and Wollaton, has contracted the whole

;

house

is

more compact. In compensation

windows - rooms

in themselves

roof level so that there

romantic and

is

226

up above
.

an English version of the

idealized casde of a dream^like

sometimes forgotten

are carried

a silhouette of square towers

beautiful,

The glamour of

the six big bay

Middle Ages.

Elizabeth's reign

how much

that

is

is

such that

it

is

called 'Eliza^

bethan' - the Bible and some of Shakespeare - actually

belongs to the time of James

I.

This

is

also true

architecture. In the sphere of the great house,

hundred smaller houses,

the

to

'prodigy

there

is

and of a

whole Jacobean sequel

Renaissance grandeur,

houses'.

oi^

for
26^7

instance,

had already spread

to simpler dwellings

such

as

Montacute in Somerset and Condover Hall in Shrop^

shire,

both finished in the

last years

of the Queen's reign.

In the really big houses, such as Hatfield or Bolsover,

case,

was an increasing

tion. It

but

IS

is

richness, a grotesque

linked with Italian

altogether

ornamental

Mannerism - via Flanders -

more outrageous, with banded columns,

marble inlay, carved tassels, arabesq ues, bulbous balusters,

masks and eroticism.

generation

We

houses

in

earlier

can detect the beginnings a

like

Kirby

Burghley, both in Northamptonshire - the

'roof/'scape' that

in

almost rivals

Hampshire (1605-12)

oriel are set

is

to

was one of the

first

and

with a

Chambord. At Bramshill

the grotesque entrance

and
full

be found in the great staircase

Hatfield (c 1611). This

We

latter

between severely plain wings, but the

Jacobean flavour

as a display

Hall

stair is

grand

notable both because

staircases in

of the ornate Jacobean

England and

at
it

also

style.

have spoken about Flemish influence without

describing developments in Flanders, and to this

we

Stair,

Hatjield

House

an Italian invention,

is

stair-'

here tranS"

lated into terms of Jacobean carpentry

complete with carved figures, strapwork,

and
there

Great

(c.i6i 1). The monumental open

lattice

gates

straying upstairs

to

keep the dogs

from

268 Antwerp Town Hall

by

Cornells

Floris.

i^6i-^),

crowded and

rather gauche though

grand exercise

style which, clearly,

was not

stood.

The

Gothic

central feature

is

really

disguised

gahle^jront,

in a

yet under
a

with

columns, pilasters, obelisks, huge statues,

and a pedimented aedicule

must belatedly turn.

important item

to

It

significant

is

be mentioned

book - Vredeman de

is

the

that

most

not a building but a

Vries' Architectural published in

1563. This contributed an inexhaustible fund of models

for

ornamental

details

by Primaticcio
used in

Town
work

less

Hall

in the

architects,

Fontainebleau) and was extensively

at

many

the northern countries for

all

provided

(including strapwork, invented

years.

It

guidance on architecture proper. Antwerp

(i

561-5) by Cornells

new

such

style, is still

an

Floris, the

awkward

major

first

exercise. Later

Lieven de Key and Hendrik de

as

with more

By

Keyser, learned to handle

it

time of the Mauritshuis

The Hague (1633) Holland

was

as

up

at

immune

chief models

to

for

the

France and England, and was

to date as

evolving a national Protestant

relatively

finesse.

style that

Baroque and

to

Christopher

Sir

was

keep her

to

provide one of the

Wren

1660.

after

Development in Germany, which had begun promisingly

with such buildings

as the

(1556-63) and Augsburg

berg

Italian^trained

Elias

35 J' ^y ](^<^ob

command of the
order in stone -from

first

Town

Holl, was to

tragedy of the Thirty Years

The Hague fi6jjvan Campen. This square

26^ Mauritshuis,

Ottheinrichsbau

War

be

at

Heidel^

Hall by the
stifled

by the

(1618-48). During the

half of the seventeenth century the centre of architect

tural

interest

north

of the Alps was

Italy's

nearest

palace shows a complete

new

style.

A giant

its

base

storey

through

entablature and pediment

pilasters
is

to

set against

brick walls to create an original piece of

classicism,

well as

in

influential

Holland

in

England

neighbour, France.

The flow of

Italian visitors continued.

Bernini paid prolonged

deBrosse

(i

visits,

but

men

Vignola and

such

as

Salomon

541-1626), Jacques Lemercier(i 585-1654),

as

Frangois Mansart

(i

598-1666) and Louis Le

Vau

2^0

Pavilion

de

I'Horloge

the

in

Louvre, Paris (begun 1624). Lemercier

by this accent joined Lescot's wing, on
the

left

replica

(see

of

it

255J, with

111.

on the

part of the pavilion there

note

the

order';

(1612-70) were establishing a true native

The Louvre, begun by

is

own

newfreedom

pediment,

'caryatid

and domed pavilion roof

classical style.

provides us with a

Lescot,

representative catalogue of the

trebled

his

In the upper

right.

work of most of them.

Lemercier, in 1624, began the enlargement of the inner

Louvre

court of the

adorned

it

to

present

its

400

feet

Vau

completed the court

under the direction of Cardinal Mazarin.

this

consists

pediment.

later,

of a magnificent colonnade of coupled

It

flat

must owe

its

provided three designs for

Ten years

Colbert, Claude Perrault built the eastern fagade;

columns topped by a

He

with the splendid Pavilion de I'Horloge.

Between 1650 and 1664 Le

for

square.

ill

entablature with a central

roof^line to Bernini,

who

this front.

.,

____,

2']2

2^1,

j^

Paris.

tl

mil II

ttltllltH^WtfJiJl
>!f J" I itll.*"^

P-W^MJ^^E

left),

East front of

Bernini's

third

monumental but

Louvf?;^

the

design

(166^,
Baroque

the least

of his three projects, was actually begun.

Work
and

stopped when he

the facade

was

left,

however,

built to the designs

of

Claude Perrault and Le Vau (below).

With
coupled

flat

roofine,

columns,

and

its

monumental
boldly

organization, this

was

plished

building

classical

north of the

the

simple

most accom^
of

its

date

Alps

229

Mb

'W. '1^

16

Luxembourg,

(/

P(j/(2/i

27J
(begun

built

^J,

by

Paris

Salomon

de

Except

'

"

BiBi

'

Ii k

Louvre work

is

'^I^Bp

for this eastern fagade all the

typically French, typically seventeenth century

richly

Brosse for Catherine de Medicis. The

heavy rustication deliberately

recalls the

garden front

Florentine

of the great

palace of the Medici, the Pitti

2J4

Orleans

wing,

Mansart's classicism

is

Blois

tive carving

The

(i6j^).

subtler and more

northern

spirit persists in the high^'pitched

chimneys and, above

pavilions^ a feature in direct descent

all,

the large corner

from the circular

towers of the Loire chateau and, therefore, from the

medieval

castle.

The

separate roofing,

and consequent

especially notable for

is

the quality of the

inspiring.

roofs, elaborate

sophisticated than that of any of his pre^

decessors. Blois

carved with classical motifs, professional rather than

stonework and decora^

emphasis upon these projecting blocks, runs through the

whole French Renaissance. In Italy the roof is suppressed

in

England a continuous

roofz-line

RENAISSANCE OUTSIDE

runs round the whole

ITALY

building, unifying rather than emphasizing the parts.

De

Brosse had a remarkable feeling for masonry and

he expressed

His chateaux

rustication.

court,
this

and

met

at

Coulommiers and Bleran^

at

town palace of the Luxembourg

his

stamp of

architecte

by the lavish, often exaggerated, use of

it

His successor

his personality.

De

as premier

Brosse had been alive to Italian

Mannerism; Lemercier was young enough

to

bear

whom we have already

was Jacques Lemercier,

the Louvre.

all

to

respond

Baroque. His church of the Sorbonne (begun 1635)

has a

dome,

is

With
reaches

familiar

model of the

(Ills.

Gesu and an
chancel

on the

a two-'tier fagade

which

interesting three^part plan in

the

Mansart

Francois

most

interesting

d'Orleans decided

French

the

add a wing

to

Blois; Mansart's design

is,

In

phase.

in

its

Renaissance
1635

to the vast

Gaston

chateau of

rather cold

way, an

accomplished masterpiece, and exposes the naive

cism of the

earlier

to those

on

have some/

either side

thing o( the quality of Italian Baroque.

Lafitte, a great

classi/-

work. The curved colonnades joining

Mansart's building

At Maisons

country house, the system of linked but

apparently separate pavilions

is

taken

to

extremes with

great skill.

The

Val/de^'Grace (1645-65), begun by Mansart,

continues the line of Lemercier's Sorbonne.

typical two-'Storeyed west front

top of another.

The

dodge

The

Venice.

has a

slopes of the lean^'to aisle roofs are

is

fully justified, perhaps, only

uninhibited scale

It

- one pediment unit on

screened with large scrolls. This

of,

say,

a familiar

when

Baroque

used on the

Sta Maria della Salute in

seventeenth^century church o^ Stz-Gervais

in Paris (i 616-21)

by Clement Metezeau

is

another

example.
After
greatest

Blerancourt

of

all

and Maisons^ Lafitte came

the

seventeenth-'century mansions, Vaux/le-'

Vicomte, designed by Louis Le

224, 2jj), but with the addition of

a very hi oh drum. The lower

dome on

part of the facade has a severely monu^

equal in length to the nave.

its

Church of the VaUde-Grace,

(164^-6^). Another member of
the family of the Gesu and Sta Susanna
275

Paris

Vau in

1657.

It

achieves

mental portico, showing a development

in

Mansart's style since Blois. The upper

parts

were

built

by

Lemercier,

Mansart had been dismissed

after

the difficult feat of incorporating a central oval salon into

ftp'

ht

false

^'"1
*

^ m

- *

276^,

I f

1
-

!':

^ka

VauxAe^Vkomte (i6^j),
Le Van, is one of the greatest

houses of the century. Both the general

economy of its plan, above, and the use of

the oval for the most important room
point

to Italian influence.

in its setting as

roofs, is

false

well as

But
its

the house,

bi^ pavilion

unmistakably French. Note the

moat'

and

the

moat,

like

On

awkwardness.

an orchestra

pit,

the entrance side a

separates the

approach

avenue from the forecourt, giving additional drama

house already raised on

steps.

On

the garden side

to a

Le

Notre laid out vast formal gardens on the axis of the oval

277

by Louis

the plan without

highly

relationship of house to garden

formal

These gardens were famous

salon.

as the setting for the

illuminated 'Nights o^ Vaux-'le^Vicomte', and as the

prototype of even grander
created

law

in

work

at Versailles.

planning of palace grounds -

the

everything on one side

is

road, gates, gravel, horses and

coaches, everything on the other side

parterres, fountains

Le Vau was

and canals and

Pans,

now the

on

is

grass, avenues,

a far line of forest.

responsible for several other buildings of

interest, in particular the

- a Greek

Le Notre

Institut

College des Quatre Nations, in

de France, with

cross plan with

its

church of 1665

an oval centre and a dome high

drum.

The climax of
reached in 1679

these

French domed churches was

when Mansart's nephew, Jules Hardouin

Mansart, designed the church of the Invalides;

truly Parisian

it

is

achievement - grand, but just on the right

2']%

Church of

Invalides,

the

Paris

{i6yg), by Jules Hardouin Mansart.

In

this

very

design, the

assured

and

successful

Baroque dome and facade are

retained; hut by giving

up

the volutes

and

imposing a more sober rhythm on the

coupled columns, the architect achieved

an effect

midway between Baroque and

Neo^Classicism

side of pomposity.
sions,

is

The

use of the space, in three dimen-'

dramatic and truly Baroque.

through an aperture in a lower

painted upper dome,
that the

dome
effect

lit

dome

to perceive a richly

by concealed windows.

tomb of the Emperor Napoleon

(with a hole cut in the floor

is

One looks upwards

is

to reveal

Now

beneath the
it)

the total

awe-inspiring in a totally French manner ... a

mixture o^gloire and God.

The

Invalides

may

be the best

work of

the second

Mansart, but his most famous was undoubtedly the

enormous

final version

building that stands

architecture (the

of the palace of Versailles - a

at the

end of one phase of French

Baroque) and the beginning of another

(the Neo-classical).

Like the Louvre,

microcosm of French

architectural

it

offers

history.

In

us a

1624

233

279 Garden front, Versailles (see III.

280). The side pavilions of the central
block (the seven windows at each end)
belong

Le

to

original

Van's

encasing

huntingAodge,

of the

The

i66g.

in

which the design of the ends is

repeated - and the wings in the back^

centre

in

ground were added by Hardouin

The

16^8 onward.

from

sart

Le Van's work, maintained

was not

really

Man^

scale of

throughout,

strong enough for the

eventual size of the building

Salomon de Brosse had

built a

hunting chateau

Louis XIII. In 1669 Le Vau, working

turned

this

concealed

chateau into a palace.

for

XIV

Louis

From 1678 on

for

this

wai

and extended north and south by Jules

Hardouin Mansart. That superb Neo/Classical designer

Jacques^Ange Gabriel, made

further additions

the

1760s: the lovely wings of the courtyard, so reminiscent

of his work in the Place de

la

Concorde. In the end

megalomaniac palace was over

one of the

largest

rooms

planned on one long

are

another - the

280

Versailles

building

in

from
the

the air.

centre,

Le Vau's

around three

of a courtyard. In an attempt

sides
it

is

to

give

emphasis, Hardouin Mansart set back

his

vast lateral ranges.

corners

where

central block,

towards

the

these

From

ranges

the

two

meet

the

Gabriel extended wings

town,

beyond.

For

the

complete plan of garden and town, see

111.

283

234

a third of a mile long,

houses in Europe. Internally the

axis,

state/

one opening into

enfilade.

Versailles reveals the merits

architecture.

this

The two

finest

and

defects

things about

it

of French

are, as

it

were,

at

opposite ends of the architectural scale.

already noted

how, with

immigrants, the

the

first

opposed

builder dominated the French scene.

At

m the palace itself and in the Trianons,

to the true

Versailles,
it is

both

the interiors

These include not only the famous

Galerie des Glaces (1680), with

mirrors

have

generation of Italian

'artist^architect' as

that create delight.

We

its

green marble,

its

and painted panels by Lebrun, but also a hundred

other rooms.

Those of

the

Petit

Trianon (1762-8),

created through half a century for the Dubarry, Marie

Antoinette and then for Pauline Bonaparte, are

the

more sophisticated confections of

history.

among
At the

other end ofthe scale we have something almost exclusively

French - the

vast layout.

The

poetic water gardens of

281

The Galerie

sailles

(1680)

des

takes

Glaces

at

Ver^

up practically the

whole of the main storey of the central

block, seen above. To set a wall of
mirrors opposite a wall of windows was
a hold and typically Baroque coup^de^
theatre

235

RENAISSANCE OUTSIDE

villas

ITALY

English manor-houses

in

the Italian

Versailles that gives us

the

Roman Empire

again in Paris,

L'Enfant's

at

the dream^like gardens of

hills,

have

all

for the

first

Nancy,

an

In

an architectural thing.

art. It

Rome

is

of

fall

find

it

was

came about

it

France

in

it

not, of course,

was

wholly

highly centralized monarchy

France, as opposed to

'city

states'

in

monarchies in Germany and squirearchies

is

We

it

Vaux/le^'Vicomte and in

at

gradually, generation by generation

in

time since the

- the grand manner.

Washington.

deliberate creation,

charms, but

their

Italy,

in

petty

England,

a sufficient social explanation for those royal avenues

leading to infinity.

Le

Notre's scheme at Versailles started on the west side

of the palace, with the beautifully planned town of

Versailles,

and

the great

approach roads from Paris and

St^Cloud converging upon

282
6g).

Petit Trianon,

Versailles (

The ja^ade shows

ij6^-

fine sensitivity of Jacques^ An^e Gabriel,

Le Vau. Note

the effect

the palace

value

outwards

of

spreading

to form a

On

the other side of

the

wide base

terrace

- the royal bedroom being the centre of every^

thing - the avenue and the grand canal led for two miles

through trimmed woods

of differentiating the storey heights, and

the

King.

upon

the absolutely

pure classicism, beautiful proportions, and

a century after

the equestrian statue of the

the palace forecourt,

are

innumerable walks,

to the forest.

parterres,

Among

the trees

water^gardens and

conceits of all kinds, the most important being the

Grand

28j Plan of
tury.

In

Versailles in the

Baroque fashion,

8th cen^

the

vast

layout stamps itself upon the landscape.

It is

courts

On

very logical.

(bottom)

palace

are

and the town,

one side of the

the

stables

laid out

and

on a grid

with open squares and crossed by three

broad avenues.

On

the other side, all

formal garden around

the vast canal.

is

The

asymmetrical garden plan, where walks

converge on 'ronds^points', played a part
in later

Trianon and

The

Petit

Trianon added by Gabriel

sheer size of the layout does,

boredom -

deserts

in 1763-9.

again, lead to

of gravel - but the scheme has

supreme moments. There

There

now and

are the

huge

town-planning

flights

of

its

steps.

the austere Orangery, acting as a big retaining

is

wall or platform above which

And

of Mansart's facade.

rises

the rich orchestration

one or two of the

water-'

gardens are idyllic scenes for Watteau's brush. Except,

however,
ful little

for Gabriel's

cube of the

courtyard wings and his delight/

Petit

Trianon, those moments are

never purely architectural.

France was on the threshold of Neo^Classicism, and

at

various times and by various processes the other nations

of Europe were

to reach the

of some complexity and

same

much

spot.

The

story

is

one

overlapping. In England,

237

RENAISSANCE OUTSIDE
^^^^^

perhaps,

can be followed

It

at its simplest.

reaction

against the excesses of the Jacobean prodigy houses, in

favour of purity and restraint, was

reaction, in fact,

Inigo

is

Jones

found mainly

in the

was

573-1652)

(i

bound

to

come. That

work of one man.

an

Italian^trained

draughtsman from whose drawings other men

As

buildings.

we know

a youth he paid a visit to Italy, of

nothing.

From 1605

to 161

for the palace

masques - those short dramas, fashionable

the court

at

compounded of satire, mythology,

choreography and scenic

at

Court,

3,

visited

he became tutor to a prince and then, in 161

Duke

again in the train of the

returned

year

with

later

appointed Surveyor

to the

of Arundel.

sketch-books,

full

King's

music,

For these masques

effects.

Inigo Jones did some 450 designs. In favour

Italy

which

he served James's

queen, designing costumes and scenery

of the Medici,

erected

Works -

to

He
be

a post of the

highest architectural responsibility.

In this post Jones established his claim to have both

understood and purified the Renaissance.

It

He

of a mass of barbarous Jacobean ornament.

restraint

and

fine proportions.

exorcized

He

gave

it

Elizabethan houses were

medieval buildings with Renaissance ornament; Inigo

Jones designed Renaissance buildings.

He

believed that

architecture should be disciplined, masculine

affected.

He had

fantasies,

nor those excesses of Mannerism which he had

no use

With

seen in Italy.

the

Scamozzi

at

classicism,

making

as

it

IS

IS

less

works of Vitruvius, Palladio and

the very

word

Both

between them

wick and
It

was

the
in

'Palladian' as English

Let the reader contrast,

than twenty years

the point.

splendours or romantic

elbow, he practised a quiet, serene

his

Italian.

for

Hall with the Queen's House

238

and un/

is

at

say,

Hardwick

Greenwich - and

between them - and he

there

will see

are secular, but otherwise the division

greater than the division

last

between Hard/-

Gothic churches.

1616 that Inigo Jones began building the

Queen's House.

It

may

be slightly provincial while also

2S4 The Queen's House, Greenwich,

hup Jones (1616-jz,). Its ele-^

ments - rusticated ground storey, plain

hy

wall,

colonnade

from

derive

all

Palladia; the skill with which they are

handled

is

itself mature Palladian.

Com^

pare the scheme of the Palazzo Chieri^

cati. III.

228

28^ Banqueting House,

London (i6ig-22), hy

The facade
the centre

is

articulated hy

and pilasters

the division into

the single

Whitehall,
hiigo

two

in

at the side, thouj^h

tiers

large room

Jones.

columns

hardly

reflects

inside. It is a

more

elaborate and ornate composition than the

Queen's House, but beautifully - and

extremely carefully

being too Italian for the climate, but

classic jewel. It

was

the nucleus

all

the

same

It is

Queen's House holds

derived from the Medici villa

outside Florence, but

the sunlit

it

seems

to

the ensuing

century - Wren, Vanbrugh, Hawksmoor. In

little

is

proportioned

from which grew the

whole Greenwich Palace complex during

Baroque group the

it

at

come

this large
its

own.

Poggio a Caiano
to us directly

from

meadows of the Veneto.

More famous than the Queen's House - partly because

It is

in Whitehall, partly for the fortuitous reason that

was the scene of Charles

House.

It

was begun

I's

it

execution - is the Banqueting

in 161 9; years later

it

might have

239

RENAISSANCE OUTSIDE

been incorporated in Jones's design

ITALY

was planned

Escorial, the vast Palace of Whitehall, that

The Banqueting House

but never built.

a busy street. Internally

ceiling panels for

Peter Paul

Rubens was paid

House

harmonious and Palladian design ...

less

modern town,

it

is

a most

is

harmonious

so

not very noticeable.

serene, less elegant than the

stronger

part of

double cube with

is

/^3,ooo. Externally the Banqueting

that, in the

now

is

a large

it

which

English

for that

It is

Queen's House, but

and more masculine.

In 1625, by proclamation,
piece of conscious

and

London was

deliberate

given

town-planning -

The

arcaded piazza of Covent Garden.

we

still

Paul's, essentially as

it

was.

It

almost domestic in detail this

is

it

is

based on Vitruvius's

the simplest possible order

and wide timber

meeting/house -

eaves.

would

Extremely simple,

Quaker

pass for a

the least pretentious, most

ing of Jones's works. Attributed to

House, Lincoln's Inn Fields of c. 1 6 3 8

with rusticated ground

repro^'

have Inigo Jones's church, St

Tuscan temple, of brick with

for the portico,

the

arcades have

gone, except for fragmentary nineteenth^century

ductions, but

its first

him
it is

is

charm/

Lindsey

town house

floor, tall piano nohile

windows

with classically framed windows, and balustrated parapet,

which may be considered

the prototype of a thousand

'Georgian' houses on both sides of the Atlantic.

In the
Isaac de

286 St

Covent Garden, Lon^

Paul's,

don ( i6jo-i), by Ini^o Jones.

portico with

its

The

bi^

wide timber eaves, steep

pediment, and plain columns served more

as a town-planning feature than as part

of the church, which

other

end.

portico
Ills.

240

are

The
a

228, 22^)

is

entered from the

arches flanking

Palladian

motif

the

(see

last years

of his

Caux on the

life,

we find

Inigo Jones advising

building of Wilton, for the Earl of

2%'] 'Double^cuhe' room,

(c.i64q),

by

Wilton House

Inigo Jones

Webb. The panelled walls

and

half the height of the room, giving

same

domestic scale;

at

enormous coved

ceiling creates

through sheer height.

the

John

are only about

time,

it

the

grandeur

The room was from

the beginning conceived as a setting jor the

Van Dyck

portraits

i^embroke. There, from 1633 onwards, he created the

glorious garden front in

all its

Scamozzi^like simplicity

and elegance. Behind the deceptive plainness of

that

facade are two of the most richly decorated rooms in

England; the *double/cube' and 'single^cube' rooms,

very French, are decked with heavy swags
fruit

and

flowers,

Wilton was

framing the

a fitting

end

greater part of the old City

The

fire

clusters

Van Dyck

of

portraits.

to the architect's career.

In 1666, fourteen years

fire.

and

after

Inigo Jones's death, the

of London was consumed by

raged for nine days; 13,200 houses and

87 parish churches were destroyed,

medieval cathedral of St Paul's.

as

An

panorama of Gothic towers vanished

was

the

old

incomparable
forever.

The

merchants, so determined to continue trading that they

set

up

tents

among

the

warm

ashes,

were prepared

to

241

obstruct any

planning that might delay rebuilding.

Within two weeks Christopher Wren had submitted

the

King

his

plan for a

new

City.

It

was

to

a grand, rather

Michelangelesque scheme of radiating avenues, with

closed by church steeples.

street vistas

It

was accepted

by the King and - gradually - sabotaged by the met/

The

chants.

and

pattern of lanes

alleys

with

is still

us.

Wren (1631-1723) had already dabbled

architecture. He had been Professor of Astronomy at

Christopher
in

Oxford, and was a

geometrician.

fine

Any

Renaissance

'philosopher' was, however - like Leonardo - apt to be

man

considered a
St Stephen, Walhrook,
288, 28g
London (i6j2-8j), by Sir Chris^
topher

Wren,

the

City churches.
carried

over

cumamhient

an
aisle

longitudinal

below,

we

The

dome

plaster

octa^^on,

with

is

cir^

doubled at the west

plans.

In

view

the

are looking diagonally across

the octagon - from lower right

left in the

another.

as

Wren had

1662

In

one

for

fit

already

designed a geometrically brilliant roof for the Sheldonian

most complex of the

end, combining the merits oj centralized

and

profession

of universal knowledge, as

to

top

Theatre

at

Oxford and,

Pembroke College

at

the

at

never

left

a chapel for

Cambridge. In 1665 he

France where he met Bernini,

Wren came home

same time,

at

work on

the Louvre.

loaded with books and sketches and

England again.

By proclamation,
rebuilt in brick

and

London was to be
All the work was to pass

City of

the

plan

stone.

through the hands of six surveyors of whom

one.

The churches were

work of his

is

on

the old

sites,

architect.

important to realize the true nature of Wren's

contribution.
that, or

Wren was

never built within the frame/

abortive plan ; they were buik

and Wren was the

It

visited

It

was not

the beauty of this church or

even of St Paul's, that mattered most.

creation of a

London that no

It

was

the

longer exists. True, Wren's

plan was never carried out. That plan, however, was a

three-dimensional design;

of buildings as well

it

as the

took account of the heights

alignments of streets. In two

dimensions - length and breadth - that plan was

In the third dimension

churches, for

all their

plain halls of brick

it

was

fully realized.

lost.

Wren's City

incidental charms, are usually just

and

plaster, fitted

on

to

cramped

sites.

Even

risen

above what was once the roof/line of the houses;

the towers are usually plain until they have

'

Wren

then and then only, clear of the chimney-pots, did they

2 go

blossom into the full^'blooded and elaborate

steeples rising above the brick houses, all

steeples

subordinate

which Wren's name

London

at the

must have seemed not

to the

tide

of

end of the seventeenth century

brown houses

little

white galleons

and

dome. This wonderful scene

a

hundred

years,

paid court

to the great

lasted for rather

more than

then the Victorian banks and

began the process of corrosion

now

Although Wren's churches had

offices

almost complete.
to

be built cheaply,

he was fortunate in being spared liturgical complications

- he ran

into

them

St Paul's

at

- and

in

having only

to

give ecclesiastical dignity to a congregational hall with

the altar set against

on the

ceiling,

its

Some fine plaster work

woodwork - possibly by

eastern wall.

some carved

Grinling Gibbons - on

stalls,

teredos

and pulpit

that

sum total of a Wren church. In St Stephen,

Walbrook we have a more ingenious plan - a pendentive
dome on columns, with a surrounding aisle, makes an
is

the

enchanting use of space.

are here

combined.

St Mary/le^'Bow
faint idea

of that

The

Of the

and St
forest

geometrician and the

artist

few towers that survive only

Bride's, Fleet Street, give us

dome of St Paul's

Wren.

The

steeple

is

the

the steeples sailed like big

yet all

host of

medieval

spire restated in classical terms; one

Above

than Venice.

less fair

left it: a

2gi St Bride's, London (spire 1J02),

by

the tallest in

ocean of

as

will always be associated. Seen

from the bridges or from across the green and busy

the river,

with

London

some

of steeples that was once London.

from

London,

it

of

appears second

the left in the view above

Wren's

2(^2

Paul's shows
Italians,

he

Great
that,

would

centralized plan. It

with

alternately

like

Model for St
so many of the

have
is

preferred

straight

and concave

sides, linked to a lar^e portico (left)

domed

vestibule.

The

domed octagon

design

by

shows

daring Baroque elements which seldom

appear

in

Wren's executed work

Wren had
state

already been consulted about the parlous

of Old St Paul's, even before the Great

after the Fire,

it

was decided

restored.

Wren

models.

The most

When,

Fire.

that the ruins could not be

prepared a whole
notable

was

of plans and

series

Model,

Great

the

sometimes called 'Wren's favourite design'. This model

(preserved in the cathedral) takes us straight back to the

old

controversy of the centralized plan.

Italian

Great Model was an elaborate

large vestibule

- not a nave -

Anglican divines
Puritan

less

persecution

The

domed octagon with

to the west. In a

world of

than a generation removed from

exercise

this

Continental,

in

Catholic idiom never stood a chance. St Paul's,

finally

built,

compromise.

was -

like the

was

It

City

itself

a hopeless

compromise between

as

the clergy's

desire for a

medieval plan, with long nave, long chancel,

and

and Wren's yearning

aisles,

dome

for a

dominant

central

in emulation of the Italian Baroque.

In the end the clergy got their plan, the architect got
his

dome, but

the scars of battle are everywhere.

vaulted nave with side

Baroque vocabulary
buttress.

Wren's

is

no such thing
shameful

little

as a flying

things, just

aisle roofs, so that the outer

walls of

- complete with sham windows - have

taken up the

full

a shift only too

gallery or

there

tall

needs flying buttresses. In the

buttresses are

emerging above the

the aisles

aisles

to

be

height of the nave to screen the buttresses,

obvious

from the

air.

when viewed from

the

dome

Pugin's gibe that 'one half of

St Paul's

was

exaggeration;

it

built to hide the other

was not a gross exaggeration.

one of the

itself is

finest

things in

all

RENAISSANCE OUTSIDE

half was an

ITALY

The dome

European Baroque.

Inevitably the projecting nave, like that of St Peter's,

cuts off the

Wren

view of the dome from the west. Nevertheless,

did design a

dome which,

in

its

day, dominated

London. He did this, first, by building a very high

drum - better handled than any in France or Italy - and
all

then by surmounting the

1

dome with

a soaring lantern,

80 tons of stone, which he perched ingeniously

upon

cone of brick. This he concealed within the dome,

of wood and lead.
St Paul's
serenity

is

Two

itself

iron chains were also necessary.

Baroque building;

the pure Palladian

of Inigo Jones's Queen's House

is

now

half a
2g^, 2^4 Plan (opposite) and

air

view

of St Paul's Cathedral, London ( l6Jz,-

lJlo), by Wren. The plan shows the

final

compromise

space

central

beneath the dome, but a long and high

nave and

choir.

consequences

The

air

view shows the

sham

the 'pits' behind the

which conceal embryonic flying

buttresses. Yet it shows, too, the mag^
walls

ingenuity

nificent
lifted his

drum

whose

open

which

Wren

the City,

upon a

with

dome above

colonnade

re^

is

inforced (structurally and visually)

at

intervals by solid bays with niches

245

RENAISSANCE OUTSIDE

ceiitury

^^"^^^

ings,

is

behind

When

splendid permanent scenery.

and devices have been examined,

the

that

most Baroque builds

us. St Paul's, like

- not

carving

Tijou's ironwork - make

Wren's palace

this

be granted

still

the

Grinling Gibbons's

least

monument of its

must

proportions,

the

silhouette,

it

the shifts

all

the

detail,

woodwork and

cathedral the greatest

generation.

Hampton Court -

at

and incongruously tacked on

to

designed in 1689

Wolsey's Tudor

pile

was never completed and was never what Wren wanted.

The white
windows,

stone dressings in red brickwork, the

yews and the fountains make

the dark

when

scintillating scene

tall

the sun shines, but

it

was never

the English Versailles

which Wren had hoped

in his declining years.

At Greenwich

to

build

Hospital, Wren's

beautiful

twin domes frame Inigo Jones's Queen's

House,

one

as

was

It

sees

in 1704,

from the

it

river.

on the Danube and near

the village of

Blenheim, that the French armies were broken by the

combined

forces

Marlborough. The wars

end. Marlborough

in

Europe were

was rewarded by

Blenheim Palace, one of the

He

could choose

really limited

Duke

of

virtually at

an

of Prince Eugene and the

his

own

largest

the gift of a palace -

houses in England.

architect, but his choice

to the triumvirate in the service

was

of the

Crown - Wren, Hawksmoor and Vanbrugh. Wren

was over seventy, Nicholas Hawksmoor little more than
a loyal assistant. Sir
a

man

John Vanbrugh (1664- 1726) was

about town, on easy terms with the dukes, a

dramatist of genius. Five years earlier he had

startling entry into architecture.

For

of Carlisle, he had designed Castle

shire.

made

his friend, the Earl

Howard

in

York/

Marlborough chose Vanbrugh.

Wren's genius was mathematical, Vanbrugh's was

dramatic and romantic, almost impressionistic. Certainly
he

needed

Hawksmoor

sketches into reality.

246

style

in

England

to

It

to

turn

his

impressionistic

was he who brought

its

the

Baroque

maturity. His mansions were

2p5 Castle Howard (designed i6gg},

Vanbur^h. Bold in plan^

by Sir John
ning

(note

the

vista

of another arch

behind the fireplace ) , grandiose

in scale,

and crowned by a dome, the entrance

hall

is

one of England's

Baroque

romantic

castles,

note the

Roman

clothed in robust

Roman

detail

obsession with the round arch

few

successful

interiors

- we

- and

marvellously placed in the English landscape.

In Castle
created the

Howard, designed

first

made

to

far^'flung

It

is

an immense house,

look more immense by the deploy/-

wings and courtyards. The

court and the kitchen court each cover as

as the

house

colonnades.

Vanbrugh

Roman pomp and circumstance oi^

Queen Anne's England.

ment of

1699,

of those huge lordly mansions which

symbolize so well the

deliberately

in

itself,

to

which

The main

stable

much ground

they are linked by curved

dome;
building -

central block has a

giant pilasters run the full height of the

the
like

Michelangelo's on the Capitol - and are emphasized by

2^7

2g6 Blenheim Palace ( ijo^-24), by

Vanhru^h and Hawksmoor. The union
of Vanhrugh's brilliance with Hawks"
moor's technical knowledge and feeling

for dignity produced a unique and

One

repeatable style.

wings

ordinate

showing how
out on

its

is

mu

of the two sub^

seen

on

the

the great building

is

right,

spread

IS

arches, obelisks, pyramids,

Mausoleum,

all

serve to

avenues and devised

is

not,

or even a house.

means

is

Castle

Howard

Greenwich -

is

to be, a

home,

Howard

theme, but whereas

a landscape

was

It

around

created

is

the

of rustication,

Blenheim the stroke of genius

windows

of the house within the landscape.

library's

Howard

monument.

house,

niches

at

and

military

giant coupled columns and alternating

and

hall at Castle

and was never meant

It

artificial

interior.

development of the Castle

at

by

an

vistas that constitute

Baroque landscape. The entrance

Blenheim

articulation

and Hawksmoor's domed

emphasize the system of radiatmg

England's best Baroque

Camera,
Radclijfe
Oxford
2gj
(ij^^^i)), by James Gibbs. Clear

forecourt

approached through triumphal arches, while other

- with perhaps the dining^hall

plateau

The

the rustication of the wall between them.

emphasizes

monumental rotundity

the

at

of a plateau.

From

the south

it is

lay in the siting

It is set at

the very edge

seen across level sunlit

lawns; from the north, from the lake,

it

is

seen from

below, a dark, dramatic and broken silhouette against

the

The huge

sky.

pinnacles of the corner towers,

designed by Grinling Gibbons in the likeness of a

fleur/de/lys being

from

far

illusion

crushed by a ducal coronet, are seen

off in the park;

of a

other great

castle

add

to

the romantic

from the days of chivalry. Blenheim's

moment

terraced gardens

they

lies

in the stepping

from the long

down

of the

library front to the shores

of the lake.

Vanbrugh was
in the rusticated

to

achieve romantic

drama once more

mass of Seaton Delaval

(c.

1720-8) on

Northumberland moors,

the bleak

a strange

and ghostly

Baroque rum.

Vanbrugh depended much upon Hawksmoor

Hawksmoor

practicahties of building, but

right

was

own

Anne, Limehouse (1714-24),

George, Bloomsbury (1716-31) and Christ Church,

churches in
St

in his

some remarkable Baroque

the designer of

London -

for the

Spitalfields

St

(1714-29) amongthem.JamesGibbs (1682-

1754) Tiight have built more had he not been suspected

(rightly)

we owe

of both Catholicism and Jacobitism; even so

to

him

London (1722-

St Martinz-in/the/Fields,

6), the gracious

Fellows' Building

Cambridge (1724-49) and

Camera

at

King's College,

the magnificent rotundity of

Oxford (1739-49).
English Baroque, such as it was, had come

the Radcliffe

at

full circle.

The

next generation, as

may

be seen as a parallel to Continental Neo^Classicism,

we

shall see,

adopted a

style that

but which was largely a return to the ideals of Inigo

Jones, and, through him, to those o^ Palladio. In other
parts
last

of Europe, however, the Baroque

fantastic course to run.

Europe

the reaction against

it

style still

had

In Spain and in central

did not take place until the

middle of the eighteenth century, and we must therefore

include these years in this chapter, even

at the cost

of

disturbing the chronology.

To the

northern

mind

this sort

of Baroque architecture

has often seemed immoral, both because

served a

it

2g8 Christ Church,

sensuality,

luxury and sensation, and also because

every artifice
sculpture,

and humility with every kind of

and fake

achieve

to

ends.

its

London

churches, this uses the voct

lary

late

of

Roman

architecture

central motif, for instance,

(the

comes from

Diocletian's Palace at Spalato), building

to

what

is in

essence a medieval spire

used

Painting,

music and architecture merged into

a single

riotous glory. If to inflame the

mind

then every trick in the Baroque

game was justified

is

it

Loru

pressive of Hawksmoor's highly original

up

religion of austerity

Spitalfields,

don ( iji^-2g). Perhaps the most im-

to increase faith,

... or

such was the conviction of southern Europe and southern

America

for

two

The Baroque
was

at

first

centuries.
oi^

the Austrian

comparatively

eighteenth century such

Empire

moderate.

men

as

or of Bavaria

By

the

early

Johann Lukas von

249

joi

(i'j2i-j),

Hildehrandt.
I:

Upper

Staircase in the

Vienna

From

this

Belvedere,

Lukas

by

light

von

and airy

entrance landing one flight leads down,

into

dark

the

garden^room ;

upwards
the

entrance of

in the light, to the

great

heavy

and deliberately

two other flights sweep

hall.

Note

the

exquisite

plasterwork

These Viennese palaces were the

charming buildings

Germany

or the

first

in the capitals of the petty states of

Holy Roman Empire,

mere confections of Ruritanian opera,

homes of
fantastic

a cultivated

aristocracy.

the

Z winger

by Matthaus Poppelmann, a
galleries

at

at their

worst

at their best the

Perhaps the most

of these summer palaces, with

and ballroom, was

many such

of

its

own

theatre

Dresden (171 1-22)

fairy palace

with

all its glass

looking in upon a courtyard.

jo2 The
22)
free

is

Zwinger at Dresden

festival architecture at

and gayest.

The

( lyi 1its

most

'Wallpavillon',

flanked by one^storeyed galleries, closer

one end of a large open courtyard;

almost as much
as to

to the

it

owes

sculptor Permoser

Matthaus Poppelmann,

the architect

--T^

^1

'^:

251

Fran9ois

Zimmer and
region of

he -

who

Cuvillies,

built

then (1734-9) the

Munich,

AmaHenburg,

Rococo. The colours become

yellow, blue

and pink) and

it

was

who was chiefly

German Baroque

transmuting

for

in the

of special importance since

is

French architect trained in Paris

responsible

Reichen

the

first

into

lighter (white, gold, pale

the decoration tends to dis^

solve into endless arabesque curves, the interplay of spaces

taking on an existence independent of the structure

behind them.

Outstanding

also are Balthasar

Neumann's

hall at Briihl (1740), his bishop's palace at

staircase

Wiirzburg

(1734) with a splendid ceiling by Tiepolo, and the

unique
joj Amalienhurg, Munich (ij^^-g),
by Francois Cuuillies.
The stucco
decoration - here, a detail from the
-

ceiling in the central saloon

is

as

ga)

as

in

its

Neumann

in

its

themes

Bruchsal, where

in 1730, of

experienced by anybody

walk up one of

undamaged by

arabesque curves

staircase

work,

war.'

growing

spatial rapture'.

however,

its

over by

who

The

has had the

Balthasar
the

lowest hall

and

written:

the enchanting sensation

two arms, when

lighter

is

work was taken

which Dr Pevsner has

'Words can hardly re^evoke

to

and carefree

stair at

lighter as

Neumann's

great

good fortune

it

is

still

existed

sombre, the

one ascends truly

pilgrimage

*a

immortal

church

of

Vierzehnheiligen (1743-62). While the peasant kneels

in adoration before the white

J04

Staircase at Bruchsal (begun lyji),

by Balthasar Neumann.

The

central

arch leads into a dark oval room; those on

either side contain the
staircase,

open

on

two arms of the

sides,
which

both

curve round the central oval and emerge

above

it

on

to a brightly lit

landing

wonderful manipulation of space, light

and volume

252

and gold and

coral of

jo^j

jo6

Vierzehnheili^en Pilgrimage

Church (1^4^-62). The plan reproduced with west at the top, so

be

more

easily related to the

idea

achieves

its

altars the architect

is

lost in

admiration

at

the

complexity of the structure and of the geometry: ovals

and octagons, interweaving

ing

arches, balconies

domes perform an incomprehensible

ballet;

is

it

and

float-'

architectural

an arabesque of structure overlaid with

flowers, putti, clouds

From Munich

and

the

the hosts of heaven.

two

Asam

brothers

(Cosmas

Damian, 1686-1739, and Egid Quirin, 1692-1750)

also visited

Rome. What

they

transmuted into an astonishing

in a circle

brothers

saw and
series

learnt there they

of churches, mainly

of towns and villages around Munich. Both

worked on

the abbey church at

Weltenburg

extraordinary ejects
into one another. It

huilt

up of intersecting

The

altar

is

placed

island, a highly

ceramic

can

view -gives

of how Neumann's master^'

some
piece

of spaces fowing

^3ar.'->t^S8e*=-

here

it

circles

and

ovals.

in the centre like

unusual stroke

is

an

The

c.iyzi.

altar

the reredos

sheet of blazing

is

flanked by pairs of twisted columns;

is

windows. Silhouetted against

St

George prances towards

dragon

are

this great

silver

and

at his horse's feet.

the

The

Rohr (1717-25), designed by Egid

at

Quirin Asam,

glow, a

us; the princess

dark gold shadows

abbey church

from hidden

light

even more dramatic.

is

which

soars

vault,

owes much

above the

Cornaro Chapel.

altar into the

to Bernini's St

The

reredos,

shadows of the high

Teresa Altar in the

develops Bernini's idea in an un^

It

inhibited manner: life-size figures of the Apostles stand

in

exclamatory postures around the empty sarcophagus

from which an

Virgin

ecstatic

is

ascending

Every one of these churches has

vaults

its

to

Heaven.

and domes

painted with tremendous verve - verve in the handling of

anatomy, perspective and movement,

as well as in the

sugary sweetness of the colour.

Among
mention
^oj Rohr Abbey Church ( ijij-2z^).
The hi^h altar, by E^id Quirin Asam,
is a tableau vivant of the Assumption
Virgin

the

angels,

the

soaring

amazement round
is

aloft

the

Baroque drama

by

empty tomb. This

111.

Neumann's

to Balthasar

Abbey, completed according

designs after his death, and the

pilgrimage church of Die Wies by

mann.

Domenikus Zimmer^

The abbeys of Ottobeuren (1744-67) and

Zwiefalten

(f.

Michael Fischer.

by Johann

1740-65), are both

1758;

Above

all,

there

is

that great essay in

abbey of Einsiedeln

spatial geometry, the

2^4)

Baroque churches one must

such

that of Neresheim

most explicit

at its

Cornaro Chapel,

(cp. the

upheld

Disciples starting back in

other

Caspar Moosbrugger, possibly second only

(r.

to

1720) by

Vierzehn^

heiligen or to the abbey library at St Gallen as the

crowning achievement of central European Baroque.

In Spain,

after the

pronounced

austerity

of the early

Renaissance, Baroque was adopted with a passion and

jo8

Einsiedeln

Abbey

Church,

Caspar Moosbru^er (begun

After a relatively narrow

by

lyiy).

choir, the

nave

opens out into vast octagon with a single,

complex
has at

central pier, far right,

its

base a

interior is covered

shrine.

which

The whole

by a fantastic garment

of decoration, swirling and ecstatic

violence that has caused

reason, to the
to the

Aztec

art

its

but even in Europe

to

be compared, not without

which was just becoming known

West. Certainly

Baroque reached

it

it

was

in

Mexico

that

Spanish

most bizarre and barbaric extremes,

its

effects

Toledo, in 1732, Narciso

were

startling

enough. In

Tome finished the Trasparente

in the cathedral - a fantastic reredos devised so that the

254

Sacrament, surrounded by columns, angels and prophets,

^lA
.'s-:^

ki

jog

Toledo

Trasparente,

Cathedral

( ijj2), by Narciso Tome. This

side facing the

is

the

ambulatory, carved with

figures oj angels, swirling clouds and (at

the top) the

displayed in

Last Supper. The Host

the

sculpted rays (cp.

must add

the

centre,
III.

yellow

is

surrounded by

2j^J. Ima^^ination

light shining from a

concealed source above the vault

jio

Sacristy

Granada
valo.

In

Charterhouse,

of the

i'/2j-64), by Luis de Are^

hysterical smothering

this

of

every surface with sharp zigzag forms,

ornament has defeated

parallel with

Aztec

drawn, though direct influence

To return,
!

finally, to Italy. It

had been

in

The

architecture.

art has often been

unlikely

is

Piedmont, in

Baroque had been most fully

- at least on Italian soil - as it

the hands of Guarini, that

explored and taken as

was

to go. It

far

was in Piedmont,

too, that the next great

Italian architect, Filippo Juvarra

(1678-1736), was

to

that chapter,

and the

beginning of the next. In both his churches

(e.g. the

provide the

last

Superga, outside
at

paragraph

Turm) and

to

his palaces (the Villa

Reale

Stupinigi) he used the elements of Baroque with a

coolness

and

clarity that

The pendulum,

look forward

Even

in

architectural projects of the 1730s

facade of St

Neo^Classicism.

was moving

in fact,

direction all over Europe.

to

swiftly in that

Rome

the

two major

and 1740s,

the

new

John Lateran and Sta Maria Maggiore,

formally in the Neo^Classical

the rest of the eighteenth

style. It

was

to

are

dominate

and the beginning of the

nineteenth centuries.

31

Superga,

fuvarra takes an

Turin

eclectic

collection

iji 7-3 1 )
of

elements and makes them into a com^

pletely original composition.

space church

is

set

into

convent quadrangle, and rises

almost as big as

itself

central^

one end of a
in a

design of walls and dome with St

III.

206). The wilfully large

independent

portico

convent

wings,

(cp.

24s)

III.

is

dome

(compare

the

Peter's,

almost

balanced by the

crowned with

towers

^57

Chapter Nine

THE RETURN TO CLASSICISM

To

explain the

of Neo/Classicism and

rise

in virtually identical

form

all

over Europe

its

adoption

would involve

a consideration of many factors at greater length than can

There was,

be attempted here.

the

firstly,

same

ideas

seemed

Napoleon's

Arc

Neo-classical Paris -a return

greater

and

dreamed.

possible.

But

setting

To

hold

its

swing towards

restraint

was not only

swing of the

own

to

Rome,

Rome
in

had

the vast

of the 'Etoile' bulk was every-

thing; the central arch

the

is

one of the most emphatic monuments of

but on a scale larger than

fact

Triomphe

de

(begun 1806), designed by Chalgrin,

that

Baroque had reached an impasse, where only

greater elaboration of the

^12

is

flanked not by

niches but by massive groups of sculpture

pendulum of taste; it corresponded with similar changes

in other areas - the development of rationalism in
philosophy and of regularity in music and poetry, with
the elevation of the
in literature

was

and with

and principles

rules

at

most

Greek and Latin

in all the arts. Classical architecture

once the most rational, the most

century

The

classical

Roman and

archaeology.

The

and

erudite works,

first

serious

of Rome, Athens,

ruins

Palmyra, Baalbek and other

in careful

the

mid-'Cighteenth

significantly also the period of the

is

models

the general tendency towards clear

clearly defined of all styles.

Split,

classics as

sites

were published

and exercised immense

influence. Closely linked with the aesthetic appeal

was

revive the architecture of Rome

was

one of ideology.

To

to revive the idea

Louis

XIV

of the

Roman

Empire. The reign of

ushered in an age of despotism, of which

Classicism became

to a large extent the

outward and

visible expression.

The

influence of Versailles

was widespread. All over

Europe, whether on a large or small

this

subordination of nature to

the palace garden.

As

art,

scale, this formality,

was

the inspiration of

far afield as the later

Hampton

259

'Jubtiffitttifflri i'UIJ lill JliElij p^

II. Jill.

iffillntTlUHi J.U !;ni IUUli[Ui!!!irHli!! lllllll

.<

'
'

11)

r w^ nijj^%fj
t

515 Nancy
stmction

in

iJS4>

designed urban spaces

were -

is

here seen at

square on the

Place de

"^'

^''"''^^

of con^

the formal linking of variously

la

rij^ht,

Carriere

the forecourt

en suite

its best.

as

the lon^ treeAined

of the palace

with

in

England, the Schonbrunn in Vienna, or

Williamsburg

we can

in Virginia,

detect the ghost of

it

The urban

in the centre,

Court

f!

and

Versailles.

In France

the 'grand

itself

manner'

evident in the city as in the great garden.

is

as

Apart from

Paris there are a

hundred French towns with

mite of grandeur

their

own

its

curved colonnades make a single entity

When we

look

the avenue, the place^ the hotel de

say,

at,

the Italian hill

town

ville.

or the

English market town - utterly charming though they

may

be -

we

appreciate the hallmark which, for better or

worse, France has

set

upon

towns of Europe.

the

Neo-'Classical town-planning subordinates the part

to the

whole

in a

way

that

Baroque planning did

not.

Instead of the series of dramatic surprises provided, for

instance, by seventeenth/century

progeny make a

its

single,

Rome,

coherent,

expected statement. Outside Paris the

exiled

and

de

off this

new
la

lies

street

the

street to

and

satisfying

and

finest

of Nancy.

King of Poland and Duke of

new north-south
the

portion

eighteenth/century

the

Versailles

example

is

Stanislas,

Lorraine, drove a

through the old town of Nancy,

little

planning complex which links

the palace: the Place Royale, the Place

Carriere and, at the culmination of the scheme, the

small palace and

originally a

its

forecourt.

The

Place Royale was

complete enclosure, the entrances being

ingeniously screened by a triumphal arch and large

260

Rococo

grilles, all

black and gold.

The

Place de

la

Carriere

an elongated rectangle, domestic in

is

down

with pleached limes

scheme

is

the

centre.

scale

and

The whole

highly classical and architectural, yet intimate.

Some of the

buildings themselves, however, must be

given their due. Jacques^Germain Soufflot (1713-80) a superb designer

in 1756.

been

It

was renamed

known

something

- designed the church of Ste^ Genevieve

Revolution, and has

after the

The dome owes

ever since as the Pantheon.

to

Wren;

it is

less

successful than St Paul's

in the handling of the colonnade

around the drum, the

columns appearmg too detached;

it is

the relationship of the

The dome

rises

body of the building

in after

thanks

St Paul's

lighting of the

dome.

windows, which were

is

better seen

from Ludgate

Pantheon

is

Hill.

beautiful

again to Quatremere de Quincy), as

pendentives and the arches;
great

to the

1791 by Quatremere de Quincy) and,

to the centralized plan,

dome of

successful in

high above a splendidly plain wall

(originally in fact pierced with

filled

more

it is

than

The

is

the

internal

and subdued (due

is

the design of the

a fitting

mausoleum

for

J14, 515 Pantheon, Paris

c.ijgz). The relationship of

Frenchmen.

The Revolution interrupted but did not fundamentally

change the architectural
Indeed with the

rise

ideals

of the

Age of Absolutism.

of Napoleon these values were

dome (based upon

2g4)

to the

with

the

extra

panache

given

them

by

Romanticism. Leaving out of account such fashions in

St Paul's,

body of the building

accentuated by

the plain

Neo-classical
reasserted

that of

in

(i7S5~
Souffiot's

its

is

wall

III.

superb,

- more

severity

than

Soufflot intended. Inside a series of domes

rests

on piers and columns, creating a

most

effective perspective

of arches

lit

only from above.

261

Court decor

Pompeian and

the

as

Egyptian -

the

ephemeral reflections of the Emperor's campaigns -

Napoleonic Pans

was taken

it

strove for highly

granted and was

for

should always be in the

but

finished

Gabriel's Place de

Deputes and

handsome
Again,

Part of the highly

classical

com^

position oj central Paris; the Madeleine,

Vi^non's
(top),

Roman

stands

Roy ale,
its

the

in

end oj the

iSoj

Rue

la

Concorde,

to the

of the

to the slight incline

the dull reality

Roman

imitation of a

Chambre des
Rue Royale, is
that

it is

a fairly

temple.

rhythms of the

the fact that the long arcaded

backcloth

Gardens,

more important than

far

is

which

London

that

is

to the 'carpet'

of the Tuileries

their actual archi/

We may note in

no more than adequate.

Carlton House Terrace (1827) bears

same relationship -

the

to

much

of a town/planning back/

that

Rue

cloth - to St James's Park, as does the

de Rivoli to

closing the north axis ofthepre^

Revolutionary
with

at

temple he^un

relationship,

Louis^Philippe)

under

only

are primarily a

tecture

The

Rivoli (begun by Percier and Fontaine in 1802)

Rue de

ji6

de rigueur that these

classical style.

more important than

far

effects;

of the Madeleine (begun by Vignon in

for instance,

1807

Romantic

Place de

la

Concorde

the Tuileries Gardens.

The Arc de Triomphe

colonnaded frontages by Gabriel

the other hand,

all

(by Chalgrin, begun 1806) on

a splendid

is

monument -

the greatest of

triumphal arches - betrayed by the inadequacy of its

setting.

True,

Napoleon's

it

is

Paris

part of the
in

that

it

Romantic Classicism of

manage

does

really

dominate the long axis of the Champs^Elysees, and

it

makes

gloire

however - the

almost credible.

Etoile

Its

immediate

consists o( so

many

to

that

setting,

radiating

avenues that no continuity of the circumambient facades,

no enclosure of space,
Elsewhere

in

is

possible.

Europe,

had

Classicism

been

the

accepted embodiment of the ideals of autocracy. Frederick

the Great's palace of Sans^Souci at
still

retains

many of the

Potsdam (1745-7)

light-hearted features of Rococo,

but the Neues Palais, built towards the end of his reign,

and

the

Brandenburg Gate

monumentally
262

rather

supreme autocracy,

than

at

Berlin

charm.

classical severity

In

both aim
Russia,

at

the

was tempered by

ji/

-R-Wf de Kivoli, Paris,

by Percier

and Fontaine (hegun 1802).

some and uniform

the

street,

hand-^

arcaded

shops heing as junctional as they are

elegant; all the
is

more

effective because

seen across the Tuileries

excellent

example of the one-sided

^18 Carlton House

(

it

Gardens - an

Terrace,

street

London

182]-^^). The culmination of Nash's

plan (see p. 26g), these two stuccoed

white ranges oj houses

are, like the

Rue

de Kivoli, a magnificent backcloth to a

park.

change

The podium, made

in

ground

necessary by a

level,

has

Doric

columns of cast iron

the personal tastes of successive tsars

the

and

tsarinas. Peter

Great had founded St Petersburg in 1700

deliberately austere capital,

entirely

as

planned and built almost

by foreigners from or under the influence of

France. His daughter Elizabeth turned to

Bartolommeo

Rastrelli built for her the

show/pieces of the Rococo

spirit

two

Italy,
last

and
great

- the Winter Palace and

^ig Brandenburg Gate, Berlin ( i'/8g),
by K. G. Langhans. A colonnaded gate^
way rather than a triumphal arch, based
on the Athenian Propylaea

(111.

26)

263

Tsarskoe Seloe. Under Catherine Classicism became

accepted

the

Italians

style,

Quarenghi), Scots

(e.g.

(Cameron) and Russians (Rossi) uniting

an
a
i

'international'

unique

in Mil

power and

court to approach

Bourbon kings

The

prosperity.

was

it

built their

It

Theatre

Rossi

Leningrad,

Street,

(i82j-^2).

Flanking

lead

to

the

bination of white
characteristic

theatre.

blocks

The conu

and coloured stucco

pre/

where the

that of Naples,

enormous palace of Caserta,

and surpasses

it

in

and 1774.
monotony.

by

with twin giant columns on an arcaded

plinth

rivals Versailles in scale

the

only southern

designed by Luigi Vanvitelli, between 175

520

produce

makes Leningrad

still

Such an achievement was

city.

rogative of

blend that

to

It is

something of a

turn from such vast and

relief to

forbidding exercises

to

the

less

ambitious but more

relaxed environments being created in England. English

is

informality

of Leningrad

may

social structure,

be attributed partly to the political and

with

nobility

and middle

English

domestic

its

class,

equal balance of monarchy,

and

tradition

partly to the vitality of the

building.

in

vernacular of village and farm

still

The good

went on almost un/

find a

number of men who were

real, if provincial, architects,

designing in the classical

changed, but

tradition.

we now

Such men were Henry

1683 designed the

Customs House

the Bastard Brothers of Blandford

fire,

or,

rebuilt that

above

all,

the

Bell of

little

Lynn who

in

Lynn,

or

in King's

who,

after a disastrous

Dorset town in robust Georgian;

Woods,

father

and

son, of Bath. In the

spa and pleasure city of Bath, between 1727 and 1780,

the

Woods

English
Air view of the section of Bath
planned by the Woods, father and son,

32 i

lyzj-So. The scheme

Queen Square (bottom
filed); from

it

Gay

with

right,

tree^

Street leads up to
turn linked with

the

Royal Circus,

the

Royal Crescent (top

264

began

in

left)

did two things.

'terrace'

First,

they developed the

house, prototype of

streets

and

squares

in Britain

century.

New

and

England

Queen

Second, in

T?

for

,nhni]i|itl3l8ill3illl1fil

more than another

Square,

Circus and the Royal Crescent, the

Gay

the

Street,

j22 Royal

Crescent, Bath

Wood

by John

the

of the hemicycle

Woods

created a

landscape

to the

ijb^-j^),

Younger. The sweep

entirely open to the

south

makes

this

one

progression of harmonious but contrasted urban spaces

of the most magnificent pieces of urban

which,

domesticity anywhere.

as a piece

The whole

of town-planning, belong

to history.

order,

relationship of architect^patron^-builder,
it

however, was rapidly changing. With the

and

elegance, purity

coming more than

artisan builders.

new

correctness, architecture

stress

was

The

use of a giant

running through two storeys, gives

a scale appropriate to the open setting

on
be^-

ever a matter for scholars rather than

This

fact lies

behind the next important

development in English architecture, and England's

chief contribution to

movement.
their

Its

Neo^'Classicism, the Palladian

chief exponents

the 'Palladians'

- were William Kent

successors

(i 68 5-1 748),

Lord Burlington (1694-175 3), Colen Campbell

William

1729),

Adam

and

(d.

Chambers (1723-96) and Robert

(1728-92), the

last

being a link with the pure

Romanticism, Classic and Gothic, which would take

us into the nineteenth century.

Lord Burlington, because he himself wielded

the

T/square, was said by Lord Chesterfield to have betrayed

the aristocratic principle. Burlington, however,
the only peer thus to

curious

status

demean

himself; the fact

of architecture.

It

was

in

was not

shows the
danger of

becoming a polite accomplishment with the Grand Tour

as little

more than sight^seeing. Chiswick House (c. 1 725),

Lord Burlington's

villa,

is

now

beautifully restored.

Symmetrically placed on a high platform, with elaborate

J2J

Chiswick

London

House,

(c.ijz^), designed by Lord Burlington

for

himself.

Rotonda

at

Based
Vicenza

upon
(III.

the

zzg),

Villa
this

tiny

hut completely symmetrical house

may

be regarded as the manifesto of the

English Palladians. Chimneys, required

by the climate, are disguised as obelisks

RETURN TO CLASSICISM

and

steps

portico,

simulates the Villa

Rotonda

north of latitude 51

it is

praised

but

is

at

in so far as

Vicenza;

as a

it

dweUing

an absurdity. The same man's

design for the Assembly

much

charm

has great

it

Rooms

in

York (173 1-2) is

ill/proportioned - the

fact

at

entablature virtually dividing the interior in two. William

Kent's great design

begun

in 1734.

for

Holkham

Hall in Norfolk was

Like Vanbrugh's houses

it

has far-flung

wings, corner towers and pavilions; each section of this

complex house

is

Palladian classical.

a self-contained essay in the purist

Holkham

is

an austere masterpiece.

many

of

somehow manages

to

Kent's Horse Guards Building (1750-8) has

the elements of Holkham but also

be the very epitome of the toy barracks - almost a piece of

Ruritania in the heart of London.

Burlington employed Colen Campbell

Burlington House in London. Campbell
for

large

his

book, Vitruvius

account of great

English

Britannicus,

houses,

is

remodel

to

best

known

which

including

is

several

designed by himself His almost cringing regard

Palladio

^24

Holkham Hall

fbe^^im

William Kent's noble attempt

ij^4),
to

sides,
sion in

man^

portico,

the

pavilions

partite 'Palladian'

each

is

The

pure Palladian Classical.

with

separate study

Strong horizontal

their

tri^

windows, the win^s -

lines

parate elements together

in

the

style.

hold these dis^

to

be seen

at

Mereworth

in

Kent

(c.

for

1722-5),

a completely symmetrical house with porticoes

design

a wide ^ spreading English country

IS

an

on

all

based - like Chiswick House - on the Villa

Rotonda.
If

Burlington and Campbell could sometimes be

much greater figure. He

had travelled in the East and among his minor works is
the decorative Chinese Pagoda in Kew Gardens. He
affected,

William Chambers

is

J 25 William Chambers's Somerset

House, London (begun ijj6), appears
in

this

igth^century

originally
rising

view as

it

was

the heavily rusticated podium

directly

from

the

given

long facade

is

columns and

pilasters,

Thames. The

variety

by giant

and great arched

openings in the rusticated ground storey

studied in Paris

and

Italy.

He

started to build

House, a large block of government

the
It

offices in

Somerset

1776; until

embankment ofthe Thames in the nineteenth century,

had one ofthe

a rusticated

great river frontages ofthe world, with

basement storey rising

straight out

of the

water.

Robert
both

Adam,

with

his

two

brothers,

London and Edinburgh.

had

offices in

In one sense he was a

forerunner of the nineteenth century in that he had a

large

professional

wealthy

He had
limits

clients.

studied

organization

Some
and

long

list

of

eight thousand drawings remain.

travelled far

beyond the normal

ofthe Grand Tour, making careful studies ofthe

Palace of Diocletian
as

with a

one can

treated the

at

Spalato.

see at, say,

He was a true

Palladian,

Kedleston or Osterley,

Vitruvian rules with

liberality.

He

yet

he

extracted
of Kedleston in Derby
(ij6i-^) shows Robert Adam
combining Palladianism with a new
archaeological approach. The sides are
Renaissance, the centre - with its
Pantheon^type dome - Roman, and

J26 The facade

-^

shire

more ornate than anything

the

earlier

Palladians would have accepted

267

RETURN TO CLASSICISM

the essence of a classical order or cornice but modified

own

to suit his

From France

purpose.

the matter of planning.

Versailles,

of rooms

series

was nothing new, but from

learnt to place adjoining

contrasted both in size

rooms

ments are almost wholly derived from

ancient

Rome

ceiling

and

columns (cp.
delicate

III.

stucco

also inspired

in

the

form

the se^^mental

exedra

gi),

in

screened

by

ornament

the

which

had

'grottesche'

Raphael

(III.

210)

to

English

from the

later

so that they should be

and shape -

Italian

Adam

the oval ante^room

From France

also,

much

Renaissance, he learnt

about arabesques and iht grottesche of the Vatican loggia.

Dalmatia, Syria and Greece were within

Italy,

knowledge, while from others

The

Baalbek.

lie

learnt

his

of Palmyra and

Chinoiserie and the Pompeian influenced

his decoration,

Robert

but

they are handled with a lightness that

gave a new elegance

as

in

en suite, as at

the French

leading to the great library, and so on.

J27 The Library in Kenwood House,

London ( ij6j~8) shows Adam in his
pre-eminent role as decorator. The ele--

much

he learnt

it

Adam

has a long

list

of great country houses

his credit.

By 1761 he was working

Yorkshire,

Croome Court

life

in Wiltshire,
It

as

is

Adam

for furniture, carpets,

It

As Beau Nash had

marble

all this

Adam

fireplaces

played his part.

inculcated good manners in the

fashionable society of Bath, and as Beau

make

should be

was an age conscious of a newly

discovered refinement. In

to

in

Bowood

in Worcestershire,

superior decorator that

plaster ceilings.

shortly

Harewood

and at Osterley and Kenwood near London.

remembered and

at

to

Brummel was

fashionable,

cleanliness

so

Adam

brought refinement into the furnishing of the house.

Without

his

magic touch the

ordinarily insipid,
clientele

who

style'

but he worked

were almost the

about

classical elegance.

'good

taste' in

great

'Adam
last

for

can be extra/

an

aristocratic

generation to care

The swan song of this kind of

England was

to

be the Regency, and the

achievement of the Regency was

to lie

in the sphere of individual buildings as in a

not so

much

new concept

of urban existence.

While Napoleon's
Paris into a city

architects

were trying

to

transform

worthy of a Caesar, London was being

transformed from a rather provincial and northern

another

was

city

Copenhagen or Oslo - into a great capital. There

not,

and never could

be,

anything in

London of the

of the French or of the grand scale of

classical expertise

Paris,

but in

middle

way - that of a

its

class

made

it

cultured and comfortable

The

contribution.

its

Prince

Regent, as extravagant as he was eccentric, discovered

John Nash (1752-18 3 5), an

architect as ingenious as he

was

plausible. Nash's achievement, in the last analysis,

was

that of a

town^planner rather than of an

Between 18 12 and 1827 he

parks,

laid out a great

He

James's Park in the south.

cosmopolitan

into a

complex of

squares and churches across the

streets, terraces,

West End of London, from Regent's Park

to St

architect.

shifting

city,

thus
its

in the north

made London

centre of gravity

from the old maze of alleys and lanes of the City or Soho,
to

more fashionable

the

His

Mayfair.
'terraces'

scheme

districts

consisted

finely

new 'Royal
Regent

mainly

- rows of 'genteel' and even

- around Regent's Park,

Adam's

of St James's and
ten

aristocratic houses

the incorporation of Robert

proportioned Portland Place, an entirely

consisting of

Mile'

Street (rebuilt at the

Piccadilly

of the

Circus,

Upper and Lower

beginning of this century),

Waterloo Place, Carlton House

Terrace and St James's Park, as well as numerous side

streets

and subsidiary

areas. In this large area

Nash was

few of the buildings. The

architect for all but a very

of these, not designed by Nash himself,

is

best

probably the

Athenaeum Club,

built

The

of Nash's scheme lay in the planting

greatest merit

by Decimus Burton in

827-30.

of the parks. Informal glades, sloping swards and rich

foliage patterns, in
It

was through

painted

stucco

both parks, embraced a winding lake.

this foliage that

one glimpsed the whiter

Neo^Greek

o( the

houses.

Stucco,

J28 John Nash's plan

(1812-2'/)- marked
Regent's Park
to be laid

although used primarily

so as to give the fine,

so

much more Greek

- as can
is

flat,

still

an economy, was exploited

elegant detail

than

which

Roman. Nash's

is

somehow

architecture

be seen in the terraces along Regent's Park -

gay, versatile

and

seen in old prints

straights

as

careless.
oi^

His

Regent

and curves were

street

Street

carefully

therefore

to

linking

St James's Park, had

across the existing town. It

more irregular

or Bath. Also, the

turesque

London

for

in black

explains

informality in

the

than, say,

new

cult

quite

is

Nancy

of the Pic^
deliberate

design of the parks

themselves and the terraces

design - as can be

- was good;

the

demarcated by such

269

The Quadrant, Recent Street,

London ( i8ig-2o), by John Nash.
The County Fire Office on the ri^ht
closed the vista as one came up Lower

j2p

Re^^ent Street.

Colonnaded jootwalks,

whose columns would appear

ing perspective,

Regent Street

in

diminish^

emphasized the curve of

devices as corner turrets, while the original colonnaded

Quadrant linking Regent

was

as

good

as

with Piccadilly Circus

Street

anything of

kind in Europe. The

its

whole Nash scheme combined

a real classical elegance

with that highly Romantic quality that

born

when

formal architecture

is

is

so mysteriously

given an informal

itself

setting.

To compare

equivalent
sense

streets in

the Regent's Park terraces with the

Bath, of an earlier generation,

come

immediately the change that had

is

to

over

architecture.

At

this

century, a
itself felt:

point, the second decade of the nineteenth

new

aspect of architecture

America.

dynamism and
apparent until

The

later,

but

independent growth and

All colonial architecture,

defiance of custom

boldness

we must
assess
all

about

to

make

impact of American

full

technological

is

its

will

pause here

not

to trace

be
its

contribution.

over the world - even in

and climate -

bears the

stamp of the

colonizing power. This was true of Roman architecture

in Britain, of British architecture in India

America. Moreover, since the

270

America had

and North

eastern seaboard of North

a climate not too violently different

from

that

of England, and virtually no indigenous culture, for

centuries

its

architecture

was

returntoclassicism

a very precise reflection of

'

the

mother country. The main difference was

use of timber, in the

That

well as brick.

United

lively

is

would make

its

as

the Colonial architecture of the

firsts'

an

have

real

enterprising

and

early date,

The proud,

not surprising.

mind of

wide

form of clapboard, instead of or

States should, even at

distinction

or second^generation colonial

mark, in

his determination not to be a

squatter but, rather, to establish a civilization.

While

New

England was

first

colonized largely from

Puritan East Anglia, with an infusion of

Cambridge

Virginia and the South were colonized

intellectuals,

London merchants, and with an

Oxford outlook. The charm of New England lies in the
clean, simple integrity of the Puritan outlook, as we see it
with the wealth of

in

Concord, Salem, on Lexington Green,

or the older parts of Boston.

in the courtly

and

The charm of Virginia

Williamsburg and Richmond ...

a colonial's birthright.

The

capitals

state

background

England

transatlantic version of the aristocratic

The

lies

ancestral mansions, in the fine houses

along the James River, in the old

found no

Nantucket

in

that

new

ruthlessness of a

of

to a

was
land

direct expression in architecture.

earliest

houses in the United States that can be

called architecture

owe much of their

quality to a rather

naive combination of sincerity and ignorance.

They were

being built in Massachusetts before the middle of the

seventeenth century

- a few

surviving from before

at least

1640. These were heavily timbered structures such as

might have been

built in seventeenth-'century English

villages; they established the

planning
stack.

all

the

Within

rooms around

England

huge

a few years brickfields

and houses were being

A freak survival
Virginia,

New

is

to

tradition of

central

chimney/

had been opened

built of brick as well as timber.

be found in

where St Luke's

church, pure and simple.

is

Isle

of Wight County,

an 'English' Gothic
271

RETURN TO CLASSICISM

Through

the

eighty years ofthe eighteenth century

first

North American architecture case to the

Tidewater

states

- was

still

colonial; just as

Spain, Portugal and France had had their

America and

Deep South,

the

any

virtually limited in

on Latin

effect

New

and

so Virginia

England remained almost wholly 'Georgian'. Side by

modern

side with

architecture this tradition

still persists.

The use of wood may account for livelier colour schemes,

more slender columns

many

and

large

a Colonial house could be transplanted almost

unnoticed

The

in the porticoes, but by

to

any English market town or cathedral

which design and workmanship

extent to

close.

actually

were English must remain debatable. The plans

Harvard church were drawn

Williamsburg, Virginia,

Wren;

he

was

Williamsburg
Virginia in 1699.

It

in

popularly attributed to

are

may indeed have made

which was

for the college

England, and the

in

William and Mary College

original buildings of

Christopher

for a

a sketch

a royal foundation.

established

was simply but

a fine piece of town planning by

the

as

capital

of

beautifully laid out,

any standards.

A three/

quarter^mile axis linked the College with the Capitol;

the cross^axis

was

a tree^lined

Governor's House to

Mall with the main

but more dubiously, attributed

also,

Wren. The church

Mall terminating in the

steeple

marked

the junction ofthe

The modern

axis.

tourist,

however,

must beware; he must distinguish old from new, and

meticulous are the restorations that

this

is

not easy.

so

Much

of Williamsburg was destroyed by the British in 1781.

The College

is

the

most

intact

of all the buildings, and

the others were so carefully restored from

evidence, thirty years ago, that

we

much

deserves

as

it

was

greatest single
It

is

named

in

great days.

monument

It

ofthe Colonial

Williamsburg
its

fame

as the

era.

not until well into the eighteenth century that

architects begin to appear; they

taught amateurs.

272

its

see

documentary

were mainly

One ofthe first was'Richard

self/

Taliaferro

he built the beautiful Byrd house, Westover (c.1730).

jjo The Governor's House, Williams^

burg (lyo^,

rebuilt

ig^2):

'brick

box' of tall and narrow proportions, with

a high dormered roof crowned by a gallery

and cupola,

it

is

typical

of English
time

domestic

architecture

William

and Mary, but marked

appearance of

jji

the

of

this style in

America

Westover (c.ij^o), by Richard

Taliaferro,

American

was

ian

The

one

of

architects,

the

first

known

shows how 'George

the best architecture of Virginia.

brickwork, the sashes, the dormers

and the

big

chimney stacks are

all very

English, and of the highest quality.

the

of
the

plan

ning

Only

with the entrance hall run^

through from front

to

back

marked a new departure

a typical classical

lands.

This was only one of

Taliaferro, but

and

mansion of the Virginian tobacco

it is

in the fact that the fine

ironwork and carved

from England, although

fire/

at this

good craftsmen - plasterers,

cabinet-makers - must surely have been

many

joiners,

by

unique in the grouping of its masses,

places were imported

date

several splendid houses

reasonably

established locally.

The name of John

Ariss appears

when

he advertises

himself as a designer in the manner of Gibbs.

have built

Mount

He may

Airy, near Richmond, a house with

273

J52 Kin/s Chapel, Boston (iJ4(^

designed by Peter Harrison, under

^8)

the

influence

of Gihhs,

important as being

England

to

depart

from

the absolutely plain

this

the first

church
in

is

New

the tradition of

and austere meeting-^

house

outlying pavilions linked by curved corridors to the

central block

in fact the

Palladianism. Little

The

else

Palladian,

real

known

is

a fine

American

of Ariss.

however, was Peter Harrison

(1716-75) who, in 1749,

Newport, with

piece of true

first

Redwood

built the

Roman

Library,

Doric portico, and

same year began the King's Chapel

in the

in Boston, a

first

departure from the plain and severe Puritan meeting/

house, with the

first

of a whole

from Wren,

Hawksmoor

Chapel and

the

same

series

of steeples, derived

Both the King's

or Gibbs.

Christ Church,

architect's

Cambridge, Mass., have unusually

with

fine ceilings.

In spite of the

Colonial work, Harrison

real scholar

of

may

his generation.

at

graceful interiors

charm of

so

much

be described as the only

There can be no doubt,

however, about the scholarship of his successor.

Thomas

Jefferson (i 743-1 826)

achieved fame

as

Independence,

Washington,
oddly -

as

was

a Virginian.

one of the authors of the Declaration of

as

Secretary

of State

as a legislator, as a free-thinker

an

He

architect.

He

had

to

George

and -

profound

rather

faith in

Roman law and, by deduction, in Roman architecture.

He was a Palladian, not in the sense that he admired the
English

274

effete,

Palladians

whom,

in

fact,

he

despised

but in the real sense that he shared Palladio's

as

own

inspiration, that of

Rome. In

he built himself the

villa

1769, on a romantic

of Monticello which,

after

hill,

many

changes, emerged as a fine intellectual essay in austere

classicism.

When

Williamsburg
State Capitol.

home

to

Richmond,

He was

Roman Maison

in

much

sketch

of Virginia was

capital

the

Europe

classical

for the

this

designed the

the time

and

sent

by the genumely

Carree in Nimes, although his building

in

and more formal

University of Virginia

By

26).

at

influenced

was much more elaborate

more

Jefferson

moved from

its

in
at

however,

time,

general layout.
its

Even

plan was his design

Charlottesville (1817Jefferson

was

deeply

333 334 Thcfn}ts Jefferson's

for his own house, Monticello
>

immersed
ments

in affairs of state,

for the

and was making arrange^

building of a federal capital

renamed Washington.

at

Georgetown,

He

therefore enlisted the aid

of

to be referred to below.

name of Samuel Mclntyre (1757-18 11)

as a designer

is

now

who

demoli^'

Charles Bulfinch (1763-1844),

presided over the growth of Boston.

Between 1793 and 1800 he

built the Massachusetts State

ifei

81

^-26

by Latrobe), mark the

America of a new

The

Chiswick House

(III.

is,

j2^)

derived mainly

like

classicism,

self-conscious.

house

from

the designs

of Palladia. In the larger end block of

the university

foreground

went beyond secondary

to

the architect

more formal and

of

good houses and of the ambitious Salem Court House

with superimposed orders and a cupola -

out in

arrival in

In the immediate post-'Colonial period we find the

More famous

Vir^

the University of

inia at Charlottesville (below, carried

Benjamin Henry Latrobe -

shed.

ij6^), and for

designs

(above,

the

Pantheon for

the sides

Jefferson

sources, returning

inspiration.

Along

of the 'campus' are teachers'

houses and students' rooms

-vi!
tti^isi^'

mimn;aM
>^

^M

w^

-^

JJ5

dome and
due

in

in

the

the ^reat fights of steps.

To

the

centre,

fanked by jlat
wings - heavier
feature

mainly

lies

Thornton and Buljinch

is

Capitol

^^'^ ^^randcur of the

Washington, D.C.,

- and

with

i'jg2-i82'/)
its

pilastered

the

colonnade

walls.

The

versions of the central

dome

Thomas U. Walter,

are the

after

8^ i

House, somewhat inspired by Chambers's Somerset

House. The golden dome

is still

Hill. Bulfinch supervised the

Washington -

to other

landmark on Beacon

buildmg of the Capitol

men's designs

(see

in

below) - and

then returned to his vast Bostonian practice.

Meanwhile

in

Washington

L'Enfant

Pierre Charles

work of

had, under the spell of Versailles, planned the centre of

the splendid, if rather grandiose, city that

L'Enfant, however, was arrogant and

we know.

difficult;

he was

dismissed in 1792, and the designs of both the Capitol

itself

and of

hands.

The

the

White House were

hite

House was

desig ned-by ^n Irish man,

James Hoban. The Capitol,

competition,

entrusted to other

after

a rather

was designed by an English amateur,

William Thornton, and completed by Bulfinch

(The

dubious

resulting building

was

itself virtually

by the additions of Thomas U. Walter,

after

in 1827.

submerged
1851.)

Subsequent developments in American architecture

276

take their place in the continuing story of Europe

and

indeed of the world. Before proceeding to the age of

industrialism, beginning with Victoria

we must

Empire,
until

follow the classical tradition

briefly

merges with and

it

and the Second

finally

is

new

engulfed by the

currents.

The most
and

interesting architects of the late eighteenth

were those

early nineteenth centuries

who

tried to

evolve beyond the pedantry of archaeological correct^

ness

new kind of

towards a

Classicism, in

harmony and

virtues of proportion,

which

the

would be

restraint

preserved but the old vocabulary of ornament modified

or

abandoned. This

'abstract' style goes

architect as Etienne^Louis Boullee

executed works were

buildmgs conceived

(1728-99) whose

with a

Roman

cypresses.

The

mausoleum, ringed by

and

conceit

the

form

are

equally Neo-classical

bolder imagination -

geometrical forms, hemispheres,

ideas were taken

unexecuted designs that constitute

but what was built of his 'ideal

Paris tollhouses
his failure
harrieres

such an

up by

the

Claude^Nicolas Ledoux (17 3 6-1 806). Again

brilliant

his

a far

and cubes. His

cylinders

it is

as

to

conventional but whose

fairly

on paper show

projects

back

^^6 BouUee's design for a cenotaph to

Newton (c. 1 yS^) combines the ^lobe symbolizing Newton's discoveries -

(i.e.

city* at

his best

Chaux and

the Barriere de la Villette)

was not due

work,
his

show that

of practicality. In the

to lack

(1784-9) he used a massive and austere Doric

idiom, but his most original designs are purely

metrical,

such

as

his

project for an 'ideal'

geo-'

cemetery

(1806), where the central chapel was to be a huge sphere

lit

by a central

331 33^

'eye'.

Ledoux was regarded

admirers until

may

be

modern

as

an eccentric and had few

times.

drawn between

his

Some
Sir

however,

that of the

more

John Soane. Soane

(1753-1837) was suspicious and autocratic, in contrast

with the optimistic and extroverted Nash.
superb and original designer.
visiting

Rome, was appointed

England.

His

Grecian

In

1788

He was

also a

Soane,

after

architect to the

Romanticism

was

Bank
in

oi^

fact

extremely individualistic, as well as delicate and austere.

Walls flow smoothly

into vaults

- which

are themselves

Ledoux

s Barriere de

la

reduced to

their

simplest

and most massive. His

ideal

cemetery

elements are

parallels,

work and

successful English architect.

^"

Villette, Paris ( ij8g, above )j classical

(section below), as abstract as Boullee,

remained unbuilt.

usually of a

segmental curve - while arches seem

flat

barely to touch the supporting piers. Mouldings, except

for the occasional incised line, are

One may

say that whereas Robert

almost nonz-existent.

Adam

had exploited

plasterwork to achieve ornament, Soane exploited

achieve the smooth unbroken surface. In his
in Lincoln's

Inn Fields (now

to

house

museum), he devised

methods of using mirrors and of letting

several origmal

in daylight at

his

own

it

unexpected places. This, together with the

domes which he used over the various

Bank of England - specially the Consols

lightly constructed
offices

of the

Office of 1794 - suggest that Soane

in the

freedom given

would have

delighted

by modern pre^

to the designer

stressed concrete.

Soane founded no school, but

seen in several of the
339> 34^
parlour

Soarie: above, the breakfast

in his

house

in

London (181 2)

below, the Consols Office of the

Bank

England (lyg^). The arches

are se^^'

mental, not round.

a

fat Grecian

enters indirectly

mirrors.

piquantly

Above,

and gleams

Below,

the flat

contrasted

modelled caryatids

light

the

cupola

man

appointed

of United States

to the post

Surveyor of Public Buildings. Born in England, Latrobe

emigrated
Jefferson

to

on

America

in

He worked

1796.

with

the completion of the Virginia State Capitol

convex

surfaces

with

in the

in

of the next

of

The plasterwork has

delicacy.

first

sensitive architects

can be

Benjamin Henry Latrobe (1764-1820) was

generation.
the

more

his influence

are

fully

and then,

in 1798,

began the Bank of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, a piece of full^'blooded

Romantic

cism. In 1805 he began the cathedral

Maryland. The second design,

at

as built,

at

Classic

Baltimore in

owed much

to

the Paris Pantheon, and, with the segmental arches of

the interior, to Soane's

By

the

third

Bank of England.

decade of the century the clear/cut

geometry of a Ledoux or a Soane was gone. Here and

there, as in

Munich

or

Edinburgh,

in

an aura of scholar^

ship and philosophy, the flame was never quite extin^

guished. There was in Munich, for instance,

Klenze's

Glyptothek

across the square,

there

(1815-34)

begun

were the Athenian

in 1846.
essays

and

As

his

Leo von
Propylaea

late as the fifties

of Alexander

Thomson

Thomas Hamilton (1785Edinburgh. Thomson gave us his fine Free

(1817-75) in Glasgow and

1858) in

Churches, while Hamilton, in the Edinburgh High

34^ Catholic Cathedral, Baltimore

(180^-1 8). Latrohe's ^rand design is a
blend of European precedents

and perhaps

the plan,

perspective

the

arches, are derived

from

of

the

the Pantheon,

while the segmental arches and the treats

ment

of the

come from

pendentives

Soane

J42 Glyptothek, Munich (181^-^4).

Leo von Klenze was, like Schinkel, an
exponent of Romantic Classicism. This
with central

building,

and

Grecian portico

walls relieved by Renaissance

side

aedicules

perhaps too

the three parts

width

nearly equal in

- was

house the

Duke

collection

of antique sculpture

built

to

of Bavaria's magnificent

543 The Royal High School (begun

182^) is Thomas Hamilton's greatest
contribution

revival:

to

Edinburgh's

fine

Athenian

Hellenic
essay

in

massing, with colonnades and porticoes

raised on an extensive

Edinburgh from

podium,

its

own

it

surveys

'acropolis',

Calton Hill

j44 Merchants' Exchange,

(18^2-4), designed by
Revival

architect,

Philadelphia

the city's

Greek

William Strickland.

An elegant Corinthian

Order rounds

the

below a cupola reminiscent of the

Choragic Monument of Lysicrates at

corner,

Athens

279

RETURN TO CLASSICISM

School, gave us a Doric composition worthy of the

Greek intellectuaHsm of his

city.

What Hamilton was to

Edinburgh, William Strickland

(i

788-1 854) was

to

Philadelphia. There he followed Latrobe's lead, and

made
(the

his

name with

bank

in the

Branch Bank of the United

and an elegant

essay

the

in

form of a Doric temple

States,

Brighton.

of the

Nash's

(iSi^-2i), which
stucco

on cast iron,

Royal

Pavilion,

transformations
included domes of

turned a convene

tional house into a full-scale folly' fit

for the gaiety of the Regent and for a

seaside

town

8),

major work,

his last

Tennessee State Capitol (1845-9),

the

Corinthian order, the

Merchants' Exchange of 1832-4. In

jf^S
345 I Detail

designed in

Grecian

this

Age

purity has been lost in elaboration: the Victorian

was dawning.

The change was fundamental and

more

will be described

the features

common

fully in the next chapter.

to

and

all-'inclusive,

One

of

both periods, however, was

Romanticism and an account of

- not the

this

least

powerful agent in the formation of nineteenth/'century

taste

- may conveniently be included

many

elements that go to

'divine discontent' of the

here.

Among

make up Romanticism
artist,

is

the
the

the flight from reality to

something distant and strange. Whether amidst the

last

blowsy snobberies of the eighteenth century or the

first

onslaught

black

inevitable.

no

of industrialism,

All Classical architecture

Romantic than

less

that

kind of nostalgia

is

is

to

Gothic, in that

for antiquity, for the

and Rome. But now, with

it

flight

some

was

extent

represents a

world of Greece

Enlightenment, the

the

French Revolution and the Romantic Movement behind

them, men's nostalgia,

They had

their

dreams, were heightened.

to express their nostalgia,

the novel, painting or architecture.

qualities as proportion, scale,

necessary

- charm,

picturesque and, above

As

early as the

gentle

slopes

all,

Good

design - such

symmetry, harmony - was

no longer enough. Other, more

become

whether in poetry,

romantic qualities

had

novelty, light, escape, the

historical association.

middle of the eighteenth century, on the

of Hagley Park in Worcestershire, an

English nobleman had built two Tollies': one, a sham

Gothic

ruin,

was designed by Sanderson Miller

in 1748

the other, a Doric temple,

was designed

ten years later,

by James Stuart who, with Nicholas Revett, was

among

J46
house.

the

study the Athenian rums. Neither of these

to

first

had any

Tollies'

intrinsic merit;

both were redolent with

sentiment, straws in the wind. Hermits'

grottoes,

broken aqueducts, Gothic

d'Amour',

Trianon with

or Walpole's

Gothic mansion

Hill, or the Regent's

Pagoda

at

valid, but

dairies

o^ the

anglais'

'Jardin

'Hmdu'

Kew - all

Pavilion

at

existed for reasons

were certainly

literary or

Rococo

cells,

- even the

its

at

Strawberry

f begun

Hill,

Twickenham

J 48), Horace Walpole'sfamous

Revived for romantic reasons,

Gothic was yet scarcely understood. The

library, by

John Chute, shows

naive application of detail in

style to an otherwise

a kind

a rather
the

new

Georgian room -

of Gothic rococo

'Temple

Strawberry

Brighton, or the

which might be

romantic rather than

purely architectural.

In the Tolly' or the jeu

d'esprit,

when

the patron

both rich and eccentric - and eccentricity

was

itself was part

of the Romantic pattern - then Romantic qualities were

easy to

come

by. In the

more

serious architecture of great

public or metropolitan buildings there was necessarily

more tradition, more restraint. But Romanticism emerged

all

the same,

and

its

greatest

exponent (indeed

exponent of genius) was Karl Friedrich

Schinkel (1781-1841)

may

its

only

Schinkel.

perhaps be regarded

as

281

j4j,
ri^ht,

J48 Karl
the

(iSig-21) ;
Berlin

Friedrich

Schinkel:

Schauspielhaus,

Berlin

below, the Altes

Museum,

(1824-8)

Soane's 'opposite number' in

Germany -

a master both

of the Grecian phase of Romantic Classicism and of the

more

eclectic

phase which followed

highly architectonic, that

of stylistic

is

to say

it.

His approach was

he was - for

elements - a pure geometrician

all his

like

use

Ledoux.

He constantly subordinated such elements as the classical

orders to his overriding conception. His

was

the Berlin

first

large

work

Schauspielhaus (18 19-21) where the

complicated masses of an auditorium building detract

from the unity so

Ledoux

or a Soane.

8) in Berlin that

and

essential to the

his

It

was

work of a Schinkel,

in the Altes

Schinkel was able

Museum

to realize his

(1824genius

purism with one splendidly simple Ionic

colonnade running the

full

length of the facade - a

design comparable to Smirke's British

Museum

facade

designed

about the same time,

but

more superbly

detailed.

In

and

sculpture^halls

Schinkel

the

picture^'galleries

anticipated

the

lighting

and

arrangements of good modern museums.

the

display

Chapter Ten

THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

When

the

first

England by

factory^made brick was

taken across

old vernacular craft^'building of

train, the

Europe was doomed. For

architecture has

first

now

hundred and

years

fifty

been in the hands of

either the

speculative builder or of the professional architect

- the

draw upon any of the

styles

latter so

trained that he could

of history, but seeming never to

are

where

life is

world saw

so

lived.

many

religious, technical

During

know

that buildings

that century

portentous changes

and

a half the

- political,

social,

- that the actual function and purpose

of architecture also changed beyond recognition. During

that time aristocratic patronage vanished;

places like

Chicago, Essen and Manchester became huge

cities

overnight; most people began to live in slums; iron was

shown

to be

more

agonizing about
true,

efficient

style,

architect,

During

to

art to the engineer. It

who was on
the

first

The

architect,

seldom admitted these things were

and seldom responded

of life and

than stone.

the

them.

was

He

lost the battle

the engineer, not the

band-wagon of his

time.

quarter of the nineteenth century these

changes were working underground. That iron bridges,

macadam

roads, sewage disposal, street lighting, canal

systems, steamboats, cheap Irish labour, limited liability

companies and even universal franchise should

whole nature of

cities,

and

alter the

so also of architecture,

was

unthinkable. In the capitals of Europe, and across the

Atlantic,

professional

architects

building in the classical

lights,

building well.

style

were,

after

all,

still

and, according to their

283

^49

Pclci^ de Justice, Brussels f 1866-

8j). Poelaert's enormous, even mon^

strous, building

is

at least impressive

great piling up of the heaviest classical

elements.

But

this

very heavy^handedness

a sign of that 'collapse of taste' attri^

is

huted -

often

unjustly

to

the

i^th

century

fjo In the Opera House, Paris (begun

'i

862), Charles Gamier showed that a

large auditorium building of great

conu

plexity can, in fact, be given unity, and

that

of

it

can, moreover, be

a great

an integral part

town plan. The facade

free, festive

build-up

elements encrusted with sculpture,

minating

in

is

of Renaissance

Apollo with

cuh

his lyre atop

the curved roof of the auditorium

As

one moves towards the mid/century, into the

Empire and

Second

the

High

Victorian

style

of

England, the phrase 'collapse of taste' acquires meaning.

All over Europe one can

flair,

find architecture possessed of

vigour and originality. Architecture of refinement,

elegance or real beauty becomes ever more

point

IS

made by such obvious

The

rare.

mediocrities

as

S.

Francesco di Paola, Naples (1817), the Piazza Vittorio

Veneto

in

Turin (1852),

the

Opera House

in

Hanover

(1845-52), the extensions to the Louvre in Pans (1852

onwards), the Palais de Justice in Brussels (1866-83),

284

the

Opera House

list

could be multiplied

in

Cologne (1870-2), and

many

times.

so on.

The

i^i

G rand staircase of the Paris Opera

House:
richly

an

architecture

if heavily

of 'occasion,

decorated,

gleaming

with marble and gilt

Yet the nineteenth century had standards of

demanding

often very

we must

architecture

which

merits

make

to

look

own. The most

its

its

sense of

on

the Paris

was designed by Charles Garnier

It

(1825-98) and was begun

virtues

its

for those

sumptuous product of the Second Empire was

Opera House.

own,

to appreciate

as far as possible

strove

it

and

standards,

its

1862.

urbanism and

diamond^shaped

its

It

has

two

great

sense of occasion.
the point

where

three boulevards converge, presented difficulties.

There

Its

plan,

was

no

'back':

importance.

The

every

facade

solution

Ecole des Beaux/ Arts

at

site at

was

shows the
its

best

of architectural
tradition of the

and most

brilliant:

285

every axis

developed

is

part of the plan.

to give the

utmost value

The massing of the

to every

building gives

the

it

utmost value in the landscape of Paris. Internally the

great staircase, the rich marbles, the chandeliers, the long

down

vistas

create a setting for

This

is

one

and promenades,

foyers

facet

an occasion,

combme

all

to

moment.

for a particular

of the genius of France.

Side by side with that odd and, to

start

with, almost

wholly English phenomenon, the Gothic Revival,

number of English
until the

architects used the classical style

As

end of the century.

Romanticism faded and

made

elsewhere in Europe the

the architecture of antiquity

and of

serve the needs of officialdom

to

provincial magnates. Perhaps the

Romantic Classicism was

at

last

interpretation, in English terms,

Downing

Italian

High Renaissance -

windows well spaced on

the
(III.

manner of

214)

the

bridge (1807-20) by William Wilkins.

his

finished

but was intended

college'.

Even

classical

a plain wall in

Palazzo Farnese

much
such

better

as

it

stands

both more 'Grecian' and

than some of Wilkins' other large buildings

University College,

as

was never

It

be 'the ideal Grecian

to

it is

solid

Cam/

College,

the

of the

was

English essay in

55^ Reform Club, London (iS^j).

Charles Barry's design for one of
greater Pall Mall clubs shows

London

(1827) or the

National Gallery (1834-8).

Sir Charles Barry (i

795-1 860), more famous

as the

'Gothic' architect of the Houses of Parliament, designed

two buildings in the thirties which - at least in quality of

design - lie somewhere between the pure Romanticism
of the Soane epoch and the over^ornamented work of the
mid^century.
share,

To

this later

work Barry contributed

his

with several large houses for a vulgarized aristocracy.

Decimus

In 1829 and 1837, however, side by side with

Burton's Athenaeum, Barry built two clubs in Pall Mall,

London:

the Travellers'

and

the

palazzo with a glass roof over the

nonsense amidst the

London

Reform.
cortile

An

may

Italian

be great

fogs, but Barry's restrained

astylar facades - with the Reform Club reminiscent of

the Palazzo Farnese - are very fine pieces of work.

One

of Barry's contemporaries

show something of the

286

was C. R. Cockerell

who

scholarship of the

(i

788-1 863), a

could also

still

Augustan Age

sensitive

and

culti/

vated intellectual, far removed from the crude

The Taylorian

of his time.
IS

his

most

England

Institute in

Oxford

work, while

'intellectual'

realities

(i

handling complex

skill in

classical detail.

A building which, in
Ionic colonnade,

841-5)

Bank of

his

Liverpool (1845) shows his great

in

THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

still

its

enormous emphasis upon

presumably retained some

of the Hellenic ideal, was the British

designed by Robert Smirke

(i

the

scintilla

Museum.

It

was

780-1 867) and was under

construction for over twenty years, from 1823 to 1847.

The obvious comparison

Museum

is

in BerHn, but the vast

with

Schinkel's

London museum

big to have the unity of Schinkel's work.

but suffers

from column/'mania -

It is

Altes
is

too

impressive,

forty^eight gigantic

Ionic columns serving no purpose except to overawe the

common man and to darken the galleries within.

Another much columned building, but a very fine one,
is

St George's Hall in Liverpool, designed by

Elmes (1814-47)

in

1840.

Its

merit

lies

H. L.

partly in

its

way

the

impressive simplicity, but mainly perhaps in the

architect provided a big stepped stylobate or platform

J55

which would

4y),

England

is

raise his 'temple' clear

small island.

Napoleonic Wars

to the start

of its sloping

From

of the

site.

end of the
World War -

the

First

m
#

British

by

Museum, London (182^-

Robert

Smirke.

An

over^

whelmingly single-minded

exterior,

made

tremendously

by

sheer

impressive

scale of the Ionic colonnade

the

THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

almost exactly a hundred years - she was the richest and

most powerful country in the world,

complex, most romantic, most

most

the

also

and most

philistine

squalid. Three distinct and, indeed, antagonistic schools

of architectural thought existed side by

the survival of the classical tradition ; second

fervour of the Gothic Revival; third

work of

the engineers

Classicists
Styles'

and

little

Each upheld

was

the

the utilitarian

and

The

steel.

the 'Battle of the

anyone except the con/

own

his

was

glass

waged

interest to

which might be

reasons

iron,

the Gothicists

- of very

testants.

in

was

side. First

stylistic

literary,

convictions for

moral or even

aesthetic,

but were seldom architectural in the sense that architects

should use structure

needs of life. These two

to serve the

schools of professional architects agreed only that the

work of the
stations

engineers - the great viaducts

- was not architecture

and railway

at all.

This complicated situation was made more so by such

and

stark facts as the rapidity of technical invention

manufacturing processes, the consequent growth of the

great black cities, religious revivals

liberalism

and

and

sentimentality,

and philanthropy, bigotry and

the general

domination of bourgeois

laissez-faire,

taste.

A Gothic Revival in nineteenth/'century England was

almost

as inevitable as a

Roman

Revival in fourteenth/

century Florence.

The English Renaissance and Baroque

had always been,

if

class taste.

had

The

lived on,

Through

more than

a fashion,

no more than a

vernacular of village and market town

and Gothic

the centuries

itself

like a

tapestry or, perhaps,

more

'the brackish stream'

- one

like

had never quite

died.

golden thread in a dark

what Kenneth Clark

calls

finds these instances of Gothic

The Gothic tower of St Mary's, Warwick, was

1698 when Vanbrugh was already designing
Howard. Wren, Adam and Soane could all, if

survival.
built in

Castle

put

to

It,

turn out a pfiece of 'Gothick' while

virtually organized his office

288

and

Nash

with a Gothic 'department',

built himself a fine 'castle' in the Isle of Wight.

The

poets, even

more than

From

alive.

spirit

the architects,

on

Gothic

when Milton wrote oi^

and 'storied windows richly

Tennyson's

to

the

time

the

'studious cloisters pale'

dight',

had kept

Idylls of the

King^

it

was

354 St George's Hall, Liverpool

(1841-^ 4), by Harvey Lonsdale Elmes,
one of the finest Early Victorian
monuments. Much of its merit lies in the

is

advantage taken of a sloping

site to

build

up a great platform - podium, steps and

constant theme.

Horace Walpole had begun

stylobate

to 'gothicize'

- upon which

the

'temple'

is

Strawberry
then placed

1750, with fireplaces and bookcases

Hill as early as

copied meticulously from the tombs of Westminster or

Tewkesbury.

Wyatt

Fonthill in Wiltshire, in 1795, James

built a vast

gimcrack
filled

At

and gimcrack sham 'abbey'

eccentric,

for that

William Beckford. Fonthill was

with lovely things and, moreover, was picturesquely

massed - an advance on the idea that 'Gothick' was

merely a matter of pointing the arches.
century

many

lineage

the

nationalism 'castles'

aristocrats felt

the turn of the

such pride in

Gothic Revival
that they

By

were

is

all

their ancient

perhaps a facet of
building themselves

with moats and battlements. Robert

Adam's

Culzean (1777-90), Porden's Eaton Hall (1804-12),

Smirke's Eastnor

(c.

18 10-16), Wyatt's Ashridge (1808-

13), as well as the drastic restoration

of Windsor by

Sir Jeffry Wyatville, are all in this category.

In 1834 the greater part of the Palace of Westminster

- containing

the

old

Houses of Parliament - was

289

J55 i^ouses of
(1840-6^) the

London

Parliament,

Gothic skyline of
towers and pinnacles, combined with the
:

rich

very formal river facade, shows both the

Barry's mind between Gothic

conflict in

and Classical, and the importance of

Pugin as a Gothic collaborator

destroyed by
that

fire.

Gothic was

Houses of Parliament should be

Houses

suite

the

in

reflects the

ing:

it

is

House of Lords,

a four-square

igtlu century

room encrusted with medieval

290

again

dichotomy of the whole builds

detail

classically

the

in

who worked

new

Gothic or

Gothic

style.

as Italianate,

won the competition. His plan was brilliant

of Big Ben
in the

in the air

Elizabethan

Barry,

and

government.

symmetrical facade

Gallery

much
men

educated, but in Gothic colleges, decreed that the

for bi-cameral

of Parliament, part of the processional

so

Parhamentary Committee of

axial, logical, well^lit

j^6 The Royal

now

to the

efficient
It

had

a perfect

a long

Thames.

among them - were

in

as well

machine

and completely

A few towers - that

placed

at

odd

corners to

whole

give the

Gothic

a spurious

irregularity.

The

detail

- carving, thrones, pinnacles and vaults - has the

quintessence of the dead Middle Ages, while being also

was

Victorian. That detail

He knew
Pugin, a

it,

called to his aid the

and

fanatical creative genius.

fiery

away from

young A. W. N.

and

that resulted established

it

beyond Barry's powers.

quite

Gothic

the eccentrics

The building

as the national style,

and made

it

wy'mriiijmnM^^jti^ji^

official.

Houses of Parliament symbolize

If Barry's

took

the recog-'

nition of the Gothic Revival as the national

style,

the

work of Augustus Welby Pugin (1812-52) symbolizes

its recognition as the Christian style. While Pugin's
fanaticism

made him

a difficult

among

he did find

problem

for

most

clients,

the old Catholic families a few

wealthy patrons prepared to build Catholic churches.

It

was

said that

Pugin

'starved his roof to gild his altar'.

The body of the typical Pugin church, such as

Birmingham (1839)
like

or St Giles's,

It

reredos

and

in the

House

altar

Westminster.

that

forties,

We

841-6),

we

find the

find

and

rood screen,

in the

same magic touch

Lords Hbrary or the

oi^

(i

tends to be hard

chancel -

only in the

is

Cheadle

as

central lobby at

again in the lavish apartments

it

of Scarisbrick House (1837-52) or Alton Castle (1840).

The work
the

of William Butterfield (18 14-1900) carries

Gothic Revival

a stage further. Butterfield, a stern,

was

puritanical Anglican,

Church

clergy

medievalist at
structural

and
all.

He was
with

the

darling of the

an odd

yet, in

integrity,

sense,

altars.

was

less

He

intent

High

was hardly

concerned primarily with

his

belief that

the spirit o(

medieval craftsmanship should apply equally

and

to drains

accepted Gothic as a matter of course, but

upon

making Gothic

archaeological accuracy than

into

'modern'

style,

upon

using sound

construction and washable, durable materials such as

glazed bricks,
his ends.

in

All

The

Saints',

35^ Above:

Minton

tiles

and

inlaid marble, to achieve

bizarre but impressive result

Margaret

Street,

is

to be seen

London (1849-59) and

the rich screen of

St

Chad's, Birmingham ( i8^g), by Pugin.

Below: part oj the nave oj All

Margaret

most Gothic of the

mean.

St Chad's,

3S7>

Street,

by Butterfield

Saints',

London (iS^g-^g),

Keble College Chapel, Oxford (1873-6).

in

significant that

Butterfield

Sir

is

John Summerson's

entitled

It is

surely

on

excellent essay

'The Glory of Ugliness'.

George Gilbert Scott (181 1-78) shares with

Barry and Alfred Waterhouse the dubious honour of

being

many

among the first to have

contracts.

Scott's

large organized offices, with

Albert Memorial, begun in

1863, was the secular obverse of the Butterfield medal. In

It

he too was determined

to

make Gothic 'modern'. The

use of mosaic, marble, pink granite, gilded bronze

well as a hidden iron frame - are

aspects.

and

literal

make
J59 ^^^^rf Memorial, London
i86j). Prince Albert

sits in

it

and pathos,

excesses

as well as

representation of virtue

a complete

its

its

'modern'

iconography

and sentiment,

symbol of High Victorianism.

however, Scott's enormous building

for

as

St

also
It is,

Pancras

(he^iin

a Gothic

ij^ feet hi^h; below him

shrine

Its

some of

are

personifications of agriculture, commerce,

station (containing a hotel

London, of 1865,
its

epoch.

It

that

is

combines

and

the booking^'of^ices) in

the culminating masterpiece of

all

the qualities of the sixties

manufacture and engineering, and a frieze

ofgreat

artists.

Like Butterfeld, Gilbert

Scott used every decorative material he

could find, and every sort of

symbolic

carving.

This

is

literal

and

Scott's

The

St Pancras Station Hotel

relationship

trainshed behind

far left- was

up a ramp
behind

292

nil.

it

of the
fill.

Cabs

to the level

its

and

solid philistinism.

dous pinnacled skyline,

of ramps and

terraces,

of uninhibited design.

86^ ) was the supreme monument of the

Gothic Revival, pride of

display

Victorian

'association' art taken to its limit

j6o

stylistic

generation.

hotel

^64) -

to

the

visible

carried passengers

of the platforms

its

it is

With

its

emplacement upon
in

its

own

tremens
a plinth

right a great piece

When

the old

Houses of ParHament were burnt, a

number of miscellaneous

courts of law were also

The

was

ultimate consequence

Justice in the Strand.

won

this

building

George

commission

new Royal Courts o(

the

Edmund

poor acoustics.
finest interior

It

of the Victorian Age.

into a series of vignettes, as

that

fact

(1824-81)

its

The

gloom and

its

has a huge vaulted hall, perhaps the

lacking the verve of St Pancras -

of the

Street

in a competition in 1866.

disliked by lawyers for

is

lost.

it

Its

is

exterior

cleverly

- though

broken up

were, in honest recognition

long fa9ade cannot otherwise be

appreciated in a narrow

Alfred Waterhouse

street.

(i

830-1905) handled millions of

pounds' worth of work with a professional expertise that

makes him

the link between a romantic

Gothic Revival

Town

^61

and

the

commercialism of our

organize a plan and get

it

built.

own

Among

day.

He

his larger

could

com^

missions were Manchester Assize Court (1859), Eaton

Hall

(i 867),

the City

Manchester

Town Hall (i 869), in London

and Guilds College and

the Natural History

Museum, South Kensington (1873-81), while St Paul's

School, Hammersmith, and the Prudential Building,

(i86g):

Hall, Manchester

Alfred Waterhouse adapted the current

Gothic style

buildings

massive

Hall
day

to

with

^reat

require^

did not prevent

In the

it

civic

The

ingenuity.

Gothic skyline of the

- an extremely

^62

elaborate

the

of new commercial and

ments

being

efficient

Town
own

in its

building

Royal Courts of Justice,

London (designed 1866), G.E. Street

showed his genius for grouping and for
breaking up a long facade without loss of
unity.

The

streetAeuel arcade

ties

the

composition together

293

THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

Holborn (begun 1879)

are souvenirs of a fashion for

building in terracotta of a loathsome red

tint.

The mind of Victorian England was divided between

its ideals and its materialism. The attempt to reconcile
them -

Tennyson

read

to

exposed

age

the

schizophrenia

j6j The in terio r of the

(

Oxjo rd Museum

iS^^-g), by Deatie and Woodward,

demonstrates
jiict

in

of the a^e.

succinct

The

form

the con^

iron^and^glass roof

upon with

never meet.

to

Carlyle in the evening - has

most marked

pride

as

of hypocrisy.

charge

the

in architecture; the rail^

well

financial

as

satisfaction;

Gothic, was only High Art -

Nothing could

possibly desirable, never practicable.

dichotomy more

two

cases of

the

Oxford

clearly than the

two kinds of architecture

Victorians thought should

Its functionalism is mitigated

by wrou^ht^iron folia^^e on capitals and

the

St

Pancras

Museum.
medieval

This

new machinery were looked

'architecture'. Classical or

reveal this
which most

is

or

ways, docks, viaducts and

on the hrich^and^stone Gothic structure

hrin^^s toj^ether

hands during the day, and

to boss one's factory

London and

Hotel in

St Pancras towers

up from

- a

the street

pile screening the railway station.

At

great

the back,

spandrels

owards the trains, the facade

is

almost as ornate, but the

curve of the magnificent iron and glass roof, designed by

W.H. Barlow

two

years

ruthlessly across the

evidence that
a hotel

it

before the hotel,

cuts

Venetian windows. There

ever occurred to

anyone

quite

no

is

that a station

and

might be designed by one man.

Ruskin's Stones of Venice had been published in 1851.

The Oxford Museum

Gothic

directly

(Another

was

Palace' for the

Ruskin was

(185 5-9) was an essay in Venetian

inspired
P. B.

by

Ruskin's

Wight's

Academy

magic

'Doge's

extraordinary

of Design in

New

York.)

in fact consultant to the architects of the

Oxford Museum, Deane and Woodward. At

stage

prose.

a late

he discovered that in order to give good top^

lighting to the galleries a cast-'iron roof

was

to be used.

He instantly withdrew. The roof still serves, all its Gothic

cusps

and

foliations

beautifully

cast,

the

lighting

excellent.

The whole controversy about the

use of iron

the prehistory of modern architecture

head

in 1851

virtually

- was brought

to a

by the building of the Crystal Palace

house the Great Exhibition in

Hyde

to

Park, London.

j64 The

iron roof by

W.H.

Barlow

which spans the 24^ feet of St Pancras

Station in

London (1864)

is

one of the

finest engineering achievements of the igth

century.

Note how

girders dwarfs the

the ^reat curve of the

little

Gothic windows

of the hotel building, joined on

^j6<f

Crystal Palace

London

photograph

was made of

story has

been told

many

times. In essence

Park,

shows how, although

iron

retained a touch of

The

Hyde

contemporary

of Paxton's prefabricated

exhibition building
it

in

This

(18^1).

end

at the

sections,

still

it

Regency elegance

was

it

who had been

for the Duke of

simply that Joseph Paxton (1803-65),

building very

large

Devonshire, was

conservatories

now

able to solve the problem o[ an

even larger and equally well^lit exhibition building, a

third

of a mile long,

structure in iron
factories

and

and

by designing a prefabricated
glass;

finished in six

was

to

months.

It

this

remarkable achievement technically. In

be

made

was

its

made

clear

to all

but the most bigoted -

architecture were not incompatible.

the

same again.

most

marriage of

garden-party elegance and railway engineering

in

it

that iron

also

and

Nothing was quite

295

THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

It

and

was
its

very disturbing. Ruskin's antipathy to iron

all

implications was clear. The Stones of Venice had

opened with
from a
also

rat

a definition

of what 'separates architecture

hole or a railway station'. Viollet^le^Duc had

spoken of iron^roofed markets and

'only sheds'.

They had

to

stations as being

think again. Viollet^le^'Duc,

in his Entretiens of 1862-72, conceived the idea of a

complete iron^-framed building, and Ruskin thought

that 'there

might come a time when

architectural laws'.

Even

there

would be new

before the Crystal Palace, in

1843-50, Henri Labrouste in Paris used slender

cast

columns and vault of the Bibliotheque

Ste/

iron for the

Genevieve;

the

exterior

structure. In 1846, J.B.

is

conventional

Bunning designed

the

masonry

London

Coal Exchange (now destroyed) with magnificent and

j66 The

interior

of the Coal Exchange,

London (1846), shows f.B. Bunning

acceptance of cast iron, not only as a

structural convenience - allowing a vast

glass roof
the richest

296

but as a legitimate field for

ornament

ai

1 iWf
'.''

Ir?;

much ornamented ironwork In 1854 L.^A. Boileau,

shell.

at

again within a masonry

St^Eugene in

Paris, built

Paris

Bibliotheque

(184^-^0).

Ste^Genevieve,

in

Henri Labrouste

designed an elegant interior with slender

a large 'Gothic' church in iron,

repeated

his

and

in 1862 Labrouste

triumph with the readings-room of the

Bibliotheque Nationale - a delicate fantasy of thin iron

columns and

airy

columns and vault of iron - the

interior to he

first

governed by the aesthetic of

metal construction

domes, once again within masonry

shells.
It

who

was Gilbert

said that 'this

triumph

field for architectural

however, had

to

continent. Iron

be

development'. That development,

left

to

another generation and another

like the arch

matter of an occasional jeu

or the Eiffel

nature of

new

opens up a perfectly

- was one of the few

revolutions in the long story of architecture.

Museum

Scott, speaking of the Crystal Palace,

d'esprit

such

Tower. Iron and

buildmg and,

therefore,

was not a

as the

steel

of

It

real

Oxford

changed the

cities.

It

was,

however, not until the Chicago architects of the 1880s

and

890s that the breakthrough came to the

framed skyscrapers of urban America ...

age.

As

nineties,

Waterhouse's career came

first steel/

to

another

to a close in the

Louis Sullivan was also building large

office

297

THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

blocks in Chicago; and yet Waterhouse and Sullivan

belong

to different worlds.

Pans markets and

If the English railway station, the

architects

home

Palace brought

the Crystal

- bogged

down

to the

in 'style'

professional

the potentialities of

was only one consequence of

metallic architecture, that

the Great Exhibition. In the exhibits, as opposed to the

*Palace' housing them, civilization

misunderstanding

crass

production were
the

of the

blatant.

all

was against

It

of mass

processes

young William Morris (1834-96), and

all this

romantic

reaction

Revolution stood
in the

against

- technically and

for

the

had been
Industrial

socially

so

now,

second half of the century, the 'cash nexus' of

capitalism with

all

that

implied aroused once again

it

the divine discontent of the

the

that

all

that

his disciples,

reacted so violently. Just as the Gothic Revival

a

a nadir

ornament, gross sentimentality and

in design. Excessive

had reached

dream-world

of the

caused his

artist,

medieval

flight into

craftsman:

Pre^

Raphaelite paintings, Rossetti's sonnets, the Kelmscott

Press,

wonderful

of the English

garden

cities

but with

all

textiles,

oak

village, the

furniture, the 'discovery'

week-end

and country mansions

like

cottage, the

first

medieval farms -

the apparatus of luxurious house^parties.

The

English Arts and Crafts movement, from William

Morris

to

Lutyens, from 1850 to 1914, was a swan^song,

a nostalgic postscript to five

hundred

years of country/

house building.

When

William Morris came

revelled in

its

spires'.

Oxford

in 1853 he

His mind, sparked off

Exhibition, determined to lead

by the horrors of the

England back

an idealized Middle Ages,

through

to

85

seen

golden haze. In the event he succeeded only in

printing beautiful books

and

that very small minority

which had both money and

taste.

in

producing

textiles for

In 1859, however, he commissioned Philip

(1831-1915)
298

'dreaming

to

Heath

to

in Kent.

build

him

This house

the
is

Red House

now

at

Webb
Bexley

considered to be an

The

j68

Coalpitheath

Vicarage,

In

(184^1-^^).

spite

Butterfielcl's

of

elaborate and polychromatic churches, a

house such as this shows that he was far

ahead of

Webb

traditional

Like

house.

in his appreciation

and

medieval

planned from the

buildings,

inside out

of the

English

craftsmanlike

it

is

the irregular

exterior expresses the plan, rather than

dictating

j6ij

it

Philip

Webb's Red House

Bexley Heath (iS^g-61),

William Morris, shows
and

romantic

built

at

for

a picturesque

grouping

of roof and
chimneys around the focal point of a welU
head. There is practically no ornament or
stylistic

equally

detail;

what

there

is

comes

from Gothic and from the ijth

century

historical

landmark.

London,

as well as

At

many

a time

when

the

West End of

country houses, were

still

being

m debased Palladian stucco, Phihp Webb followed

the path explored m Butterfield's country vicarages, and
built

used brick,

tiles

and oak. The house had

isms - French and Gothic touches - but

was

its

a few
its

revival of the simple vernacular, the

and long ridge

lines

manner^

justification

tall

chimneys

of the old English farm or manor,

with a corresponding integrity of craftsmanship.

299

THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

Morris and

With

Webb

were on the verge of

a discovery.

emphasis upon basic form, sound material

their

and good craftsmanship they might have spotted

shapes and ornament were the

styHstic

Gothic
iron

architecture, just as they

was

was

the vernacular

fifty

that

and

beautiful. In the event they did neither,

the

for half a century.

theme of the Red House - not

Tunctionalism' - that was to assume so

the

part of

least

might have spotted

modern movement was postponed

It

that

its

many

forms in

years that followed. Architects such as

Norman

Shaw (1831-1912), C.F.A.Voysey (1857-1941) and

Sir Edwin Lutyens (i 869-1944) handled that theme
each in his own manner. These men - together with
many others - created a poetic, if not very momentous
phase of European architecture. Significantly

with most

fully

dealt

by Paul Sedille in L'Architecture moderne

and by Hermann Muthesius

en Atigleterre (1890),

Hans (1904-5). At

englische

is

it

least

it

received

in

Das

European

recognition.

Norman Shaw was successful and fashionable. He was

no modernist. The
570 Piccadilly Hotel, London
Norman Shaw's last major
which he^aue us a powerful cally

igo^)

work,

in

if stylistic

with

Northern

Renaissance

gables and William^ and'- Mary windows.

rusticated arches hold their

the street, while the

set

for

own

in

bedrooms are wisely

the literal stylism

came

to

it

was when he

and High Victorian pomp

something rather more charming, more

Even

so,

mixed- facade, combining Genoese

Baroque

The

abandoned

nearest he

books.

original.

he ran through the whole gamut of the history

At

Cragside, Northumberland, as early

as

1870,

he built a fantasia of gables and chimneystacks;

Bryanston in Dorset, in 1889, he produced a

maniac mansion

in

the

style

at

megaW

of the age of Wren,

back behind the Ionic colonnade

splendidly sited on a
prolific career,

Theatre

wooded

hill.

Towards

with public buildings such

(now demolished) and

the

end of a

as the

Gaiety

the Piccadilly Hotel

(1905), he gave us a kind of Genoese Baroque pastiche.

He was

the complete eclectic. His

work shows

versatility

rather than any very sincere architectural conviction.

Sir

Edwin

enterprises as

Lutyens, with such vast and somewhat arid

New

Delhi

become something of an

At

to his

name, was destined

'architect laureate' in

the turn of the century, however, he

to

England.

was building

for

Cra^side

J7^

pastiche.

- ^ahle

element
so on

Shaw

iSjo)

is

a fantastic

here uses every romantic

half^timber,

to create

what

is

muUion and

virtually the

English equivalent of a Rhine castle on

the

Northumberland moors

J 72 Bryanston, Blandford (i88g), a

startling shift in Shaw's style from
Cragside.
a

wooded

mood

is

The site is a dramatic one now mature. The general

hill,

pseudo^Queen Anne, with a

rather dubious clash in style between the

centre

and

the

wings.

chimneys are virtually a

the aesthetic rich a few drearri/'Hke country houses

wonderful

Munstead
at

gardens.

Among

Wood in Surrey

Sonning

in

the

set

more famous

(1896), the Deanery

brief

dream was

banded

trademark

in
are

Garden

Berkshire (1901) and Marshcourt

Hampshire (1901-4). This

The

Shaw

the

world

of Bernard Shaw's Heartbreak House: 'cultured leisured

Europe before
died, in

the

[first]

war'.

It all

died, as

it

should have

August 1914.
j 73 Deanery Garden, Sonning ( igoi),
one of the most serene of Lutyens's
earlier houses.

This

is

the architectural

fruit of Morris's revival of craftsmanship,

with

its

impeccably handled brickwork

and wooden window ^mullions, and also

the perfect marriage of house

and garden

301

THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

C.

F.

A. Voysey was

Butterfield a generation earlier, integrity

governed

all.

There was

his frank

richness

He

He was

with

austerity

about

his

no prophet of

shared Morris's respect for tradition, but

acceptance of the
nor

and

a delightful freshness

designs for textiles and furniture.

modernism.

As

in a different category.

that

fact

Gothic

neither

Gothic craftsmanship were any longer

obtainable gave a curiously functional flavour to his

gabled and mullioned houses such

Windermere (1898)
at

Chorley

Wood

woodwork,
mullions

all

in

bright

came

or, a

as

as

few years

Broadleys on Lake

later, his

own

house

Buckinghamshire. Plain painted

tiles,

unpolished oak, square^cut

something of a shock

while the Belgian designer Henry

Voysey's wallpapers that

*it

was

Van

in the nineties,

de Velde said of

as if Spring

had come

all

of a sudden'.

This curious

phase

of the vernacular revival

England - and Shaw, Lutyens and Voysey

few of those involved - had served only the

easily

are only a

rich.

other end of the social scale such architecture

was

least the

of the

first

Broadleys,

Lake

Windermere
best houses,

where the low^roojed cosiness oj English

domesticity

is

combined with an austerity

oj detail foreshadowing a more junctional

style

302

too

until

at

- such

as

systematic municipal attempt to

make architecture serve 'the people' came with

i8g8): one of Voysey's

all

Peabody Trust - under philanthropic

auspices, but the

the

Second World War. The Victorian Age had

seen the building of various tenement blocks

jj^

At

debased by the speculative builder into that sham

Tudor which dominated English suburbia

those

in

the found/

ingofthe

London County Council in

municipal housing and, close

good working/'class

flats

to the

and

designed by

However,

Parker.

belong

these

'garden

first

city'

Raymond Unwin and Barry

examples of how planning

another

to

the nineteenth century

Tate Gallery, some

became more important than

'housing'

houses

when some

- was founded by Ebenezer

in Hertfordshire

Howard and

896,

were built under the guidance

of W.R.Lethaby. In 1903 the

Letchworth

and

century

to

great

another

chapter.

This whole

story of

English domestic architecture in

the half^century that lay between

first

garden

city

is

compounded, on

Red House and

a curiously interesting interlude.

It

the

was

the one hand, of an almost dream^like

conception of the old manor-house and the belief of a

wealthy

class that that

and refashioned

kind of house could be resurrected

hand

comforts; on the other

a

Fabian and even

tecture as

socialist

later

we know

a philanthropic,

it

in the

world today.

America saw

architecture.

the exploration of

upon

a slight influence

nineteenth century in

growth of two trends in

was

was

determination to use archie

had more than

architecture as

there

there

an instrument of social welfare. Neither of

these concepts

The

not only the dream but their

to suit

On

the one

new forms and

the

hand

techniques

of building, led by the Chicago School; and on the

other there

was academicism,

McKim, Mead and

led

by such firms

as

White. Behind both there loomed

the giant figure of Henry

Hobson Richardson (183 8-86),

one of the outstanding geniuses of American architecture.

Trained

at the

source of

famous

Ecole des Beaux/ Arts in Paris - the main

American academicism - he

for the

'Romanesque

is

perhaps most

Revival' initiated

by

his

enthusiasm for the Romanesque of southern France; but

whereas few of the architects

who

joined

him

in the

'Revival' could dominate the style, Richardson emphatic^

ally

could. In 1872 he

Church, Boston,

won

the competition for Trinity

a fashionable

and prominent building

303

THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

made

that
his

Like

his reputation.

bold and

work,

it

shows

handling of rugged masonry (he

skillful

and

preferred granite),

all his best

his

powerful sense of composition.

His awareness of contemporary English developments

shown by
glass

the fact that Trinity

Church

is

contains stained

by William Morris's firm. Richardson designed a

number of buildings

in

original private houses

Store (see

below

use historical

Chicago, including two highly

and

p. 308).

knowledge

the Marshall Field

His genius
in a

It

was

brilliant architects

this

lay in his ability to

'modern' way, by stripping

a building of detail in favour of a

tional theme.

Wholesale

dominant composi^

that inspired the

two most

of the Chicago School, Sullivan and

Root: they found in Richardson an aesthetic

for the

modern movement.
Both

C.F.McKim

and Stanford White, of McKim,

Mead and White, were

trained in Richardson's office,

but their role might almost be regarded as that of *anti^

Stanford

pioneers'.

White,

who had worked

with

Richardson on Trinity Church, did go further than any

English

architect

historicism

in

of the

domestic

time

abandoning

towards

building:

there

can

be

no

precedent for such a design as the low, spreading,

enormous^roofed
The Great Hall of Pennsylvania
New York (n)o6--io), a
major work by the successful firm of

j^75

Station,

McKnn, Mead and White:

an

un^

abashed reproduction of the main hall of

the

Thermae of Caracalla

combined

however

railway station plan

304

with

(cp.

an

III.

40 J,

efficient

W. G. Low House

in

Rhode

Island

57^

(iSj^-

Trinity Church, Boston

jj), shows H.H. Richardson's ru^ed

style of masonry - here pink granite

trimmed with hrownstone - and also

ability

to

masses,

control

detached blocks building up

of the tower.

The

the
to the

inspiration

is

his

almost

climax
clearly

Romanesque

377 In the Boston Public Library

( 1 888~g2) McKim, Mead and White
like Barry in the Reform Club - offer
us a

most accomplished version of an

Italian facade

the range of deep arches

owes something
Malatestiano

As Norman Shaw was

(1887).

turned

*Queen

American

and

to

its

to

Alberti's

Tempio

igS)

doing in England,

McKim, Mead and White

Anne',

(III.

increasingly

to

equivalent,

'Colonial' architecture of the eighteenth century; gradu^

ally

they

formality

abandoned
and

the

picturesque

favour

in

deliberate imitation of the past.

of

Their

commissions included large clubs, the Pierpont Morgan

Library (built of solid marble), Pennsylvania Station as

we have seen,

- and

a reincarnation of the Baths of Caracalla

the Boston Public Library.

fashionable practice
architecture
for,

and

was to

effect

of

their

divert the stream of American

away from what

into the

The

the

Chicago School stood

'Academic Reaction'. In

this attitude

they belong firmly to the nineteenth century.

305

^'

l^

Chapter Eleven

THE MODERN MOVEMENT

So

far in this

book we have been

able to keep architecture

Now we

in fairly neat national categories.

have

to give

jy8
(

Marquette

Chicago

Building,

iSg4): Holahird and Roche,

at

an

early date, have here recognized that a

that up,

and describe developments

whole world.

the

national

style'

One may

that relate equally to

repudiate the term 'inter/

and climate may always

since character

prevent such a thing, but one must proclaim

architecture

as

Renaissance,

modern

England. Today any

new

planetary

any technical advance,

is

design,

is fully

proclaimed

though

by

law

in the
it

gridAike

had

to

be

covered by masonry

two

Florence, took nearly

centuries to establish itself truly in

idea,

frame

The

being part of a world culture.

after its birth in

new form of structure - steel - needs a

new form of architecture. The steel

knowledge

within a week.
It is

generally recognized that, if the prehistory of the

modern movement
tours de force as the

- with such unrepeated

Crystal Palace - it is to the United

lies

in Britain

one must turn

States that

for the

consistent exploitation of the

the

United

States,

it

was

new

first

and

large-scale

principles.

the architects of the

Within
Chicago

School - William Le Baron Jenney, William Hclabird

and Martin Roche, Daniel Burnham and John

Dankmar Adler and Louis

born Root,

Well/-

Sullivan -

who

in the space of some twenty years laid the foundations

modern commercial
the
ally

first

architecture. In

Chicago we

use of 'skyscraper construction', the

planned foundations

for

aesthetic

high buildings, the

programmes

find

first scientific/'

systematization of a type of high office block,

development of

oi^

first

and

to suit the

the

new

techniques.
Several

things

forcing-'ground of

contributed

to

modern urban

make Chicago
building.

One was

the
its

307

emergence

of the Middle West, the

as the capital

new

the Great Lakes, key to the

axis of

New York-San

north-south

Another

cultural

factor

was

Francisco, as opposed to the old

the great

let

in the person

New

of Boston

axis

imagination and power,

was

of

east-west commercial

Orleans.

of 187 1 which

fire

smoking ruins of Chicago wide open

was genius,

city

left

the

any architect of

to

alone genius. Finally, there

of Louis Sullivan. Sullivan

a great theoretician of architecture, as well as a great

He

architect.

demo^

believed that architecture must be

cratic; that architects are as

important

democracy

to a

as

politicians are. Buildings should serve emotional as well

as physical needs.

William L. Jenney's approach was

jjL)

different: a strict

Marshall Field Wholesale Store,

SSs-j), by H. H. Richard^

Chicago

son:

lesson

in

grandeur,

if not

in

technique

functionalist, he

and

efficiently,

was concerned with building cheaply

and providing

in his office blocks.

the most possible daylight

This led him

in 1883 (in the

Home

Insurance Building) to 'skyscraper construction': the

external cladding

bolted

'shelves'

carried entirely

is

to

by means of metal

metal

central

core.

Burnham, Holabird and Roche were

jSo
(

Auditorium

SSj-g),

by

lesson learned

Building,

Louis

Sullivan

tormm, a hotel and

in use

the

and expanded. This large

complex building contains

fully

Chicago

today

offices,

one time or another, but

office at

Roche who followed

Tacoma

it

his principles

Sullivan,

in Jenney's

all

was Holabird and

most

closely.

Their

Building of 1889 had a rivetted rather than

a vast audi^
all success^

bolted frame (thus speeding construction), and floated

on concrete
subsoil

grouting of concrete into unreliable

rafts;

was here done

for the

first

time.

Holabird and

Roche's masterpiece, the Marquette Building of 1893-4,

is

sixteen storeys high;

its

frame construction

is

expressed

by a grid^like elevation with large horizontal windows the

'Chicago window' with

sides.

fixed centre

This was a formula which the firm repeatedly

applied, reducing the wall area

Burnham and
carefully

Chicago

Root's

worked out

who saw
found

and movable

to

and simplifying

Montauk Block of 1882 was

meet the requirements of a

clearly that 'tall buildings will

hereafter,

to erect

and sooner

them'.

details.

Soon

or later a

client

pay well in

way

will be

the architects reached sixteen

storeys; the

Monadnock Building (1889-91) marked the

culmination of masonry construction, with load^bearing

brick walls six

Though higher
had been common^

thick at the base.

feet

buildings were possible -

elevators

place for hoisting goods since 1844 in England,

New

York,

and

in

it

was obvious

to be metal/framed.

Perhaps the

for passengers, since

would have

that they

1871 -

most striking building of the Chicago School made

full

aesthetic use of the metal frame: the Reliance Building,

designed

Root's death, was in fact lower than the

after

Monadnock

Building, but

display of manifestly non^

its

bearing walls looked forward to the curtain wall.

The

Louis Sullivan was not a

aesthetic inspiration of

H.H.Richardson's Mar^

glass^and/'iron building, but

shall

Field Wholesale Store of 1885-7.

rusticated

struction

and

which was

paraphrase

free

simplified

and

committed

firmly
so

soon

of an

and enlarged,

rose to seven storeys.

masonry con^

to the

Renaissance

covered an entire

What

boldly

is

be superseded by

to

Italian
it

It

steel.

palace,

city

block

impressed Sullivan was

j8i Reliance Buildin, Chicago ( i8go-

monumental composition,

its

the fact that a commercial

g/f),

building could have such dignity and

vitality.

Just

how

deeply Sullivan was impressed appears in the Auditorium

Building (1887-9): here

is

on

augmented

a two^storey plinth,

tower giving further

In

the Marshall Field Store

at

the

set

back by a

by

D.H.Burnham

astonishingly

modem

pktely recognized

and Co.

design,

An

which com^

the aesthetic implica^

tions

of cage construction: large win-'

dows

stretch between steel piers sheathed

in lioht terracotta

office space.

1890 Adler and Sullivan built the ten^storey

Wainwright Building
thirteen^'Storey

in St Louis,

Buffalo (the Chicago School and

spreading

east

bottom than

and

in

1894 ^^^

Guaranty - now Prudential - Building

and

at the

had been used

for

fact 'walls' at all.

west).

The

its

principles were

walls are no thicker

top; in the sense in

in

which

the

at the

word

thousands of years they were not in

On

impressive attempt to

the

make

and
masonry look what it is -

whole

the

there

is

a real

a veneer.

After breaking with Adler in 1895, Sullivan buik the

Carson

Pirie Scott Store in

Chicago, extended round

309

^J

lt\

icaaraHn

j82 Carson

Pirie Scott Store, Chica^^o

( i8gg-igo4).

few

years

later

than the Reliance Building, this work of

Sullivan's, in

its li^^ht,

broad fenestration,

is

regular frame and

more truly modern

than any other building of the Chicago

..i^j

School

the corner in

incredible for

time in the
accepts,

1903-4. By and large

its

date

The white

structure.

metal frame behind

building -

- could have been designed

and considered

last fifty years

and indeed

this

a success.

It

of

its

exploits, all the implications

emphasizes the

terracotta sheathing
it.

any

at

Sullivan designed this building

with Frank Lloyd Wright, an eager draughtsman of

elbow and

thirty, at his

One

thing

he created a
j8^, ^84 Opposite: above, 'L'lnnova^
tion' in Brussels (igoi), by
Victor

Horta;

below,

'La

Samaritaine'

in

Paris ( igo^), by Frantzfourdain. Iron

is

at the

same time structural and

tive,

holding

round

it

the

glass

and

at least links

new

drawing-board.

Sullivan with Europe: while

architecture, he also created a

new kind

of ornament. In realizing the potentialities of ductile

metal and convoluted or tense curves, he

and most sensual ornament of

the finest

ground

floor

made some of
his time.

The

of the Carson Pirie Scott Store, otherwise

decora^^

swirling

so austere,

There

Matthew
310

at the

glows with that ornament.

lay

the

link with

Digby Wyatt's

Europe.
traceried

As
iron

Paddington Station in London, of 1852,

far

back

girders

as
at

the idea already

existed that iron

might be not only

architectural, but

could also give

decoration.

structural or even

rise to its

own

kind of

We find the idea again in the Eiffel Tower in

1887, and in some of the big iron and glass department

such

stores,

Victor Horta's

as

'A

I'lnnovation'

and Frantz Jourdain's 'La Samaritaine'

Brussels (1901)

was indeed one of the

in Paris (1905). This

movement we call Art Nouveau.

that Sullivan existed at

two

aspects of the

We may say, therefore,

As

levels.

an architectural

innovator he was of the very greatest significance;

decorative

as

modern movement

part of the

rejected

it

as a

he contributed to an ephemeral fashion.

artist

Art Nouveau was

insofar

in

historical

models.

favourite

Its

ornamental motif, the swooning, sensuous double curve,

was found
flowing

in the natural forms of plants, the sea,

While

hair.

architecture could

all

and

too easily

degenerate into mere interior decoration,

it

was

equally free from historicism.

is

shown by the

work of

Its

diversity

at its best

the four greatest architects of the time: Louis

whom we

Sullivan,

Antoni Gaudi

in

have already seen, in America;

Spain; Victor Horta in Belgium, and

Charles Rennie Mackintosh in Scotland.

Gaudf

Antoni
religious

and by

(i

man, inspired

nature.

He

was

852-1926)
in his

work by

profoundly

the

Middle Ages

gradually abandoned historicism for

a 'biological' style, a

change apparent

the Sagrada Familia

church in Barcelona. Gaudi was

commissioned in

88

his early

in the transept of

work is still recognizably

Gothic, though unorthodox. By the time the tops of the

openwork
unique,

its

encrusted with

Batllo (1905-7)

is

fish.

hke the

balconies;

its

coloured ceramic.

faced with strange, bony

scaly roof changes colour

an iridescent
ripples

were reached in the 1920s, the forms are

surrealist,

The Casa
forms;

spires

from

left

to right like

The facade of the Casa Mila (1905-10)

sea,

and has curious

internal plan

irregular. Parabolic arches,

is

spiky, seaweedy

entirely free,

and highly

which appear as the doorways

of the Palau Giiell (1884-9), are

at the basis

of Gaudf 's

3^5

Crypt

Coloma

Santa

of

de

Cervello, the unfinished chapel of the

Coloma Guell

i8g8-igi<,). Gaudi

used a variety of materials

deliberately

supports
is

to

both

quality

rou^h

organic

and

to

create a

and inclined

avoid buttresses.

Surrealist

effect,

The

result

medieval

architecture

in

indeed,

though far removed from that envisaged

by Frank Lloyd Wright

structural innovations.

The

tiny chapel of the

Giiell has self^buttressing inclined

less

strings

and weights. Throughout

modern

walls,

his

life

Gaudi was

engineer^architect than a medieval master^

mason, working with

new

columns and

worked out by means of a complex model

their angles

with

Colonia

solutions

on

Victor Horta

the

(i

his builders

and improvising

ever^

site.

86 1

1947) exploited the aesthetic of

metal and glass construction even more than Sullivan.

Where Sullivan's iron was either functional or decorative,

Horta's was both he made an architecture from languid
;

curves, swirling lines

and undisciplined

motifs.

Velde, lecturing in 1894, had said that

possible to create an
protection': this

ornament

was

store in Brussels has

curves of the metal

the

it

Van

de

should be

'expressive ofjoy, lassitude,

aim of Horta. His 'Innovation'

been mentioned.

stair/rail

and of the

The

snake^-like

surface decoration

House (1892), and the curved surfaces of

fa9ade of the Solvay House (1895), both in Brussels,

in the Tassel

the

showed new ways

Umited
312

the

their

to use materials,

but their idiosyncrasy

long-term influence. Horta's masterpiece,

Maison du Peuple of 1896-9, was

the culmination of

this

metal and glass aesthetic: the entire facade of iron,

glass

and brick was

in curving motion, the iron

set

exposed and not hidden behind masonry

- by law -

Chicago. Inside

the exposed iron

yet

as

it

had been

auditorium

in the large

was given decorative curves

it

was not

time to be only functional.

Dieu!' were the words which the French

'Si j'etais

International

Modern

Robert Mallet^Stevens,

architect,

'And

placed over his door.

was asked. 'Then', he

you were God?' he

if

said,

should design

'I

like

Mackintosh.' Indeed in his best work Charles Rennie

Mackintosh
far

(i

The

behind.

especially

868-1928)
houses

Windyhill,

left

any form of Art Nouveau

he

and white, with

slender balusters enclosing the

contrast,

are

as

in

and

exteriors,

in the vernacular tradition.

and Germany.

home, but

it

is

in

and

by

It

first

As

Vienna

his influence

Glasgow

1897-9 and 1907-9. The

at the

He went

building stands, the School of Art.

stages,

Their

stairs.

Mackintosh was acclaimed

strong in Austria
at

gleaming

interiors

stencilled decoration,

Secessionist Exhibition of 1900,

heeded

Hill

plain as any of Voysey's; like him.

Mackintosh was steeped

a decorator

Glasgow,

Kilmacolm (1898) and

House, Helensburgh (1902), had

pastel colours

outside

built

was

largely un/

that his greatest

was
part

built in
is

two

a straight/

The

j86

unfinished

Sa^rada Familia

188^)

in

transept

and

less to its original

spiration until, in the

we see
the

As

Gaudi's greatest work.

is

church rose through the years

less

of the

Barcelona (hegun

it

the

owed

Gothic in^

openwork

the personal expression

spires,

ofperhaps

most extreme individualist

in

all

architecture

5 Sy Mais on du Peuple, Brussels (i8g6Victor Horta: Art Nouveau in

99),

league with
novation',
in iron

it

new

techniques.

Like 'L'ln^

showed what could

and glass

be done

forward piece of work, surprisingly so

windows

big studio

we must remember,

Paris

and dominate

are frankly expressed

the facade; the only touches of Art

not,

for the time: the

are a fantastic

the

little

Nouveau - and

Art Nouveau of Brussels

finials

removed from

the 'Scottish Baronial' houses.

became famous

library itself

for

its

gallery
screen

shows Mackintosh's use of a

to

create

spatial

ejjects;

the

highly original character of his ornament

appears

in the

windows

again the

is

it

running through

oriels

Willow Tea Rooms, Glasgow

(igo^-^). This view down from the

functionalism

several

than the

less

The

its

structure;

that dominate, giant

floors,

foreshadowing

German Expressionism

of

the twenties.

At

same time,

the

1908-9, Peter Behrens (1868-

in

1940) was building the Berlin Turbine Factory, the type

metal railings and plaster

of building which until then had been regarded

frieze

utilitarian,

windows

mere shed.

Now

are set in splendidly

concrete masonry - almost the

j8i)

the

complex handling of

space and the rich, dark angularity of

^88

on

The library wing of 1907-9 is even more striking,

railings.

outside

or

turret over the entrance, the

segmental curve of the door and the iron

far

then

Frank Lloyd Wright

built

the

the

purely

steel^framed

monumental masses of

last

concession to the his^

of the wall. Four years

torical prestige

big

as

earlier, in Buffalo,

open-plan Larkin Building at Buffalo,

N.Y.,

early in his career { ii)04). ^'^^

strong horizontal lines and plain brick"

work, so superbly used

in his later

work,

N.Y., Frank Lloyd Wright had

ing,

with a large central

built the

office, top/lit

Larkin Builds

and surrounded by

This building, with sheer walls of unrelieved

galleries.

are already there

brickwork, was externally impressive and even

Internally

it

Pevsner even

is

miracle of spatial unity;

calls

it

'ethereal'.

and the Larkin Building

ruthless.

Nikolaus

Both the Turbine Factory

clearly exploited the plain solid

wall as something powerful and emblematic of the

machine

age.

It

was done

some break with

accept

it.

In

masonry was

modern

and was such

a wholes

the stylistically adorned wall, that

fact,

to

so well,

however,

this

we

Egyptian weight of

be the very thing of which, ultimately,

structure

would

rid itself Lightness, a delicate

web of steel and glass, was already replacing the wall.

The structural cage was becoming the sign manual of a
new architecture. That was the next stage.
A triumphant demonstration of this new architecture

jgo Glasgow School of Art. Mackin^

tosh huilt the first section, on the

left, in

Art

has minor touches of

i8gj-i).

It

Nouveau

decoration,' hut its hig studio

windows

are frankly functional.

of igoj-^, on the

later section

makes

library's
in

The
right,

more dramatic use ofform

long iron^framed windows
:

plain stone tower up

from

the
set

the steep

street

^gi For
Factory

his
in

purely utilitarian Turbine

Berlin

(igo8-g)

Peter

Behrens created a great expression of

power. The sides consist only of iron and
glass,

while the corners are formed by

massive pylons of poured concrete below

a concrete 'pediment'

jp2 Fagus Factory, Alfeld (igii).

Where Behrens had emphasized the
corner, Gropius and Meyer abolished it,
showing that

steel

and glass could achieve

delicacy as well as strength

is

Fagus Factory

the

and Adolf Meyer

had

the

at

Alfeld, design by Walter Gropius

in 191

1.

This went a

Chicago engineers:

stage further

than

the floors are cantilevered

out slightly from the supporting columns, and the whole

structure
glass.

is

therefore set

The wall had

was seen

to

irrelevant.

back behind the plane of the

finally disappeared.

Massive masonry

be not only unnecessary but also aesthetically

At

each corner of the Fagus Factory glass

butts against glass.

Also

before the First

Gropius (188 3-1969) had written,

World War

in the

Werkbund

book of 191 3, of the 'majesty' of American dams

and silos - an almost shocking statement at that date.

year

THE MODERN MOVEMENT

It

was

atmosphere of post^

in 1919, in the hot^house

war Germany,

that

Gropius was allowed

Weimar Art School

thus founding the
architects

combine

to

the

with the School of Arts and Crafts,

Bauhaus.

first

and craftsmen.

It

Its

teachers were

artists,

symbolized in educational

form the technical actuality of modernism. Whereas

William Morris and

that

it

implied had been anathema,

machine was simply

against

his disciples the

Its

it.

a tool.

One must

potentialities

must

machine and
to

all

Gropius the

design for

be

to

not

it,

not

glorified,

minimized.
In 1925 the

Bauhaus - accused of 'degeneracy' and

'bolshevism' - was forced to leave

established at

Weimar;

it

Dessau, where Gropius built

remarkable complex of buildings.

was
for

it

re/

The Bauhaus was

never specifically a school of architecture, but architecture

was always

in the air, every craft

Bauhaus influence on

Walter Gropius. There

ig2^-6), by

are three

interconnecting blocks: in the

ground

left

main
back^

the school of design, in front of

the glass^ walled

workshops win^ and

it

it.

also

doomed, brought

to

an

end by Nazism. In 1937 Walter Gropius accepted the

Chair of Architecture
therefore,

indirectly

at

Harvard. The Bauhaus was,

responsible for the emancipation

o( American architectural education from bondage

to

to

the ri^ht, linked by the auditorium, a six"

storey hostel for the students

to

architecture has been incalculable.

The second Bauhaus was

^g^ Bauhaus, Dessau

subordinated

the

methods of the Ecole des Beaux^Arts, which had

stifled the

modernism

initiated

by Sullivan.

In

3^4

( igjo),
tional

steep

the

Midler House,

Adolf Loos married

Prague
his June--

and unornamented architecture

site.

The masses

to a

refect the different

parts of the open-plan house

new

In the thirties Gropius brought a

Europe

to

same way,

inspiration from

an architecturally flagging America. In the

Adolf Loos (1870-193 3)

from America bringing the gospel of

forty years earlier,

had returned

Sullivan and the Chicago School to a Vienna in the

grip of

Art Nouveau. There he found support

functionalist doctrine of

lucid architecture

that

which should above

House

all

Otto Wagner, and preached

unornamented

is

express

purpose. His Steiner

its

entirely plain rectangular forms,

and

was

It

for

built

of reinforced concrete.

plan:

its

like

differentiating

rooms by

by doors.

for

for the fact that

was

its
it

remarkable

also

Frank Lloyd Wright, Loos was

by the open plan,

fascinated

than

architecture,

Vienna, o^ 19 10, was remarkable

in

in the

In

by the possibility of

their shapes

work

his

perfection with the Miiller

these

House

at

and

levels rather

themes

reached

Prague (1930).

In America, one architect was the heir of the Chicago

School:

Louis Sullivan's

Wright. In

star

pupil,

Frank Lloyd

his earliest buildings heavy, round^'arched

doorways and ornament

a la

Sullivan appear. Wright

soon abandoned these in favour of the development of

open-plan, outward^looking houses with long horizontal

317

395>

39^ Frank Lloyd Wright:

zontal emphasis

Above,
in its

the

hori^

1^04 and ig4g.

Martin House at Bujjalo in

marriage of building

to landscape,

the essence of Wright's 'organic archie

Research Tower of
and
Son
at Racine; core^
S. C.fohnson

lecture'.

Below,

the

rows of windows and far/projecting

among

these 'Prairie

House

Chicago (1909).

in

enclosed, blocky tendency in Wright's early

work appears
Illinois,

Outstanding

Houses' are the Martin House in

Buffalo (1904) and the Robie

The more

eaves.

in

the

Unity Church

of 1906. Wright claimed that

Oak

at

was

it

Park,

the

first

and^ cantilever construction, used here for

the first time, allows

window and floor

unbroken bands of

monolithic reinforced concrete structure in the

true

world. This boxy

account of the

were

of

Wright

that enabled

it

in 19 16, did

it

two

great tours de

(The Imperial Hotel

in

have a concrete construction

earthquake of 1923;

to survive the great

has not saved

the factory for

material. Thirty years

its

built his

reinforced concrete.

Tokyo, begun

at

building, however, hardly took

possibilities

to pass before

force in

this

little

from the developers.) The

first

was

S.C.Johnson and Son Qohnson Wax)

Racine, Wisconsin (1936-9).

designed as a large, high hall

Larkin Building. Externally the

glass ceiling of the hall

is

The main
a

was

office

development of the

office

is

of brick, but the

supported by very slender

*Minoan' mushroom columns of concrete, of tremendous

grace and beauty.
date,

The second

was Falling Waters,

the

Run, Pennsylvania. Here

tour de force^

of the same

Kaufmann House

the

rooms

are

as

Bear

at
it

were

extended, by means of big cantilevered balconies or

decks, outwards over a waterfall.
lines

strong horizontal

of the balconies are contrasted with the more delicate

verticality

of the surrounding birch

poetic concept possible only in

Ten

The

years

later

cantilever even

Johnson

Wax

modern

This was a
construction.

Frank Lloyd Wright exploited

more daringly:
at

trees.

in the Research

Racine, each floor

is

the

Tower of

cantilevered out

391 Unity Church, Oak Park (i^o6),

has the wide eaves of Wright's 'Prairie
Houses',

combined with severe blocky

shapes of Egyptian monumentality The
.

entire building is

of concrete poured

in

moulds

3g8 This large open office for S.C.

Johnson and Son (Racine, igjS-p)
was one of Wright's early masterpieces.
The

beautifully

columns

slender

built in defiance

mushroom

of the general

would never stand support a most curiously contrived ceiling

opinion that they

ofglass tubes

3gg

Kaufmann

(1936).

House,

Bear

This probably came

of everything

Wright

'organic architecture'. It

built,

Run

nearest,
to

true

makes a full use

of concrete, but the broad cantilevered

balconies are there also as a foil to the
delicate tracery

of the birch forest

319

400, 401
for

Concrete ^aue new freedom

decoration

novation.

of Poelzi/s
Berlin

and for structural

in-'

Below part of the auditorium

:

Grosses Schauspielhaus,

(igig). Ri^ht:

the

Solomon

R. Gu^enheim Museum in New York,

designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in
ig4j

(built

ig^6-g),

powerful

single sculptural unit amidst a wilderness

of city blocks

from a central core - a principle

now commonly

used in

skyscraper building.

One of Frank Lloyd Wright's last works, the Solomon

R. Guggenheim Museum in New York (designed in
1943,

built

vitality

and

1956-9) demonstrates

originality.

It

his

unflaggmg

shows how reinforced concrete

could liberate the designer completely from the

building

ramp
suite.

is

It

is

no longer rectangular: a continuous

The

spiral

substituted for the orthodox picture galleries en

remains controversial, but externally the broad

masculine simplicity of the Guggenheim

the

past.

man who,

fifty

is

a tribute to

had buik the Unity

years before,

Church.
Frank Lloyd Wright's
that in speaking

the

whole

granted.
spite

story

That

of the

of

his later

embraces so long a span

works we have had

to take

of concrete in modern architecture

story

is

of the greatest importance,

fact that the

employ both

life

steel

same

architects could,

and concrete

for

for in

and

did,

either separately or in

combination, the two techniques tended

(if the special

opportunities of each were to be fully exploited) to lead

in different directions.

The

simply - that there are

One is the steel and

van der Rohe,

result

now

two

is

is

and the 'New Brutalism'.

to

put the position

modern

glass classicism

the other

architectures.

of Gropius and Mies

the heton brut of

Le Corbusier

The

principle that concrete can be a rigid curved slab

an arch - goes back

in the strict sense neither a lintel nor

to

1905

when

Maillart

bridges in Switzerland.

was building

Nouveau faded from

assumed

yet

Poelzig

remodelled

Berlin, in

of

the

full use

as the

these stalactites

of the

swooning

the scene, this freedom

Hans

Schauspielhaus

Grosses

The

were possible only in

in

Tower

re^

next year Erich Mendelsohn -

usually an architect of restraint

its

graceful

the audience sat beneath a fantastic roof

inforced concrete.

Observatory

first

another form: Expressionism. In 191 9

which

stalactites

his

Gaudi had made

freedom that concrete could bring, but

curves of Art

- designed

the Einstein

near Potsdam. This building, with

then fashionable streamlining, rounded corners,

etc.,

402

Observatory

Einstein

Neuhahelsherg

Tower,

(igig-21), by Erich

Mendelsohn propaganda/or new, mainly

:

ironically

became

popular symbol of modernism:

and economics

ironically, because in fact the technique

of reinforced concrete

Mendelsohn's

freely

at that

streamlined,

forms

in design rather

than

a technical achievement in itself

date could not cope with

sketched forms; the building was of

brick plastered over to look like concrete

During
Auguste

the twenties concrete

Ferret. In

Raincy, near Paris.

found an evangelist in

1922 he designed a church

He was

lantern churches, by such

at

Le

inspired by the medieval

Gothic

structures as the Sainte

Chapelle where the tracery windows occupy the whole

wall so that the worshipper

coloured casket.
achieve a similar

form

resting

is,

as

it

were, within a

At Le Raincv Perret used concrete to

effect. He built vaults of a flat segmental

on very slender columns -

a possibility only

405 Notre Dame, Le Raincy ( igzz),

by Auguste Perret, a 2oth^century
Sainte ^Chapelle

in concrete

111

m^m

404, 40^ Le Corhusier's ideal city, on

paper and in 'beton brut'. The 'Plan
Voisin' for Paris ( i()2^, detail above)

involved building high 'point blocks'

with every wing fully

liberate

the

lit

ground for

in

order to

trees,

grass,

schools and recreation.

At

intended the 'Unite' (

ig4j-^2, below)

be one of eight similar blocks rising

on

'pilotis'

among

trees

concrete grille
achieves

its

then built the 'walls' as a continuous

filled

with stained

The
the

The

building thus

new

work of Le Corbusier (1887-1965).

Corbusier,

virtually

proscribed

by

his

resorted to his pen. in Vers une Architecture

Adolf Loos,

at that

material.

imaginative use of concrete reaches

Radieuse he produced

glass.

'Gothic' objective through what was

date an advanced use of a

Marseilles he

to

He

in concrete.

its

climax in

In 1923

Le

colleagues,

and La

Ville

two powerful pieces of propaganda.

years before,

had

uttered his

famous dictum.

'the engineers are

our Hellenes'.

demonstrate the truth o^ this,

to

Adolf Loos had only dimly

was

It

for

Le Corbusier

to state implicitly

what
and

realized, that liners

typewriters were better designed than most architecture.

La

In

and other books he turned

Ville Radieuse

also to

town planning. His 'Plan Voisin' for Paris

(1925) was a brilliant fantasy - although it seems rather
less fantastic now than it did forty years ago - but it was
the art of

who saw

he

might be useful not only

that skyscrapers

New

because, as in

York, they exploited land values,

but because, widely spaced

among

trees

and

lakes, they

could give back the space they had saved, thus enabling
ordinary people to live with light,
a

tremendous

there are a

air

and

foliage.

It

was

now, although

idea, scarcely realized even

few housing projects in the world - such

as

London's Roehampton Estate of 1952-9 - where Le

Corbusier's theory has been the starting-'point of a plan.

Towards
might

the realization of his vision of

how men

Le Corbusier contributed

live in cities,

number

of 'Unites d'Habitation' - in Marseilles (1947-52),

Nantes (1952-7),

The

etc.

'Unite'

seventeen^storey building, with

roof'top creche

Marseilles

at

own shops,

its

and gymnasium.

It

look out either

to the

self-contained

and

restaurant,

storeys,

5^foot/high

Mediterranean or

has an ingenious

arrangement of duplex apartments, on two

double^height living rooms whose

is

to the

with

windows

mountains:
406

bare concrete

is

private villas in the

relieved

The whole

colour.

air.

Externally the

by a system of squares of primary

building

is

raised

on gargantuan

Roehampton

(ig^2-g),

County Council
ment,

is

Estate,

designed

hy

the

London
London

Architects' Depart^

a practical

and economic

inters

pretation of the 'Plan Voisin' and 'Ville

pylons or

pilotis; aesthetically

in the contrast between the rich textural fagade o(

lies

balconied
pilotis.
It

windows and

This indeed

was

is

Corbusier ranked
his

an

the primeval scale of these

artist

Radieuse' theory.

Tower blocks, mingled

with lower housing, standfar apart

in the

mature gardens of demolished villas

using concrete.

in the sculptural quality of his concrete, com^-

bined with a great

in

the essence of the design

later

sensitivity for

composition, that

as a master; this

Le

appears most clearly

buildings, such as the Monastery of

La

Tourette (1957-60) and the Carpenter Center for the

323

/foj In the
(

Law

Courts

at

ig^2-6) Le Corbusier used concrete

achieve a pattern of rich

forms. The design

tional, the

is

Kiinj

l8BvL.L

Chandigarh

! am

III

111' V-r

v,

to

textures and

also highly

func^

open grilles letting air into the

court^rooms

408 The pilgrimage church at Ronchamp

(ig^o-4) is the humblest and perhaps
the most moving of Le Corbusier's
buildings. The inters related curves of
eaves

and walls combine

sculptural unity.
('brut'),

the

The

to

concrete

create
is

rough

windows placed with

calculated irregularity

Visual Arts

Chandigarh

at

Harvard (1962). Note,

Law

for instance, at the

Courts, the contrast between the large,

smooth and well^shaped columns flankmg

and

the rich grille

which forms

the entrance,

the rest of the facade;

note the subtly contrasted curves of the walls of the litde

pilgrimage church
the broad

windows

concrete.

The

is

removed -

324

is

in

as

it

(1950-4)
eaves,

as against

and

the tiny

the broad white spaces of the

actual surface of

rough, just

aesthetic

Ronchamp

outward curve of the

irregular

is left

at

emerges

Le Corbusier's

when

concrete

the timber shuttering

a rather affected emphasis

on how an

born of a technique. This mannerism has

become commonplace.

now

That
Crete

free

does

and

can be created in con^

fantastic shapes

mean

not

such

that

shapes

always

are

appropriate. Concrete can indeed be used with

restraint

of

steel,

contrary

to

the

or stone. In

whole

Giuseppe Terragni

cultural

Casa

built the

one of the simplest,

1932-6,

clearest

same may

be said of the very

Stockholm Crematorium,

architectural

designed by

Gunnar Asplund

The combination of bold

Expressionist shapes

made

Rohe

moving but

in

its

the

of Fascism -

del Fascio

imaginable, worthy of Mies van der

all

for instance

ethos

Como,

statements

in steel.

very

The

subdued

splendid landscape,
193

5-

40^

engineering

possible

with

the

by concrete has

produced some of the most exciting buildings of the

modern movement.
prefers

to

call

Pier

THE MODERN MOVEMENT

Luigi

Nervi

himself an engineer.

(born

The

Casa

Fascio,

del

Como

( igj2-6), hy Giuseppe Terragni, not

only defies the

Mussolini

pompous

regime;

it

stylism of the

also

defies

the

plastic qualities of concrete in favour of an

1891)

His stadmm

at

absolutely

pure

geometric

equally appropriate in steel

statement,

410,

Pier Lui^i Nervi :

J 7

lecture

horn of pure structure.

rij^ht,

the

Florence

Communal

(ig-^o- 2);

archie

Below

Stadium

rij^ht,

the

at
'rib^

vaulted' hangar at Orhetello f ig^Sj

412

In the church of the Miraculous

Virgin,

Mexico City

ig^^j, Candela

used concrete shell vaults of hyperbolic

paraboloid form, visually Expressionist
hut structurally logical:
buttressing (cp.

III.

they are self^

^8^J, and need only

straight shutterinj^

Morence O930; has

a scissor^likc structure

and

a roof

cantilevered 50 feet out over the seating. His hangar at

Orbetello (1938^

while the

first

nearly 300
IS

is

300

feet

long with a iio^foot span,

Exhibition Hall

feet.

at

Turin has

Rome. Most

in

or the factory at

across

Brynmawr

and 2 inches thick j

shuttering,

and

in

and domes

arc

network of ribs

are

Olympic

Le Raincy,

Wales roofed by

the

domes each 90

poured on

therefore have smooth,

In Nervi's work,

for the

concrete vaults (e.g.

Architects' Co/Partnership with nine

feet

span of

Nervi's culminating achievement to date

probably the circular covered arena

Games

to

continuous

unbroken

on the other hand, we

soffits.

find that roofs

extremely complicated - a beautiful

effecting both a saving in shuttering

and

in the

pounng of concrete.

space of a lifetime Xcr.

\^

stniction through a process oi c\

c^ medieval aichitectuie

THE MODERN MOVEMENT

:hat in the

,.;:.: zr^ r;Dbed con^

:^

.1-

e ..i::

as, in

oiuaon not unlike that

the course of

some four

hundred years, it passed from the heavy arches ofRoman^

esq ue to the deHcate tracery

of Flamboyant Gothic.

Expenments with concrete

Only

kinds, have ree:: unlimited.

Among the

fev^-

can be noted.

most exdtii^ of the vaults - in some ways

harkmg back half a

centur.

macabre, jagged crean

as

and shapes of all

vaults,

we see them in his cr

Mexico City (1953-5

::^

:-?

Giuii ^

?c

:ela, especially

..i^ous Virgin in

are the spiky,

.:

f" successful,

b^ curv^ed canopy vwucx. :c::iis L.:e er.ciince to the

railway station in Rome (195 1), linking the street with
is

the

die elegant but

Sweden,

at

more

Lulel,

Ri rh

Arctic Shoppii^ Cer:

concourse. In

straightforvi-'ard

E:>x

:.;

?3), a

:iesigned the

Sub^

krce complex con^

Cmema n f^

^ij

ping Caittr,

Erskme.
shell,

A thm, smeoA^'waUei amcrek

cmema,

cavern with the projectioQ

room suspended within

a j

:c

concrete
it.

its

dark^pamted

effects

cm

'amhulcSory'.

he produced on

near

Ae

opposite end (right),

is

Ae

li^kt^colomei intemr

glimpsed throng curved opermgs in

Ae

spotligkts

taining a most remarkable

Sh^

acmsticaify designei, encloses

adkuce. Here
is

Sub^Arctic

LdA (1963), hf Ra^

suspended

fftr

screen.
fftr

Li^

wdb
At

projection

hy
ifcr

room

All over the world

are

innumerable

ment buildings; the vast majority -

and

office

apart^

- are

as in all ages

mediocre or routme buildings, but one may mention

the Ministry of Education at

1937

Ldcio

by

UNESCO

Rio de Janeiro, designed

and

Costa

Oscar

Niemeyer;

in

the

Building in Pans by Breuer, Zehrfuss and

Nervi; the Arena

at

Raleigh, North Carolina (1950)

by Nowicki and Dietrick; the Reynolds

Aluminum

Building in Detroit (1959) by Minoru Yamasaki; the

New

York

Lincoln Center,

State Theater at

(1962-4)

by Philip Johnson;

Theatre,

Minneapolis (1961-3)

New

York

Tyrone Guthrie

the

by Ralph

Rapson;

Dulles International Airport, Washington (1959-63)

by Eero Saarinen St Catherine's College, Oxford (1963)

;

414 Ministry of Education, Rio

Janeiro

(1937-43),

de

Costa

designed by

and Niemeyer with Le Corbusier as

consultant.

This

'brise soleil' grid,

can

to

its

new

Building

at

office

level

the Cultural Centre at

Builds'

Minoru
(igS9)>
Yamasaki, shows the enrichment and
at

Detroit

glamour given

to

buildings in the second

generation of the style

called functional'.

The

still

popularly

screen fai^ade

Hans Scharoun;

the

United

Germany (1963)

in

States embassies in

here

appropriately, of aluminium

two

last

in

London

Dublin (1963) by

are both built of pre^cast

concrete sections, each section a

window

unit; both

embassies are unusual in that they attempt - from

diplomatic courtesy eighteenthz-century cities

harmonize

to
.

their

scale

with

with only qualified success.

is

Saarinen designed through paper models instead of

trade^mark of Yamasaki;

virtually
it is,

Wolfsburg

by Alvar Aalto; the Philharmonic, Berlin (1964) by

John M. Johansen. The

ing

Arts

Yale University (1961-3) by Paul Rudolph;

(1955-61) by Eero Saarinen, and

41^ The Reynolds Aluminum

the

rich

shows how refinement

standardized world

the

lift

block

building, with

Arne Jacobsen;

by the Danish architect,

the

^#ta:aiittv.dMw

drawing-board the
:

right angle

and

the facade have

4i6 Tyrone Guthrie

neapolis (

Min^

Theatre,

ig6i-j). Ralph

Rap son

here

tackled the old problem of how, extern

nally,

^ive

to

unity

to

awkward

the

forms of auditorium and stage, solving it

with a symphony of slender concrete
planes andfins

41 J Yale University

New

Art and Archie

Haven (ig6i-

6j), by Paul Rudolph.

A forceful com^

tecture Building,

position
studio

of towers framing

the

in

big

windows (compare Mackintosh's

solution of a similar problem,

The smoothness of
rejected

in

111.

the glass

j^o).

wall

is

favour of something more

rugged and idiosyncratic

418 United
(

States Embassy, Dublin

ig6j), byfohn M.Johansen. Another

approach

wall

is

to

building

built

sections. It rests,
like,

in

concrete:

the

up

of regular pre^cast
however, on a fortress^

rusticated basement.

The

plan resolved the problem of an

circular

awkward

site

329

41 g
port,
is

TWA
New

here

Terminal, Kennedy Air^

York (1^^6-62). Concrete

used

movement and
made

sculpturally

models

realizing

express

to

spatial freedom. Saarinen

rather

with

that

drawing,

than
concrete

no

one

^^:

with walls and arches,

longer designs

but with wings

lost significance.
is

TW a Building at Kennedy Airport

remarkable not only

seagull in flight
It

His

- but

does not have rooms or halls;

architect

Jorn Utzon

Opera House with

shell^like sails

building

now

Opera

Sydney

House

motif of the

TWA

enclose space. It

is

(begun

uses the

wing

Terminal, but not

used for

its

own

to

sake,

as a medieval builder might use towers, for

its

tremendous

330

effect

on a particular

site

wing/shaped roof - a

it

its

spatial effect.

has spatial volumes

About the same time the Danish

won

the competition for

Sydney

a roof consisting of half a dozen vast

of concrete faced with white mosaic. This

rides

harbour in which

igS9i f^odelj.forn Utzon

its

also internally for

flowing into each other.

420

for

high like a great galleon above the

it is

reflected.

The corresponding

list

of steel must be rather shorter.

aesthetic of steel

The

greatest master

of the

no doubt Mies van der Rohe (born

is

1888). Like Gropius, Mies

As

of the Bauhaus.

^.^

of buildings exploiting the use

early

was an emigre from

as

1929, in the

,^^S

the staff

German

we can see the

work. The more

Pavilion of the Barcelona Exhibition,

restraint, austerity

and quality of

sophisticated but no

less

his

austere use of the geometry of

the steel frame is later evident in a whole series of buildings

House,

the Farnsworth

Illinois

(1950),

Lake Shore

Crown Hall at the

Drive Apartments, Chicago (1952),

of Technology, Chicago (1956), the

Illinois Institute

Seagram Building

in

New York

(1956-8), and the

Bacardi Offices in Mexico City (1963) -

chaste

all

'V,;,

essays

on

theme of the framed

the

rectangle.

In the

'

ujq
"'^

./

superfluity,

der Robe's aphorism, 'Less

The
to

buildings
is

theme -

in

Mies van

,j

what one might

let

call

the

alone violent originality of the

are rather less.

Rohe one must

Second only

place the large

-miiiwir n

to

>

,.

J";

JiiiitntMU

iiHitiiinniiiiiiH

'
'

in fii^ifHii |||iliMliintM|
nimiiiiniM nHnmninHi immi<

iimiiini

^'

-"W||w,,

..,,.";:;;;;;;;:

'I'
,

,1'
I

III!

,i.<.,

:i:^...,r.'"'"

":

'Miesian'

upon

Gaudi

or

Mies van

American

Skidmore, Owings and Merrill; with big

"'HlHlHn'-.

mm

'iiiHWifniii nmimmmiMinniii

'.;::' -''M.^,;:;;

More'.

very great; opportunities for variation

Candela type der

recalls

elegant distinction, the Grecian purity, imparted

tradition

the

is

one

<

achievement of beauty by the rejection not only of

ornament but of every

-:--

m'g^

firm of

offices in

many

Two

421, 422

of Mies van der Rohe's

essays in the
theuse^of
use qfjTHe
fine steelwork

to

enclose and outline carefully proportioned

and related
offices

in

liberates

rectangles. Left, the Bacardi

Mexico City (i^6j):

interior

Seagram Building

space.
in

Above,

New

signed with Philip Johnson,

York

steel

the

(de^

ig^6-8):

major and minor vertical divisions subtly

articulate a vast surface; at

there

is

ground

level

no podium, valuable ground being

instead given over to an open

plaza

331

this

cities

firm

astounded

phenomenon

is

Gordon

partners of this firm,

York

in the

Lever Building

high/rise building;

iii'

would have

1952 one of the

In

centuries.

earlier

all

that

its

then most distinguished

has great clarity of design, and

it

among world
si*';.

"''Si

may

a precedent that

capitals.

The Lever

for five years;

it

was then excelled by Mies van der Rohe's

in

brown

glass

I.

we owe

Merrill

!!

Academy

Colorado Springs, and

at

even aristocratic, United Airlines Offices

(1963).
Lffer

and bronze.
the

impressive and impressively sited United States Air

.,'.<> !S

Force

42J

level

Building, sheathed in

To Skidmore, Owings and

SSHSsSs i?^:iNiiii
,

new

to a

'"1

Seagram Building, sheathed

It

York

green glass, remained the most distinguished building

s'-.

.Jli

New

lift

it

which

incorporates a small but charming garden court

set

New

Bunshaft, gave to

BuiUing,

Steel

houses - ever since Mies's

York

Canaan, Conn., both

legion.

inspired and much^imitated combination

House

at

rooms

are

office

glass

tower with a

low podium (containing forecourt,

The most

in the late forties

evocative

New

- have been

Craig Elwood's Rosen

Santa Monica, California (1965) where the

grouped around

tree in the centre.

a small court

The Town Hall

(1955-6) by Arne Jacobsen

424 General Motors Technical Center,
near Detroit (1951-5), by Saarinen.

of the Miesian

One

geometry.

of several formal blocks

is

at

with an old

res^

taurant and shops)

formal landscape

Chicago

at

Farnsworth House and the Philip Johnson house

New

(ig^2), by Gordon Bimshaft of Skid^

more, Owings and Merrill.
Mies^
of a curtain^ walled

and

the chaste,

set in

The

clarity

largest

and

is

at

Rjodovre,

Denmark

another excellent example

austerity,

building in

an essay in pure
this

idiom

is

the

complex of the General Motors Technical Center near

uncompromising

Detroit where, in front of the

oi^

severity

the buildings, Saarinen has designed a broad land/

scape of lawns, pools and sculpture.

In England a

new

influenced partly by
at Marseille.

Peter

attitude appeared in the early

Le Corbusier's theory and

In their school

The plumbing and

on the

guishable.

and

their intention

but without the formalism of

engineering are fully exposed,

basis that in great design,

cathedrals, technique

Unite

Hunstanton (1949-53),

and Alison Smithson demonstrated

to use steel architecturally,

Mies.

at

his

fifties,

art

whether of ships or

had always been

indistin^

In fact this school has the beauty of the

U.S. Air Force Academy,

Colorado Springs (i959)- Skidmore,

42 S

Owinp

and Merrill here

set a

large

group of buildings of the most austere

form on a rocky and mountainous site.

One

thinks of the Egyptian temple at

Deir eUBahari

u)

(111.

426 Philip Johnson House, New

Canaan (ig4g). This is the Miesian
approach

to

the purest use of glass

steel: a glass

by

its

42-/

by

box for

setting in lake

and

living in Justified

and woodland

K0dovre Town Hall (igsS~^)>

Arne Jacob sen.

relationship,

pure geometric

unelaborated,

large office building,

between

all glass,

the

and the

smaller council chamber, all wall

428 Hunstanton School

(1949- S3),
by Peter and Alison Smithson. This is
the

Miesian idiom, but with the charm

of

refinement deliberately omitted

to

achieve

an 'honest' architecture

333

THE MODERN MOVEMENT

battleship rather than the liner. This gave rise to the

phrase 'the

Corbusier 's

Brutalism* - both a

heton brut (shuttered concrete)

pun on Le

and a

reference

Smithsons' anti^formalist principles.

to the

New

concise survey of architecture must on the whole

limit itself to great buildings designed for great purposes.

Two things,

One

however, become obvious.

is

that this

chapter - the world scene over scarcely more than eighty

years

- has given

other

Tokyo

42(^

(ig6o), by

project

the

Kenzo Tange Team.

An

interesting

attempt

Le

Corbusier

to

take

the

spaced,

and

to

and the U.S. Highway system,

rationalize

them

cottage,
skills

planning concept of 'point blocks' widely

both

into

that

is

us a

much more crowded

throughout history the vernacular - house,

farm and village - had been a

and

craft,

with

its

Today

techniques, whether

this

steel

is

no longer

or concrete, are

housing problems

Modern

true.

now

own
from

traditions, to be considered separately

'architecture'.

to solve

canvas; the

being used

over the world. Great

all

single architectural unity

architects are designing for the needs of

an expanding

population.
not possible to deal fully with this separate theme.

It is

English legislation,

establishing

Towns', was probably the

too soon;

it

number of 'New

post-war move.

first

must be recorded

It

came

that these twelve towns,

with one or two exceptions such

as

Cumbernauld,

near

Glasgow, merely echo the old pattern of the Garden City

of the beginning of the century.

Japan has

the most acute population

problem

in the

world.

The i960

Team

envisages a long-term redevelopment of the city

itself,

as well as

project for

its

Tokyo by

by Noriaki Kurokawa,

all,

Kenzo Tange

imaginative expansion on a network

of bridges and causeways across

helical or

the

is

Tokyo

another

Bay. Helix City,

Tokyo

project with

corkscrew^shaped towers. Most imaginative of

however -

if still

only a hypothesis -

by Kiyonori Kikutake, which

circular towers

on

conceived

Ocean City
as a series

artificial offz-shore islands

and enchanting and

Cities such as

is

is

of

poetic

surely not impractical.

Coventry or Rotterdam

are sincere but

not very inspired attempts - conceived twenty years ago to rebuild

bombed cities with some separation of cars and

4^0 Ocean

City

(igs^)> Kiyonori

Kikutake's tremendous project for towers

on

artificial islands.

may

he the

most

The

circular tower

logical ultimate form

the 'point block' (see the

Chicago), as the ocean

of

Marina Towers,

may prove

the logical place for cities

to

be

of the future

335

THE MODERN MOVEMENT

pedestrians.

Cities

actually

planned

automobile are Cumbernauld and

Niemeyer. Brasilia

is still

hundred thousand

live in the

still

built.

vast

far

empty spaces and

However

the

Brasilia,

the

for

new

by Lucio Costa and Oscar

capital of Brazil designed

are

novo

de

from complete. Some two

Federal District, but there

planned but not

arid tracts,

and monumental nature of

the formal

the finest of the capitals established byfat (the others being

St Petersburg,

Washington, Canberra,

Chandigarh and,

New

in the ancient world,

The

emerges magnificently.

Byzantium)

Planalto Palace, with

graceful loggia of columns like swans' necks

central two^level core,

4P

Detail of the Alvorado

Brasilia, by

Oscar Niemeyer.

Palace,
It

has a

the

first

is

Delhi and

its

around the

a fine essay in concrete,

and was

The main

centre of

of the buildings of Brasilia.

the city, forming the great

panorama,

sets

in careful

sculptural concrete lo^ia like that oj the

Plamlto Palace, and

like a shell

chapel shaped

juxtaposition as well as in geometric contrast the low

ministry buildings, the

tall

twin towers of Congress, the

bowl and

the

dome of the

arena and the assembly, and

the cathedral. Brasilia has a long

even look finished, but

for the

way

to

go before

next generation

it

it

can

may

must ask whether or

network of world

igS^- ^^^
they

Surely there

is.

style,

Like

all

strictly

is

or at least a

habits,

followed

by

whether in concrete or
to a

Congress
the

Niemeyer's buildings

'"

^ horizontal

landscape,

use of dramatic contrasts of

in

the

twin

office

towers of

set against the 'bowl'

housing

Chamber of Deputies

world approach.

great architectures such a style

own epoch,

whim or genius of its

an
steel,

architectural

designers.

and human

interpretation,

must produce a

total solution

problem. This does not actually necessitate any

regard for tradition or any repudiation of it; one

another the result

its

this

be found the

to

analysis of function

scientific

withm

not, even

must emerge primarily from the nature of its

only secondarily from the

make

form, as

traditions, there

emergence of a world

Brasilia,

upon Costa's sophisticated plan of

yet

be the justification of our own.

Lastly, one

^32 At
rise

is

certainly a style.

gaucheries, a tremendous

Rome, but

style,

virile to the last degree.

by which one may stand or

It is

way

in fact, despite

as brutal as that

This

or

is

of

judgement

fall.

337

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Clapham, a. W. English Romanesque Architecture, 2 vols. Oxford, 1930-4

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Davis,

J.

G. The

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Deutscher Barock,

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J.

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Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries,

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Architecture of Europe.

London, 1962

39

OF ILLUSTRATIONS

LIST

Sources of photographs are given

Saqqara,

in italic

complex of

Egypt:

Pyramid of Zoser;

III

Reconstruction by

J. P.

the

Step

Bc). Courtesy the Griffith

Ashmolean Museum, Oxford

4 Giza, Egypt: air view of the pyramids

of Cheops, Chephren and Mykermus;

IV Dynasty (2680-2565 bc).

Museum

Courtesy

wood;

Model showing how

at

the

Giza, of the

may have been

Pyramid

IV

built. Courtesy

Museum

of

Egypt: Ramesseum, mortuary

temple of Rameses II (1301-1235 bc);
Dynasty, Hirmer Fotoarchiv Munich

7 Karnak, Egypt: general plan of the temple

complex (excluding the Temple of Mut);

begun in the XII Dynasty (1991-1786

bc), existing buildings mainly XVIII
and XIX Dynasty (i 570-1 197 bc).
After E. Brunner^Traut and V. Hell, 1962

8,9 Karnak, Egypt: plan and

section of the

hypostyle hall, to different scales;

Dynasty, built by Sethos

f.

1312-f. 1235

BC.

XIX

and Rameses

After

garden represented the

filled with water; XI Dynasty,
2000 bc. Cairo Museum. Peter Clayton

in the east

wing of

mam

staircase

the Palace of

XIX

Dynasty. A.Jdnicke

Deir el^Bahari, Egypt: mortuary temple

of Hatshepsut (1511-1480 bc); XVIII

16 Knossos, Crete: throne

room

in the Palace

of Minos, probably rebuilt by the Mycena^

after an earthquake,
Hirmer Fotoarchiv Munich

bc

c 1450

17 Mycenae, Greece: interior of the so-called

Treasury of Atreus; 13th C. bc. Hirmer

18 Mycenae,
tion

Greece:

isometric

of the palace;

Drawn

by Michael

reconstruct

C. bc.

14th- 13th

Langham Rowe

model of a temple, from the

at Argos; late 8th C. bc. The

19 Pottery

Heraeum

decoration

is

almost certainly that of pottery

rather than architecture. National

Museum,

Athens

20 The three Classical Greek orders

21 Paestum,
Basilica

Italy:

corner of the so^-called

(Temple of Hera

C. B c. Hirmer

Fotoarchiv

I);

mid/6th

Munich

22 Paestum,

Italy

so-called temple of

Nep^

B c. S.f. Brandon
23 Ephesus, Turkey: view across the portico
of the Temple of Artemis; begun c. 540
BC. Restoration drawing by F. Krischen,

Gruben,

Hirmer,

Dynasty. Hirmer Fotoarchiv Munich

from

Abu

Temples, Theatres and Shrines, 1963

Simbel, Egypt: rock^cut temple of

II

north-west;

Marburg

Minos;

1600 BC. Peter Clayton

tune (Temple of Hera II); mid^5th C.

10 Karnak, Egypt: view across the hypostyle

Rameses

are

bowl
pool and

Banister

Fletcher

hall;

house

a copper

Fotoarchiv Munich

6 Thebes,

II,

and

15 Knossos, Crete: top of the

c.

as

of

Dynasty,

Science, Boston

XIX

c.

II

tomb of Meket^re

the

eans

of Fine Arts, Boston

Mykerinus

340

carved and painted

Giza, Egypt interior of the Valley Temple

of Chephren, built of limestone blocks
faced with red marble; IV Dynasty

entrance

Dynasty, Roger Wood

trees

in the

pillars in the

showmg Rameses

Model house from

at
Thebes. The

could be

Institute,

12

14

Fotoarchiv Munich

(2680-2565

11

XIX

Osiris;

building; III Dynasty, C.26S0 bc. Hirmer

Abu Simbel, Egypt

of the temple

Lauer

2 Saqqara, Egypt: Step Pyramid complex,

wall^decoration in the court of the north

13

Dynasty, c.2680 bc.

(i

301-1235 bc) from the

XIX

Dynasty. Bildarchiv Foto

Berve,

Greek

24 Athens: plan showing pre^Roman build"

ings on the Acropolis, and the Theatre of
Dionysus. After Banister Fletcher

25 Athens: view of the Acropolis from the

west. Edwin Smith

model of the Acropolis

26 Athens:

as

43

Gruben,

Berve,

Hirmer,

Thermae of

nally the great hall of the

29 Athens: Parthenon, from the west; by

lainus and Callicrates, 477-432 bc. W.

ad

302: of this the general

shape, giant columns,

and

new

Michelangelo's

plaster)

modelling

(i

in the i8th

C.

survive.

vaults (under

561-5) altered

little;

it

was overlaid by

the structure

45,46 Rome: plan and longitudinal

the Pantheon,

theum; begun 421 bc. Alison Frantz

ad

section of

120-4. After Banister

Fletcher

Athens: plan of the Parthenon; 447-432

bc

47 Rome:

of the

interior

Pantheon;

Pannini, 1749. National Gallery of Art,

Washington D.C., Samuel H. Kress Collect

William Suddaby
Athens:

tion

Parthenon,

and

peristyle

view

between the

Fotoarchiv

Munich

ig^g

ad

48 Rome: facade of the Pantheon;

the cella wall at the west;

447-432 BC. Hirmer

Hellenistic times.

35 Athens:

seat

of Dionysus

detail

Suschitzky

of honour in the Theatre

copy of a Greek

C. AD. Frank

Rome:

W.

by

I.

(died

Gismondi. Museo

Romana, Rome. Oscar

della

37),

restored. J.

52, 53

Civilta

Savio

Nimes (Gard), France: Maison Carree of

Agrippa;

38

c.

Rome:
Rome:
70-82.

Ward

frons

ad

113.

of the

the auditorium;

has

since

been

Perkins

plan and half^section of the Colos^

ad

seum;
54

Ij

scaenae

Roman theatre, seen from

CAD 200. The theatre

city in

ad

Libya:

51 Sabratha,

Roman

14

50 Ancona, Italy: Arch of Trajan;

Martin H'urlimann

original,

of model showing the

cad

aqueduct;

Pen/old

the time of Constantine

120-4.

Josephine Powell

49 Pont du Gard (Gard), France the

34 Athens: Theatre of Dionysus, seen from

the Acropolis; c 330 bc, altered in

36

ad

120-4. Detail from a painting by G. P.

32 Athens: interior of the Parthenon; 447432 BC. Reconstruction painting by

3rd

re^

but

marble veneer and stucco, and the conti^

nuous large cornice added. Fototeca Unione

30 Athens: Ionic north porch of the Erech^

33

plan of the Thermae of Caracalla;

211-17. After Banister Fletcher

Diocletian,

Greek

Suschitzky

ad 21 1- 17.

44 Rome: Santa Maria degli Angeli. Origin

Temples, Theatres and Shrines, 1963

31

Rome:

AD

28 Athens: plan of the Erechtheum; 421 bc.

After

Thermae of

of the

ManselUAlinari

Canada

27 Athens: Erechtheum, from the south;

by Mnesicles, begun 421 bc. Hirmer FotO"
archiv Munich

view

air

Caracalla from the south-west;

it

appeared c.400 b c. Royal Ontario Museum,

University of Toronto,

42 Rome:

70-82. After Banister Fletcher

exterior

of the Colosseum;

ad

Fotocelere, Turin

16 bc. E.Jacquet, Nimes

Rome: Forum Romanum

seen from the

55 Petra, Jordan: facade of the

Treasury; cad 120. Peter Parr

soz-called

Basilica Julia. Georgina Masson

39

Rome:

ruins of the Basilica of Maxentius,

looking north; completed by Constantine

after

ad

40 Rome:
tins,

313. Fototeca Unione

interior

of the Basilica of

looking west;

Maxen^

ad 313. Recon^
William Suddaby

41 Diagram showing the principles of tunnel

vaulting and groin vaulting. Drawn by

Jon Broome

west;

CAD

lining a

air

view from the north/

100. Fototeca Unione

57 Palmyra, Syria:

after

struction painting by

56 Timgad, Algeria:

main

Corinthian colonnades
street;

late

2nd C. ad.

Miss G. Farnell

Lebanon interior of the so/called

Temple of Bacchus; late 2nd C. ad.
Reconstruction painting by William Sud^

58 Baalbek,

daby

341

59 Pompeii,
before

Fuller,

Via dell'Abbondanza;
is the House of the

Italy:

ad

79.

and

On the left

further along to the right, the

House of the Marine Venus

60 Pompeii,

peristyle; before

ad

ad

before

the

79.

House of

After the

the

official

guide to Pompeii (Ministero della Educa-'

zione Nazionale, Rome), ltd ed.

62 Tivoli,

Italy:

detail

Dr

Dr

of model by

Richter of Hadrian's Villa;

Courtesy

cad

Cross; 91 $-21. Josephine Powell

82 Athens: Little Metropole Cathedral;

ad

67 Istanbul: view of Hagia Sophia;

532-7. Hirmer Fotoarchiv Munich

section and plan of Hagia

Sophia; 532-7. From N. Pevsner, An

of European Architecture, Jubilee

ed., i960, by courtesy of Penguin Books

2 1 Josephine Powell
,

1037-46.

87

Moscow:

looking

east;

Sergius

527-36.

and
Like

Outline

of European

ed., i960,

Architecture,

74 Ravenna, Italy: interior of

526-47. ManselU Alinari
75 Ravenna,

76 Ravenna,

Jubilee

by courtesy of Penguin Books

Italy:
Italy:

S.

Vitale;

detail

of the

interior

of

S. Vitale, looking north across the chan^'

eel;

342

526-47. ManselUAlinari

St

Mark's,

begun 1063. ManselU Alinari

90, 91

1120, rebuik in the 19th

C Jean Roubier

Rome:

plan and reconstruction of the

interior

of the Basilica of Trajan;

ad

98-112. After Banister Fletcher

92 Rome:
c.

93

Rome:
east;

c.

across

section

330, After

Old

St

Peter's;

Ciampini

interior

of S. Clemente, looking

1084-^.1130, chancel enclosure

c.

872. Edwin Smith

94 Rome:

plan of S. Vitale; 526-47

USSR
of

interior

Italy:

east;

the

in^
(Dordogne),
France:
89 Perigueux
tenor of St^Front, looking east; begun

Hagia Sophia, it has been transformed

into a mosque. Hirmer Fotoarchiv Munich
73 Istanbul: plan of SS. Sergius and Bac^
chus; 527-36. From N. Pevsner, An

by

painting

St Basil's; 1555-60. Society for

Cultural Relations with

f.

of SS.

Reconstruction

William Suddaby

looking

interior

Hautes Etudes

86 Kiev, Russia Cathedral of Hagia Sophia;

88 Venice,

Institute, Inc.

Pierer

85 Salonika, Greece: church of the Holy

Apostles, from the east; 13 12-15. Collect

70 Istanbul: Hagia Sophia, view from the

71 Istanbul: interior of Hagia Sophia, look^

ing east; 532-7. By courtesy of the Byzantine

London

84 Gracanica, Yugoslavia: facade of the

monastery church of St John the Baptist;

Outline

Perissinotto

c.

Courtauld

view of the monastery of Nea

83 Chios:

tion de I'Ecole des

68, 69 Istanbul:

72 Istanbul:
Bacchus,

sculpture.

Moni; 1042-56. Rosemarie

plan of St Mark's; 1063

532-7. Antonello

earlier

Institute of Art, University of

1 3

aisle;

with

1250,

65 Diagram showing the theory of dome^

construction. Drawn by Jon Broome

south

Armenia: church of the Holy

81 Aght'amar,

E. Richter

Italy:

Josephine Powell

80 Zwartnots, Armenia: reconstruction of

the palace chapel; 641-66. Drawn by
Gerard Bakker, after Tovamanian

After Banister Fletcher

66 Venice,

\2xtr.

79 Qalat^Siman, Syria: plan of the Martyr^

ium; 4th C.

E.

130.

63,64 Rome: section and plan of the so-called

Temple of Minerva Medica; ad 260 and
after.

of St Irene, lookmg

interior

532 and

Hirmer

later.

79. Georgim Masson

61 Pompeii, Italy: plan of the

Vettii;

Venii,

the

towards

atrium

the

78 Istanbul:
east;

House of

Italy:

from

looking

77 Istanbul: St Irene; 532 and

Fotoarchiv Munich

f. 1 1

30.

plan of S.

Clemente;

c.

I084-

After Banister Fletcher

95 Conques (Aveyron), France: interior of

the pilgrimage church, looking east; begun
c.

1045/50. Jean Roubier

96 Annaberg, Germany;
looking

east

interior

of St Anne,

111 St^Martin^du^Canigou (Pyrenees^Orient/

by Conrad Schwarz, Meister

France: interior of the abbey church,

ales),

Erasmus and Jacob von Schweinfurt,

looking

1499-1525. Deutsche Fotothek, Dresden

only

97 Brixworth (Northamptonshire), England

interior of All Saints' Church, looking
west; C.6S0 and

Roman

(with

blocked by

after.

brick

Norman

The Saxon

arches

voussoirs)

were

Kouhier

GO Lorsch, Germany abbey gatehouse

:

c.

end. Archives Photographiques

for the

monastery of St Gall,

Redrawn from

c.820.

the

original in the Stiftsbibliothek, St Gallen

113 Tournus (Saone^et/ Loire), France: plan

of the crypt of St^Philibert; f.950.

N. Pevsner, An

From

Outline of European Archie

Jubilee ed., i960, by courtesy of

tecture.

Penguin Books
114 Tournus (Saone^'et^Loire), France: detail
of St^Philibert, showing vaulting of nave

and
;

1001-26. There are windows

Switzerland;

masons. Edwin Smith

99 Venasque (Vaucluse), France: interior of

one apse of the baptistery; 6th C. Jean

east;

at either

112 Ideal plan

98 Dingle (Co. Kerry) Ireland: Gallarus

Oratory; probably 7th C. Edwin Smith

800.
1

aisle;

vaults

early

nth and

early

2th (Z. Jean Roubier

Helga Schmidt^ Glassner

loi

Aachen,

Germany:

Chapel,

Palatine

115

looking west; 792-805. Harald Busch

102 Maria Laach, Germany: view of the abbey

church from the north-west; 1093-1156.
Bildarchiv Foto

103 Gloucester

looking

(Saone^et^ Loire), France: recon^

C. By

courtesy of Professor

and

Mediaeval Academy of America

the

Kenneth J. Conant

116 Cluny (Saone^et/Loire), France: recon/struction model of the third church, seen

Marburg

England: nave,
begun 1087. Sydney Pitcher,

Cathedral,

east;

Cluny

structed plan of the monastery in the 12th

from the south-east; begun c 1088.

Ar-'

chives Photographiques

Gloucester
1 1

104 Diagram showing the need

for centering

unmoulded and moulded

Drawn by Jon Broome
in

arches.

107 Southwell

Compostela

de

Spain: nave;

c.

England: view
c. 1

30. National

Cathedral,

1075-1150. Mas

Minster

abbey church of La Madeleine, looking

nave c. 1104-30, choir early 13th C.

east;

Archives Photographiques

129. Harald Busch

106 Santiago

of the abbey church, looking east;

c.iioo. Jean Roubier

118 Vezelay (Yonne), France: mterior of the

105 Quedlinburg (Saxe^Anhalt), Germany:

nave of the abbey church; consecrated
1

Paray^le^Monial (Saone^et^Loire), France

interior

(Nottinghamshire),

south^'east

nave;

the

Compostela
de
119 Santiago
Spain: plan; f. 1075-1150

Cathedral,

120 Toulouse (Haute^Garonne), France: St/

from

Sernin

the

east;

begun

1080.

c.

Giraudon

Monuments Record

111 Pontigny

108 Auxerre Cathedral (Yonne), France: in^

terior

of the crypt, looking

Bildarchiv Foto

east;

c.

1030.

1210. Jean Roubier

Marburg

109 Mainz Cathedral, Germany: interior,

looking east; nth C. and after 1181.
Martin Hiirlimann

no

(Yonne), France: Cistercian

abbey church from the south-east; 1140-

St/Martin^du^Canigou (Pyrenees^Orient^
France: monastery from the south;
1001-26. The buildings have since been

ales),

further restored. Archives Photographiques

111 Fontenay (Yonne), France: interior of the

Cistercian abbey church, looking east;

1139-47. Archives Photographiques

123 Jerichow (Brandenburg),
terior

of the

church, looking

Germany:

Premonstratensian
east;

c.

in/

abbey

1200. Harald Busch

124 Monreale Cathedral, Sicily: central

ern apse; begun 11 74. Hans Decker

east/

343

125 St^Gilles-'du^Garcl (Card), France: west

of the church;

portals

finished

c.

1170.

Jean Roubier

126 Jumieges (Seine-'Maritime), France: ruins

of the abbey church of Notre^-Dame,
lookir^ west across the transept to the
nave; 1017-66. Jean Roubier

127

128

Durham

Cathedral,

vaults;

30. Jean Roubier

c. 1 1

England:

nave

140 St^ Denis (near Paris), France: view of the

ambulatory and chapels in the abbey
church; 11 40- 3. Archives Photographiques
141 Stz-Denis (near Paris), France: plan of the

abbey church;
1 1

34-44, the rest

nanhex and
mid" 1 3 th C.

chevet,

c.

142 Chartres
Cathedral
(Eure^et^Loir),
France: west front; nonh tower begun
1 1 34,
south tower begun 1142, Portail
Royal and lancet windows above it c.
1145-50; rose window and gable built

Caen (Calvados), France: west front of

(Abbaye^aux/Hommes); be^
gun c. 1068. Bildarchiv Foto Marburg
St^Etienne

after

the

of 11 94; north spire 1507.

fire

Bulloz

129 Ely Cathedral (Cambridgeshire), Eng^

land: nave; begun c, mo. Edwin Smith

130 Florence, Italy:

Monte, looking
131 Milan,

c.

east;

f.

interior

Italy:

lookmg

interior

choir

east;

of S. Miniato

of S. Ambrogio,

nave begun

1080. ManselUAlinari

east;

145

133

Jean Roubier

Loches (Indre^et^ Loire), France: castle

from the south-east, showing the curtain
wall and keep;
1 100 and after. From an
old photograph
<:.

134 Bruges, Belgium: Cloth Hall; I4th-i5th

C. Martin Hurlimann
1 3

Long Melford
glass figure
east

(Suffolk),

of

window

Alfred

England

stained

Thomas Peyton from

the

of the church;

C.

15th

Cathedral
north

begun

Amiens (Somme), France: view of the

town and cathedral from the west, before
World War

World War

I;

begun

c.

1229.

ND^Giraudon
137 Kuttenberg

(Kutna

Hora),

Czecho^

vaults in St Barbara apse vault

1489-1506, continued by Benedikt Ried
1512-47. Bildarchiv Foto Marburg

Slovakia

double
147

aisles;

138 Beauvais Cathedral (Oise), France:

air

view from the south; officially begun 1225,

main work begun 1247, left unfinished in
1568. Aero^Photo, Paris

looking

east;

(Oise),

France:

begun

1150. Martin

c.

in^

Hurlimann
148 Beauvais Cathedral (Oise), France: in/
terior of the choir, looking east from the
crossing; I22<,l^j-'j2 (see

1^8), vaults

///.

rebuilt after collapse in 1284. Bulloz

to

scale

of St

Marburg; Amiens Cathedral;

and Salisbury Cathedral

152 Canterbury Cathedral (Kent), England:
choir; by William of Sens and William

Englishman, 1175-84. Martin Hurli^

mann

the

153 Wells

view

showing

Drawn

the

development of

by Jon Broome

Cathedral
north
C.I

across

(Somerset),
the

nave;

90, nave built in the

England:
cathedral
first

third

of the 13 th C. A.F. Kersting

154 Salisbury (Wiltshire), England: air view

of the cathedral and close from the south/
east;

344

old photograph

1191-1266. Jean Roubier

Noyon Cathedral
terior,

begun

vaulting.

From an

139 Diagram

I.

146 Bourges Cathedral (Cher), France: view

of the south side of the nave, showing

Elisabeth,

136 Rheims Cathedral (Marne), France: west

north--

194. Martin Hurlimann

149-15 1 Comparative plans

Lammer

front, before

(Eure^et^Loir),

looking

transept,

144 Wells Cathedral (Somerset), England:

west front; second quaner of the 13th C.
Martin Hurlimann

111 Rheims Cathedral (Marne), France: de^

tail of south
side of the nave; begun
C.I 210.

Chartres

France:

al

1073. Hans Decker

c.940,

143

cathedral

begun 1220, upper

parts

of tower and spire begun 13 34- Aerofilms

Ltd

Cathedral
looking

155 Salisbury

England:

nave,

quarter of the 13 th

156

(Wiltshire),

looking

157 Lincoln Cathedral, England: nave, look^

ing east; second quarter of the 13th C.
Martin Hurlimann

choir

c.

of the

vaults

Hans von

1408.

Burg/-

Landeshildstelle,

Salzburg (photo Puschej)

France: in^

pleted C.I 270. Martin Hurlimann

169 Cologne Cathedral, Germany: interior of

the choir, looking east; begun 1248.
Bildarchiv Foto

Marburg

170 Langenstein (Kassel), Germany: skeleton

vault in the parish church probably after
:

158 Lincoln Cathedral, England: detail of

arcade and gallery in the Angel Choir;

begun 1256. Martin Hurlimann

Cathedral

159 Carlisle

begun

hausen,

upper sections com^

east;

Austria:

Franciscan Church; by

C. Edwin Smith

Amiens Cathedral (Somme),

terior,

168 Salzburg,

second

east;

171 Nuremberg, Germany: interior of choir

of St Lorenz from the south-'west; begun
1434. (In the centre, suspended,

(Cumberland),

Veit

is

Stoss's Annunciation; against a pillar to the

England: east window; c.1190. National

Monuments Record
160 Bristol Cathedral, England: choir, look-'
ing east; begun 1298, completed by i3 37-

500. Bildarchiv Foto Marburg

left,

Sakramentshaus

the

Adam

(tabernacle)

by

Krafft.) Bildarchiv Foto Marburg

172 Venice, Italy: interior of SS. Giovanni

Paolo, looking east; begun 1246. Scala

A. F. Kersting
161 Exeter Cathedral (Devon), England:

tier^

ceron vault of the nave; mid-' 14th

C,

view from the

(facade begun
Pisano). ManselU

173 Siena Cathedral, Italy:

south-west; 1245-1380

Giovanni

by

1284

continuing the vaulting scheme of the

Anderson

choir of f. 1300. Martin Hurlimann

174 Venice,
162 Bristol Cathedral, England: south
the choir;

aisle

begun 1298, completed by

1 3

of

37.

National Monuments Record

Italy:

Doge's Palace;

14th

late

C.-c. 1457. Georgina Masson

iy$ Toledo

Cathedral,

Spain: view across

transept, looking south; foundation stone

163 Ely

(Cambridgeshire),

Cathedral

England

laid

north wall of the

Lady Chapel; 1321-49.

begun

Cathedral

England:

interior

(Cambridgeshire),
of the octagon from the

restored

Gilbert

and

Carpenter,

partially rebuilt

Scott

in

the

1322-42,

by Sir George

19th

C. Martin

Vendome

ambulatory;

A.F.

Kersting

178 Gloucester Cathedral, England: choir,

looking east; c. 1337-57. National Monu^

(Loir^et-'Cher), France: detail

179 Cambridge, England: King's College

Chapel, looking west in the ante^chapel;
by John Wastell, 1508-15. Royal Com"

Jean Rouhier

Cathedral

mission on Historical

(Seine^'Maritime),

World War IL 1485-1500.

Jean

Rouhier

167 Freiburgz-im^Breisgau Minster, Germany:

west tower and spire; c. 1340. Helga
Schmidt^ Glassner

Monuments

180 Paris: interior of the upper church of the

France: 'Tour de Beurre', photographed

before

Spain:

ments Record

of the west front of La Trinite; 148 5- 1506.

166 Rouen

Mas

22 1. Bildarchiv Foto Marburg

additions.

Hurlimann
165

Cathedral,
1

may have

(construction

177 Seville Cathedral, Spain: exterior from

the south-west; c. 1401-1521, with later

north-west; probably by William Hurley,

the King's Master

1227

before then).

176 Burgos

Martin Hurlimann

164 Ely

in

begun

of blind arcading on the

detail

181

1240-8. Giraudon

Sainte^Chapelle;

f.

Aachen

Germany:

choir;

Minster,

begun 1355.

interior

Bildarchiv Foto

of the

Marburg

182 Canterbury Cathedral (Kent), England:

looking east; by Henry

379-1403. Martin Hurlimann

nave
1

Yevele,

345

83 Gloucester
cloister

England:

Cathedral,

walk (on

washing^place) ;

the

after

left

1 3

5 1,

south

monks'
chiefly c 1 3 70.

is

the

197 Florence, Italy: fagade of Sta Maria

Novella; upper part - above the door by Leone Battista Alberti, 1456. Martin

Edwin Smith

Hurlimann

184 London: roof of Westminster Hall; roof

by Hugh Herland, 1 394-1402. Copyright
Country Life
185 Cambridge, England: birdVeye view of
Trinity College. From David Loggan,

Malatestiano (S.

Francesco); remodelling by Leone

begun

Alberti

tista

Bat^'

unfinished.

1447,

ManselU Alinari
199 Mantua,

Leone

1690

Cantahrigia Illustrate^

Tempio

198 Rimini, Italy:

fagade of S. Andrea; by

Italy:

Alberti;

Battista

1470-2, unfin/

ished. Anderson

186 London: pendant fan vault of Henry

VII's Chapel, Westminster Abbey; by

Robert and William Vertue,

Edwin Smith

200 Mantua,

Leone

1503-19.
201

Rome:

1470-2

part of the facade of the Cancel/

begun i486. Georgina Masson

leria;
1

plan of S. Andrea; by

Italy:

Battista Alberti,

87 Batalha, Portugal Claustro Real, built by

:

King Manuel

I;

c.

1515. Helga Schmidt"

Glass ner

188 Burgos Cathedral, Spain: vault of the

Capilla del Condestable; by

Colonia, 1482-94.

Simon de

202 Rome:
Tempietto of S. Pietro
in
Montorio; by Donato Bramante, 1502.
Georgina Masson
203

Mas

built

Helga Schmidt" Glassner

190 Venice,
lagoon;

Italy: Libreria

by

Jacopo

Vecchia from the

1536.

205 Michelangelo's plan

bay of the loggia of the

Brunelleschi,

roundels by

by

142 1-4,

with

terracotta

ManselU Alinari
193 Florence,

looking

Italy:

interior

by

of Sto Spirito,

Filippo

Brunelleschi,

208

1436-82. Alinari

Peter's,

Nazionale

Rome:

part

of the

fa9ade

of Palazzo

Vidoni/CaffareUi; by Raphael,

194 Todi, Italy: Sta Maria della Consolazione,

from the south; by Cola da Caprarola,

begun 1508. Mansell

Collection

and courtyard
of the Palazzo Strozzi; begun 1489 by
Benedetto da Maiano, continued by Cro^
naca, 1497- 1507, completed 1536. Geor^

195, 196 Florence, Italy: facade

gina

346

Masson

Rome;

207 Rome: interior of St Peter's, looking east

from Carlo Maderna's nave of 1606-26.
From a painting by G. P. Pannini, 1755.
Landesgalerie, Hanover. Gabinetto FotO"
grajico

east;

for St Peter's,

1590. ManselU Alinari

Filippo

Andrea della Robbia, 1463-6.

Rome;

(liturgical north-east: the apse

by Filippo Brunelleschi, 1420-36. ManselU

Innocenti;

Peter's,

from the south-west

is on the
left, a transept on the right); begun 1546
by Michelangelo, the dome buik by
Giacomo della Porta and completed in

of the Cathedral;

Alinari

degli

St

546

206 Rome: St

Italy:

for

1505/6

ManselU Alinari

192 Florence,
Ospedale

del

addition.

204 Bramante's plan

Sansovino,

dome

Cortile

The upper storey of the exedra is a

From J. Carcopino, The
Vatican, London, 1964.

later

C.I

191 Florence, Italy:

of the

level

Donato Bramante, begun

1503.

window of the Chapter

by King Manuel I; c. 1520.

189 Tomar, Portugal:

House,

Rome: upper
Belvedere; by

20, later altered.

209 Florence,

Italy:

c.

1515-

ManselU Anderson
part

of the

facade

Palazzo Rucellai; by Leone Battista

berti,

1446-51. ManselU Alinari

210 Rome:

interior

Madama;

of the loggia of Villa

designed by Raphael and exe^

cuted by Giulio
gina

of

AV

Masson

Romano, 1516-27.

Geor^

211

Rome:

plan of Palazzo Angelo Massimi

and Palazzo Pietro Massimi (Palazzo
Massimi alle Colonne); by Baldassare
Peruzzi, begun 1535. After Banister
Fletcher

212 Rome: entrance to Palazzo Farnese; door

by Antonio da Sangallo, window by
Michelangelo, 1534-40. ManselUAlimri
213

Rome;

fagade of Palazzo Massimi alle

Colonne; by Baldassare Peruzzi; begun
1535. ManselU Alimri

214 Rome: fa9ade of Palazzo Farnese; by

Antonio da Sangallo and Michelangelo,
1534-40, Georgim Mas son
215 Florence, Italy: Laurentian Library, look-'
ing from the vestibule towards the reading
room; by Michelangelo, 1524-57. Alimri

216 Florence, Italy: Medici Chapel m S.

Lorenzo, from the south-east (right, the
tomb of Lorenzo de' Medici) by Michel/
angelo, begun 1521. ManselU Anderson

116 Venice,
Anderson

227 Caprarola, Italy: Villa Farnese; basement

storey and plan begun 1520s by Antonio
da Sangallo and Baldassare Peruzzi, upper
part by Giacomo Vignola,
1559-73.
Georgina Masson
11% Vicenza,

Andrea
is

Palladio,

Pevsner,
tecture.

Italy:

231

c.

1530.

Georgina

c.

Rotonda; by Andrea

15 50-1. Edwin Smith

An

Outline of European Archie

Rome: Basilica and Piazza of St Peter's

from the south. Engraving by Lieven
Cruyl from Descriptio faciei variorum locorum
urbis Romae, 1694
.

232 Rome:

detail

of colonnade of the Piazza

of St Peter's; by Gianlorenzo Bernini,

233

Rome:

Kersting

fagade of Sta Susanna; by Carlo

c.i

596-1603. Anderson

234 Rome: Cornaro Chapel in Sta Maria

della Vittoria; by Gianlorenzo Bernini,
1645-52. From an i8th/C. painting.

Palazzo Bevilacqua; by

SanmicheU;

56).

Jubilee ed., i960, by courtesy of

Maderna,

220 Mantua, Italy house of Giulio Romano

by Giulio Romano, c. 1544. Alinari

///.

Penguin Books

1525-35. ManselU Alinari

Michele
Masson

Italy: Villa

begun 1656. A.F.

of courtyard facade
of the Palazzo del Te; by Giulio Romano,

(see

230 Vicenza, Italy: plan of Villa Rotonda;

by Andrea Palladio, c. 15 50-1. From N.

Italy: detail

111 Verona,

begun 1550. The design

based on Vitruvius' accounts of Roman

229 Vicenza,

A. F. Kersting

219 Mantua,

Palazzo Chiericati; by

Masson

Fletcher

218 Rome: the Capitol, with Palazzo del

Senatore in the centre; by Michelangelo
and Giacomo della Porta, 1538-1612.

Italy:

Palladio,

forum buildings

217 Rome: plan of the Capitol. After Banister

Maria della Salute; by

Longhena, 1632. ManselU

Italy: Sta

Baldassare

Staatliches

Museum Schwerin

Georgina

235

111 Venice, Italy: interior of S. Giorgio

Maggiore looking east; by Andrea Pab
ladio, 1565. ManselU Anderson

Rome:

Scala Regia in the Vatican; by

Gianlorenzo Bernini, 1663-6. ManselU

Anderson

111 Venice, Italy: air view of the Piazzetta and

surrounding buildings (the Bridge of
Sighs is at the far right). Bromostampa,
Milan

236 Rome: facade of the central block of

Palazzo Barberini; begun 1628 by Carlo
Maderna, completed after his death in
1629 by Gianlorenzo Bernini and Fran"
cesco Borromini. Georgina Masson

114 Rome: facade of the Gesu; by Giacomo

Vignola and Giacomo della Porta, begun

237 Rome: interior of S. Andrea al Quirinale;

by Gianlorenzo Bernini, 1658-78. Ander^

1568. Anderson

11$

Rome:

plan of the Gesti; by

Vignola,
Insignium

son

Giacomo

begun 1568. From Sandrart,

Romae Templorum, 1690

238

Rome: interior of S. Carlo alle Quattro

Fontane; by Francesco Borromini, begun
1633. ManselU Alinari

H7

239 Rome: plan of S. Carlo alle Quattro

Fontane; by Borromini, begun 1633,
facade 1667

254 Paris rood screen in St^Etienne^du^Mont;

probably by PhiHbert de TOrme, f. 1545.

240 Rome:

255 Paris:

of the cupola of S. Ivo

by Borromini, 1642-60.
Bildarchiv Foto Marburg
interior

Giraudon
detail of Lescot wing in the Cour
du Vieux Louvre; by Pierre Lescot, with
sculpture by Jean Goujon, begun 1546.

della Sapienza;

241

Rome:

Fontane; by Borromini,

1667.

ManselU

Anderson

242

243

Rome

Jean Roubier

facade of S. Carlo alle Quattro

lantern of S. Ivo della Sapienza

by Borromini, 1642-60. Georgina Masson
:

Rome:

facade of Sta Maria della Pace; by

Pietro

da

Cortona,

1656-7.

2$6 Fontainebleau (Seine^et^Marne), France:

Galerie Francois I in the chateau; by
Francesco Primaticcio and Giovanni Bat^
tista Rosso ('Rosso Fiorentino'), 1533-7.
Giraudon

2$7 Anet

Georgina

the

Masson

by

Phihben de I'Orme, 1549-52. Giraudon

258

Rome:

259 Nonsuch Palace (Surrey), England: c.

1538-58 (demolished 1687). From a
drawing by Joris Hoefnagel. British

Italy

interior

chapel of the

of the

Santissima

facade of S. Agnese in Piazza

Navona; by Francesco Borromini, 1652-

57. Mansell^ Anderson

246 Turin, Italy: Palazzo Carignano; by

Guarino Guarini, begun 1678. ManselU
Anderson

2\j Granada, Spain:

Palace of Charles

of courtyard of the
by Pedro Machuca,

detail

V;

begun 1526. Mas

Hampton Court

(Middlesex), England:

base court and great west gatehouse; begun

1515. National Monuments Record

Museum, London
260 London: Strand front of Old Somerset
House; 1547-52 (demolished c. 1777).
From a drawing by John Thorpe.
Courtauld

Institute

oj Art,

London, by courtesy of the

University

of

Trustees of Sir

John Soane's Museum, London

248 El Escorial, Spain: general view; begun

1563 by Juan Bautista de Toledo, com/
pleted 1567-84 by Juan de Herrera.
ManselU Anderson

261 Longleat House (Wiltshire),

plan;

1554 and

Robert Smythson

Summerson,

after.

at

Hatfield.

Architecture

England:
MS by

After a

in

From

Britain:

J.

is^o-

249 Granada Cathedral, Spain: arch be^

tween ambulatory and choir; by Diego
de Siloe, c.i^ig. Arthur Byne

262 Longleat House (Wiltshire), England:

250 Blois (Loir/et^Cher), France: staircase in

Francois I wing; 1515-^.1525. Helga

from c. 1568 onwards, internal arrange^

ments altered in the 19th C. Paul Popper

Schmidt^ Glassner

251

(Loir^et^Cher), France: view

of the chateau; by Pierre Nepveu, 1519-

2$2 Chambord (Loir/et^Cher), France: plan

of the chateau; 1519-47. From Jacques
Androuet Ducerceau, Les plus excellents
Bastiments de France,

I,

1576

253 Chenonceau (Indre^'et^Loire), France:

view of the chateau; by Thomas Bohier,

Phihben de I'Orme and Jean Bullant,

1

iS}Oy 1969, by courtesy of Penguin Books

air

view; begun 1554, burnt 1567, rebuilt

263 Hatfield House (Hertfordshire), England:

Chambord

47. Jean Rouhier

348

France: interior of

chapel of the chateau;

dome of the
Sindone; by
Guarino Guarini, 1667-90. Edwin Smith

244 Turin,

245

(Eure^'Ct-'Loir),

circular

15-8 1. Martin Hiirlimann

interior

of the long gallery from the

east;

begun 1607. National Monuments Record

Hall
(Nottinghamshire),
26^ Wollaton
England: east front; by Robert Smythson,
1580-8. A.F. Kersting

265 Hardwick Hall (Derbyshire), England:

plan of ground floor; probably by Robert

Smythson, 1590-7

266 Hardwick Hall (Derbyshire), England:

entrance front probably by Robert Smyths
son, 1590-7. A.F. Kersting
;

:;

267 Hatfield House (Hertfordshire), England

Great Stair; c. 1611. National Monuments
Record, hy courtesy of B. T. Batsford Ltd

268 Antwerp, Belgium: facade of the

Hall; by Cornelis Floris, 1 561-5.

Town

ACL

269 The Hague, Holland: Mauritshuis; by

Jacob van Campen, 1633-5. Rijksdienst
v\d Monumentenzorg, The Hague
270 Paris: Cour du Vieux Louvre, showing
Jacques Lemercier's extension, including
the Pavilion de I'Horloge; begun 1624,
Bulloz

271 Third design for the east front of the

Louvre, by Gianlorenzo Bernini, 1665.
From an engraving by Marot. Courtauld
Institute of Art, University of

272 Pans:

east front

erie

Glaces;

des

of the Louvre; by Claude

by

Hardouin

Jules

Mansart with decorations by

Lebrun; 1680. ManselU Alinari

2S2 Versailles
Trianon;

by

Jacques^
1763-9. Giraudon

Charles

France: Petit

(Seine-'et^Oise),

A nge

Gabriel;

283 Versailles (Seine^et-'Oise), France: plan

From

of the palace, town and gardens.

Blondel,

J.F.

IV,

Architecture fran^oise,

1756

284 Greenwich, London: Queen's House;

by Inigo Jones, 1616-35. Ministry of Public
Buildings and Works
285 London: Banqueting House, Whitehall;
by Inigo Jones, 1619-22. Ministry of
Public Buildings and

London

and Louis Le Vau, 1667-70.

Perrault

A.F.

281 Versailles (Seine^et/'Oise), France: Gal^

Works

286 London: St Paul's, Covent Garden; by

Inigo Jones, 1630-1. National Monuments
Record

Kersting

House

287 Wilton

ijl Paris: garden front of Palais du Luxem^

bourg; by Salomon de Brosse, begun
161 5. Bulloz

(Wiltshire), England:
room; by Inigo Jones and
John Webb; c. 1649. A.F. Kersting
288 London: plan of St Stephen, Walbrook;

Orleans

by Sir Christopher Wren, 1672-87. From

274 Blois

(Loir-'et/'Cher),

France:

'double-'cube'

An

wing of the chateau; by Fran9ois Mansart,

N.

1635-8. Copyright Country Life

Architecture, Jubilee ed., i960,

begun

1645 by
Francois Mansart, continued by Jacques
Lemercier after Mansart's dismissal, com^
Val/de^'Grace;

275 Paris:

Pevsner,

of

European

by courtesy

of Penguin Books

289 London:

interior

of St Stephen,

Wal"

brook, from the south-west corner; by Sir

Wren,

Christopher

pleted 1665. Giraudon

Outline

1672-87.

National

Monuments Record
i'j6

Vaux^le^Vicomte

(Seine^et'-Marne),

290 London engraved view showing St Paul's

Cathedral and Wren's City churches. By
:

France: plan of the chateau; by Louis

Vau, 1657. From N. Pevsner, An

Le

Outline

of European Architecture, Jubilee ed., i960,

(Seine/et^Marne),
277 Vaux^e^Vicomte
France air view of the chateau by Louis

Le Vau,

Museum

291 London: St Bride's, Fleet Street; by Sir

Christopher Wren, 1670-84, spire 1702.

by courtesy of Penguin Books

courtesy of the Trustees of the British

1657. Aerofilms Ltd

278 Paris facade of the church of the Invalides

by Jules Hardouin Mansart, designed
:

A. F. Kersting

292 Perspective drawing of

Wren's Great Model
Cathedral,

Wren

London;

Society Report,

the Trustees of Sir

1679. Archives Photographiques

Sir
for

1673

XIV,

Christopher
St

Paul's

From

the

by courtesy of

John Soane's Museum,

London
279 Versailles (Seine/et^Oise), France: garden
front of the palace; by Louis Le Vau,
1669 et seq., and Jules Hardouin Mansart,
1678 et seq. A.F. Kersting
280 Versailles

(Seine-'et^Oise),

view. Aerofilms Ltd

France:

air

293 London: plan of St Paul's Cathedral, as

built; by Sir Christopher Wren, 1675-

1710

294 London: air view of St Paul's Cathedral;

by Sir Christopher Wren, 1675-1710.
Aerofilms Ltd

349

Howard

295 Castle
detail

(Yorkshire),

England:

of the entrance hall; by Sir John

Vanbrugh, 1699-17 12.

309 Toledo Cathedral, Spain: Trasparenie,

from the ambulatory; by Narciso Tome,

Mas

1721-32.

Keith Gibson

296 Blenheim Palace (Oxfordshire), England:

view from the north-east; by Sir John
Vanbrugh and Nicholas Hawksmoor,

310 Granada, Spain: sacristy of the Charter^

house; by Luis de Arevalo; 1727-64. Mas
311

1705-24. A.F. Kersting

church of the Superga and

Rosario; by Filippo
Juvarra, 171 8-31. A.F. Ker sting
Turin,

Italy:

convent

297 Oxford, England: Radcliffe Camera; by

James Gibbs, 1739-49. Edwin Smith

of San

Arc de Triomphe; by J.F.T.

Chalgrin and others; 1806-35. Giraudon

312 Paris:

298 London: Christ Church, Spitalfields,

from the west; by Nicholas Hawksmoor,
313

1714-29. A.F. Kersting

Nancy
tail

299 Vienna: Schonbrunn Palace; by Johann

Michael Fischer von Erlach, begun 1695,
altered

Schmidt^ Glassner

301

showing

1744-50. Toni Schneiders

300 Vienna: Karlskirche; by Johann Michael

Fischer von Erlach,
1716-25. Helga

Vienna:

staircase in the

Upper

Belvedere;

by Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt, 1721-

detail

the Spiegelsaal of the

of cornice in

in

1754,
out by

Musee

Stanislas.

air

view showing the Place de

la

(by

1807-45). Aerofilms Ltd

Rue de RivoH; by Charles Percier

and P.F. L. Fontaine, 1802-55. Giraudon

318 London: Carlton House Terrace, from

St James's Park; by

John Nash, 1827-33.

Edwin Smith

Francois Cuvillies, 1734-9. Edwin Smith

Neumann, begun 173 1 (destroyed

World War II). Gundermann

for

Nancy

laid

11 J Pans:

Amalienburg; by

304 Schloss Bruchsal, Germany: vestibule of

the staircase hall; by Johann Balthasar

Belprey,

Jacques^Ange Gabriel,
1755 et seq.) and the Rue Royale Unking
it with the Madeleine (by Pierre Vignon,

22. Bildarchiv Foto Marburg

Germany:

de

places

Historique Lorrain,

Concorde

302 Dresden, Germany: Wallpavillon in the

Z winger; by Matthaus Poppelmann with

303 Munich,

Plan
three

Emmanuel Here

316 Pans:

Glassner

171 1-

the
the

314,315 Paris: interior and exterior of the

Pantheon; by Jacques^Germain Soufflot,
with alterations by Antoine Quatremere
de Quincy, 1757-c. 1792. A.F. Kersting

23 (palace built 1714-24). Helga Schmidt^

sculpture by Balthasar Permoser,

(Meurthe^et^Moselle), France: de^

from

Brandenburg Gate; by K.G.

Langhans, 1789-93. Martin H'urlimann

319 Berhn:

20 Leningrad Theatre
:

vich Rossi,

c.

Street

1827-32.

by Karl Ivano^

From A. Grabar,

History of Russian Art, ist ed., 1910-15

305 Vierzehnheiligen, Germany: nave of the

pilgrimage church, looking west; by

Johann Balthasar Neumann,

Bildarchiv Foto

321 Bath (Somerset), England: air view show^

ing the area between the Royal Crescent
and Queen's Square; by John Wood the
Elder and John Wood the Younger,

1743-62.

Marburg

306 Vierzehnheiligen, Germany: plan of the

pilgrimage church; by Johann Balthasar

Neumann, 1743-62
307 Rohr, Germany: detail of reredos in the
abbey church; by Egid Quirin Asam,
1717-25. Hirmer Fotoarchiv Munich

1727-80. Aerofilms Ltd

122 Bath (Somerset), England: Royal Cres^

cent; by John Wood the Younger, 176474. Edwin Smith
323

abbey church looking south-east across

Caspar Moos-'
brugger, 1717-77. O. Baur, Stella^Photo

350

Chiswick

Buildings and

308 Einsiedeln, Switzerland: interior of the

the octagonal 'nave'; by

London:

Burlington,

324

c.

A. F.

House;

by

Lord

Ministry

of

Public

Works

Holkham Hall
front;

1725.

(Norfolk), England south

by William Kent,
Kersting

begun 1734.

325 London:

river front of Somerset House;

William
Chambers, 1776-8 (wings
by
completed 1835 and 1856). Detail from a

Sir

3 3

T.A.

i9th^C. engraving by

37 Paris: Barriere de la Villette; by Claude/Nicolas Ledoux, 1789. Giraudon

8

Prior after

T. Allom. County Hall, London. R.B.

Council

339 London: breakfast parlour in No. 13

Lincoln's Inn Fields (now Sir John
Soane's Museum); by Sir John Soane,

327 London: library of Kenwood House; by

Roben Adam, 1767-8. Copyright Country

London, plan showing, in

John Nash

black,
in

Summerson, John Nash,

the

1812-27

(Regent Street and Regent's Park).

From

Architect

Museum,

to

Bank of England

329 London:

Regent Street Quadrant; by

John Nash, 1819-20, with the County
Robert Abraham (all
an engraving by
Thomas Dale after a drawing by Thomas
Shepherd, 1827
Office

341 Baltimore (Maryland), U.S.A.: interior

of the Catholic Cathedral; by Benjamin

Henry Latrobe, 1805-18. J.H.

by

demolished).

House; 1705,
Andrews
ernor's

rebuilt 1932.

331 Westover (Virginia),

Wayne

342 Munich, Germany: Glyptothek; by Leo

von Klenze, 1815-34. Lengauer
343 Edinburgh,

School;

Taliaferro,

1832-4.

land,

U.S.A. the house

Thomas Jefferson,

1769. United States Information Service

26 by Benjamin Henry Latrobe. Ralph

Thompson

D.C.:
United
States
335 Washington,
Capitol. Central section by William
Thornton, Charles Bulfinch and others,
1792-1827; wings and dome by Thomas
U. Walter, 1851-65. Washington Convene
and Visitors Bureau, Infoplan

c.

Newton; by
1784.

old

photograph,

346 Twickenham, near London: library of

Strawberry Hill; by John Chute for

334 Charlottesville (Virginia), U.S.A.: air

view of the University of Virginia; de^
signed by Thomas Jefferson, built 1817-

BouUee,

an

Edwin Smith

of Thomas Jefferson ; by

336 Project for a cenotaph for

From

courtesy the Historical Society of Pennsylvania

345 Brighton (Sussex), England: detail of

Royal Pavilion; by John Nash, 18 15-21.

Peter Harrison, 1749-58. Haskell

theque Nationale, Paris

Scotland:
Royal
High
Thomas Hamilton, begun

344 Philadelphia (Pennsylvania), U.S.A.:

Merchants' Exchange; by William Strick^

332 Boston (Massachusetts), U.S.A.: King's

Chapel, looking towards the altar; by

Etienne-' Louis

by

1825. National Monuments Record of Scotland

U.S.A.: house of

William Byrd II; by Richard

c. 1730. Wayne Andrews

333 Monticello (Virginia),

Schaefer

and Son

From

330 Williamsburg (Virginia), U.S.A.: Gov^

tion

by courtesy of

Soane's

340 London: Consols Office in the Bank of

England; by Sir John Soane, 1794.
National Monuments Record, copyright the

George IV, 1935

Fire

Trustees of Sir John

London

area laid out by

J.

W. Newbery,

Sydney

8 12.

the

Life

328

colombarium with four arms radi^

ating from a central sphere; by Claude^
Nicolas Ledoux, from his Architecture
consideree .... 1804-6

Fleming, by courtesy of the Greater London

326 Kedleston Hall (Derbyshire), England:

south front; by Roben Adam, 1 761-5.
Copyright Country Life

Section of projea for an 'ideal' cemetery

a vast

Biblio^

Horace

Walpole,

1754

(house

begun

1748). A.F. Kersting

347 Berlin: Schauspielhaus; by Karl Friedrich

Schinkel, 18 19-21. Dr Franz Stoedtner
348 Berhn: Altes Museum; by Karl Friedrich
Schinkel, 1824-8, restored after World

War

II. Staatliche

Museen zu Berlin

de Justice;
Poelaert, 1866-83.

349 Brussels:

Palais

by Joseph

ACL

350 Paris: fagade of the Opera House; by

Charles Gamier, 1^62-7$. Julian Wontner
3

Paris grand staircase in the

:

Opera House

by Charles Garnier, 1862-75. Bulloz

351

352 London: Reform Club, Pall Mall; by Sir

Charles Barry, 1837. National Monuments

365

London:

facade of the British

<:.

Record

354 Liverpool (Lancashire), England: St

George's Hall; designed in 1836 by
Harvey Lonsdale Elmes, completed by
C.R. Cockerell in 1854. Courtauld Instil
tute of

355

and Albert Museum, London

Museum;

by Sir Robert Smirke, designed

1823,
completed
National
Monuments
1847.

Art, University of London

London: Houses of Parliament, from

the

366 London: interior of the Coal Exchange;

by J.B. Bunning, 1846-9 (demolished
1962). From The Builder, 29 September

1849
367 Paris: reading room in the Bibliotheque
Ste^Genevieve; by Henri Labrouste, 1 84350. Archives Photographiques

368 Coalpitheath (Gloucestershire), England:

Vicarage of St Saviour's Church; by

William Butterfield,
Monuments Record

by Sir Charles Barry and A.W.N.

Pugin, designed 1835/6, completed 1865.

river;

A. F. Kersting
356 London: Houses of Parliament, Royal
Gallery in the House of Lords; by Sir
Charles Barry and A. W. N. Pugin, com^
pieced by

357 Birming
interior
east;

>

by

70

'

Chad's Cathedral, looking

St

\.W.N.

London

National

Piccadilly Hotel ; by R.

Shaw, 1905-8.
371

(Warwickshire), England:

1844-5.

369 Bexley Heath (Kent), England: garden

side of the Red House; by Philip Webb,
1859-61. National Monuments Record

847. A. F. Kersting

im

the Crystal Palace

Hyde Park; by Joseph Paxton, 1851.

From a contemporary calotype. Victoria

Record
353

London: west end of

in

Cragside

(Northumberland),

England:

entrance front of the house by R.

Shaw, begun 1870.

Pugin, 1839. National

Norman

National Monuments Record

Norman

National Monuments

Record

Monument Record
358

London detail of north side of the nave

of All S^ atls', Margaret Street; by William
ButterfieW, 1849-59. National Monuments

Record

372 Blandford (Dorset), England: garden

front of Bryanston; by R. Norman Shaw,

begun 1889. National Monuments Record

373 Sonning (Berkshire), England:
front of the Deanery Garden;

359 London. Albert Memorial; by S' George

Gilben Scott, 1863-4. Penelope h ed
360 London: St Pancras Station ?.nvi former
hotel; by Sir George Gilbert Sco:t, 1865,
National Monuments Record
361 Manchester (Yorkshire), England:

Town

Hall; by Alfred Waterhouse, begun 1869.

Courtauld Institute of Art, University of

London

362 London:

detail

of Strand front of the

Royal Courts of Justice; by G.E.

Street,

designed 1866. A.F. Kersting

Edwin

garden
by

Sir

Lutyens, 1901. Copyright Country

Life

374 Broadleys, Lake Windermere, England:

garden front of the house; by C. F. A.
Voysey, 1898-9. Sanderson and Dixon
375

New

York:

Station; by

1906-10

interior

of

Pennsylvania

McKim, Mead and

(demolished).

Charles

White,
Phelps

Cushing

376 Boston (Massachusetts), U.S.A.: Trinity

Church; by H. H. Richardson, 1873-7.

From M. G. Van Rensselaer, Henry Hohson

Richardson, 1888

363 Oxford, England: detail of the interior of

the University

Woodward,

Museum; by Deane and

1855-9. Edwin Smith

364 London: train shed of St Pancras Station,

looking towards the hotel; by W.H.
Barlow, 1864. From The Building News^
26 March 1869

352

377 Boston (Massachusetts), U.S.A.: Public

Library; by McKim, Mead and White,
1888-92. Wayne Andrews
378 Chicago
Building;

(Illinois),

by

U.S.A.: Marquette
and Roche,

Holabird

1893-4. Chicago Architectural Photographing

Company

379 Chicago (Illinois), U.S.A.: Marshall

Field Wholesale Store by H. H. Richard^
;

son, 1885-7 (demolished). Chicago Archie

Photographing

tectural

390 Glasgow, Scotland: School of Art, from

the corner of Renfrew Street and Scott
Street; by Charles Rennie Mackintosh,

Company

380 Chicago (Illinois), U.S.A.: Auditorium

Building; by Adler and Sullivan, 1887-9.
Chicago Architectural Photographing

U.S.A.:

(Illinois),

1890-4
382 Chicago
Scott

(Illinois),

Store,

in

U.S.A.: Carson

its

original

state

Pirie

before

left

tectural

Photographing

Company

I'lnnovation' ; by Victor Hor^

383 Brussels *
ta, 1901 (destroyed). Dr Franz Stoedtner
:

84 Paris detail of facade of 'La Samaritaine'

by Frantz Jourdain, 1905. Only frag/ments of the design now survive. From

from

pi.

385 Barcelona, Spain: crypt of Sta

Coloma de

Colonia Giiell; by
Antoni Gaudi, 1 898-1 91 5- Only the
crypt of the chapel was ever completed.
Amigos de Gaudt
Cervello,

the

in

86 Barcelona, Spain fa9ade of the Nativity

transept of the Templo Expiatorio de la
:

Sagrada Familia; by Antoni Caudi,

commissioned 1883, pinnacles completed
1930.

Mas

interiors,

salvaged,

Dr Franz

Bauhaus

complex

Walter

Gropius,

Stoedtner

Adolf Loos, 1966

(New York), U.S.A.: Martin

House; by Frank Lloyd Wright, 1904.

395 Buffalo

fay

W.

Baxtresser

396 Racine (Wisconsin), U.S.A.: Research

Tower of S.C. Johnson and Son; by
Frank Lloyd Wright, completed 1949.
Wayne Andrews

Oak Park (lUinois), U.S.A.: Unity

Church; by Frank Lloyd Wright, 1906.
Wayne Anderson
398 Racine (Wisconsin), U.S.A.: interior of
the Administration Building of S.C.
Johnson and Son; by Frank Lloyd
Wright, 1936-9. Wayne Andrews

397

Run (Pennsylvania), U.S.A. Kauf"

mann House, 'Falling Waters'; by Frank

399 Bear

number of

the iron^framed

including the auditorium, were

and

are at

present in storage.

Studio Minders

388 Glasgow, Scotland: view from the gallery

ground floor front room of the

Willow Tea Rooms, Sauchiehall Street;
by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, 1903-4.

into the

Annan, Glasgow

389 Buffalo (New York), U.S.A.: interior

of the Larkin Building; by Frank Lloyd

Wright, 1904 (demolished 1949). From

Testament by Frank Lloyd Wright.
Copyright 1957, published by Horizon

Press,

by

south;

394 Prague: Miiller House; by Adolf Loos,

1930. From L. Miinz and G. Kiinstler,

387 Brussels: facade of the Maison du Peuple;

by Victor Horta, 1896-9 (demolished
1965-6).

the

1925-6.

L'Architecture,

Turbine Factory; by Peter

Dr Franz Stoedtner

Germany:

393 Dessau,

1899-

1901, remainder 1903-4. Chicago Archi"

AEG

392 Alfeld^a.^d.^Leine, Germany: Fagus Fac^

tory; by Walter Gropius and Adolf
Meyer, 1911-14. Dr Franz Stoedtner

destruction of the eaves gallery; by Louis

Sullivan, lower section at the

Glasgow School

Behrens, 1908-9.

Reliance

Burnham and Co.,

Building; by D. H.

the

of Art

391 Berlin:

381 Chicago

two bays and eleva/

- 1907-9. Bryan

last

and Shear, by courtesy of

Com^

pany

897-9 and - the

tion in the foreground

New

York

400

Lloyd Wright, 1936. Hedrich^Blessing

York: Solomon R. Guggenheim
Museum; by Frank Lloyd Wright, de^

New

signed

1943,

built

State Department of

1956-9.

New

York

Commerce, Infoplan

401 Berlin: auditorium of Max Reinhardt's

Grosses Schauspielhaus, a remodelled cir/
cus;

by Hans Poelzig,

191 9. Bildarchiv

Foto Marburg

402 Neubabelsberg,

Germany:

Einstein

Observatory Tower; by Erich Mendel/

sohn, designed 1919, completed 1921.
Dr Franz Stoedtner
403 Le Raincy (Seine^et/Oise), France: in/
terior of Notre/Dame, looking east; by

Auguste

Perret,

1922-3. Martin Hurlimann

353

404 'Plan Voisin'

From

1925.

for Paris,

W.

by Le Corbusier,

Boesiger and

H.

Girs/

Le Corbusier igio-6^y 1967

berger,

418 Dublin: United States Embassy; by John

M. Johansen, 1963. Norman McGrath

419

Unite d'Habitation; by Le Corbusier,

1947-52. From W. Boesiger and H.
Girsberger, Le Corbusier igio-6^, 1967

Associates

of Roehampton Estate;

detail

by the London County Council Archie

Department, 1952-9. Greater Lon^

tect's

H.

Law

^22 Mexico

igio-6<

Offices;

(Haute^Saone),

France:

nil,

409 Como,
Giuseppe Terragni, 1932-6. By

Casa

del

Luigi

Italy: aircraft

Nervi,

1938.

By

424 Warren (Michigan), U.S.A.: General

courtesy of

Motors Technical Center; by Eero Saari/

nen, 195 1-5. Ezra Stoller

hangar; by Pier
courtesy

of

the

architect

411 Florence,

Italy:

grandstand of the

425 Colorado Springs (Colorado) U.S.A.:

academic area of the United States Air
Force Academy; by Skidmore, Owings

and

Com^

munal Stadium; by Pier Luigi Nervi,

1930-2. By courtesy of the architect
412 Mexico City: interior of the church of the
Miraculous Virgin, looking from one
aisle towards the nave; by Felix Candela,

Sweden: cinema in the Sub'

Shopping Center; by Ralph

Erskine, 1963. Atelje Sundahl, by courtesy of

the architect

414 Rio de Janeiro: Ministry of National

Education and Public Health; by Costa,
Leao, Moreira, Niemeyer, Leidy, and

Le Corbusier, 1937-43- Marcel

Gautherot

415 Detroit (Michigan), U.S.A.: Reynolds

Aluminum Building; by Minoru Yama^
saki, 1959. Balthazar Korab

U.S.A.:
(Minnesota)
416 Minneapolis
Tyrone Guthrie Theatre; by Ralph Rap^
son, 1 96 1-3. Eric Sutherland

New Haven

U.S.A.:
and Architecture
by Paul Rudolph, 1961-3.
(Connecticut),

University

Building;

An

United States Information Service

Merrill,

completed

1959.

Hedrich^

Blessing

426

New Canaan

(Connecticut),

Philip Johnson House; 1949.

U.S.A.:

From

Philip

Johnson, Architecture ig^g-6^y 1966

Denmark: Town Hall; by

Arne Jacobsen, 1955-6. Struwing, by

427 R0dovre,

1953-4
413 Lulea,
Arctic

York: Lever Building; by Gordon

Owings and Meu
1950-2

by

Fascio;

Sig. Luigi Terragni

410 Orbetello,

New

Bunshaft of Skidmore,

Martin Hurlimann

4,

Italy:

Yale

City: interior of the Bacardi

by Mies van der Rohe, 1963.

Balthazar Korab

423

Notre^Dame^du^Haut; by Le Corbusier,

417

S toller

United States Information Office

1967

408 Ronchamp
1950

Ezra

New York: Seagram Building; by Mies

van der Rohe and Philip Johnson, 1956-8.

Corbusier

Le

Girsberger,

by

Tourist Commission

421

Courts; by Le

From W.

TWA,

420 Sydney: model of Opefa House; by

Jorn Utzon, begun 1959. Australian

Boesiger and

Corbusier, 1952-6.

Terminal Building,

International Airport; by Eero

Saarinen, 1956-62.

don Council

407 Chandigarh, India:

TWA

York:

Kennedy

406 London:

354

New

405 Marseilles (Bouches^du^Rhone), France:

courtesy of the architect

428 Hunstanton (Norfolk), England: school;

by Peter and Alison Smithson, 1949-53.
Architectural Review

429 Project
across

for

the

Tokyo by building
Yokohama, detail of

extending

bay

to

model; by Kenzo Tange, i960

430 Detail of model of Ocean City; by

Kiyonori Kikutake, 1958. By courtesy of
the architect

431 Brasilia: detail of the surrounding 'loggia'

of the Alvorado Palace, with a chapel in
the background; by Oscar Niemeyer,

completed by i960

432

Brasilia: general

showing

view of Congress Hall,

the 'bowl' housing the

Chamber

of Deputies, and the twin towers contain^

ing offices; by Oscar Niemeyer, i960

INDEX

Exhibition

Barcelona,

work

311, ji2,

Gaudf

331;

jij

in italic indicate illustrations

Palatine

ijij;

Abu

Simbel 20, 21
Adam, Robert 265, 26J, 268, 288, 289
Adler, Dankmar 307, 309
Aght'amar 89, go
Agliate, S. Pietro 107

Agrigento
Alberti,
i8j,

Leone

Battista

171,

174-6,

195-6

Barry, Sir Charles 286, 2go-i, 292

Buffalo,

Abbey

Bauhaus ^16, 331

Bear Run, Pa., Falling Waters 318,
3'9
Beauvais Cathedral 126, 1^1, 141, 159
Behrens, Peter 314, ji<,

Henry 264
AEG Turbine Factory

spielhaus (Poelzig) ^20, 321; Phil/

harmonic

(Schinkel) 282

Schauspielhaus

328;

naro

Amer, Sta Maria 107

Amiens i^g; Cathedral

Barberini 20^, 206; S.

126,

127,

Ammanati, Bartolommeo 195

Andrea

al

205; and France 210,

228,

22g, 2^2

Bethlehem, Church of the Nativity 88

88, 91

Bexley Heath,

60, 61

Ancy/le-'Franc, Chateau 219

Anss, John 273-4

61; pilgrimage

St^Trophime 117
in

Art Nouveau ji i~i^

Ashridge 289
Asplund, Gunnar 325
Athens 25, 32, 39; Acropolis 29, 32,
jj, j4, 43; Erechtheum ^2, jj, ^4,
Little
J5, 57; Kapnikarea 92;
Metropole Cathedral 90, 91 --2; Par/
thenon 12, j2, 3^, ^4, 35, j6-4y,

Dionysus 32,

Temple of

j2, ^4; Theatre of

42, 4^

264;

205

1,

del

Condestable) 16^

Burlington, Lord

266

26^1,

Burnham, Daniel H. 307, 308, jop

Burton, Decimus 269
Butterfield, William 2gi, 292, 2gg
Byzantium see Istanbul
Caen, St/Etienne 121; limestone 116
Callicrates 34, 37

Cambridge

Church 303-4, J05

Boullee, Etienne/Louis 277

Bourges

Downing

162;

Cathedral

249; Pembroke College

242; Trinity College 162

126,

136,

140,

Visual Arts 323-4; Christ

Church 274
Cameron, Charles 264
Campbell, Colen 265, 266
Canberra 336
Candela, Felix ^26, 327
Canterbury Cathedral 121,
Capet,

Hugh

126

Caprarola, Cola da ij2

Caprarola, Villa Farnese igy

Castle

Rock of 27
Howard 246, 247, 248

Caux,

Isaac de 240-1

Cashel, Great

Chambers,

Sir

2<,8, 262
William 265, 266,

Chambord, Chateau

215, 216, 2iy,

Bramante, Donato 172, 177, ij8-8o,

182, 186, 188, 214
Bramshill 227

Chandigarh ^24, 336

Charlemagne, Emperor

Brasilia ^^6,

Charlottesville,

j^y
Breuer, Marcel 328
Brighton, Royal Pavilion 280, 281
Cathedral 148, 14^
Bnxworth, Saxon church gg
Bristol

Brosse,

Va.,

Virginia 27^
Chartres Cathedral

99, 100, 117

University

113,

126,

of

127,

131, 136, 137, 138, 145

Cheadle, St Giles's 291

228, 2^0, 23

Auxerre Cathedral crypt 104

Azay/le/Rideau, Chateau 215, 218

Bruchsal, Schloss 2^2

Bruges, Cloth Hall i2j

Baalbek 65, 66, 6y, 208, 209, 268

Baltimore, Cathedral 278, 279

Brunelleschi,
178, 184

220

Chenonceau, Chateau 215, 216, 217,

Salomon de

Briihl, Schloss

142, 14J,

160

267

141. 157

Autun Cathedral

Chapel

Cambridge, Mass., Carpenter Center

Chalgrin, J.F. T.

Bowood House 268

Broadleys )0 2

College

286; King's College (Chapel) 1^8,

159, 162-3, (Fellows' Building)

Carlisle Cathedral 148

Boston, Mass., King's Chapel 2J4;

Massachusetts State House 275-6;

Augsburg Town Hall 228

112

rebuilding

Borromini, Francesco 201,

Trinity

Asam, Cosmas Damian 253-4

Asam, Egid Quirin 253, 2<,4

35;

town

250, 257

8g, 90, 91

J2-4,

Chad's Cathedral

Blenheim Palace 246, 248

Blerancourt, Chateau 231
Blois, Chateau 215, 216, 2^0, 231
Boileau, L./A. 297
Bolsover Castle 227

Arevalo, Luis de 256, 237

Nike Apteros

St

Bryanston joi

Architects' Co-'Partnership 326

architecture

298, 2gg,

291
Blandford,

Annaberg, St Anne ^8, 154

Anthemius of Thralles 81
Antwerp Town Hall 228

Armenia, Byzantine

Bunning, J.B. 2g6

Bunshaft, Gordon 352
Burckhardt, Jacob 168
Burghley House 227
Burgos Cathedral 156, 257; (Capilla

for the

Birmingham,

Am

Roman town

Red House

300

Anet, Chateau 2ig

Angouleme Cathedral 94, 117
Cathedral 89

Propylaea

Palazzo

2oy,

Quirinale 206; St Peter's and the

204,

Byzantine architecture in

station 112;

Chapel 202,

Piazza 182, 200, 201; Scala Regia

136, 138, ijp, 142, 143, 146, 155

Ancona, Arch of Trajan

Bulfinch, Charles 275, 2j6

Bernini, Gianlorenzo 174, 254; Cor/

Amboise, Chateau 215

Aries,

314,

515; Altes Museum 282; Branden^

burg Gate 262, 26^; Grosses Schau/

Alfeld, Fagus Factory ^75

Alton Castle 291

Guaranty Building

House ^18

Bath 264, 26^, 268

Bell,

N.Y.,

309; Larkin Building jj./; Martin

164, 16$

Alessi, Galeazzo 197

Anatolia,

ji^; Palais

Bryanston 300, joi

Brynmawr, rubber factory 326

Berlin,

1,

W. H. 294, 2g^
Barnngton Court 220
Batalha

Minster
Aachen,
Chapel J 00, 117
Aalto, Alvar 328

Horta work ^1

de Justice 284

Barlow,
Pa^e numbers

Brussels,

1,

234

307-8,

Building 308,

313;
309;

Scott Store 309, jio;

252
Filippo

218

Chicago

168,

i6g-ji,

Illinois Institute

Auditorium
Carson Pine

Crown

Hall,

of Technology 331;

Lake Shore Drive Apartments 331;

355

Marquette Building ]o6, 308; Mar^

shall Field Wholesale Store 304,
j>5,

309;

Monadnock Building
Montauk Block 308; Reliance
309;

Building jotj; Robie House 318;

Tacoma Building 308; United Air^
lines Offices

332

Eastnor Castle 289

Eaton Hall 289, 293
Edinburgh, Royal High School 278,
271^, 280

Greenwich 238, 239, 246, 248

Einsiedeln Abbey Church 254, 255

Elmes, Harvey Lonsdale 287, 28g
Elwood, Craig 332

Hadrian, Emperor

Ely Cathedral 121,

Hagley Park follies 280-1

Hampton Court 220, 221, 2^6, 259
Hanover Opera House 284
Hardwick Hall 224, 226, 22J, 238
Harewood House 268

Chicago School 297, jo6-io, 317

Chios, Nea Mom gi
Chiswick House 2^5
Chorley Wood, The Orchard 302
Churnguera, Jose de 256
Chute, John 281

Escorial 213, 21^

Cistercian architecture 11^, 11^

Eton College 162

Citeaux 114
Clairvaux 114
Clermont/Ferrand, Notre^Dame^du'

Exeter Cathedral 142, 148, i^g

Port 103

Cluniac architecture 110-12, 142

Cluny no,

111, 112, 114, 130, 142

Coalpitheath, St Saviour's Vicarage

C.R. 286-7
Cologne, Cathedral 152, 15J; Opera
House 284
Colorado Springs, U.S. Air Force

Academy 332, 33J

Como, Casa del Fascio

J25;

Romans

esque churches 123

Conant, Professor K. G. no, 115

Condover Hall 227
Conques, Ste^Foy (j5, 102, 103, 113,

151

Epidauros, theatre 43
Erskine,

Ralph j2y

70, 73

The Hague, Mauritshuis 228

Hamilton, Thomas 278, 2jg, 280

Harrison, Peter 2J4

Hatfield House 224, 225, 22j
Hatshepsut, Queen, 18, ig, 20

Hawksmoor, Nicholas
Johann Michael 254
Fischer von Erlach, Johann Bernhard
Fischer,

250
Florence

168; Biblioteca

167,

Lau^

renziana 188, 189, I93; Cathedral

56,

Cockerell,

if,o,

Ephesus, Byzantine churches 86, 88;

Temple of Artemis 3;

py

Gropius, Walter
y6, 317, 320
Guarini, Guarino 210, 211, 257

170;

i6t),

155,

Communal

246, 248, 24g

Heidelberg, Ottheinnchsbau 228

Helensburgh, Hill House 313

Hengrave Hall 220
Hereford Cathedral 142
Herrera, Juan de 21

214

3,

Hexham, Saxon church 99

Stadium 326; Foundling Hospital

lyo; Medici Chapel 178, 188, i8g,

Hildebrandt, Johann Lukas von 250,

190; Palazzo

Hildesheim, St Michael 118

Pitti

172, 191, 195;

Palazzo Rucellai 174, i8y, Palazzo

Strozzi 172, 773, 174; S. Miniato
al

Monte

123;

122,

Sta

Maria

Hoban, James 276

Holabird, William ^06, 307, 308
Holkham Hall 266

Novella J75, 195; Sto Spirito 170,

Holl, Elias 228

ly i; Uffizi 193

Horta, Victor jii, 312, 313

Hosios Lukas 91

Floris,

Cornells 228

Fontaine, P. F. L. 262, 26^

Howard, Ebenezer

Fontainebleau, Chateau 2ig, 228

Hugh

Constantine, Emperor 49, 71, 73, 74

Constantinople see Istanbul

Fontenay

Hunstanton, school 332,

Costa, Lucio ^28, 336, ^37

Coulommiers, Chateau 231

Fonthill 289

118

75

Fontevrault

Ictinus 37,

Abbey

Coutances Cathedral 157

Coventry 3 34
Cragside 300, 30

Frangois

214, 218

Croome Court 268

Gabriel, Jacques^

William H. 328

Istanbul 71, 72, 92,

88;

100,

126,

336;

Hagia Sophia

55-6, 76, 78, yg, 80, 81, 82, 8y 86,

Holy Apostles 86; St Irene

88, 89;

86, 8y; St

John of Studion 88; SS.

Sergius and Bacchus 84, 85, 88, 89

Gaudi, Antoni 3 1 1, jj2, 373, 321

General Motors Technical Center 332

Jacobsen,

Genoa 197

Jarrow, Saxon church 99

Gibbons, Grinling 243, 246, 248

Gibbs, James 248, 249, 273, 274

Jefferson,

Romano

Arne

328, 332,

jj^

Thomas 274, 275

Jenney, William LeBaron 307, 308

de Key, Lieven 228

Giulio

de Keyser, Hendrik 228

Giza 11,12
Glasgow, Mackintosh work 313,374,

Jerichow, Premonstratensian church

jiy, 'Greek' Thomson work 278

Gloucester Cathedral 102, 119, 1^8,

Jerusalem,

della Porta,

Giacomo

180, 181, ig,

196
della Robbia, Andrea lyo
de

A nge 2^4, 2j6, 237,

Gallarus Oratory gg
Garnier, Charles 284, 28^, 286

Dashur, pyramid 12
Deane and Woodward 2p^
Deir el^Bahari 18, ig, 20, 21

12

Isidore of Miletus 81

262

Cuvillies, Frangois 252

1 1

^^y 334

40

g, 10, 11,

Blue Mosque

Cumbernauld 336

Deitrick,

Imhotep

115

Freiburg'im^Breisgau Minster 1^2

Culzean 289

303

Abbot of Cluny

17

Fountains
I

of Semur,

rOrme,

Philibert 2J7, 218, 21 g

Dessau, Bauhaus ^16

Detroit,

Reynolds

Aluminum

Build'

ing ^28

356

159, 160, 161

2gi, 2g2,

2gy

2g4,

298-9

Goujon, Jean 218, 219

Gracanica, St John the Baptist g2
Granada, Cathedral choir 214, 273;
Charterhouse 256, 257; Palace of
Charles
2i2, 213

Jerash,

Roman town

62,

64

116

Church of

the

Resur^

rection 74

Johansen, John

Gothic Revival 280, 281, 288-9, 2go,

Dresden, Zwinger 25;

Dublin, U.S. Embassy 328, ^2g
Durham Cathedral 98, 105, 118, 120,
123, 165

191, ig2, 193

M.

328,

Johnson, Philip 328,

pg

jy,

332, ^^^
Jones, Inigo 238, 2^g, 240, 241, 249

Jourdain, Frantz 37 1
Juan Bautista de Toledo 213, 214
Julius

II,

Pope

179,

182,

188,

196,

206
Jumieges, Notre^Dame ti8, ng, 120

Emperor

Justinian,

8
1

78, 84, 86, 88, 89

Juvarra, Filippo 257

House 240; National Gallery 286;

Natural History Museum 293 Pad'
;

dington

Karnak, Temple of Amun

ly, 18, 26

14, 75, 16,

Hotel
293;

Station

310;

Piccadilly

Building

Prudential

300;

Reform Club 286; Regent

Street 270; Roehampton Estate J2j;

Royal Courts of Justice 2gj; St

Kedleston Hall 26
Kent, William 265, 266
Kenwood House 268
Kiev Cathedral 93

Bride's 243; St-'Martin/in^the^Fields

249; St Pancras Station and Hotel
2g2, 294, 2^5; St Paul's Cathedral

Kikutake, Kiyonon 334, jj5

Kilmacolm, Windyhill 313

King's Lynn 264
Kirby Hall 227
Klenze, Leo von 278, 27^
Knossos 26, 2 J

150, 172, 180, 244, 24^, 246,

56,

261; St Paul's, Convent Garden

240; St Paul's School, Hammer-smith 293; St Stephen, Walbrook

John Soane's house,

House (Old) 222;
Somerset House (Chambers) 26'/;
242, 243; Sir

Kurokawa, Noriaki 334

Kuttenberg (Kutna Hora),

2y8; Somerset

St Bar^

bara 1^1

Travellers'

Club 286; U.S. Em^

bassy 328; University College 286;

Langenstein 1^4

Westminster Hall 159, 161

Longhena, Baldassare ig6
Longleat House 222, 223, 226

Langhans, K. G. 265

Long

Laon Cathedral 126, 127, 136, 138

La Tourette, Dominican convent 323

Loos, Adolf 377, 322-3

Lorsch, abbey gatehouse 100
Louviers 98

Labrouste, Henri 296, 2gy

Landshut 154

Latrobe, Benjamin Henry 275, 278,

2jg
Le Corbusier (C.E. Jeanneret) 174,

Lebrun, Charles 235

Ledoux, Claude^Nicolas 2^/
Le Mans Cathedral 126, 136, 141
Lemercier, Jacques 228, 22^, 231
L'Enfant, Pierre Charles 276
Leningrad 263, 264, 336

Le Puy

178,

Lescot, Pierre 218, 219, 22g

Letchworth Garden City 303

Lethaby,

W.R.

-231,

Limoges, St^Martial 1 1
Lincoln Cathedral 142,

232, 255

146,

145,

2%

26

London, planning 241-3, 268, 26^,

270; Alben Memorial 2^2; All
Saints',

Margaret Street 2gi;

Bank

of England 86, 277, 27^; Banquet^

ing House 23 g, 240; British Mus'

eum

282,

House
263; Christ Church,

28-/ ;

Terrace 262,

190;

Palazzo

i8j,

190;

Peter's

181,

180,

200,

182,

St

257;

tomb of Julius II 188, 206

Mies van der Rohe, Ludwig 320, 331,
332
Milan, 214; Cathedral 156, 168;
Edict of 95; S.
S.

Ambrogio

Lorenzo 73;

Sta

102, 123;

Maru

delle

Grazie 177; Sta Maria presso S.

Satiro 177; S. Vincenzo
Prato

Sanderson 280

1 1

Moissac, Stz-Pierre 117

Monreale Cathedral 1
Montacute House 227

Monticello 275
Montserrat, Sta Cecilia 107

30s
Macaulay, Rose 65
Machuca, Pedro 213
Mackintosh, Charles

111,314,31s
Maderna, Carlo 180,
203, 20^, 206

303, 304,

Rennie

311,

Moosbrugger, Caspar 254, 255

Morris, William 298, 299, 300, 304,
316

Moscow, Byzantine churches pj

Mschet, Holy Aposdes 89
Mumford, Lewis 23
Munich, Amalienburg 2^2; GlyptO'
thek 278, 2jg

182, 200, 202,

Mainz Cathedral 102, 10$

Maisons Lafitte, Chateau 231
Mallet'Stevens, Robert 313

Malvern, priory church

747,148
Liverpool, St George's Hall 287,
1

i8g,
186,

Munstead Wood 301

Mycenae 28

Maillart, Robert 321

303

Le Vau, Louis 228-9,

Loches, casde

298,

23

McKim, Mead and White

LeRaincy, Notre/Dame32J, 322, 326

188,

184,

Mnesicles 34, 35
Modena Cathedral

Mclntire, Samuel 275

214

Chapel
Farnese

Minneapolis, Minn., Tyrone Guthrie

Theatre 328, j2^

300, 301

112, 117

Michelangelo 165, 174, 187-8, 197

Biblioteca Laurenziana 188, 189
Capitol igo, igi, 200; Medici

Miller,

28

Edwin Landseer

326, 327
Meyer, Adolf 5 75

Miletus, plan 33, 47

32J

Luxor

232, 234, 236, 23 j

Leonardo da Vinci 174,

City, Bacardi Offices 331;

church of the Miraculous Virgin

107

Lulea, Sub'Arctic Shopping Center

Lutyens, Sir

320, ^22, 323, 324, 332, 334

Le Notre, Andre

Melford, stained glass

Metezeau, Clement 231

Mexico

Carlton

24^; City and Guilds

College 293 Coal Exchange 2g6;
Crystal Palace 294, 2^3, 297; Gaiety

Spitalfields

Theatre 300; Horse Guards 266;

Houses of Parliament 289, 2go, 291
Kenwood House 268; Kew Gar^
dens pagoda 266, 281; Lindsey

Manchester

Town

19

Hall 2^3

Mansart, Frangois 228, 230, 231

Mansart, Jules Hardouin 232, 233,

236-7
Mantua, Alberd work 176; Giulio
234, 23s,

Romano work

191, ig2, 193

Marburg, St Elisabeth 142, 154

Maria Laach 101
Marlborough, first Duke of 246
Marseilles, Unite d'Habitation 323
Marshcourt 301
Medici family 168, 172, 188, 189,
190

Medum, pyramid

12

Mendelsohn, Erich 321

Mereworth Castle 266

Nancy

260, 261

Naples 214;
Reale 226;

264; Poggio
Francesco di Paola

Caserta
S.

284
Nash, John 263, 26g, 2jo, 288
Nashville, Tenn., State Capitol 280

Nepveu, Pierre 2J7

Neresheim Abbey 254
Nervi, Pier Luigi 325, 326, 327
Neubabelsberg, Einstein Observatory

Tower 321
Neumann, Balthasar

250, 252, 233,

254
New Canaan, Conn., Philip Johnson

House

New
New

332, 333
Delhi 300, 336

Haven, Conn., Yale Art and

Architecture Building 328, j2^

Newport, R.I., Redwood Library

274

357

j 2

New York

Academy

of Design
R. Guggenheim
Museum j2o; Lever Buildmg j22;
Lincoln Center 328; Pennsylvania
Station 54, ^04, 305; Pierpont
Morgan Library 305; Seagram
Building ^31;
Building,
309;

Solomon

294;

TWA

Kennedy

International Airport

jjo

Niemeyer, Oscar ^28, j^6, 337

Nimes, Maison Carree 46; Roman

town 61
Nonsuch Palace 220, 221
Novgorod 93
Nowicki, Matthew 328

Noyon Cathedral
Nuremberg,

Oak

Park,

Odo

of Metz 100

Roman

Orange,

i<,4

J26

Ottobeuren Abbey 254

162; Keble College

Museum

2^4, 297; RadclifTe Cam^

249; St Catherine's Col^
lege 328; Sheldonian Theatre 242;
Taylorian Institute 287
era 248,

793, 197, 1^8, igg,

238, 249
Palladian movement 199, 238, 239,

Roman town

Paray^le^Monial
Paris

65, 66,

268

1 1

126, 136 7, 262;

omphe

Arc

de Tri^

60, 2<,8, 262; Barricre de

la

277; Bibliothcque Ste^

Genevieve 296, 297; Bibliothcque
Nationale 297; College des Quatre
Villette

Nations

232;

Eiffel

Invalides

311;

Petra 65
Pevsner, Sir Nikolaus 132, 167, 193,

work

work 278;

278, 27^, 280

Hans 320,

Tower

297,

church 232,

2jj;
218, 219, 22^, 230,

Temple of

183;

74,

2.

Early Christian and

196; Olympic Stadium 326; Piazza

of St Peter's 179, 180, 184, 200, 201,

186,

187,

Agnese

Navona 201, 210,

Andrea al Quirinale
Andrea delle Fratte 209; S.
in Piazza

206; S.

Carlo
208,

Quattro Fontane 207,

S. Clemente 96, 97;

alle

209;

S. Filippo

Nen

209; S.

Roman town

61

Old

Quatremcre de Quincy, A.^C. 261

Quedlinburg Abbey Church 103

g6; St Peter's,

257; S. Pietro

in

offices

Son J 18, jig,

of S. C. Johnson

Stazione

Montorio,

Termim

(Cortile del

Concorde 234,

la

Rivoli

de

Sainte^Chapelle

i^g,

262,

26y,

162;

St'

Etienne^du^Mont 218; St^Eugcne

297; Stz-Eustache 218; St^Gervais
231; Sorbonne church 231; 'La
Samaritaine'
jii;

UNESCO

Building 328; Val'de^Grace

2p

Parker, Barry 303

183,

Rainaldi, Carlo 206

(Scala Regia) 204, 205; Villa

Mad'

Raleigh, N. C, Arena 328

Rameses II jj, 20, 21
Raphael 174, 177, 180, 18^, 184, 18^,

ama

191

184, i8y. Villa of

Pope Julius

196

Ronchamp,

NotrcDame'du'Haut

207, 324

Rapson, Ralph 328, 329

Rastrelli, Bartolommeo 263-4
Ravenna, S. Vitale 73, 78, 8^, 86, 88,
100

Percier,

P.F.L.

Charles,
2.62,

26

and

Richmond, Va.,StateCapitol 275, 278

Rimini, S. Francesco (Tempio Mala'

Root, John Wellborn 304, 307, 308 9

Rossi, Karl Ivanovitch 264
Rosso, Giovanni
Rotterdam 334

Battista

2ig

Abbey Church 2^4

1.

ancient:

44;

Basilica

of

Colosseum

49,

63,

64;

Forum

Abbey Church

126, 127, 134,

13^

332
55, 98, 113,

136, 167

St Gall plan 108, iii, 114

St Gallen, abbey library 254

St'Gilles'du'Gard
St Lcuis,

Maxentius and Constantine 48, 4g,

95; Basilica of Trajan ^5, g6;

ij;

Saarinen, Eero 328, 330,

St'Benoit'Sur' Loire 118

St'Denis

testiano) 175, 176

Rio de Janeiro, Ministry of Education

328
Roche, Martin 306, 307, 308
R^dovre, Town Hall 332, 333

Rom^
Fontaine,

124, 129, ijo, 136,

138, 143

Rolir

Pavia, S. Michele 118

Paxton, Joseph 2^5

Vatican

327;

Belvedere)

Richardson, Henry Hobson 303-4,

joy, jo8, 309

Rue

Tem^

i7g,

3-20

House

Place de

172,

56,

Susanna 202, 203;

pietto 178; Sta

Racine, Wis.,

new

179, 180, 181, 182, 184, 188, 200,

Rubens, Sir Peter Paul 240

Rudolph, Paul 328, 32g
Ruskin, John 294, 296

262,

Giacomo

Corso 206; S. Ivo della Sapienza

208, 2og; S. John Lateran 257; Sta
Maria degli Angeli 5^; Sta Maria
Maggiore 96, 257; Sta Maria in
Monte Santo 206; Sta Maria della
Pace 2og, 210; Sta Maria della
Vittoria, Cornaro Chapel 202, 203;
S. Paolo fuori le mura 96; St Peter's,
al

3 3

Rouen Catheral

261;

191,

211, 250; S.

Revett, Nicholas 281

Pantheon

190,

286; Palazzi Massimi 184, 186, 187;

Palazzo Vidoni'Caffarelli 183; S.

Rheims Cathedral

62, 284, 28^, 286;

Baroque

after:

284; Luxembourg, Palais 2^0;

Madeleine church
Opera
262;

Louvre 210,

55, 54;

planning 200-1, 260; Capitol igo,

igi, 200; Gesu church 175, ig^,

Farnese 184,

321

2i<), 228
Procopius 82, 86, 88
Pugin, Augustus Welby Northmore
244-5, 2t)o, 2^1

Pula,

73,

202; Palazzo Barberini 205, 206;

Palazzo Cancellaria 177; Palazzo

Poggio a Caiano, Medici villa 239

Pompeii 61, 67, 68, 6^, 70
Pont du Card <i8, 5p
Pontigny 105, 114, 115

&

240, 249, 26^-7, 273, 274, 2JC^

Palmyra,

Peterborough Cathedral 121

252, 314
Phidias 37, 38, 40-2
Philadelphia, Pa., Latrobe

58,

Thermae of Caracalla 52,

Thermae of Diocletian 5^

Peruzzi, Baldassare 180, 186, i8y

Qalat'Siman, martyrium 88
Quarenghi, Giacomo 264

Padua, S. Antonio 94
Paestum 30, jj, 201

Pantheon 49, 35, ^6,

Minerva Medica 73; tenements 67;

Primaticcio, Francesco

292;

Golden House of

^7;

70, 184;

57,

Priene

Oxford

Andrea

Claude 22g
Auguste j2i, izz

Poppelmann, Matthaus 25;

Porden, William 289
Potsdam, Neues Palais 262
Prague, Miiller House jiy

Osterley Park 267, 268

Palladio,

Nero

Perrault,

Poelzig,

theatre 62

Orbetello, hangar

Romanum

117

Pisa, Cathedral precincts 123

Unity Church 318,

111.,

t^^,

Perret,

Strickland

136, 141

Lorenz

St

Perigueux, St/'Front

Permoser, Balthasar 2^1

1 1

Mo., Wainwright Building

309

St'Martin'du'Canigou 106, 107

Sabratha, Roman theatre 62
Salem, Mass., Court House 275

Salisbury Cathedral

127,

1^2,

143,

14s, 146

Salonika,

Holy Apostles ^2

Salzburg, Franciscan church

Sangallo,

Antonio da

154

if,2,

177, 180, 184,

1S6, 187, 188

Sanmicheli, Michele

ii)2,

193-4

Sansovino, Jacopo 166, 1^4, 195

Santa Monica, Cal., Rosen House 3 3 2
Santiago de Compostela Cathedral
loj, 112, 1 13, 156
Saqqara, Step Pyramid

Terragni, Giuseppe 525

Vignon,

Tewkesbury Abbey Church 102, 119

Thebes ij, 14
Thomson, Alexander 'Greek' 278
Thornton, William 27<;
Thynne, Sir John 222

Viollet/le^Duc,

Tiepolo, Giambattista 252

Tijou, Jean 246

Timgad, Roman town

52,

10, 11, 12

Scamozzi, Vincenzo 239, 241

Scarisbnck House 291

Schwabisch Gmund 154

Scott, Sir George Gilbert 2^2, 297
Seaton Delaval 248-9
Segovia,
Roman aqueduct 60;

Tomar Abbey

iSf,

Tome, Narciso

254, 2<,6

Cathedral 156, 757

Shaw, Richard Norman ^00, joi, 305
Shute, John 223

Siena Cathedral 155

Siloe, Diego de 214, 21^

Veneto 284; Superga 257

534
Smythson, Robert 223, 223, 226, 22y
Soane, Sir John 86, 277, 27^, 288
Somerset,

Edward Seymour, Lord

Vanbrugh,

Sir

John 246,

2^7, 248,

Van Campen, Jacob 228

Van de Velde, Henry 302, 312
Van Dyck, Sir Anthony 241
Vanvitelli, Luigi

Vasari, Giorgio 193

Spalato, Palace of Diocletian 249, 267

Venice 72, 93,

Duke of Lorraine 260

Stockholm Crematorium 325
Strawberry Hill 281, 289
Street, George Edmund 2g^
Strickland, William 27g, 280
Stuart, James 281

Trinite

i<i6,

1^4,

195;

Piazzetta

^4,117, 1^6
Verona, Roman town 61
work ig2, 193-4
Versailles, 232, 233,

Louis H. 298, 304,

jo8, 309, J JO, 311, 31-2, 317
Summerson, Sir John 224, 292
Sydney Opera House jjo

307,

Richard 272, 273

Tange, Kenzo ^^4

Tara 99, 100

ic^6,

1^4;

II

Sanmicheli

2^4,

235,

2j6,

198, igg, 266, 275

Sterner

House 317

Abbey Church 2SJ

Vignola, Giacomo ig^, 196, igj,
206, 228

William of Sens 142, 143

William the Englishman 143
Williamsburg 260, 272, 2 75

161, 163

Wood, John the Elder 264, 265

Wood, John the Younger 264, 26^
Woodward, Benjamin 2^4

Greenwich Hospital 246;

246; Pembroke
College Chapel 242; St Paul's 180,
242, 24j;

Hampton Coun
196,

244,

24^,

261;

Sheldonian

Theatre 242

Wright, Frank Lloyd 310, J14, 317,

3i8,3i<),32o
Wyatt, James 289
Wyatt, Sir Matthew Digby 3 10
Wyatville, Sir Jeffry 289

Yamasaki, Minoru 328

Yevele,

259-60
Vezelay, La Madeleine 112, 113
Vicenza 197, ig8, igg; Villa Rotonda

Vierzehnheiligen

Wieskirche 254
Wight, P.B. 294

W'ynford, William 160

;

2jJ, 250,

Vienna 250, 251;

Taliaferro,

152

Doge's Palace
1^4; Libreria Vecchia 166,
ii)4;

Salute 1^6, 231; St Mark's 76, 77,

167
Sullivan,

i<,i,

i^g

Redentore 197; S. Giorgio Mag^

giore i()j, 197; SS. Giovanni e
Paolo 153, 156; Sta Maria della

Stupinigi 257
Soger, Abbot of St^Denis 135, 136,

298

242;
domestic architecture 228, 272; plan
for London 242; City churches 211,

264

Venasque, Merovingian baptistery

Stanislas,

25^3,

Worcester Cathedral 142, 160

Wren, Sir Christopher 171,

Sonning, Deanery Garden ^01

Southwell Minster 104
Speyer Cathedral 118

Inter/-

Wolfsburg, Cultural Centre 328

Wollaton Hall 224, 22^, 226
Wolsey, Cardinal 161, 220

249, 266

Vendome, La

Dulles

Philip 298, 2gg, 300

Chapel

303

Vaux'lc/'Vicomte, Chateau 231, 232

Protector 222

27^;

Winchester Cathedral 121, 160

Windsor, Castle 289; St George's

14

Skidmore, Owings and Merrill 331,

332, jj^
Smirke, Sir Robert 282, 2^7, 289
Smithson, Peter and Alison 332, jjj,

Capitol

national Airport 328

White, Stanford 304-5

Utzon, Jorn jjo

Skellig Michael 99

288

145, 146, 149

Ties Riches Heures du due de Berry 215

Turin, Exhibition Hall 326; Guarini
work 210, 211; Piazza Vittorio

Unwin, Raymond

St Mary's

Weltenburg Abbey Church 253-4

Westover (Byrd House) 272, 2J3

11 j

Urbino 177

V, Pope 200

276^

Wells Cathedral 129, 138, 143, 144,

Torrigiano, Pietro 220

Tutankh'Amun

117, 119

Thomas U.

Washington, D.C., plans 275, 276,

Webb,

Toulouse, St'Sernin

300,

Warren, Mich., General Motors Tech'

meal Center 332

Waterhouse, Alfred 292,

Tours, St^Martin 113, 118

Trdat 89

Seville

Sixtus

(TraS'

157,

Tournus, St'Philiben 108, log, 113

Sens Cathedral 127, 136

Serlio, Sebastiano 219, 224, 226

Norman

1^6,

Annesley

Charles F.

^02

336;

Toledo Cathedral
parente) 254, 2^6

Sicily,

projects

jj4

Scharoun, Hans 328

Schinkel, Karl Friedrich 281, 282

Cathedral 165

Voysey,

Warwick,
1J2

Tokyo, Imperial Hotel 328;

Senlis Cathedral 136

Vitruvius 29, 184, 238, 240, 267

Walpole, Horace 281, 28^

Tivoli, Hadrian's Villa 70

for rebuilding

Eugene Emmanuel

132, 296

Walter,
6f,

Todi, Sta Maria della Consolazione

5),

Pierre 262

Henry 160

York, Assembly

Rooms

266; Minster

76, 142

Zara, St Donat 89, 107

Zehrfuss, Bernard 328

Zimmermann, Domenikus 254

Zoser, pyramid of

^, 10, 11

Zwartnots, palace chapel 8g

Zwiefalten Abbey Church 254

359

^boUt this

Book

'Architecture

is

the product of a hundred circumstances',

writes Professor Furneaux Jordan at the opening of this

stimulating, wide-ranging survey. It is the product of
religion

and

politics, art

and technology, geology and

mate, and countless otherfactors.

must always place

of practical

cli-

The architect, moreover,

his creative imagination at the service

purpose^; he cannot withdraw into an ivory

tower.

Beginning with ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome, the

author shows how buildings, both in form and structure,
have always expressed the qualities and aspirations of the
cultures from which they sprang. The masterpieces of the
Middle Ages Byzantine, Romanesque and Gothic were
ecclesiastical, embodying a deeply religious outlook on
life. From the Renaissance onwards, architecture began
increasingly to serve secular functions, with the building
of great palaces and mansions and the advent, in time, of

town-planning schemes. During the nineteenth century

(on which the author is a specialist), the rapid spread of
industrialism, together with far-reaching social changes,
launched the first phase of modern architecture. And it was
the great Victorian engineers working in iron, steel and

glass who pointed the way to the future. Their railway

stations, bridges and warehouses were to lead eventually
to the International style which still flourishes in buildings
under construction today. Art and technology ultimately
united to

make

The author's

architecture part of a world culture.

lucid analysis of architectural styles, as they

have developed down the centuries, is fully illustrated by

photographs and by diagrams specially prepared for this
book.

Robert Furneaux Jordan (1905-78) was one of the leading authorities on the
history of architecture.

History

and

Design

He was Lecturer
the

in

Architectural

Association
School 1934-63; Principal of the Architectural Association
School 1946-51; Lecturer in Planning at the University of
London 1952-53; and Architectural Correspondent of
The Observer 1951-63. He wrote European Architecture in
Colour, Victorian Architecture, The Timber House and The
English House, and contributed frequently to architectural
periodicals.

Printed in

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at

Architectural