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FLA IE 1 
 
 
 li>iuhin.fuMrlifd h\- J.Ia^h>r Jtufk //.//■.•mJ'ihjjSLi. 
 
AN 
 
 H ISTO R Y 
 
 OF THE 
 
 OMGIN AN© ESTABMSHMENT 
 
 GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE; 
 
 COMPREHENDING ALSO 
 
 AN ACCOUNT, FROM HIS OWN WRITINGS, 
 
 OF 
 
 C^SAR C^SARIANUS, 
 
 THE FIRST PROFESSED COMMENTATOR ON VITRUVIUS, AND OF HIS 
 TRANSLATION OF THAT AUTHOR; 
 
 AX JNVESTIGATibN OF THE PKINCIPLES AND PROPOKTIONS 
 
 OF 
 
 THAT STYLE OF ARCHITECTURE CALLED 
 
 THE GOTHIC; 
 
 AND 
 
 AN INQUIRY INTO THE MODE OF 
 
 PAINTING UPON AND STAINING GLASS, 
 
 As practised in the ecclesiastical Structures of the middle Ages, 
 
 BY JOHN SIDNEY HAWKINS, F.A.S. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 Printtd by S, Gosnell, Little Queea Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields; 
 
 SOLD BY J. TAYLOR, AT THE ARCHITECTURAL LIBRARy,. 
 
 NO. 59f HIGH HOLBORN. 
 
 MDCCCXm. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Part of the ensuing Inquiry on the Origin of Gothic 
 Architecture was originally intended to have been given 
 in substance in a work undertaken in the year 1800, 
 and announced for publication by Mr. John Thomas 
 Smith. The whole of the letter-press the present au- 
 thor had engaged to furnish, as he accordingly did, and 
 the book was to have been entitled, " An Account and 
 Explanation of the Paintings and other Ornaments and 
 Decorations discovered in the Year MDCCC. on the 
 Walls of the House of Commons." In the proposals 
 circulated by Mr. Smith this intelligence had been pro- 
 mised for insertion in the then projected volume ; and 
 what was to have been there introduced on the above 
 subject was, as well as the rest of the letter-press, ac- 
 tually written and completely prepared, but it was 
 prevented by an accident from appearing in print. The 
 substance of what in the present undertaking relates to 
 the geometrical construction of the church of Milan, 
 and the discovery of the book which supplied that in- 
 formation, was designed also at that time to have form- 
 
 A 2 
 
IV PKEFACE. 
 
 ed, ill like manner, a supplement to the above-men- 
 tioned Account and Explanation, and to have consisted 
 of four plates, with as brief explanations as possible. 
 Proposals for tho publication of this supplement by 
 Mr. Smith, the plates by him, and the explanations 
 by the present writer, were accordingly also issued by 
 him ; but why the former species of intelligence has 
 not been included in the book which Mr. Smith after- 
 wards published in 1807, and neither that nor the latter 
 have appeared agreeably to the proposals, has been al- 
 ready sufficiently explained to the public on another oc- 
 casion. In performance of his engagement, by the 
 production of that information, which he then under- 
 took to supply, the present author has been advised by 
 his friends to give it to the world in the form of 
 this work ; and the above circumstances would not 
 have been noticed but for the necessary purpose of ex- 
 pressly declaring that what he then gave reason to ex- 
 pect he conceives himself still bound to perform, and 
 that it is his intention here to accomplish it. 
 
 Till the month of June 1807 it was not discovered 
 that the book above-mentioned was to make its appear- 
 ance with the omission of a portion of what had been 
 already prepared for it ; but when this fact was ascer- 
 tained, it was- also clearly decided, that after such a cir- 
 cumstance there would have been a manifest impro- 
 ■ priety in permitting what was meant for the supplement 
 
PREFACE. V 
 
 to have been usbered into the world in the manner stat- 
 ed in the proposals. On the contrary, the opinion of 
 those on whose judgment reliance might be placed was 
 strongly in favour of converting the whole into a sepa- 
 rate publication, on a plan which should combine and 
 unite the various objects at first intended ; and on this 
 step the present author accordingly decided. Three 
 years from the time of this resolution elapsed in the 
 preparation of drawings, not more numerous than those 
 of the present work, though of a large folio size, 
 which it was conceived the book then in contemplation 
 would require ; but the artist's engagements, together 
 with the necessary attention to accuracy in the mea- 
 sures, and other particulars, prevented him from com- 
 pleting them earlier. When thus prepared, at a con- 
 siderable expense, it was found that these drawings 
 could not be used, as the sum for engraving them was, 
 on a calculation purposely made, thought greater than 
 the probable sale of the book, if conducted in that 
 mode, would warrant. It became, therefore, once 
 more requisite to change the plan to that which has 
 now been pursued ; and in accumulating a great quan- 
 tity of additional information, writing the whole anew 
 accordingly, making and engraving fresh drawings, and 
 printing the letter-press and plates, the remainder of 
 the time to the present period has been completely oc- 
 cupied. 
 
VI PBEPACB. 
 
 From the delay, if it merits the name, because it 
 was dictated not by negligence but necessity, and took 
 place in opposition to the inclination of the author, no 
 injury, but, on the contrary, considerable advantage, 
 has arisen, as the subject has been at no time aban- 
 doned, and the pause in its progress has afforded the 
 means of acquiring, by degress, a variety of intelli- 
 gence which could not before be obtained. The cir- 
 cumstances which led to the separation of this from the 
 book in which it was originally intended to have been 
 introduced have also been no less beneficial, by render- 
 ing this an independent publication, and permitting it 
 to be now conducted on a much more extensive and 
 complete plan, with an increased number of plates, 
 eleven instead of four, and with greater attention to 
 the recommendation of style than could have been al- 
 lowed in the very limited and circumscribed space ori- 
 ginally assigned to it. 
 
 The nature, plan, object, and extent of the present 
 undertaking, together with the means pursued for the 
 attainment of those ends to which it was directed, will 
 be sufficiently obvious to the reader from an inspection 
 cf the abstract of its contents at the head of each 
 Chapter, and from consulting a very copious Index, 
 which for that purpose has been subjoined at the end of 
 the work. Any further observation, therefore, is wholly 
 superfluous^ than merely to remark, as may be doi\e 
 
PREFACE. Vll 
 
 with the strictest truth and justice, that more has been 
 accomplished than had before been attempted, and that 
 what some persons had apparently thought impossible 
 has here also been actually performed ; for that the 
 principles and proportions of Gothic architecture, which 
 had been termed, in reality, destitute of existence, will 
 here be found laid down on geometrical rules, with a 
 degree of precision sufficient for every necessary pur- 
 pose in the construction and erection of edifices in that 
 style. 
 
 In the course of the work, which necessarily contains 
 a variety of events, obtained from different authorities, 
 and is intended to convey correct information, the se- 
 veral sources of intelligence have been fairly disclosed — 
 a rule to© seldom observed in many of the publications 
 of the present time. By incompetent judges this will 
 perhaps be censured as pedantry, and attributed to a 
 wish to exhibit extensive reading ; but had such been 
 the object, the references might have been greatly in- 
 creased in number, if, instead of establishing the rela- 
 tions by the testimony of a few authors, as has here 
 been done, all the rest had been noticed in whose 
 writings the same circumstances had been found. With 
 persons of judgment no apology will be requisite for 
 thus endeavouring to satisfy their minds that the nar- 
 rations are entitled to credit, because they well know 
 the value and necessity of properly authenticating facts. 
 
Vlll PREFACE. 
 
 Every kind of assistance which the work has received 
 in its commencement or progress, from the labours or 
 communications of others, has to its full extent been 
 fairly and completely acknowledged, in the several 
 places where that assistance or intelligence has been 
 used ; nor does the present author, on a revision of 
 the whole, perceive any one omission of that sort. 
 Had any such occurred, it would have here been con- 
 fessed, as no ingenuous mind can be satisfied with as- 
 suming as its own what it did not really contribute ; 
 and from a variety of peculiar accidents, or a chain of 
 fortuitous circumstances, one man may become, and is 
 often, possessed of that knowledge which another has 
 unsuccessfully laboured to acquire. 
 
AN 
 
 HISTORY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 ORIGIN ANB JEBTABLISHMENT 
 
 OF 
 
 (gotijic 9ixt\)ittttuxt. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Various Opinions on the Origin of Gothic ^Architecture 
 examined — State of ^Architecture from its Introduc- 
 tion at Rome to the Reign of Constantine — Removal 
 of the Seat of the Roman Empire to Constantinople 
 — Buildings of Constantinople considered, 
 
 j\ UMERous have been the authors who of late years 
 have written on the subject of Gothic Architecture, 
 or that style of building which prevailed in the middle 
 ages, and various the opinions they have delivered on 
 the question of its origin. But so little success has 
 attended their labours, that the point still remains as 
 doubtful as ever, with the addition of so many more 
 impediments to be removed. 
 
 Caesar Caesarianus *, the earliest professed comment- 
 
 * Of this author, who is at present little known, a full account 
 will be given in a subsequent part of this work. 
 
2 HISTORY OP THE ORIGIN 
 
 ator on Vitruviiis, has taken occasion, in his transla- 
 tion of that author, published in 1521, to mention 
 Gothic architecture, which he styles German ; but for 
 this appellation he gives no reason. Whether he con- 
 sidered the Goths, to whom this kind of architecture 
 has since been generally ascribed, as a branch of the 
 Germans, because the countries which they inhabited 
 were situated on the northern borders of Germany, 
 and nearly contiguous to it, does not appear ; nor is it 
 discoverable from any thing he has said, whether he so 
 named that style of building, as conceiving it first in- 
 troduced into Italy either by William the German, in 
 the twelfth century, or by James the German, in the 
 thirteenth. The former architect was employed with 
 Bonanno, in 11/4, to erect the bell-tower at Pisa * ; 
 and the latter rebuilt the church of the Virgin Mary at 
 Assisi, which was finished in 1218 -j-. Vasari also terms 
 Gothic architecture ' maniera Tedescha:}:,' and Gothic 
 erections ' lavori Tedeschi,' at the very moment that he 
 attributes its invention to the Goths §. But the facts 
 related in the ensuing pages of this work will suffi- 
 ciently demonstrate that there is no good ground for 
 
 * Milizra, Vite de piu celebri Arcliitetti, 4to. Roma, l/GS, 
 p. 145. Felibien, Recueil Historique de la Vie ct des Ouvrages des 
 plus celcbres Architectes, 4to. Paris, iGS/, p. 197. 
 
 •f- Felibien, p. 217. Vasari, edit. Delia Valle, 8vo. Sienna, l/Ql, 
 vol. i. p. 255, styles this architect Jacopo Tedesco, Delia Valle, in 
 his Lettere Senesi, 4to. Venezia, 17S2, vol. i. p. 185, &c. has 
 advanced a conjecture that this church was not designed by James 
 the German, but by Nicola de Pisa. His arguments do not, how- 
 ever, sufficiently prove the assertion. 
 
 * Vasari, vol. i. p. 225. 
 § Ibid, vol, i. p. J 30. 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 3 
 
 supposing it derived either from the Germans or the 
 Goths. 
 
 Sufficient pains have not been exerted by the writers 
 on this subject, for the ascertainment of the facts on 
 which their conclusions depended. Whether the 
 architecture of those countries or nations in which 
 they imagined that style to have arisen bore any re- 
 semblance to the principles of the Gothic, they have 
 not shown by evidence ; and without the establish- 
 ment of this circumstance, the supposition can never 
 be successfully maintained. Nor do they, indeed, 
 by any means agree with each other in opinion, as to 
 what species was intended to be included in the 
 term Gothic. Some have thought that all the archi- 
 tecture of the middle ages, comprehending at differ- 
 ent periods the two extremes of excessive solidity 
 and rudeness, and equal lightness and delicacy, vvere 
 without distinction to be ascribed to the Goths *. 
 Others, without assigning any adequate reason, have 
 confined it to that sort which prevailed in most conn- 
 tries of Europe, from the time of the destruction of 
 the Greek and Roman stvle, to that period when 
 pointed arches were introduced -)-. And others again 
 have attributed it to that kind only which consisted 
 of pointed arches, and was in use till the revival of 
 the ancient Greek and Roman style which took place 
 in the sixteenth century j^. 
 
 On two grounds alone could the term Gothic be 
 
 * Bentham's Preface to his History of Ely Cathedral, inserted in 
 Essays on Gothic Architecture, 8vo. Lond. ISGO, p. 75. 
 f Ibid. p. 74. + Ibid. p. 73. 
 
 8 2 
 
^ HISTORY OP THE ORIGIN 
 
 properly applied to architecture — either because it was 
 introduced by the Goths, or because it bore some 
 resemblance to the style used by them. But in the 
 progress of this inquiry it will be found, that the 
 Goths had no peculiar style of building * ; and as 
 they could not be the introducers of what they did 
 not themselves use, the term is in every sense im- 
 proper. Notwithstanding this impropriety, it has 
 still, however, been found necessary, in the course 
 of the present work, to retain the term Gothic, when 
 speaking of that style, in order that the kind of 
 building intended may be perfectly intelligible to such 
 as know it by no other designation. 
 
 Fortunately, the variety of opinions is less than the 
 number of authors ; most of whom have only adopted 
 the sentiments of some former writer of eminence. 
 An examination of the principal writer's ideas will of 
 course settle the authority of those of his adherents 
 also ; and it is believed that of these all that are 
 material may, without any danger of omission, be 
 comprehended under one or other of the following 
 heads. 
 
 To prevent, however, any unmerited momentary 
 impression which, from the reputation of those who 
 have first advanced them, some of these opinions 
 might perhaps make on the mind of the reader, if 
 their refutation were postponed, it has been thought 
 advisable that every opinion should be immediately 
 succeeded by an enumeration of the objections to 
 
 * Milizia, p. 3 ; and it will be more fully shown in the ensuing 
 part of this work. 
 
 3 
 
OF GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 5 
 
 which it is liable. By means of this the reader will be 
 enabled to decide on each as he proceeds, and to 
 ascertain the degree of estimation due to the first, 
 before he begins to consider the second. 
 
 1. Some have thought that Gothic architecture was 
 derived from the Goths *, especially from Theodoric, 
 king of the Ostrogoths -{-. But the Goths, as has 
 been noticed before, never had a peculiar style of ar- 
 chitecture :[', nor are they ever mentioned in history 
 as the inventors or improvers of any art or science 
 whatever. On the contrary, they resisted instruction ; 
 and when it was proposed that a young prince, 
 their sovereign, then a child, should be placed under 
 the tuition of skilful preceptors for education, they op- 
 posed and defeated the intention, lest it should tend, if 
 carried into effect, to lessen his courage and abate his 
 ferocity ^. 
 
 2. Others have conceived that it came not from 
 the Goths but the Saracens, and was first invented 
 in the time of the Crusades || ; or, in other words, that 
 it is of Arabian extraction, and was introduced by some 
 persons returning from the Crusades^. 
 
 * Vasari, vol. i. p. 130. Evelyn's Account of Architects, p. Q, at 
 the end of his translation of Freart's Parallel of ancient Architec- 
 tt^re, edit. 1723. 
 
 f Ornaments of Churches considered, p. 83. 
 
 X Milizia, 4to, p. 3. 
 
 § Jo. Magni Historia Gothorum, fol. Rornse, 1553. Spoii- 
 ^anus, in his Epitome Baronii Annalium, vol. ii. p. l6, mentions the 
 same fact on the authority of Procopius. 
 
 II Sir C. Wren's Letter to the Bisho o Roches er, inserted in 
 Widmore's History of Westminster Abbey, p. 46, 
 
 ^ Grose's Preface, as inserted in Essays on Gothic Architecturej^ 
 
 B. 3 
 
O HISTORY OF THE OIIIGIN 
 
 To this, which seems to refer to the more delicate 
 and luxuriant Gothic alone, it is answered, that the 
 existence of any such building among the Saracens, 
 anterior to the introduction of Gothic architecture 
 into Europe, has never been shown ; nor has any re- 
 semblance been traced, from actual examples, between 
 Saracenic and Gothic architecture ; besides that the 
 leading principles of this very style are discoverable 
 in buildings erected in Europe long before the earliest 
 Crusade took place *. 
 
 3. Bishop Warburton has conjectured, that it owed 
 its origin to the Goths when settled in Spain, and that 
 the idea was taken from a grove of trees ^. 
 
 From his referring the idea of the Gothic to a grove 
 of trees, it is evident that Dr. Warburton could 
 only mean the luxuriant Gothic. But the Goths, 
 whom he supposes its inventors, were, so early as 
 the year 713, driven out of Spain J ; and, prior to 
 that, no such architecture as the luxuriant Gothic 
 existed ; nor are any of its leading features discover- 
 able so early. A grove of trees does not more re- 
 
 p. 103. He states this as Sir Christopher Wren's opinion, but 
 rejects it. 
 
 * The dome at Pisa, built in 1016. The church of the abbey 
 of Clugiiy, begun in IO93, See two views of the inside of this 
 church, Plate I. and II. of the present work j and some instances 
 from ornaments in mosaic, of so early an age as the fifth century, 
 Plate III. fig. 1, 4, 5. 
 
 •j- Eishop Warburton, in a note on Pope'^s Epistles, the octavo 
 edition, which is printed at length in Essays on Gothic Architecture, 
 p. 120. 
 
 X Spondani Epitome Baronii Annaliura, vol. ii. p. 178. 
 
OF GOTHIC AllCHITECTURE. 7 
 
 semble a Gothic than a Grecian building, because the 
 idea of columns themselves, in Grecian architecture, 
 was derived from that of a tree * ; and the Gothic, 
 or pointed arch, could never have been suggested by 
 observing the intermixture of the boughs, because itfe 
 geometrical construction had been already given in the 
 writings of Euclid, who lived three centuries before 
 the time of our Saviour •^. The latter part of this 
 opinion of Warburton is no more than an old error 
 new revived ^ ; and Warburton himself was but little 
 acquainted with Gothic architecture. When he found 
 he should have occasion to write on the subject, he 
 thought it prudent to make a journey to Southwell in 
 Nottinghamshire ^j for the purpose of viewing the 
 
 * Vitravius, book v. chap. 1. 
 
 f See it represented, Plate III. fig.^ in this work. Euclid lived 
 about 332 years before our Saviour. — See Helvici Chronologia, fol. 
 Oxon. 1662, p. 71j on the authority of Diogenes Laertius. 
 
 i It is said to have been the opinion of Raphael ; but is certainly 
 mentioned in a letter, which till lately was considered as the pro- 
 duction of Balthazar Castiglione. A pamphlet in Italian was how- 
 ever published at Florence, in 1799, entitled, Congettura che una 
 Lettera creduta di B. Castiglione, sia di Rafaello d'Urbino, the 
 object of which was, as its title intimates, to refer that opiniou 
 to Raphael, which before had passed for Balthazar Castiglione's. 
 The letter is stated in the paniphlet, as is also Warburton's opinion. 
 For this intelligence the present author is indebted to the Rev. 
 Mr. Crowe, Public Orator of the University of Oxford j who 
 having, in one of his Lectures on the subject of Gothic archi- 
 tecture, delivered at the Royal Institution, noticed the fact, v/as so 
 kind, on the application of a friend, as to furnish the present author 
 ■with this information and authority. 
 
 § Rastall's History of Southwell, 4to. Lond. l/S/j p. 54, or: 
 the information of a member of that church. 
 
 B 4 ■ 
 
8 HlSTOFxY OJF THE ORIGIN 
 
 church there, in order to obtain a sufficient idea of its 
 distinguishing characteristics. Whether Warburton 
 himself was afterwards satisfied with this opinion there 
 is some reason to doubt, as the passage is not known 
 to exist in more than one edition of his Commentary 
 on Pope's Works, and that published several years 
 before his death, though others afterwards appeared 
 during his life *. 
 
 4. Another idea has been advanced, that it came 
 not from the Goths themselves, but was so called, as 
 having its rise about the time when the Qoths invaded 
 Italy ^. 
 
 In order to form a correct idea, the style of archi- 
 tecture practised in the middle ages must be divided 
 into two periods : the former distinguished for ex- 
 cessive solidity and plainness, the latter for an equal 
 degree of lightness and delicacy. Milizia has properly 
 spoken of the former of these as the ancient;}:, the 
 latter as the modern Gothic ^ ; but the author of the 
 above opinion has not observed any such distinction, 
 and, indeed, seems to have had but a confused idea of 
 the subject, of which he has consequently spoken in very 
 general and indefinite terms. In point of fact, the 
 architecture used about the time when the Goths 
 
 * Warburton's note, in which this opinion is contained, occurs 
 in the octavo edition of Pope's Works, printed at London, 1/60^ 
 vol. iii. p. 327 ', and is inserted as an illustration of the twenty- 
 ninth line of his fourth Moral Essay, the words of which are, 
 " Load some vain church with old theatric slate." 
 
 f Bentham's Preface, as inserted in Essays on Gothic Arch\-» 
 lecture, p. 75. 
 
 i^ Milizia, p. 3. § Ibid. p. 4. 
 
OF GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. Q 
 
 invaded Italy, as they did first in the year 493 *, was 
 the same as had been practised before ^ ; nor was 
 there any material change till long after the year 553, 
 when they were driven from Italy J. 
 
 5. By others it has been supposed a gradual deviation 
 from the Grecian ; and the pointed arch has been 
 thought suggested by the intersection of semicircular 
 arches ^. 
 
 The former supposition is certainly much nearer the 
 fact than any of those opinions which have preceded 
 it ; but it is defective, as it neither ascertains the time 
 of the rise of this style, nor the causes which pro- 
 duced those deviations from which it is said to have 
 sprung- The latter is extremely objectionable, as it 
 rests on the improbable ground that a fundamental 
 geometrical form which occurs in the writings of 
 Euclid II , had been fortuitously discovered some centuries 
 after, in consequence of an accidental application. To 
 favour the conjecture, it must be contended that the 
 supposed inventor of this form, who could not fail to 
 have seen multitudes of such intersections, because 
 numbers of them were in existence long before, was 
 himself ignorant of the effect of that very application 
 which he yet had the judgment to approve, and the 
 skill to direct. 
 
 * Spondani Epitome, vol, i, p. 7OO. 
 
 ■j- See this more distinctly Bhown in a subsequent page of th« 
 present work. 
 
 ^ Spondani Epitome, vol. ii. p. 52. 
 
 ^ Barry's Inquiry on the Obstructions to the Arts, 8vo. Lond. 
 1775, p. 182. 
 
 II See it given as it occurs in his writings^ in Plate III. fig.-^*. in 
 this work. 
 
10 HISTORY OP THE OKIGIN ■> 
 
 6. Dr. Milner is of opinion that it was Invented in 
 England by Henry of Winchester, from the intersection 
 of two semicircular arches *. 
 
 Besides some of the objections already stated, which 
 apply with equal force to the present opinion, it is 
 liable to a multitude of others peculiar to itself. The 
 church erected by Henry of Winchester is not the ear- 
 liest in which the pointed arch occurs; for the church of 
 the abbey of Clugny in France, if it be still standing, is 
 principally constructed with arches of that kind, which 
 are placed in long ranges, sometimes on Corinthian 
 columns, and sometimes on Corinthian pilasters -J'. 
 Whether this edifice is still standing is uncertain ; 
 but it is known that the abbey of Clugny had been begun 
 to be rebuilt in lOQS J, and that the church was con- 
 secrated in 1131 §, that the building at Winchester 
 was not erected till 1136 ||, and that Henry of Win- 
 chester had himself been a monk in the abbey of 
 Clugny ^. In 1130, six years before Henry of Win- 
 
 * Milner's History and Survey of the Antiquities of Winchester, 
 vol. ii. p. 148 J an extract from which is given in Essays on Gothic 
 Architecture, p. 130. 
 
 f See two inside views of it in the Description particulicre de la 
 France, fol. torn. iii. seizieme livraison. No. 5Q. Copies froni 
 these are given in Plate I. and II. of the present work ; and some 
 other instances are mentioned hereafter. 
 
 + Spondani Annalium Baronii Epitome, vol. ii. p. 474. 
 
 § Ibid. p. 524. 
 
 II Bishop Lowth's Life of William of Wykeham. See Essays on 
 Gothic Architecture, p. 144. 
 
 f Godwin de Praesulibus Angliae, edit. Richardson, p. 21 6, in a 
 note on the authority of the Saxon Chronicle, Simeon of Durham, 
 and the Continuator of Florence of Worcester. See also Joanni* 
 Bromptou Chronicon inter Decern Scriptores^ col. 1023. 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 11 
 
 Chester built his church, Peter, abbot of Clugny, by 
 the king's permission, made a visit to this country, 
 and was very honourably received and entertained by all 
 wherever he went *. Henry of Winchester was not 
 therefore likely to be ignorant as to the progress of 
 the buildings at Clugny, or of what kind they were, 
 especially as, by his subsequent conduct, he seems to 
 have possessed a taste for architecture, which would 
 naturally have led him to make such inquiries. In- 
 stances of the use of the pointed arch in buildings ia 
 Europe much earlier than that at Clugny will also be 
 produced in the ensuing pages -j-. 
 
 7. Lastly, Mr. Dallaway declares his sentiments, that 
 it sprang not from the Goths, but the mere love of 
 novelty, and may have originated in the caprice of the 
 Italians, who were either really ignorant or fancifully 
 negligent of pure style J. 
 
 This conjecture does not pretend to derive assistance 
 from the authority of any one fact, for no one has been 
 cited, and it is in reality wholly unsupported. If ad- 
 mitted, it affords a very inadequate reason for any 
 change, especially for the introduction of new forms ; 
 it by no means ascertains at what period of time or in 
 what part of Italy such a variation from established 
 custom most probably first took place ; and is very little, 
 if any thing, short of abandoning the question in de- 
 spair. 
 
 * Chronicon Saxonlcum, edit. Gibson, 4to. Oxon. 1692^ 
 p. 235. 
 
 f See specimens from mosaic of the fifth century, in Plate III. of 
 the present work. 
 :. + Pallaway's Anecdotes of the Arts^ p. 2. 
 
12 HISTORY OF THE ORIGIX 
 
 An extraordinary degree of want of precision is ob- 
 servable in almost everyone of the foregoing opinions, 
 TV'hich renders it in some cases extremely difficult to 
 decide to which of the three kinds of architecture 
 before described, their authors conceived the appella- 
 tion of Gothic most properly to belong. Bat the 
 labour of ascertaining this further than has already been 
 done would be useless, because it has been sufficiently 
 shown, that, in point of fact, the opinions themselves 
 are not capable of being supported. It is more to the 
 purpose to say, in order to afford a definite idea of 
 the object of the present work, that the architecture 
 into which it professes to inquire, is that of the middle 
 ages, from the time of the decline of the science from 
 the ancient Greek and Roman style, to the revival of 
 that and the other arts in the sixteenth century. Of 
 this there were two sorts, the one plain, massy, 
 and ponderous ; the other of slender proportions, 
 luxuriantly ornamented, and light and delicate to ex- 
 cess. 
 
 From the time of its introduction as a science at 
 Rome, which is believed to have been but little anterior 
 to the reign of Augustus, to the latter end of his 
 reign, a period of upwards of fifty years *, architec- 
 
 * L. Crassus the orator was the first person at Rome who had co- 
 lumns of foreign marble before his house, Pliny, lib. xxxvi. c. 3. 
 Hoffman, in his Lexicon, says, he lived ninety years prior to our Sa- 
 viour. M. Sciiurus had three hundred and sixty columns at a tem- 
 porary theatre, and seems by Pliny to be considered as the first per- 
 son who introduced marble. Pliny, lib. xxxvi. c. 2. M. A. Scaurus 
 was consul one hundred and six years anterior to the Christian xra. 
 Helvici Chronolcgiaj fol. Oxon. 1602^ p. 79' But much attentioa to 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 13 
 
 ture appears to have been at Rome in a progressive 
 state of improvement; but imving then attained the 
 utmost summit of perfection of which it seemed 
 capable, it soon after began to decline considerably. 
 
 In the reign of Constantine, which commenced in 
 the year 30()*, and terminated in 336-}-, it had con- 
 sequently contracted a great portion of corruption, to 
 which the practice which then began to prevail, of de- 
 stroying ancient buildings, and transferring their ma- 
 terials to new ones then undertaken, in no small degree 
 most certainly contributed. As this method is discover- 
 able as well in heathen as Christian erections, and no less 
 in secular than in religious structures, it cannot justly be 
 attributed to the introduction of Christianity ; especially 
 when it is observed, as is the case, that the earliest in- 
 stance in which as yet it has been found to occur, is 
 the arch of Constantine, unquestionably not a religious 
 edifice, but erected by the senate and people of Rome, 
 to commemorate his victory over Maxentius, in the 
 year 312 J. 
 
 architecture does not appear to have been paid at Rome till the reign 
 of Augustus, which commenced forty years earlier than our Saviour's 
 birth, and continued fifty-six years. Helvici Chronologia, p. 83 and 
 85. Milizia, p. 2, says, that th« Romans in the latter times of th© 
 republic adopted the Grecian architecture, and that in the reign of 
 Augustus the imitation had equalled its original. As usual, he cites 
 no authority — a very faulty practice, which merits every species of 
 reprehension. 
 
 * Helvici Chronologia, p. q6. 
 
 t Ibid. 
 
 X Ciampini De sacria iEdificiis, p. 118, Spandani Epitome, vol. i. 
 p. 325. • 
 
14 HISTOEY OP THE ORIGIN 
 
 Ciampfni, in his Vetera Monimenta, vol. i. p. 13, 
 speaking of the ancient church of St. Clement at 
 Rome, which he describes as situate between the Late- 
 ran church and the theatre of Vespasian, says, it is his 
 intention to give an idea of its external appearance ; 
 but that, before he pursues his purpose, he thinks 
 it necessary to warn the reader by some cautions. 
 These, he remarks, apply not only to the church in ques- 
 tion, but also to all the rest of the churches of the 
 fourth and fifth century. They even relate equally to 
 some profane erections, and will, he adds, afford much 
 light in the examination of all such edifices. Besides 
 this, as they strongly tend to show the precise cha- 
 racteristics of the architecture of that period, it was 
 thought the insertion of the substance of them in this 
 place of the present work could not reasonably be dis- 
 pensed with. 
 
 When the liberal arts, says this author, were, to- 
 gether with the Roman empire, rapidly declining, so 
 great a degree of corruption and barbarity prevailed, 
 that columns, bases, and capitals, carved with the 
 most exquisite art, were every where cut out from 
 the noblest buildings of the ancient emperors. To 
 them were added shapeless masses formed by those 
 new masons rather than architects ; and these were 
 heaped one upon another, to the disgrace of the art, 
 and with rude and sordid barbarity. Hence, in those 
 edifices mjiy be seen at one and the same time many 
 things which contradict each other : such, for instance, 
 as columns of the same order, some with Corinthian, 
 some with Ionic bases, and capitals of both sorts ; the 
 pavement covered partly with sacred, partly with profane 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTUBE. 15 
 
 inscriptions, some of them mutilated and some com- 
 plete ; one and the same frieze or architrave, sometimes 
 very skilfully wrought, sometimes altogether barbarously 
 hewed out rather than carved. Of this, the arch dedi- 
 cated by the senate and people of Rome to Constan- 
 tine is an instance *, where the unskilfulness of that 
 age is manifest, since statues taken from the arch of Tra- 
 jan, and cornices, columns, and perhaps the very sym- 
 metry of the whole, borrowed thence, have been cor- 
 rupted by these masons with barbarous carvings, which 
 they have placed on the bases and above the curves of 
 the arches and elsewhere. From the conjunction of 
 works so dissimilar, the ignorance of those artificers who 
 flourished in the age of Constantine will more evi- 
 dently appear in proportion as these unskilful emboss- 
 ments of a latter age are compared with the very exqui- 
 site carvings of the preceding times. How great injury 
 architecture, as well as the other arts, had suffered from 
 the hand of Time is plain from these facts, since, in the 
 fourth century, when some sparks of the former skill 
 were still remaining, it had already fallen so much from 
 its ancient dignity. 
 
 Discordant combinations like these, comprising co- 
 
 * Spondanus, in his Epitome of Baronius's Annals, vol. i, p, 325, 
 speaking, under the year 312, of the erection of the arch of Con- 
 stantine, relates, that, on account of the scarcity of sculptors, the 
 principal of which had been converted to Christianity, and suffered 
 in the Dioclesian persecution, the stones for this arch were taken 
 and inserted into it from the arches erected to the memory of the 
 emperors Trajan and Marcus Aurelius, and from others of the 
 more excellent buildings in Rome. This, he says, is evident from 
 the difference of the workmanship. 
 
Ju.6 HISTORY OF THE ORIGIN 
 
 ' lumns of every order, and architraves and carvings of 
 
 all kinds, collected by these rude artificers from buildings 
 
 of emperors which had fallen down, and from temples of 
 
 idols destroyed, had been heaped up in new erections, 
 
 to the total disregard of the laws of architecture, 
 
 and appear also in several churches, as will be ob- 
 
 .vious to every careful observer. Of many others, he 
 
 .says, the ancient church dedicated to St. Lawrence 
 
 .in Agro Verano, by which no doubt he means St. 
 
 Lawrence without the walls, is one principal example, 
 
 .in which almost all the bases, capitals, and columns, 
 
 'are different from each other. On the frieze of the 
 
 pulpit or reading-desk are carved several vessels and 
 
 utensils which the gentiles used in their sacrifices, as 
 
 may be seen in a cut which he inserts ; and from this 
 
 circumstance he asks, would not any one conclude 
 
 that that piece of marble was taken from some building 
 
 of the heathens ? 
 
 The same author has also, vol. i. p. 10, produced 
 another instance ; for, mentioning the church of St. Paul 
 without the walls at Rome *, he relates, that the 
 columns of the middle nave are forty in number, that 
 they are of the Corinthian order, and placed twenty on 
 each side ; that sixteen of them are not completely 
 finished, but in some parts left rough ; and that of the 
 remaining twenty-four, fourteen are composed of two 
 pieces of marble. In the other naves the number of the 
 columns is the same, but they are of a smaller size ; 
 
 * This church, he says, p. 10, was first erected by Constantine ; 
 and afterwards enlarged, or rather raised anew from the found- 
 ations, by the emperors Valentiuian, Theodosius, and Arcadius. 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCMltECTlTKE. 17 
 
 and Severanus De Septem Urbis Ecclesiis says, that 
 some of them were taken from Hadrian's Mole. Ciam- 
 pini adds, that the same rule of architecture does not 
 appear in them all, and that this is also the case with 
 the bases. From this circumstance he conjectures that 
 the more finished ones were procured from the above- 
 mentioned building, and the more rude ones executed in 
 the age of Theodosius, and other emperors, when a 
 change much for the worse had taken place in the arts. 
 It is much to be regretted, that, in the application and 
 adaptation of materials so valuable, the architects of 
 the time had not also borrowed from the original build- 
 ings some of those excellent ideas of proportion of the 
 parts to the whole, and of the general distribution of 
 the several subordinate members, which the first de- 
 fiignefs had manifested in the construction of those 
 edifices. Had they availed themselves of this source of 
 intelligence, we should not, as now, have seen in the 
 above-mentioned church of St. Paul, Corinthian columns 
 of sixty feet high supporting semicircular arches of so 
 comparatively contemptible a proportion as about one 
 diameter and an half of the column in elevation, and 
 no more *. If arches had been intended, the columns 
 ought to have been further asunder, which would have 
 allowed the proper width and height for the arch above ; 
 or, if the present distance of the columns had been 
 fixed by any necessity, no arches should have been 
 introduced, but only a straight architrave resting on 
 the columns. 
 
 * See Piranesi's print from a painting of Paul Panink 
 C 
 
18 HISTORY OF THE ORIGIN 
 
 From the circumstances before related, it is evident 
 that gradual decline, in consequence of neglect or igno- 
 rance of principle, was not the only enemy against which 
 architecture had to contend ; and a variety of causes 
 contributed to produce, soon after, a succession of 
 events which greatly tended still further to accelerate 
 its downfall. 
 
 The exertions of Constantine for the advancement 
 of Christianity had met from the inhabitants of Rome, 
 who were pagans, decided opposition and resistance, 
 in consequence of their attachment to their ancient 
 deities; and it happened, that in the year 324, on oc- 
 casion of an annual customary procession of the army, 
 in honour of some of the heathen deities, to the 
 Capitol, Constantine was induced to express his senti- 
 ments against it in terms so strong as to draw on hint 
 the hatred of the senate and people, who regarded 
 their religion as insulted. Their execrations in conse- 
 quence appear to have been so vehemently uttered, 
 that in a short time he found a residence at Rome no 
 longer tolerable ; and he therefore formed the resolu- 
 tion, which, in the same year, he carried into effect, 
 of removing the scat of the empire. His first inten- 
 tion was to have fixed it on a spot near the ancient 
 Ilium, or Troy, probably adopting the idea of those 
 who have conceived that the Latin kingdom was founded 
 by iEneas and tlie other Trojan princes, who, after 
 the destruction of Troy, are supposed to have settled 
 in Italy. Here he had already made a slight attempt to- 
 wards laying the foundations of his intended new city, 
 when, discovering superior advantages in the situation 
 of Byzantium^ he changed his resolution as to the 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. IQ 
 
 place, and thither transferred his materials and work- 
 men *. 
 
 With the view of suppressing idolatry at Rome by 
 the removal of the objects of pagan devotion there, of 
 adorning his new city with as many of the finest re- 
 mains of ancient architecture as lie could procure, and 
 of lowering the importance of Rome as a rival, by 
 stripping it of those recommendations and attractions 
 which it had formerly enjoyed, Constantine had trans- 
 ferred from all the principal buildings at Rome statues, 
 basso-relievos, columns, capitals, and all such other 
 ornaments and members of architecture as could be 
 employed in the erection of those edifices which he 
 meant should enrich his new metropolis. These he 
 transported to Byzantium, the name of which he af- 
 terwards changed to that of Constantinople, taking 
 with him also from Rome all the ablest architects 
 and workmen he could procure, for the purpose of 
 rendering his intended capital superior, if possible, to 
 ancient Rome, in its full height of splendour -f-. 
 
 It soon, however, became evident, that the archi- 
 tects he had engaged were greatly inferior in skill to 
 
 * Spondani Epitome, vol. i. p. 354. 
 
 f Milizia, p. 12Q, says, that the emperor Constantine robbed 
 almost the whole of the empire of statues, paintings, bas-relfefs, 
 and the most valuable rarities in marble and bronze, to decorate 
 Constantinople, and render it a new Rome. Vasari, edit. Delia Valle, 
 vol. i. p. 215, says, that the ultimate ruin of the arts was accom- 
 plished by Constantine's removal of the seat of the empire from 
 Rome to Byzantium, because he carried with him into Greece not 
 only all the best sculptors and other artificers of that age whom he 
 could procure, but also an infinity of statues and other ornaments «f 
 the most exquisite workmanship. 
 
 C 2 
 
to HISTORY OP THE ORIGIN 
 
 those who had planned and erected the former buildings 
 at Rome ; for though, having obtained columns and 
 other materials ready wrought, nothing more was want- 
 ing than a judicious distribution and arrangement of 
 the whole, founded on the best rules of symmetry and 
 proportion, yet in these last particulars the erections at 
 Constantinople were extremely defective, and in no re- 
 spect to be compared with those which had existed be- 
 fore at Rome, as evidenced by the few which survived 
 the almost universal destruction there*. 
 
 If the architects of Constantine were deficient, as 
 they unquestionably were, in their knowledge of the 
 principles of the science, and in judgment to prefer 
 the approbation of the intelligent and judicious to the 
 applause of the uninformed, it is certain they were by 
 no means unacquainted with the facts, or disinclined to 
 avail themselves of them, that the number of compe- 
 tent judges on every point of taste is always extremely 
 •small, and that the multitude are easily attracted by 
 profusion of ornament. Real merit, arising from the 
 exercise of sagacity, and the nice adjustment of forms 
 and proportions, which could be estimated by a very 
 few only, was with them therefore a qualification not 
 worth the pains of acquiring : but as their object seems 
 to have been extensive more than solid reputation, they 
 
 "^ Milizia, p. 129, says that the architecture of Constantinople 
 was not good, but as much inferior to that of Roine as the situation 
 of Constantinople is superior to that of tlie turbid and 'crooked Te- 
 vero. — Teverone is a river in Italy, which passes Tivoli, and dis- 
 charges itself into the Tiber below Rome. Moreri's Diet, on the au- 
 .thprity of Maty, Diet. Geogr. 
 
OP GOTHIC AI^CHITECTURE. ^1 
 
 found it more to their purpose to employ splendour of 
 •decoration. Experience had shown, in the instance of 
 buildings at Rome, where it had been introduced, the 
 fondness of the generahty for variety of forms and co- 
 lours, and they therefore were lavish in the use of mo- 
 saic, a mode of ornament produced by bedding in mor- 
 tar pieces of variegated marbles, or variously-coloured 
 stones, so as to form a kind of pavement, in all the 
 diversities of form, pattern, and colour, that a capri- 
 cious and desultory imagination could suggest. This 
 method, originally invented, as it is supposed, among 
 the Persians, and from them transferred to the Greeks, 
 had, together with the first idea of architectural science 
 and decoration itself, been introduced at Rome*. But 
 though rich and dazzling in its effect when completed, 
 it is wonderful it should have been ever adopted, as its 
 progress in the execution must have been neces- 
 sarily so slow, from the iniquity of pieces of which 
 any one pattern consisted, that the labour of years 
 by a multitude of workmen must have been requisite 
 for the completion of only a very (^w square feet in 
 measure. 
 
 The churches of Santa Sophia at Constantinople '^, 
 
 * Ciampini, vol. i, p. 78, attributes the invention of mosaic to 
 the Persians, and says, that from them the art passed to the Assy- 
 nans, from these to the Greeks, and from the Greeks to the Ro- 
 mans, in the time of Sylla, as Pliny relates. 
 
 t Erected by Constantine in 326 j rebuilt in part, and enlarged to 
 its present size, by Constantius, the son of Constantine. — Ciampini 
 De sacris ^dificiis, p. 105, l66. Ciampini, p. l65, gives an extiact 
 from the Alexandrian Chronicle in the 2SJth Olympiad, which he 
 
 c 3 
 
22 HISTORY OF THE ORIGIN 
 
 St. Paul without the walls of Rome *, and St. Mary 
 the Great -f-, there — the former as exhibited by Grelot J, 
 and the two latter in prints by Piranesi, from the 
 paintings of Paul Panini — are adequate examples of this 
 style of building: but the remains at Constantinople of 
 any of the magnificent buildings of Constantine^ so 
 often spoken of, are so few ^, if any (for none but 
 
 says is the year of our Lord 36o, In the passage which he inserts it 
 appears that this church was consecrated on the 15th day of March ia 
 that year, which, as is remarked, was about thirty-four years after the 
 foundation had been laid by Constantine. It is more probable, there- 
 fore, that it was begun by Constantinej and finished by his son j but 
 there seems no reason to suppose that the son pulled down any part of 
 his father's building. Grelot, in his Relation d'un Voyage de Constan- 
 tinople, 4to. Paris, l6S0, p. 9S, affirms that this church, like the an- 
 cient ones of St. Peter and St. Paul at Rome, was at first only co- 
 vered with a timber roof, and that being, therefore, liable to damage 
 by fire, from which it had actually suffered in the reign of Theodosius 
 the younger, and of Justinian, the latter emperor resolved to rebuild 
 it entirely. This, Grelot says, he did from the foundation, changing 
 as well the form of the building as the material, and putting the edi- 
 fice into that slate in which, says he, it is still to be seen. — See Gre- 
 lot, p. 99. 
 
 * Originally built by Constantine, and enlarged or rebuilt, as it 
 now appears, by Valentinian, Theodosius, and Arcadius, about the 
 year 386. — Ciampini Da sacris iEdificiis, p. IO9. 
 
 f St. Mary the Great is said by Vasari, vol. i. p. 2 16, to have been 
 erected in the time of Pope Liberius, and to have been constructed 
 principally of fragments from other buildings. Liberius was Pope 
 from the year 352 to 3(57. — Helvici Chronologia, p. QQ. 
 
 i Relation d'un Voyage dfe Constantinople, p. 147, 153. 
 
 § Moreri, art, Constantine, says, Byzantium took the name of 
 Constantinople about the year 330, when it was dedicated or conse- 
 crated. He adds, that the buildings of Constantine there being 
 erected in haste, were destroyed in a short time ; and that a few ages 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. IS 
 
 those of his palace are recollected), and the appearance 
 of the erections now existing there is so far from splen- 
 didj that there is reason to doubt whether their supposed 
 excellence has not been much over-rated. 
 
 after the reign of Constantine, scarcely any buildings were found 
 there that were not modern. Moreri Diet, on the authority of 
 Tillemont^ Hist, des Emp. torn, iv.j aiid Banduri, Numism. Imp, 
 Bom. 
 
 C 4 
 
24 HISTORY OP THE ORIGIN 
 
 % 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Constantine's Buildings at Rome and elsewhere — Con- 
 stantinople the Resort of Artists — State of Rome 
 in cohsequence of the repeated Incursions of the 
 barbarous Nations — Establishment of the Gotlis in 
 Italy — Goths not the Inventors of what is erro- 
 neously called Gothic Architecture — Character of 
 the Gothic Buildings — Italy freed from the Goths — 
 Introduction and Establishment of the Lombards — ? 
 Character of the Buildings of the Lombards, 
 
 J. HE exertions of Constantine, which had for their 
 principal object the erection and establishment of a city 
 equal in magnitude and grandeur to the character which 
 he meant it should assume, as the seat of the Roman 
 empire, and the rival of Rome in beauty and magnifi- 
 cence, were yet not confined to his capital alone: Rome, 
 Constantinople, Capua, Naples, France, the Holy Land, 
 particularly in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem, Nico- 
 niedia, Antioch, and Heliopolis* (now called Betsames, 
 about forty-five miles east of Memphis in Egypt •^), all 
 partook of his attention, for in all of these he erected 
 splendid edifices : but at the same time it is certainly 
 true, that he spoiled the whole empire of statues, pic- 
 tures, basso-relievos, and the finest rarities of marble 
 
 * CiampiniDe sacris iEdificiis, throughout. 
 
 ■f Heylyn's Cosmography, edit. 1703, p. 854. Milizia, p. 103^ 
 says that Heliopolis was the ancient name of Ealbek, 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. ^5 
 
 and bronze, to decorate Constantinople, and render it 
 a new Rome * ; that the architecture of this latter ca- 
 pital was so far from excelling, that it was greatly infe- 
 rior to that of Rome-}- ; and that Constantine himself 
 cannot be regarded in any other view than as the first 
 who led the way to the entire ruin and subversion of 
 all the arts of design, and of architecture among the 
 rest. 
 
 Nor were the subsequent structures erected at Con- 
 stantinople or elsewhere, by the emperors Constantius, 
 Theodosius, Arcadius, and Justinian, his successors, 
 in any degree entitled to greater praise ; though, in 
 imitation of Constantine, and in pursuance of his de- 
 sign, these persons had shown themselves anxious to 
 fender this new metropolis as flourishing and magni- 
 ficent as ancient Rome itself, and for that purpose had 
 enriched their buildings with statues procured from 
 the spoils of Greece and Asia. Their workmen had 
 no adequate idea of the real merits of architecture, 
 and consequently failed in every attempt to express 
 them ; but, like the painter of old in the case 
 of Helen, what they were unable to render beautiful 
 they determined to make rich, and in that they suc- 
 ceeded. 
 
 No name of any one. of the numerous architects em- 
 ployed by Constantine in the erection of his new city is 
 any where preserved ; and, indeed, throughout the 
 whole of his reign, which lasted about thirty years ^, 
 
 * Millzia, p, 129. Vasari, vol. i. p. 215. 
 f Milizia, p. 129. 
 
 t He began to reign in 306, and ceased in 336, See a former 
 jiote. 
 
9^ HISTORY OP THE ORIGIN 
 
 one architect only is named as existing, and he does 
 not appear to have had any concern in the edifices of 
 that city. This man, whose name was Metrodorus, 
 was a Persian, and travelled from his own country into 
 India. There he erected some fortifications, baths, and 
 other edifices, and displayed a degree of science un- 
 known before in that country, for which the Indians and 
 their king rewarded him with many jewels of great value. 
 On his return to Persia, he, in consequence of the per- 
 secution of the Christians which he witnessed in his own 
 country, passed to Constantinople, and by means of 
 his riches, and the rare gems he possessed, acquired suf- 
 ficient favour and influence with the emperor Constan- 
 tine, to prevail on him, according to some authors, to 
 make war on the Persians in favour of the Christians *. 
 Miiizia says, he does not know that this person erected 
 ^ny of the buildings at Constantinople or elsewhere -}- ; 
 but if the fact were, that none of them were designed by 
 him, he might still, by the blaze of his wealth and the 
 dazzlingsplendour of his collection of jewels, either have 
 excited in the mind of Constantine a taste for embellish- 
 ments in imitation of precious stones, or at least have 
 contributed to confirm him in the resolution of employ- 
 ing, as he certainly did J, those decorations which 
 
 . * Milizia, p. I29. f Ibid. p. 130. 
 
 J Ciampini De sacris iEdificiis, p. 1/5, says, on the authority of 
 Codinus, that the church of St. Stephen at Constantinople was erect- 
 ed by Constantine, but that Leo the Philosopher reduced it to a 
 smaller size, and transferred the materials — columns, marbles, and 
 mosaic — to the church of All Saints, built by himself. The same 
 autlior, p. 176, relates, that the church of St. Euphemia, in the 
 JjQrse- course at Constantinople, was built and adorned with pre*' 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 37 
 
 afterwards were adopted as the principal recommenda- 
 tions of architecture. 
 
 Neither are the names of architects employed in the 
 subsequent periods in that neighbourhood by any means 
 numerous; as, from the time of Constantine, who died 
 in 336 *, to the end of the reign of Justinian, in 565 -f-, 
 only nine architects are named by Milizia, as engaged 
 in erections in that part of the world, most, if not all, 
 of them apparently Greeks. To Alyppius of Antioch 
 was committed, under the reign of the emperor Julian, 
 in the year 363, the rebuilding of the temple at Jeru- 
 salem, or rather the attempt, for it did not succeed J, 
 Ciriades was employed by the emperor Theodosius, 
 who began to reign in 379^, to erect a new basilica or 
 court of justice, and a bridge ]|. Entinopus of Candia 
 was the original builder of Venice, in 420 ^. Eterius 
 was architect to the emperor Anastasius, who reigned 
 in 491 **j and built for him in the great palace at Con- 
 stantinople an erection called Chalci, probably a saloon, 
 says Milizia-f-j-. And by Anthemius of Tralli, a city 
 
 clous marbles by Constantine. In p. l6s an extract from Euse- 
 bius is given, in which it is asserted, that, after his victory over 
 the Persians, Constantine erected at Constantinople a church in me- 
 mory of the martyrdom of the Apostles ; and when he had raised 
 the building to an immense height, he rendered it splendid by various 
 kinds of stones, encrusting it with marble from the ground quite up 
 to the vaulting. 
 
 * Helvici Chronologia, p. 96. f Ibid. p. IO6. 
 
 J Milizia, p. 130. § Helvici Chronologia, p. 98, 
 
 fl Militia, p. 130. ^ Ibid. p. 131 
 
 ** Helvici Chronologia, p. 102, 
 
 •j-f Milizia, p, 134. As X«\-/.o; is used by some authors to express 
 arms in genera), and by others to imply brazen coin or money 
 
28 HISTORY OF THE ORIGIN 
 
 of Lydia-}-, and Isidore of Miletus J, was the church of 
 Santa Sophia at Constantinople built, in the time of 
 Justinian^, who began his reign in 527 ||. Of this 
 church, Milizia, p. 1S5, relates, that, when first erected 
 by Constantine, it had only a timber roof; that it was 
 afterwards burnt, and repaired at the expense of the 
 Other emperors, and of Theodosius ; and that Justinian 
 set himself to construct a more splendid edifice, and, 
 when he saw it completed, exclaimed with joy, ^* I have 
 surpassed thee, O Solomon ^ !" But Milizia remarks, 
 that the bases and capitals to the cokimns have no re- 
 semblance of the Grecian orders** : so much, says he^ 
 had good architecture degenerated in the neighbourhood 
 where it had first risen, and where it liad at one time 
 
 (see Scapula's Lexicon), it is much more probable that this edifice 
 was an armory or treasury. 
 
 f Milizia, p. 135. 
 
 J Ibid. p. 137 and 135. 
 
 § Ibid. p. 135. 
 
 II Helvici Chronologia, p. 104. 
 
 •j[ Grelot, p. 99, relates the same fact ; to which he adds, that 
 Justinian employed for seventeen years, during which he was en- 
 gaged in the erection and completion of this church, all the revenue* 
 of Egypt, which amounted then to no less than two millions of gold 
 a year, and must be considered as a very large sum for that time. 
 The same author also notices, p. 101, that, as to the body of the 
 building, it still continued in his time the same as it had been from 
 the period when it was rebuilt by Justinian. 
 
 ** Grelot, p. 151, speaking of four large columns of Egyptian 
 granite in this church, which are forty feet high and all of one piece, 
 says that their capitals are of a particular order, which may be named 
 barbarous Greek. He adds, that the artist had endeavoured to imi- 
 tate the acanthus, but, had succeeded very ill, though it is true that 
 (the delicacy with which they ^re cut is admirable. 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 2§ 
 
 made its great progress. From his description of the 
 building, which is very particular, it appears that the 
 cupola and pavement are ornamented with mosaic, and 
 the walls with painting. Isidore of Constantinople, the 
 nephew of Isidore of Miletus, built, in conjunction 
 with John of Miletus, the city Zenobia in Syria * ; 
 and Crises was of Alexandria, and flourished in the 
 sixth century -|~; but Milizia does not notice any work 
 in which he was employed. Vegetius asserts, that more 
 than five hundred architects were employed by Justinian 
 to repair buildings in decay, and erect new ones in se- 
 veral of the provinces then lately acquired from the 
 emperor of the West ^ : but it is probable, he reckons 
 in the number all those persons who were employed in 
 the construction of buildings, such as masons and others, 
 instead of confining the appellation to those alone who 
 designed the edifices, and superintended their erection. 
 Constantinople was now become what Rome had be- 
 fore been, the resort of men of skill in each profession 
 and of all countries. Artists of every kind were at- 
 tracted thither from various parts, particularly Greece — ■ 
 an advantage which it seems to have enjoyed to a much 
 later period, as in the tenth century it was still consi- 
 dered as the Athens of the Italians §. But while Con^ 
 
 * Milizia, p. 137. f Ibid, + Ibid. 
 
 § Lettere Senesi, 4to. Venezia, 1782, vol. i. p. 179. Leo Os* 
 tiensis, in his Chronicle of the Monastery of Cassino, 1. iii. c, 28, re- 
 lates, that in the year 1060^ Desiderius, abbot of Monte Cassino, 
 greeted a new church in honour of St. Benedict, and sent emissa- 
 ries to Constantinople to hire artificers skilful in the art of mosaic, 
 vhich for fifty years and more the study of the Latin language had 
 caused to be neglected.— Ciampini Vet. Mon. vol, ii. p, I04j an4 
 ^in, p. 117. 
 
80 HISTORY OB' THE ORIGI!!«' 
 
 stantlnople, the new metropolis of the empire, was 
 thus rising to fame, Rome, the former capital, at one 
 time the mistress of the world, had been from the time 
 of Constantine's removal sinking in equal proportion in 
 reputation and importance. Her buildings, as spoiled 
 by Constantine of their principal ornaments, remained 
 unrepaired ; few new edifices, or re-erections of former 
 ones, had been undertaken, and the incursions of the 
 Goths and Vandals at different periods not long after, 
 repeated with small intermission, and attended with all 
 the havoc and devastation of war, contributed still fur- 
 ther to deface and destroy those examples of ancient 
 skill and science which had already lost much of their 
 beauty from the treatment they had experienced from 
 Constantine. It is true, indeed, that the emperor 
 Theodosius, even when most strenuously labouring the 
 extirpation of paganism, still preserved from destruc- 
 tion all such statues as were the productions of the 
 more excellent artists, because they were public orna- 
 ments of the city, contenting himself only with prohi- 
 biting the use of them as objects of adoration *. But 
 the Goths, by whom Rome was afterwards captured, 
 observed no such distinction, and what he had thus 
 spared was accordingly by them afterwards demolished ; 
 for about the year 409, Alaric, king of the Goths, be- 
 sieged Rome, for the possession of which he had long 
 thirsted -}-. His real motive was to revenge himself on 
 the emperor Theodosius for the death of Stilico, an 
 ambitious and turbulent nobleman, who had been as- 
 sassinated in an unsuccessful attempt to dethrone the 
 
 * Spondani Epitome, vol. i. p. 524, f Ibid. vol. i. p. 585, 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 31 
 
 emperor. But to disguise this, he pretended himself 
 urged by a divine commission to the destruction of the 
 City on account of its idolatry ; for the Goths from so 
 early a period as the reign of Constantine were Chris- 
 tians, though they afterwards espoused and adopted 
 the heretical tenets of Arius -{-. In the next year, 410, 
 he obtained possession of it ; and though he spared all 
 who took refuge in St. Peter's church, he yet gave up 
 the city to three days', or, as some say, to six days' 
 plunder ^ ; in which, without doubt, multitudes of 
 the finest statues and temples, because they were hea^ 
 then, must have perished. A like fate it again un- 
 derwent about the year 455, from Genseric, king of 
 the Vandals, who had been invited into Italy by the 
 empress Eudocia, to revenge the murder of her first 
 husband, Valentinian, upon Petronius Maxim us, her 
 second, the usurper of his empire ; and on this last 
 occasion the plunder of the city lasted fourteen days §. 
 It again, in 475, experienced a similar treatment from 
 Odoacer, king of the Heruli, whose assistance had 
 been solicited by Nepos, the emperor, for the purpose 
 of punishing the rebellion of Orestes, a patrician, who 
 had, at Ravenna, caused his own son Momyllus to be pro- 
 claimed emperor, by the name of Augustulus ||, and 
 proceeded to open hostility. After the taking of Rome, 
 Odoacer succeeded, in 47 6, in establishing himself at 
 
 f Spondanus, in his Epitome of Baronius's Annals, vol. i.p. 482, 
 under the year 370, says that the Goths became Christians in the 
 time of Constantine, by whom tliey were vanquished ; but that Ul- 
 philas, bishop of the Goths, seduced them to Arianisra. 
 
 X Spondani Epitome, vol. i. p. 586. § Ibid. vol. i. p. 66g. 
 
 ft Ibid. vol. i. p. 683. 
 
32 HISTOKY OF THE ORIGIN 
 
 Ravenna as king of Italy f, but was dispossessed o^ 
 his throne, and soon after of his hfe, by Theodoric, 
 king of the Goths, in 493 :j: ; and this of Theodoric 
 was the first actual settlement of the Goths in Italy, 
 Rome's greatest destruction, however, took place in 
 the reign of Justinian, about the year 547 §> when To- 
 tila, king of the Goths, in prosecution of a war 
 which had then already lasted twelve years, between the 
 Goths and the emperors of Constantinople, obtained 
 possession of Rome, and, in revenge for the emperor 
 Justinian's refusal of his offers for peace, had deter- 
 mined to level it with the ground. This resolution he 
 had in part accomplished, but was induced to desist 
 from further demolition by the forcible remonstrances 
 of Belisarius, his adversary's general ||. 
 
 Although the conduct of the Goths in the instances 
 already produced tended much more strongly to the de- 
 struction than to the restoration of what had already 
 suffered, or the preservation of what still remained ; 
 yet when Italy, which they had thus desolated in the 
 various attempts to subjugate it to their own power, 
 had at length been completely subdued, they began to 
 think it merited a better fate than to be permitted to 
 continue in its then state of ruin. When Theodoric, 
 therefore, had obtained, in 493, possession of the king- 
 dom of Italy, and had found himself, not long after, 
 securely settled in his newly-acquired dominions, one 
 of his first cares was the rebuilding of most of the 
 principal cities, as some compensation for the damage 
 
 t Spondani Epitome, vol. i. p. 685. J Ibid. vol. i. p.70O. 
 § Ibid. vol. ii. p. 44. |1 Ibid. vol. ii. p. 47. 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 33 
 
 which that whole country had sustained from the reite- 
 rated incursions of the various denominations of barba- 
 rians *. In consequence of this, a new style of archi- 
 tecture has been attributed to him and the Goths; and 
 they have, though without reason, been considered as 
 the authors and inventors of that light and delicate 
 one which prevailed in the middle ages. Any like 
 this they do not seem to have used ; and it certainly 
 was not introduced into Europe till several centuries 
 after the Goths, as a nation, had ceased to exist. 
 
 In their own country the Goths had no archi- 
 tecture of their own-}-; they did not bring with them 
 into Italy any architects, painters, or poets, but were all 
 soldiers. When settled in Italy, they made use of 
 Italian architects, and in their architecture they pro- 
 fessed to follow the Roman style J. And, though in 
 the church of St. Agatha, at Ravenna, there is an in- 
 stance of a pointed arch over the head of our Saviour, 
 in a picture in mosaic; yet that church was built about 
 the year 400 |l, ninety-three years before the arrival of 
 
 * Jo. Magni Gothorum Sueonumque Historia, fol. Roma, 1554, 
 p. 326. 
 
 •f Milizia, p. 8, 133. Muratori, in his Dissertazioni sopra le An- 
 tichita Italiane, Svo. Roma, 1755, torn. i. part 2, p. 6q, says it does 
 not appear, that after the arrival of the Goths in Italy, in the sixth 
 century, architecture in that country was different from the Ro- 
 man. He adds, we have the testimony of Cassiodorus to the con- 
 trary, in a passage which he inserts, But he is mistaken in fixing 
 the arrival of the Goths in Italy in the sixth century, because it is 
 manifest, from the authorities before cited iii the present work, that 
 they were already settled there in the latter part of the fifth. 
 
 X Milizia, p. 8. It is not very clear what is to be understood by 
 the Roman style. But see this point considered in a future page. 
 
 H Ciampini, vol. i. p. 184. 
 
34 HISTORY OP THE ORIGIN 
 
 Theodoric in Italy. The picture is believed, with strong 
 reason, to be of nearly the same time ; and the archi- 
 tect, whose name was Gemellus *=, appears from his 
 name to have been probably a Roman. Besides all this, 
 the architects employed by Theodoric in rebuilding the 
 cities of Italy, were in no one instance Goths, but are 
 found to have been Boetius and Symmachus, both ap- 
 parently Romans, Cassiodorus, a Calabrian -|~, but all 
 three patricians of Rome J ; and Aloisius § , whose 
 country is unknown, though he might perliaps have 
 been a Greek, and procured from Constantinople, or 
 its neighbourhood. Ceitain it is, that from Rome and 
 Constantinojjle the marbles were brought with which 
 the buildings at Ravenna were decorated || ; and it is 
 most probable, that the architects themselves should 
 have been obtained from the same places also. 
 
 Vasari^ has characterized the productions of the 
 Goths in general, in the instance of painting, by say- 
 ing that the masters of that time used those caprices 
 and that folly which are still to be seen in old buildings. 
 The same happened, he observes, with respect to ar- 
 chitecture ; for erections being wanted, and beauty and 
 good style being entirely neglected in consequence of the 
 
 * Ciampini, vol. i. p. 1S4. 
 
 •^- Cassiodorus was born at Scyllacium, a city of the Brutii. See his 
 Life, prefixed to the folio edition of his works, Rothomagi, 1679, 
 p. 3. Hoffman, in his Lexicon, says Scyllaceum is a town on the 
 borders of Calabria, ihat it is also called Scylletium, and commonly 
 -Sqnilacci. He gives ;i^ his authority, Cluver, Ital. Ant. 1.4. c. 15. 
 
 % Felibien, Recueil Histoiique sur la Vie et des Ouvrages des plus 
 celcbres Architectes, 4to. Paris, 1O87, p. 142. 
 
 § Ibid. p. 137. Milizia, p. 132. || Jo. Magnus^ p. 338, 
 
 ^ Vol. i. p. 223. 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTUBE. 35 
 
 dieath of the artists, and the destruction and ruin of 
 their works, those who then applied themselves to 
 objects of this nature, did not erect edifices that had 
 any degree of grace, either in disposition, proportion, 
 design, or any other particular. Hence arose new ar- 
 chitects, who from their own barbarous nations intro- 
 duced that mode of building which we now, says Va- 
 sari, call German, and who executed works rather 
 worthy our ridicule, than calculated for their own re- 
 putation*, until abler artists afterwards invented a 
 style of greater merit, and more conformable to the 
 excellent antique. This manner, by which he evidently 
 
 * About the spring of the year 1 806, while the present author was 
 preparing the letter-press for a work, the pubhcation of which Mr. 
 John Thomas Smith had undertaken, he was favoured by Mr. Has- 
 1am, of Bethlehem Hospital, with the first information, and the loan, 
 through Mr. Smith, of Professor Ihre's Analecta Ulphilana dua- 
 buscomprehensaDissertationibusj prima de Codice Argenteo & Litte- 
 ratura Gothica, altera de Maeso-Gothorum Nominibus substantivis & 
 adjectivis : 4to. Upsaliae, l/O'p. In this book was an engraving, con- 
 taining a specimen from the Gothic version of the Gospels by Ulphi- 
 las, bishop of the Minor Goths in Msesia, or, to express it more con- 
 cisely, the Maeso-Goths in the fourth century. It was supposed that 
 this translation was in manuscript, and as old as the fifth or sixth 
 century, and that the above specimen would therefore decisively as- 
 certain the style of architecture used by the Goths, some nrcades con- 
 sisting of columns and semicircular arches being contained in it ; but 
 it has since been discovered, that the original book is not a manu- 
 script, but stamped with hot types upon vellum. See an extract from 
 Ihre's Preface to the Fragments of Ulphilas's Version of some Por- 
 tions of St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans, published by Busching, a( 
 Berlin, in 1773, as given in Henshall's Etymological Organic Rea- 
 soner, 8vo. Loadon, 1807, in the History of the Codex Argenteus, 
 p. 41 . As the age and country in which the original book wss thus 
 printed are wholly unknown, it could not be used as evidence, 
 
 P3 
 
36 HISTORY OP THE ORIGIN 
 
 means the barbarous manner he had before mentioned, 
 may, he adds, be seen in the structures erected by 
 them ; as, for instance, the palace built by Theodoric, 
 king of Italy, at Ravenna, another in Pavia, and another 
 in Modena, which are all of a barbarous style, and 
 more rich and large than well-designed or of good ar- 
 chitecture. The same, he remarks, may be affirmed of 
 St. Stephen's at Rimini, St. Martin's at Ravenna, and 
 the church of St. John the Evangelist, built in the same 
 city by*Galla Placidia, about the year 418; of that of 
 St. Vitalis, erected in 547 ; and, in short, of many other 
 monasteries and churches afterwards constructed by the 
 Lombards : all which edific-es, says he, are large and 
 magnificent, but of the most absurd architecture ; as 
 are also many Benedictine abbeys in France, the 
 church and monastery of Monte Cassino, and the 
 church of St. John the Baptist at Monza, erected by 
 Theodolinda, whom he erroneously styles queen of 
 the Goths, instead of queen of the Lombards. 
 
 After a residence of about sixty years in Italy, and a 
 war of fifteen, to expel them, that country was, in 553, 
 at length freed from the dominion of the Goths by 
 Narses, the general of the emperor Justinian, who 
 destroyed their king Totila, together with his whole 
 army*. In France and S[)ain they continued till the year 
 713, when in both countries they experienced a similar 
 destruction -j-. To them succeeded in Italy, in 568, the 
 Lombards, originally a branch, as it seems, of the Huns, 
 who, about forty years before, quitting their first set- 
 tlement in the island of Scandinavia, had taken posses- 
 sion of Pannonia, or all that tract since denominated 
 
 * Spondani Epitome^ vol. ii. p. 52, •}• Ibid. vol. ii. p. ITS* 
 
OF GOTHIC AllCIIITECTURE. 37 
 
 Hiingary and Sclavonia*. Hence they made an in- 
 cursion into Italy under their king Alboin j", who esta- 
 blished himself in this latter kingdom, and reigned 
 till 572, in which year he was assassinated J. On 
 the death of Clephis, the successor of Alboin, who, 
 after a reign of one year and five months, was slain by 
 his servant, in 573, his generals, thirty-six in num- 
 ber, divided the cities of Italy among them, which they 
 miserably depopulated in the contest for possession, 
 every where murdering the inhabitants, spoihng the 
 churches and monasteries, and killing the ecclesiastics. 
 To so great an extent had these ravages and enormities 
 reached, that they were reckoned among the persecu- 
 tions of the church, the Lombards being at this time 
 either wholly gentiles, or heretical Arians^. Weary at 
 length of the evils of a government without an head, 
 which had subsisted ten years, under their several 
 leaders or generals, the Lombards, in 585, determined 
 on electing a king. They accordingly chose for 
 their monarch Antharith, the son of their last pre- 
 ceding sovereign ; and because his own name was bar- 
 barous, they surnamed him Flavins, an appellation 
 which their subsequent kings, in like manner, after- 
 wards assumed II . Antharith died in SQO, leaving a 
 widow, Theodolinda, whom he had not long before 
 married. After his death she was elected queen, and, 
 in the month of May oQl, became the wife of Agilul- 
 phus, a Tauritanian general, an Arian. Having subdued 
 and destroyed his enemies, he established his kingdom 
 
 * Spondani Epitome, vol. ii. p. 67. 
 
 f Ibid. vol. ii. p. 6g. $ Ibid. vol. ii. p. 71- 
 
 § Ibid. vol. ii. p. 72, fl Ibid. vol. ii. p. 81^ 
 
 D 3 
 
34J HISTORY OF THE ORIGIN 
 
 in Italy ; for, excepting Rome and Ravenna, with the 
 other places dependent on them, all Italy, from the Alps 
 on one side to Rhegium in Calabria on the other, was 
 under his dominion. At the instance of Theodolinda, 
 he, together with all the Lombards, relinquished Pa- 
 ganism and Arianism, and became a convert to the ca- 
 tholic faith : in consequence of this he was baptized by 
 the name of Paulus*; and dying in 6l6, after a reign 
 of twenty-five years, was succeeded by his eldest son 
 Edawald, who being a minor, was committed to the 
 guardianship and tuition of his mother, queen Theodo- 
 linda. Under her administration the churches were 
 restored, and many donations conferred on religious 
 foundations; but the most celebrated erection was the 
 church built in honour of St. John the Baptist, at 
 Monza, twelve miles from the city of Milan; and from 
 that time the Lombards adopted St. John the Baptist 
 as their patron saint j\ 
 
 The structures of the Goths are characterized by 
 Vasari as large and magnificent, but of absurd and 
 extravagant architecture J ; and of the same kind 
 were, he says, the following edifices enumerated by 
 him as the productions of the Lombards : the church 
 of St. John at Pavia, built by Gundiperga, daughter 
 of queen Theodolinda, and the church of St. Saviour 
 in the same city, erected by Aripert, that queen's 
 brother, and who succeeded Rodoald, the husband 
 of Gundiperga, in the kingdom ; the church of St. 
 Ambrose at Pavia, built by Grimoald, king of the 
 Lombards, who dethroned Perterit, the son of Ri- 
 
 * Spondani Epitome, vol. ii. p. po. f Ibid. vc4. ii. p. 116, 
 
 X Vol. i. p. 223, 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 3Q 
 
 perto ; but Perterit being restored to the kingdom, 
 after the death of Grimoald, built at Pavia a nunnery 
 called the New Monastery, in honour of the Virgin 
 Mary and St. Agatha ; and the queen erected, with- 
 out the walls of that city, another, dedicated to the 
 Virgin Mary in Pertica. In like manner, Comperto, 
 the son of Perterit, built a monastery and church to 
 St. George, called. The Crowned, or Victorious, on 
 the spot where he had obtained a signal victory ; and 
 this monastery was also of the same style of building. 
 Of this kind also were the church which Luitprar J, 
 king of the Lombards, contemporary with king 
 Pepin, father of Charlemagne, built in Pavia, which 
 is called St. Pietro in Cieldauro ; that of St. Pietro 
 Clivate, which Desiderius, the successor of Astolfo 
 in his kingdom, erected in the diocese of Milan ; the 
 monastery of St. Vincent in Milan, and that of St. 
 Julia at Brescia. All these were constructed with 
 great expense, but with extremely barbarous and dis- 
 orderly architecture *. 
 
 From all that Vasari has here said, it should seem, 
 that the Lombards, as far as they were able, pursued 
 in their buildings the same conduct as the Goths ; 
 and in reality there appears to have been very little, 
 if any, difference of style between them. That, like 
 them, they made them spacious and rich, with the 
 decorations of painting and mosaic, may well be 
 believed; but there is reason to think, that either 
 their attempts at architectural decorations were 
 few, or that, whenever they were made, they were 
 
 » Vasari, vol. i. p. 224. 
 D 4 
 
40 HISTORY OF THE ORIGIN 
 
 far from successful : for not having, like the Goths, 
 obtained, either previous to their arrival in Italy, or 
 Subsequent to their settlement there, any fragments 
 of ancient buildings from Rome or elsewhere, and 
 not being in possession either of Rome or Ravenna, 
 from which such materials, when wanted, could have 
 been procured, they were reduced to the necessity of 
 employing their own workmen to design and execute 
 those ornaments, at which they vi'ere by no means 
 expert. In correctness and truth of proportion and 
 form, and nicety of workmanship of the several mem- 
 bers, the buildings of the Lombards must have been 
 considerably inferior even to those of the Goths ; 
 but in one respect they both agreed, and that was in 
 the immense solidity and unreasonable thickness of 
 their walls. This characteristic is so much to be re- 
 lied on, in judging of the degree of the architectural 
 science of their workmen, that it is extraordinary 
 Vasari, an architect as well as painter by profession, 
 should have left it unnoticed, especially as it long after 
 continued one distinguishing peculiarity of similar 
 erections. 
 
 Exorbitant and unnecessary proportions of strength 
 are indeed invariably the consequence, and certainly 
 the clearest symptoms of the decay of architectural 
 science, as they indicate a complete ignorance 
 of the principles and powers of geometry. But in 
 addition to this it will be found, that the buildings 
 of all nations, and indeed of the same nation at dif- 
 ferent periods, partake in a great measure of the ge- 
 neral character and disposition of the inhabitants them- 
 selves ; so that, from observing their edifices, no in- 
 
OF GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 4i 
 
 adequate Idea may be formed of their genius and pursuits* 
 If the buildings of any country are observed to be spa- 
 cious, massy, and plain, it is a sure sign that its in- 
 habitants have little idea of the comforts or elegance 
 of domestic life ; but that, on the contrary, they are 
 more addicted to the ferocious pursuits of hunting or 
 ^ar, and fully aware of the policy of creating a nu- 
 merous train of dependents, as the means of en- 
 suring the necessary assistance of numbers in time of 
 danger. If they are abundant in ornament, a propor- 
 tionable degree oi luxury and refinement may be 
 justly conceived as the propensity of the nation ; and 
 if their buildings are regulated by the laws of true 
 symmetry, proportion, and beauty, no one can justly 
 deny the conclusion, that the designers of them, and 
 the persons among whom they occur, are possess- 
 ed of true judgment and taste. 
 
 Both the Goths and the Lombards, as hostile in- 
 vaders of a foreign country, had, for a long series of 
 years, been engaged in war ; and, indeed, as to these 
 last, it may truly be said, that, till the commence- 
 ment of the reign of Edawald, under the admini- 
 stration of his mother Theodolinda, in 6 id, no atten- 
 tion had been paid to the repair or erection of 
 churches, or of any buildings apparently for the pur- 
 poses of civil life. By the chances of war, and the 
 alternate succession of victory and defeat, to which 
 they felt themselves constantly exposed, they were 
 taught the necessity of fortifications, as the principal 
 mode of defence, and of constructing the habitations 
 of their lords and leaders, not as elegant and orna- 
 mented residences, but as castles for resistance, with 
 
42 HISTORY OP THE ORIGIPf 
 
 a due regard to the probability of an attack from an 
 enemy, and the ultimate object of impregnable 
 strength. To them, therefore, strength to repel or 
 withstand the assault of engines calculated by their 
 immense power for their destruction, was the prin- 
 cipal, and, perhaps, almost the only recommendation 
 which a building could possess. They had not, like 
 the Goths, in any of their irruptions acquired materials 
 for the erection of edifices of any kind, and, there- 
 fore, were not confined to the use of ornament, or 
 to follow any particular style of architecture ; but, in 
 those instances, of which there were several at Pavia, 
 their capital, and elsewhere, in which they built public 
 structures for the residence of their kings, or principal 
 nobility, security for the lives and property of them- 
 selves and their families was an indispensable requisite ; 
 and buildings that would stand, unshaken, the assaults 
 of all besiegers, were more the objects of their choice, 
 than those in which greater delicacy of execution might 
 have been displayed. Nor was this by any means an 
 unreasonable precaution, as the event frequently 
 showed that the utmost military science which could 
 be employed on such an occasion, was not more than 
 adequate to the necessary resistance against hostile 
 invaders. 
 
OF GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 44 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Lombard Buildings, why massij— Lancet mndows., 
 tvhy so called— Conversion of Clovis, King of France 
 
 Structures in France by him, and their Character 
 
 Early Architects and Masons the Bishops and 
 
 Monks themselves—Cathedral of St. Denis built 
 ly Dagohert^Buildings of the Lombards in the 
 seventh Century commended by Felibien— Erections 
 in England in the seventh Century, and earlier 
 
 State of Architecture in France, from the seventh 
 
 Century to the Time of Charlemagne-^Naiton, 
 King of the Picts, sends for Architects— Roman 
 Mode of Building, what— Edifices in England in 
 the eighth Century— A splendid Chapel at Glaston- 
 bury constructed by King Ina— Charlemagne's Erec- 
 tions—Chapel at Aix-la-Chapelle— Arches in it, whe- 
 ther pointed— A Coin of Charlemagne's described— Its 
 Authenticity examined— Other Buildings of Char- 
 lemagne, 
 
 By perseverance, for a length of time, in a prin- 
 ciple of action, well adapted, perhaps, to one object, 
 the mind is apt to acquire the habit of transferring it to 
 others of a nearly similar nature, but where no such pro- 
 priety really exists. The principle of security, which in 
 the erection of palaces for the residence of their sove- 
 reigns, and of other public structures, as arsenals and ma^ 
 
44 HISTORY OP THE ORIGTNT 
 
 gazines for instance, hnd induced the builders to con- 
 struct them of more than ordinary solidity, had given 
 i^uch a direction and bias to the studies of the archi- 
 tects of the time, that they could not quit the idea of 
 strength, even when the edifices they were erecting 
 required, from their nature, no such quality ; and as 
 an Inattention to geometrical princi})les will naturally 
 lead to the employment of more solidity and strength 
 than is needful, their churches partook of the same 
 ponderous style ; a manifest proof of the decay of ar- 
 chitectural science. Thick walls, no more perhaps 
 than necessary in the construction of castles, were 
 hence introduced into religious edifices. Windows so 
 narrow as to afford no aim to the arrows of the be- 
 siegers, but yet sufficiently wide to give the besieged 
 the means of seeing and marking out for destruction 
 the most active and valorous of their opponents, had, 
 with the view of defence, been employed in fortresses. 
 But the idea was now transferred to ecclesiastical erec- 
 tions ; and though it is certainly true that the windows 
 of these last were considerably wider in proportion, 
 yet there cannot be a doubt that the long narrow 
 windows to be seen in such structures, were first sug- 
 gested by the circumstance above mentioned. The 
 appellation of lancet windows, which has been applied 
 to them, and which modern antiquaries have adopted 
 without understanding its meaning, is a sufficient 
 proof of their original *. This mode of constructing 
 
 * Olaus Magnus, in his Description of the Buildings of the 
 Northern Nations, about the year 1546, when he flourished (see 
 Moreri's Diet.), says, that the doors of the houses in the extreme 
 pans of the kingdom, apparently meaning Sweden, are purposelj 
 
OF GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 45 
 
 the walls of immense thickness, was so long practised 
 by the subsequent architects, that they seem at lertgth 
 to have been almost persuaded, that no building of 
 any considerable dimensions was likely to stand, in 
 which the walls were of less solidity than, in some 
 cases, six, and, in others, nine feet in thickness. 
 And although the kingdom of the Lombards was, 
 in 774, ended by the capture of Desiderius, their 
 sovereign, and all his army, by Charlemagne, who, 
 at the instance of Pope Adrian, had marched with 
 an army into Italy to expel the Lombards * ; yet 
 this style, when once admitted, maintained its ground, 
 though with different degrees of improvement, not 
 only in Italy, but in France, and other parts also, 
 till a general effort for the improvement of architec- 
 ture produced, some centuries after, a style as re- 
 markable for the opposite qualities of extreme light- 
 made narrow and low, that they may be less accessible to robbers and 
 enemies j he mentions turther, that, in order that such persons and 
 open enemies may be more successfully resisted, the walls are perfo- 
 rated with small apertures for the purpose of discharging arrows 
 through them. — Olai Magni Historia de Gentibus Septentrionalibusia 
 Epitomen redacta j 12mo, Antverpias, 1558, p. 115, &c. From a 
 similar use of such narrow windows in the military structures of 
 'le middle ages, and not from any reference which they could be 
 supposed to bear to the surgical instrument, a lancet, these window^ 
 have acquired the appellation of lancet windows, because ' lancette' 
 in French means a little lance or dart. It is so explained by Cot- 
 grave in his Dictionary ; and Du Fresne, in his Glossarium ad Scrip- 
 tores mediae et intimae Latinitatis, art. Lanceola, says, Lanceola 
 pieans a knife, in French lancette j and that Capitolinus, in bis 
 Life of the younger Maximin, uses lanceola to signify a little l^nce. 
 * Spondani Epitome, vol. ii. p. 214, 
 
4$ HIST©RY OF THE ORIGIN 
 
 ness, profusion of ornament^ and delicacy of work- 
 manship. 
 
 In all countries in which Christianity has as yet 
 been received, the change from paganism has been 
 immediately, and, indeed, necessarily followed by the 
 erection of Christian churches. Some few instances 
 of such buildings by particular individuals, may per- 
 haps occur even before the general conversion of the 
 whole country ; but whenever an universal change of re- 
 ligious opinions can be ascertained to h.ive taken place, 
 the inducements to ecclesiastical foundations will be 
 found to have operated forcibly on the minds of the new 
 converts ; and the number of such endowments will be 
 proportionably great. Clovis, king of France, then 
 a pagan, but afterwards the first Christian monarch of 
 that country, being, in the year 499, in great personal 
 danger in a battle against the Germans, made a vow, 
 tliat, if he obtained the victory, he would renounce 
 paganism, and embrace the Christian religion, to 
 which he had been solicited by the continued endea- 
 vours of his wife Clotildis. The battle having termi- 
 nated in his favour, and the danger which threat- 
 ened him being averted, he, together with a great 
 part of his army, was accordingly after the battle 
 baptized by St. Remigius, bishop of Rheims*. L". 
 consequence of this, he bestowed many donations 
 on the Christian churches of his kingdom then 
 already built, restored to them those rights and 
 privileges of which they before had been deprived, 
 and augmented their number by the erection of fresh 
 
 * Spondani ppitome, vol. i, p. 70/, 
 
OF GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 49 
 
 edifices. Among others, he built, in the year 507, 
 the church of St. Peter and St. Paul, without the 
 walls of Paris, since called St. Genevieve ; the church 
 and abbey of St. Peter at Chartres, and that of St. 
 Menin near Orleans ; many others were also erected, 
 either by order of this king, or during his reign. In 
 the year 542, or 559, ^is son Childebert, one of his 
 successors, erected near Paris the church and abbey 
 of St. Vincent, afterwards called St. Germain de 
 Prez; and Clotharius I. brother of Childebert, built 
 the church of St. Medard at Soissons, and about the 
 year 564 repaired that of St. Martin at Tours, and 
 covered it with copper *. 
 
 Although but few remains of these ancient edifices 
 are now existing, yet Felibien says these few are still 
 sufficient to show the state of architecture under the 
 first kings of France. The ancient square tower of 
 the church of St. Germain dePrez, at Paris ; and that 
 of the church of St. Peter, at Chartres ; which are 
 supposed of this time, prove, says Felibien, that the 
 architects sought no more in their buildings than to 
 give them all possible solidity, not regarding that 
 beauty of proportions or ornaments which evidences 
 knowledge in design. With this, indeed, they had 
 little acquaintance, though it is the foundation of all 
 that is excellent and beautiful in architecture. The 
 workmen employed for the construction of these edi- 
 fices were of no other sort than mere masons, who had 
 no more science than what arose from practice in pre- 
 paring cement and choosing good materials, in which, 
 
 * Felibien, p. 143, 
 
48 HISTORY OF THE ORIGIN 
 
 it is true, they used such precautions, that nothing can 
 be more solid than what they have erected. Such per- 
 sons do not merit the appellation of architects, and few 
 of the laity deserved that rank under the earliest kings 
 of France ; for the laity applied themselves to the pro- 
 fession of war, necessarily indeed, considering the 
 temper and character of those times, and relinquished 
 to the clergy the cultivation of the sciences *. 
 
 Whoever considers the uniform system of destruc- 
 tion which had prevailed from the time of Constantine 
 to a much later period, in tearing from one build- 
 ing those materials ready wrought which were wanted 
 for the erection of another, cannot be surprised at find- 
 ing a total ignorance of the principles of architecture, 
 the necessary consequence of such conduct. What they 
 could thus procure in a fit state for immediate appli- 
 cation, it was not probable the workmen should bestow 
 labour and time to design for themselves and cut out 
 from the block ; and when it was no longer necessary 
 for them to describe these forms by rule in order to their 
 being cut out from the mass, it was an idle and useless 
 speculation to inquire how they might be produced. 
 That science which is never likely to be called into use, 
 will in general not be acquired or sought for ; and that 
 intelligence which is not kept alive by practice, will soon 
 be forgotten. 
 
 In France the early monks themselves actually work- 
 ed as masons and artificers of all kinds, in the erection 
 of their monasteries -{-, the most intelligent amongst 
 
 ♦ Felibien, p. 145. 
 
 f This was not peculiar to France : in the church of St. Galgano^ 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 49 
 
 them being employed to conduct and superintend such 
 operations, without making use of the assistance of secu- 
 lars. The superiors often furnished the designs, and 
 acted as directors and surveyors of the work ; and so far 
 was this from degrading the clerical character, that many 
 bishops are found to have been the architects and designers 
 of the churches which they erected. Gregory of Tours 
 mentions one of his predecessors, Leon, bishop of 
 Tours, as an architect, and says he had seen edifices 
 conducted by him. St. Germain, bishop of Paris, de- 
 signed the church which Childebert built near that 
 city in honour of St. Vincent, since called St. Ger- 
 main's, from ihe name of the designer. This bishop 
 was sent by Childebert to Angers, to erect there a church 
 in honour of St. Germain, bishop of Auxerre ; and 
 after finishing that, the same prelate built a monastery 
 at Mans, and some others in different places. St. 
 Avitus, bishop of Clermont, in Auvergne, erected the 
 
 distant about twenty miles from Sienna, which was finished in 1268, 
 more than eighty monks worked. — Delia Valle, Lettere Senesi, vol. ii. 
 p. 18. None but ecclesiastics and the members of the monastery were 
 employed in rebuilding the church of the Virgin Mary at Dunes in 
 Flanders, They amounted to more than 400 persons, and some of 
 them applied themselves to making the designs, some to the paint- 
 ings, some to the sculpture, and others to the masons', carpenters*, 
 joiners', and locksmiths' work ; and to the other arts dependent o.i 
 architecture. — Felibien, p. 214. This rebuilding was begun in 1214. 
 Gervase of Canterbury relates, that after the fire in the cathedral of 
 Canterbury in 1174, William de Sens, the architect, having been 
 materially hurt by a fall, committed the care of proceeding with the 
 work till his recovery to a young monk of that foundation, who pre- 
 sided over the masons. — See Gervasius Dorobernensis inter Decerai 
 Scriptores Hist. Angl. col. 1299. 
 
 £ 
 
50 HISTORY OP THE ORIGIN 
 
 churches of Notre Dame du Port and St. Genez de 
 Thier, and rebuilt that of St. Anatolia there, which 
 before was in danger of falling. Ferreol, bishop of 
 Limoges, caused njany churches in his diocese to be 
 repaired ; and St. Dalmatius, bishop of Rhodes, em- 
 ployed himself in architecture, and began to rebuild 
 his cathedral, but pulled it down so often, as not 
 thinking it sufficiently rich, that he left it unfinished at 
 his death. St. Agricola, bishop of Chalons on the 
 Saone, also superintended the erection of the churches 
 which he caused to be built in his diocese, particularly 
 his cathedral, which was adorned with columns, and 
 enriched with marble, mosaic-work, and painting ; and 
 this circumstance shows, says Felibien, that the French 
 endeavoured to add beauty to solidity in their edifices. 
 These two last bishops lived in the reign of Chilperic I. 
 and flourished about the year 6oo ; as did also Gre - 
 gory, bishop of Tours, who rebuilt the church of St. 
 Martin, and several others in his diocese. About this 
 time also Guntran, king of Burgundy, Childebcrt II. 
 king of Austria, and Chilperic I. turned their atten- 
 tion to the building of churches in their dominions ; 
 the most magnificent of which were those which Gun- 
 tran caused to be built at Chalons upon the Saone, in 
 honour of St. Marcellus ; and that which Childebert 
 ordered to be erected near Beauvais, in honour of St. 
 Lucien *. 
 
 The reign of Clotharius II. the son of Chilperic, 
 who, in 6 14, became sole king of France 'J-, was parti- 
 
 * Felibien, p. 146, Sec f Spondani Epitome, vol. ii. p. 114, 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 61 
 
 cularly favourable to the progress of the arts, and of 
 architecture among the rest; because, after having ef- 
 fected his first object, the establishment of peace in his 
 dominions, he directed his next efforts to the civiliza- 
 tion of the manners of his subjects, and to the abate- 
 ment of that rudeness and ferocity which their con- 
 tinual application to the profession of war had a tend- 
 ency to excite and keep alive. Under a reign so fa- 
 vourable, no one of the arts could fail of making some 
 considerable advances, though but little is known of the 
 history of architecture in that kingdom till Dagobert, 
 the son and successor of Clotharius, built the church 
 of St. Denis, the richness of which Felibien says is 
 sufficient to prove the magnificence which blazed in 
 the monuments of piety left by both those kings '^, 
 This church of St. Denis was begun by Dagobert about 
 628, and was decorated with a number of marble 
 columns : the vaultings and arcades, all the walls, and 
 even the columns themselves, were covered with rich 
 tapestry, heightened with gold, and with pearls and 
 other precious stones, which, as the building itself was 
 not large, appeared witli so much the greater splen- 
 dour. And this method was practised in most of 
 the churches built at that time-|- ; but no names of ar- 
 chitects are known till the eighth century J. 
 
 On reviewing the buildings of this period, Felibien 
 declares it as his opinion, that the edifices which the 
 Lombards constructed in Italy during the seventh cen- 
 tury, about the year 6o6, ought to be ranked among 
 the most magnificent of the time; particularly the 
 
 * Felibien, p. 156. f Ibid. p. 158. J Ibid. p. 159. 
 
 E 2 
 
52 HISTORY OP THE ORIGIN 
 
 church of St. John, which queen TheodoUnda caused 
 to be built at Monza, twelve miles from Milan; and he 
 adds, that the churches, which, about 672, king Perteric 
 and queen Rodelinda his wife, commauded to be built 
 at Pavia and Perugia, still passed for very sumptuous 
 structures*. 
 
 In England, among the Mercians at least, Felibien 
 observes, numbers of churches and monasteries were 
 built ; and that one very considerable, called Medeham- 
 stead, was erected about 674. Of this, Sexulphus, abbot 
 of the place, and afterwards bishop of the Mercians, 
 who caused it to be constructed, himself took, the princi- 
 pal conduct -|~. Though it is not intended here to give a 
 complete enumeration of instances, yet, as Felibien has 
 only mentioned Medehamstead, since called Peterbo- 
 rough, and some particulars worthy of attention are to 
 be found respecting other structures, it has been judged 
 necessary to notice some of these. 
 
 Matthew of Westminster J, under theyear 522, speaks 
 of king Arthur as having been at York in that year ; and 
 says, that, on observing the desolate state of the ecclesi- 
 astical edifices, he summoned a council, in consequence 
 of which he determined to repair the churches through- 
 out the whole island of Britain. This he is said by 
 the same author to have afterwards done; which, if 
 true, must certainly be understood to imply the exist- 
 ence of such erections, even prior to that time 1|. Bcde, 
 
 * Felibien, p. lOO. f Ibid. p. I6O. 
 
 J Flores Historiarum, fol. Francof. I00l,p. 98. 
 
 II Aurelius, in 488, repaired the churches in Britain, and sent for 
 artificers, masons, ' caementarios,' and carpenters, ' lignarios,' for that 
 purpose. — Matthew of \Ve?tmiivster, sub anno 486. 
 
OF GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 53 
 
 in his Ecclesiastical History, book iv. chap. 4 *, speak- 
 ing of the arrival, in 565, of St. Coliimban from Ireland 
 to preach to the northern Picts, adds, that the southern 
 Picts had long before been converted by Nyma, a bishop 
 of the British nation, who had received a regular educa- 
 tion at Rome, the seat of whose bishopric was dig- 
 nified by a church dedicated to St. Martin, and was, in 
 Bede's time, in the possession of the nation of the 
 Angles. He notices further, that this place belonged 
 to the province of the Bernicii, and was called Ad can- 
 didam Casam -f- ; because the bishop had there erected 
 a church of stone, which was then an unusual mode of 
 building among the Britons J. 
 
 Ethel bert, on his conversion by St. Austin, in 567, 
 applied himself to the building of churches. He laid 
 the foundation of a new one for the monastery of St. 
 Peter and St. Paul, at Canterbury [| , and founded the 
 cathedrals of St. Andrew at Rochester, and St. Paul 
 at London ^. In 627, Edwin, king of the North Hum- 
 brians, soon after his baptism, founded St. Peter's at 
 York^; and about the year 6/5, Benedict Biscopius 
 
 * Rerum Britannicarum Scriptores vetustiores, fol. Lugd, 1587, 
 p. 196. 
 
 ■f Candida Casa, commonly called Whithern, a town of Scotland, 
 under the archbishopric of Glasgow; from which last place it is 
 forty-five miles distant southward, and on the borders of the Irish 
 Sea. See Car. Stephani Dictionarium Historicum-Geographicura- 
 Poeticum per Nicolaum Lioydum, 4to. Genevae, 1693. 
 
 X Rerum Brit. Scriptores, p. \g6. 
 
 H Bede, lib. i. cap. 33. 
 
 § Bede, lib. iv. cap. 3. Bentham's Preface, in Essays on Gothic 
 Architecture, p. 26. 
 
 <([ Bede Eccles. Hist. lib. ii. cap. 14. Bentham's Preface^ as inserted 
 In Es.says on Gothic Architecture, p. 22. 
 
 £ 3 
 
1 
 
 54 HISTORY OF THE OKIGIN 
 
 began to build St. Peter's cluirch in the monastery of 
 Wermouth, in the vicinity ot'Gyrwi; and in that year 
 went over to France to engage workmen to construct it 
 after the Roman manner. Some time afterwards, when 
 the building was nearly completed, he sent into France 
 for artificers skilled in the art of glass-making, for the 
 purpose of glazing the windows — an art, till that time, 
 unknown to the inhabitants of Britain *. About the 
 year 6/5, Wilfrid, bishop of York, founded the conven- 
 tual church of Rippon, in York shire -J-; and about the 
 year 674, that of St. Andrew, at Hexham, in Northum- 
 berland if. Three other churches at Hexham are also, 
 in like manner, attributed to him. Some of the most 
 skilful builders and artificers of every kind whom he 
 employed on these occasions were procured by him from 
 Canterbury. Other eminent builders and artists he in- 
 vited or brought over with him from Rome, Italy, 
 France, and other countries; and, according to Malms- 
 bury and Eddius, Wilfrid was eminent for his know- 
 ledge and skill in the science of architecture, and was 
 himself the principal director in all these works, in 
 concert with those excellent masters who came from 
 Rome and elsewhere ||. Under his direction also, 
 
 * Bentham's Preface, in Essays on Gothic Architecture, p. 31. 
 f Eddii Vita S. Wilfridi, among the Historiae Britannicae Saxonicap 
 Anglo-Danicae Scriptores XV. a Gale, fol. Oxon. 1691, vol. i. p. 60. 
 
 I Eddius ubi supra, p. 62. The name of a mason's boy employed 
 in this building was Bodhelm. He had a fall from a scaflFold, by 
 which he broke some of his limbs, but was living when Eddius wrote. 
 Ibid, p. 63. Bentham's Preface, in Essays on Gothic Architecture, 
 p. 33. 
 
 II Bentham's Preface, in Essays on Gothic Architecture, p. 38 
 and 39. 
 
OF GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 55 
 
 the conventual church at Ely, erected in 674, is sup- 
 posed to have been built*; a sectional view of the re- 
 mains of which may be seen in Bentham's History of 
 the Cathedral of Ely. 
 
 From this time to the reign of the emperor Charle- 
 magne, a period of something more than a century, 
 little material change in architecture seems to have 
 taken place either in France or elsewhere; for though 
 Felibien, p. 1 61, mentions some buildings within that 
 space, he does not even hint that they differed in any 
 respect from those which had preceded them. He says 
 that several works at Constantinople were undertaken 
 by the emperor Justinian, without particularizing them, 
 and that the walls of the great palace there had been re- 
 built by a person named Stephen, after they had fallen 
 down from decay -j". But the eiglith century, if a judg- 
 ment may be formed from the comparatively few in- 
 stances he has produced, seems to have been extremely 
 barren in examples, as the following are the only erec- 
 tions he notices. In Italy, France, or England, not one 
 edifice is mentioned by him; but he says, p. ]6\, that 
 some considerable structures were raised by the Moors 
 or Arabs, in Africa and Spain, particularly by Abdera- 
 men, the founder, and first caliph of Morocco, about 
 the year 700 ; by Walid Almansor; by Jacob Alman- 
 sor, about 720; and by Aha-Jaafar Almansor, who, 
 in 762, built, on the ruins of ancient Babylon, the 
 city of Bagdad, at the expense of two millions of gold. 
 In Spain, he adds, Froila and Abderamen, kings of the 
 Moors, had caused rome grand buildings to be erected, 
 
 ♦ Bentham's Preface, in Essays on Gothic Architecture, p. 41. 
 t Felibien, p. I6I. 
 
 E 4 
 
50 HISTORY OF THE ORIGIN 
 
 the former about 757j in the town of Oviedo, which 
 he founded ; and the latter in Cordova. In this last 
 place, he observes, is a mosque, built by Abderamen, 
 about the year 787, which, so late as his own time, 
 served as a church, and was adorned with a number of 
 marble columns almost infinite. 
 
 Though Felibien omits all mention of buildings in 
 England within the period of the eighth century, it yet 
 appears from Bede, that in 710, Naiton, king of the 
 Picts, having conceived an intention of erecting a 
 church of stone, sept messengers to Ceolfrid, abbot of 
 the monastery of St. Peter and St. Paul, at Wermouth, 
 requesting that architects might be sent to him who 
 could build him a church according to the Roman man- 
 ner, of large stone; and that architects for that purpose 
 were sent to him accordingly*. From this fact. Bent- 
 ham has inferred that the style of architecture generally 
 prevalent in that age in England, was called the Roman 
 manner, and resembled what was then used at Rome, in 
 Italy, and in other parts of the empire f. The probability 
 certainly is, because there is no evidence to the con- 
 trary, that the style of this intended church was meant 
 tp be similar to that employed for the same purposes in 
 the rest of Europe, and particularly at Rome, as Naiton 
 professed his intention to follow the customs and dis- 
 cipline of the Roman church. But the passage in the 
 Qiiginal by no means ascertains the §tyle of the build- 
 
 r • 
 
 "'* Bedae Ecclesiastica Historia Gontis Anglorum, lib. v, cap. 22. 
 The words of the latter and indeed the most important part of the 
 j^ssage are, " Et architectos sibi mitti petiit, qui juxta morem Roma- 
 nomm ecclcsiam de lapide ingentc ipsius facerent." 
 •j- Beutham's Preface, in Essays on Gothic Architecture, p. 43. 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. bj 
 
 Angt farther than that, like the Roman churches, it 
 was to be constructed of large stone, instead of being 
 composed of small stones of irregular sizes and 
 ehapes. In the former of these cases the stone* 
 would require squaring, but would then form the joints 
 perfectly true*; and this was the Roman method 
 here spoken of. In the latter, in which the Roman 
 method had not been pursued, the irregularities, 
 together with the spaces they occasioned, were con- 
 cealed and filled up by the introduction of mortar 
 and cement. The superiority of the former method is 
 evident ; and the distinction between the two, which is 
 fairly deducible from the words of the original passage, 
 shows the absolute necessity of consulting original au- 
 thors, instead of relying on the conclusions drawn from 
 them by later writers. In 7lQ, Ethelbald founded the 
 a^bey of .Crowland in Lincolnshire-}-; and about 7i9, 
 lua endowed and erected the larger church at Glaston-. 
 bury in Somersetshire. William of Malmsbury, in his 
 tract De Antiquitate Glastoniensis Ecclesias :{:, speaks, 
 p. 310, of the erection of the larger church of the 
 
 * Eddius, in his Life of Wilfrid, bishop of York, inserted among 
 the Historiae Britannicae Saxonicae Anglo-Danicae Scriptores XV. 
 a Gale, describing, p. 62, the church of Hexham, uses these words : 
 " cnjus profunditatem in terra cum domibus miriiice politis lapidibus 
 fundatam." It is evident that the words ' politis lapidibus,* by which 
 the stones employed in the foundations are characterized, can never 
 mean polished stones in the usual sense, but stones smoothed to make 
 the joints fit and correspond with each other more exactly. 
 
 + Bentham's Preface, among Essays on Gothic Architecture, p. 43. 
 
 ♦ Among the Historiae Britannicae Saxonicae Anglo-Danicae Scrip- 
 tores XV. a Gale, vol. i. p. 3 10. 
 
58 HISTORY OF The origin 
 
 Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul, which he attributes io 
 Ina, king of the West Saxons; and he says, that, as there 
 were several churches there, he shall relate the truth 
 as to their situation and founders. The first and most 
 ancient was erected by twelve disciples of the Apostles 
 St. Philip and St. James ; and this was situated on the 
 west side of the others. The second was built by St. 
 David, bishop of St. Asaph, on the east side of the old 
 church, arrd was dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Twelve 
 men who came from the north part of Britain, and 
 were named Morgan, Cargur, Badmor or Cathmor, 
 Merguid, Morvined, Morehel, Morcant, Boten, Mor- 
 gan*, Mortineil, and Glasteing, erected the third, 
 which in like manner was situated on the cast 
 side of the old church. The fourth, and largest, 
 was built by king Ina, and dedicated to our Saviour, 
 and the Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul. It was on 
 the eastern side of the others, and founded and 
 endowed for the soul of his brother Mules, who had 
 been burnt at Canterbury by the inhabitants of that 
 city -j-, though on what occasion does not appear. 
 
 In this church, founded by Ina, there is no reason 
 to suppose there was any variation of style from the 
 mode of building before observed ; but in addition to 
 this, Malmsbury has inserted a description of a chapel 
 constructed by the direction and at the expense of 
 
 • Morgan, which occurs twice, and Morcant once, are names s» 
 nearly alike as to render it doubtful whether one and the same person 
 has not, for the purpose of increasing the numb^ to twelve, beea 
 multiplied into three. Should this really have been the case, Malms- 
 bury is not responsible for the error, as he probably ojjly copied it 
 from some earlier authority. 
 
 •f William of Malmsbury, ubi supra, p. 310. 
 
OF GOTHIC ARCHITECTUBE. 5^ 
 
 the same king Ina, and consequently about the 
 year 71 9, so singular as to require particular mention, 
 and so splendid as not only apparently to surpass all 
 former edifices in magnificence, but almost to exceed 
 belief. He has, unfortunately, not given either the 
 dimensions or any particulars of the form or style of 
 this structure; but the following is the substance of his 
 relation, which, extraordinary as it is, he doubtless 
 found in some former writer, or among the papers and 
 evidences belonging to the monastery of Glastonbury, 
 because, a very few lines above, he gives his reader an 
 assurance of his fidelity as an historian. 
 
 The same king, says this author, p. 310, also caused 
 a chapel to be constructed of gold and silver, with orna- 
 ments and vessels in like manner of gold and silver ; and 
 placed it within a larger, for the making of which chapel 
 he gave 2640 pounds of silver. The altar consisted of 
 264 pounds of gold ; the cup, with the paten or dish, 
 of 10 pounds of gold ; the incense-pot, of 8 pounds, 
 and 20 marks of gold * ; the candlesticks, of 12 pounds 
 and an half of silver ; the covers of the books of the 
 Gospel, of 20 pounds, and 60 marks of gold ; the ves- 
 sels for the water, and the other vessels of the altar, of 
 1 7 pounds of gold ; the dishes, of 8 pounds of gold ; 
 the vessel for the holy water, of 20 pounds of silver ; 
 and the image of our Saviour, and of St. Mary and 
 the- twelve Apostles, of 175 pounds of silver, and 38 
 pounds of gold. The palls for the altar and the priests* 
 vestments were skilfully interwoven all over with gold 
 
 * The expression in the original is, xx raancis auri. Du Fresne, 
 in his Glossary, says, Mancus is a mark, a certain weight of gold 
 pr silver. 
 
60 HISTORY OP THE ORIGIN 
 
 and precious stones ; and this treasure, in honour of the 
 Virgin Mary, the king bestowed upon the monastery of 
 Glastonbury. 
 
 The emperor Charlemagne, who began his reign as 
 king of France in 7^8 *, and as emperor of the West 
 in 801, in which last situation he reigned thirteen 
 years -j-, is said by Felibien, p. 162, to have surpassed 
 all the former princes in magnificence ; for France, 
 Italy, Germany, and the other places dependent on his 
 empire, still, says he, preserve many remains of build- 
 ings which he caused to be erected in each. But 
 among all these, no one is more worthy of atten- 
 tion than the very magnificent church which he built 
 at Aix, and from which that place afterwards obtained 
 tlie surname of La Chapelle. Some authors have said 
 that the building was constructed according to the style 
 of the antique, and that, to render it more conformable 
 to the edifices of the ancient Romans, a number of an- 
 tique columns were employed, which the emperor 
 caused to be transported from Ravenna to Aix J. But 
 the reputation of this structure for beauty must, it is 
 believed, rest on the testimony of those who have com^ 
 mended it, as sufficient materials for deciding the point 
 on other grounds have not been found at this time 
 existing. 
 
 Mr. King, in his Munimenta Antiqua, vol. iii, 
 p. l(i4, speaking of Chilham castle in Kent, and of 
 the appearance of something like pointed arches in the 
 k)wer apartment, says, he had been furnished with an 
 
 * Helvici Chronologia, p. 14. f ^bid, p. 116, 
 
 .t Felibiea, p. 163. Ciampini, vol. 11. p. 130, 13i. «t«^ 
 
OF GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 6l 
 
 impression from a gold coin of Charlemagne, on which, 
 in a representation of the church of Aix-la-Chapelle, 
 appears the pointed arch. But, adds he, as this coin 
 or medal has no date, one cannot but doubt a little as 
 to its being so old as the years 800, or 814, the aera 
 of his reign, although the inscription is, " Carol us 
 Magnus Rom. Imper. et Francor. Rex, Fundator Tem- 
 pli S. Marias Virginis Aquisgrani." 
 
 If Mr. King cpuld have rejected this coin, as he ap- 
 pears to have done, merely because it wanted a date, he 
 certainly must have been extremely ill-informed on the 
 subject of coins, as it does not appear to have been the 
 practice to put any such distinction on those either of this 
 country, France, or Italy, till a much later period, 
 or, indeed, till times comparatively very modern. 
 Of all the coins of the French kings from Philip 
 IV. who reigned in 1302, to Henry II. as repre- 
 sented by Du Fresne, in his Glossarium ad Scriptores 
 mediae & infimae Latinitatis, art. Moneta, only two of 
 this latter sovereign have any date, and those bear the 
 years 1549 and 1552. As the coins so late as 1302 
 were without a date, it is against all reason to ex- 
 pect that such as were struck five hundred years be- 
 fore should have had one; and for any thing, 
 therefore, that appears to the contrary, the coin may 
 be, and apparently is, genuine. If so, as Charle- 
 magne became emperor in 801, and died in 813 *, 
 it must have been struck within that period ; and it 
 certainly affords strong reason for thinking that the 
 church of Aix-la-Chapelle contained pointed arches. 
 
 * Helvici Cbronolojia' p. 115. 
 
62 HISTORY OP THE ORIGIN 
 
 On some such evidence as this it might perhaps have 
 been, that Milizia, p. I3g, has placed the change in 
 architecture from the massy and ponderous, to the Hght 
 and delicate style, in the reign of Charlemagne ; but 
 this supposition is merely conjecture, as he has not 
 mentioned his authority for the fact. 
 
 The rebuilding of the palace called Ingelheim, near 
 Mayence, which had been of wood, and burnt about 
 the year 813, was commenced but a short time before 
 the death of that prince. This, together with that of 
 Nimeguen on the Wesel, and many others which Charle- 
 magne caused to be built, were also considered as soma 
 of the most beautiful structures which had been erected 
 for more than four centuries *. 
 
 Paulus iEmylius, in his life of Charlemagne, says, 
 that there is not a place in Italy where that emperor 
 has not left singular marks of his magnificence. He 
 rebuilt Florence, which before had been entirely de- 
 stroyed, and contributed largely to the magnificence of 
 the works which the popes Adrian I. and Leo III. 
 caused to be executed at Rome, where the walls which 
 surround that city, the aqueducts, and a number of 
 churches, were rebuilt. Among these was the church 
 of St. Paul, the execution and entire conduct of which 
 Adrian confided to one of his officers, named Janua- 
 rius. Besides all this, Charlemagne ordered the en- 
 largement of the cities in all the provinces of his realm, 
 commanded that they should be surrounded with walls 
 and bulwarks, and that castles and fortresses should be 
 erected -f". 
 
 * Felibien, p. l65. f I^id. p, l64. 
 
OF GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 63 
 
 CHAPTER rV. 
 
 Architecture in the Reign of Charlemagne — Light and 
 delicate Gothic Style supposed by Milizia to be then 
 introduced — Practice of stating Facts, without assign- 
 ing Authorities for them, censured — Architecture 
 among the Arabs in the eighth Century — Number of 
 Erections, not to be admitted as Proof of Improve^ 
 ment, instead of individual Excellence — Church of the 
 Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem rebuilt in the ninth Cen- 
 tury — Buildings in France in the Reign of Louis the 
 Pious — Cathedral of Rheims rebuilt in the ninth Cen- 
 tury — Architecture in France in the Reign of Louis 
 the Pious, and the other Kings of the Race of Charle- 
 magne — Ravages in France by the Norjuan Danes — 
 Buildings in France under Charles the Bald — Struc- 
 tures in Italy in the ninth Century — St. Mark's Church 
 at Venice rebuilt — Edifices at Rome in the ninth Cen- 
 tury, and their Character — Erections in England in. 
 the ninth Century. 
 
 Considering the multitudes of these erections by 
 Charlemagne, it might have been matter of astonish- 
 ment, where the necessary funds for the payment of 
 the workmen could have been procured, if it had not 
 been learnt that the expenses were wholly defrayed out 
 of the immense quantities of gold and silver, and other 
 articles of value, found in the camp of the Huns, aftec 
 
64 hlSTORY OF THE OEIGI^T 
 
 their defeat by him in the year 78S ♦. For all that 
 this barbarous nation had amassed from the spoils of 
 the several countries which they had ravaged, being col- 
 lected into that one spot for the more easy conveyance of 
 it into their own country, fell at once, in consequence of 
 their defeat, into the hands of the conqueror. Of 
 this the amount was so great, that it raised France 
 throughout to a state of abundant opulence, and enabled 
 Charlemagne, without imposing any taxes on his sub- 
 jects, to execute all the great works attributed to him, 
 and to leave besides, at his death in 814, an almost 
 infinite quantity of wealth -j-. 
 
 No sovereign, says jNIilizia, p. 139, perhaps ever 
 employed more builders than Charlemagne, who caus- 
 ed to be erected in his vast dominions a multi- 
 tude of grand edifices of all kinds ; but of no one ar- 
 chitect is the name preserved. Nor does Milizia ap- 
 pear to have thought that this number of instances 
 of its use was in any manner serviceable to the science 
 of architecture, or productive of improvement ; as, 
 on the contrary, he asserts, that architecture, instead of 
 improving, became considerably worse, passing from 
 the massy and heavy to an excess of lightness and 
 caprice, with an extraordinary profusion of ornament. 
 
 For this latter fact, a very important one, if it could 
 be established, as it would decidedly fix the period of 
 a momentous change in the style of architecture, 
 the supposed evidence has been already mentioned. 
 But Milizia has, according to his usual custom, cited 
 no authority, nor has he mentioned any instance on 
 
 * Spondani Epitome, vol. ii. p. 22S. f Felibien, p. l65. 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 05 
 
 which he founded his opinion. Thus is the reader pre- 
 cluded from the power of ascertaining, by an examina- 
 tion of the evidence, its accuracy or fallacy ; but he is 
 called upon to accept the testimony of a witness who 
 did not live till some centuries after the events he re- 
 lates, and to give his assent to the circumstance as a fact, 
 without previously knowing whether it is entitled to 
 credit. In the case of Milizia, this conduct is still 
 more reprehensible and unreasonable, as the first edition 
 of his work, which was printed in quarto at Rome in 
 1768, and contains the passage in question, was an 
 anonymous publication, though his name has been 
 added in subsequent impressions. 
 
 The practice of thus advancing assertions without 
 assigning any authority is now become so common as to 
 require to be noticed and reprobated by all such as wish 
 for the promotion and dissemination of accurate intel- 
 ligence. To contribute to that end, and, if possible, 
 to stop its career, would be a laudable aim, and, if suc- 
 cessful, an useful undertaking. It can never be at- 
 tended with benefit even to the autiior himself, with 
 whom at best it is only the refuge of idleness ; but from 
 the reader it is entitled to no pardon or indulgence, 
 as it necessarily produces great mischief. In works 
 thus conducted, it is impossible to distinguish between 
 established fact and mere conjecture ; between the 
 opinions of former writers and the discoveries of the 
 then present author; and between conjectures already 
 refuted, and those now first advanced. Such a me- 
 thod is always a reasonable ground for suspicion in 
 the mind of the reader, which, on examination, is often 
 converted into certainty, that evidence in support 
 
65 HISTORY OP THE ORIGIJI 
 
 of the position is not to be found * ; that the author's 
 other assertions rest on no better a foundation ; and 
 that the motive for concealing the evidence was the 
 hope of thus securing them against a detection of their 
 fallacy. 
 
 To the French, whose object in writing, especially 
 of late years, seems to be a wish to exhibit themselves, 
 and render the style of their works agreeable to the 
 reader, rather than to convey any useful information, 
 this practice, whicli is particularly observable in their 
 productions, is supposed to have been originally owing. 
 Their example, though extremely prejudicial, has been 
 implicitly followed, not only in Italy, as is evident in 
 the instance of Milizia, but in this country also — and a 
 very great evil it is. More than half the difficulties in 
 the discussion of any question of science, arise from 
 the number of unfounded assertions necessary to be 
 refuted, which are so far from assisting in the elucida- 
 tion, that they create additional impediments ; and the 
 sentiments of that author are by iv) means likely to be 
 correct, who is unable or unwilling lo produce his au- 
 thorities. To convey correct information every scholar 
 knows to be the real use and value of books : to this 
 mode of preserving and communicating knowledge, all 
 arts and sciences are indebted for their present existence; 
 and every man of sense, who has an adequate idea of 
 the proper employment and value of time, will con- 
 sider it not only an useless but pernicious labour to pe- 
 ruse a work, the contents of which he must endeavour 
 to efface from his m.ind as soon as it has received them, 
 
 * Instances of this have actually occurred, and could^ ifoecessary, 
 be mentioned,- 
 
OF GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. ^7 
 
 if he ever intends that his own opinions should be en- 
 titled to any respect. 
 
 In excuse for this practice, a desire to avoid pe- 
 dantry, and to escape censure for an ostentatious dis- 
 play of reading and intelligence, is sometimes al- 
 leged ; and it may perhaps be further urged, that 
 where authorities have been fairly produced, subse- 
 quent writers have, in some instances, cited those 
 authorities as if they had been the result of their own 
 discoveries, without acknowledging their obligations 
 to the work which had supplied them with the re- 
 ferences. That instances of such disingenuous con- 
 duct have sometimes occurred, is too true ; and almost 
 every man's experience might furnish some : but 
 whenever this mode has been pursued, it has always 
 been detected by the majority and most intelligent of 
 the readers, and has presently become known as the 
 character of the work. Nor indeed is it ever likely to 
 escape observation, since it is not probable that those 
 who would be induced to read one work, on a subject 
 in which they were interested, should omit to consult 
 also the other principal authors who had written on it. 
 After all, should any such case of successful conceal- 
 ment arise, it would be a matter of no difficulty to 
 point out in print whence the references had been ob- 
 tained, and thus to expose the palpable plagiarism. 
 But admitting all this as a justifiable reason, which it 
 evidently is not, does the present mode prevent the 
 evil against which it is intended to provide ? Is the 
 author who cites no authority himself in any respect 
 more secure that those who borrow from him, will, 
 in their writings, refer by name to his work ? and not 
 
 P 2 
 
Gs 
 
 HESTORY OF THE ORIGIJf 
 
 rather follow his example in producing no voucher ? 
 and can his own fame be increased or advanced by the 
 publication of a book which those who are seeking for 
 intelligence on that very point, think it yet not safe to 
 cite, for fear of being led into error ? The fact is, 
 that no intelligence of any value can be obtained, with- 
 out consulting the genuine authorities ; and before the 
 reader's assent can be justly required, it ought to be 
 shown that the proper sources of information have been 
 applied to. With those who wish to be accurate, the 
 necessary conduct on such occasions therefore is, to ab- 
 stain from the use of all books conducted on this plan 
 of concealment, as dangerous and likely to misle;id them; 
 and on this principle the author of the present work 
 has studiously avoided publications, which, had their au- 
 thorities been disclosed, he might perhaps have been 
 induced to have cited by name, as containing appa- 
 rently valuable information, but which, for want of 
 that stamp of authenticity, he thought could not, with- 
 out danger, be relied on *. 
 
 After noticing that in the Greek empire architecture 
 entirely fell, because of the miserable state to which the 
 emperors of Constantinople were reduced during the 
 greater part of the eighth and the beginning of the 
 ninth century, Felibien, p. l6s, mentions, that, on 
 the contrary, the dominion of the Arabs extended almost 
 to the gates of Constantinople, and that several of the 
 caliphs proved themselves capable of great undertakings. 
 
 * The only exception to this rule has been in the case of Milizia 
 himself, from whoie book, as the reader will perceive by the refer- 
 ences to it, such facts have been taken, as have either been con- 
 firmed by other authors, or have bad all the apparent marks of pro- 
 bability. 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 6g 
 
 Among such he enumerates the city of Fez in Africa, 
 founded about 793, by a prince named Idris ; and 
 another city, the name of which he has not inserted, 
 erected by one of the sons of that prince, very near 
 that founded by his father. Many other works of im- 
 portance were also caused to be built by the Miramo- 
 lins or caliphs of Bagdad and Morocco : but it is suf- 
 ficient to say, that Aaron, nephew of Aba-Jaafar Al- 
 mansor before named, so much cultivated the sciences 
 and fine arts, that, in order to converse on that subject, 
 he had always near his person an hundred learned men 
 whom he chose and procured from different places *. 
 
 Buildings like these, it is evident, could contribute 
 nothing to the promotion of science. Mere habita- 
 tions did notxadmit of the display of architectural skill ; 
 and importance, arising from number and multitude, 
 is a perfectly distinct consideration from that which 
 is the consequence of excellence in any particular in- 
 stance. By the erection of one such edifice as the Pan- 
 theon and St. Peter's church at Home, St. Paul's, Lon- 
 don, the banqueting-house at Whitehall, the cathednil of 
 Milan in Italy, Westminster abbey, or York minster, 
 more honour and benefit is conferred on the science of 
 architecture than by the building of Constantinople by 
 Constantine, or by all the erections at Ravenna, and 
 in the other cities of Italy and France, by Theodo- 
 ric king of the Goths, or the emperor Charlemagne. 
 These considerations, though manifestly of great 
 weight, in ascertaining the progress or decay of ar- 
 chitectural knowledge, and applicable to all the mime- 
 
 * Feliblen, p, J6S, 
 F 3 
 
70 HISTORY OF THE ORIGIN 
 
 rous examples of the erection of whole cities, which 
 occur in the history of architecture, have never as yet 
 met with the attention which they merit ; and it is 
 therefore necessary thus to warn the reader against 
 admitting number of instances, instead of individual ex- 
 cellence, as the rule for his judgment. 
 
 It appears that this prince Aaron fiad contracted a 
 friendship with Charlemagne, to whom he sent a very 
 splendid embassy, accompanying it with a multitude of 
 valuable presents ; and that, in consequence of his re- 
 spect for that emperor, he, in 813, permitted the 
 church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem to be rebuilt*, 
 the care of which rebuilding was accordingly commit- 
 ted to Thomas, patriarch of Jerusalem, who caused the 
 structure to be re- erected on a larger scale and more 
 magnificently than it had existed before -f. 
 
 Almamon, son of Aaron, is mentioned merely as hav- 
 ing erected a castle on the Nile, and a very high column 
 to mark the rise of the river in its overflowings J. Of 
 this last, usually called, from its use, the Nilometer, a 
 cut is given by Norden, plate 26. But he also per- 
 mitted some of his officers who were Christians, to 
 build churches near the places where he resided ^. 
 
 One of the principal objects recommended by Char- 
 lemagne to his sons, when, some years before his death, 
 he transferred to them a portion of his dominions, was 
 a sedulous care and attention to the repair and em- 
 
 * Helvicns, in his Chronology, under the year 805, speaking of 
 Charlemagne, says, that Aaron, king of the Saracens, gave to Char- 
 lemagne Mount Calvar)' at Jerusalem, and the sepulchre of our 
 Saviour. For this he cites Eginhjrd.— Helvici Chronologia, p. Il6. 
 
 t Felibien, p. l68. J Ibid. p. 10'9. § Ibid. p. 170. 
 
OF GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 71 
 
 bellishment with new decorations of all the places de- 
 pendent on them; and this precept was exactly follow- 
 ed accordingly by his sons, Pepm, king of Italy, and 
 Louis, king of Aquitain, both of whom caused a num- 
 ber of edifices to be built or repaired in their king- 
 doms *. No erections by the former of these are 
 enumerated by Felibien. The latter survived his bro- 
 ther, and succeeded his father Charlemagne both in the 
 kingdom of France and the empire of the West, and 
 was afterwards known by the appellations of Louis the 
 Pious and Louis the Debonnaire. To him are attri- 
 buted the following churches and monasteries ; St. 
 Philibert, St, Florent on the Loire, Karoffe, Couches, 
 St. Maixant, Menat, Manlieu in Auvergne, Moissac, 
 St. Savin in Poitou, Noaille, St. Theotfroy, St. Paixant, 
 Solomnac a league from Limoges, Si. Mary, St. Rade- 
 gond at Agnane, St. Laurence, Cauncs, and several 
 other churches. He also enjoined the clergy to take 
 the necessary care of the churches and buildings be- 
 longing to them, charging all the prelates and beneficed 
 clergy of the realm, as Charlemagne had before also 
 done, themselves to inspect and superintend works of 
 that sort'|~. 
 
 Under the reign of this prince, which commenced in 
 814, and ended in 840:j:, Ebon, bishop of Rheims, 
 undertook to rebuild the cathedral of his diocese. 
 I'hose who have written its history, say that a person 
 named Rumald, the king's architect, had the conduct 
 of the work, and that he used no other materials than 
 what he procured from the ancient walls of that city, 
 
 * Felibien, p. 172. f Ibid. 172. 
 
 i Helvici Chionologia, p. ^JS. 
 
 F 4, 
 
72 HISTORY OP THE ORIGIN 
 
 the greater part of which he pulled down. Felibien, 
 who relates this, also adds, that, in his time, some letters 
 of Louis were still in existence, by which he granted to 
 the mtmbers of the church of Rheims permission to 
 make use of his architect Rumald during the whole of 
 his life, and to pull down the walls of the city for the 
 purpose of obtaining materials. This church was not 
 completed tilf the time of bishop Hincmar, about 840, 
 who employed all his care, as Ebon his predecessor had 
 before done, to render it the most magnificent that then 
 existed *. No particulars relating to the structure or 
 style of this edifice have been found, nor are any ideas to 
 be obtained from the present church, as that has been 
 rebuilt; but it appears that Hincmar had enriched it 
 with a multitude of very precious ornaments, particu- 
 larly described by Frodouard, who saw the fabric in its 
 original state, before the fire in 12 lO^ and the subse- 
 quent repair -}~. 
 
 Milizia remarks of this church, that it has been ce- 
 lebrated as the most magnificent of the time ; but that 
 all the descriptions refer to the altar, the covering of 
 which was of massy gold studded with gems, to a statue 
 of the Virgin of gold also, and to a great quantity of 
 utensils for sacred uses of gold and silver; but adds 
 very truly, that this kind of richness is entirely diftiTent 
 from architectural magnificence .j;. The accounts, it must 
 
 * Felibien, p. 1/3. 
 
 f See M.iilot, Metropolis Remensis Historia, fol. Insulis, 1666, 
 vol. i. p. 3i)4. 
 
 ± Milizia, p. 139. Ff^'ibien, p. 1/4, says this prelate enriched it 
 with a iKvaibei of precious crn.iments, for that he caused to be made 
 a coverin]^for the altar of gold oruamented with jewels, an image of 
 * 3 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 73 
 
 be confessed, are certainly extremely defective, as omit- 
 ting to notice a very important particular, the style of 
 architecture of this church, and in what its peculiar ex- 
 cellence and magnificence consisted*. 
 
 Towards the close of the reign of Louis the Pious^ 
 and through those of the other kings of the race of 
 Charlemagne, which seem to have extended to about the 
 year Qllfj architecture in France appears to have 
 been in a deplorable state; and so far was this period 
 from contriiiuting cither to the increase of the number, 
 or the repair of such as had fallen to decay, that, on 
 
 the Virgin of gold to stand on the altar, a large cup of the same metal, 
 which was afterwards given to the Normans to prevent their pillaging 
 the city ot Rheims j and to these he added several shrines, lamps of 
 silver, chandeliers, coronets, and some tapestry. 
 
 * Marlot, in his Metropolis Remensis Historia, vol. ii. p, 470, says, 
 speaking of this church, that the vaulting and piers, as in other churches, 
 were in tl^^s aiso of wood, which not long before had been destroy- 
 ed by fire. He adds, that Wandelin, in his Glossarium Salicum, art. 
 Basilica, had asserted, that, till the year 1000, almost all the monaste- 
 ries and churches in France were of wood. That the roof of early 
 ecclesiastical edifices might, before the mode of forming stone vault- 
 ings of sufficient strength was known, have been constructed of tim- 
 ber, is very probable ; but that any other part, columns or piers, 
 for instance, were of that material, is wholly incredible. When 
 we read, therefore, of sfrch buildings as destroyed by fire, the reason- 
 able conclusion is, that the roof was wholly consumed, and the lead 
 with which the roof was covered melted. The other parts, which were 
 of stone, might, on occasion of similar accidents, have been much 
 injured, or in part destroyed, by the falling of the beams and timbers 
 of which the roof consisted : but, as stone is not a combustible ma- 
 terial, the fire could no otherwise have operated than perhaps by 
 forcing the mortar or cement to crumble out of some of the joints. 
 
 •f Helvici Chronologia, p. J 20. 
 
'74 HISTORY OP THE ORIGIN 
 
 the contrary, a multitude of the most sumptuous edi- 
 fices were destroyed by the Norman Danes who had 
 entered France under Hasteing their leader. Of this 
 number were the church of St. Owen at Rouen, which 
 they demolished in 842, and the cathedral of Chartres, 
 burnt by them, together with that city, in 850. A few 
 years after this, they destroyed the church and monas- 
 tery of St. Genevieve at Paris, and set fire several times to 
 the church and abbey of St. Germain des Prez. They 
 also reduced to ruins the church of St. Martin at Tours, 
 together with several other churches: and the Saracens, 
 who had entered France in another part, pillaged also 
 the abbey of Mount St. Michael, and were guilty of 
 extraordinary ravages and cruelties *. 
 
 While these invaders were employing all methods 
 for the destruction of France, king Charles the Baid 
 exerted his efforts to put the several cities into a state 
 capable of defence, as well by the erection of walls and 
 towers, as by placing in them strong garrisons, and fur- 
 nishing them with the necessary machines and imple- 
 ments for resistance ; but although this object, and the 
 troubles in which he was involved, necessarily required 
 the principal portion of his attention, he still found the 
 means of extending some share of it to architecture 
 also. 
 
 Among the most considerable edifices erected in 
 France under Charles the Bald, must be reckoned the 
 church and abbey of Notre D::ine, since calierl St. Cor- 
 neille, which, in 8/6, this prince caused to be built at 
 Compcigne, with several other edifices of the same 
 
 * Felibien^ p. ]J4. 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 75 
 
 city. He also caused the monastery of St. Benignus at 
 Dijon to be rebuilt; and several other structures were 
 raised in his time and in that of his successors, as well 
 by them as by some of the nobility who had distinguish- 
 ed themselves by the power which they had acquired 
 in the kingdom. The principal of these were Baldwin the 
 first earl of Flanders, and his descendants; Hasteing, 
 the chief of the Normans, who caused the castle of 
 Blois to be built, after Charles the Bald had created him 
 Comte de Chartres; and the Norman princes, who 
 began to encourage the polite arts as soon as they were 
 established in the province since called Normandy. It 
 may therefore be truly said, that, notwithstanding the 
 troubles with which France was agitated during more 
 than two centuries, considerably greater expense was 
 bestowed in that kingdom in the erection of buildings 
 than in all the other neighbouring nations *. 
 
 In Italy, and particularly at Venice, some new build- 
 ings were also undertaken. About the year S20, 
 Angelo Particiatio, tenth Doge of Venice, caused the 
 ducal palace to be erected, and constructed besides 
 in Venice the churches of St. Zachary, St. Lawrence, 
 St. Severus, and that of St. Hilary, in which, in 827, 
 he was buried. After his death, his sons Justinian 
 and John caused the church of St. Mark the Evan- 
 gelist to be built, the body of which saint had been 
 brought from Alexandria to Venice by some Venetian 
 merchants in 828; and there is scarcely any one of the 
 Doges their successors who has not signalized his reign 
 by the erection of new buildings, as well as by new 
 
 * Felibien, p. 17<5. 
 
76 HISTORY OP THE OKIGIN 
 
 conquests. For Pietro Tradonico, about 8(3o, ordered 
 the church of St. Paul to be built. Orso Particiatio, 
 about 880, caused an enlargement of the city, and Pietro 
 Tribuno, the seventeenth Doge, about the year 900, 
 fortified it with a wall from the castle to the church 
 of St. Mary, surnamed Zebenico. Lastly, Pietro 
 Orseolo, the twenty-third Doge, who died in 978, 
 caused the church of St. Mark to be repaired by some 
 Greek architects, whose names are unknown, which, 
 together with the ducal palace, and more than three 
 hundred houses, had been burnt in the time of Pietro 
 Candiano his predecessor. But none of these edifices 
 were comparable, says Felibien, to those which the 
 French had constructed from the commencement of the 
 reign of Charlemagne*. 
 
 Vasari, vol. i. p. 225, speaking of this church of St. 
 Mark at Venice, says that it was begun under the Doges 
 Justinian and John Particiaco, when the body of that 
 Evangelist was brought from^ Alexandria to Venice ; that, 
 after several fires, in which the ducal palace and church 
 were much injured, it was at length rebuilt on the same 
 foundations in the Greek manner, in which we now sec 
 'it ; that it was erected at great expense, and by the labour 
 of many architects, in the time of the Doge Domenico 
 Selvo, and in the year 973 ; and that its columns were 
 procured by that Doge from such other places as could 
 .furnish them. He adds further, that this building con- 
 tinued to proceed till the year 1 140, Pietro Polano being 
 then Doge, and that it was conducted according to the 
 designs of several masters, all Greeks. Delia Valle has, 
 
 * Felibien, p. 1 76. 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 7/ 
 
 from a former edition, inserted a note, in which it is 
 remarked, that, instead of the year 973, other authors 
 say it was erected in 107 1 ; and it is certain that Vasari 
 is mistaken, either as to the year or the name of the 
 Doge: for Domenico Selvo was not Doge till 105Q, 
 and died in IO72*. He is also in a similar error as to 
 the date 1 140: for Pietro Polano was Doge only from 
 I1I8 to 1136, and Domenico Morosini, whom he has 
 riot mentioned, from 1 136 to 1 143 -f. This passage in 
 Vasari it was thought necessary thus to notice, as a cau- 
 tion against supposing the present church of St. Mark 
 at Venice of so early an age as he assigns to it. 
 
 Even the buildings erected by the Popes Pascal I. 
 Gregory IV. Sergius 11. and Leo IV. were, in the opi« 
 nioi^ of Felibien, preferable to those of the Venetians; 
 and stating that fact as he does in the singular mode 
 here adopted from him, it should seem that he thought 
 these pontifical erections far from excellent. He, how- 
 ever, particularizes them as follows : Pascal, about the 
 year 820, ordered the erection of a church at Rome 
 in honour of St. Praxedes, near an ancient chapel 
 which bore the same name, and was almost in ruins. 
 By his order also the church of St. Mary the Great 
 was repaired, and that of St. Cecilia was built, 
 which last he adorned with marble and enrictied 
 with costly decorations. Gregory caused several 
 churches to be rebuilt and repaired, about the year 
 830, and among others that into which he remov- 
 ed the body of St. Gregory, and which he embellish- 
 ed with many ornaments. Sergius, about the year 
 
 * Heylyn's Cosmography, edit. 1703, p. 106. f Ibid. 
 
78. HISTORY OP THE ORIGIN 
 
 845, ordered the church of St. Silvester and St. 
 Martin to be repaired, and commanded that adjoin- 
 ing this last a monastery should be erected in honoui 
 of St. Peter and St. Paul. Pope Leo surpassed in mag- 
 nificence most of the princes of his time, and not only 
 finished the church of St. Martin and St. Silvester, 
 which his predecessor had left imperfect, but repaired 
 also the walls and gates of Rome, and built fifteen 
 large towers as a defence to the principal entrances, by 
 reason of which he, about the year 852, gave his name 
 to a part of the city. This is said to have been the Pope 
 who caused the church of St. Mary in Via Nova to be 
 built, and a tower to be added to St. Peter's in the 
 Vatican *. 
 
 The troubles with which the popes were surrounded 
 almost immediately after the death of Leo IV. and the ir- 
 regularities of the greater part of those who succeeded 
 this pontiff down to the end of the tenth century, 
 were the reasons why nothing considerable was done 
 at Rome during this long interval. Under the pon- 
 tificate of Benedict IIL and those of Nicholas L For- 
 mosus L and Martin IIL many instances of repairs 
 of churches, and several other sorts of edifices, occur, 
 especially during that of Nicholas I. ; who took extra- 
 ordinary pains to repair in Rome, all that had been 
 damaged by the inundations which happened in his 
 time t. 
 
 The inhabitants of the Britannic isles, and also the 
 Germans, in like manner merit to be reckoned among 
 those who about this time erected edifices of import- 
 ance either for beauty or magnificence. In the His- 
 
 * Felibicn, p. 1/9. f Ibid. p. ISO. 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 7^ 
 
 tovy of England, as related by Matthew of Westmin- 
 ster *,, under the year 888, we are informed, that the 
 whole amount of the income of Elfrid, king of the 
 West Saxons, was divided into two. One of these 
 halves was then subdivided into three : the first por- 
 tion of which was applied to the payment of his army, 
 the second to defray the wages of a multitude of artists, 
 whom he employed as being skilful in every kind of 
 work then known in the world; and the third was bestow- 
 ed on strangers who flocked to him from all parts. The 
 other hilf oF his income was likewise subdivided into 
 three portions, of which the first was allotted to the 
 poor, the second to the monasteries which he had 
 founded, and the third to a school or college, the 
 members of which he had collected together from 
 France, and other more remote countries, and to the 
 clergy and learned men in proportion to their skill, 
 Felibien, who refers to Matthew of Westminster, 
 says the king employed the half of one third of his 
 revenue in the payment of a number of artists, 
 whom he had engaged in a variety of works, and the 
 other half in maintaining several colleges which he 
 had built, and in rewarding a multitude of men of 
 learning whom he had caused to come to him from 
 France, and other places in Europe, for the cultivation 
 of the sciences and polite arts in his kingdom j-. But 
 it does not appear that any part of all this was expended 
 in architecture ; and Matthew of Westminster's account 
 is incredible ; because he here gives the apportionment 
 
 * Flores Historiarum, fol. Francof. 1&)1, p. 17O. 
 f Felibien, p. 131. 
 
80 HISTORY OF THE ORIGIN 
 
 of the whole income, in which there is no provision 
 for the expenses of the king's household, nor any branch 
 within which those could be included. 
 
 Edward, surnamed the Elder, king of the Anglo- 
 Saxons, caused, says Felibien, p. 181, on the au-» 
 thority of Matthew of Westminster, many towns, 
 castles, and some churches to be erected, about the 
 years 912, QI7, and 920 ; and Elfleda, his sister, 
 queen of the Mercians, about 912, 9 15, and 9 16, occa- 
 sioned so great a number of various edifices to built in 
 her dominions, that her reign is no less famous for her 
 magnificence than for her prudence, piety, and justice. 
 But of these structures he points out none by name ; 
 and his references, by the dates, to Matthew of West- 
 minster, produce no instances as to Edward but the 
 towns of Hertford and William in Essex, erected in 
 912 ; the town and castle of Maiden, built by him also, 
 in 917 ; and in 920, the towns of Teal well and Man- 
 chester, which he then repaired *. Of Elfleda's erec- 
 tions, his references in the same manner only notice 
 the castle at Serengate, built in 913, and another 
 repaired at Brigges, on the west side of the Severn, 
 in the same year ; the villages (Sf Fredesbyri and War- 
 tham, erected in 9 15, and those of Cherenburch, 
 Weadburch, and Runcof, in Q\Q-\' Other instances 
 ^f edifices by both these persons might be produced 
 from Matthew of Westminster, but none of either 
 sort appear capable of improving, in any respect, the 
 style of architecture then in use. 
 
 * See Matthew ofWestminster under those years, 
 t Ibid. 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 81 
 
 Edgar and Ethelred, the successors of Edwin, or- 
 dered in their times the construction of a multitude 
 of buildings, principally churches and monasteries ; 
 many particulars relating to which, Felibien says, may 
 be learnt from the Monasticon Anglicanum, though 
 nothinjr is there to be found as to the names of the 
 workmen who erected them *. 
 
 * Feiibien, p. 182, 
 
 e 
 
82 HISTORY OF THE OEIGIN 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Buildings in Germany in the ninth Centurif — Erections 
 in Spain — at CunstantinopU — Erroneous Opinion as 
 to the End of the Worlds and its Effects — Churches 
 in all Parts of Europe repaired — Fresh Erections-^ 
 St. Miniato at Florence — Dome of Pisa — contains 
 the pointed Arch — Objections to early Instances of 
 JBuildings on the Ground of Re-erection ^ not to he ad- 
 mitted ivithout previous Proof of the Fact of Re- 
 erection — Reasons for the Introduction of the pointed 
 Arch — Instances of it so early as the fifth Century 
 — Its Construction known in the Time of Euclid — 
 Baptistery of Pisa — Some Particulars of its Style 
 — Other Buildings in Italy — General Character of 
 Edifices in Italy down to J 250 — Those in France 
 in the tenth and eleventh Centuries — Cathedral of 
 Chartres — Description of it — Other Structures in 
 France in the Reign of King Robert. 
 
 As to buildings in Germany, says Fclibien, Stcngelius 
 has remarked, that in the tenth century the monastery 
 of the church of Einsidlen, otherwise called the Hermit- 
 age of the Virgin Mary, in the mountains of Swisser- 
 land, was erected. Eberhard, the founder, and first 
 superior of the place, began this work about the year 
 945 ; and for some tiiTie took the conduct of it on 
 himself; but this he afterwards wholly confided to a 
 person named Thietland; apparently aa ecclesiastic^ 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 83 
 
 and a member of that endowment, vvlio is represented 
 as a man of wisdom, extremely skilful in all that regards 
 architecture, and whom Eberhard at length chose for 
 his successor *. 
 
 Gebhard II. bishop of Constance in Suabia, began, 
 in 983, to forward the erection of the church of 
 Peterhausen, opposite to his episcopal city on the 
 other side of the Rhine. In the progress of the work 
 the principal conductor of it had the misfortune to 
 fall from a scaffold, which suddenly gave way under 
 him, by which accident he was dangerously wounded ; 
 but notwithstanding this, he recovered from the fall, 
 and lived to finish the church, which is esteemed 
 one of the most considerable in Suabia, being vaulted 
 with stone, and ornamented with paintings -J-. 
 
 Of Spain it may be said, that, though one of those 
 places of Europe in which the greatest number of 
 buildings have been erected, it is yet also the spot 
 where more of them have been destroyed. The con- 
 tinual wars between the Moors and Spaniards, and the 
 frequent changes which the fate of arms produced 
 between the two nations, have been the cause of the 
 ruin of a multitude of fabrics, which each of these 
 contending nations had caused to be built during 
 the intervals of success vvith which fortune alternately ' 
 favoured them. What praise is due to those of the 
 Moors, Felibien says, he has elsewhere shown ; but 
 that as to those of the Spaniards, or, to speak more 
 correctly, those of the Goths, who had assumed the 
 name of the native inhabitants of the country, there 
 
 • Felibien, p. 182. f Ibid. 
 
 G 2 
 
S4 HISTORY OF THE ORIGIN 
 
 are none so worthy of attention as those which werf 
 constructed under the reign of Alphonso the Great, 
 king of Leon and Castile. That prince was the first 
 who ordered the church of St. James, in Gallicia, to be 
 built about the year 920 ; and among many other mo- 
 numents of his piety and magnificence, the cathedral 
 church of Oviedo was in high estimation. This he 
 had caused to be rebuilt; and in the erection of it 
 expended two hundred thousand crowns of gold, the 
 amount of the ransom of Aboalim, general of the 
 Moors, taken prisoner by him *. 
 
 As soon as the polite arts had begun to receive sup- 
 port at Constantinople from the exertions and repu- 
 tation of Leo the Mathematician, who flourished in 
 the time of Almamon, the sou of Aaron, caliph of 
 Bagdad, and consequently was nearly contemporary 
 with Charlemagne -j-, that city began to be ornamented 
 with new buildings. The emperor BjsiI of Macedonia, 
 whose reign commenced about the year 867, and ex- 
 tended to about 88(3 ;!:, caused all such erections to be 
 repaired, as had been injured by war, earthquakes, or 
 fires ; and, among others, the church of Santa Sophia, 
 which Felibien, p. 184, says, was ready to fall ^ ; the 
 great palace, and a number of other edifices, an enu- 
 meration of which may be seen in Cedrenus ||. Leo ^, 
 surnamed the Philosopher, the son and successor 
 
 * Felibien, p. 183, f See Felibien, p. 170. 
 
 J Helvici Clironologia, p. 113. 
 
 § This might be true of a part, and that part be rebuilt j but it if 
 by no means to be understood as the state of the whole building, 
 
 II Hist, Compend. 
 
 •I He came to the throne in the year SS7, and died in piO. — HcU 
 vicus,p. 120, 121. 
 
OF GOTHIC AKCHITECTURE. 85 
 
 of Basil, caused several very magnificent churches 
 to be erected. His son, Constantine Porphyrogenitus, 
 had no less passion, says Felibien, for great under- 
 takings ; but that author does not mention any in- 
 stances of buildings in his time. He speaks indeed of 
 a library as fitted up, and new public schools as es- 
 tablished by him ; but it does not appear that they 
 were fresh erections. By the endeavours of this em- 
 peror, he also says that the sciences and arts were so 
 far advanced, that they might speedily have been 
 brought to perfection, if his successors had continued 
 to exert the same efforts ; but that, on the contrary, 
 these latter princes entirely neglected them, at least to 
 the end of the succeeding century *. 
 
 Towards the latter part of the tenth century an opi- 
 nion had been advanced by some persons, that the 
 world was intended to exist no longer than one thou- 
 sand years from the birth of our Saviour, and that the 
 year 1001 would therefore be its last'|-, Abbo, abbot 
 of Fleury, who lived in the same century, a man of 
 
 * Felibien, p. 184. 
 
 f On looking into Mr, Whittington's Historical Survey of the ec- 
 clesiastical Antiquities of France, soon after its first publication, the 
 same fact was also found noticed by him ; but this part of the present 
 work had been written some time before that book appeared, and 
 without the knowledge that any such was intended. It has been 
 judged requisite to remark this accidental coincidence as a caution 
 against supposing, should any instances occur of a similar agree- 
 ment between this work and any other which has appeared, that 
 the passages in this must necessarily be borrowed. The autho- 
 rities really used on the present occasion are fairly mentioned ; but 
 another writer who, perhaps, never saw the books here used, may pro- 
 bably sometimes have obtained the same fact from the writings of au- 
 thors which had not been consulted for the purpose of this publicatiou. 
 
 G 3 
 
86 ' HISTORY OF THE ORIGIN 
 
 great learning and sanctity, relates, in his Apology to 
 Robert, King of France, that he, when a boy, had 
 heard a sermon in a church in Paris, in which it was 
 asserted that, immediately after tlie completion of one 
 thousand years, Anti-christ would come, and that not 
 long after the universal judgment would succeed: he 
 adds, also, that a report had prevailed throughout the 
 world, that when the Annunciation of the Virgin 
 should happen on Good Friday, without all doubt it 
 would be the end of world * : but that he, on the 
 authority of the Gospel, the Apocalypse, and the book 
 of Daniel, had exerted his efforts to oppose this per- 
 suasion -jf, Jerusalem, it was supposed, would be the 
 spot of our Saviour's re-appearance on earth ; and in 
 consequence of this expectation, multitudes of persons 
 of all ranks and of both sexes had, as the period 
 predicted more nearly approached, been induced to 
 resort thither in order to await the final consummation 
 o( all things. 
 
 Under this expectation, which, if well founded, 
 would have rendered any other conduct useless, the 
 
 * In the years 970, <)3l, and 992, Easter-day was the 27th of 
 March ; Good Friday was, theraibre, the 25th. It had happened so 
 in 886, 897, and g08 j but this circumstance did not occur again till 
 IO89. See Du Fresne, Glossarium ad Scriptores mediae et infimac 
 Latlnitatis, fol. Francof. ad Maenum, 168I, torn. i. p. 221, &c. In 
 1001 Enster-day was the 3d of April, ibid. In the year 1000 it was the 
 3 1st of March, ibid. Bat how this report can be applied to justify the 
 above conclusion as to the end of the world, seems wholly incompre- 
 hensible j because it is evident, from the authorities just cited, that 
 in neither of the years 1000 or 1001 wei« Good Friday and the 25th 
 of March the same day . 
 
 ■j- S^jondani Epitome, vol. ii. p. 378. 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 87 
 
 churclies and other religious edifices, which, at various 
 periods, had beea erected in most paus of Europe, 
 had been permitted Irom time to time xo fall, for 
 want of repair, almost universally into a state of deray. 
 Bnt in the year 1003, when the^-time ^predicted had 
 elapsed without the accomplishment of the prophecy, 
 the Christians in all parts of the world began to re- 
 cover from their panic, and vigorously applied them- 
 selv^es to the repair of the old and the erection of new 
 churches and monasteries. Their now ruinous state 
 certainly required such exertions to ensure them from 
 falling ; and it is a fact, that about this time, in all parts 
 of the Christian world, but particularly in Italy and 
 France, most if not all of the churches and other eccle- 
 siastical structures were either rebuilt or repaired *. 
 
 Of these fresh erections, the church of St. Miniato 
 on the mount at Florence, mentioned by Vasari, vol. i. 
 p. 126, appears to have been one of the earliest. He 
 terms it a most beautiful church, and says it was erect- 
 ed in 1013, in the time of M. Alibrando, who was 
 both a citizen and bishop of Florence. In his opinion it 
 also proves that architecture had acquired something of 
 vigour ; for, besides the marble ornaments within 
 and without, the front of it manifested that the Tuscan 
 architects endeavoured, as well as they were able, to imi- 
 tatfe in thc'doors, windows, columns, arches, and cor- 
 nices, the beautiful antique, the knowledge of which 
 they had in part obtained, as he says, from the very an- 
 cient church of St. John in that city. To all this he adds, 
 that painting was improving in an equal degree, as is 
 
 * Spondani Epitome, vol. ii. p. 382. 
 G 4 
 
88 HISTORY OF THE ORIGIN 
 
 evident from the mosaic in the larger chapel of this 
 church of St. Miniato *. 
 
 From these beginnings, says Vasari, the arts began, 
 by degrees, to improve in Tuscany ; which is further 
 shown, he remarks, from the dome at Pisa, erected 
 by the Pisans in the year 101 6. In that age it was 
 a vast undertaking to construct the body of a 
 church like this, consisting of five naves, and com- 
 posed of marble within and without. This church, 
 which was erected from the design of Buschetto of Du- 
 lichium, a Greek architect of great skill at that period, 
 was constructed and ornamented with the spoils of 
 other buildings, which the Pisans, who were then ar- 
 rived at the height of their greatness, had imported, by 
 sea, from several distant places abroad, as the columns, 
 bases, capitals, cornices, and other fragments of stone 
 of all sorts, sufficiently declare. As these materials 
 were of a variety of sizes, Buschetto has exhibited 
 much judgment and science in accommodating them to 
 each other, and in settling the distribution of all the 
 parts of the building, which is extremely well disposed 
 within and without -f-. Perhaps of all that could be 
 named, this instance of the dome of Pisa may be one 
 of the most important to the present inquiry, because 
 the vaultings of the side-aisles of the nave are exactly 
 of that kind which the Italians call Volta di sesto 
 acutoj, or, in other words, constructed with the 
 pointed arch, which is now generally, though errone- 
 ously, denominated the Gothic. 
 
 Against all early instances of the use of the pointed 
 
 * Vasari, vol. i. p. 226. f Ibid. i Milizia, p. 140. 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTURB. 89 
 
 arch, tlie advocates for the idea of a later introduction 
 are ever ready to make one general objection. They 
 say, these parts are either of more modern erection 
 originally, or have since been rebuilt ; but they do not 
 produce evidence of any such circumstance in the parti- 
 cular instance. Because, in some cases, the fact may 
 be so, though by no means in all, they expect that, 
 without specific proof against the identical example, the 
 objection should be admitted as an insurmountable bar to 
 every specimen that can be alleged. As well might it be 
 contended, that because, as is well known to every one, 
 the temple of Diana at Ephesus was purposely set on fire 
 and destroyed on the night in which Alexander the Great 
 was born, all other temples and erections in the world 
 must have undergone the same fate, and have since been 
 rebuilt. But every case must depend and be decided 
 upon its own peculiar circumstances : the history of one 
 can never be received as the history of all ; for what is 
 truth as to one, is not so as to another. The facts of 
 later erection originally, rebuilding of the whole since, or 
 alteration in any subsequent repair, are, in their own na- 
 ture, as capable of proof as any events whatever. If, in 
 the history of the particular edifice, no mention can be 
 found that any part is of a subsequent erection, that 
 the whole has been rebuilt or repaired, or any altera- 
 tion made in consequence of repair, what stronger 
 evidence can there be that no such events ever took 
 place, especially too, if no instances are produced 
 from the building itself, to show that mouldings, or 
 other members, had been cut through or otherwise iur 
 jured in the supposed alteration ? To every intelligent 
 mind it is clear, that assertion without proof can no 
 
 5 
 
QO HISTORY OF THE oniGIJT 
 
 more be received to invalidate history, than to confirm 
 and support it ; and when objections, founded on facts, 
 are advanced, it will then be for consideration whether 
 they apply, and to what extent. But till assertion is 
 converted into proof, and that proof found to destroy 
 the authenticity of the instances produced, those in- 
 stances must, by every rule of good sense and right 
 reason, and infallibly will, be regarded as adequate evi- 
 dence by every competent judge. 
 
 In the present case there is no reason, from any fact 
 which has yet been discovered, to suppose that this 
 part of the building is not of the same age with the 
 rest, or that it has undergone any subsequent altera- 
 tion; neither of these events being related of it. The 
 architect's object was manifestly to introduce materials 
 ready wrought, which had been before procured, and 
 were of different sizes and patterns; and his business 
 was to invent such a form as would admit them all, and 
 settle such an arrangement as would make them cor- 
 respond with each other. His difficulty in this is said 
 to have been great, as every one must readily perceive; 
 and perhaps, either because some of the columns 
 miofht have been formed on a smaller scale, and conse- 
 quently were not so tall as others, or because a less 
 distance' between was requisite to secure a more 
 solid foundation for them, or a better support for 
 the roof above, he might be compelled to use the 
 pointed arch, whicii in height would preserve an uni- 
 formity with semicircular arches of a wider span, at 
 the same time that its width was considerably less. Nor 
 is the disparity between the two sorts so great as might 
 be imagined, if it is recollected that the curves in both 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. Ql 
 
 are formed from the sweeps of a circle ; that in one in- 
 stance the arch is a semicircle ; and in the other, two 
 segments of a circle intersecting each other at top *. 
 The introduction of pointed and semicircular arches in 
 the same building, is, perhaps for this very reason, by 
 no means unusual ; and even in the church of the 
 hospital of St. Cross at Winchester, which some have 
 erroneously supposed the first instance of the use 
 of the pointed arch -}-, which it has been already 
 shown not to be, both pointed and semicircular arches 
 are found introduced. Such persons, when they con- 
 ceived this church of St. Cross a more ancient example 
 than any before discovered, were never led to question 
 for that reason, whether the pointed arches in it were 
 original or not ; nor indeed is there any ground for 
 such a doubt. But the dome at Pisa is as little liable ta 
 question, and the circumstance of its being an earlier 
 instance is no adequate cause for rejecting it. 
 
 Indeed, the more the question as to the age of the 
 pointed arch is examined, the less reason will be found 
 for disputing this example. It is certainly true, that 
 k occurs at a much earlier period than is generally ima- 
 
 * The transition from the semicircular to the pointed arch, is by 
 no means in reality so sudden as it appears j for an arch of an in- 
 termediate form, consisting of straight sides and a pointed top, com- 
 prising two sides of an equilateral triangle, was in use in the ninth 
 and tenth centuries. Mr. Ledwich notices this, and cites as his au- 
 thority the coins of Berengarius king of Italy, and Louis the PiouSj 
 and those in the Menologium Graecum, Urbini, 1727- — SeeArchao- 
 logia, vol. viii. p. 193. 
 
 f Milner's Hist, of Winchester, vol. ii. p. 140. See Essays oa 
 Gothic Architecture^ p. 130. 
 
g2 HISTORY OF THE ORIGIN 
 
 gined, and that the mode of constructing it geome-' 
 trically was known very early. For, besides the 
 before-mentioned coin of Charlemagne exhibiting 
 the church of Aix-la-Chapelle, the authenticity of 
 which there seems no reason to question ; in a 
 representation of the crucifixion of St. Peter, in a 
 painted window in the church of St. Andrew in Bar- 
 bara, mentioned by Ciampini, vol. i. p. 52, and the 
 date of which, from the dresses, he places in the fifth 
 century, a pointed arch is seen *. It also occurs in 
 a specimen of mosaic from the oratories of St. John 
 the Baptist in the Lateran church at Rome, as given 
 by the same author, vol. i. p. 340, plate 75 ; the ori- 
 ginals of which, he says, p. 238, were done by order 
 of pope Hilary, in 462 -f-. And, lastly, the mode of 
 striking the curves for the pointed arch as a geome- 
 trical form, is clearly pointed out in the first proposition 
 or problem of Euclid, in which he gives the mode 
 of describing an equilateral triangle upon a given finite 
 straight line J. Tf it be objected, that Euclid, who lived 
 about 332 years before our Saviour ^, wrote in Greek, 
 a language but very imperfectly, if in any degree un- 
 derstood in the early ages, and that, therefore, his 
 writings were inaccessible to such men as architects 
 may be supposed to have been; the answer is, that 
 with Latin they are known to have been acquainted ; 
 
 * A copy of it will be found in Plate III. Fig. 5, of the present 
 Work. 
 
 f See also a cut from this, Plate III. Fig. l & 2, in this work. 
 
 % See this in Plate III. Fig. 4, of this work, from Simson's Euclid, 
 8vo. Edinb. 1767, p. 7. 
 
 § Helvici Chronologia, p. 71, on the authority of Diogenes Laertius, 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. g|3 
 
 that the works of Euclid were translated from Greek 
 into Latin, by Boetius, in the time of Theodoric king 
 of the Goths, that is to say, between 493* and 525 f; 
 that the writings of Euclid were among the works re- 
 commended to Theodoric's attention by Cassiodorus J ; 
 and of Boetius's translation mention is made in a letter 
 to Boetius himself, written by Cassiodorus in that 
 prince's name ^. 
 
 The dome at Pisa, which is said by Felibien, p. 187, 
 to have since passed for one of the most sumptuous in 
 Italy, soon acquired, says Vasari, such reputation as to 
 excite a strong spirit of emulation in the Tuscans; and 
 to this he attributes the re-erection of the church of St. 
 Paul at Pistoia, begun to be rebuilt in 1032, which he 
 mentions as having been followed by many other 
 churches, too numerous to be particularized ||. 
 
 Vasari has also said, that in ]06o the round church 
 of St. John, opposite the dome at Pisa, was erected ; 
 and adds, that he had seen an ancient book containing 
 an account of the progress of the work in the erection 
 of that dome, from which it appeared that the columns, 
 pilasters, and vaultings in this church of St. John were 
 raised and made in fifteen days; a supposition so incre- 
 dible, that he himself could not omit to express his sur- 
 prise at it as a marvellous circumstance, almost wholly 
 beyond belief. Indeed, there is every reason to imagine, 
 from its gross improbability, if not impossibility, that, in 
 making the entry in the book which he saw, something 
 
 * Helvici Chronologia, p. 103. f Ibid. p. 105. 
 
 % Cassiodori Opera, edit. fol. Rothomagij iG/Q, vol. i. p. 113, 
 § See the letter itself, in Cassiodorus, vol. i, p. 21. 
 ji Vasari^ vol. i. p. 227. 
 
Q4 HISTORY OF THE ORIGIN 
 
 must have been accidentally omitted, which it is now 
 impracticable to supply. He speaks also of the outside of 
 this building as abounding with columns, carvings, and 
 historical subjects ; and says, that in the frieze of the 
 door in the midst is a figure of our Saviour, and others of 
 the twelve Apostles, in mezzo- relievo, in the Greek man- 
 ner*. From this circumstance it appears, that at 
 least at this time, if not before, the passion for ornament 
 and decoration had taken a more extensive direction, 
 and, instead of'*confining itself, as at first, to the intro- 
 duction of mosaic, had been applied to sculpture also; 
 probably because this last species was less operose and 
 tedious, and consequently less expensive, at the same 
 time that its progress was abundantly more rapid. The 
 authority produced by Vasari is such as to preclude all 
 doubt that the building which he has sufficiently ascer- 
 tained, and which is since known by the appellation of 
 the Baptistery of St. John, was erected in the year 
 1060 : but it should seem, though from what cause it 
 is impossible to discover, that it must have been also 
 afterwards rebuilt in 1153, by Diottisalvi; as the name 
 of that artist is said by Delia Valle, in his Lettere Senesi, 
 vol. ii. p. 18, to be still visible as master of the work 
 on one of the pilasters ; and an inscription on another, 
 which testifies that in 1 1 53, and in the month of Au- 
 gust, that church was founded. 
 
 Besides these, Vasari has noticed, that about the same 
 oeriod, namely, the year 1061, the inhabitants of Lucca 
 began the church of St. Martin in that city, which he 
 says was erected from the design of some of the dis- 
 ciples of Buschetto, because there were then no other 
 
 * Vasari, vol i. p. 223, 
 
OF GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. g5 
 
 architects in Tuscany. Of this church he relates, that 
 in the front of it is a portico of marble, with a multitude 
 of ornaments and carvings, representing transactions 
 which passed in the time of pope Alexander 11. and 
 executed about the time when, from being bishop of 
 that city, he was advanced to the papacy. In another 
 part of the same front are, he says, other figures, and 
 under the portico many historical subjects in marble^ 
 in mezzo-relievo, relating to the history of St. Martin, 
 which are in the Greek manner ; but the best of the 
 carvings occur over one of the doors, and were executed 
 an hundred and sixty years after by Nicola Pisano, and 
 finished in 1233*. 
 
 Similar to these, says Vasari, were also all the edifices 
 which from the time here spoken of, down to the year 
 1250, were erected in Italy, because little or no improve- 
 ment within the space of so many years is seen to have 
 taken place in architecture; but it was still confined 
 within the same limits, and continued in the same bar- 
 barous style -|-. 
 
 FeHbien, p. ISQ, has observed, that notwithstanding 
 the domestic and foreign wars in which the French 
 were engaged under the reigns of the greater part of 
 their sovereigns of the second race, they had yet never 
 ceased to cultivate architecture. They had, however, 
 employed themselves in it with additional and extraor- 
 dinary success as soon as Hugh Capet had ascended the 
 throne, as he did in 987 J; so that among the buildings 
 erected in the reign of king Robert, which began in 
 
 * Vasavl, vol. i. p. 228. Felibien, p. 188,-says of this church of 
 St. Martin, that it passed for very considerable in that country. 
 t Vasari, vol, i. p. 229, $ Helvici Chronologia, p. 122^ 
 
05 
 
 HISTORY OP THE ORIGIN 
 
 098*, and terminated in 1030-)-, there are somtf 
 which, without hesitation, may be placed in the rank of 
 the most sumptuous in that author's time to be seen in 
 Europe. Of this number is the cathedral of Chartres, 
 which having, while Fulbert was bishop, been destroyed 
 by lightning, was, about the year 1020, rebuilt by 
 him, and he himself took the principal conduct of the 
 undertaking. Robert king of France, Canute king 
 of Denmark and England, William fourth duke 
 of Aquitain, Richard duke of Normandy, Eudes IL 
 comte de Chartres, and several other princes and 
 noblemen, contributed very large sums to augment the 
 magnificence of this edifice. And the same writer says, 
 it may be truly affirmed that no building more beautiful, 
 solid, or extensive, was at that time constructed ;|:. 
 
 As a proof of this, he has given a description of the 
 church, which, in an inquiry like the present, it has 
 been judged necessary here also to insert. He says it 
 is about seventy toiscs in length, which, as the toise is 
 commonly estimated as 6 feet ^, w^ould be 420 feet; 
 and 18 toises, or 108 feet, high. The transept is 35 
 toises, or 210 feet, in length ; the nave near 8 toises, 
 or 48 feet wide, and accompanied with a single aisle 
 on each side 7 toises, or 42 feet, high, and about 3 
 toises and an half, or 21 feet, wide. The transept and 
 choir are also surrounded with aisles, but round the 
 choir they are doubled, and twice as wide as the single 
 aisles of the nave ; and round the circular end of 
 the church are seven chapels of different widths and 
 depths, but of the same height, which is equal to that 
 
 * Helvici Chronologia, p. 133. j- Ibid. p. 124. 
 
 1 Felibien, p. ISQ. § Cotgrave's Dictj 
 
OF GOTHIC Ar.CHITECTUHE. Q? 
 
 of the side-aisles. The crypts iiiider this church, which 
 he calls grottos, occupy almost as much space as the 
 church above ; for they are equal to the breadth of the 
 aisles which surround the nave, the transept, and the 
 choir. In the same part are also seven chapels which 
 correspond with tliose above ; and under the choir and 
 in some other places crypts or grottos are found one 
 under another *, 
 
 While this church of Chartres was thus proceeding, 
 king Robert caused the church of St. Rieuleat Senlis to 
 be built, as he did also the collegiate church of Estampes, 
 the churches of St. Hilary, Notre Dame, and St. 
 Aignan at Orleans, the church of Vitry, St. Cassian 
 at Autun, St. Leger in the forest of Iveline, the church 
 of Notre Dame at Poissy, and St. Nicholas in the 
 Fields, near his palace, just out of the city of Paris. He 
 also caused Montfort and Espernon to be surrounded 
 with walls and fortified with towers, and undertook, a 
 multitude of other buildings. These sufficiently show 
 that he was no less addicted to architecture than to the 
 other arts and sciences, which he had particularly studied 
 under Albert, abbot of Fleury on the Loire, or, as it has 
 been since called, St. Bennet on the Loire f . 
 
 About the same time, the church of St. Genevieve at 
 Paris was begun to be rebuilt. Thibault, priest and 
 chanter of this church, constructed a part of the 
 clock-tower; and a person named Maignaud built the 
 portico of the church ; both evidently, from Fclibien's 
 account, as architects. The rest of tlie building was 
 erected in the twelfth century, by Stephen de Tournay, 
 the then abbot of the place ;};. 
 
 * Felibien, p. KjO. f Ibid. p. IQ^. t Ibid. 
 
 II 
 
QS HISTORY OK THE ORIGIN 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Buildings in France under Henri/ J. — Church and Mo^ 
 nastery of St. Remigius at Rkeims — Church of the 
 Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem again rebuilt in the ele- 
 venth Century — Erroneously supposed to have been in 
 Part re-erected since — This Opinion refuted — Cluster- 
 ed Columns y the 'Origin and Reason of — Church of 
 St. Lucien at Beauvais rebuilt — Buildings i?i England 
 — fVestminster Abbey rebuilt by Edward the Confes- 
 sor — Said to be of a new Mode of Building — In what 
 that neiv Mode consisted — Arches in it, luhether point- 
 ed — Pointed Arches in use in England in the Time of 
 Edivard the Confessor. 
 
 Under the reign of Henry T. the son of king Robert, 
 which began in 1031 *, and ended in lOSK)-}-, several 
 considerable buildings were also erected. The church 
 and monastery of St. Remigius at Rheims was, 
 in the year \04g, founded by abbot Hermer, and 
 consecrated by pope Leo IX. who held a council 
 there:}:. This is not the church now standing; for, 
 in consequence of a fire, it was rebuilt almost from 
 the foundations in 1210 §. The same pope, Leo 
 IX: also induced Yves comte de Bcliesme and Alen- 
 qon, and bishop of Seez, to rebuild his cathedral 
 church, wliich had been accidentally set on fire in the 
 attempt to dislodge a troop of thieves who had render- 
 
 * Helvicus, p. 124. f Ibid. p. 126. 
 
 * Felibien, p. 192. ^ Marlot, vol. ii. p, 470.- 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. QQ 
 
 e^ themselves masters of it, and profaned it with all 
 kinds of impieties. This church had been erected but a 
 short time before by an ecclesiastic named Azon, who 
 must be considered as an able architect. Leo IX. also 
 exhorted a number of other prelates and lords to repair 
 and rebuild the ruined churches, as well in France as in 
 other places in Christendom ; and it was, as Felibien 
 says, in consequence of his remonstrances, that Coil- 
 stantine Monomachus, emperor of the East, caused 
 the church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem to be 
 rebuilt, which the Saracens had destroyed at the end of 
 the tenth century *. 
 
 For these latter facts Felibien refers to WiHiam 
 archbishop of Tyre, whose work occurs among the 
 collection entitled Gesta Dei per Francos. Willer- 
 mus, as he is there called, says, vol. i. p* 630, that 
 he wrote his book in the year 1183; and in the 
 same volume, p. 031, mentioning Heqaen, the ca- 
 liph of Egypt, he relates, that, amongst other perni- 
 cious acts, he commanded the church of our Lord's 
 Resurrection, which had been erected by Maximus, bi- 
 shop of that city, at the command of Constantine Au- 
 gustus, and afterwards repaired by Modestus, in the 
 time of Heraclius, to be entirely demolished. By the 
 context he evidently means the church of the Holy 
 Sepulchre at Jerusalem ; and he adds further, that this 
 order was sent to a person named Hyaroc, who, in con- 
 sequence of it, took effectual care that the church should 
 be pulled down to the ground, conformably to the 
 royal command. 
 
 After the death of this caliph, his son Dapher suc- 
 
 * Felibien, p. I94. 
 H 2 
 
100 IIISTOKY OF THE UEIGIN 
 
 ceeded to his tliroiie ; and he, at the request of the 
 Roman emperor at Constantinople, siirnamed Heliopo- 
 litanus, with whom he renewed a lengue which his fa- 
 ther had broken, and for whom he had contracted a 
 friendship, granted permission to the Christians for th« 
 re-erection of this church. 
 
 The Christians resident at Jerusalem were unable to 
 raise the necessary sums for that juirpose, and they 
 w-ere therefore necessitated to apply to Constantine 
 Monomachus, the emperor of Constantinople, who in 
 the mean time had succeeded to the imperial throne, 
 for the extension of his liberality to that object. In 
 this application they were successful, and the emperor 
 was induced to undertake the rebuilding of the church 
 at his own expense. Willermus adds, that at that 
 time Nicephorus was patriarch of the church of Jeru- 
 salem ; and that this permission having been obtained, 
 and the necessary expenses defrayed out of the imperial, 
 treasury, that church, says he, of the Holy Resurrec- 
 tion which is now existing at Jerusalem, was erected iu 
 the year of our Lord 1048, fifty-one years before the 
 deliverance of the city, and in the thirty-seventh year 
 after the former church had been thrown down. 
 
 It has indeed of late been said in one instance, that, 
 after the conquest of Jerusalem in lOGQ, Godfrey of 
 Boulogne built the choir of the church of the Holy Se- 
 pulchre, and that the architecture is similar to that of 
 a Norman church in our own country *. No au- 
 thority for the fact of tliis building of the choir is 
 cited ; and indeed, as will be presently seen, there k. 
 
 * Archoeolog. vol. xv, p. 3Gs. 
 
OF GOTHIC ARCHITECTUBE. 101 
 
 great reason to doubt it. William archbishop of Tyre, 
 above mentioned, says, vol. i. p. 7^7, that when Godfrey 
 of Boulogne had taken Jerusalem, and obtained the sove- 
 reignty of it, he immediately placed canons in the 
 church of the Holy Sepulchre, and in the Temple ; 
 that he assigned them ample benefices, called prebends, 
 and convenient houses, situated round those churches ; 
 and that he would have done more, had he not been 
 prevented by death. Fulcb.erius Carnotensis, who ap- 
 pears to have been contemporary with Stephen of Blois, 
 afterwards king of England *, relates, in his Gesta pe- 
 regrinantium Francorum, inserted in the same collec- 
 tion, vol. i. p. 3S1, that when Godfrey had been elected 
 sovereign of that city, canons were placed in the church 
 of the Holy Sepulchre, and in the Temple -f-. Neither 
 of these authors intimates that any part of the church 
 of the Holy Sepulchre was rebuilt by Godfrey, 
 which, had it been true, the former of them particu- 
 larly was not likely to have omitted. But William 
 archbishop of Tyre, who had himself been at Jerusalem, 
 had consequently seen the church, and wrote in the 
 year 118'2, expressly asserts, that the church then 
 standing was that which had been erected in 1048, 
 fifty-one years before the city was taken by God- 
 frey. Whoever recollects, as was the case, that Jeru- 
 salem was not taken till the 15th of July 1099|", 
 and that Godfrey died on the 15 th of the calends of 
 
 '* See the account of him' in the Address to the Reader prefixed 
 to the whole volume, 
 f Fulcherias Carnotensis, p. 399, under the year IO99, 
 X See Eitlchcr. Carnot, p. 399. 
 
 H 3 
 
102 HISTORY OP THE ORIGIN 
 
 August (which must have been thelSth of July *), in the 
 next year, 1 100-(~, so that his reign was very little, if any 
 thing, more than twelve months, will indeed see further 
 reason also to question the probability that any rebuilding 
 by him could, within so very short a period, have taken 
 place. The above assertion, as to the rebuilding, it is 
 true, confines the supposed re-erection to the choir 
 alone, and does not speak of it as a re-edification of 
 the whole, or indeed of any part of the fabric itself; 
 but even for this limited construction of the passage 
 authority is still wanting, as the historians are silent on 
 the subject. Any one who examines that part of the 
 structure, as represented from Bernardino :|;, in Plate VI. 
 of this work, will be fully convinced that four such 
 massy clustered columns, with the cupola above, could 
 not have been erected in so short a space. 
 
 Of this church, no longer existing, which had in 
 some respects, both in form and proportion, been 
 adopted as the model in the erection of many Go- 
 thic cathedrals, a plan and two sectional views of 
 diftcrent parts of the elevation will be 'found in 
 Plates No. V. VI. and VII. of the present work. 
 The particulars of resemblance will be noticed in a 
 future page, as a more convenient place, and need 
 not be here further pointed out than to remark, that the 
 ideas for the introduction of chapcL-* in the ambulatory 
 round the choir, and at the east end, and for the use 
 
 * See the Kalendarium Romanum at" the end of Littleton's Latin 
 Diet. 
 
 f Fulcher. Camot. vol. i. p. 402 j sub anno 1100. 
 
 t Trattnto cielle Piante et Immagini de sacri Edifizi di Terra SantSj, 
 4to. Firenza, 1620, p. 'Sg. 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. «aO^ 
 
 of the clustered column, so often to be seen in Gothic 
 edifice?, seem to have been derived from this. 
 
 With those who are no friends to Gothic architec- 
 ture, scarcely any objection is so frequent as the slen- 
 derness of the columns. It might be a reasonable an- 
 swer to this to say, as is the fact, that the columns are 
 not to be considered singly, except where they singly 
 occur, but that the whole cluster should be estimated 
 as forming, as it does, a conjoint support, composed 
 of smaller subdivisions. The Gothic architects, how- 
 ever, have no reason to shrink from an examination, 
 the result of which, instead of tending to criminate 
 them, will be only to evidence their great sagacity and 
 judgment, and the extent of their knowledge in natural 
 history. 
 
 The Scripture, describing the temple of Solomon, 
 frequently mentions palm-trees, their branches and 
 leaves, introduced as embellishments into various parts 
 of the building ; and in erections constructed for a si- 
 milar purpose, there was manifestly a singular propriety 
 in employing the same kinds of ornaments and decora- 
 tions. Gne reason for their original use might probably 
 have been, that the architecture of every country must 
 always bear some relation to the forms of the materials 
 for building which that country affords. Now no trees of 
 any bulk for timber were to be found in the Holy Land, 
 for the soil would only supply the palm-tree, the stem 
 of which was slender in its girt, tall in its height, and 
 equal, without either increase or diminution of size, all 
 the way up to the very boughs. As the first idea of a 
 column was unquestionably suggested by the sight of a 
 
 H 4 
 
104 HISTORY OF THE ORIGIN 
 
 tree *, it was natural for the architects in their use of 
 them to follow that s{)ecies of tree which their own 
 country produced ; and where the apparent size of the 
 tree was inadequate to the support which the super- 
 structure would require, to make up the deficiency of 
 individual strength by the accession of several into 
 one cluster. A method like this would have been rea- 
 sonable in itself, ev^en had there not existed, as there 
 did, another circumstance in natural history which 
 abundantly shows the research and intelligence of these 
 artists. 
 
 AulusGellius, book iii. chap. 6, on the authority of 
 Aristotle and Plutarch, has related, that if a palm-tree 
 be loaded with more than it can support, it will not 
 swerve from the upright, but resist the weight, and 
 endeavour to bend upwards. He adds, that Plutarch 
 gives as the reason for assuming the palm as the symbol 
 of victory, that it was the nature of that wood not to 
 yield to any weight. Plutarch •^, in the passage to 
 which Aulus Gellius alludes, noticing some peculiarities 
 of the palm-tree, adds, "And besides all these it has this 
 quality, of which no other tree can boast, that if the 
 wood of the palm be loaded with a superincumbent 
 weight, it will not shrink aside or yield to it, but, on 
 the contrary, endeavour to bend upwards, as if resisting 
 by force the load which oppresses it." The very same 
 thing, he remarks, takes place in athletic competitions ; 
 for those who through imbecility and delicacy give way, 
 
 *■ Vitruvius, book v. chap. 1, says, that columns ought to imitate 
 the nature of trees, and therefore diminish at top. 
 -f Sjmposiaca, lib. viii. Questio Quarta. 
 
OF GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 105 
 
 are shaken and depressed : but those who can bravely 
 sustain exertion, find not only their bodies, but their 
 minds, strengthened and invigorated. 
 
 Hoffman, in his Lexicon, has observed, that what 
 authors have with one consent related as to the resist- 
 ance of the palm-tree against any weight, is not to be 
 understood of the tree with its boughs and foliage, but 
 of the wood itself, as, he says, is apparent from the 
 above passage, and also from Strabo Geograph. book 
 XV. where that author asserts, that a beam made of the 
 wood of the Jpalm-tree has this peculiar quality, that 
 when it is strengthened by age it will not yield to a 
 weight placed on it, but will rather bend upwards like 
 an arch, and is therefore so much the fitter for sup- 
 porting the roof of a building. Strabo says, that 
 Theophrastus has, in his History of Plants, book v.. 
 chap. 7, related the same of the ash and the pine- 
 Notwithstanding Hoffman's remark, the usual and ge- 
 neral opinion seems to have been, that the tree in its 
 natural state, and not when reduced to a beam, was the 
 object meant both by Plutarch and Aristotle. Indeed, 
 without this its use as the symbol of victor)' loses much 
 of its propriety ; and the other supposition cannot be 
 freed from the absurdity of attributing to a tree when 
 dead that vigour and power of exertion which it did not 
 possess when living and growing. Resting on the in- 
 terpretation above mentioned, the palm-tree, when- 
 growing, has been assumed by emblematists, and Al- 
 ciat among the rest, as the symbol of fortitude under 
 the pressure of evils, and a complete illustration of the- 
 precept delivered by Virgil in the personof the Sibyl to 
 ^neas, JEn. lib. vi. line 95 : 
 
106 HISTORY OP THE ORIGIN 
 
 Tu ne cede malis; sed contra audentior ito. 
 Yield not to evils; but still bolder grow *. 
 
 As a still further proof of the intelligence and science 
 of these ancient architects, and especially of their ac- 
 quaintance with natural history, it is necessary to ob- 
 serve that Denon, in his Travels in Egypt, mentions hav- 
 ing seen the dum-palin-tree, which he describes as pos^ 
 sessing a leaf resembling that of the racket-palm, and 
 as not, like the date-tree, consisting of a single stem, but 
 from eight to fifteen. He says further, that its ligneous 
 fruit is attached in bunches to the extremities of its 
 principal branches, from which spring tufts which com- 
 pose the foliage of the tree ; and that it is of a triangu- 
 far form, and of the bigness of an egg. 
 
 In this one instance of the dum-palm-tree, which, in 
 all probability, is not confined to Egypt, but occurs in 
 other countries where the common palm-tree is to be 
 foimd, the first idea of the clustered column is plainly 
 to be traced ; and as this tree contains also the geome- 
 trical form of a triangle, as exemplified in its fruit, it 
 
 * To remove all possible doubt whether the circumstance relating 
 to the nature of the palm-tree, as mentioned by Aristotle and Plu- 
 tarch, were sufficiently known at the time when the clustered column 
 was introduced, it is worthy of remark, that the fact of its propen- 
 sity to resist is mentioned by Joannes Sarisburiensis in his Policralicas, 
 sive De Nugis Curialium et Vestigiis Philosophorum, lib. v. cap. 6 ; 
 and that he there cites the authority of Aristotle in his seventh book 
 of Problems, and Plutarch, in the eighth book of his Memorabilia. 
 See Joan. Sarisb. Policraticus, edit. 12mo. Lugd. Bat. 1595, p. 229. 
 Joannes Sarisburiensis was chaplain and disciple of Becket, arch- 
 bishop of Canterbury, and lived about the year 1140. See Tritteu- 
 hemius's account which follows the dedication in the editlop ahxna 
 •ref«red to. 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 107 
 
 possibly might suggest the hint, though not for first 
 adopting, yet for continuing, that figure as the principle 
 for the arches to be placed on those columns. Certain 
 it is, that in Gothic architecture the triangle is the most 
 usual rule for the construction of the pointed arch. 
 
 About the year 107 8 the church of St. Lucien at 
 Beauvais was rebuilt by two workmen, who in an ancient 
 obituary are described as ' caementarii,' or masons, be- 
 cause the appellation of architect was then little used ia 
 France, and the term mason was given to all those who 
 professed the art of building. One of these two work- 
 men was named Wirmbolde, and built the greater 
 part of the structure; the other, called Odo, erected 
 only the tower *. 
 
 This, says Felibien, is all that can be learnt as to the 
 workmen who appeared in France in the eleventh cen- 
 tury. Still less is, he adds, to be found in relation to 
 those who were employed in the circumjacent countries, 
 and even in England, where architecture was sedulously 
 cultivated by king Edward, who built the church of 
 Westminster in IO6O, and by William duke of Nor- 
 mandy, his successor, who, in 1067, caused Battle ab- 
 
 bey to be erected -j-. 
 
 The church of Westminster, though so slightly no- 
 ticed by Felibien, merits a more particular attention, be- 
 cause it is said to have been of a new style of building; 
 but as antiquaries have been very much at a loss how to 
 understand this assertion, it shall here be inquired 
 what that new mode really was. 
 
 Widmore, on the authority of Sulcardus, who lived 
 
 n, p. 193. t Ibid. p. 194. 
 
108 HISTORY OF THE ORIGIN 
 
 in the early part of William the Conqueror's reign, 
 places the rebuilding of this church by Edward the 
 Confessor within the period when Eadwine was abbot 
 there, to which station he was not advanced till 104(), 
 as his predecessor, who held it till his death, did not die 
 till that year-f-. It appears also, that on Innocents' day, 
 28th December, 1065, the church, which was then 
 just finished, was consecrated; and that on the 5th of 
 January following, only eight days after the conse- 
 cration, the king died;}:. At the time of its conse-r 
 oration the church was undoubtedly complete, as no 
 mention is any where found of its having been finished 
 after his death ; but it is certain, that, for the reason* 
 above mentioned, it could not have been begun before 
 1049, and it might probably not liave been undertaken 
 till a still later period. 
 
 Of this church, no part of which is now standing ^, 
 a description has been given in Latin from an ancient 
 manuscript; bul as it is believed that it has never been 
 correctly rendered, and as the attempt by Sir Christo- 
 pher Wren for that purpose || is manifestly faulty, a 
 new effort shall here be made to give it more faithfully, 
 the original Latin being also inserted in the note^. 
 
 * Widraore's Account of the Writers, at the end of his Inquiry 
 into the first Foundation of Westminster Abbey, p. 4. 
 
 f Widmore's History of Westminster Abbey, p. 8. 
 
 ■^ Ibid. p. 15. 
 
 § Ibid. p. 10. 
 
 W See it in his Letter to the Bishop of Rochester, inserted in Wid-? 
 more, p. 45. 
 
 <[[ Principalis area domus, altissimis erecta fornicibus quadrato 
 opere, parique commissura circumvolvitur j ambitus autem ipsiu» 
 iedis duplici lapidum arcu ex utroque latere iuac iude fortiter soli- 
 
OF GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. IQg 
 
 The principal area (or nave) of the building, erected 
 with very lofty arches of squared work, is with a similar 
 mode of construction brought round at the end. But 
 the ambulatory of the church itself, strongly compacted 
 together with a double arch of stone from each side in 
 both directions, is enclosed by the extreme wall of the 
 building. Besides this, the cross of the church, in or- 
 der that it might surround the choir in the midst for 
 those who perform the service, and by its double pressure 
 in both directions might support the lofty summit of 
 the tower in the middle, rises at first in a simple man- 
 ner with a low and strong arch ; afterwards it swells 
 with several staircases, artfully ascending in various di- 
 rections ; and at length with a single wall is carried up 
 to the timber roof v^^ell covered with lead. 
 
 It is much to be regretted that the original author of 
 this description, whoever he were, has sacrificed, as he 
 appears to have done, the more valuable qualities of 
 precise and definite information, to the inferior con- 
 sideration of showing his dexterity in avoiding the 
 usual terms, and of manifesting hov^ many varieties 
 of expression for the same sentiment his recollection 
 
 data operis compage clauditur. Porru crux templi quae medium 
 canentium Domino chorum ambirct, & sui gemina hinc inde susten- 
 tatione mediae turris celsum apicem fulciret, humili primum & ro- 
 busto fornice simpliciter surgit; deinde cochlaeis multipliciter ex 
 arte ascendentibus plurirais intumescit; deinceps vero simplici 
 muro usque r.d tectum ligneum plumbo diligenler vestitum per- 
 venit,— Reges, Reginas, Nobilcs et alii in Ecclesia B. Petri Westmo- 
 ©asterii sepulti, 4to. Lond. l603, in the Preface entitled Fundatio 
 Ecclesiae Beati Petri Westmonasterii. — It is there said to be given 
 from an ancient manuscript, but no reference to the original auihqr 
 is inserted. 
 
110 HISTORY OP THE ORIGIN 
 
 could suggest. While he is thus labouring to exht- 
 bit himself, instead of his subject, to notice, he has 
 furnished the reader with so little idea of the form of 
 the edifice, that it would puzzle any one to give a tole- 
 rable representation of its appearance, or really to under- 
 stand how it was formed — a kind of intelligence, how- 
 ever, which could hardly have failed of being clearly con- 
 veyed in a very few words by any one who had possessed 
 a competent knowledge of the subject on which he was 
 writing. 
 
 From this description, which is so general as to suit 
 with almost every building of the kind, and so indefinite 
 as to convey no competent idea of any one, all that is 
 to be learnt is, that the church consisted of a principal 
 area or nave, which, as the ambulatory round it is said to 
 be compacted together with a double arch of stone, must 
 have been accompanied with one aisle on each side. 
 
 The double arch of stone from each side, which Is 
 said to have extended in both directions (hinc inde), 
 was formed by placing one arch in a straight-forward 
 direction lengthways of the building, and the other 
 across over the aisle. This is per})etually the method 
 in such erections; and it can never mean, as Sir Christo- 
 pher Wren, in his translation of the passage, supposes^ 
 that the aisles had a double vaulting in two stories, be- 
 cause the expression * hinc inde,' on which he mani- 
 festly founds his opinion, never signifies above and be- 
 low, which it must, to justify his interpretation. The 
 choir was evidently, from this description, in the middle 
 of the cross ; and in the centre over the cross and 
 the choir there was a lofty tower which contained in its 
 angles staircases for ascending to the roof of the build- 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTUKE. Ill 
 
 ing. Sulcardus adds also, that the edifice was supported 
 on several columns, and consisted of multiplex arches, 
 the ribs of which were carried up in both directions*. 
 In this churchj as here described, nothing of pecu- 
 liarity is discernible; notwithstanding which, it certainly 
 was an instance of deviation from the usual mode of 
 construction, and adopted in that respect as a model for 
 future erections. William of Malmsbury, who cer- 
 tainly lived in the twelfth century, and seems to have 
 been contemporary with king Stephen -f-, speaking of 
 Edward the Confessor and his interment at Westminster, 
 says, that he erected at Westminster a church in a new 
 mode of building J ; and Matthew Paris, who died in 
 the year 1259 §, mentioning the interment of the 
 same king Edward the Confessor, relates, that, when 
 the king was dead, he was on the morrow buried at 
 London, in the church which he himself had erect- 
 ed in a new style of building ; from which church, 
 many persons afterwards, when erecting churches, hav- 
 ing taken example, imitated that work at great ex- 
 pense II . 
 
 ♦ See the passage from Sulcardus in Widmore, p. 10, in a note. 
 t Nicholson's Historical Library, edit. 1714, p. 5^ and 58. 
 
 ♦ Qui ampliori monachorum conventu ibidem adunato ecclesiam 
 aedificationis genere novo fecit.— Willelmus Malmsburiensis, inter 
 Scriptores post Bedam, edit. I596, fo. 134. 
 
 § Nicholson's Hist. Library, p. 62. 
 
 II Detunctus autem rex beatissimus, in crastino sepultus est Lon- 
 donii, in ecclesia, quam ipse novo compositionis genere construxerat, a 
 qua multi post ecclesias construentes, exemplum adepti, opus illud 
 expensis aemulabantur sumptuosis. — Matt. Paris, edit. 157I, p. 2. 
 Matthew of Westminster, edit. Francof. 16OI, p. 220, uses Mat- 
 thew Paris's words, with the change of one only, ' xmulantur' for 
 
 3 
 
J 12 HISTORY OP THE OBIGIN 
 
 Widmore, to answer these assertions, that it was of a 
 new kind of building, says, p. 10, it was erected in the 
 shape of a cross, and that that being new in this king- 
 dom, it served for a pattern mueh followed for the 
 building of other churches. But he is mistaken ; for 
 the form of a cross was no novelty in this kingdom, 
 as it had been already used in the church of the 
 abbey of Ramsey in Huntingdonshire, erected in the 
 time of king Edgar, and finished in 974 *. Some 
 persons of late years have considered this change as 
 consisting only of an enlargement of size-J-; but an 
 
 * aemulabantur ;' and if tins alteration were intentional, it should 
 seem as if he thought the style of architecture prevalent in his own 
 time, which was about the year 130/, when his History ends (see 
 Nicholson's Hist. Lib. p. 66), was also derived from tiie church of 
 Westminster as re-erected by Edward the Confessor. 
 
 * SeeBentham's Prefiice to his History of Ely, as inserted in Es- 
 says on Gothic Architecture, p. 52. In tlie passage here referred to, 
 this church is said to have been six years in building, and finished in 
 974, in which last year it was dedicated. Its form is thus described 
 —It had two towers, raised above the roof, one of them at the west 
 end of the church; the other, which was larger, was supported by four 
 pillars in the middle of the building, where it divided in four parts, 
 being connected together by arches which extended to other adjoining 
 arches, to keep them from giving way. From this, says Bentham, one 
 may easily collect that the plan of this new church was across, with side- 
 aisles, and that it was adorned with two towers, one in the west front, and 
 the other in the intersection of the cross. The original Latin passac^e 
 from which Bentham's description of the church is taken, is to be 
 found in the Hist, of Ramsey, among the XV. Scriptores pubhshed 
 by Gale. See it also in Essays on Gothic Architecture, p. gy. 
 
 ■\ Bentham says, the Normans repaired and enlarged the churches 
 jnd monasteries, and erected new ones in a more stately manner than 
 iiad been kngwn in these kingdoms before. This, says he, is what 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTURR. 1]3 
 
 augmentation of dimensions can, by no mode of reason- 
 ing whatever, be termed a new style of architecture, or 
 even a new mode of composition or building ; and no 
 rational man would ever think of affirming that the 
 churches of St. Peter at Rome, and St. Paul at London, 
 were of different styles, because they were not of the 
 same size. 
 
 Had those who first produced these two passages 
 from William of Malmsbury and Matthew Paris, had 
 the curiosity to turn to others in those authors, where, 
 from the nature of the subject, the same event of 
 the death of Edward the Confessor might be reason- 
 ably expected again to have been noticed, they would 
 have found, particularly in the instance of the former of 
 these two writers, a solution of the difficulty in a passage 
 infinitely more strong than either of the above, but 
 which, from the similarity of expression, it is evident 
 this latter author had seen. Relating the events of the 
 Confessor's reign, William of Malmsbury says, that 
 not long after the return of Harold from Normandy, 
 the king, Edward the Confessor, on Christmas day was 
 crowned at London, and there being taken ill, and find- 
 ing death approaching, he commanded that the church 
 of Westminster should bededicated on Innocents' day (viz. 
 28th December) following ; that he afterwards died, and 
 was buried on the day of the Epiphany (viz. 6th Janu- 
 ary) in the same church, which he first of all persons in 
 England had erected in that style of architecture, which 
 
 our historians take notice of, and call it a new manner of building. 
 Bentham's Preface, as inserted in Essays on Gotiiic Architecture^ 
 p. 63. 
 
114 HISTORY OP THE ORIGIN 
 
 Style almost all persons now imitate at great expense *. 
 William of Malmsbury, as has been before observed, 
 lived and wrote in the time of king Stephen, at which 
 period the building he is describing was still actually 
 standing; for the Confessor's church at Westminster 
 was not pulled down till the reign of Henry III. and 
 then only in that part towards the east -j-. The new 
 work erected in the place of what was then removed, 
 is at this time existing, and was so contrived as to fit 
 the western part of the church, which was then per- 
 mitted to stand J, though that also has been since taken 
 
 • Nee multum temporis intercessit, quod illo domum reverso, rex, 
 
 in natale Domini apud Londoniam coronatus est, ibidemque morbo 
 
 ictus quo se moriturum sciret, ecclesiam Westmonasterii dielnnocen- 
 
 tium dedicari praeccpit. Ita, aevi plenus & gloriae, simplicem spiritura 
 
 calesti regno exhibuit, & in eadem ecclesia die Theophaniae sepultu* 
 
 est, quam ipse illo composiionis geneie primus in Anglia aedificaverat,. 
 
 quod nunc pene cuncli sumptuosis aemulantur expensis. — ^WiJlelmu* 
 
 Malmsburiensis ubi supra, fol. 52, b. It is to be observed, that the 
 
 coronation here mentioned could have been only a repetition of that 
 
 ceremon}^ ; a practice which at different periods the kings of thi» 
 
 country frequently used; for Edward's original coronation took plac* 
 
 on Easter day, 1043 (Inguiphi Historia, inter Scripiores post Bedam, 
 
 edit. 1596, fol. 509, a) ; whereas this is mentioned as having been 
 
 performed but a short time before his death, and consequently 
 
 in 1065. 
 
 •\- Eodem vero anno, dominus rex, devotione quam habuit adversus. 
 Sanctum Edwardum, submonente, ecclesiam Sancii Petri Westmonas- 
 teiiensem jussit ampliari. Et dirutis antiquis cura turri muris partife 
 orientalis, praecepit novos, videlicet decentiores, suis sumptibus, sub- 
 tilibus artificibus convocatis, construi : & residuo, videlicet occiden- 
 tali, operi coaptari. — Matt. Paris, fol. edit. 157I, p. 294. It appears 
 from p. 8S2, that ' eodem anno' in the above passage means, Ann© 
 1245. 
 
 X See the passage from Matthew Paris, given in the preceding note-. 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 115 
 
 down and rebuilt. Matthew Paris, who lived in the 
 time of Henry III. and died five years after the commence- 
 ment of the rebuilding of Westminster abbey, had no 
 doubt often seen the former church, and was unques- 
 tionably well informed, perhaps from ocular inspection, 
 what alteration was intended to be made in the new fa- 
 bric. He has related the above particulars in the passage 
 already given in the preceding note, which fully shows 
 that the present church, though perhaps its extent each 
 way may be greater, actually covers the spot where the 
 Confessor's erection had stood. 
 
 By the last-cited passage from William of Malms- 
 bury, the Confessor's church at Westminster is de- 
 cidedly shown to have been of the style of architecture 
 which prevailed in the reign of king Stephen, namely, 
 from 1 ]35 to 1154, and may well be judged of from 
 similar erections in the reign of the latter king. 
 
 It is observable, that this author does not attribute to 
 Edward, or his architects, the invention of that style of 
 architecture, but only the introduction of it into this 
 kingdom, as he says that that king was the first who 
 used it in England. The probability, therefore, cer- 
 tainly is, that it was not invented here, but imported 
 from France, and particularly from Normandy, where 
 Edward had resided from a very early age to the time 
 of his elevation to the throne *. From that country 
 there is everv reason to believe the Confessor's archi- 
 tects and materials were procured. His own partiality 
 for the natives of France and Normandy, the consequent 
 rejection of the English customs and manners, and the 
 
 * Henrici Huntingdoniensis Historian inter Scriptores post Bedam, 
 edit. 1596, fol. 206, a. Ingulphi Historia, ibid. fol. 500, a. 
 
 I 1 
 
il6 HISTORY OF THE OIIIGIS' 
 
 adoption of those of the French in their stead, are 
 circumstances noticed by Ingulphus*. And Sir Christo- 
 pher Wren says, he finds that after the conquest, which 
 is only a few years later, all our artists were brought 
 from Normandy, and that they loved to work in their 
 own Caen stone, which is more beautiful than durable -f'. 
 No intelligence has been given in what form the 
 arches of this church of Edward the Confessor were 
 constructed ; yet, if a coin which has been produced 
 as of that ti[ne, merits to be considered as genuine, 
 which it has been, it would lead to an opinion that 
 the arches were pointed. The coin here alluded to 
 is mentioned by Mr. Ledwich in a paper in the Ar- 
 cha3ologia, vol. viii. p. 193, as given by Camden, and 
 as containing a representation of a church with a pointed 
 arch, supposed to be that of Bury St. Edmund. But 
 as one of the passages already given from William of 
 Malmsbury, ascertains the style of the church at 
 Westminster to have been that usually adopted in the. 
 reign of king Stephen, there does not seem sufficient 
 authority to justify the conclusion that the arches in 
 that were pointed. 
 
 That pointed arches were however known and used 
 in this country so early at least as the time of Edward 
 the Confessor, if not before, seems unquestionable, 
 because they occur in a variety of proportions in a cellar 
 under the late House of Lords, in which cellar the Pow- 
 der Plot was intended to have taken effect. This cellar 
 was certainly a part of the palace which is said to hav« 
 
 * Ingulphi Historia, p. 50g, a. 
 5 -f See his Letter to the Bishop of Kochester, in Wldmore^ p. 4f). 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 117 
 
 been erected by him, if it were not indeed rather a part 
 of that which existed there before *. It has every ap- 
 pearance of having been the original kitchen ; and 
 there is no ground for supposing it has undergone any 
 alteration ; for though the palace at Westminster is 
 mentioned by Stow, on the authority of Fitz-Stephen, 
 as repaired in 1103 by Becket, then chancellor of Eng- 
 land, which, as he says, was before ready to have 
 fallen down 'j- ; yet as he notices that the repair was 
 completed with exceeding great celerity and speed ;{;, 
 it could have only extended to a small portion, and that 
 only of the upper parts of the building. It could 
 never have been a re-edification of the whole, or the 
 construction of rooms on the ground-floor, by way of 
 foundations or supports for the superstructure, with 
 stone walls, such as this cellar has, in some places nine, 
 and in others six feet thick. Nor in the fire in l2Qg, 
 mentioned by the same author, Stow, p. 520, on the au- 
 thority of Thomas Walsingham, is there any reason to 
 imagine that the whole editice was so injured as to re- 
 quire rebuilding; as he speaks only of the destruction 
 o[ the hall in the king's house, with many other 
 houses adjoining, and with the queen's chamber. But 
 by the term destruction, it is evident he means no more 
 tlian injury ; because he says that the parts thus da- 
 maged were afterwards repaired. The painted cham- 
 ber is one of the rooms in the upper story over this 
 
 * Stow, in his Survey, edit. 1(533, p. 519, says, that the anti- 
 quity of this palace is uncertain ; but that Edward the Confessor 
 held his court there, as appears from Ingulphus, ■w'^'ch seenas to 
 imply that he thought it still older. 
 
 t Ibid. p. 520. X Ibid. 
 
 I 3 
 
118 HISTORY OF THE ORIGIN 
 
 cellar ; and no one has ever questioned the fact of that 
 being as old as the time of Edward the Confessor. It 
 is said, indeed, that that king died in it * ; and Sir Ed- 
 ward Coke notices it by the appellation of the Chamber 
 Depeint (or Painted Chamber), or, as he adds, St. Ed- 
 ward's Chamber f. The walls of this cellar, in some 
 places nine feet thick, and in others six, being also of 
 stone, as they are, were not likely to have ever need- 
 ed since their erection any repair ; and they were 
 found by the conspirators in the Powder Plot so 
 firm and strong, that a less force than six-and-thirty 
 barrels of gunpowder, small and great ;{, was deemed 
 insufficient to secure their destruction. When pointed 
 arches came afterwards into fashion, there could have 
 been no inducement, if the arches had been originally 
 semicircular, for making on that account a change in 
 the form of those of a room like this, which was 
 never intended for show or splendour, or for elegant 
 uses, but only destined for purposes of absolute ne- 
 cessity, and those of a sordid kind. 
 
 * Howel's Londinopolis, p. 356 j the first so numbered, as there 
 16 a mistake in the paging. 
 
 ■f- Coke's Fourth Instit. edit. l644, p. 8. 
 
 i Speed's Hist, of Great Britain^ edit. l62'(, p. 92Q. 
 
OF GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. J kp 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Church of the Monastery of Clugny, as rebuilt in the 
 twelfth Century, an early Instance of the pointed 
 Arch and many of the Particulars of the moderii 
 Gothic — Prior to the Hospital of St. Cross at fVin- 
 Chester — Crusades, and their Effect on Architecture 
 —Did not suggest Gothic Architecture — Buildings 
 in Italy in the twelfth Century — Baptistery of Pisa 
 — Particulars of its Style, and hoiv far it resembled 
 or suggested modern Gothic Architecture — St. MarJiS 
 Church at Venice rebuilt in the tivelfth Century— ^ 
 Buildings in Italy of that Period — Sugger, Abbot of 
 St. Denis, rebuilds his Church — PFhittington's Ob- 
 servations on the Architecture of France in the 
 twelfth Century-— 'Church of St. Denis an Instance 
 of modern Gothic Style — Earlier Instances than this 
 cf the pointed Arch in France, tvhich are also prior 
 to the Hospital of St, Cross at IVinchester — The 
 Churches of the Abbey of Clugny and of St. Denis 
 Examples of the later Gothic, and consequently fix 
 the Era of its Introduction into France — Its Intro- 
 duction into Italy — Clustered Columns supposed to 
 have been introducid by Marchion of Arezzo — Church 
 of Arezzo described — Style of Buildings of the 
 twelfth Century in Italy and elsewhere — Cathedral 
 of Amiens described — St. Nicasius at Rheims — Pure 
 modern Gothic, tvhen established in France — 7/* In- 
 troduction into England — Particulars of modem 
 
 I 4 
 
120 HISTORY OF THE ORIGIN 
 
 Style of Gothic yirchilecture, ivhence derived — Ab" 
 hot Sugger the Introducer or Reviver of the Use of 
 tainted Glass in ecclesiastical Structures — Parti- 
 culars of its IlistorTj — An Opinion of Le Noiie's 
 refuted. 
 
 JLhe church of the monastery of Clugny in France, 
 a building, as it will be found, of great moment in the 
 present inquiry, has hitherto been unnoticed by almost 
 all of those who have endeavoured to account for the 
 rise of Gothic architecture. Whittington is the only 
 one now recollected who speaks of it ; and that only 
 in so slight a manner, p. 35, that even he seems not 
 aware of the importance and use of it as an instance 
 on the subject in which he was engaged; for he mentions 
 only its original foundation, and that the present struc- 
 ture was an erection of the eleventh century. Whether 
 it is still standing is not certainly knovi'n, or whether, 
 in the convulsions which have of late years agitated 
 France, it may not rather have experienced a similar 
 fate with the church of St. Nicasius at Rheims *, 
 and perhaps some others, and been levelled with the 
 ground for the sale of its materials. It was origi- 
 nally founded in 912-}-, and had risen to such a rank 
 
 * An east view of this church, and also a view of its west frpnt, 
 were published in 1805 by Mr. B. Howie t of V"auxhall Walk, from 
 drawings made in 1801 j and in the letter-press with which they 
 were accompanied it is said, that " the west facade, or front, was 
 totally destroyed when this view was taken, in ISOI, by Generat 
 Santaire, to whom it was sold for a very trifling sum di\ring the 
 yevolutiori," 
 
 \ Spondani Epitome, vol. ii. p. 333. 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 121 
 
 in estimation, as to be considered as the parent of 
 many monasteries of the western church * ; in con- 
 sequence of which the number of its members had 
 so greatly increased, that in IO93 the buildings it con- 
 tained were no longer capable of receiving, with any 
 tolerable degree of comfort, the multitude of per- 
 sons for whom it w^s necessary to provide habitations. 
 Hugh, the then abbot of Clugny, to remedy this in- 
 convenience, conceived the intention of rebuilding the 
 church and convent, and applied, as it seems, for as- 
 sistance in his undertaking to Alphonsus, king of 
 Spain, whom in 1074 he had been the means of de- 
 livering from captivity t- The aid solicited appears 
 to have been readily granted ; as Baronius relates, 
 that in the year lOgS, the church of Clugny was re- 
 built from the foundations at the expense of Alphon- 
 sus X' O^ this edifice, Gunzo, a monk of Clugny^ 
 
 * Heylyn, in his Cosmography, p. 186, edit. 1703, speaking of the 
 county of Burgundy, says, " Here is also the great and famous 
 abbey of Clugny, near the town oi Beaum, out of which many mo- 
 nasteries in the western church had their first original." In the 
 account of Clugny, which accompanies a view of it in the De- 
 scription particuliere de la France, torn. iii. cinquieme livraison. 
 No. 20, it is said, that at one time the abbey of Clugny possessed 
 in Europe more than 2000 monasteries, which must be understoo4 
 as being dependent upon it. 
 
 f Spondani Epitome, vol. ii. p. 447- 
 
 J Spondanus, vol. ii, p. 474, speaking of Alphonsus, king of 
 Spain, says, that Bertholdus relates, that he had bravely fought 
 against the Pagans, " multasque ecclesias, jam dudum penitus de- 
 vastatas, in pristinum statum restaurasse j sed et Cluniaci majoreni 
 pcclcsiam a fundamentis cedificasse, missa ad hoc infinita pecunia.'' 
 
112 HISTORY OF THE ORIGIK 
 
 was the architect, and furnished the designs * ; bot 
 though it does not appear to have been finished till 
 J 131, as it was not consecrated till that year-f-, its 
 age, and that of every building, must be estimated 
 from the time when it was begun, because, before the 
 first stone was laid, the plans and designs for the whole 
 elevation must have been necessarily settled. This 
 church is a decided example of the use of the pointed 
 arch, not in single instances intermixed with se- 
 micircular, but instead, and in exclusion of, the se- 
 micircular ones ; at least in those parts where the 
 pointed arches occur. All those on each side of 
 the vestibule are pointed, and rest on piers formed 
 of Corinthian pilasters ; and the whole of the nave 
 on each side is also composed of a long range of piers 
 consisting of Corinthian columns, supporting in like 
 manner ten pointed arches on each side ;};. It was 
 consecrated in 1131 <^, which is five years prior to 
 the erection of the hospital of St. Cross at Win- 
 chester, as that was not built till 1 136 ||. Peter, ab- 
 bot of Clugny, was in England in 1130^; and Henry 
 of Winchester, who erected the hospital of St. 
 Cross, had himself been a monk in the abbey of 
 
 • See the Life of St. Hugh, abbot of Clugny, inserted in Surii 
 Vitae Sanctorum, April, p. 350, edit. Coloniae, l6lS. 
 
 -)■ Spondani Epitome, vol. ii. p. 524. 
 
 X See two inside views of it in the Description particuliere de U 
 France, fol. torn. iii. seizi^me livraison. No. 56 ; copies from 
 which will be found in Plates I. and II. of the present work. 
 
 § Vide supra in this page. 
 
 II Bishop Lowth's Life of William of Wykeham. See Essays oa 
 Gothic Architecture, p. 144. 
 
 ^ Chronicon Saxouicum, edit. Gibson, 4to. Oxon. 1692, p. 235- 
 
OF GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 123 
 
 Clugny *. These circumstances it has been neces- 
 sary thus to notice, because some persons of late 
 years have erroneously conceived that Henry of Win' 
 Chester was the inventor of the pointed arch, and that 
 it was first introduced in the church of the hospital 
 of St. Cross -f*. 
 
 The authorities from which the ideas of the church 
 of Clugny have been on the present occasion obtained, 
 are four views of it, two of them external, and two 
 internal, which are given in the Description particu- 
 liere de la France, tom. iii. seizieme livraison. No. 56. 
 They are drawn by Lallemand, an artist evidently of 
 merit, as they are all correctly regulated by the rules 
 of perspective ; and indeed, were they not sufficiently 
 accurate in some of the smaller parts, which there is no 
 reason to imagine they are not, it is scarcely credible 
 that any artist could, in making the drawing, have 
 been guilty of so gross a blunder as to mistake the form 
 of the arches. They have all the appearance of ac- 
 curacy and attention to the minuter parts ; and pos- 
 sessing, as they do, every characteristic of authenticity, 
 their authority can never be over- ruled by any evidence 
 short of the testimony of an author who should 
 profess to have seen the buildings, and pronounce 
 them erroneous. Such proof as this, especially in the 
 last particular, there is every reason to believe never can 
 
 * Godwin de Praesulibus Angllae, edit. Richardson, p. 2X6, in a 
 note, on the authority of the Saxon Chronicle, Simeon of Durham, 
 and the continuator of Florence of Worcester. See also Joannis 
 Bromtpn Chronicon inter Decern Scriptores, col. 1023. 
 
 f Milner's History of Winchester, vol. ii. p. 148 ; an extract 
 ^ora which is given in Essays on Gothic Architecture, p. 130. 
 
124 HISTORY OP THE ORIGIN 
 
 be produced ; and certainly it is not too nnuch here to 
 insist on it as a fact, that none but an eye-witness is 
 competent to object. 
 
 Every adequate judge of the subject who shall be 
 induced to consult the original work as here referred 
 to, will immediately see, in the above-mentioned ex* 
 ternal views, abundant reason to be satisfied, from its 
 plainness and exact correspondence with the style of 
 that period, that the church cannot since have been 
 rebuilt *. And indeed, in the letter-press account 
 which accompanies the plates, it is expressly said, 
 that the present church was built by St. Hugh, and 
 consecrated by pope Innocent II. which refers it to 
 the period before mentioned. The same fact is also 
 asserted in Gough's Alien Priories, vol. i. p. J 04, on 
 the authority of De la Force. U no part of the ex- 
 ternal fabric has been rebuilt, it is absolutely impos- 
 sible that the columns and arches which support the 
 wiultings, and which are to be seen in the two interior 
 views, should have been re-erected. Neither is it 
 possible that any alteration in the form of the arches 
 should have taken place ; because, had they been ori- 
 ginally &cmicircular, there could not, on account of 
 the floor of the vaultings above, have been sufficient 
 space for their height, if they were to have been al- 
 tered to the pointed arch of their present proportion. 
 
 * In the external view of the front, directly over the entrance-door, 
 is seen carved in stone a very large circular rose, to fill up the space 
 over the door between that and the summit of the building. Its 
 appearance, on examination, will imraediately strike any one as the 
 probable hint for the large circular windows, which are often s^en 
 at the end of (he transepts of a Gothic catliedral. 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. l!25 
 
 On every ground, therefore, this instance seems to 
 merit implicit confidence ; and as such it is here pro- 
 duced. 
 
 Of the two internal perspective views above men- 
 tioned, the reader will find exact copies in Plates I. 
 and II. of the present work. These plates have been 
 engraven from drawings made by Mr, Henry Inwood 
 from the book itself; which, in the month of October 
 1812, was borrowed from a friend for this express pur- 
 pose. In Plate I. is a representation of what appears 
 to be a kind of vestibule to the church, taken from the 
 side of the entrance-door. Plate II. contains the two 
 sides of the nave *. On these specimens it must be 
 
 * The church, or dome of Sienna, which was consecrated by 
 pope Alexander III. in 1180, and was consequently begun several 
 years before, has a reticiilated vaulting of pointed arches, but un- 
 equal in size,— Delia Valle, Lettere Senesi, vol, ii. p. 17. Whit- 
 tington, p. 87, speaking of the church of St. Germain des Prez, 
 says, that the arches at the eastern end are pointed in consequence 
 of the arrangement of the piilarsj which being placed in the bow 
 pearer each other than where the colonnade proceeds in a straight 
 direction, the arches which rise from thera, when brought to ai^ 
 equal height with those of a round shape, become necessarily 
 pointed^ and this is among the number of instances where th» 
 pointed arch was used from accident and necesbity, before it became 
 an object of taste. On this passage he inserts the following note 
 referring to the word Taste. The same circumstance occurs in th^ 
 crypt of St. Denis;— see Part II. c, 3 ; in the choir of the church 
 ©f La Charite sur Loire, and at the east end of Canterbury cathe- 
 dral, built between USD and 1185 j where " the arches are some 
 circular, others mitred 5 for the distances between the pillars here 
 diminishing gradually as we go eastward, the arches being all of the 
 fame height, are mitred (i. e. po'nte !), to comply with this fancy ; 
 80 that the angles of the eastern ones are very acute." Gostlinff's 
 Canterbury, p. 324. This same author, Whittington, p. 108, says 
 
J 26 HISTOUY OP THE ORIGIIf 
 
 remarked, that they exhibit the style of archltectufd 
 of the nave of a Gothic cathedral of the later period ; 
 with this only difference, that the upper arches are 
 semicircular, and the lower piers are combinations of 
 regular Corinthian columns in one instance, and as 
 regular Corinthian pilasters in the other, instead of 
 containing in both cases the clustered column. 
 
 Three years after the commencement of the re- 
 building of the abbey-church of Clugny, the first 
 crusade took place ; an event of such general effect 
 throughout Europe, that perhaps none ever exceeded 
 it in the extent of its influence, excepting only the 
 iirst introduction and establishment of Christianity it- 
 self. It produced a total change in the manners, cus- 
 toms, and pursuits of the inhabitants of Europe ; and 
 to it some have attributed, though without reason^ 
 the origin of Gothic architecture ; a circumstance 
 which requires that some of the events which gave 
 rise to the undertaking, should be here more parti- 
 cularly noticed. 
 
 The feudal system, which had long prevailed in Eu- 
 
 in a note, " Tlie pointed arches in the chevet (a teiin by which he 
 describes the sweep made by the columns at the east end of a Gothic 
 building) of St. Germain des Prez, erected at the beginning of the 
 eleventh century, have been already noticed. Another example of 
 the same arrangement is seen in the Benedictine church of La Cha- 
 rite sur Loire, built towards the close of the same century : a cu- 
 rious and interesting monument of Lombard architecture.'' Page 
 109, he says, speaking of St. Denis, that the columns erected 
 by Sugger are of the Lombard style, but the pointed arch occurs 
 in every part of his work. And lastly he mentions, a little further 
 on, that the chevet of St. Denis was indisputably finished in 1 144. 
 
 ♦f 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 1!27 
 
 rope, together with those causes which had rendered 
 arms the usual profession of the nobility, had, in 
 the course of time, been productive among them, as 
 they necessarily would, of a ferocious and turbulent 
 temper. This led them to seek redress for private in- 
 juries, either real or supposed, not from the interfe- 
 rence of the law or civil authority, but from private 
 war, which was often attended with fatal consequences 
 to the greater part of the followers and adherents of 
 both parties *. All efforts to eradicate this destructive 
 principle of private war, had proved ineffectual, till 
 Gerbert, archbishop of Rheims, who died pope, by 
 the name of Sylvester II. in 1003, in a circular letter 
 dispersed throughout Europe, suggested the expedient 
 of a crusade -jf. His view seems to have been, by 
 changing the object to which this superabundant fury 
 was directed, to secure the peace of Europe ; and he 
 probably foresaw what was indeed the ultimate conse- 
 quence when the crusades did actually take place, that 
 in the contest the more turbulent chiefs were either 
 likely to fall, or else to be so much impoverished by 
 the expense of maintaining their numerous followers 
 and dependents, of whom their army must consist, 
 that their influence would in future be too weak to 
 
 * Robertson, in his Introduction to liis Life of Charles V. which 
 occupies the first volume, and professes to treat of the feudal system 
 and its consequences, has a great deal on this subject. The reader 
 who wishes for the best information on the feudal system will do 
 well, however, to consult Pasquier Recherches de la France, which 
 he will find to have been the foundation of the principal part of Ro- 
 bertson's account, though unacknowledged, except, perhaps, by a 
 reference for one or two facts. 
 
 f Spondani Epitome, vol. ii. p. 361. 
 
128 HISTORY OP THE ORIGIN 
 
 create any considerable disturbance. Although his pro-* 
 posal was not then embraced, it is yet found that, so 
 early as the year 1064, seven thousand men went from 
 Europe to the Holy Land *, apparently to recover it 
 from its then possessors. Spondanus terms it a cele- 
 brated pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and attributes it to their 
 ostentatious display of their wealth, which excited the 
 rapacity of the barbarians, that scarcely two thousand 
 returned to their own country; but it is surely more pro- 
 bable, especially as they appear to have been under regu- 
 lar leaders, that their object was as here stated. In IO95 
 pope Urban II. seems to have adopted Gerbert's idea ; 
 fullv sensible of the additional power and influence 
 which the papal see would acquire from a crusade ; for 
 in consequence of letters from the patriarch of Jeru- 
 salem, brought over by an enthusiast, known by the 
 appellation of Peter the Hermit, he summoned a council 
 to assemble at Clermont in France. At this council, 
 in the year lOQo, the undertaking of a crusade was 
 suggested and recommended by the pope, and unani- 
 mously, as it is said, agreed upon f. The success of 
 this first, or the subsequent crusades, it is foreign to the 
 purpose of this work to relate, and, indeed, they are 
 well known to all who have an adequate knowledge of 
 history ; but the effect of these expeditions on the 
 science of architecture was this, that, as they tended 
 to render the profession of Christianity fashionable, 
 many persons were induced to bestow large sums in the 
 
 * Spondani Epitome, vol. ii. p. 432. Florence of Worcester, edit. 
 Francof. I601, p. 63'2. This latter author also speaks of the ostea- 
 tatious display of their wealth as the cause of their destruction. 
 
 •f Spondani Epitome, vol. ii. p. 4/6. 
 
 3 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 129 
 
 erection of churches founded by themselves, or in con- 
 tributions for the furtherance of such undertakings as 
 had been ah-eady commenced by others. In addition 
 to this, the crusades held out a further inducement, by 
 exhibiting to the individuals of the nutnerous armies 
 at different times sent to the Holy Land from all parts 
 of Europe, the splendid edifices of Constantinople and 
 other cities through which they passed in their way to 
 the spot where the whole force was appointed to as- 
 semble. This circumstance, accompanied with the 
 extravagant encomiums which those who returned from 
 the crusades bestowed, when they reached their own 
 country, on the buildings wliich they had seen in their 
 journey, excited, in the different nations of Europe, 
 an emulation to rival, or, if possible, to surpass, cities 
 so celebrated, by structures of at least equal, or supe- 
 rior magnificence and beauty. In these qualities alone 
 could there be any competition; for no edifice has 
 been produced from the Holy Land or Constantinople, 
 that could be justly considered as the prototype of the 
 Gothic style : and it is admitted, that the observations 
 of learned and inquisitive travellers do not countenance 
 an idea that it sprang from those places *. 
 
 * Bentham's Preface, as inserted in Essays on Gothic Architecture, 
 p. 75. From the instance of the abbey of Clugnv befo'e given, it 
 should seem that the system of Gothic architecture was settled before 
 the first crusade look place; and the only change, if any, which the 
 crusade could have produced in the architecture of Europe, appears 
 to have been, that, by giving the persons engaged in it an opportunity 
 of seeing the church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem, it might 
 have been the ocoasion of introducing into Europe the idea of the 
 clustered column which occurs in that edifice, 
 
130 HISTORY OF THK ORIGIN 
 
 Felibien, p. Ip5, mentions an architect of the name 
 of Marco Jnliano, as living about the year 1 120 ; but 
 the only work, which he attributes to him, is the hos- 
 pital-general at Venice, which he erected at his own 
 expense. He also observes, that Domenico Morosini, 
 who was elected doge of Venice in 1 148, was well 
 skilled in architecture ; but says it does not appear that 
 he was engaged in conducting any building. He, how- 
 ever, caused several to be erected, and, among others, 
 the tower of the church of St. Mark, which Buono, 
 one of the most skilful architects and sculptors of the 
 time, constructed about the year 1 154. This work- 
 man also erected some buildings at Ravenna, Naples, 
 Arezzo, Pistoia, and Florence *. 
 
 Vasari, in the Preface to his Lives of the Painters, 
 edit. Delia Valle, Svo. Sienna, 1791, vol. i. p. 227, 
 speaking of the baptistery of St. John at Pisa, says, 
 on the authority of an ancient account-book, relating 
 to the building of the dome or cathedral of that city, 
 that this baptistery of St. John vi^as erected in the year 
 I060 ; but Delia Valle, though he has permitted the 
 passage in Vasari to stand in his edition without any 
 note, has yet, in his Lettere Senesi, vol. ii. p. 18, as- 
 serted that, on a pilaster in this baptistery, is a Latin 
 inscription which ascertains that it was founded in the 
 month of August 1 153. This disagreement (to recon- 
 cile which no means have been found) has been already 
 remJirked, p. 94, and has made it requisite that the 
 edifice should be noticed in each period. Both accounts 
 ean scarcely be admitted, as it seems difficult, con- 
 
 f Felibieoj p. 195. 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 131 
 
 fcidering the strength and solidity of the buildings then 
 erected, to conceive, that in so short a space as a cen- 
 tury there should have been any necessity or induce- 
 ment for rebuilding it. The edifice is, however, con- 
 fessed by Delia Valle to be one of the best and most 
 beautiful of that and the two succeeding ages, and a 
 correct judgment of its style may be formed from the 
 specimen, Plate VII. Fig. 2, of this work, which is co- 
 pied from a larger print engraven by Jo. Hieronymus 
 Frezza from a drawing of Joseph and Francis de Mi- 
 lanis of Pisa, and inserted in the Theatrum Basilicas 
 Pisanae. This specimen is of the greater importance 
 in the present inquiry, because many of the particular 
 characteristics which were afterwards introduced into 
 the Gothic style, are here observable ; such, for instance, 
 as pinnacles, crockets on the ribs of the dome, and 
 two arches comprehended under one pediment. 
 
 The history of Venice, says Felibien, mentions two 
 architects whose names are unknown, whom, about 
 the year 1178, the doge Sebastiani Ziani procured to 
 come to Venice, the one from Lombardy *, and the 
 other from Constantinople. The first caused two co- 
 lumns of extraordinary height, which he set up in St. 
 Mark's Place, where they still stand, to be transported 
 from Greece to Venice. After this he erected a wooden 
 bridge at the spot now called the Rialto, and executed 
 for the Venetians so many works, that they assigned 
 him a considerable pension for the remainder of his life. 
 
 * Milizia, p. 144, says, that some persons have called this ar-" 
 «^itect Nicola Barattiero. 
 
 K 2 
 
132 HlSTOllY OF THE ORIGIN 
 
 The second architect rebuilt the church of St. Mark, 
 which is more esteemed for the richness of the mate- 
 rial and for the delicacy of the work than for its size. 
 It is of marble, decorated with precious stones internally, 
 and gilt externally ; for which reason it is called the 
 Gili Church: besides being embellished with an in- 
 finite number of ornaments in sculpture on all sides; 
 so that the Venetians thought that nothing more mag- 
 nificent and beautiful could be executed *. 
 
 'Felibien says, he is unable to name any other archi- 
 tects who worked in different places during the twelfth 
 century ; but that the Italians reckon of this number 
 Bonanno of Pisa, a skilful sculptor, and a person named 
 William, whom V^asari thought a German. These two 
 workmen, about the year 1174, built the tower or 
 belfry at Pisa, which is still in existence, but which, 
 from a failure in the foundation, has so considerably 
 sunk on one side as to be six cubits out of the upright. 
 Bonanno executed several other undertakings in the en- 
 virons of Pisa, and still continued to work in the year 
 1180+. 
 
 The popes, wlio had by that time in some measure 
 established and secured the peace of the church, began, 
 about the year 1122, to cultivate the arts. Calixtus II. 
 repaired the churches, aqueducts, and walls of Rome, 
 built the church of St. Nicholas in the pontifical palace, 
 and caused several places in the ecclesiastical state to 
 be fortified. Among those of his successors who were 
 most attached to architecture, Eugenius III. caused 
 the portico of Santa Maria Maggiore to be rebuilt. 
 
 * Felibien, p. 196. f Ibid. p. 197. 
 
OF GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 133 
 
 Anastasius IV. adorned the Rotunda with very rich 
 chapels. Adrian IV. rebuilt the city of Orvietto^ which 
 was deserted and almost entirely ruined, and caused 
 several castles near the lake of St. Christina to be for- 
 tified : among others, was that of Radicophani, about 
 the year 1175, which he rendered almost impregnable. 
 Alexander III. in his time saw a new city, called Alex- 
 andria from his name, built at Roureto on the river 
 Taro, Lucius III. and Urban III. his successor, have 
 also left many buildings, as well as Clement III. who 
 caused the cloyster of St. Laurence without the walls 
 of Rome to be built, and repaired St. John de Lateran. 
 Celestin III. caused several magnificent edifices to be 
 erected, in which the progress which architecture then 
 made at Rome begins to be perceptible ; and Inno- 
 cent III. employed a skilful architect and sculptor 
 named Marchione *. 
 
 Sugger, abbot of St. Denis, merits to be considered 
 as one of the most intelligent persons in architecture 
 that appeared in the twelfth century. He caused the 
 church of St. Denis to be rebuilt and enlarged, and 
 himself took the principal conduct of the work, which 
 he began about the year 1 140, and finished in less than 
 ten years, with extraordinary magnificence, as may be 
 learnt more particularly from the description of it which 
 he himself has given -J-. 
 
 Mr. Whittington, in his Historical Survey of the 
 ecclesiastical Antiquities of France, 4to. edit. p. 46, 
 says, " In the course of the twelfth century the pointed 
 arch began to show itself in the edifices of France ; an 
 
 * Felibien, p. 19S. f Ibid. p. igg, 
 
 K 3 
 
134 HISTORY OF THE ORIGIN 
 
 innovation which was so universally adn^.ired and 
 adopted, that, in a short time, the ancient Roman or 
 Lombard method was entirely discontinued, and a new 
 character of building, conceived in a different taste, 
 and founded upon other principles, spnmg up, and 
 spread itself over the greater part of Christendom. 
 Among the earliest instances of the appearance of this 
 new style in France, we may remark the works of the 
 celebrated Suger, abbot of St.'' Denis, which were begun 
 in 1 137." In p. 49, the same author adds, " We have 
 already remarked, that the architecture of France un- 
 derwent a total change in the course of the twelfth 
 century. During this period it exhibited three differ- 
 ent characters ; at the beginning of the century, the 
 old Lombard mode was in practice ; towards the 
 middle this became mixed with the new fashion of the 
 pointed arch ; and before the end, the ancient heavy 
 manner was every where discontinued, and the new, 
 airy, unmixed Gothic universally adopted." 
 
 The fact here related, that the works of abbot Sugger 
 are specimens of the modern Gothic style, cannot be 
 justly doubted, because it is asserted by one who visited 
 the building of which he speaks, and who certainly 
 appears, from his book, to have been a competent judge. 
 Nor can it be contended, as some would be inclined to 
 suggest, that these parts have been rebuilt, because no 
 evidence of any such fact is known to exist. Felibien, 
 who mentions the original erection of this monastery, 
 and its subsequent rebuilding by Sugger, never notices 
 that it was again in any part reconstructed. Besides, it is 
 next to imnossible to conceive, that when so much de- 
 pended on the fact, whether these edifices were or we^^ 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 333 
 
 not in their original state, Mr. Whittington could have 
 been so incautious as not to have obtained from some of 
 the members of that endowment the fullest satisfaction' 
 that the fabric had not been altered. 
 
 Those few persons who contend that the discovery 
 and first use of the pointed »nrch is attributable to 
 Henry of Winchester, the founder of the hospital of 
 St. Cross at Winchester, will, no doubt, be prompt to 
 observe, that the date of the rebuilding of the church 
 of St. Denis by abbot Sugger, whether placed, accord- 
 ing to Whittington, in 1137, or to Felibien, in 1140, 
 is posterior to the erection of the hospital of St. 
 Cross, which was begun in 1136. To this it is answer- 
 ed, that the church of St. Germain des Prez, erected 
 in the beginning of the eleventh century, and the Bene- 
 dictine church of La Charite sur Loire, built towards 
 the close of the same century, are both earlier in- 
 stances of the use of the pointed arch * than the hos- 
 pital of St. Cross ; and consequently this last could 
 never have been what tlie advocates for the above opi- 
 nion imagine. If any more examples are necessary, 
 the church of the abbey of Clugny may be mention- 
 ed, in which, together with the pointed arch, ail the 
 most striking features of the later Gothic style, as ex- 
 hibited in the internal architecture of such structures, 
 were introduced, with the exception only of the clus- 
 tered column." The church at Clugny was erected in 
 1093 -j-, or at least begun in that year, which is forty- 
 two years before that of the hospital of St. Cross was 
 
 * Whittington, p. 87 and 108, -f Spondani Epitome, vol. ii.p. 474» 
 
 K 4 
 
136 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ORIGIN 
 
 commenced, and there can be no pretence for suggest- 
 ing that it has since been rebuilt. 
 
 The church of the abbey of Clugny has furnished a 
 complete example of the later Gothic, with the excep- 
 tion only tl'.at the columns and pilasters are Corin- 
 thian instead of the clustered Gothic, and that the 
 upper arches are semicircular ; nor is this the only 
 instance, as the church of St. Denis is a decidedly 
 Gothic structure of the same style also. These are 
 sufficient to fix the aera of the introduction and es- 
 tablishment of this style in France. Of course it is 
 needless to trace particularly the history of erections 
 either there or elsewhere to a later period, since it is 
 evident that what was once known there might easily 
 be transplanted to Italy, England, and other countries. 
 All that is necessary will be to mention a few facts, as 
 tendino: to show at what time it became settled in 
 each. 
 
 In Italy, then, it is to be observed, that the dome of 
 Sienna, which was consecrated in 1180, is known to 
 contain pointed arches *, and, probably, is of nearly 
 the same style of architecture as the church of 
 Clugny. Vasari, vol. i. p. 253, seems to attribute the 
 
 * Delia Valle, Lcttere Senesi, vol. ii. p. l6and 17. The same 
 author, vol. i. p. IQQ, in a note, speaking of a bell-tower of this church, 
 says, that about the time ofFredericI.it is supposed that pointed arches 
 came into use, and that these were introduced after its erection into 
 all the sides of the church of Sienna j but the fact, he says, is, that 
 these arches existed before Frederic, and that they were not placed 
 there in compliance with the fashion, otherwise every part of this 
 church would have had pointed arches. The emperor Frederic I. died 
 in 1100, after a reign of thirty-six years (Spondani Epitome, vol. i. 
 p. 600) i w hich would carry its commencement back to the year 1 15-1. 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 137 
 
 introduction of the clustered column, and some of 
 the ornaments of which the later Gothic consisted, to 
 Marchion d'Arezzo, who was appointed architect to 
 pope Innocent III. about the year 1200 ^ ; for, speaking 
 of the church erected by this architect at Arezzo, the 
 year in which that pope died, which was ]2lO'{-, he 
 says, that Marchion placed in the front three orders of 
 columns one above another, very much varied, not only 
 in the foliage of the capitals, and in the bases, but also in 
 the shafts of the columns, some being thick, others thin, 
 some standing two and two, and others four and four 
 together. Some were encircled with carving like a vine ; 
 and some figured with a variety of subjects. He also 
 placed there a multitude of animals of various kinds, 
 which support the weight of these columns with the 
 middle of their backs ; and the whole is produced with 
 the most strange and extravagant inventions that can 
 possibly be conceived, and not only far from the com- 
 mendable order of the antique, but from all just and 
 reasonable proportion. 
 
 Felibien, citing as his authority the above account 
 of Vasari, says, that the front of this church contained 
 three ranges of columns one above the other ; that 
 these columns were of two different modules, either 
 very thick or extremely slender, covered with sculpture 
 from top to bottom, placed two and two together in 
 some places, and four and four in others, and supported 
 chiefly on a kind' of consoles representing different ani- 
 
 * Felibien, p. 203. 
 
 f Spoiidani Annalium Baronii Continuatio, vol. i. p. 65. 
 
138 HISTORY OP THE ORIGIW 
 
 mals carved with much art and labour, though in a very 
 capricious style. 
 
 After this he proceeds to this effect : It was thus 
 that the most skilful architects of Italy at that time 
 acted. As there were few who had not some practice 
 in the art of sculpture, they afl^ected to fill their build- 
 ings with it, and seemed to make the perfection of their 
 art consist in nothing but in the delicacy and multiplicity 
 of their ornaments, without giving themselves any con- 
 cern as to the proportions of the orders, or the principal 
 part of the rules which the ancient Greeks and Romans 
 had so carefully studied. He says, the same opinion 
 ought to be entertained of the. architects of France, 
 Germany, and England ; since the considerable build- 
 ings which are to be seen in each of these different 
 places have nearly the same defects as have just been 
 noticed in those of Italy *. 
 
 From this it should seem that Fellbien thought this 
 church had been in some measure the guide for other 
 erections, or at least that it was of the same style as 
 the later Gothic, which soon after followed ; and, in- 
 deed, there is every reason, from the facts which he. 
 mentions, to believe it really was so. 
 
 Felibien, speaking, p. 206, of Robert de Lusarche, 
 an architect who appeared in France in the reign of 
 Philip Augustus, says, it is certain that this per- 
 son in the year 1220 began to build the cathedral of 
 Amiens, under bishop Evrard. After he had finished 
 some part, another architect named Thomas de Cor- 
 mont continued the work, but still left something more 
 
 * Felibien, p. 203. 
 
OF GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 13^ 
 
 to be accomplished, which his son Renault completed. 
 The same author says, that with reason this church 
 passes for one of the most considerable of that time. 
 The choir and the nave are about 22 toises (or 132 
 feet) high, 7 toises (or 42 feet) wide, 6o toises (or SfiO 
 feet) long; and 30 toises (or 1 80 feet) is the extent of the 
 cross. The side-aisles are near 3 toises (or 18 feet) wide, 
 by 7 toises (or 42 feet) high ; they surrouncl the nave, 
 the choir, and the cross, and are accompanied with cha- 
 pels out of the building ; which shows that the whole 
 church is no less than 70 toises (or 420 feet) long, be- 
 ing, besides, as much esteemed for the beauty and ex- 
 cellence of the work, as for its great extent. For it 
 mav be said, there is very little Gothic work so perfect, 
 since no other defect is observable in it than the too 
 great height of the nave in proportion to its width, 
 which is also an usual fault in the principal part of the 
 ancient churches of France. 
 
 About nine years after the commencement of the ca- 
 thedral of Amiens, the church of St. Nicasius at 
 Rheims was, in 1229, begun to be rebuilt by an archi.r 
 tect named Hugues Libergier. He finished the por- 
 tico, and the nave as far as the cross, and died in 1263*. 
 Of this church as it lay in ruins in 1801, an east view 
 was engraven and published by Mr. B. Hewlett of 
 Vauxhall Walk, in 1805, together with a view of the 
 west front, and a brief letter-press account. In this it 
 is said, but without citing any authority, that the pre- 
 sent church was erected after the year 1300; that when 
 jhe view was taken in 1801, the west front was totally 
 
 * Felibien, p. 207, 
 
140 HISTORY OP THE ORIGIN 
 
 destroyed by Santaire ^j to whom it was sold for a very 
 trifling sum during the revolution ; and that its original 
 dimensions were 320 feet in length, QO feet in breadth, 
 and 100 feet in height. The assertion that the church 
 was erected after 1300 is not correct. Marlot, who 
 was himself a doctor in divinity, and prior of St. Nica- 
 sius at Rheims, has, at the end of the first volume of 
 his Metropolis Remensis Historia, inserted, p. 6 13, a 
 view of the front of the church of St. Nicasius, and an 
 history of that edifice. This he entitles Epitome Chro- 
 nicon S. Nicasii Remensis, and it is evidently an abridg- 
 ment of authentic documents in the possession of the 
 members of that endowment. To all of these, he him- 
 self, by his station, most certainly had access ; and he 
 has accordingly cited the authority of manuscript books 
 and original instruments in support of his assertions, 
 several of which latter documents he has inserted verba- 
 tim. Tn page 636, is a chapter in which he relates the 
 history of the edifice standing in J 667, when his book, 
 was printed ; and in this he says that the first stone was 
 laid on the second day after Easter in 1229, ^^^^ that 
 it Was built by two architects : the former, Hugh Liber- 
 gier, began it in 1 229, which is proved by the inscription 
 on his tomb, and died in 1263 ; the latter, Robert de 
 Coucy, was employed on it so late as 1297, and died in 
 1311. Every one knows that the age of a building 
 must in all cases be computed from its commencement, 
 and not from its termination. Before the foundation- 
 stone was laid there cannot be a doubt that the designs 
 for the whole structure must have been settled; and 
 
 f The name is in the original so spelt, but is conceived to be 
 really Sans-terre, or Lack-land. 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 141 
 
 thoughj in the mode of carrying it on, some variations 
 may perhaps be made by subsequent architects in the 
 form of the arches and some other particulars, yet 
 even these must be rendered subordinate to the original 
 design, and must not introduce changes in the most ma- 
 terial regulations ; such, for instance, as the general pro- 
 portions of the whole, the distance from column to co- 
 lumn, the breadths and lengths of the aisles and nave, 
 and other essentials. Were any but this mode of com- 
 putation adopted, it would be necessary to wait for the 
 completion of an edifice, before it could be decided in 
 what century it was to be placed; and in that case, how 
 should those fabrics be estimated, v.'hich, though be- 
 gun and carried on for centuries, have perhaps never 
 been finished ? which was the fact as to many structureis 
 in this kingdom at the time of the dissolution of reli- 
 gious houses. Of this number the abbey-church of 
 Westminster was one which, though begun in 1245, 
 was not completed till the erection of the towers in 
 1735. No reasonable man would ever think of con- 
 tending that the age of the structure is to be dated 
 from this last period ; nor is it, in fact, the custom with 
 well-informed persons to reckon in that manner. The 
 measures of the church of St. Nicasius, as given by 
 Marlot, vol. i. p. 0.37, which are probably more orrect, 
 differ considerably from those in the account which ac- 
 companies Mr. Hewlett's print: for Marlot says the 
 church is 305 feet long, 130 wide, its height from the 
 pavement gs, and the columns are 28 feet asunder. 
 
 This building, the church of St. Nicasius at Rheims, 
 is a decided instance of the establishment of Gothic 
 
142 HISTORY OP THE ORIGIN 
 
 architecture, in that style which consisted of pointed 
 arches, clustered columns, and all those peculiarities 
 by which it is distinguished from the Grec'an. And 
 unless the cathedral at Amiens, erected in 1220^, 
 be an instance of the pure and unmixed Gothic, which, 
 as yet, has not been ascertained ||, the earliest struc- 
 ture of that kind now discovered in France is this 
 church of St. Nicasius at Rheims, which was begun 
 in 1229^. 
 
 The first instance of the pure and unmixed Gothic 
 in England, and indeed, as Bentham says*, the only 
 one which never had any intermixture of the former 
 style, is the cathedral church of Salisbury, begun in 
 1220, and finished in 1258 f. It is clearly subsequent 
 to the church at Arezzo, before mentioned, as that was 
 commenced in 12 16; and though it is prior to the 
 church of St. Nicasius at Rheims, it still cannot justly 
 be hence inferred that this style was used earlier in 
 England than in France. On the contrary, throughout 
 the whole history of architecture, it uniformly appears 
 that the style of building in this country, on many oc- 
 casions the materials, and frequently the artificers to 
 employ them, were all derived and procured from Italy 
 
 § Felibien, p. 206. 
 
 II Whitlington, p. 130, intimates an inclination to compare the 
 cathedral of Rheims with that of Salisbury, but prefers comparing 
 this last with that of Amiens. He has given no reason for this pre- 
 ference ; but the fact is, that in the cathedral of Rheims, the arches 
 in the upper range are round-headed, while those below them ar» 
 pointed. Whether Amiens resembles Rheims in this, is not known. 
 
 f Felibien, p. 207. 
 
 * Bentham's Preface, in Essays on Gothic Architecture, p. 73. 
 
 t Ibid. p. 72. 
 
OF GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 143 
 
 and France. Of this, repeated instances have been 
 given in the course of the preceding pages ; and though 
 no earlier examples have yet been discovered in France, 
 which has been owing to the difficulty of procuring cor- 
 rect and minute intelligence, it cannot be doubted that 
 an industrious and intelligent antiquary would certainly, 
 on an actual survey carefully made by himself, find 
 many such structures, both in France and Italy, which 
 have been hitherto unobserved. 
 
 In consequence of what has been already said on 
 the subject of Gothic architecture in this inquiry, it 
 manifestly appears that the Gothic style was not 
 wholly an original invention or discovery of forms be- 
 fore unknown. On the contrary, it was rather a com- 
 bination of a variety of peculiarities which had at dif- 
 ferent periods been separately introduced into the 
 then existing style of architecture, and a judicious 
 adaptation of each to the others. As a proof of this, it 
 may be observed, that the idea of constructing a Gothic 
 cathedral of three stories, and with a vaulted ambula- 
 tory over the side-aisles of the nave, was in all ap- 
 pearance derived from the circular vestibule of the 
 church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem. This 
 will be evident to any one who compares the represent- 
 ation of this latter, in Plate VII. Fig. 1, of this 
 work, with any of the Gothic cathedrals now remain- 
 ing in this and other countries. The clustered column 
 was, no doubt, suggested by those which support the 
 cupola over the choir in the same church, the reason 
 for which form has already been explained ; and an ac- 
 curate representation of them will be found in Plate 
 VI. 
 
144 HISTORY OP THE ORIGIJT 
 
 The chapel of the Virgin Mary, which often occurs 
 at the east end of Gothic cathedrals, was probably an 
 imitation of the chapel of the empress Helena, erected 
 at the east end of the same church of the Holy Sepul- 
 chre ; and the other chapels surrounding the ambulatory 
 at the east end of the choir in such edifices were 
 in all likelihood introduced in consequence of the simi- 
 lar appearance of this. The plan of the church of the 
 Virgin Mary at Bethlehem, which Bernardino, p. 1, 
 asserts to be the venerable church erected by St. Helena, 
 and which plan is from him, p. 8, given in Plate IV. 
 so nearly resembles that of some Gothic cathedrals as 
 to render it probable that the idea might have been bor- 
 rowed from this edifice. 
 
 The circular window at the end of each transept 
 in the later Gothic cathedrals, might possibly be derived 
 from a large carving of stone representing a rose, in 
 the west front of the abbey-church of Clugny ; as this 
 ornament, evidently intended only to fill up a space 
 which would otherwise have appeared too naked and 
 vacant, is so like such a window in form, and occurs so 
 very nearly in the same situation. 
 
 The pointed arch, a geometrical form, the principles 
 of which occur in the writings of Euclid, will be found, 
 as formed from his first proposition or problem '^, m 
 Plate III. Fig. 4; and with an explanation unincum- 
 bered with mathematical and scientific teriiis or modes 
 of stating it, in the letter-press explanation of the Plates. 
 This form had been introduced in the side-aisles of the 
 nave of the dome at Pisa, erected in I0l6 '^, and used 
 
 X Simson's Euclid, p. 7' § Milizia, p. 140. 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTURR. 145 
 
 in the church of the ahbey of Clugny, built in IO93 j| ; 
 and indeed such was its superiority in point of conve- 
 nience over the semicircular arch, and so easily might 
 it be accommodated to any space or height, that it is by 
 no means wonderful the architects should afterwards 
 have become so extremely fond of it as they appear to 
 have been. For the semicircular arch could only be 
 struck from a centre exactly in the middle of the base 
 line which ascertained its width, and would always pro« 
 duce a curve in the same proportion, namely, with au 
 elevation equal to no more than one half of its width; but 
 in the case of the pointed arch, the centres for striking 
 it might be abundantly varied, several instances of 
 which will be given in a subsequent page, accord- 
 ing as a greater or less height in proportion to its 
 width was required. Where original materials, and 
 not fragments from former edifices, were employed, the 
 intermixture of the pointed with the semicircular arch 
 in the same building, probably arose from the inaccu- 
 racy of the workmen, who, not observing the correct 
 measures in the other parts, and having exceeded the 
 due extent, were compelled, in order to make the whole 
 elevation suit the foundations which had been laid, to 
 place some of the columns nearer each other than the 
 due distance. For whoever will take the pains to mea- 
 sure the extent of arches and the distances between the 
 columns in some of the Gothic cathedrals in this coun- 
 try, which has been done for the purpose of the present 
 work, will find a great difierence in those spaces which 
 appear to the eye to be the same. Nor was the prin- 
 ciple of the two sorts of arches so very dissimilar as 
 
 jj See the inside views of that church in Plates I. and II. 
 L 
 
146 HISTORY OP THE ORIGIN 
 
 some persons m^y be inclined to suppose ; for the semi- 
 circular arch of course consisted of a semicircle, while 
 the pointed arch was constructed of two segments of a 
 circle. The latter jiad also been employed by the workers 
 in mosaic so early as the fifth century, as may be seen 
 from two specimens referred to in the note ; and oc- 
 curs adopted in architecture in an oratory in the Va- 
 tican church erected by Symmachus^. Whether this 
 were the pope of that name, or Syramachus, one of the 
 architects of Theodoric king of the GolhSi is of little 
 importance to its age ; for pope Symmachus, who was 
 elected in 4gSf died in 5J4*, and Symmachus the 
 architect in 526 '\'» 
 
 Crockets and pinnacles might have been, and pro- 
 bably were, suggested by the representations employed 
 by the workers in mosaic in their ornaments and deco- 
 rations, as may also be observed from the before-men- 
 tioned specimens, Plate III. Fig. 1,2; and the first in- 
 troduction into Italy of these und the other peculiarity 
 of comprehending two arches under one pediment, 
 seems to have been in the instance of the baptistery of 
 St. John at Pisa; which, according to Vasari, was erect- 
 ed in 1060; and, as Delia Valle relates, in 1153. The 
 former of these dates would be about fourscore years 
 prior, and tlie latter about twelve or fifteen subsequent, 
 to the rebuilding of the church of St. Denis. 
 
 And lastly, the intricacy and luxuriance of the tracery- 
 work which often occurs in Gothic erections, vva3 the 
 
 f See Plate III. Fig. 1, 2. 3. 
 
 • See Onnphrii Panvinii Pontificum Chronologia, at the end of 
 riatina De Viiis Pontificum, fo], Coloniae, 1574, p. 15, 
 ■^ Felibien, p. 132. 
 
OF GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 147 
 
 •coiTseqiience of tliat love for exuberance of ornament 
 and decoration \v!ii(^h had been increasing from the time 
 of Constantine downwards, and was so conspicuously 
 shown in the church of Santa Sophia at Constantinople, 
 some part of which may be justly concluded to be of 
 the age of Constantine, and the rest, but by no means 
 the greater portion, of the time of Justinian. 
 
 It !ias been matter of surprise to some persons, that 
 at a period when the communication between various 
 countries was by no mexms so e^Ksy or practicable as of 
 late years it has become, the inhabitants of one should 
 liave been so well informed as they appear to have 
 been in regard to what buildings were erecting in 
 another, and their peculiar excellencies and recom- 
 mendations. In answer to this, it must be remem- 
 bered, that journeys on the concerns of their convent 
 were frequenily undertaken by tlve monks of the difFer/- 
 ent monasteries, and that in their way there were no 
 inns to receive them ; they therefore proceeded on from 
 one religious foundation to another, in all of which 
 their habit entitled them to apply for assistance, and se- 
 cured them the certainty of iinding lodging and re- 
 freshment. Thus they pursued their journey ; and on 
 such occasions these itinerant monks could not fail of 
 hearing, at one convent and another where for a time 
 they happened to reside, all the events which were pass- 
 ing in that part of the country through which they 
 vvere travelling. Of these, j^nd, indeed, of theafi^airs 
 of whole kingdoms, the monks seem to have been so 
 well apprized, that, besides them, there are few ancient 
 historians; and almost all of our early chronicles v\ere 
 written by them within the walls of their respective 
 
148 HISTORY OF THE ORIGIN- 
 
 monasteries. These facts are so well known to all 
 properly conversant in ecclesiastical and literary history 
 in general, that it would be superfluous to cite autho- 
 rities. Another source for acquiring intelligence pre- 
 sented itself from the circumstance of the general coun- 
 cils so frequently summoned by the different popes, 
 and which brought together from all the parts of Eu- 
 rope the ecclesiastics of the higher orders. Persons 
 like these must of course each be well acquainted with 
 what events, especially in ecclesiastical matters, had 
 taken place in his own diocese ; and, to give one in- 
 stance, such a general council was in the year 1131 
 held at Rheims, by pope Innocent the Second, at which 
 were present the archbishops and bishops of France, 
 Germany, Aquitain, England, and Spain*. Aubrey 
 also says, he had been told by Sir William Dugdale, 
 that about the time of king Henry the Third the 
 pope granted a bull or patent to a company of Italian 
 architects to travel from place to place, and build 
 churches-^. 
 
 To the before-mentioned abbot Sugger is proba- 
 bly also owing the introduction of painted glass into 
 ecclesiastical structures ; or at least the adoption of 
 a former practice, which had been rarely used in early 
 edifices before his time. This, indeed, seems not to 
 have been optional, but in some measure necessary, to 
 obviate an inconvenience which perhaps had not been 
 foreseen when the lighter style of Gothic was first in> 
 
 * Spondani Epitome, vol. ii, p. 524. 
 
 f Antiquarian Repeilory, vol. iii. p. 45, from Aubrey's manuscript 
 at Oxford. 
 
OF GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. lA^ 
 
 troduced ; for in buildings of this species the apertures 
 for windows were so many and so large, as to ad- 
 mit, as it was soon discovered, too great a portion of 
 light *. To abate, therefore, the glare, without en- 
 tirely excluding the light, the expedient of glazing the 
 windows with painted glass was adopted, which, at the 
 same time that it prevented the evil, was in itself also 
 a decoration. At first the subjects represented were, 
 it is believed, little more than lattice- work, ornamented 
 with a variety of colours, disposed in a multitude of 
 fanciful shapes. By degrees the artists proceeded to 
 the representation of the human figure, intended for 
 that of some favourite saint, some king who had been 
 either their founder or a great benefactor to the build- 
 ing, or some bishop or abbot by whose means and soli- 
 citation the necessary contributions had been obtained ; 
 and at last they advanced to the delineation of large 
 histories from the Old and New Testament, con- 
 sisting of groups of figures as large as the life. To 
 the introduction of single figures of saints, kings, bi- 
 shops, or abbots, as subjects for painted windows, it is 
 not impossible that a circumstance apparently very 
 foreign might have led ; and that the idea might have 
 been suggested from observing, as the monks had fre- 
 quent occasions and opportunities of doing, the splen- 
 did appearance which the dead body of an abbot, a 
 
 * A similar inconvenience was found in some of the oflEices in the 
 Bank soon after their erection by Sir Robert Taylor; and the glare of 
 the light on the white paper on which they wrote was soon found so 
 prejudicial to the eyes of the clerks, that, to prevent injuring their 
 sight, the common glass in the skylights and other windows was taken 
 out, and replaced by that which had been previously ground." 
 
 L 3 
 
130 History of the origin 
 
 bishop, or a king, made when laid out In his stone 
 coffin, dressed in his richest habiliments and ornaments, 
 previously to his interment. Certain it is, that a body 
 so dressed and placed in a stoiie coffin, gives a very j;er- 
 fect idea of a compartment of a windoav, with a whole 
 figure painted in it, represented as placed in a taber- 
 nacle or niche, and that the form of the hollows for the 
 head and shoulders very much resembles that of the 
 under part of the canopies with which such figures are 
 accompanied in painted windows. 
 
 So eafly as the sixth century mention is made of 
 painted glass, which at that time seems to have been 
 more a matter of ornament than of necessity, as it 
 afterwards proved. Fortunatus, who lived towards 
 the end of the sixth century, in a poetical descrip- 
 tion which he then wrote of the church of Notre 
 Dame at Paris, gives a pompous account of the 
 painted glass; and in the life of St. Benedict, abbot of 
 Wirmouth, a monastery in Scotland, where he died in 
 690, it is noticed, that, having occasion to rebuild his 
 abbey, he went into France to collect workmen to con- 
 struct a church for him, and glaziers to glaze that and 
 its cloisters : Bede, the disciple of Benedict^ also 
 speaks of it in his works *. 
 
 The earliest instance of the use of painted glass in 
 France after the introduction of this lighter style of ar- 
 chitecture, seems to have been that of the abbey of St, 
 Denis, built by abbot Sugger, in 1150. Engravings 
 from the painted windows of this abbey are to be found 
 
 * Le Noire Musce des Monumens Fran^ais, Histoire de la Pcinture 
 sur Verre, p. 14. 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 15 J 
 
 m Le Noire's Musee dcs Monumens Franqai's, Histoine 
 (fe la Peinture sur Verre, p. 63, accompanied with the 
 following particulars. 
 
 Abbot Sngger bestowed a profusion of money in the 
 decoration of his church ; and on consulting the ma- 
 nuscript Latin history of his government, the detail at 
 full length will be found of his expenses for the abbey 
 of St. Denis, and of the pains which he took for the 
 execution of thcvse glass windows. It is there said, 
 that he had carefully sought after glass-makers, and 
 such as compounded it with other exquisite mate- 
 rials, namely, sapphires ''^ in abundance, which they 
 pulverized, and melted among the glass, to give it 
 an azure colour ; that he had procured from foreign 
 countries the most skilful and excellent masters to 
 make the painted glass windows of the chapel of the 
 Holy Virgin ; that such was the devotion, when he 
 made these windows, among those of all ranks, that 
 he had money in plenty, so that he could pay his work- 
 men at the end of each week ; that he had placed 
 at the head of the undertaking a very expert master of 
 the art, and one of the religious to oversee what was 
 necessary, to take care of the artificers, and to furnish 
 them from time to time with whatever they should want; 
 and that the windows, on account of their superior ex- 
 
 • * The reader will see, from the circumstances mentioned after- 
 wards in the text, and from a passage in the next note, that the sap- 
 phires here can never mean the stone known by that appellation, but 
 only the blue colour, which Le Noire, p, 3p, says was cobalt j and 
 <he words in the text can only signify, that, instead of being painted 
 blue afterwards, the glass was rendered blue in the first making. 
 
 L 4 
 
152 HISTORY OF THE ORIGIH" 
 
 cellence and beaut) , and tlie rarity of the materials of 
 which they were composed, had cost a large sum of 
 money. The passage, as given by Le Noire from the 
 original manuscript, is on the present occasion to be 
 found in the note *. 
 
 To this account Le Noire adds, he is far from think- 
 ing that abbot Sugger did not give the sapphires -f- of 
 which he speaks in the passage inserted in the note, 
 but is of opinion that on this occasion the abbot was 
 duped by the workmen ; and his reason for this opinion 
 •is, that the sapphire is not fusible, that it cannot enter 
 into the composition of glass, and that, even if it had 
 ■this property, it could not preserve, and still less be 
 able to communicate, its colour. 
 
 Unfortunately, Mons. Doublet, whose translation Le 
 Noire professes to adopt, has most grossly misconceived 
 the original passage. Sugger did not, in fact, mean the 
 sapphire-stone, because the words he uses in both in- 
 stances are, ' the materials of the sapphires;' and as the 
 
 * Unde quia magiii constant magnifico opere sumptuque profus* 
 vitri vestiti et saphirorum materise, tuition! et refectioni earum mi- 
 Cisterialeni magistrum constituimus^ qui etiam admirandarum vitre- 
 ^rum operaiiq^ et materiarn saphiroaim locupletera administrabit, 
 Le Noire, p. 39, has said, that the blue was cobak which the 
 painters on glass used ; but it might have been ultramarine, which 
 i^ obtained from powdered lapis lazuli. This, even now, is perhaps 
 the most expensive colour of any, and would well warrant the term 
 here applied, as being a rich material for the blues. 
 
 f It is not asserted, either in the passage of which Le Noire has 
 before stated the substance, or in that inserted in the preceding note, 
 which is taken from him, that abbot Sugger did give the sapphires ; and 
 for that, and the other reasons which the- reader will tind mentioned 
 in the text, Le Noire's suspicion of the dishonesty of the workmen 
 is wholly unfounded. 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 153 
 
 sapphire -stone is a natural and not artificial or factitious 
 production, no previous ingredients could possibly be 
 wanted or used for making it. He only intended to 
 express the materials for the sapphires or blue colours ; 
 and this is evident from Du Fresne's Glossary of the 
 Latin of the middle and lower Ages, in which the 
 Latin adjective saphirinus is rendered sky-colour, of 
 the colour of sapphire, which, as he says, is described by 
 Isidore as being sky-colour with purple. To support 
 this interpretation, Du Fresne has given such instances 
 as to leave no doubt of its accuracy. 
 
 The art of painting on and staining glass, and also 
 the mode of preparing the colours, were some centu- 
 ries since in high request, and carried, if the brilliancy 
 of the colours be alone regarded, to a great degree of 
 excellence. It has been supposed, that, at least as to the 
 preparation of one colour, the ruby, the art has become 
 since, in some measure, lost ; and though a few late 
 efforts have been made to recover it, the system is still 
 in general certainly but little understood. It has, 
 therefore, been judged expedient to insert at the end of 
 the present work the substance of a very curious ac- 
 count of the process, highly deserving the reader's at- 
 tention, but which, as occurring in Felibien^s Treatise 
 on Architecture, a subject apparently very foreign to 
 Sfuch an inquiry, might not, perhaps, otherwise have 
 come within his knowledge. 
 
154 HrSTOrA- OF THE ORiGisr 
 
 CHAPTEk virr. 
 
 An accidental Discovery of an anovymous Print — ThU 
 Prints how traced f.o the IVurk for which it was en- 
 o-raven — The Book procured, and how — C<esarianus's 
 Translation of Vitruvius extremely rare — An Account 
 of it. 
 
 The rise and introduction of Gothic architecture hav- 
 ing been thus accounted for, the next object is an in- 
 quiry into its principles and proportions ; but before the 
 commencement of any such undertaking, some circum- 
 stances are necessary to be mentioned, in order to ascer- 
 tain the degree of authority to which the evidence to be 
 produced is entitled. For reasons known to those 
 already acquainted with the transactions, but immatcria) 
 to the generality of readers, it will be requisite, in stat- 
 ing these, for the present author to speak in his own 
 person ; and, with this apology, it is hoped that the 
 appearance of egotism, which could not be avoided, will 
 not merit reprehension. 
 
 A few years since, while I was preparing the 
 letter-press for a work which Mr. John Thomas 
 Smith had undertaken to publish, and in which 
 so much of the materials used in this as had then 
 been collected was intended to have been employed, 
 information was received from Mr. Smith that a 
 friend of his, Mr. Kent, a sculptor, who then worked 
 with the present Mr. Flaxman, could communicate 
 
 5 
 
OF GOTHIC ARCHITECTURfi. 155 
 
 some important intelligence as to a book on the snbject 
 of Gothic architecture. Though I was fully aware, 
 from experience, that such communications, from want 
 of accuracy and precision in the relator, were very 
 rarely to be relied on ; yet as it was found, after some 
 time, that this person's assertions, as repeated at differ- 
 ent periods to Mr. Smith, did not vary from what 
 they had been at first, I thought it incumbent on 
 me to obtain a personal interview with him, which 
 Mr. Smith procured, and it took place at the latter's 
 house accordingly. 
 
 At this meeting the account which he gave was, 
 that he had himself many years before bought the book 
 at a public sale by auction, and he named the place ; 
 that there were several others in the lot, but that they 
 were none of them particularized in the catalogae, the 
 lot, which was the last in the sale, being only described 
 as a parcel of various books. He further represented it 
 as being in folio, a translation into English, and printed 
 about the time of our queen Mary, the daughter of 
 Henry the Eighth. No specific title of the work was 
 given, though he mentioned the author's name, which, 
 as endeavours are still using to procure it if pos" 
 sible, it is thought not requisite here to disclose ; 
 and it is sufficient to say, that if ever it should be 
 obtained, and it should contain, which there seems 
 great reason to doubt, any intelligence which can be 
 useful, after what on certain authority will hereafter be 
 related, a further account shall be laid before the reader. 
 After the purchase, Mr. Kent said he lent it to a 
 friend, whom he named, but his name is not' now 
 recollected^ and who, on application then made by 
 
156 HISTOKT OF THE ORIGIST 
 
 Mr. Smith for that purpose, recollected the book, 
 and confirmed the account and description given by 
 Mr. Kent ; but by some accident or other, which 
 could not be accounted for, cither before or after it» 
 return, it had been lost. 
 
 It is useless to describe minutely what was thea 
 stated as the nature of the work, or to give any idea 
 of its contents ; for notwithstanding the length of time 
 since the communication, and the exertion of all pos- 
 sible endeavours to discover it, the book itself, its title, 
 the name of, or any facts relating to the author, have 
 been sought for wholly in vain. From the foregoing cir- 
 cumstances it can scarcely be imagined that thq whole is 
 a fiction ; but it is probable that some incomprehensible 
 mistake has been committed by the informant, and that 
 either the name of the bookseller has been given in- 
 stead of the author, or some other error equally fatal 
 Jbas occurred. 
 
 The above facts might not, perhaps, have merited 
 notice, because it is evident no use can be made of 
 such vague and uncertain intelligence ; but it was ima- 
 gined some persons might have heard in general of the 
 communication, and have wondered, had no mention 
 been made of it, for what reason it was omitted. Sub- 
 sequent discoveries have, however, rendered the loss 
 of the book of no importance, by furnishing ample in- 
 formation for every purpose that can occur in the pre- 
 sent inquiry, as will fully appear from the following 
 circumstances. 
 
 About the month of January I8O6, Mr. Manson, the 
 bookseller of Gerard Street, bought, at a sale of books 
 
OF GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 15? 
 
 at Mr. Christie's, a volume containing a collectioh of 
 engravings principally by Albert Durer. On the cover 
 was stamped the date 1637, which probably was the 
 time when the collection was made *. In a few days 
 after the purchase he showed it to Mr. Smith, who, on 
 turning it over, found in it a print without date, name, 
 or mark of any designer or engraver, but representing 
 a sectional view of a Gothic church, the geometrical 
 construction of which was ascertained by circles, a 
 square, an hexagon, and a number of triangles. Over 
 its head was the following inscription in capitals : 
 " Idea geometricae architectonicse ab ichnographia 
 sumpta. ut peramussineas possint per orthographiam ac 
 scasnographiam perducere omnes quascunquae lineas. 
 non solum ad circini centrum, sed quae a trigono et 
 quadrato aut alio quovismodo perveniunt possint suum 
 habere responsum. turn per eurythmiam proportionatam 
 quantum etiam per symmetriae quantitatem ordinariam 
 ac per operis decorationem ostendere. uti etiam hec quaa 
 a Germanico more perveniunt distribuentur pene quem- 
 
 * A friendj who possesses very good means of intelligence, in- 
 forms the author there is reason to believe, from circumstances, that 
 this book of prints had been the property of the famous Earl of 
 Arundel who lived in the time of Charles I. This volume, and some 
 others, are said to have come last from Ireland ; and it is not impos- 
 sible that its contents might at one time have belonged to the famous 
 Nic. CI. Fabr. Peireskius, who was the author of an History of 
 Gallia Narbonensis, and died in l637- — Konigii Bibliotheca, p. 616, 
 The collection of prints belonging to that person, or at least a great 
 part of it, is known to have been bought some years after the decease 
 of its owner, by the Earl of Arundel from Peireskius's then de- 
 scendants. 
 
158 HISTORY OF THE ORIGIN 
 
 admodum sacra cathedralis aasLes Mediolani patet. etc, 
 P. M. C. C. A. P. Vi. Q; C. Ac Af. D. *." 
 
 It was immediatel)' evident to Mr. Smith, that this 
 print would be of great use in the preparation of a work 
 in which he was then engaged, and for which I had un- 
 dertaken to furnish the letterpress; but though there 
 was no reason for supposing it engraven by Albert 
 Durer, it was thought not advisable to separate this 
 from the rest. Mr. Manson, however, very kindly 
 promised, what he as punctually performed, to obtain 
 permission from any gentleman who might purchase 
 the whole together, for Mr. Smith to make a tracing 
 from it. The volume was afterwards sold to John 
 Towneley, Esq. who, on Mr. Manson's mentioning the 
 circumstance, very readily and kindly granted permis- 
 sion for Mr. Smith to make the tracing, and for me to 
 see the book ; and the tracing was accordingly after- 
 wards made by Mr. Smith -{-. 
 
 On his showing it to me, both Mr. Smith and my- 
 self were of opinion its importance was such to the 
 
 * At the head of the work Caesar styles himself Caesar Caesa- 
 rtanrus, Architecturae Professor ; and in his account of hiniself in a 
 note, fo. 91, b, he says, Meliori modo quo fideliter potui tuti quisti 
 deci Vitruv'iani volumini ho translati : conimentati & affigurati. 
 These initial letters should, therefore, certainly be read thus : Per 
 Magistrum Caesarem Cxsarianum, Architecturae Professorera, \1- 
 truviique Comraentatorem ac Aifiguratorem, delineata (or descripta)^ 
 This, however, could not be known till after the book itself had 
 been procured and examined. 
 
 f These cirj^umstances attending the purchase of the book, and its 
 ultimate passing to Mr. Towneley, I had from Mr. Smith at the 
 time, and in consequence of Mr. Towneley's permission I have sinc» 
 seen the volume^ 
 
OF GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 15^ 
 
 subject of Gothic architecture in general, that, if leave 
 could be obtained from Mr.Tovvneley the owner of the 
 orig'inal print, it ought to be published ; and Mr. 
 Towneley having, on application from Mr. Smith, very 
 liberally given his consent, the latter determined to 
 re-engrave and publish the cut with a letter-press ex- 
 planation by me ; but the execution of this intention 
 was prevented by subsequent circumstances not mate* 
 fial to be stated. 
 
 Observing that the inscription which ascertained it 
 to be the church of Milan, contained at the end several 
 initial letters only, I was led to suppose that among 
 them might, perhaps, be found those of the name of 
 the draughtsman. Of these the five first were P. M. 
 C. C. A. which I imagined to mean Per magistrum 
 C. C. archi tectum, whoever this C. C. might be. 
 
 On turning to Carlo Torre's Ritratto di Milano, 4to. 
 1714, which I had in my own possession, I found, 
 p. 3/7, among the architects from time to time em- 
 ployed in the erection of the church of Milan or 
 keeping it in repair, the name of Caesar Caesarianus, 
 there called Cesare Cesariano ; ard from another pas- 
 sage in the same work, p. 37^, I discovered that he 
 had written a commentary on Vilruyius. From tie 
 Bodleian Catalogue I also found tllat a copy of the book 
 was in that collection ; and, at Mr. Smith's request. 
 Dr. Gower undertook to forward a letter of mine to 
 himself, as he accordingly did, to a friend of his. Dr. 
 George Williams, Regius Professor of Botany, Fellow 
 pf Corpus Cfiristi College, and Physician to the Rad- 
 cliffe Infirmary, because it was uncertain whether a 
 fritnd of my own was then resident in Oxford. The 
 
l60 HISTORY OF THE ORIGIN 
 
 object of my letter was to request the favour of Dr. 
 Williams to inspect the translation, and ascertain whe- 
 ther it contained the cut which I described to him; and 
 his answer, after consulting it, was, that it not only 
 comprised that, but some other cuts of the same kind 
 also *. 
 
 All endeavours to procure the book, or a sight of 
 it, in London, having failed, I suggested to Mr. Smith 
 the necessity of a journey to Oxford to see the copy 
 there ; but wishing at the same time to examine 
 some engravings in a printed work with drawings 
 which I knew were existing there in one of the college 
 libraries, I was desirous of procuring this latter 
 for that purpose. Calling with that view at a book- 
 seller's, where, two days before, 1 had inquired for the 
 above-mentioned Vitruvius, I accidentally saw, lying on 
 the counter, a manuscript catalogue of Latin books, 
 and on opening it I found that, in one instance at least, 
 Italian ones had been there intermixed with Latin ; 
 for the first article which attracted my observation was 
 the very translation of Vitruvius of which T was in 
 search ; 1 immediately bought it ; and the person in 
 the shop, when she delivered it to me, observed, she 
 remembered my inquiring for that book two days be- 
 fore, that at that time she had it not, but that it had 
 come in since. 
 
 The volume is so scarce, that I at present know of no 
 more than two copies, besides my own, existing in this 
 
 * For this information the reader's thanks and my own are due to 
 Dr. Williams, which he is desired accordingly to accept, as well 
 as for an extract from a manuscript which he was afterwards so 
 kind as to procure^ and for ao invitation to Oxford, to see tlie Vi- 
 truvius. 
 
OF GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. l6l 
 
 country ; and one of these two is that in the Bodleian 
 Library. It is a large folio, 12 inches by 17, not 
 quite two inches thick, and entitled, " Di Lucio Vi- 
 truuio Pollione de Architectura Libri Dece traducti de 
 latino in Vulgare affigurati : Commentati : & con mi- 
 rando ordine Insigniti : per il quale facilmente potrai 
 troLiare la multitudine de li abstrusi & reconditi Voca- 
 buli a li soi loci & in epsa tabula con sumnio studio ex- 
 positi & enucleati, ad Immensa utilitate de ciascuno 
 Studioso & beniuolo di epsa opera.'* 
 
 At the end of the book is a colophon, of which 
 these words are part : " Qui finisse Lopera prasclara 
 de Lucio Vitruuio Pollione de Architectura traducta de 
 latino ill tiulgare : Historiata e Commentata a le spese 
 e Instantiadel Magnifico. D. Augustino Gallo Citadino 
 Comense e Regio Referendario in epsa Citate : e del 
 
 nobile. D. Aluisio da Pirouano Patricio Milanese" . 
 
 " e Impressa nei amcsna & delecteuole Citate de Como 
 per Magistro Gotardo da Ponte Citadino Milanese : ne 
 lanno del nostro Signore Jcsu Christo M.D.XXLXV, 
 mensis Julii." 
 
 At the foot of the Table of Errata, quite at the end 
 of the book, is an advertisement or 'notification of Au- 
 gustino Gallo and Aloisio Pirovano begiiuiing with 
 these words, which sufficiently show that the translator 
 and commentator was Caesar Cassarianus : " Perche 
 Caesare Cisarano circa il fine de Magio del anno pre- 
 sente M.D.XXL hauendo commentato e dato le Copie 
 a li impressori per insino a 1 loco soprascripto [viz. to 
 chap. vii. book 8 of Vitruvius ; or, to speak more mi- 
 nutely, to the back of folio 154], non obstante alchuna 
 conuentione : se partite da Como : 8?; lasso Lopera Im- 
 
 M 
 
102 Hisronv of the origin 
 
 perfecta con grande dispendio nostro." And besides 
 this, at the head of the work, Caesar styles himself 
 Cassare Caesariano, Citadino Mediolanense, Professore 
 di Architect lira, etc. ; and in the note, folio Q2, b, he 
 says of himself, " Meliori mode quo fideliter potui 
 tuti qnisti deci Vitruviani voliimini ho translati : com- 
 mentati & affigurati." The title at the beginning of 
 the first chapter, which is in the following words, 
 printed in capital letters, shows that the translation was 
 the production of Caesar Caesarianus: '' Di Lvcio Vi- 
 trvvio Pollione a Caesare Augusto de Architectura In- 
 comenza il primo Libro. Translato in Vulgare Ser- 
 mone Commentato et Affigurato da Caesare Caesariano 
 Citadino Mediolanense Professore di Architectura 
 ct c^" 
 
 The work is accompanied with about 240 cuts, in- 
 cluding the initial letters of the several books and 
 chapters; and among them are inserted, at fo. 14, a, 
 fo. 15, a, and fo. 15, b, and referred to from the com- 
 mentary, three, which require to be noticed on the 
 present occasion. The first is a ground-plan of the 
 cathedral church of Milan ; the second, a sectional view 
 of the elevation of its nave and side-aisles, including 
 also a separate plan of the base and capital of the co- 
 lumns, an elevation of the capital, and some other or- 
 naments ; and the third, a sectional view of the church 
 as before, with the addition of an external representation 
 of the transept *. Of all these there will be occasion 
 
 * See copies of the plan, the sectional view of the nave, and the 
 sectional view of the church, with the external representation of the 
 transept, in Plates VIII. IX. and X. in the present worl^. 
 
QP GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 1-63 
 
 to speak more particularly hereafter. The cuts were 
 undoubtedly executed, as well as to drawing or design, 
 as to engraving, by different hands ; though no names of 
 engravers are mentioned ; but without question all pre- 
 pared from CcEsar's own sketches ; for Aloisius Piro- 
 vanus, in an address entitled, " Oratio Patritiis popu- 
 loque Mediolanensi," which follows the table of chap- 
 ters at the beginning of the book, says, that not with 
 out very great expense he had procured the drawings 
 to be made by many excellent painters, and had in like 
 manner employed no inferior artists to engrave the 
 cuts as drawn and measured by compasses. 
 
 M 2 
 
l64 HISTORY OF THE ORIGIK 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 An Account of Ccesar CcesarianuSy the earliest professed 
 Commentator on Pltnivius, an Architect but slightly 
 mentioned bij P^asari, and wholly unnoticed by all 
 others who have written the Lives of the Architects. 
 
 Of Caesar Caesarianus very little is mentioned by any 
 biographer *, though he has himself, in this Commen- 
 tary, left several particulars of his history. Vitruvius 
 having, in the first chapter of his sixth book, returned 
 thanks to his relations for the education they had be- 
 stowed on him ; his commentator, Caesar Caesarianus, 
 is induced to imitate his example in a case by no means 
 parallel, as it is manifestly Caesar's object to exhibit 
 his sufferings, in order to attract compassion, at the 
 time when he professes to conceal them. How- 
 ever, in a very long note on the above-mentioned pas- 
 
 * Vasari, in his Life of Bramante, speaks of this latter person as 
 having gone to Milan to visit ihe dome or cathedral, and says there 
 lived there, at that time, Caesar Caesarianus, who was reputed an 
 excellent geometrician and architect, who wrote a commentary on 
 Vitruvius. In another part of the same life he mentions Caesar as 
 having been disappointed in his expectations of profit from his Com- 
 n.entary on Vitruvius j as having become so morose and savage 
 in consequence of his failure, that he would do nothing j and, 
 lastly, as having died more like a brute than a human creature. He 
 gives no other particulars, and wa^ ignorant of the time of his 
 death. 
 
OF GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. J 63 
 
 sage in Vitruvius, he gives, fo. 91, a, the ensuing facts 
 relating to himself. 
 
 His father, whose name was Laurence, was a man of 
 considerable literature, and eminently skilful in the civil 
 law, by which means he came to be employed in the 
 business of the chancery of Bona Maria and John Ga- 
 leazzo Maria Sfortia Visconti, duke of Milan *. On 
 account of these his merits, and by the advice of 
 Ciccho Symoneta one of the ducal counsellors, these 
 persons bestowed on him the office of the chancery of 
 the chief-justiceship in Milan, of which he was a ci- 
 
 * Bona Maria must have been the widow of the former duke Ga- 
 leazzo Maria Sforza; for he, in 1468, married Bona, daughter o< 
 Lewis duke of Savoy. Galeazzo was assassinated 24th Dec. 1476, 
 and she died in 1485, John Galeazzo Maria Sforza, who is here 
 also called Visconti, was son of Galeazzo Maria and this Bona ; and 
 on the death of his father was placed under the guardianship of his 
 mother and the secretary of state, Ciccho Symoneta ; but Lodovico 
 Maria Sforza, his uncle, called the Moor, compelled the duchess to 
 quit Milan, and caused Symoneta to be beheaded at Pavia, though ha 
 was then seventy years old. As to the young duke, his uncle gave him 
 a slow poison, of which he died at Pavia a few days after the entry of 
 Charles the Eighth, king of France, into that city, 2 1st Oct. 1494. 
 The ducal family of Visconti were in fact extinct on the death of 
 Philip Maria Visconti in 1446; but as he left a natural daughter, 
 Blanch, who married Francis Sforza, he in her right claimed and 
 obtained the dukedom in 1446. It is probable, that, in consequence 
 cf her relation to the Visconti family, Francis Sforza and his de- 
 scendants might assume the name of Visconti. For these facts see 
 Moieri Dictionaire Historiquc, edit. Amst. 1/40, art. Sforce, which 
 appe^irs, from the authorities there cited at the end, to have been 
 compiled from Paulus Jovius, Vie de Sforce le grand, Scipio Am- 
 mirato, Histoire de Florence, Simoneta Kipamente, Ughel Italia 
 Sacra, Zazzara della nobile Famil. Sfort. Inihof Hist, General, Jtai. 
 & Hispan. 8ec. 
 
 M 3 
 
l66 History of the origi?t 
 
 tizen *, CcTsar was educated by his lather hhnself, from 
 the age of four years and an half, so that he was able 
 to repeat the whole grammatical work of Donatus -f ; 
 
 * Serviliano Latuada, in his Descrlzioiie di Milano, 12mo, Mi- 
 lano, 1737, vol. ii. p. 38, in a chapter respecting the royal prisons 
 and the captain of justice, speaks of the building appropriated 
 to this person, as erected about l605 ; and from his account the 
 nature of the office may be sufficiently understood. Originally, and 
 till the year 1493, the business was transacted in a part of the archle- 
 piscopal palace ; but Lodovic the Moor in that year removed it 
 for the purpose of affiDrding a residence for the archbishop near the 
 metropolitan church. — Ibid. p. 37. Describing the present structure, 
 Latuada says, that it contains a magnificent staircase leading up to 
 the apartments of the judges, and to the office of the actuaries, the 
 criminal notaries, the clerks, and all the persons dependent on the 
 chief justice, who is elected by the sovereign from the college of 
 doctors in that city ; that he has a place in the senate, and accom- 
 panies the senators on public occasions, but his rank is last : he adds, 
 that the chief justice is escorted by six halberdiers, which is the 
 number of the guard of those of the highest rank, this officer hav- 
 ing criminal jurisdiction throughout the whole state, and civil au- 
 thority in causes relating to the duke or his servants. His duty being 
 of such high importance, he has as a coadjutor, a doctor of the civil 
 law, who wears a gown, is called the vicar, and is reckoned among 
 tlie judges. In this building, he says, they exeii€ise their functions to- 
 gether, and that it is also united to the Fiscal college for the purpose 
 Cf their hearing and giving their vote upon the trials of oftenders. 
 It seems, from Caesarianus's account, that his father was appointed 
 to the situation of this doctor of the civil law, the coadjutor of the 
 chief justice. 
 
 •j- Polenus, who, in his Exercitnliones Vitruvian.-E, p. 20, has, from 
 this very note, given a life of Caesarianus, says, that his father died 
 Avhen he was four years old, mistaking most evidently the passaga 
 in th© text. Caesarianus says his father instructed him from th« 
 time he was four years and an half old till he was able to repeat Do- 
 natus: though he does not mention his age when he so repeated Do- 
 naiuii, it is evident that a child so }ouiig could never have done it j 
 
OF GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. lO? 
 
 but soon after this his father died, leaving him an or- 
 phan *. Finding his end approaching in the village 
 of Prospiani, his father was desirous of making his 
 will, and communicated to Elizabeth his then wife 
 what he intended for Caesar's benefit ; but she would 
 not permit Joram de Magistris to be sent for : there 
 being, therefore, no notary present, the father left his 
 property for Caesar on the promised fidelity of her, 
 who, as Ctesar singularly expresses it, was afterwards 
 called his stepmother. 
 
 Upon his father's death she married a notary ; 
 and when Caesar had arrived to the age of about fif- 
 teen f , she, one day in a rage, because he wished to 
 follow the ducal court with his preceptors, threatened 
 that, if he did not for ever quit his father's house, she 
 would certainly poison him. Upon this, Caesar had re- 
 course to Andrea de Vicomercato :*:, formerly chancellor 
 
 and, consequently, Caesar must have been older when his father died. 
 Polenus's work is full of mistakes in the account of Cassarianus, and 
 in one instance he did not understand the contractions used in Caesa- 
 rianus's book, as he says, fo. Qi, b, that his father was appointed to 
 the office of the chancery of the chief justice in Mino, instead of 
 in Milano. 
 
 * In the latter part of the note from which this account of him is 
 taken, he says, that his father was buried in St. Stephen's church j 
 but he no where mentions in what year he died. 
 
 f For the reasons stated in a subsequent note, it will appear that 
 Caesar must have been born about 1481 or 1482, and, consequently, 
 he was fifteen in 1496 or 149/, or thereabouts. 
 
 X John Andrea Vicomercato, apostolical prothonotary and ordinary 
 of that church, is buried in the chapel of St. Martin in the cathedral. 
 He died in 1548 at the age of seventy-eight, and was a benefactor 
 to that edifice. Torre Ritratto di Milano, 4to. 1714, p. 393. 
 
 M 4 
 
1 68 HISTOKY OF THE ORIGI.V 
 
 to the duke, a pupil of his father's, who assisted him 
 with a small sum of money, in consequence of which 
 Caesar left Milan, and wandered from place to place for 
 hundreds of miles, and into various cities and countries, 
 conversing with those whom he met with, and pursuing 
 his studies. This he was enabled to do by means of 
 his daily gains, which arose from the practice of paints 
 ing and architecture*. 
 
 After this, "the ducal courtier Joannes Symon Resta, 
 finding Caesar one day in the church of St. Benedict -|~, 
 took him with him to Ferrara, and there Caesar employ- 
 ed himself in the comedies for Hercules the duke;};. It 
 happened, however, tliat Antonio Visconti, ambassador 
 from duke Lodovic ^5*, who was also of the ducal family, 
 
 * Polenus, p. 166, in a Life of Vitruvius, speaks of Caesar Caesaria- 
 nus In the foUowing words — Caesar C^snrianus Mediolanensis, e pic- 
 tore archite:.U3, & Bramantis nostri, ut ipsemet affirmat, discipulus: 
 so that he considered him as having originally applied himself to 
 painting, and afterwards turned his attention to architecture. 
 
 f The parish-church of St. Benedict, which is said to have been 
 originally founded in 735, by St, Benedict, archbishop of MilaUj was 
 afterwards assigned to the neighbouring foundation of Santa Maria del 
 Soccorso, an endowment apparently similar to the Mjgdalen institu- 
 tion in this country, which had been commenced in 15(57, by Charlea 
 Boiromeo, but left unfinished at his death, and completed by Isabella 
 of Arragon. — Latuada Descrizione di Milano, 12mo. Milan, 1737» 
 vol. V. p. 414. From the plan which occurs at the beginning of the first 
 voluive, and succeeds the Trattato previo there, it appears that Santa 
 Maria del Soccorso, which is styled a conservatory, is but a very smaii 
 distance from the cathedral. 
 
 X Hercules became duke of Ferrara on the death of Borso d'£st_, 
 in August 1471, and died in 1505. Moreri Diet. art. Est. 
 
 § This must have been Lodovic Maria Sforza, called the Moor, who 
 in 1491 had married Beatrix d'Est, daughter of Hercules marquis 
 of Ferrara. Moreri, art. Sforce. In an article for this duke, uades 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. lOg 
 
 was at that time resident there. This person was much 
 addicted to philosopiiical and mathematical studies; and 
 several of the professors of that university having re- 
 commended Caesar to him, he retained him for some 
 time for the purpose of demonstrating tlie schemes 
 and diagrams of some abstruse lectures which Cccsar 
 effected from the writings of the Greek and Latin au- 
 thors. After wandering about for nearly sixteen years, 
 Caesar at length, at the desire of his stepmother, and 
 the request of others, returned home, with the view 
 of delivering her from the ill treatment she experienced 
 from her own sons *. Having been taken as architect 
 into the service of duke Maximilian, and dismissed by 
 the populace, he returned once more to the siege 
 
 the art. Louis, tit. Dukes of Milan, Moreri says, that Charles VIII, 
 of France, being at Placenza in 1494, heard the news of the death 
 of John Galeazzo, whom Lodovic had poisoned. On his death, Lo- 
 dovic took possession of the dukedom without any regard to the son 
 of his nephew, the preceding duke, who was then but five years old. 
 Soon after, Louis XIL king of France, seized Milan, of which 
 Lodovic recovered possession, but was taken prisoner in the diso-uise 
 of a common soldier, near Novara, by the French general, who car-r 
 ried him to Lyons iii the year 1500. He was confined in the castle of 
 Loches, and died ten years after. Moreri's Diet, Hist, on the authority 
 of Philip de Comines, 1. 7- Guicciard. 1. 1,2, 4. Cerio, &C. 
 
 * Polenus, p. 29, observes, on the authority of Guicciardini, that 
 Maximilian was saluted duke of Milan in the latter end of Decem- 
 ber 1512, and that the victory of Novara was obtained by the Swltr 
 zers (Helvetii), who favoured Maximilian, in June 1513. The cita- 
 del of Jove, he remarks, was the citadel of Milan, so called as being 
 near the gate called Porta Zobia, or Giobia. From these facts Pole*- 
 nus says it appears that what Caesar speaks of as having passed subse- 
 quent to his return, must relate to the year 1513; and consequently, 
 as Caesar left his home first at the age of fifteen, and was sixteen years 
 absent, he muit havQ beeij born about 148 J or J482» 
 
 % 
 
3/0 IIISTOUS OF THE OPJGlJf 
 
 of the citadel of Jove, in consequence of the victory at 
 Novara ; but having intrusted to the care of his step- 
 mother some articles of his pro[)crty, she returned to him 
 scarcely any thing more than his translation of Vitru- 
 vius*. For these his misfortunes he endeavours to 
 console himself by the examples of Aristippus the So- 
 eratic philosopher, and of Julius Csesar, who, as he says, 
 in the Alexandrian war, to avoid the Egyptian vessels by 
 which he was annoyed, leaped from his ship into the 
 sea, carrying in his hand his Commentaries. After this 
 he introduces a cut of the elective world, as he calls it, 
 as he wishes that, and his own situation in it to be, and 
 in which he gives a portrait of himself, but in so rude a 
 manner, and so small, that it conveys no definite idea of 
 his person, conducted by Patience, Prudence, and Bold- 
 ness, to that station to which he conceives himself en- 
 titled. He complains of being deserted by all his fa- 
 ther's relations; but says that Aloisius Pirovanus, a patri- 
 
 * It is hence evident, says Polenus, that he prepared this 
 work when he was absent from his own country, and brought at 
 least part of it home with himj but the fact may be closer traced — 
 If Caesar was born in 14S1 or 1482, as mentioned in a former note, 
 his first departure at the age of fifteen must have been in \4g6 or 
 1497> 2nd his return at the end of sixteen years more in 1512 or 
 1513. In his book, which was printed in 1521, he says he had been 
 twenty years employed on it, which, at latest, carries it back to 1502, 
 and had been obliged to publish it in the sixth year, when he ought 
 to have revised it in the ninth. From this last passage it should ap- 
 pear, that, of that twenty years, six had been spent in revising and 
 preparing it for the press : and, if so, the principal part must have 
 been written before 1515, though, from the state in which he left it 
 when he quitted Como in 1521, he does not seem to have even then 
 written the latter part, unless indeed he carried away the remainder ot 
 bis manuscript with him. 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. J 71 
 
 cian of one of the noblest families of Milan, and most 
 skilful in arithmetic and geometry, had been induced to 
 patronize him with a fatherly affection. 
 
 Further on, he says that this work might perhaps be 
 the means of ingratiating himself with his stepmother; 
 and adds, that he had been about twenty years engaged 
 in preparing it*, and through the misfortune of Aloisius 
 Pirovanus was compelled to publish it, not being able, 
 without constant and intense diligence, to send it forlh 
 in the sixth, when he ought to have revised it in the 
 ninth year -j-. 
 
 After this, he rhapsodicalK- and absurdly requests the 
 genius of Milan, the royal majesty:};, all future princes, 
 the rulers, senators, and all other learned persons and 
 heroic patricians, the clergy and nobility, the aedile D. 
 Pietro de Novate, together v/ith all other counsellors of 
 
 * The book was printed and finished in July 1521, and this part 
 certainly before May in thai year, as appears from an advertisement at 
 the foot of the Errata at the end of the book; in which it is said, that 
 before he quitted Come Coesar had finished and delivered to the 
 printer so much of the manuscript as preceded fo. 154, whereas this 
 occurs in fo. 91. From these circumstances, and tlie assertion in the 
 text, Caesarianus must have comm.enced his undertaking about the 
 year 1501. 
 
 f Caesarianus is so inaccurate and obscure an author, that it is fre- 
 quently difficult to know what he means. He has before spoken of 
 Aloisius Pirovanus as having patronized him with a fatherly affection, 
 and here, in the very same note, he seems to think that his connexion 
 with him was a misfortune. This inconsistency is not to be recon- 
 ciled ; but it is possible, from this passage, that he thought himself too 
 much pressed by Pirovanus, and compelled to send his book abroad into 
 the world prematurely. 
 
 I Francis the First, king of France, duke of Milan, when the book 
 was printing. 
 
1/2 HISTORY OF THE ORIOm 
 
 the republic, the society of architects, and all princes^ 
 governors, aetliles, and architects, throughout the whole 
 world, the learned and well-informed, and all the readers 
 of his book, to pardon small faults, and to take the 
 work under their protection, to get it revised and re- 
 printed more correctly, either in the Latin or the com- 
 mon idiom, as they should think best, and always to 
 renew the cuts, as they were all regulated by symmetry 
 and good proportion, entitling it with his name and sur- 
 name, in memory of him their patrician Caesar Caesa- 
 rianus, as the whole had been accomplished by him 
 with very small assistance from any other person. 
 
 A little further on, still speaking of his translation, 
 Caesar, fol. Ql, b, says, let it not only now, but 1533 
 years after the publication of his Vitruvius *, be related 
 by some person in the world, that he had been able to 
 fxpound the obscure senses, and affected and mysterious 
 sayings, which through the great ignorance of them 
 which prevLiiled, had appeared like enigmas; and that he 
 had also amended and explained the Greek and Latin 
 words in each of the ten books of Vitruvius, with cuts 
 
 * Polenus, p. 168, in a note on tlie Life of Vitruvius compiled by 
 him, says, that from some circumstances which he mentions, there is 
 reason to think Vitruvius wrote after the 27th year before Christ, 
 which agrees so nearly with this date of C?esarianus as to require to 
 be noticed. If Vitruvius had written in the 27th year instead of 
 after it, 1538 years would bring the computation down to 1511 ; for 
 27 and 1511 make exactly 1538 j but Poleniis says he wrote after the 
 27th year, and the latest event mentioned in this note, namely the 
 victoiy at Novara, happened in 1513. Computing backwards, from 
 1513, 1538 years would extend to the 25th year before our Saviour, 
 which is but two years later than the year mentioned by Polenus as 
 that after which Vitruvius wrote. 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 173 
 
 and notes which show the sense of the text, so that ar- 
 ,chitecture might be well understood. *' Therefore," 
 says he (to give an exact translation of his own words), 
 *' if God and Nature do nothing in vain, I certainly 
 think the Divine will had directed I should be born, and 
 made me so learned in philology and architecture, in 
 order that I might become the expounder of this divine 
 work, and leave it in the world for its great utility, and 
 especially as many very learned men have laboured to 
 explain it, but have not been able to do so for want of 
 understanding the terms. And as I was contented to 
 perform the Divine will, it has enabled me to support 
 the greatest misfortunes and miseries, as I have related; 
 which unspeakable misfortunes thus suffered I forbear 
 to state fully, in order that the reader may not be per- 
 haps induced to shed some tears at my miseries, since I 
 am, as it were, all my life through my stepmother and 
 her sons rendered not only a kind of exile from my own 
 country, but am disinherited of my father's property, 
 and my own paternal house." This last circumstance 
 he explains no further ; but mentions that Antonia 
 Briuscha, and her nurse Magdalen de Cuticis, his step- 
 mother's mother, had procured him to be of the sacred 
 and elect clergy of Milan, hoping to obtain for him 
 other property to a greater amount than his father's. 
 
 Tliese passages, in many instances, strongly indicate 
 a degree of eccentricity, in some respects nearly ap- 
 proaching to insanity; but it is evident that this was only 
 partial, as his character as an architect and geometrician 
 has never been questioned, and the rules he has laid 
 down have, as will be noticed hereafter, been uniformly 
 found correct and authentic. 
 
174 HISTORY OF THE ORIGIISr 
 
 Notwithstanding the heavy complaints which Caesaria- 
 nus utters respecting his stepmother's cruelty, there is 
 great reason to think her ill treatment of him might 
 not have heen without provocation on his part, if it is 
 not, after all, very much exaggerated. Her objection, 
 in the first instance, to his following the ducal court, 
 seems to have had more of judgment and discretion 
 than his resolution. It certainly implies a degree of 
 concern for his interest, which is totally inconsistent 
 with any idea of her driving him from home; besides 
 that his leaving home was what she had already opposed. 
 The increase of his property to an amount beyond his 
 father's, which he himself has assigned as the motive of 
 her mother and Antonia Briuscha in procuring him to 
 be of the clergy of Milan, most certainly shows a re- 
 gard for his welfare, even had it appeared, which it does 
 not, that they were mistaken in their opinions on the 
 subject. Nor is Caesar's conduct, according to his 
 own relation, by any means free from a great degree 
 of inconsistency, when, after having all along repre- 
 sented his stepmother as an implacable and inveterate 
 enemy, down to the very time when he was writing that 
 account, and after having, as he says, experienced her 
 as such for sixteen years or more, he, without any inti- 
 mation of a reconciliation on his return, confesses he 
 intrusted to her care a part of his property. 
 
 Throughout the book, and his own conduct, as de- 
 scribed by himself, enough of Caesarian us's temper is 
 disclosed to convince any unbiassed person that a resi- 
 dence with him must have been almost insupportable. 
 In his writings he plainly discovers an unbounded con- 
 lecit of his own abilities and attainments, and seems to 
 
OF GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 1/^ 
 
 consider himself as almost the first of the human spe- 
 cies in point of intellect. His resolution to follow the 
 ducal court in opposition to his stepmother's remon- 
 strances to the contrary, is a decided proof of his ob- 
 stinacy ; and he seems, from his subsequent conduct, 
 to have been one of those headstrong- characters which 
 sometimes occur, on whom kindnesses are ill bestowed, 
 and whose perverseness and misconduct render them in- 
 capable of profiting from that assistance which is ac- 
 tually afforded them. Like most persons of this de- 
 Gcription, he appears to have suffered severely from his 
 own pertinacity of opinion ; for he frequently mentions 
 his poverty, which, as he speaks of maintaining him- 
 self by the practice of painting and architecture, and 
 never complains of the want of employment, a common 
 degree of prudence and discretion would probably have 
 prevented. 
 
 As an architect and geometrician, the character of 
 Caesarianus has always stood high * ; but as an author 
 and man of literature, he is entitled to no estimation -f*. 
 His style is a mixture of Latin, frequently barbarous, 
 
 * Vasari, in his Life of Bramante, says, Caesarianus was reputed 
 an able geometrician and a skilful architect. Vasari Vile de Pittori, 
 Scultori e Architetti, per Delia Valle, 8vo. Sienna, 1792, vol. v, 
 p. 139, Polenus says that the writers of Milan compliment Caesa- 
 rianus highly ; that Paulo Moriggia calls him a great architect ; and 
 Philippo Picinelli says, that he explained Vitruvius with such copious 
 and learned notes, that it is difficult to decide whether more is due 
 to him who wrote the text, or to him who has illustrated and aug- 
 jnented it with his own valuable opinions, — Poleni Exercitationes 
 Vitruviana, p. 31. 
 
 f The Glossary to the edition of Vitruvius, fol. Amst. I649, calls 
 his ^tyle, not without reason, semibarbarous. 
 
}y6 HISTORY OP THE ORIGIN 
 
 with corrupt Italian introduced in scraps, so that some 
 words shall be Latin, and the next a mixture of Italian ; 
 or one part of a sentence is often Italian, compounded, 
 however, of words from the Latin and Greek, but with 
 Italian terminations, and the rest of it Latin, such as 
 it is *. His object in most cases appears to have been 
 the introduction of as many words as possible, probably 
 thinking, as bad writers frequently do, that verbosity 
 tends to perspicuity, which in fact it utterly destroys. 
 For instance, fo. 15, a, he styles an octagon tower. Oc- 
 tagon hecubata tholata pyramidata, because it is formed 
 
 * As a specimen of his style (he following passage is selected, 
 which occurs fo. Ql, a, in a long note. " Uiide lo non per vintlicta nd 
 ira vel altrui culpe stiano seterne : Imo lo lenedico la bonta divina 
 che cosi sia stato : & breviter qualmente questa molti anni me habia 
 vexato : il fatale caso monstraro : acio che altrui meirorandosi da 
 le mie vexatione et erumne possano placidamente prehendendo 
 exemplo del caso mio epsi contentarse de quillo che dispone Dio : & 
 la naturale : sorte. Ma dovendo lo si como Vitruvio a li soi parent! 
 agere le maxime & infinite gratie. lo prima diio cio che continge 
 etiam ad me : Essendo per divina gratia &: mediante epsi parent! : 
 pervenuto a essere id quod sum Caesare Caesariano. ^lluminatore de 
 queste scientiae Vitruvianae per causa dil patre mio : Laurentio Peritis- 
 Simo de bone scientie di humanitate : & de le normale lege : & anno- 
 tatione civile : per la cui solertia pervene a li Cancellarii ncgotii de li 
 lUustrlssimi : Bona Maria. 8c Johanne. Gaieazio Maria Sfortia Vice- 
 comite Duca de Milano : Al quale mio patre Citadino Mediolanensd 
 per benemerentia gli donarno con consensa dil maximo consiliario 
 Ciccho Symonetd lo officio de la Cancellaria dil Capitaneato de Justitia 
 in Milano ; Epso patre havcndomi erudito di aetate de anni c'nc-a 
 quatro : & medio : per mode che jubilo gli recitasse sulBcientemente 
 )o grammaticale opusculo di Donato: Poi in breve al tuto mi lasso 
 orphano : Questo cognoscendo la sua fine in villa. Prospiani : ha- 
 vendo voluto testare etiam instando Elisabetha quillo che volea pe» 
 mio benciicio : Joram de MagisUis non volse essere rogato,'' &c, 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE, I*/ 
 
 on a cube, has a cupola or dome, and supports a pyra- 
 mid. If he had siiDjily described it as an octagon, it 
 would have been sufficient, because nothing depended on 
 the other particulars. His sentences are extremely long, 
 complex, and involved, and frequently disjointed ; so 
 that two passages which relate to each other are not 
 seldom at a distance, with others which have no refer- 
 ence interposed. They are connected in a manner to- 
 tally repugnant to all ideas of style and composition, 
 and evidently show that when he repeated, as he says 
 he did, Donatus's grammatical work to his father, it 
 must have been without understanding it, or knowing 
 how the rules were to be applied. 
 
 Besides all this, the book is one of the most incor- 
 rectly printed that can perhaps any where be found : 
 two words perpetually occur printed as one, and one as 
 often divided into two. The punctuation is also abun- 
 dantly faulty : no points are used but the colon and 
 the period ; a point very often is placed where there 
 should have been none, by which means nonsense is 
 produced ; and others are omitted where the sense ne- 
 cessarily required their introduction. 
 
 Nor have the cuts in many cases, which un- 
 doubtedly were all copied from his own drawings, 
 stronger marks of accuracy. In one instance particu- 
 larly, namely, the sectional view of the nave of the 
 church of Milan, with the external representation of 
 the transept, he has inserted a multitude of letters, 
 to none of which he refers in the explanation ; but, on 
 the contrary, says, the cut may be understood from what 
 had been given before. 
 
 From these circumstances and the specimen of hU 
 
 N 
 
178 HISTORY OF THE OIIIGIN 
 
 Style already inserted in a note, tlie reader must ne- 
 cessarily perceive how great must have been, in the 
 present case, the labour and difficulty of discovering the 
 meaning and correcting the errors of so confused and 
 inaccurate an author, though, after all, his principles 
 are certainly right, and have proved so on experiment. 
 His conduct to Aloisius Pirovanus, whom he him- 
 self mentions as one of his best friends and patrons, 
 appears to have been an example of injustice and ingra- 
 titude perfectly unprovoked ; for at the foot of the er- 
 rata, quite at the end of the book, is an advertisement 
 from Augustino Gallo and Aloisius Pirovanus, in which 
 they state, that about the end of May in that present 
 year, 1 52 J , Caesar Caesarianus, having written the Com- 
 mentary as far as the place before mentioned (namely, 
 the end of the sixth chapter of tlie eighth book), and 
 delivered the copy to the printers, had, notwithstand- 
 ing his engagement to the contrary, quitted Como,, 
 \vhere it was then printing, and left the work imperfect, 
 to tlieir great loss, as they had hired the printers, who 
 demanded to be paid. For the completion of the work, 
 Benedicto Jovio and Bono Mauro were employed, and 
 some of their variations are there stated. 
 
 At the end of book viii. chap. (3, fo. 1 54, b, in a note, 
 it is said, that Augustino Gallo of Como, and Aloisius 
 Pirovanus, patricuin of jXIilan, the principal authors of 
 that impression of Vitruvius which C.iisar Caesarianus 
 was long since to have prepared for theni with the as- 
 sistance of others, and which had been printed as far 
 as to that place, though de})rived of his assistance, 
 had determined to complete it, and had employed Be- 
 aiedicto Jovio of Como, and Bono Pslauro of Bergamo, 
 
6f GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. I'JQ 
 
 to prepare the remainder for the press. And again, in 
 an address which follows the titles of the chapters at the 
 beginning of the work, and is entitled, Oratio Patritiis 
 Populoque Mediolanensi, Aloisius Pirovanus says, that 
 not without great expense he had had drawings made 
 by many excellent masters, which he had also procured 
 to be engraven by no common artists, and that Augus- 
 tino Gallo, Referendary of Como, and himself, Aloisius, 
 of the noble family and ancient race of Pirovano, a ci- 
 tizen born of Milan, and a professor of arithmetic 
 and geometry, by no means of low rank or unknown 
 in that city, had hired men possessed of that kind of 
 science, who had faithfully corrected, translated, and ex- 
 plained the work ; and that among these was Bono 
 Mauro -of Bergamo, who had completed the translation 
 of the text, cleared up several difficult passages, and re- 
 stored to their true order others that were confused, 
 before^the work was delivered to the printers. He adds, 
 that this person had been unjustly deprived of his due 
 praise, having been styled only the corrector of those 
 errors which frequent impression had introduced ; and 
 that, besides what was already noticed, he had drawn 
 up and reduced into alphabetical order the table of words 
 at the beginning of the book, which seems intended as 
 a kind of glossary. 
 
 No apology for Caesar's conduct, or circumstance to 
 account for it, any where occurs ; but as, in the passage 
 where he speaks of his poverty as an hinderance to the 
 correction of his work, he says, that that and the mis- 
 fortune of Pirovanus had compelled him to publish his 
 book in the sixth, when he ought to have revised it in 
 
 N 2 
 
180 HISTORY OF THE ORIGIN 
 
 the ninth year ; it is probable he thought himself hor*- 
 ried to publish it prematurely, and took offence at that 
 circumstance. Any reader, however, will immediately see 
 that Caesarian us''s faults are radical and incorrigible, not 
 arising from oversight but ignorance ; and no correction 
 or revision by him was ever likely to have removed them, 
 for he who could commit them in the first writing could 
 not have had the sagacity to discover them in the 
 revision. 
 
 To his account of himself, and the before-men- 
 tioned relation of his departure from Como, little is to 
 be added. It appears however, from Caesar's own Com- 
 mentary on Vitruvius, fo. 70, b, that Bramante the ar- 
 chitect was his preceptor ; for, speaking there of the 
 vestry of St. Satyrus, he says, it was built by his mas- 
 ter Donato di Urbino, surnamed Bramante ; and it is 
 also known * that he himself was for a time architect^ 
 or rather surveyor, to the cathedral of Milan, for the 
 purpose of keeping it in repair; which probably led him, 
 and gave him the means, to measure and examine so 
 minutely as he has done the proportions and principles 
 on which it was constructed. 
 
 After his departure from Como in May 1521, no- 
 thing further is known of Caesarian us's history, noF 
 even at what time he died. All that Vasari -)- could 
 learn was, that Caesarianus, who wrote the Commentary 
 on Vitruvius, when he had lost all hope of obtaining that 
 reward of which he had formed expectations, became so 
 
 ♦Torre Ritratto di Milano, 4to. Milano, l/U, p. 377. 
 t Vasari, in bis Life of Bramante, among his Lives of the Painters^. 
 cdiL 8vo. Sienna, J 792, vol. v. p. 140. 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTUKE. 181 
 
 morose and savage, that he would from that time do no- 
 thing ; and that, being rendered wholly ferocious, he 
 died more like a brute beast than an human creature ; 
 which, considering the specimens of his temper and 
 conduct, as they appear in his own narrative, is ex- 
 tremely probable. 
 
 If d 
 
183 HISTOBY OP THE ORIGIN 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Gothic Architects worked by Rule — Part of the Churck 
 of Sienna recommended to he taken down, because, 
 in that Instance, the Architect had not observed the due 
 Pro}}orlions — This a Proof that there were settled and 
 established Rules — Plan of ike Church of Milan, how 
 formed — Elevations of the Church, how produced — » 
 Cathedral of Milan, an Account of — General Propor- 
 tions of Gothic Cathedrals — Mr. Knight's Opinion on 
 the Mode of constructing the pointed Arch erroneous, 
 and why — Sir Christopher Wren's Ideas as to Key- 
 stones, contradictory to each other — The geometrical 
 Construction of pointed Arches — Their Parieties of 
 Proportion. 
 
 In opposition to reason and experience, it has been 
 asserted by some persons, that the Gothic architects had 
 no principles, and tliat they worked without rules either 
 for forms or proportions * ; as if order and regularity 
 could ever be produced from disorder and confusion, 
 symmetry and proportion be the offspring of chance, 
 
 * Mr, Knight, in his Analytical Inquiry into the Principles of 
 Taste, second edit. p. l62, says, speaking ol" Gothic architecture, " If 
 we ask what they mean by pure Gothic, we receive no satisfactory 
 answer > there are no rules — no proportions — and consequently no 
 definitions j but we are referred to models of generally acknowledged 
 excellence." Again., p. 1/5, he asserts, that the Gothic architects re- 
 cognised no rules, but worked merely for eftect. 
 
OF GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 183 
 
 and beauty and elegance the fortuitous consequence of 
 caprice and negligence. A position like this certainly 
 merits no serious refutation, nor are those who could 
 once entertain it ever likely to be convinced by any ar- 
 guments, however strong. But against positive fact 
 and incontrovertible evidence no man can successfully 
 contend ; and both these, in the present case, arc deci- 
 dedly in contradiction to any such supposition as that 
 above mentioned, as will now manifestly appear. In 
 the year 1321, while the erection of ihe dome of Sienna 
 was proceeding, Laurentius Magri Matani, and Ni- 
 cola Nuti of Sienna, Cinus Francisci, Jone Johannis, 
 and Vannes Cionis of Florence, were appointed to in- 
 spect the works carrying on ; and by a Latin instrument, 
 dated the 17th of February 1321, which Delia Valle 
 has printed at length in his Lettere Senesi, vol. ii. p. 60, 
 from the archives of that cathedral, these persons declare 
 it as their opinion, after stating several other objections, 
 that the new work ought not to proceed any further, 
 because, if completed as it had been begun, it would 
 not have that measure in length, breadth, and height, 
 which the rules for a church require. And they further 
 add, that the old structure, to which, as it seems, 
 the new adjoined, was so justly proportioned, and its 
 members so well agreed with each other in breadth, 
 length, and height, that if in any part an addition 
 were made to it, under the pretence of reducing it to 
 the right measure of a church, the whole would be de- 
 stroved. 
 
 This passage, it is true, does not speak precisely of the 
 proportion of the members of which the style of archi- 
 tecture consisted ; but is it possible to suppose that the 
 
 N 4 
 
184 HISTORY OP THE ORIGIN 
 
 architects should in one instance have been such nice 
 and careful observers of rule and proportion, and, when 
 those guides had produced excellence, have neglected 
 them in another ? The contrary is the fact ; and the 
 proportions for these last will be shown, in a subsequent 
 page, to be much nearer the Grecian style than is gene- 
 rally imagined. The only observation ne(X'Ssary on the 
 above fact is extremely obvious. If there were no 
 settled rules of proj)ortion, there could have been no 
 breach of them ; and the architects could not have been 
 censured on so absurd a charge as that of comn)itting 
 a crime of which in its nature it was absolutely im- 
 possible they could have ever been guilty. If the 
 censure had not been just, it is very improbable that 
 six impartial persons, as these appear to have been, 
 should have unanimously concurred in a resolution to 
 forfeit their integitry and ruin their own reputations for 
 skill, in asserting a fact which the whole body of the 
 professors would have known was untrue. Delia 
 Valle*s suspicion, for which there is no ground what- 
 ever, that they wished to introduce the more modern 
 and fashionable style of building, would have been no 
 adequate motive for blaming the former erections as 
 transgressing proportions, which, if those persons 
 who espouse this opinion are right, never existed*. 
 None of these six persons seem to have been in- 
 terested in promoting one style in preference to 
 the other, or inclined to think better of the then 
 modern state of knowledge than of the more ancient. 
 If they had been, they would not have commended, as 
 they do, the older part, but rather have advised 
 taking down the whole of the former buildings, not 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 185 
 
 because those edifices were destitute of true proportion, 
 but because they were not in the best or most beautiful 
 style. They would have recommended a careful ob- 
 servation of the style they thus proposed throughout 
 the remainder of the work ; but this they have not 
 done, as appears from their decision in writing. 
 
 In the before-mentioned translation of Vitruvius, and 
 the Commentary with which it is accompanied, Caesar 
 Caesarian as has contrived to introduce and explain the 
 principles of Gothic architecture. A more methodical 
 writer would have been at a loss how to have effected 
 this in a work like that of Vitruvius, which has for its 
 object the recommendation and ascertainment of the ele- 
 ments of Grecian. It is indeed the very last place in 
 which any reasonable man would have expected to have 
 found them, and it is therefore necessary here to state 
 in what manner and order they occur. Vitruvius, in 
 the second chapter of his first book, undertakes to de- 
 scribe of what particulars architecture consists, and 
 amongst others mentions the ichnography, orthogra- 
 phy, and scenography of a building, the signification 
 of which terms he proceeds to explain ; but his com- 
 mentator Caesar Cassarianus, desirous of fully eluci- 
 dating the question, is induced to attempt a further 
 explanation in a note. The ichnography he defines to 
 be the plan, the orthography the elevation, but of the 
 scenography it is difficult to collect what was his idea ; 
 though it is now generally understood, that the ortho- 
 graphy is a geometrical elevation of the front, and th6 
 scenography a perspective view of the front and side, by 
 which means a general idea of the appearance of the 
 whole edifice may be gained. In the course of his Com- 
 
186 HISTORY OP THE ORIGIX 
 
 mentary on this second chapter, fo. 13, b, he says, that 
 when a building is to be erected, a design or drawing of 
 the intended edifice is to be made by measure, which is 
 trailed a sketch ; and that afterwards a model should be 
 constructed, by which tiie principal parts of the edifice 
 are to be regulated. He then directs that the ground 
 should be marked out with stakes placed from corner to 
 corner ; that other stakes should be interposed between 
 wall and wall, to show the separations across ; and that 
 ropes should be stretched from stake to stake within 
 and without, so as to give the thickness of the walls. 
 After having thus stated the process, he adds, that the 
 German architects pursued this method in the church of 
 Milan, the symmetry of which is. regulated by the 
 length, which cqnsists of 250 cubits from east lowest; 
 from north to south the measures are 128 cubits within 
 the walls. Of this church of Milan he ha^ inserted, 
 fo. 14, a, a wooden cut, containing a plan, a copy of 
 which, reduced in size, and with a few corrections ob- 
 tained from unquestionable authority, will be found in 
 Plate VIII. of this work. He has also accompanied 
 it with letters and other marks of reference to the 
 different parts, which it has here been found necessary 
 to change, by substituting other letters for them, 
 because, for want of such types as he has used, they" 
 could not be expressed in printing. Great care has 
 however been employed in the present work, to place 
 the new characters precisely in the same spots with his ; 
 so that, merely changing the letters, his explanation 
 equally applies to both. With the above-noticed va- 
 riation, then, the explanation he gives is to the follow- 
 ing effect : The letters ABC; BCD; EFG; 
 
OF GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 187 
 
 and F G H; are four equilateral triangles *. I J K 
 are the boundaries of the east end. J K L form an 
 equilateral triangle, which touches the line that passes 
 through the two eastern middle colunms. These last, 
 by their correspondence with the other columns, not 
 X)u\y divide the body of the church from the aisles, but 
 settle the foundation for the square tower in the middle, 
 and show how it is constructed, the centre of which tower 
 is the letter M. In like manner the letters I N O 
 form the other equidistant line which passes through 
 the two western middle columns, the measure of whicit 
 line from the south to the north door is 128 cubits 'j~. 
 The letters P Q R are an equilateral triangle of the 
 measure of 64 cubits ; as are also, and of the like quan- 
 tity, the letters S T M. The letters U V W are au 
 
 * It is observable, that this plan consists of little more than two 
 triangles in length, the second of which ascertains by its extent the 
 spot for the first column from the west end ; and of one triangle in 
 breadth. These, on examination with the compasses, will be found 
 to be as nearly as possible the proportions of the plans of the church 
 of the Nativity at Bethlehem, and that of the Holy Sepulchre at Je- 
 rusalem. See those plans in Plates IV, and V. of the present work. 
 The experiment has also been made with some of the Gothic churches 
 in this country, and found to succeed in like manner. 
 
 •}• Caesarianus computes by the cubit of Milan. Bibiena, in his 
 Architettura, fol. Parma, 1/1 1, p. 25, says of the Paris foot, that it 
 is to be divided into 1000 parts, and that the cubit of Milan is 1933^ 
 of such thousandth parts, and the London foot 933^^1^. See p. 26. 
 Omitting fractions then, 938, the amount of the London foot, mul- 
 tiplied by 2, gives 18/6, which is 77 short of that of the Milanese cubit. 
 This number 77 is one twelfth of 938, the amount of the London 
 foot, with a small remainder of 14} and as one twelfth of the London 
 foot is equivalent to an inch, the Milanese cubit may be computed 
 as about 2 feet 1 inch, or 25 inches of our measure. 
 
188 HISTOKY OF THE ORIGIN- 
 
 equilateral triangle, from the centre of one to that 
 of another of the columns which form the range ex- 
 tending towards the west, the distance of which co- 
 lumns asunder is 32 cubits. Where the letters 
 X U V V are found, are the different indications for the 
 smaller intercolumniations, which are of the measure 
 of 16 cubits from the centre of one to that of the 
 other pillar ; and the letters Z A show the interco- 
 lumniation of the columns between which they stand. 
 They ascertain also the outside extreme width of the 
 docw of the vestibule in the front of the nave, and 
 regulate the vaultings of the arches over that part in 
 the centre of which is placed the letter B. 
 
 The plan which be has given fol. 14, a, he has en- 
 titled " Ichnogrnphia Fundamenti sacrac ^dis bari- 
 cephalae, Germanico more, a Trigono ac Pariquadra- 
 to perstructa, uti etiam ea quae nunc Milani videtur." 
 In English thus : " The Plan of the Foundation of a 
 sacred Building, with Columns at a Distance asunder, 
 constructed after the German Manner, by means of 
 :i Triangle and Square, like that which is now to be 
 seen at Milan." On several parts of the plan he has 
 marked the measures, which were purposely omitted 
 in Plate VIII. of this w^ork, because it was thought 
 that their insertion would too much encumber the 
 form of the plan. Such of them as are in any way 
 material are here given in the letter-press. The thick- 
 ness of the wall between the towers from east to 
 west is, on account of the weight and the necessity for 
 an equipoise between the front part and that towards 
 the east, 3 cubits and a quarter. The breadth of tl>e 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. ISQ 
 
 pedestals at the ends of the cross between the two 
 towers, is 5 cubits ; their projection 3 and one seventh 
 The distance between the tower at each corner of the 
 cross, and the line formed by the extreme wall of 
 the building on each side of the side-aisles of the 
 nave, is 1 2 cubits and a quarter, with a small fraction. 
 Each side of the towers at the corners of the north 
 and south cross is, on the outside, 8 cubits and one 
 third. The thickness of the wall of the church on 
 each side of the side-aisles of the nave, is 2 cubits 
 and two sixths. The space between the pedestals of 
 the columns in the nave, is J 2 cubits with ten twelfths 
 and half an inch * ; the breadth of the pedestals, 4 
 cubits and a sixth part, and their projection 3 cubits 
 and a third. 
 
 In a subsequent part of his Commentary on the se- 
 cond chapter of Vitruvius, and particularly on that part 
 of the text where Vitruvius mentions the orthography 
 of a building, Caesarianus notices what kind of front a 
 structure may have, and that it may consist of an hemi- 
 sphere placed on an oblong square ; and then speaking 
 of the pediment over the front of the church of Milan, 
 he inserts, fo. 15, a, a wooden cut of the orthography 
 or elevation of that church. After this he gives, on 
 the back of this orthography, another wood-cut, con- 
 taining; the scenographic representation of the same 
 edifice. In both instances he accompanies them 
 with letters of reference, which, as in the case of the 
 plan, it has for the same reason been necessary in the 
 
 * Bibiena says^ that the Milanese cubit has 13 inches or subdi- 
 fisioD?. 
 
 3 
 
JCJO HISTORY or THE ORIGIN 
 
 present work to change ; and gives a brief letter-press 
 explanation to the following effect. 
 
 The orthography, or elevation, as well as the sce- 
 nographic representation which follows it, is, he says, 
 formed from the plan which he had before given, and 
 by the same principle of the triangle. A correct re- 
 presentation of this orthography will be found, Plate IX. 
 in the present work. The triangle is here marked at 
 the base with the letters A B C D E F, and the point 
 of it is to be found at G ; a perpendicular from which 
 is dropped to the base line, and there distinguished 
 by the letter H. But in order, says he, to show the 
 method by which the colossal figure at the top was re- 
 gulated, and by those means to have the rule for 
 the elevation of the largest triangle, I shall extend the 
 before-mentioned triangle on one side from A to I, 
 being a space of l6 cubits ; and from F to J on the 
 other side. Drawing a line from I to J, I shall 
 gain the length for raising two other lines, which 
 form the equilateral triangle on the before- men- 
 tioned perpendicular G H at the point K, the ex- 
 tremity of the arch, called in the third acute, or 
 pointed. This triangle, if placed upon the range of 
 the capitals of the smaller columns, marked L and M, 
 will touch at its extremity the letter K. In like man- 
 ner, if I place over the former a triangle on perpendi- 
 cular lines, raised from A and F, the base of which will 
 be N O, and its point P on the perpendicular P H, which 
 forms the largest triangle Q R P, I then shall have the 
 base, N O, resting upon the arch of the nave; which 
 base, by touching the extreme line of the building, ascer- 
 tains, with the letters S T, the place where the top gf 
 
DP GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. l^l 
 
 the border is to be ; so do also the letters U V, a little 
 distant from them, as to the border a little above. 
 The letters X Y give the base of a triangle on the 
 capitals, and upper vaulting ; which upper vaulting is 
 compacted together with an iron chain *. Every vault- 
 ing of the arches is constructed by the compasses 
 placed on an acute triangle, the strength of which for 
 supporting a weight is always greatest on its very top ; 
 but if the weight be placed but a little on one side 
 or the other of the centre, the arch is easily broken. 
 The method of placing an octagon tower on a square 
 raised from the solid, is shown in the cut by the letters 
 U V W ; and within the spaces L Z and M A, is the 
 range of the lowest windows. 
 
 In the same page where this orthography or eleva- 
 tion occurs, the translator has inserted a plan of the 
 base and abacus of the capitals of the columns, a cut 
 of the base and elevation of the columns, an elevation 
 of the capital of the columns, an elevation of one of 
 the canopies, and an external elevation of the octagon 
 lower on the outside ; but as these are peculiar to the 
 church of Milan, and tend nothing to explain the ge- 
 neral principles on which the Gothic architects acted, 
 it was thought useless to introduce them into the pre- 
 sent work. 
 
 The scenographic representation, so far as regards 
 what is useful in it, is here correctly copied in Plate X. 
 
 * It appears from this, that the introduction by Sir Christopher 
 Wren of an iron chain under the cupola of St. Paul's, to prevent 
 it from stretching or bulging, was no new thought, and the use of 
 it ia the church of Milan is a decided prqof of the sagacity and skiJi 
 of the architect. 
 
1^2 HISTORY OP THE ORIGIN 
 
 though reduced in size. It has in the original a 
 Latin title, which has been already given, p. 157 
 of this work ; and it was from seeing a separate im- 
 pression of that cut, as before mentioned, that the 
 means were afforded of discovering where it occur- 
 red, and of procuring ihe book, itself. The cut, as 
 inserted in the trani^lation of Viu iivius, is encumbered 
 with a multitude of letters of reference, of which no 
 explanation occurs ; nor indeed does the figure need 
 any elucidation, because, from the principles ap- 
 plied to the preceding cut, it is sufHciently intelligible. 
 Caesarian us has also employed in this scenographic. re- 
 presentation three circles, a square, and an hexagon * j 
 but as these furnish no other points than those which 
 
 * The division of a circle by a triangle, a square, and an hexagon, 
 seems to have been with geometricians and astronomers an usual 
 method of measuring. Philander, in his Commentary on Vitruvius, 
 says, in a note on book ix. chap. 4, speaking of the relative situation of 
 the planets, that there are four kinds of aspects, the trigonal, tetrago- 
 nal or square, the hexagonal, and the opposite of six signs j and that 
 Jovianus Pontanus has related, that when one planet is distant from 
 another by an interval of four signs of the zodiac, it is said to re- 
 spect that other trigonally, and is noted by a triangle. If it is distant 
 three signs, that is called a tetragonal aspect, and is described by a 
 square. If its distance from the other is two signs, that is called 
 an hexagonal aspect,, and is usually denoted by a star ; and the op- 
 posite situation of six signs, or diametrical aspect, is commonly 
 characterized by the number 8. Further on, in the same note. 
 Philander draws this conclusion from what he has said : Therefore, 
 a trigon is produced by an interval of 120 degrees between two 
 platiets, a tetragon by one of 90, a hexagon by one of 6o, and an 
 opposite position by one of ISO; for the whole circumference is 
 divided into 360 parts. To render this still clearer, he has inserted 
 a cut of a circle so divided. See Vitruvius, edit. 1649, p. 187, '^ 
 a noie. 
 
OF GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. IpS 
 
 the several triangles had already produced, they are 
 omitted in Plate X. in this work, in order to avoid an 
 additional folding of the print. All that is said by way 
 of explanation of this cut in the original is, that by 
 means of two perpendicular lines raised at the points of 
 the base of the largest triangle, on which perpendicu- 
 lars he had, by small cross lines, marked the extent of 
 each ornament, the place of every part might be ascer- 
 tained ; but as nothing is to be learnt from this as to 
 the principles on which the divisions were made, it was 
 needless to introduce them. It may, however, be re- 
 quisite to remark, which Cagsarianus has not observed, 
 that this last view is partly internal and partly external. 
 The former cut, Plate IX. had given a section of the 
 church exactly as it would have appeared, if the front 
 of the building had been taken down. But this, in 
 Plate X. which includes the parts given in Plate IX. 
 exhibits behind them in the distance the exterior of the 
 transept on each side. 
 
 The scales to all the plates are composed of Milanese 
 cubits ; and each of such cubits, as has been men- 
 tioned in a former note, is equal to about 25 inches of 
 English measure. 
 
 As the cathedral of Milan has proved of such very 
 great importance on the present occasion, some (ew par- 
 ticulars relating to it may perhaps be here expect- 
 ed. The following, therefore, are given from Carlo 
 Torre's Ritratto di Milano, 4to. second edition, Milan, 
 1714. 
 
 The cathedral, he says, p. 377, is in length, from 
 the modern front to the wall of the choir, more than 
 260 cubits, and the whole building is in circumference 
 
 o 
 
194 HISTORY OF THE OIITGIN 
 
 1200. The length of the choir amounts to 66 cu- 
 bits, and its width to 28* ; and he speaks, p. 376, of 
 three windows, which are, he says, 50 cubits high, 
 and 26 wide -f . In p. 379 ^^ describes it more me- 
 thodically, as will be noticed hereafter. In the mean 
 time, it must be observed, that he says, p. 376, that 
 the architecture of it is Gothic, or German (Tedesca), 
 so called by Cesare Cesariani, in the Commentary 
 which he wrote on Vitruvius, and that it was built in 
 1387 t' Although the name of the architect is un- 
 known, he conjectures it, p. 377? to have been Casa 
 Omodea, because there is a portrait of that architect 
 in a marble bas-relief over the choir, with his name 
 under it ; a circumstance which has never happen- 
 ed in the case of any other, though a multitude 
 were from time to time employed on the building in 
 its progress, such as Simone de Ursinigo, Bramante, 
 Bramantino, Cesare Cesariano, Vicenzo Sevegno, 
 Giuseppe Meda, Angelo Siciliani, Galeazzo Perugini, 
 Pellcgrin Pellegrini, Martin Basso, Gabrio Busca, 
 Melchiotte Mcgliavacca, Domenico Lonati, Gio. Ma- 
 ria Olgiati, Giaccomo Soldati, Fabio Mangoni, Carlo 
 Buzzi, Girolamo Quadro, and others ^\. 
 
 The building, he says, p. 379, consists of five naves 
 in its length, and two across ||, which, one with ano- 
 ther, are 16 cubits. The middle nave is in width 32, 
 and so are each two of the aisles, or naves, on its sides ; 
 
 * Page 381. 
 
 f These apparently must be, from their size, the two at the end* 
 of the crosses, and that at the west end. 
 
 X Page 377. § Page 377. II It should plainly be three. 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. IQS 
 
 the whole of which side-aisles together make 64 cubits. 
 The height of the vaulting of the middle nave is 85 
 cubits, and the centre naves of the arms which form the 
 cross or transept, are of the same height. The two side 
 naves or aisles adjoining the middle nave are 6o cubits 
 high, and the two contiguous to the extreme wall of 
 the building, 50. The vaulting of the cupola is in 
 height 130 cubits, which is supported on four columns 
 larger than the others : upon these arches the cupola 
 rests, and is divided into eight angles. This cupola is 
 from the ground 202 cubits. 
 
 The columns or pillars, as some choose to call them, 
 are 52 in number, and are 46 cubits high, including 
 the capital and base : the latter is two cubits in height, 
 and the former 10. These columns are in girt 13 
 ■cubits, and the circumference of the base is 18 ; but 
 that of the four columns which support the cupola is 
 15 at the capital, and at the base 22. 
 
 As kw persons will, it is supposed, be inclined to 
 take the trouble, and still fewer have the opportunity, 
 of examining by actual measurement of any building 
 on what proportions and principles it is founded ; it 
 has been judged expedient here to anticipate the result 
 of such an inquiry, by stating the following circum- 
 stances : 
 
 Browne Willis, in the Preface to the second volume 
 of his History of A.bbies, p. 8, has noticed that, in 
 most of the stately abbies, the height was equal to 
 the breadth of the body and side-aisles ; 
 
 That the steeple and towers were frequently built 
 equal in height to the length of the whole fabric^ or 
 
 o 2 
 
196 HiSTOnY OF THE ORIGUr 
 
 rather the cross-aisle from north to south, as is the 
 case in Bristol, Chester, and St. Davids ; 
 
 That the cross-aisles often extended half the length 
 of the whole fabric, as did the nave or western part, 
 viz. from the great door at the west end to the lower 
 great pillars that supported the steeple ; 
 
 And that the side-aisles were just half the breadth 
 and height of the nave, insomuch that both added to- 
 gether exactly answered it. 
 
 In the conventual church of Ely, erected in 673, and 
 repaired in 970 *, 
 
 The total length is four times its width. 
 
 Its length from the west door to the choir, five 
 eighths of its total length. 
 
 The length of the choir to the extreme wall of the 
 building, three eighths of its total length. 
 
 The width of the whole building is two eightlis, or 
 one fourth of its total length. 
 
 The height of its columns, capital, base, and plinth 
 included, is four diameters and an half. 
 
 The height of the top of the arches from the ground, 
 seven diameters of the column. 
 
 In the nave are nine arches. 
 
 In the choir five, exclusive of its semicircular end. 
 
 In the cathedral church of Ely, 
 
 The length of the nave, which is 200 feet, is 24 
 times the width of each arch, or 24 times the width 
 of each pier ; for they are the same. 
 
 The breadth of the nave from wall to wall, one third 
 of the length of the nave. 
 
 * See the plan of it in Bentham's £1/, p. 29. 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTUnE. IXff 
 
 The breadth of the centre walk, of the nave is equal 
 to three piers and two arches. 
 
 The breadth of the transept from north to south, 
 three arches each way added to the total breadth of the 
 nave from wall to wall. 
 
 The height of the wall of the nave one third of its 
 length. 
 
 The height of each arch and column together, in- 
 ternally, is equal to the breadth of the arch and pier 
 together. 
 
 The height of the two lower stones is the dia- 
 gonal of the arch and column of the bottom story, 
 from the bottom of the plinth to the top of the up- 
 permost arch, when placed perpendicularly. 
 
 The height of the upper story is the same diagonal, 
 taken diagonally. 
 
 The height of the elevation of the roof is equal to 
 two arches and one pier of the nave, which, as they 
 are of the same size, is equal to three in number. 
 
 The width of the piers is one twenty-fourth of the 
 length of the nave. 
 
 The width of the arches the same. 
 
 The piers, divided into three, form the pillars on 
 each side of the nave up to the roof; and these again 
 subdivided into three, form the other smaller columns. 
 
 The outer windows below have three divisions ; so 
 have also those in the second story : and all these divi- 
 sions are equal to each other. In the upper story the 
 divisions of the windows are likewise three in number ; 
 but the centre division is twice as wide as the others. 
 
 The building has three stories. 
 
 g 3 
 
tgS HISTORY OF THE OP.IGIN 
 
 The arches and piers of the nave are twelve each, i.e. 
 three times four. 
 
 Taking the whole mass of the pier together at bot- 
 tom, if it had been continued up of that size to the 
 bottom of the roof, or, in other words, had been the 
 total height of the wall, its proportion would have been 
 seven diameters and an half; but it is divided into thirds 
 in breadth *. 
 
 A most extraordinary position has of late been ad- 
 vanced by Mr. Knight, the author of An analytical In- 
 quiry into the Principles of Taste, which requires to 
 be particularly noticed, and is here given in his 
 own v^ords: " The pointed arch, which we call Gothic, 
 is the primitive arch, of which the earliest instance 
 known in Europe is the emissarius of the lake of Al- 
 bano, built during the siege of Veii, long before the 
 Greeks or Romans knew how to turn any other kind 
 of arch ; for as this may be constructed without a centre, 
 by advancing the stones in gradual projections over 
 each other, and then cutting off the projecting angles, 
 its invention was obvious, and naturally preceded those 
 constructed upon mechanical principles, of which I be- 
 lieve there are no examples anterior to the Macedonian 
 
 * In conformity to the method adopted by Browne Willis, in the 
 particulars before given from him, it was found necessary to describe 
 the conventual church of Ely and the cathedral in the manner pur- 
 sued in the text. It is, however, much more probable, especially 
 in this last, that a system like that of Caesarianus's settled the rule 
 for its proportions. The cathedral of Salisbury and Westminster 
 abbey are certainly founded on a similar system to his, to which, 
 on experiment, they have been found exactly to answer. 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. IQQ 
 
 conquest -J-." Had this author, before he had ventured 
 to assert that a Gothic arch could be " constructed 
 without a centre by advancing the stones in gradual 
 projections over each other, and then cutting off the pro- 
 jecting angles," consulted any common mason, he would 
 have learnt that an arch so constructed could never 
 have stood ; that, instead of supporting a weight, it 
 would itself have needed assistance ; and that it must 
 necessarily have been the weakest at its point, v,'here 
 the pressure would have been the greatest. If a Gothic 
 arch could be thus formed, there is no reason why a se- 
 micircular one also might not be so constructed ; but 
 the position contradicts every principle of geometry, 
 and all ideas of the laws of gravity. A carpenter may, 
 indeed, glue together a number of boards edge to edge, 
 and then, after striking the curve on them, may, with 
 a saw, cut them into the form of a Gothic, or any 
 other kind of arch ; and from the possibility of such a 
 process, in the case of a carpenter, the idea seems to 
 have been borrowed, and transferred to the operations of 
 a mason, with which it has no connexion. But a 
 mason works by geometrical rules ; and it is not too 
 much to assert, that no arch formed in the manner 
 above described can be produced, for that no such ever 
 existed. The reason is plain: the pressure in the case 
 supposed would not be, as it is, by means of the wedges, 
 of which every arch is formed, thrown on the pillars, 
 but would act equally on those stones which were be- 
 yond the perpendicular of the columns, and which, 
 
 f Analytical Inquiry into the Principles of Taste, second edition^ 
 p. 165. 
 
 o 4 
 
200 HISTOKY OF THE ORIGIN 
 
 having nothing to support them but the strength of 
 the mortar by which they were cemented to the rest, 
 must inevitably give way, and themselves fall to the 
 ground. A reference to the principles of geometry and 
 reason is not, however, necessary for the purpose of 
 refuting the before-mentioned assertion. Ev^ry one 
 who has ever examined the construction of a Gpthic 
 arch as exhibited in any building, has found, and 
 knows very well, that it is not produced in the 
 manner above described. Gothic arches are formed 
 like all others, on perfectly correct geometrical prin- 
 ciples, and consist of a key-stone and a succession of 
 wedges ; though it is not certain, at the same time 
 that there is no reason to doubt it, whether the slopes 
 of the joints all tend to the same centre in the base 
 line, from which the arch springs. For the ascertain- 
 ment of this last fact no opportunity has as yet oc- 
 curred; yet it is evident, on inspection, that the outer 
 line of the arch, rising as it does from the same level 
 as the inner, is longer than the inside line, and, con- 
 sequently, that none but pieces in the form of a wedge 
 can produce it. The arches in Westminster abbey are 
 decided proofs that the joints are not horizontal, but 
 tending towards a centre in the base line, and, conse- 
 (juently, that the arches are formed on geometrical 
 principles. Sir Christopher Wren, in his Letter to the 
 Bishop of Rochester * respecting the Repairs of West- 
 minster iVhbey, has, indeed, asserted that the arches 
 of the Saracens, from whom, as he supposed, Gothic 
 architecture came, were pointCvl without key-stones. 
 
 * Wren's Pareatalia, p. 297. 
 
OF GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 201 
 
 Yet, in the very same Letter, speaking of the west 
 walk of the cloyster of Westminster abbey, he says, 
 he finds, in the vaulting and the key-stones, the rose 
 of Lancaster * ; and in one of his opinions, as stated 
 in the Parentalia, p. 298, he describes the sharp-head- 
 ed arch as rising with little centring, and requiring 
 lighter key-stones and less butment than the Grecian, 
 Both these last passages, which are founded on actual 
 facts, are tlat contradictions to his assertion above, and 
 are certainly preferable to it as well in weight as in 
 number. 
 
 It is to be remarked, that the joints of the 
 Gothic arch do not always occur in the same 
 places, but were regulated by the size of which each 
 piece of stone happened to be, and that sometimes 
 there is a joint, and sometimes none, exactly at the 
 point ; there is not, therefore, in them that decided 
 centre or key stone which is seen in Grecian architec- 
 ture, and which in that is often ornamented with 
 carving. But in the Gothic arch, as well as the Gre- 
 cian, the pieces of which it consists are all wedges, 
 and, consequently, the last stone, wherever it occurs, 
 acts as a key-stone to the whole. Where it happens, 
 however, as it often does, that several pointed arches 
 are brought together, and conducted to the same point 
 or centre, for the purpose of forming a vaulting there, 
 a regular key-stone actually occurs in the centre, 
 which is frequently decorated with carving of fo- 
 liage, heads of animals, or other subjects in great 
 variety, 
 
 « Wren's Parentalia, p, apa. 
 3 
 
202 HISTORY OP THE ORIGIN 
 
 Of the pointed archj one disLingiiishing character- 
 istic of the second style of the architecture of the 
 middle ages, there seems to have heen a great variety 
 of proportions, as it is found to have been struck on 
 different occasions, from one third of its width *, 
 from one fourth -|-, one fifth |, two fifths ^, one 
 sixth ||, one seventh^, two sevenths**, three se- 
 venths -j--!-, one eighth ;|;^, one ninth ^'^, two 
 ninths nil, and five twelfths •[[^ ; but that constructed 
 on an etjuilateral triangle is the most usual. These in- 
 stances and varieties might have been much multiplied, 
 had the arches for forming entrances, or those where 
 any circumstances had confined the architect to a limit- 
 ed height and width for his arch, been considered. But 
 these, as being dictated by peculiar necessities, were 
 not thought necessary to be here noticed. 
 
 * Carter's Ancient Architecture of England, PI. 54, Fig. N, 
 Lumley castle, Durham, built in the time of Edw. I. Ibid. 5/^ J> 
 St. Dunstan's, Canterbury. 
 
 f Ibid. PI. 57, T, church of Dunchurcb, PI. 38, Fig. 2. 
 
 + Ibid. PI. 44, E, St. Mary, Coventry >— 54, D, from Christ- 
 church priory, Aldgate. 
 
 § Ibid. Pl. 5"] , A, door-way in Salisbury cathedral. 
 
 \ Ibid. PI. 5/, I 3, window of hall in Chepstow castle, general 
 arch. 
 
 ^ Ibid. 56, A, 2, door- way, Allington church, near Maidstone. 
 
 ** Ibid. PI. 5T , Fig. Q, door- way from Salisbury cathedral; 
 56, N, St. Dunstan's, Canterbury J 5Q, T, door-way near Painted 
 Chamber. 
 
 \\ Ibid, PI. 44, L, Davcntry priory, Northamptonshire, erected 
 in the reign of W. Rufus. 
 
 + + Ibid. PI. 36, U, Ramsey church, Huntingdonshire. 
 
 $§ Ibid. PI. 5Q, E, 2, from Tinfern abbey. 
 
 nil Ibid. PI. 57, Y, door-way, St. Peters, St. Albans. 
 
 f f Ibid. PI. 5"] , G, Darling church, near Maidstone. 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 203 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Albert Diirers Rules for forming the Varieties of the 
 clustered Column, its Capital, Base, and Pedestal — 
 Varieties of Proportion of Columns, Capitals, and 
 Bases — Doors and TVindoivs, their Proportions — Pro~ 
 portions of Gothic Architecture more nearly resembling 
 those of the Gri=cian than generalbj supposed — Varia- 
 tions of Proportions of Columns no Reason for con^ 
 tending Gothic Architects disregarded Rule — Simi- 
 ral Variations occur in Grecian Architecture — Repairs 
 and Restorations of Henry the Seventh's Chapel at 
 IVestminster, as noiu carrying on, highly deserving of 
 Commendation. 
 
 A.LBERT Durer, in his Geometry*, notices, at the be- 
 ginning of the third book, that columns are usually 
 constructed in a variety of modes, and that their pro- 
 portions are to be regulated by the weight which they 
 
 * This work appears to have been originally written in German, 
 from which language it was afterwards translated into Latin. A 
 second edition of the translation was published in folio at Arnheim, 
 in 1606, with Albert Durer's cuts, as they were used in his own 
 edition. These facts are mentioned in the title-page to the above im- 
 pression of the translation, which is entitled Alberti Dureri Institu- 
 tiouum Geometricarum Libri quatuor. The date of the original pub- 
 lication of the German does not appear, but one of the cuts bears 
 the date 1525. Prefixed by way of preface to this translation is a 
 Latin letter from Albert Durer to Bilibaldus Pirceymerus, but with- 
 out any date. 
 
204 HISTORY OF THE ORIGIN 
 
 are intended to support. He says, that some persons 
 apply bases and capitals to their columns, and that 
 others erect shafts only from the foundation. But he 
 notices, that at top, on account of the form of the 
 arches, they are divided into parts, or the shafts tliem- 
 selves may be continued up, so that some of the 
 separate ornaments of the arches may be placed on 
 them; as if, for instance, a fillet should be made to pass 
 obliquely through an hollow, or some ornament should 
 be carried through another to which it is opposite. 
 When these things, adds he, are performed by a certain 
 rule, they then render the work uncomir.on and very 
 beautiful ; which ingenious architects are accustomed 
 to observe very diligently. In shafts such as these it is 
 allowable to use different varieties in the fillets, fiutings, 
 fascias [or bands], angles, and hollows; but all these 
 should be drawn on the plan of the proportional parts, 
 and be afterwards transferred into the work. 
 
 He observes, that if four shafts of the same size are 
 placed next each other*, each of whicli has its proper 
 embellishments on the plan, when these come to be di- 
 vided into arches for the purpose of forming the vaulting, 
 the construction will be wonderful and elegant. Those 
 who are delighted with such things may, he says, use 
 them at pleasure ; and as many j^ersons are very fond 
 of unusual conjunctions of arches in forming vault- 
 ings on account of their beauty, he shall give, as he 
 docs underneath, an example in a cut, to which he 
 shall also add the plans of some shafts oi^ columns which 
 may be used if any one chooses; and these he shall ac- 
 
 ♦ He must mean^ not in a line, but so as to form a square cluster^ 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. ^05 
 
 company with some projecting cymas [or undulating 
 curves] which belong to the bases of columns. 
 
 The plan for the vaulting which he has mentioned 
 above, and which is given in his book, it is unnecessary 
 here to insert, because it is merely a design by himself, 
 and nothing of principle is discoverable in it which could 
 be applied to any other. The plans for the shafts of 
 the columns, and also the elevations of the mouldings 
 for the bases, will be found, as given by him, in Plate 
 XI. of this work, and they are evi^dently such as fre- 
 quently occur in Gothic erections. Of the former of 
 these, the plans of the shafts, he declares that any one 
 will readily perceive the principle of proportion on 
 which they are founded; and he therefore inserts no 
 explanation; because he says, if all things must be writ- 
 ten down, the book would become too prolix. All he 
 adds further is, that the plans which are drawn with 
 single lines require, notwithstanding, the same thickness 
 and breadth, as the curves when delineated will hereaf*. 
 ter show, and that columns may be made with different 
 angles, and with any ornaments whatever *. 
 
 The author is certainly too brief in thus leaving the 
 cut without illustration; and though it is not here in- 
 tended to be very elaborate, it has yet been judged ne- 
 cessary to introduce, which he has not done, letters of 
 reference, and to point out briefly what geometrical 
 forms those letters thus placed produce. 
 
 In Plate XI. Fig. 1, therefore, ABC form a triangle, 
 which gives the centres for the circles at the corners. A 
 triangle placed on each side of that triangle will ascertain 
 by its point the centres for striking the liollovvs on the 
 sides. 
 
 • Albert Durer, p. 77' 
 
206 HISTORY OF THE ORIGIN 
 
 Fig. 2. A B C is one triangle, and D E F anothef. 
 
 Fig. 3. AB C is a triangle, the sides of which give 
 the straight lines between the circles. 
 
 Fig. 4. ABC produce one triangle, and DEF another^ 
 the sides of which regulate the inner points for the cir- 
 cular mouldings. 
 
 Fig. 5. ABC and D E F are in this also triangles. 
 
 Pursuing the subject still further, Albert Durer, p* 
 7g, says, that if he had intended to write on the whole 
 science of architecture or its parts, no one could be ig^ 
 norant how well Vitruvius has treated on the subject j 
 for which reason he thinks that in works of the highest 
 rank his directions are to be observed; but that, as he 
 himself means, for the exercise of youth, to endeavour 
 to construct one or two columns, he cannot help recol- 
 lecting the Germans ^, who, when they intend to erect 
 any new edifice, are desirous of employing also a new 
 style of building which has not been seen before. For 
 this reason, he says he shall teach how to produce 
 something uncommon, and from which every one may 
 take what he pleases. 
 
 Speaking in the first place of the column, he says its 
 shaft may be in height 7 diameters and an half; but the 
 fascia H is to be one eighth part wider than the diameter 
 of the column, and in thickness (or depth) one eighth 
 part of a diameter ; and at the top, the column is to be 
 diminished to seven eighths of its diameter. The fascia 
 
 § In the course of the present work it has been remarked that 
 Gothic architecture has been sometimes termed German, though 
 without any sufficient reason. 
 
 11 A square member which forms the upper part of the cnpital. 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 20/ 
 
 above mentioned, and the ring *, should only project as 
 far as the column at bottom extends, and the depth 
 should be equal to the projection. 
 
 In the next place, he directs that the column being 
 drawn and a round plan placed under it, should be or- 
 namented ; for which purpose he says a spiral line, of 
 which he had spoken in the first book, may be used; 
 and at first the curves should only be directed from one 
 side to its opposite, or they may proceed from each 
 side, and so intersect each other obliquely. In a column 
 eight curves of this kind in the same direction may at 
 least be made, the commencement of which is to be 
 taken from the circumference of the plan underneath. 
 This plan is to be divided into equal parts, from which 
 divisions eight straight lines are to be carried up to the 
 shaft of the column ; but if the curves are drawn from 
 the two opposite sides, then from the eight points of the 
 plan sixteen curved lines will proceed. Such spiral 
 lines may be drawn over the whole column, or may stop 
 below at one third of the height. 
 
 These curves may, he adds, be varied in many ways, 
 as different persons are able to invent, and may be placed 
 close one upon another, or carried up to the top at cer- 
 tain distances. They may also be made closer at bot- 
 tom and more distant towards the top, by means of a 
 triangle, which, for the purpose of dividing a spiral line, 
 he had inserted in his first book. Such decorations 
 may be used in columns of whatever kind they may be, 
 whether thicker in the middle than above and below, or 
 every where equal, or with an addition below, and a di- 
 
 * A quarter round moulding under the fascia. 
 
!208 HISTORY OP THE ORIGIN 
 
 minutlon at top ; only according to the thickness of the 
 column the distances for the lines must be regulated. 
 
 The spiral line for dividing the column is to be thus 
 used: first divide the circular plan of the column into 
 as many parts as you please, to which add their num- 
 bers, beginning from the opposite point of the diame- 
 ter. From these numbers bring up the curves upon the 
 column, and draw them upon it at equal distnnces, in 
 the following n>anner — Draw a straight line from each 
 of the divisions of the plan underneath, up to the bot- 
 tom of the shaft of the column, and mark these points 
 with the same numbers as they had in the circular plan. 
 Divide also the column above, where it is narrowest, into 
 as many parts, which are also to be numbered in the 
 same manner as was done below. Then with straight 
 lines connect the upper points with the lower in the 
 shaft itself, the length of which is next to be divided 
 by fourteen cross lines into fifteen equal intervals, and 
 begin to number from the base to the capital, J, 2, 3, 
 &c. and thus the whole shaft will be reticulated. Many 
 very useful things may, he says, hence be effected j but 
 this he has inserted, in order that the revolutions round 
 the column may be more conveniently traced. 
 
 After this he says, begin below upon the fascia from 
 the perpendicular line 1, and draw a spiral line upon the 
 column obliquely as far as the angle of the perpendicu- 
 lar line No. 2, and of the cross line No. 1 . Then 
 from the opposite side draw upwards another spiral 
 line obliquely from the point of the perpendicular line 
 2, to the angle of the cross line, and of the perpendi- 
 cular line 1. In this manner proceed with each of the 
 numbers of all the squares which are upon the column. 
 
OF GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. ibg 
 
 of draw the spiral lines from one side only to the oppo- 
 site, so that they may not intersect each other ; confine 
 this to the lower third of the shaft, and extend the per- 
 pendicular lines Upwards throughout the whole shaft ; 
 or employ these last no higher thari ^ .little .ibove the 
 lower third of the shaft. In short, you may use each of 
 these separately, or some of them, or all together ; and 
 in like manner, whether lines are drawn across or 
 not," we may yet from delineations of this kind produce 
 many excellent things, which he will immediately see 
 who shall make the experiment. 
 
 The capital to the column is to be constructed in six 
 ways, which might be varied an hundred, if there werei 
 occasion. Make a square of equal width with the top of 
 the shaft just under the ring (or collerino at the top of 
 the column) ; let its height be half its width; upon that 
 square place a plinth, which should contain a third part 
 df the thickness (or depth) of the capital ; and let this 
 plinth be rectangular and equilateral. Its breadtli 
 should be such as that its sides may touch the projecting 
 fascia at the top of the capital. What the projection of 
 this capital should be, shall be presently mentioned. 
 This plinth may be octagonal; but if it is square, its 
 sides may be hollowed out by the compasses, in the fol- 
 lowing mariner: Let the two central lines in it, which 
 intersect each other at right angles in its centre Aj and 
 divide the plinth into four equal parts, be lengthened. 
 Continue each line both ways as far as shall be necessary, 
 and mark their terminations BCDE; then open the 
 compasses to the extent of the side of the plinth, and 
 |)lace the foot in these four letters, and with the other 
 strike a curve in the sides of the plinth, and every two 
 
 p 
 
210 HISTORY OF THE OltlGIN 
 
 curves where they project from the sides of the plinth 
 are to be cut off by a cross Hne beyond the angles of 
 the plinth. 
 
 ^ On the depth of the plinth many things may be 
 carved, as fascias, hsts, small hollows, and others of 
 a like kind; but let him who wislies to vary the di- 
 rections above given, always make the change from those 
 in the following manner : — In the first sort, engrave 
 or carve the plinth thus: divide its depth into two 
 parts, and the upper half again into two parts, which is 
 to be inverted in two ways. Of the upper part make 
 a fascia, of the second a scotia (or undulating hol- 
 low) as deep as it is high. Then from the lower half 
 make a fascia as deep as its own height; or, instead of a 
 scotia, let there be a quarter of a torus: and if either of 
 these be inverted, so that the under part becomes the 
 upper, it will be a diflerent system. 
 
 Another method is this: — Tlie plinth is to be divided 
 in the middle, and the upper half will give the quarter 
 part of a torus, but the under a fascia; or place what is 
 below above, and it will again have another appearance. 
 Another mode. — Of the ujjper half a quarter of a 
 torus is to be made, and the under part is to be hollow- 
 ed out as much as it is high. 
 
 Another method. — The depth is to be divided into 
 three; the upper to remain a fascia, the two lower are to 
 be hollovvfcxl out with the compasses equal to their 
 depth. If this is inverted, it will again be another me- 
 thod; or the height may be divided into two. Of the 
 lower a .scotia may be made, which may recede as much 
 as it is high. The upper part may be again divided into 
 3 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 211 
 
 two, and of the lower half a fascia may be made, but 
 of the upper an hollow. 
 
 Another variation. — The depth is to be divided into 
 six parts. Of the upper a fascia is to be made, of the 
 two next a scotia as deep as it is high, of the lower two 
 a hollow, which, if inverted, will be another variation. 
 Again, under the fascia a cymatium or curve may be 
 placed ; or contrariwise ; or above, a small scotia made, 
 and between them and below a large scotia ; but so that 
 above and below the torus two fillets may remain. Va- 
 riations of this kind are, he says, infinite ; and he adds, 
 that he. has not given these directions because they must 
 not be departed from, but only that something may be 
 taken from them, and to show every one what that is 
 new remains yet to be discovered; for it is not sufficient, 
 in making such divisions, to follow any one mode of 
 dimension, but different ones must be used, if a person 
 knows any such. 
 
 He next says he shall describe the capital in Its most 
 simple state; and shall at first use a square, without any 
 ornament. Afterwards it will be necessary to adorn it 
 with some ornaments, especially when the work Is large. 
 Fascias, hollows, fillets, and all the other particulars may 
 also be each embellished by placing on them something 
 excellent, or carving them nearly in this manner : — Di- 
 vide the height of the capital by five marks into six 
 equal parts. Of the upptr sixth make a plain fascia; 
 extend it c-ne sixth beyond the height of the capital, 
 and then make a mark under the fascia, half the thick- 
 ness of that fascia within the extremity. From this 
 point draw a perpendicular line through three sixths ; this 
 will be a large plain fascia. But of the two lowest sixths 
 
 r 2 
 
S12 ttlSTORY OF THE ORIom 
 
 make an upper scotia as deep as it is high, by which 
 means there will remain above the lower fascia some 
 projection, and the capital will have a small diminution. 
 
 In the second instance act thus: — Leave the upper 
 fascia in the same state as directed above; and, having 
 divided the height of the capital into six parts, place a 
 mark in the middle of the fourth sixth, from which 
 mark draw a cross line through the capital; and that 
 narrow space which will be left above the two lowest 
 sixths will give a fillet, which is to project as much as 
 its height. By this mode the two lowest sixths will con- 
 tinue like a plain necking; but what remains above may 
 be rounded to an arc of a circle, and may incline towards 
 the upper fascia, but so that the fascia may project half 
 its size. 
 
 In the third, let the projection of the fascia be made 
 as before, of which let only one half be given to its 
 depth. Nothing more is to be done in this capital than 
 that its remaining part should be hollowed out to an arc 
 of a circle as far as the projection of the fascia above, 
 so that it may produce an under scima. 
 
 In che three remaining capitals make, says he, fascias 
 like the former, and having divided the height of the 
 capitals, as was directed, into six, draw under the third 
 sixth, through the capital, a cross line, between which 
 and the fascia make a large scotia, which yet will by its 
 concavity take away nothing from the size of the capi- 
 tal: from tiiis will be discovered the projection for the 
 acute angle in the cross line just mentioned. After- 
 •wards draw through the middle of the fourth space a 
 cross line, from which interval let a small scotia be 
 madC; so that its depth may touch the thickness of the 
 
OF GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 213 
 
 capital ; then by the lower circumference of the cross 
 line it will give the measure how far it ought to project. 
 Then let the lower sixth be divided by two points 
 into three equal parts, the lowest of which is to be se- 
 parated from the rest by a cross line, and of that make 
 a fillet projecting as much as it is high. Of the rest 
 make a torus, of which both the declivities may touch 
 the sides of the capital ; but the rounding is not to pro- 
 ject farther than the acute edge of the scotia which 
 rests on it. 
 
 In the fifth the upper great scotia is to be made as di- 
 rected at first, and the lower part of the capital is to be di- 
 vided by two cross lines into three. Of the two upper 
 make two scotias, and let the lower remain a fascia. 
 
 In the sixth let the capital from t!ie fascia at top to 
 the bottom be divided into three ; let two be given to 
 the hollows, and in like manner the lower be left for a 
 hollow, but so that the depth of each hollow may take 
 nothing away from the thickness of tlie capital. When 
 these capitals are completed, t!icy may be ornamented in 
 a variety of methods, according to tlie judgment of 
 every one, as I shall show in each. 
 
 Take the plinth above spoken of, and, in the first 
 instance, an octagon one, and place it on the first ca- 
 pital, and under every angle make a square dentil, but 
 in that part uhere it jcjins the capital make it thicker. 
 The projection of this is to be one foiu'th of the 
 thickness of the ca|)ita], and the dentil is to have the 
 game depth as the octagon plinth, Wlien you wisii 
 also to decorate any capital, add to the thickness only 
 as much as will be sutlicient for making the ornaments, 
 , , In the second capital place the square plinth, and from 
 
 V 3 
 
214 HISTORY OP THE orjGiisr 
 
 the fascia of the capital make on the two sides volutes, 
 with other additional ornaments. 
 
 In the third capital let the square plinth be hollowed 
 out ; to which, under the angles, are to be added as or- 
 naments, square projections, which may be one fourth of 
 the thickness of the capital, and thicker than the plinth 
 by one quarter of the plinth. Then round ornaments 
 are to be placed in the hollowed sides of the plinth, as 
 thick as the plinth, and projecting so that they might 
 touch the sides of the plinth if it were still square. 
 Lastly, when the squares are prepared for the orna- 
 ments, something excellent may be carved upon 
 them, such as branches, or some single leaves, or 
 the heads of animals, or parts of birds, or other things 
 whatsoever, according to the pleasure of those who 
 carve them. But when the capitals are finished, they 
 are to be placed on the shafts, and one will confer grace 
 on the other. 
 
 The base of the column is to be completed thus : of 
 whatever thickness the shaft of the column is at the 
 bottom, the height of the base or spira is to be one 
 half of that thickness ; and on each side from the fascia 
 perpendicular lines are to be drawn to the end of the 
 base, which base may be divided by two cross lines into 
 three parts, of the lowest of which a square plinth may 
 be made, which may have a projection equal to its 
 thickness. The middle third is then to be divided 
 into three, the upper of which may remain a plain fascia; 
 but of the other two a part of a torus may be made 
 thus : place one foot of the compasses in tiie upper cross 
 line of the plinth, and on the perpendicular line of the 
 side, and the other foot at the corner of the fascia just 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 215 
 
 formed, and describe a sweep of the compasses from 
 the side of the base on the outside, as far as to the 
 upper cross line of the plinth. Afterwards let the upper 
 third be divided into three, of which the lowest is to 
 be given to a fascia, which may project beyond that on 
 which it lies one half of its own height ; let the other 
 two be left for a torus, which may project beyond the 
 fascia on which it is placed as much as one half arc of 
 the round projects, if its beginning be taken at the 
 corner of the above-mentioned fascia. 
 
 The whole column, with capital and base, is now to 
 be placed on a pedestal, which is thus to be made : in 
 the first place, let a square be prepared one fourth of 
 the height of the whole column, including the capital 
 and base, but as large as the bottom plinth of the base: 
 this square pedestal is to be placed on the foundation, 
 and afterwards from it above one fourteenth part is to be 
 cut off by a cross line, which is to be carried out as 
 much from the perpendicular of the side. That segment 
 is again to be divided through the middle by a cross 
 line, and the upper part may remain a fascia, but the 
 lower may be made a quarter of a torus, which may ad- 
 here to the corner, and project one half of the projec- 
 tion of the fascia. This being done, cut offbelow from 
 this pedestal a seventh j^art, which is to project as much 
 beyond its sides, and above separate from it one fifth 
 part, of which a fascia may be made, which may project 
 as much as it is high, and its corner above may be 
 rounded off with the compasses. What remains under 
 this fascia is to be divided into two by a cross line, and 
 of the lower segment a fascia may be made, the projec- 
 tion of which may be divided as far as to the perpendi- 
 
 p 4 
 
2l6 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ORIGIN 
 
 cular of the side by perpendicular lines into three parts; 
 and froip the extremity of the upper fascia to the lower 
 fascia, let the arc of a circle be drawn, which will make 
 half a torus, but so that the projection of the lower 
 fascia may exceed that of the torus one third. This 
 pedestal may be ornamented in a variety of methods ; 
 but those which he lias described above, he says, he has 
 represented, together with their plans, in a cut under- 
 neath. 
 
 in order, he says, to understand what are the orna- 
 ments which can be executed with the carpenter's axe 
 and the carving tools, it is to be observed, that there 
 are six principal particulars of which these ornaments 
 may consist : the lirst is the plain fascia ; the second, 
 the scotia, or trochilus; the third, the torus; the fourth, 
 the projecting angle ; the fifth, the concave angle ; the 
 sixth, the cymatium, bending as every one pleases. 
 These particulars may eitiier be used all together, oi* , 
 some only, and may be made convex or concave, plain 
 or prajectiug, broad or narrow, acute or obtuse, large 
 or small, In comparison with each other, wide or confin- 
 ed, or in any other way that one pleases. But every 
 workman ought to use a just symmetry, and in large 
 V'orks should employ large ornanients, and in small 
 works small ones. This, he says, he shall show below 
 by means of two fascias, a long and a short one, placed 
 side by side; for every u)au's understanding will easily 
 perceive that which i=; long ought to be thicker than 
 that which is short. For this reason, if an architect is 
 desirous to make cymatias or cartouches, or any thing 
 of a like kind, lie ought to make the outer parts which 
 project farther, larger than the inner, \vhich are shorter. 
 
OP GOTHIC ARGIIITECTURE. 
 
 '^17 
 
 ' If the contrary to this be done, it will be deformity, 
 This last assertion he proceeds to demonstrate by re- 
 ferences to some cuts which he has inserted, consisting 
 in one instance of the column with the lines before de- 
 scribed ; and in another of the capitals, bases, and pe- 
 destals marked with the measures which in the letter- 
 press he had already assigned to the different parts. But 
 as these convey no new idea, and his verbal description 
 was thought sufficiently intelligible, it was judged un- 
 necessary to o'ive further illustration. 
 
 Columns in Gothic architecture, as well as arches, 
 occur in great variety of proportion, as will appear frofri 
 the following examples : 
 
 -b 
 
 'otal Hricht reckoneil Height i.f Shalt \vitlioa» 
 i;v Uitimetcrs. Capital and B.ise. 
 
 3i. 
 
 3t^ 
 3i . 
 
 3 .. 
 3.. 
 
 3 wanting 1 inch, 
 
 2 
 
 21 
 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 21 
 
 C«pital. 
 
 of 1 
 
 of J 
 
 i a diam. -^* 
 I of 1 b 
 
 of 1 
 
 ; of'i .. . . 
 of 1 .... . 
 
 ,- of 1 , . . . 
 
 4 of 1 
 
 a diam.. . . 
 of a diam. 
 
 Plinth and |Jase, 
 
 4of !«» 
 
 Uofl« 
 I- of 1 f 
 iof 19 
 i of I ^ 
 1 diam.' 
 i a diam.'' 
 
 ' ^ Carter's Ancient Architecture of England, PI. 7. 
 
 * Ibid. PI. 16, Fig. N. 
 
 ' Ibid. PI. 16, Fig. U, from Canterbury. 
 
 ' Ibid. PI. 21, Fig. O, from Rochester castle. 
 
 * Ibid. PL 22, Fig. H, from the Tower. 
 
 'Ibid. PI. 23, Fig. A, from St. Bartholomew's, 1133. 
 8 Ibid. PI. 37, Fig. A, from Canterbury crypt, erected at the 
 end of the eleventh century. 
 
 *" Ibid. PI. 67, Fig. A, from the priory church of Abergavenny^ 
 ' Ibid. PI. 68, Fig. N, from St. Albany 
 Hbid. Pl.e7, Fig.i\. 
 
218 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ORIGIN 
 
 4 diam. reject- ] 
 ing 1 inch, j 
 
 4tV 
 
 4^ 
 
 5 
 
 H 
 
 5 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 6A 
 
 7A 
 
 7f 
 
 7 
 
 7f V 
 
 8^of great cy- 1 
 
 Under J 
 
 S-i-V of great j 
 
 cylinder J 
 \9 
 
 2^ 
 
 4.. 
 
 5.. 
 
 5 A 
 
 If.... 
 
 ,9^ of 1 
 
 f of I . 
 iiof 1 
 
 A of 1 . . . 
 4^^ of diam, 
 
 J^ 
 
 iof 1 
 
 ^ of 1 
 
 of 1 ... . 
 
 I a diam. 
 
 ^ of 1 , rejecting 
 1 inch. ' 
 
 ,Vof IP 
 A of 1 1 
 II of V 
 i of 1 « 
 -Vof 1» 
 V of 1 " 
 ^of 1« 
 
 ly 
 jof i» 
 
 1 diam.' 
 1 diam,** 
 
 * Carter, PI. IS, Fig. M, from Durham, erected about IO93. 
 ™ Ibid. PI. 18. 
 
 » Ibid. PI. 28, Fig. A, from Oxford, 1004. 
 
 * Grymbald's crypt, in Leland's Collectanea. 
 
 P Carter, PI. 28, Fig. A, from Oxford cathedral, 1004. 
 
 ' Westminster abbey, of the reign of Henry III. as represented and 
 measured in Langley's Gothic Architecture, PI. A. 
 
 ' Ibid, of the time of Edward I. as represented and measured in 
 Langley's Gothic Architecture, PI. B. 
 
 » Carter, PI. 27, Fig. K. 
 
 * Milan, erected 1387 ; thickest columns, from the measure given 
 by Carlo Torre, Ritratto di Milano, 4to. Milan, I714, p. 379. 
 
 " Carter, PI. 19, Fig. P, from St. Albans. 
 
 * Ibid. PI. 27, Fig. J. Chapel in Bishop's Palace, Durham, 
 built by William the Conqueror. 
 
 y Ibid, PL 65, Fig. W, from Dunchurch, near Coventry. 
 » Milan erected 1387, thinnest columns from the measures given 
 by Torre, p. 379, 
 
 " Westminster abbey, Langley's Gothic Architecture, PI. A. 
 »• Ibid, PI. B. 
 « Carter, PI. 1 8. 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 219 
 
 9^ 
 
 ' 
 
 6tV 
 
 67 
 
 u 
 
 i'^ 
 
 14 
 
 1 e 
 
 103 
 
 64 
 
 ^if 
 
 21 
 
 1*^ 
 
 104- 
 
 51 
 
 34- 
 
 li5 
 
 * 
 
 JO 
 
 6^.. .:...::. 
 
 T 
 
 ^ h 
 
 11 
 
 
 1 
 
 2 ' 
 
 J I diam. of shaft 
 14 
 
 
 4- a diam 
 
 21 .... 
 
 1 diam.'' 
 1' ' 
 
 10 
 
 16 
 
 9 
 
 .'...::::::::: 
 
 5'^ 
 
 And lastly, doors and windows appear to have been 
 regulated in the following proportions : 
 
 Height as I to 1 of width ^. 
 
 2 — 1, from ground to top of arch **, or to 
 spring of arch p. 
 
 — 1 % 
 
 — 2 from ground to spring of arch '. 
 
 — 2| to spring of arch ^ 
 
 3 J — 1 to top of internal arch ^ 
 
 * Carter, PI. 37, ground story columns of Canterbury. 
 « Ibid. PI. 37, Fig. A, from Canterbury crypt, built at the eiwj 
 of the eleventh century. 
 
 Hbid. PI. 19, from St. Albans. 
 
 8 Ibid. 
 
 ^ Ibid. PI. 36, Fig. O, Alwalton church, Kent. 
 
 ' Ibid. PI. 6S, O 2, from Wootton church, Huntingdonshire. 
 
 ^ Ibid. PI. 70, A 2, from Chichester, of the reign of W. Rufus. 
 
 'Ibid, PI. 23, A, from St. Bartholomew's, 1133. 
 
 ^ Ibid. PI. 65, G 2, Goodrich castle. 
 
 " Ibid. PI, 45, Fig. E, Sawtrey All Saints. 
 
 Ibid. PI. 44, C E 5 56, G Q 2, from Salisbury clojster. 
 Pibid. PI. 44, U. 
 
 1 Ibid. PI. 40, A, Dunstable, Bedfordshire j 44, A, Clerkenwell. 
 » Ibid. PI. 36, G. Ibid. i6, K, house at Salisbury. 
 
 'Ibid. PI, 44, Ij, Daven try priory. * 
 
 t Ibid. PI. 36, C, door-way. Wells* 
 
(220 HISTORY OP THE ORIGTIvr 
 
 Height as 4 to 1 from ground to top of inside arch ". 
 
 4 — 3 from ground to inner arch "". 
 
 5 — 1 from ground to top of inner arch >'. 
 
 5 — 3 \ 
 
 6 — 1 to spring of arch ^. 
 
 The proportions of Gothic architecture, as it is 
 called, may perhaps, however, in some instances, be 
 found to appr(jach nearer to those of Grecian than 
 persons little acquainted with the subject would be in- 
 clined to suppose, or the advocates for this last-men- 
 tioned style be dirposed to admit. Of the columns in 
 Westminster abbey two have been measured by Batty 
 Langley in 1742, who, in his and Thomas Langley's 
 Architecture restored and improved, has given their di- 
 niensions. One of these was, as he says, erected by 
 Henry III. about the year 1240; the other by Edward I. 
 or at least in his time ; and they are both clustered, 
 "consisting of a central column or cylinder, surrounded 
 by four smaller ones. In that of the time of Henry III. 
 'the central cylinder is in height, including capital and 
 base, five times the diameter of the whole cluster, and 
 
 ■ Carter, PI. 44, Fig. Q, from St. Dunstan's, Canterbury. 
 
 » Ibid. PI. 54, N, Lumley castle, Durham. Ibid. PI. 56, A 2. 
 
 ■ y Ibid. PI. 5/, A, door-way in Salisbury j 57, F, Dulling church ; 
 5/, Q, Salisbury. 
 
 * Ibid. Pi. 50, W, door-way crypt. Court of Requests ; 5^, T, 
 Dunchurch. 
 
 =* Ibid. PI. 44, Fig. O, Ryton church. Some of the columns 
 before mentioned, and of these arches, were measured from the 
 
 ■ original book by Mr. Smith, and some by the present author ; but 
 the measurecneuts and computations of this latter persoa were aftw* 
 \,'a^^s exaRiined by Mr, Smi^^, 
 
OF GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 22b 
 
 seven times and one seventh of the cliameter of the 
 central column. The plinth is in height one diameter 
 of the whole cluster. In the column of the time of 
 Edward I. the central cylinder is in height five times of 
 the total diameter of the whole cluster, and eight times 
 and about two elevenths of the diameter of the central 
 cylinder. The plinth is one diameter of the central 
 cylinder, and the capital one half of one diameter of 
 the same cylinder^ 
 
 Vitruvius *, speaking of the interior distribution of 
 a building, says, its width should be half its length, 
 its nave one fourth part longer than it is wide ; and 
 the three other parts will then extend to the further, 
 end. 
 
 In another place -j- he describes the five sorts of build- 
 ings; the first of which is where the columns are only 
 one diameter and an half asunder ; the second, where 
 they are two diameters — but both these are too close s 
 the third, where they are three diameters, but this is 
 too much: the fourth, he says, is so great a distance^ 
 that no stone or marble can be used, but only timber 
 beams can reach it ; and the fifth, which he prefers ta 
 them all, has two diameters and a quarter. In the 
 fourth of these kinds the columns ought to be eight 
 diameters high ; in the third, eight and an half j in th& 
 second, nine and an half; in the first, ten ; and in the 
 fifth, eight and an half. 
 
 The Doric column, he elsewhere ^ says, speaking of 
 the three orders of columns, was at first six diameters 
 high, including its capital and base ; but afterwards it 
 
 * Lib. iv. Cap. 4, f Lib. iii. cap. 2. • iJ.Lib, iy. capvl. 
 
222 HISTORY OP THE ORIGIN 
 
 was extended to seven diameters ; and in another place* 
 he notices that the Doric column is fourteen modules 
 high, one module being half a diameter. 
 
 The Ionic was at first eight diameters high, but after- 
 wards increased to eight and an half ; and the Ionic ca- 
 pital he fixes at one third of a diameter for its height-}-. 
 
 The proportion of the Corinthian is, according to 
 him, the same as the Ionic, excepting its capital ; but 
 the capital in the Corinthian is one diameter J. 
 
 In Tuscan buildings the width should be five sixths 
 of the length. 
 
 They should be internally divided in length into two, 
 and of those two one be given to the choir, the rest to 
 the nave. 
 
 The width is to be divided into ten portions, three of 
 which on each side are to be set apart for little oratories, 
 or given for the aisles : the other four should be re- 
 served for the middle. 
 
 The columns should be in height seven diameters. 
 
 The base, half a diameter. 
 
 The capital, half a diameter. 
 
 The height of the columns should be one third of 
 the width of the building §. 
 
 Ionic doors and windows are, he says, in width thus 
 regulated : the height being divided into two and an 
 half, one and an half is the width Ij. 
 
 The Doric door should be so high, that the top of 
 its cornice should range in a line with the capitals of 
 the external columns, and the height should be so set- 
 
 * Lib. iv. cap. 3. f Lib. iv. cap. 1. 1 Ibid. 
 
 § Lib. iv. cap. 7. II Lib. iv. cap. 6. 
 
OF GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 223 
 
 tied as that the height of the building from the ground 
 to the vaultings or wood-work should be divided into 
 three and an half. Of these, two should be used for 
 the admission of the light, which should be subdivided 
 into twelve, and five and an half twelfths assigned to 
 the width *. 
 
 It is needless to produce any further proofs of resem- 
 blance than to say, that in every Gothic cathedral as yet 
 known the extent from north to south of the two tran- 
 septs, including the width of the choir, if divided into 
 ten, as Vitruvius directs, would exactly give the distri- 
 bution of the whole. Three arches form the north, and 
 three the south transept ; the other four give the 
 breadth from one transept to the other. One division 
 of the four being taken for each of the side-aisles of 
 the nave, and two left for its centre walk, the complete 
 distribution of the nave is also given. Of the propor- 
 tion of one third of the whole width as the height of 
 the columns, the cathedral of Milan is a decided in- 
 stance ; the two transepts together are one hundred and 
 ten cubits, the breadth of the choir twenty-eight, mak- 
 ing together one hundred and thirty-eight ; and the 
 height of the columns is forty-six-j-. 
 
 As to the variations apparent in the proportions of 
 columns before stated, it is to be observed, that though 
 a general average proportion is settled and established 
 among architects, as that by which the five orders of 
 Grecian architecture should be regulated, there yet is 
 in many instances a very great difference in the propor- 
 tions. Edward Hoppus, a well-known architect, and 
 
 * Lib. iv. cap. 6. -j- Torre Ritratto di Milano, p. 379, &c. 
 
^2l4- history of the origij^ 
 
 the author of a very excellent compendium, entitled 
 Proportional Architecture, Or, the Five Orders regu- 
 lated by equal Parts, first published in a very thin oc- 
 tavo in 1733, without a date: and again in! 736; allows 
 to' the Tuscan, including its base and capital, seven dia- 
 meters; to the Doric, eiglit; to the Ionic, nine; to ther 
 Corinthian, nine and an half; and to the Composite, ten. 
 But in a print, entitled A Geometrical View of the Five 
 Orders of Columns in Architecture, adjusted by aliquot 
 Parts, engraved by Noual, and printed for Mess. Taylor 
 inHolborn, thcTuscan is represented as seven diameters; 
 the Doric, eight; the Ionic, nine; and the Corinthiair 
 and Composite, ten. Other variations it is unnecessary 
 ^o notice; but sufficient to say in general, that the 
 disparity of proportion^ as given in authors of establish- 
 ed reputation, was such as to induce Mons. Roland 
 Freart, Sieur de Chambray, to publish in folio in French 
 in the year l650, A Parallel of Ancient arid Modern 
 Architecture, taken from ten different Authors, Pal- 
 ladio, Scamozzi, Serlio, Vigncla, Daniel Barbaro, Pietro 
 Cataneo, Alberti, Joseph Violi, John Bullant or Biil- 
 liant, and Philibert De Lorme ; in which, by means of 
 plates engraven from the designs, as represented in: 
 their works, he exhibits and compares their variations 
 with each other. The book was translated into Entrlish' 
 by Mr. Evelyn, and published in that language in l()64,- 
 and was used by the workmen in the erection of St. 
 Paul's *. 
 
 • %Se;e the DsJication to Sir Christopher Wren, dated ]6g6-7j 
 prefixed to the Account of Architects by Mr. tvelya at the end of 
 Lis translation^ edit. 1733. 
 
OF GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 225 
 
 After this it can never he said with trutti, that Gothic 
 Architecture, meaning by the term^ however improperly 
 used, the style of the middle lages, had no rules or 
 proportions. That such an idea should ever have been 
 entertained by any person whatever, is astonishing ; 
 but pains had never been exerted to adjust, by measure- 
 ment, any thing like an average proportion. No one, 
 indeed, seems to have had any conception how such 
 a conclusion was to be obtained ; and what had never 
 been attempted, was supposed to have been left un- 
 done, not for want of experiment, but because it 
 had failed in the trial. On the contrary, when this 
 style is objected to, as it often is, on account of the 
 felenderness of some of the pillars which compose a 
 cluster, it is evident such persons as make the charge 
 are not sufficiently informed; for it is not the measure 
 of any single member, but of the whole cluster, that 
 is to settle the proportion. With equal justice they 
 might censure a fluted Grecian column of any kind, 
 especially if the lower parts of its flutings are cabled or 
 staved, because the flutings or staves were too high, 
 and not regulated by the number of diameters allowed 
 by that order for the height Of the column. 
 
 In a work like the present, which has for its object 
 the ascertainment of the principles of Gothic architec- 
 ture, it cannot be justly thought foreign to the purfiose 
 to endeavour tO direct the public attention to the very 
 able and judicious manner in which the repairs and re- 
 storations of the chapel of Henry the Seventh atWest- 
 tninster are proceeding. To restore this edifice, one 
 of the most beautiful structures of the kind in this 
 kingdom, or perhaps in Europe, was an attempt pecu- 
 
22(5 HISTORY OF THK OllIGIN 
 
 Harly arduous, on account of the delicacy and multi- 
 plicity of it^ decorations. But as well from the dili- 
 gence exerted in forwarding the work, as from the skill 
 shown in each part, the public have a very fair prospect 
 of seeing it, within such a period as many persons now 
 living may reasonably hope to reach, restored to its 
 pristine beauty. The undertaking, and the mode in 
 which it has been so far accomplished, are equally an 
 honour to the age and the nation ; and the Abbey 
 mason, Mr. Gayfere, under whose personal direc- 
 tion and superintendence the whole has been con- 
 ducted by his workmen, is entitled to the thanks of 
 all the real antiquaries in the kingdom for his able, 
 careful, and accurate restoration of the different orna- 
 ments. Every candid judge who examines it with 
 sufHcient attention, as several have done, will be, like 
 them, of this opinion ; and though cavils and cap- 
 tious objections have been raised against it by one who 
 miu,ht reasonably have exulted in his skill had it been 
 his own production, yet the public have great cause to 
 rejoice that the work has been placed in such able 
 hands as the present, as the opinions of that person on 
 this subject are destitute of sufficient foundation, and 
 in some instances contradict unequivocal facts, which 
 if necessary could here be stated. 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 227 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 fVindoxvs Jirst formed of. separate Pieces of coloured 
 Glass in Imitation of Mosaic — Further Progress of 
 the Art of painting on Glass — Mode of proceeding 
 as used in the early fVindoivs — The Art improved by 
 Albert Durer and Lucas of Leydcn — First carried 
 into Italy by a Painter of Marseilles — Instances of 
 Excellence — First Process in Painting — Mode of pre- 
 paring the Colours not lost — What Sorts of Glass 
 used — Method of laying on some of the Colours—^ 
 Painting on Glass, how performed — Materials for 
 colouring the Glass blach, ivhile, yellow, red, green, 
 blue, purple, violet, how produced — Outlines, how 
 to be put in — Colours, how to be applied— ^Furnace for 
 Baking — How to bake in the Colours. 
 
 JTELiBiEN, in his Principes de 1' Architecture, third 
 edition, 4to. Paris, 1699, inserts, p. 180, a chapter on 
 Glass, in vvhicli Ite says, that at first transparent stones, 
 such as agate, alabaster, and others, were used in build- 
 ings to admit the light and keep out the cold and the 
 wind. Glass having been afterwards invented, that 
 material was substituted in the place of the former, 
 and these glass windows were made in the following 
 manner : 
 
 In the foundries glass was made of different colours ; 
 the ancient artists, therefore, took some such pieces to 
 put in the windows, arranging them in compartments 
 
 a 2 
 
52S HISTORY OF THE ORIGIW 
 
 like mosaic, and this was afterwards the origin of 
 painting on glass ; for observing what a beautiful effect 
 was thus produced, they were not in after-times con- 
 tented with this assemblage of pieces of various colours, 
 but were desirous of representing all sorts of figures, 
 and entire histories. At first this was done upon white 
 glass, and the colours were tempered with size, as is 
 the case in painting in distemper. But because it was 
 soon found that these could not long resist the injury of 
 the air, the artists sought for other colours, which 
 after having been laid on the white glass, and even on 
 that which had been already coloured in the glass- 
 houses, might sink into and incorporate themselves 
 with the glass itself upon its being put into the fire. 
 In this they completely succeeded, as is evident from 
 the beauty of the ancient glass. 
 
 When the workmen were desirous of making win- 
 dows of extraordinary beauty, they employed the glass 
 which had been already coloured in the glass-house to 
 make the draperies of the figures, and they only marked 
 the shadows in it with some touches and hatchings with 
 black. For the carnations or flesh-colours they chose 
 glass the colour of which was a transparent red, on 
 which they drew with black the principal features of the 
 . face, and the other parts of the body. 
 
 But to make the carnations and draperies on white 
 glass, they laid their colours, transparent or opaque, 
 without demi-tints, either strong or weak, as the paint- 
 ing demanded. Thus this first sort of works, such as 
 we see in the more ancient of our churches, and which 
 were made before the sixteenth century, are of a Go- 
 
OF GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. *12g 
 
 tWic manner, and extremely barbarous as far as regards 
 the drawing, and the preparation of the colours. 
 
 When in France and Flanders painting began to im- 
 prove, this gross manner was changed, and the honour 
 of the finest works which have been done upon glass is 
 due to the French and the Flemings. A painter of 
 Marseilles communicated the first knowledge of this 
 species of painting to the Italians when he went to 
 Rome in the pontificate of Julius IT. After him Albert 
 Durer and Lucas of Leyden improved the art still fur-^ 
 ther; and a number of works so excellent have been pro- 
 duced, that nothing more exquisite can be desired either 
 for beauty of design or management of the colours. As 
 instances of excellence, which he says have been done 
 after the designs of able masters, he mentions those in 
 the church of St. Gervaise at Paris, after John Cousin; 
 in the chapel of Bois de Vincennes, of wiiich Lucas 
 Peni, an Italian, made the cartons ; in the casti-^ of 
 Anet, in that of Gaillon, in tlie church of St. Gweii 
 at Rouen, and in other places. 
 
 In p. 182 he proceeds to direct the mode of painting 
 on glass in the following manner. Before any one 
 begins to paint upon glass, tlic v.i'.ole subject is to be 
 drawn and coloured upon paper. Then such pieces of 
 glass are to be ciiosen as are fit for painting the figures 
 in portions, so that the pieces may join in the out- 
 lines of the body and the fbi'ls of the draperies, in 
 order that the lead which is used to hold them together 
 may 'not spoil the carnations, and the most beautiful 
 parts of the draperies. 
 
 "When all the pieces are cut according to the design, 
 ^nd cprrespondentiy to the size of the work_, they are tQ 
 
 ^ 3 
 
230 HISTORY OF THE ORIGIIC 
 
 be marked with numbers or letters, to know them again. 
 Then every piece is to be painted with colour, accord- 
 ing to the design which the painter has before him ; and 
 sometimes it is done only in white and black, which is 
 called Grisaille. 
 
 In the ancient glass some very beautiful and very 
 lively colours are seen, which are not to be found now. 
 It is not that the invention is lost, but because persons 
 will not risk so great an expense, or take the necessary 
 pains to make them, since in fact labour is not dearer 
 than it was heretofore. 
 
 These fine pieces of glass, as made in the glass-houses, 
 were of two sorts. Some were entirely coloured, that 
 is to say, where the colour was spread through all the 
 mass of glass ; but others, which the workmen used 
 commonly and more willingly, had the colour only on 
 one side, into which it penetrated more or less, accord- 
 ing to the nature of the colours, for yellow enters 
 deeper than the others. Although these last did not 
 contain colours so bright and lively as the former, they 
 were more convenient for the glaziers, because upon 
 the same piece of glass, though already coloured, they 
 were accustomed to employ other colours, when they 
 wanted to ornament the draperies, enrich them with 
 flowers, or to represent other decorations of gold, silver, 
 and different colours. For this purpose they used 
 emery, with which they rubbed the piece of glass on 
 the side which was already charged with colour, till 
 they discovered the white glass, according to the work 
 which they intended to produce ; after which they co- 
 vered with yellow or such other colours as they pleased, 
 the other side of the glass, that is to say, where it was 
 
OF GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 231 
 
 white, and where they had not scratched it with 
 emery. This method they observed, to prevent the 
 new colours from mixing with the others, when the 
 pieces of glass were put into the fire. 
 
 Painting on glass is performed with the point of an 
 hair pencil, especially for the carnations; and the co- 
 lours are laid on, tempered with w§ter and gum ip the 
 same manner as is done in miniature. 
 
 When any one paints on white glass, and wishes to 
 give smart touches to mark the hairs of the beard, 
 the hair of the head, and other strong lights, whether 
 it be on the draperies or elsewhere, he makes use of 
 a little point of wood, the end of the handle of the 
 pencil, or a pen, to take away from the back of the 
 glass the colour which had been put in the places 
 where he means that none should appear. 
 
 The materials necessary for colouring glass are the 
 sparks or scales of iron, which fall from the anvils of 
 blacksmiths when they forge ; white sand (or siliceous 
 earth), or the little flints of a clear river, red lead, 
 saltpetre, rocaille * (which is nothing but the little 
 round grains, green and yellow, which the tradesmen 
 sell, and the method of making which, he says, he 
 shall show hereafter), silver, harderic, or Spanish iron 
 ore t, manganese, zaffre ;}:, red ochre, gyp, or trans- 
 parent plaster like talc, and litharge of silver. 
 
 * Felibien, p. 50S, snys, that rocaiile means the little grains of 
 glass which are used to make the colours for painting on glass. 
 
 t Felibien, p. 183, in a note, says, that haideric is a mineral, and 
 that it may be produced with filings of iron and sulphur, which is 
 to be stratitied in a covered crucible, and that it is then to be taken 
 out and put into the fire for five ot six hours, 
 
 X SafFre, or zafFre, says Felibien^, p. 51Q, is, according to Cardan, 
 
 a 4 
 
232 HISTORY OP THE OKIGIV 
 
 All these colours are to be ground separately upon 
 a plate of copper a little hollowed, or in the bottom of 
 a basin, with the water in which gum-arabic h^s been 
 dissolved. 
 
 To produce blach, some scales of iron must be well, 
 ground, for two or three hours, or more, on the plate 
 of copper, with one third part of rccaille, and then be put 
 into some vessel to be preserved. As soon as it becomes 
 red in the fire, it is a good method to put into it a 
 small quantity of soot, grinding this with it ; or copper 
 burnt, mixed with the sparks of iron, is better, for 
 the soot has no body. 
 
 Fpr ivhile, siliceous earth must be used, which 
 is to be heated red-hot in a crucible. It must be 
 poured out into common water to calcine it, and af- 
 terwards be reduced into powder. These ingredients 
 are to be pounded in a marble mortar, with a pestle 
 of the same, and to be ground again upon a marble. 
 One. fourth part of saltpetre is then to be mixed 
 ^yith them, and the whole is to be calcined. They 
 are to be pounded and calcined once more in a quick 
 fire as before, and to be taken out of the crucible 
 to preserve, them. When this colour is to be used, 
 as much plaster or sfyp must be added to it, which 
 must be separately baked, and as much rocaille ; and 
 the whole must be ground together on the plate of 
 copper. 
 
 To. rnake yelloiv^ silver mi^st be put in small pieces 
 
 a mineral earth of a grey tint., which colours glass, and gives 
 a blue colour fit for enamel. Cesalpinus, and others, place it i.u 
 the iank of mineral stones j and it is called sai&c, becai^ise it gives . 
 tJie colour of the sapphire. 
 
OF GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 233 
 
 ^o bake in the crncible, mixed with sulphur or salt- 
 petre. When it is entirely heated, and taken out of 
 the fire, it is to be emptied into a vessel of water. It 
 is then to be pounded in a marble mortar, till it be- 
 comes fit to be ground on the porphyry stone, which 
 it will be in the course of half a day, moistening it 
 >vith water when it sliall become dry. When ground 
 it must be mixed with nine limes as much red ochre, 
 and the whole ground together for an hour. 
 
 To make red, litharge of silver must be used ; scales 
 of iron, gum-arabic, each the weight of an escu (or 
 crown piece): harderic, or iron ore, half an escu ; ro- 
 caille, three ounces and an half; sanguine*, three ounces. 
 The rocaille, the scales of iron, the litharge, and the 
 harderic or iron ore, are to be ground together for a 
 full half hour on the plate of copper. After this, 
 the sanguine is to be pounded very small in an iron 
 mortar very clean, and then put aside. Next, the 
 gum-arabic i? to be ground in the same mortar, in 
 order that it may extract what remains of the sanguine; 
 for it is necessary that the gum should be so dry, that 
 it may easily be reduced to powder. When thus- 
 pounded, the gum and sanguine are to be mixed, and 
 turned out on thp plate of copper, where the other 
 drugs already are, and the whole ground together as 
 quickly as possible ; for the sanguine wastes itself in 
 grinding too much this time. Care must also be 
 taken to keep the whole soft, and of the same con- 
 sistence as other colours ; neither so moist that it 
 
 * Felibieiij ,p. 511, describes sanguine as a red stone, of whioli 
 f rayons for drawing are naade. It seems, therefore, to be red ckilk, 
 
 % 
 
234 HISTORY OF THE OKIGIJf 
 
 will run, nor so hard that it cannot be tempered with 
 the finger. It is, however, much better that it should 
 be a little hard than too soft. This composition being 
 placed upon the plate, must be put into a glass pointed 
 at the bottom, which is of great importance, and it 
 must then be poured into a little clear water. In the 
 next place, this substance is to be tempered with the 
 end of the finger as much as possible, a small quan-r 
 tity of water being again added to it, and be made of 
 the same consistence, or a little more liquid, as a 
 stale yolk of an egg. Thus tempered, it ought to be 
 covered with a paper to secure it from dust, and must 
 be suffered to rest for three days and three nights with- 
 out being moved. Afterwards, the purest part of the 
 colour, which swims at top, must be poured off into 
 another vessel of glass, care being taken not to shake 
 any part. This colour being thus put away, must be 
 permitted to rest two days more, after which it is to 
 be poured out as at first. 
 
 This last colour is next to be placed upon a piece 
 of glass a little hollowed ; and the whole, laid on some 
 sand in a common earthen vessel, is to be set on the 
 fire to dry slowly, and to preserve it. When it is intended 
 to be used, a drop of clear water is to be poured on a 
 piece of glass, with which as much colour as is neces- 
 sary is to be tempered. This colour serves for the 
 carnations ; for as for that which is the thickest, and 
 remains at the bottom of the glass, it is only fit to 
 make some tints for wood or draperies. 
 
 Green is produced from ?ps ustum, or copper burnt, 
 one oiince ; white sand, or siliceous earth, four ounces; 
 and red lead, one ounce. The whole, after being 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 235 
 
 ground together in a mortar of bronze, is to be put 
 into a fire of live coal in a covered crucible for about an 
 hour, and then taken out. When cool, it is to be ground 
 dry in the same mortar ; and then adding to it one fourth 
 part of saltpetre, it is to be again placed in the fire in 
 the same crucible for two hours. It is next to be taken 
 out and ground as before; and adding to it again a sixth 
 part of saltpetre, it is to be replaced in the fire for the 
 third time, and to be left there for two hours and an 
 half, or thereabouts. After this, the colour, hot as it 
 is, is to be taken out of the crucible with an iron in- 
 strument; for it is tenacious, and difficult to get out. 
 It is a good method to lute the crucibles, because few 
 are found sufficiently strong to resist the force of the 
 fire necessary for these calcinations. 
 
 Blue, purple, and violet, are produced in the same 
 manner as green, only changing the scales of copper for 
 other materials: as, for instance, to make blue, we must 
 take zaffie; for purple, manganese; and for violet, zaffi*e 
 and manganese an equal quantity of each. The other 
 materials must be the same as in the case of green. 
 
 Yellow rocaille requires three ounces of red lead and 
 one ounceofsand(or siliceous earth), which must be cal- 
 cined, as has been said. And for green rocaille only one 
 ounce of red lead and three ounces of sand are necessary. 
 
 The tints proper for carnations are made with harde- 
 ric or iron ore, and as much rocaille : after having 
 pounded them together, they are to be ground on the 
 basin. 
 
 The colour for hair, for trunks of trees, and other 
 things of a like kind, is produced from harderic and 
 scales of iron^ an equal quantity, and of rocaille as 
 
fSO HISTORY OF THE ORIGIN 
 
 much as of both the others. The whole is to be ground 
 together, and this will make a yellowish red. 
 
 When any one means to paint, let him choose Lor-, 
 rain glass, which inclines to the white yellow, because 
 that bears the fire the best, and receives the colours bet^ 
 ter than any other. When the subject which he is to 
 paint is not large, the glass is to be put upon the draw- 
 ing intended to be copied, the outlines of which are to be 
 traced with a pen or hair pencil, and with the black co- 
 lour already spoken of. If this colour is dry, it must be 
 ground an hour on the copper with water, and a small 
 cjuantity of gum-arabic, dried as before directed, is to be 
 added to it. It must be expeditiously mixed; and if 
 the quantity of colour is equal in size to a nut, as much 
 gum-arabic as is equivalent to a small nut, must also 
 be put into it. The gum must be dissolved before the 
 colour is used, which ought to be neither too clear nor 
 too thick ; and when these outlines are marked, they 
 must be suffered to dry for two days. 
 
 A wash is then to be applied to them, made of 
 six or seven grains of gum-arabic, well dried, mixed 
 with six or seven drops of urine, and as much black 
 as necessary; so, however, as not to hinder the c6lour 
 from being very clear. To make it well, the black ought 
 to be put into a little basin of lead, and be covered with 
 this wash, in order that it may not dry so soon; and 
 when the outlines have been left for two days to dry, 
 this wash is to be passed equally and very lightly over 
 the whole, in order that the outlines may not be effaced; 
 after which the work is to be permitted to rest for two 
 more days. This wash serves for the first shadow or 
 ^emi-tiptj and for the second tint the colour must be 
 
OF GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. Q,df 
 
 repassed with the pencil over the necessary places. To 
 produce the hghts and heightenings, a pen, or the handle 
 of the pencil, is to be used, as has been already mention- 
 ed; and as much of the first wash is to be removed as 
 shall be deemed necessary. Tliis is the method for works 
 in white and black, or in grisaille. 
 
 As for the colours, when the black is applied as 
 above, and dried for two or three days, they are to be 
 laid on in the following manner — - 
 
 Enamel colours, such as blue, green, and purple, 
 must be expeditiously laid on the piece of glass with the 
 pencil, after having been well tempered with gum-water. 
 The other colours must also be employed with caution^ 
 according to the work which is to be executed ; and care 
 must be taken not to efface the outlines ; or the colours 
 may be conveniently applied on the other side of the 
 glass. 
 
 Yellow is most frequently made in the furnace; but ia 
 using, it must always be laid on the back of the glass 
 very even, more or less charged, according as it is 
 wished, and never near blue ; because, in being melted 
 and reheated in the fire, these two colours would only 
 make one, which would be green. It is for this reason 
 necessary, as has already been said, to lay on the yellow 
 on that side where there are no other colours; for it 
 sinks through the whole thickness of the glass. This 
 other colours do not; for these last having more body, 
 do not penetrate so far, and some of them even remain 
 on the surface. 
 
 When the colours are to be baked, and the glass put 
 in the fire, after being painted, a small square furnace of 
 
238 historV of thb origin 
 
 brick -f- is to be made, which each way should not be 
 more than about 1 8 inches, that is to say, however, ac- 
 cording to the quantity of work, which has been pre- 
 pared. At the lower part, and six inches from the bot- 
 tom, an opening is to be made to put in and stir the 
 iire. Above this opening, two or three square bars of 
 iron are to be placed, which will cross the furnace, and 
 divide it into two. Over these bars, and to the right of 
 the door below, a small opening is to be left of about the 
 thickness of two fingers in height and breadth, to let the 
 trial-pieces pass through while the work is baking. 
 
 The furnace thus prepared, an earthen pan of the 
 form of the furnace must be procured, of such a size, 
 as that, being laid on the bars of iron, it shall want about 
 three full fingers breadth, or more, of touching the walls 
 of the furnace ; for which reason it ought to be square, 
 and it should be of good earth, well baked. Its bottom 
 should be about the breadth of two fingers in thickness, 
 and its height at its sides about half a foot. After this a 
 quantity of plaster in powder well sifted, and three times 
 baked in a potter's furnace, or a tile-kiln, must be pro- 
 vided, or rather of quicklime well separated or sifted. 
 Some persons use cinders well burnt, but they are not so 
 well adapted for fitting the pieces intended to be baked. 
 
 The pan being placed on the bars in the middle of the 
 furnace, a portion of the plaster in powder, or of the lime, 
 
 f Since this author wrote, considerable improvements have taken 
 place in chemistry, and it is beheved that a more convenient mode 
 has been found of constructing a furnace for this purpose. But not- 
 withstanding this, the directions in tlic text could not have been pro- 
 perly omitted, because they show how the furnace, in whatever way 
 it may be constructed, is to be used. 
 
OF GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 23$ 
 
 must be spread there, about half a finger's breadth in 
 depth, as equally as possible, and above some pieces of 
 old broken glass are to be placed, and then some powder, 
 then some old glass, and then some powder, so that it 
 may have three beds of plaster or lime, and two of old 
 glass, which is called stratum upon stratum. On the 
 third bed of plaster the pieces which have been paint- 
 ed should begin to be spread. They are to be laid in beds, 
 so that there may be half a finger's breadth of powdered 
 plaster or lime very even spread between each piece of 
 glass; and continued to be rangecl thus till the pan is 
 full, if the number of pieces to be baked is sufficient to fill 
 it. After this, the last bed is to be covered with some 
 of the powder ; and it must be remembered, that the 
 pan should have an hole in front, to answer to that of 
 the furnace above the door through which the fire is 
 put, in order that the pieces of glass with which the 
 trials are made, passing straight from one to the other, 
 may enter into the pan, and there bake the same as the 
 rest. 
 
 All things thus disposed, some bars of iron are to be 
 placed, which may rest on the walls of the furnace ; and 
 the pan is to be covered with a large tile made on pur- 
 pose, if it can be had, or with several others. They are 
 to be ranged and luted as closely as possible with some 
 soft earth or mould, so that there may be no aperture 
 except at the four corners of the furnace, where one 
 ought to be left of about two inches in diameter. 
 
 The furnace, thus closed, is to be heated with a few 
 lighted coals at the entrance of the door only, and not 
 within. After having been in this state for an hour and 
 aa half or two hours, the fire must be pushed a little 
 
 # 
 
540 HISTORY OF TTIE OillGlW 
 
 further forward, and then it is to be left for another full 
 hour, at the end of which the fire is to be suffered to 
 enter under the pan by degrees. When it has been thus 
 for about two liours, it must be increased by Httle and 
 little, and at the end of two liours it is to be further aug-' 
 inented by filling the furnace gradually with good char- 
 coal from young wood, so that the flame may go out at 
 the four holes of the four corners, and at that which 
 ought also to be in the middle. This is called ihe chim- 
 ney; and the fire ought to be very brisk and ardent for 
 the space of three or four hours. JDuring this time, 
 and to the end, some of the proof or trial pieces, which 
 are in the small aperture of the furnace and of the pan, 
 should be drawn out, to see if the colours are melted, 
 and if the yellow is produced* 
 
 When the colours are almost piroduced, some very dry 
 wood ought to be put into the furnace, but cut into 
 small pieces, in order that they may go entirely in at that 
 place. For, to do the work well, the door of the furnace 
 ought to be shut during the whole of the baking, except 
 at the beginning, and when the fire is yet at the entrance^ 
 The fire of wood which is lighted towards the end, 
 ought to cover the whole of the pan in which is the work, 
 till it is perceived that the whole is baked, which usually 
 happens after thefirehas been in it for about ten or twelve 
 hours, or eight or ten, if the hottest degreeof fire is given 
 to it at first. But this is not so good a method, because' 
 by these means the whole is often lost by burning th6' 
 colours and breaking the pieces. 
 
 Caution must be used when the bars of iron become 
 cherry -coloured or sparkling, for that shows that Ihe 
 baking is advancing. 
 
 # 
 
OP GOTHIC AJICHITECTURB, 2lH 
 
 EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES. 
 
 PLATE L— An internal View of the Vestibule of the 
 Church of the Abbey of Clngnjr, from the Side of the 
 Entrance. Taken from one in the Description particu- 
 liere de la France, torn. iii. seizi^me livraison, No. 5d, 
 engraven by Auvrai from a drawing by Lallemand. It 
 is here copied from the book itself by Mr. Henry 
 Inwood, and is of the same size with the original. 
 
 PLATE IL— An internal View of the Nave of th<d 
 same Church, from one which occurs in the same 
 work, and on the same plate with that above mention- 
 fed. This, like the former, is also engraven by Auvrai 
 from a drawing by Lallemand, and has, like that, been 
 copied from the book itself by Mr. Henry Inwoodj oi 
 the same size as the original. 
 
 PLATE IIL— -Fig. 1. A Compartment, from a Pic- 
 ture in Mosaic, in the Oratories of St. John the Baptist 
 and St. John the Evangelist, in the Lateran Church at 
 Rome. From Ciampini Vetera Monimenta, fol. Roma, 
 1690, vol. i. plate 75. This piece of mosaic,, Ciampini, 
 
242 HISTOUY OF THE OUIGI>f 
 
 vol. i. p. 233, says, was clone at the command of pope 
 Hilary, in the year 462. 
 
 Fig. 2. Another Compartment from the same plate 
 and subject. 
 
 Fig. 3. A View of the Entrance to the Oratory of 
 St. Thomas the Apostle, built by Symmachus, in the 
 Vatican Church at Rome, from Ciampini De sacris ^di- 
 ficiis, plate 22. Some doubt may perhaps be reason- 
 ably entertained whether by Symmachus be meant the 
 pope of that name, or whether it is only the name of 
 the architect. The former seems the more probable, 
 especially as Symmachus, who is erroneously styled the 
 first *, was elected pope in 498, and died in 514'f-, and 
 was a great rebuilder and restorer of churches. It is, 
 however, by no means quite clear; for Symmachus, who 
 was one of the architects to Theodoric king of the 
 Goths, was about this time consul at Rome, as pope 
 Hormisda, the successor of Symmachus the first, is 
 said to have been pope from the time of the consul- 
 ship of Senator to that of Boetius and Symmachus ^. 
 Though Platina has described Symmachus by the api)el- 
 lation of Symmachus the first, it appears by the alplia- 
 betical index, of popes, prefixed to his volume, that 
 there never was another pope of that name; so that 
 whether the name above mentioned be that of the pope- 
 or of the architect, is of little moment as to the age of 
 the erection; for pope Symmachus, as has been seen 
 before, died in 514, and Symmachus the architect in 
 
 * Platina De Vitis Pontilicum, fol. Colouix, 157I, p. 63. 
 •f Panvinii Pontificum Romanorum Chronicon, at the end of 
 Platina, p. 1-4. 
 ; Platina, p. 64. 
 
 3 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 243 
 
 526 ^. It is almost needless to observe that the arches 
 are pointed. 
 
 Fig. 4 is the geometrical process of raising an equila- 
 teral triangle from a given base line, as directed in the 
 first proposition or problem of Euclid |j, and which so 
 necessarily involves the construction of the pointed 
 arch, that it is impossible it should not have been known 
 to all acquainted with Euclid's writings. The early ar- 
 chitects certainly were not ignorant of Euclid's works, 
 as they had been translated from Greek into Latin by 
 Boetius*[. Cassiodorus had recommended Euclid to 
 Theodoric king of the Goths* ; and Boetius's transla- 
 tion is mentioned in a letter written by Cassiodorus to 
 Boetius, in the name of Theodoric^. The process is 
 so simple, that it scarcely needs explanation, though, to 
 render it still more clear, it is thought advisable to state 
 it unincumbered with mathematical and scientific direc- 
 tions. An horizontal line being drawn, is to be divided 
 equally into three, one division of which is to be taken 
 for the semi-diameter of a circle ; and a circle is to be 
 struck accordingly. Another division is then to be taken 
 in like manner as the scmi-diamcter of another circle; 
 and this second circle, being struck accordingly, will in- 
 tersect the first in the manner represented in the Plate. 
 This intersection exactly forms the Gothic arch; and to 
 complete the triangle nothing more is necessary than to 
 draw straight lines to the points at which the two circles 
 int(^rsect each other. 
 
 § Felibien, Recueil Hist, de la Vie des Architectes, p. ISg. 
 ti See Simson's Euclid, 8vo. Ediu. 1767. p. 7« 
 ^ Cassiodori Opera, vol. i. p. 2 1 . * Ibid. vol. i. p. 1 12. 
 
 f Ibid, vol.i. p. 21, 
 
 K 2 
 
fl44 HISTORY OF THE ORIGIJT 
 
 It is observable that this mode of intersecting two 
 circles produces, in fact, two pointed or Gothic arches 
 set base to base ; and that this very form is termed by 
 Albert Durer, in his Geometry ,Vesica piscium, which ap- 
 parently means, the fish's bladder J. But through 
 the means of an intelligent friend it has been learnt 
 from those conversant in natural history and anatomy, 
 that the bladder of a fish is net of that form. The fact 
 is, that it resembles the body of a violin, having, like 
 that, two recesses, one on each side. Vesica piscium 
 cannot, therefore, signify a fish's bladder, but a bladder, 
 which, when filled with wind, would be in the form of a 
 fish. As a fish is narrower at the point of his nose and 
 just above the fork of his tail, and gradually swells to- 
 wards the middle, a bladder so shaped would exactly 
 resemble this geometrical form. 
 
 Fig. 5 is also taken from Ciampini Vetera Moni- 
 menta, vol. i. plate 25. The original was a painted 
 window in the church called Basilica Siciniana, which 
 was afterwards denominated St. Andrew in Barbara. 
 It was one of the great south windows, and had been 
 blocked up by a wall in order to prevent the too great 
 immission of light*. This representation, which is of 
 the crucifixion of St. Peter, and the martyrdom of St. 
 Paul, is in the original accompanied with figures, which 
 in the present engraving are omitted, because the geo- 
 metrical form of the pointed arch was alone requisite. 
 The whole may, however, be seen in Ciampini, who says, 
 
 :j: Lib. ii. Dureri Institutionls Geometricae, fol. Arnbeira, l6o6, 
 p. 56, 
 
 * Ciampini, vol. i. p. 63. 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 245 
 
 p. 64, that the painting is very ancient, and that the 
 dresses are of the fifth century. He conjectures that 
 it might have been painted by order of pope Simplicius, 
 who put up the mosaic work in the tribune of the 
 same church ; and adds, that the characters of the writ- 
 ing over this part of the painting strongly confirm the 
 idea that it is of the fifth or sixth century. 
 
 PLATE IV.— A Plan of the Church of the Nativity 
 and Manger at Bethlehem. Taken from Bernardino, 
 Trattato delle Piante & Immagini di sacri Edifizi di Terra 
 Santa, 4to. In Firenza, 1620, p. 8; which, p. 1, he 
 describes as being the beautiful and venerable church 
 erected by St. Helena, and dedicated to the Virgin 
 Mary. The exact correspondence between this and 
 many Gothic erections in several particulars, and espe- 
 cially with the church of Milan in the number and dis- 
 tribution of the side-aisles of the nave, is deserving of 
 notice ; as it is also, that, on measuring the parts, it is 
 found that this church is regulated by the rules which 
 Caesar Caesarianus has laid down as the governing 
 principles for the plan of the church of Milan, and other 
 Gothic edifices ; for it is exactly two triangles in length, 
 and one in width. As to the parts of this church, the 
 following is the substance of the explanation with 
 which Bernardino, in the original, has accompanied this 
 plate, changing only the figures of reference for let;-^ 
 ters. 
 
 A. A cistern. 
 
 B. The body of the church. 
 
 C. The font where tl:^^ Greeks bapti^o* 
 
246 
 
 HISTORY OF THE OKIGIN 
 
 D. The altar where tlie Magi were placed when they 
 
 came to worship and present their gifts to the 
 infant King of the Jews. 
 
 E. Stairs to descend to the holy manger. 
 
 F. The altar of the Circumcision, where the circumci- 
 
 sion took, place eight days after our Saviour's 
 birth. 
 
 G. Steps leading to the tower. 
 
 H. The door leading into the convent of the monks. 
 
 This and the other subjects inserted in Bernardino's 
 \york are, as he himself, p. 1, mentions, all mea- 
 sured by the usual measuring-rod of the kingdom of 
 Naples, which he describes as consisting of 10 palms, 
 each palm of 12 inches, and each inch of 5 minutes. 
 The palm of Naples is said by Bibiena * to be as 806H 
 to 1000 of the Paris foot ; that is to say, reckoning the 
 Paris foot as comprising 1000 parts, the Neapolitan palm 
 would contain 806 of those parts, with the addition of the 
 above-mentioned fraction of another. The London foot 
 he estimates in like manner as QSStI? to 1000 of the 
 Paris foot -j-. Rejecting, therefore, in both cases the 
 fractions, and multiplying the palm reckoned at 806. 
 by 10, the number of palms which the rod contained, 
 it will produce 8O60. This, divided by Q38, the con- 
 tent of the London foot, will give 8 feet with a re- 
 rnainder of 562, which is, as near as may be, about 
 three fifths ; so that the Nea{)olitan rod may be fairly 
 estimated as 8 feet and three fifths of our measure. 
 
 ♦ Bibiena Architettura, fol. Partna, 1711, p. 26, 
 f Ibid. p. 26. 
 
OF GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 247 
 
 PLATE v.— The Ground-plan of the Church of the 
 Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem :j: . Taken from Bernardino, 
 p. 31 : but his references and explanations very often do 
 not correspond. The following therefore seem to be 
 the most remarkable spots of the church, as well as 
 they can be discovered from Bernardino, Sandys's Tra- 
 vels, and a model of the church itself in the possession 
 of the author of this work. 
 
 1. The column where our Saviour was scourged. 
 
 2. His place of confinement. 
 
 3. Where the soldiers cast lots for his garments. 
 
 4. Where the cross was found. 
 
 5. Chapel of the empress Helena. 
 
 0. Where Christ was crowned with thorns. 
 
 7. Where he was crucified. 
 
 8. The chapel of the angel. 
 Q. The holy sepulchre. 
 
 10. Where our Saviour appeared to Mary Magdalen. 
 
 1 1. The apartments of the Nestorians. 
 
 12. The court before the church. 
 
 13. Part of the bell-tower of the church. 
 
 14. Where Mary the Egyptian stood. 
 
 15. Stairs to Mount Calvary. 
 
 16. Entrance to the church. 
 
 i About four years ago this church was entirely destroyed by 
 fire. Bernardino's work, which before was scarce, is, by this ac- 
 cident, considerably increased in value, as it contains views, from 
 actual measurement, of so celebrated a buiiding, now no longer 
 .existing. 
 
 * 4 
 
248 HISTORY OF THE ORIGIN 
 
 17. Sepulchre of Godfrey of Boulogne, and Baldwin 
 
 his brother. 
 
 18. Sepulchre of Melchizedek. 
 fQ. Apartments of the Gorgians. 
 
 20. Sepulchres of the wife and daughter of the king. 
 
 21. Aperture of the rock occasioned by the earthquake. 
 
 22. Where the Virgin Mary stood at the crucifixion. 
 
 23. Apartments of the Syrians. 
 
 24. Stairs to the apartments of the Armenians. 
 
 25. Apartments of the Abyssinians. 
 2(5. Apartments of the Cophts. 
 
 27. Sepulchre of Joseph of Arimathea. 
 
 28. Flight of steps and door. 
 
 29. Font of the Greeks. 
 
 30. Apartments of the women. 
 3 I . Vestry of the Greeks. 
 
 32. Stairs to Mount Calvary, 
 
 33. Altar of the Greeks. 
 
 34. The choir. 
 
 35. Where the Greeks say is the middle of the world. 
 
 36. The patriarchal seat. 
 
 37. High altar. 
 
 38. A flight of stairs. 
 
 39. Where the title of the cross was placed. 
 
 40. Where a disciple of Christ lived many years. 
 
 41. Entrance into the monastery. 
 
 This church is acknowledged to have been often taken 
 as the model for Gothic cathedrals. Its plan, like that 
 of Milan, consists of two triangles in length and one 
 in width ; and it is evident on inspection, that the idea 
 for the internal appearance of the transept, for the four 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 24^ 
 
 large columns supporting a cupola or tower over the 
 centre, the mode of placing the choir, partly between 
 them and partly beyond towards the east, the hint for 
 chapels round the ambulatory at the east, and that for 
 the Virgin Mary's chapel, which usually occurs at the 
 cast end, were in all probability derived from similar 
 circumstances and situations in this church, which the 
 supposed identity of the spots on which the several 
 events are said to have happened, had for that very 
 reason decided and settled in this building. 
 
 PLATE VI. — A sectional View of the Arch and Cu- 
 pola over the Choir of the Church of the Holy Sepul- 
 chre. This is also taken from Bernardino, p. SQ, omit- 
 ting only the sectional view of the side-aisles, which, 
 for the present purpose, were not necessary to be in- 
 serted. It exhibits the large clustered columns support- 
 ing the dome, which, as having been erected so early 
 ^s the year 1048 *, may well be supposed the arche- 
 type for those which were afterwards introduced into 
 modern Gothic architecture; and it is worthy of notice, 
 that although the arch of the cupola is not pointed, but 
 rounded at top, yet its curve, as has been ascertained 
 by compasses, is exactly that of the pointed arch with 
 the top a little rounded. 
 
 PLATE VII.—Fig. 1. An internal View of theEle- 
 vation of the Vestibule of the Church of the Holy Se- 
 
 f See p. 99 before. 
 
250 HISTORY OF THE ORIGIN 
 
 pulchre. From Bernardino, p. 30. In this, though dr- 
 cular, are certainly seen the first ideas for the side -aisles 
 and vaultings over them, so frequently occurring in 
 Gothic erections. 
 
 Fig. 2. An external View of Part of the Baptistery 
 o{ St. John at Pisa, erected, according to Vasari, in 
 rodO ; but, as Delia Valle says, in 1 152. This is taken 
 from a larger print in the Theatrum Basilicse Pisanae, 
 engraven by Jo. Hieronymus Frezza, from a drawing 
 by Joseph and Francis de Milanis of Pisa, and is re- 
 markable as exhibiting two arches under one pediment, 
 accompanied wSth pinnacles, tabernacles, here placed 
 on the roof, and ribs extending all the way up, and 
 dividing the roof, into compartments ; which ribs are 
 apparently formed of ornaments resembling the crockets 
 in Gothic architecture. 
 
 PLATE VIII.— A Plan of the Church of Milan, as 
 exhibited by Caesar Cacsarianus in his translation of Vi- 
 truvius, fo. 14, a ; an explanation of which, as given by 
 himself, has been inserted in a former page. 
 
 PLATE IX. — A sectional View of the Nave with its 
 Side-aisles, and the centre Tower of the Cathedral of 
 Milan, taken also from the same author, fo. 15, a, and 
 already explained. 
 
 PLATE X. — A sectional View of the Nave, Side- 
 aisles, and centre Tower of the same Cathedral, with 
 
OP GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 251 
 
 the addition of an external representation of the Tran- 
 sept. This, as well as the two former, is taken from the 
 same author, fol. 15, b, and, like them, has been also 
 already explained, 
 
 PLATE XL— Plans of Gothic Columns, with Eleva- 
 tions of their Bases and Pedestals, as given by Albert 
 Durer, in his Institutiones Geometricae, fol. Arnheim, 
 4606, p. 78. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 N. B. The Letter n after any number refers to a Note in that Page. 
 
 AGE. The age of a building always to be computed from Its com- 
 mencement, and not from its termination, 140. 
 Agricola, St. bishop of Chalons on the Saone, an architect, 50. 
 Aix-la-Chapelle. The chapel there erected by Charlemagn*, 60. 
 Columns to construct it procured from Ravenna, ibid. A coin of 
 Charlemagne's representing it with a pointed arch, 6l. The au- 
 thenticity of tliis coin examined, ibid. This coin affords ground 
 to suppose this chapel contained pointed arches, ibid. No reasoa 
 to (}uestioa its authenticity, 92. 
 Alaric, king of the Goths, besieges and takes Rome in 409, 30. 
 Aioisius, one of the architects of Theodtric king of the Goths, 34, 
 AlyppiiLS of Antioch employed in 363 to rebuild the temple at Jeru- 
 salem, 27. 
 Amiens, the cathedral there begun in 1220 by Robert de Lusarche, 
 continued by Thomas de Cormout, and completed by Regnault his 
 son, 138, 139. Described, 139. Very little Gothic work so per- 
 fect as this cathedral, ibid. 
 Anthemins of Tralli, a city of Lydia, one of the architects of the 
 church of Santa Sophia at Constantinople when rebuilt by Justi- 
 nian about 527, 28. 
 Arch of Constantine, erected in 312, the earliest instance of a build- 
 ing constructed with fragments of former edilices, 13. 
 Arch, pointed or Gothic. Its geometrical construction given in the 
 writings of Euclid, 7, 92, 144. The church of the hospital of 
 St. Cross at Winchester not the earliest instance of it, 10. It 
 had before been used in the church of the abbey at Clugny, Hid. 
 An instance of it in mosaic in the church of St. Agatha at Ravenna, 
 built about 400, ninety-three years before the arrival of Theodoric 
 king of the Goths in Italy, 33. This picture supposed of nearly 
 the same time, 34. The pointed arch occurs on a coin of Charle- 
 magne, representing the church at Aix-la-Chapelle, 6I. The 
 dome at Pisa an instance of the pointed arch prior to the crusades, 
 6, 88. Objections to early instances of the pointed arch, on the 
 supposition that the structures have been rebuilt or altered, an- 
 swered^ 89. This kind of arch occurs much earlier than is go- 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Herally imagined, 91. To be found in two specimens of mosaic 
 in the fifth century, 92. See them represented, Plate III. Fig. 1 
 and 2. Pointed arches known and used in England in the time of 
 Edward the Confessor, II6. They occur in a cellar under the old 
 House of Lords, where the powder-plot was to have taken eifect, 
 ibid. Pointed arches in the dome of Sienna consecrated in 1180, 
 125, n. In the crypt of the church of St. Denis, ibid. In the 
 church of La Charitc sur Loire, Hid. At the east end of Canter- 
 bury cathedral, built between IISO and 11S5, il-id. In St. Ger- 
 main des Prez,l25, n. 126, ?i. This latter erected at the beginning 
 of the eleventh century, ibid. Towards the middle of the twelfth 
 century the Lombard mode of architecture in France became inter- 
 mixed with the new fashion of the pointed arch, 134. Pointed 
 arch, its advantages over the semicircular, 145. Often occurs in 
 Gothic buildings intermixed with the semicircular, and why, ibid. 
 To be found in an oratory in the Vatican church, erected in tlie 
 sixth century, 146,242. See a copy of this, Plate III. Fig. 3. 
 Mr. Knight's opinion as to its construction, 'I9S. Refuted, I99. 
 Gothic arches formed on correct geometrical piinciples, 200. 
 Those in Westminster abbey are proofs of this, ibid. Variety of 
 their proportions, 202. 
 
 jirch, straight. One consisting of straight sides and a pointed top, 
 comprising two sides of a triangle, was in use in the ninth and 
 tenth centuries, 9'' Such an one occurs on the coins of Beren- 
 garius king of Italy, Louis the Pious, and some others, 91, n. 
 
 Architects, Constantine's, employed at Constantinople deficient ia 
 skill, 20. No names of any employed by him known, 25. Ar- 
 chitects who built at Constantinople and elsewhere down to 527, 
 27 et seq. More than five hundred said to have been employed 
 by Justinian, 29. But probably masons and all other workmen 
 included in the number, ibid. Architects, Italian, employed by 
 the Goths when settled in Italy, 33. Architects, Theodoric's, in 
 no instance Goths, but Boetius, Symmachus, Cassiodorus, and 
 Aloisius, 34. Early architects in France the monks themselves, 
 48. This not peculiar to France, ibid. n. Benedict Biscopius, 
 about 6'f5, procured architects from France, 54, 150. Wilfred 
 bishop of York, about QJA, procured architects from Rome, 
 Italy, France, and other countries, 54. Naiton king of the 
 Picts, in 710, sent to Coolfrid abbot of Wermouth for architects, 
 5Q. In 1061 no other architects in Tuscany than some of the 
 disciples of Buschetto, QJ. Architects, Gothic, their sagacity 
 and judgment in the instance of the clustered column, 103. Ar- 
 chitect, the term little used in France in lO/S, but the appella- 
 tion of mason given to all who professed the art of building, 107. 
 Edward tlie Confessor's architects believed to have been obtained 
 from France, and especi.iUy from Normandy, 115. All our ar- 
 tists after the Conquest brought from Normandy, and loved to 
 work in Caen stone, 1 16. Architects procured from Lorabardy 
 and Constantinople in 11/8 to come to Venice, 131. Architects 
 in Italy about 121C» had most of them some practice in sculpture, 
 and atfected to fill their buildings with it, 138. They seemed to 
 
INDEX, 
 
 make the perfection of their art consist in dtlicacy and multipli- 
 city of ornament, without regarding the proportions of the orders, 
 ibid. The same may be said of those of France, Germany, and 
 England, ibid. A bull or patent granted by the pope about the 
 time of Henry III. to a company of Italian architects to travel 
 and build churches, 148. Architects, Gothic, erroneously said 
 to have worked without rules for forms or proportions, 182. The 
 assertion refuted, 183. Architects employed on the cathedral of 
 Milan, ]94. 
 Architetture. When in the highest perfection at Rome, 12. Much 
 corrupted before the reign of Constancine, 13. The churches of 
 Santa Sophia at Constantinople, and of St. Paul and St. Mary the 
 Great at Rome, adequate examples of the style of architecture in 
 the reign of Constantine, 22, Architecture of Constantinopla 
 greatly inferior to that of Rome, 23. Constantine one of the 
 first who ruined architecture, 25. Architecture in France, state 
 of, under Clotharius II. 50. Under Dagobert, 51. Building 
 with stone an unusual mode among the Britons till Nyma, a Bri- 
 tish bishop, built a stone church at Whithern in Scotland, 53. 
 Roman manner, what it was, 56. Architecture, state of, in the 
 reign of Charlemagne, 64. Among the Arabs in the eighth cen- 
 tury, 68. Multitude of erections no proof of improvement in 
 architecture, 6g. Individual excellence the criterion, ibid. Al- 
 most all the monasteries and churches of France till the year 1000 
 were of wood, 73, n. This how far correct, ibid. n. Architec- 
 ture in France in the reign of Louis the Pious in a deplorable 
 state, ibid. Little or no improvement in architecture in Italj 
 from 106l to 1250, Q5. Westminster abbey, as rebuilt by Ed- 
 ward the Confessor, shown to have been of the style of architec- 
 ture which prevailed in the time of king Stephen, 115. That 
 style not invented here, but probably imported from France, and 
 particularly from Normandy, ibid. Architecture underwent a 
 total change in France in the twelfth century, 134. At the be- 
 ginning the Lombard style prevailed, ibid. Towards the middle 
 that became mixed with the new fashion of th*.- pointed arch, ibid. 
 Before the end the ancient heavy manner was discontinued, and 
 the new unmixed Gothic adopted universally, ibid. Variations of 
 proportion in Grecian architecture, 223. 
 Architecture, Gothic. Various opinions as to its origin, 1 et seq. 
 Refuted, ibid. Called by some German architecture, but without 
 reason, 2. What species to be included in the term Gothic, 3. 
 Its principles discoverable in buildings erected in Europe long be- 
 fore the earliest crusade, 6. Did not appear till after the Goths 
 were driven out of Spain in /IS, 6. Its leading principles may- 
 be found in the dome of Pisa, erected in 10l6 j in the al)bey 
 church of Clugny, in 1093} and in ornaments in mosaic in the 
 iitth century, Q,n. Two sorts of Gothic architecture, the one 
 plain and massy, the other of slender proportions, highly orna- 
 mented, 12. Erroneously supposed invented by Theodoric and 
 the Goths, 33. Not introduced into Europe till several centuries 
 after ihe Goths as a nation had ceased to exist, ibid. Why the 
 
INDEJC. 
 
 earliest style massy, 40 et see]. Little material change in arclsK 
 tecture from about 674 to :h<. reign of Charlemagne, 55. Change 
 from the massy to the light and delic;ite style placed by Milizia in 
 the reign of Charlemagne, 62. No building in the Holy Land or 
 Constantinople which could be considered as the prototype of Go. 
 thic architecture, 1 29. The system of Gothic architecture seem» 
 to have been settled before the first crusade, 129, n. What parti- 
 culars of Gothic architecture suggested by the baptistery at Pisa, 
 131. The church of St. Denis, rebuilt by abbot Sugger in 1140, 
 one of the earliest instances of the modern Gothic style in France,' 
 134. At the beginning of thf> twelfth century the Lombard mode 
 prevailed in France, Hid. Towards the middle that became 
 mixed with the new fiishi-n of the pointed a*-ch, itid- Before the 
 end the heavy mnnner disc< ntinued, and th^' -lew unmixed Gothic 
 universally introduced, il;id. Vasari seems to attribute the intro- 
 duction of the clustered column, and some of the ornaments of 
 the later Gothic style, into It^^ly, to Marchion d'Arezzo, who was 
 appointed architect to the pope in 1200, 137. tie appears to con- 
 sider the church of Arezzo, erected by him inrilo, as the earliest 
 example of them in Italy, Hid. Unless the cathedr.nl of Amiens, 
 erected m 1220, be an instance of the pure unmixed Gothic style, 
 the earliest example of that kind i;-. France is the r-biirch of St. 
 Nicasius at Rheims, begun in 1229, 142. Salisbury catjiedral the 
 first example of the pure unmixed Gothic in England, ibid. The 
 only one which never had any intermixture of the former style, 
 ibid. Gothic architecture not an original invention, or discovery 
 of forms before unknown, but a combination of peculiarities, 
 which had already appeared separately, 143. Ideas for the con- 
 struction of Gothic structures, and for the forms used in that 
 style, whence obtained, 143 et seq. Accident.d discovery of a 
 cut exhibiting the principles of Gothic architecture, 156. This 
 cut described, 157. Now in th* possession of John Towneley, 
 Esq. 158. This cut traced to a bonk of great rarhy, to which it 
 belonged, 159. Tijie original volume procured, and how, 160, 
 Principles of Gf.thic architecture exhibited and explained from 
 Caesar CiEsarianus, 18S, 19O, 19I. 
 
 .Architecture, Lomlard, characterized, 38, 51. "Why massy, 40 et 
 seq. Was in practice at the beginning of the twelfth century iri 
 France, but towards the middle became mixed with the new fashion' 
 of the pointed arch, 134. 
 
 Arex%o. The church there erected in 121 6, supposed by Vasnri the 
 earliest example of the clustered column, and some of the orna- 
 ments of the later Gothic style in Italy, 137. Built by Marchion' 
 d'Arezzo, ibid. Some particulars of its style, ibid. The cokimns 
 there of two different modules, some very thick and some very 
 slender, ibid. Felibien seems to have thought that this church 
 had been the guide for other erections, or at least that it was of 
 the same style as the later Gothic, 138. 
 
 Avitus, St. bishop of Clermont, an architect, 49. 
 
 Authorities for facts, the practice of citing none, highly reprehea* 
 .sible, and why, C4 et seq. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 i4zon, an architect, ati ecclesiastic, built the first cathedral at Seez, 
 99- 
 
 B 
 
 ^arry, James, his opinion as to the origin of Gothic architecture, 
 
 g. In part refuted, ibid. 
 Basso, Martin, an architect employed on the cathedral of Milan, 
 
 194. 
 
 Beauvais, the church of St. Lucien there rebuilt in IO78 by two 
 workmen, named Wirmbolde and Odo, 107. 
 
 Bentham, James, his opinion as to the rise of Gothic architecture, 
 8. Refuted, ibicl. 
 
 Bernardino, in his Trattato delle Piante et Immagini di sacri Edifizi 
 di Terra Santa, has given a plan of the church at Bethlehem, and a 
 plan and internal elevations of that of the Holy Sepulchre at Je- 
 rusalem, 246, 247, 249, 250. Engravings of those subjects from 
 his book. Plates IV. V. VI. VII. of the present work. 
 
 Bethlehem. Church of the Virgin Mary probably gave the hint for 
 the plan of a Gothic cathedral, 144, 245. A copy of its plan, 
 Plate IV. Explained, 245. 
 
 Boetius, a Roman patrician, one of the architects of Theodoric king 
 of the Goths, 34. Translated Euclid into Latin, 93, 243. His 
 translation mentioned by Cassiodorus, ibid. 
 
 Bonanno of Pisa, an architect of the twelfth century, 132. One of 
 those who built the bell-tower at Pisa, ibid. 
 
 Bramante, an architect employed on the cathedral of Milan, I94. 
 
 Bramantino, an architect employed on the cathedral ol" Milan, ig4. 
 
 Buildings, ancient, destroyed, and their materials empiryed in ihQ 
 erection of others, 13. This practice not attributaolt; to the- in- 
 troduction of Christianity j or used only in ecclesiastical struc- 
 tures, as the earliest instance is the arch of Constantino, ibid. 
 Other examples, 14 et seq. The conduct of the-'Goths tended 
 much more to the destruction than the preservation of buildings, 
 32. Buildings of the Golhs chrracterized, 34. Instances of 
 Gothic buildings, 3(5. Buiidii-gs of the Loujbatds chr.rac'r'rized, 
 38. Instances of their erections, ibid. \»'liy th('se of tiu- Goths 
 and Lombards massy, 40 et soq. Buildings in France by Clovis, 
 47. By Childebert, ibid. By Clotharius, ibid. Few remains of 
 these, ibid. Their erections characterized, ioid. Felibien's opi- 
 nion as to th Lombard buildings, 51. Buildings in Englat-vJ, 52 
 et seq. Buildings of Charlemagne, 60. Individnnl exc'^llence 
 in buildings, and .lot their number, is the only criterion for ascer- 
 taining improvement in architecture, 69. Buildings in France ia 
 the reign of Louis the Pious, 71. Charlemagne and Louis the 
 Pioasenjoined the clergy to take care of (lie buildings belonging 
 to them, and theniselves to superintend the repairs, ibid. Almost 
 all the monasteries and churches in France were, ill the year ICOO, 
 of wood, 73, n. This how to be understood, ibid. n. Buildings in 
 France destroyed by the Norman Danes, 74. Erections in PVance 
 tinder Charles the Bald, ibid. More expense bestowed there in 
 the ninth century in erecting buildings than in all the otherneigh- 
 
INDEX. 
 
 bouring nations, 75. Buildings at Venice in the same period, Hid. 
 None of these edifices comparable to those which the French had 
 constructed from the beginning of Ciiarlemagne's reign, yd. 
 Buildincrs at Rome erected by some of tiie popes preferable to 
 tliose of the \'enetians, "J"/, Buildings at Rome in the ninth cen- 
 tury, ibid. In England in the ninth century, 78. Edifices built 
 there in the tenth, 80. In Germany in the tenth, 82. Structures 
 suffered lo fall to decay in consequence oi an erroneous opinioa 
 as to the end of the world, 8(). Those in all parts of the Chris- 
 tian world repaired and rebuilt :jbout the year 1003, ibid. Thos« 
 in Italy from lo6l to 1250 characterized, 95. Buildings in 
 France under Hugh Capet and king Robert, ibid, et seq. No 
 building in the Holy Laud or Constantinople which could be con- 
 sidered as the prototype of Gothic architecture, 129. The age of 
 a building always to be computed from its commencement, and 
 not from its termination, 140. Why so well known from time to 
 time in different countries what buildings were proceeding in 
 others, 147. Abbot Sugger imagined the reviver of the practice of 
 introducing" painted glass into structures, 148. Reason for its in- 
 troduction, 149. 
 
 Buono, an architect, about 1154 bnill the tower of the church of St» 
 Mark at Venice, and executed other works elsewhere, 130. 
 
 Busca, Gabrio, an architect employed on the cathedral of Milan, I94. 
 
 Buschetto of Dulichiura, a Greek architect, built the dome at Pisa 
 in lOld, 88. No architects in Tuscany in IO61, but some of his 
 disciples, 94. 
 
 Muzzif Carlo, an architect employed on the cathedral of Milan, 194. 
 
 C 
 
 Casar'ianns, Caesar, his opinion on the origin of Gothic ar- 
 chitecture, 2. Refuted, Hid. Wrote a commentary on Vitru- 
 vius, 139. Was one of the architects employed on the church of 
 Milan to keep it in repair, ibid. ]y4. His Commentary contains a 
 cut exhibiting the principles of Gothic architecture, 160. The 
 book extremely rare, but fortunately accidentally procured, ibid. 
 But three copies, including this, at present known in Uiis coun- 
 try, ibid. The work described, l(jl ei seq. An account of him 
 from his own writings, 10'4 et seq. 
 
 Cairo, the Nilometer there built by Almamon, caliph of Bagdad 
 and Morocco, "O. 
 
 Canterbury , cathedral there, an instance of the pointed arch at 
 the east end, erected between 1180 and 1185, 125, n. 
 
 Canute, king of England, contrilmted large sum3 of money towards 
 the re-erection of th.^ cathedral of Chartres, 96. 
 
 Cassiod'irus, a Calabrian, and a patrician of Rome, one of the archi- 
 tects of Thcodoric king of the Guths, 34. 
 
 Chavdray, Roland Freart, Sienr de, the author of a Parallel of an^ 
 cient and modern Architec ture, in French, 224. Translated by 
 Mr. Evelyn, and his translation used by the workmen in th« 
 erection of St. Paul's, Hid. 
 
 (Shu^tls, mod* cf arranging them round tlie ambulatory at the east 
 
INDEX. 
 
 fcnd of the choir, borrowed from the church of t'.ie Holy Sepul- 
 chre at Jerusalem, 144. 
 
 Charhmagne built the chapel at Aix-la-Chapelle, and several other 
 buildings in France, Italy, Germany, and elsewhere, 60. 
 
 Chartres, the cathedral there rebuilt by bishop Fulbert, as archi- 
 tect, about 1020, g6. A description of it. Hid. 
 
 Childebert, king of France, churches erected by him, 4/, 
 
 Cinmpini, two specimens of mosaic of the fifth century containing 
 the pointed arch given by him, 92. Engravings from them, Plate 
 III. Fig. 1 and 2, in the present work. 
 
 Circle, the division of it by a triangle, a square, and an hexagon, 
 an usual mode with geometricians and astronomers, I92, n. Ex- 
 plained, ibid. 
 
 Ciriades, an architect employed by the emperor Theodosius about 
 379, 2/. 
 
 Chvis, king of France, converted to Christianity in 499, 46. 
 Churches erected and repaired by him, 47. 
 
 Clugny, abbey of The church there built in 10Q3 an instance of 
 the pointed or Gothi" arch prior to the crusades, 6, //. Henry of 
 Winchester, erroneously supposed the inventor of Gothic architec- 
 ture, had been a monk ihere, 10, This church an earlier instance 
 of the pointed arch than the church of the hospital of St. Cross 
 at Winchester, Hid. Rebuilt at the expense of Alphonsus king of 
 Spain in lOpS, 121. Gunzo, a monk of Clugny, was the archi- 
 tect, tZ'irf. Not finished till 1131, 122. A decided example of 
 the use of the pointed arch, Hid. Consecrated in 1131 , five years 
 prior to the erection of the hospital of St. Cross at Winchester, 
 ibid. Peter abbot of Clugny came over into England in 1 1 30, ibid. 
 Henry of Winchester, who erected the hospital of St. Cro-s, had 
 himself been a monk in the abbey of Clugny, ibid. Four \ lews 
 of the church given in the Description particuliere cle la France, 
 123. The church not rebuilt since IO93, 124. Two internal 
 perspective views given in Plates I. and II. of this work, 125. 
 Begun in 1093, forty-two years belure the cl.uich of the hospilal 
 of St. Cross, 135. This church a complete example of the later 
 Gothic style, excepting that tiie columns and pilasters are Corin- 
 thian instead of clustered Gothic, and that the upper arches are 
 semicircular, 136. It probably suggested the circular window at 
 the end of each transept in a Gothic cathedral, 144. 
 
 Codex Ar,genteus, a Gothic version of the Gospels, by Ulphilas bi- 
 shop, of the Goths, not a manuscript, but stamped with types 
 upon vellum, 35, 71. 
 
 Colours for painting on glass, how produced, 232 et seq. How to 
 be burnt in, 23S. 
 
 Columns, marble, when first introduced at Rome, 12, n. Columns 
 for the church of Aix-la-Chapelle procured by Cliarlemagne from 
 Ravenna, 60. Column, the clustered, occurred in the church of 
 
 . the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem, and supposed to have been de- 
 rived from that, 102. The clustered column suggested by the 
 palm-tree, and why adopted, 103. Vasari seems to attribute the 
 introduction oi the clustered column into Italy to Marchioa of 
 
 s 2 
 
IS'DEX. 
 
 Arezzo, who was appointed architect to the pope, about 12()0, 
 137. He appears to have thought llie church of Arezzo, erected 
 in 1216, the earliest instance in that cejuntry, ibid. The columns 
 of that church of two diflerent modules, some very thick, and 
 some very slender, did. Column, the clustered, in Gothic erec- 
 tions, borrowed fri)m the church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusa- 
 lem, 143. Albert Durer's rules for forming varieties of the clus- 
 tered column, its base, capital, and pedestal, 203etseq. Columns 
 in Gothic architecture, their variety of proportions, 217 et seq. 
 Plans of Gothic columns, with elevations of their bases and pe- 
 destals, as given by Albert Durer, see Plate XI. of this work. 
 
 Constantuie, the emperor, removes the seat of the Roman empirt 
 from Rome to Constantinople in 324, and why, 18. Deprives 
 the principal buildings of Rome of statues, columns, and other 
 ornaments, to decorate Constantinople, ly. Erected structures at 
 Rome and elsewhere, 24. Spoiled the whole empire of statues 
 and the finest rarities of marble to adorn Constantinople, 25. 
 Cannot be considered as any other than the first who ruined the 
 arts and architecture, 25. 
 
 Constantinople, then called Byzantium; The seat of the Roman em- 
 pire transferred thither by Constantine in 324, IS. Architects 
 employed there deficient in skill, 20. Buildings there very defec- 
 tive, and not comparable to the former ones at Rome, ibid. Few, 
 if any, of Constantine's buildings supposed remaining, 22, Its 
 name ,charged from Byzantium to Constantinople about 330, 
 22, n. A tew ages alter Constantine scarcely any but modern 
 erections found there, ib'd. The supposed excellence of structures 
 there believed to be much over-r.^tcd, 23, Architecture there in 
 the time of Constantine very inferior to that of Rome, 25. Sub- 
 sequent structures there by the succeeding emperors not entitled 
 to praise, 25. Constantinople the resort of artists of all kinds, 
 29. Considered as the Athens of the Italians in the tenth century, 
 ibid. Artificers procured there for mosaic in 1066, 2Q, n. Con- 
 stantinople and Rome furnished the marbles for the buildings at 
 Ravenna, 34. Buildings there in the tenth century, 84. An ar- 
 chitect procured from Constantinople rebuilt the church of St. 
 Mark at Venice about 11/8, 132. 
 
 Constantinople. Santa Sophia, the church of, an adequate specimen 
 of the style of building in Constantine's time, 21. When erect- 
 ed, 21, n. Rebuilt in part by Justinian, 28. Some particulars of 
 its style, 29, n. Partially rebuilt by Anthemius of Tralli and Isi- 
 dore of Miletus, in the reign of Justinianj about 527, 23. Re- 
 paired about 867, 84. 
 
 Cordova, a mosque tliore built in 7S7, which in Felibien's tima 
 
 - served as a church, 5(3. 
 
 CoTinont, Thomas de, an architect, continued the building of th» 
 cathedral of Amiens, J 38. 
 
 Coucy, Robert de, an architect erap'oyed on the church of St. Nica- 
 sius at Rheims in 1297, and died in 1311, 140. 
 
 Councils summoned by the popes at various periods one reason why 
 
INDEX. 
 
 it was 90 generally known what edifices were undertaken in dif- 
 ferent countries, 148. One held at Rheims in 1131, attended by 
 the archbiihops and bishops of Fiance, Germany, Aquitain, Eng- 
 land, and Spain, 148. 
 
 Crises of Alexandria, an architect, flourished in the sixth century, 2g, 
 
 Crockets, the idea for them whence obtained, 146, 250. 
 
 Crusades supposed erroneously the occasion of the introduction of 
 Gothic architecture, 5, 126. This opinion refuted, 6. Crusades, 
 their origin and effects, 126. Rendered the profession of Chris- 
 tianity fashionable, and induced many persons to bestow large sums 
 in the erection of churches, 128. Ihe system of Gothic archi- 
 tecture seems to have been settled before the first crusade, 129,a. 
 
 Cubit of Milan, its measure, 18/, ». 193. 
 
 D 
 
 Pallaway, Mr. his opinion on the origin of Gothic architecture, 11» 
 Refuted, ilicL 
 
 Dalmulius, St. bishop of Rhodes, an architect, 50. 
 
 Panes, Norman, their ravages in France, 74. 
 
 Denis, St. the church of, begun by Dagobert about 628, 5 1 . Described, 
 ib'ul. The present structure kas pointed arches, 126, n. Rebuilt by ab- 
 bot Sugger in 1140, and finished in less than ten years, 133. One 
 o{ the earliest instances of the modern Gothic style in France, J 34. 
 This church not rebuilt since Sugger's time, ihid. Posterior to the 
 church of the hospital of St. Cross at Winchester, 135. This 
 church built in 1150, suj)posed the earliest example of the use of 
 painted glass after the introduction of the lighter Gothic style, 
 150. Abbot Sugger's pains to procure the painted glass for it, 151. 
 Le Noire's suppositicm^.that be was duped by the workmen, refuted* 
 152. 
 
 Distribution of a Gothic cathedral into three stories, with a vaulted 
 ambulatory over the side-arsles of the nave, probably borrowed from 
 the church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem, 143. 
 
 Doors and windows, proportions of, 219. 
 
 Doublet, Mods, a gross mistranslation of his as to sapphires in 
 painted glass detected and refuted, 152. 
 
 Dunes in Flanders, the jhurch of the Virgin Mary there rebuilt 
 by the members of the monastery as the workmen, 49, n. 
 
 purer. Alb, his rules for forming the varieties of the clustered 
 column, its base, capital, and pedestal, 203 et seq. Plans of 
 columns, with elevations of their bases and pedestals, as given by 
 |iim. see Plate XI. of this work. 
 
 E 
 
 ]Sdu-crd the Confessor rebuilds Wes.tmjnster abbey, 107. Dies, and 
 
 is buried there. 111. Resided in' Normandy from a very early age 
 till he ascended the throne, 115. His partiniii) for the natives of 
 France and Normandy noticed by Ingulplixvs, 1 \6. 
 El/rid, king of the West Saxons, said to have employed one sixth of 
 his revenue in the payment of -workmen, 79- 1^ "^oes not appear 
 they were architects, 80. The account incredible, and why, ilipi, 
 
 s 3 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Eli/, the conventual church there erected in 6/4, supposed to hav» 
 been directed by Wilfrid bishop of York, 55. lis proportions, 
 196. Those of the cathedral at Ely, Hid. 
 
 England, buildings there, 52 et seq. Structures there in the ninth 
 century, 7s. Erections there in the tenth, 90. Architects of Eng- 
 land about 1216 affected to fill their buildings with sculpture, and 
 disregarded proportion, 13S. Salisbury cathedra] the first instanco 
 of the pure and unmixed Githic in England, ]42. A council 
 held at Rheiius in 1131, attended by the archbishops and bishops of 
 England and other kingdoms, MS. 
 
 Entinopus of CanJia, the original builder of Venice in 420, 27. 
 
 Eterius, architect to the emperor Theodosius, about 49 1, 2/. 
 
 Evelyn, Mr. his translation of Roland Freart Sieur de Chambray'n 
 Parallel of ancient and modern Architecture used by the work- 
 men in the erection of St. Paul's, 224. 
 
 Euclid in his writings gives the principle of the pointed arch, 92, 
 243. See it also from him, Plate III. Fig. 4. His works trans- 
 lated into Latin, by Boetius, in the time of Theodoric king of the 
 Goths, 93, 243. Euclid's writings recommended by Cassiodorus 
 to Theodoric, iOid. Boctius's translation mentioned by Cassiodo- 
 rus. Hid. 
 
 F 
 
 Felilien, his opinion on the Lombard buildings, 51. His account of 
 the process of painting on glass, translated and abridged, 227 et 
 seq. 
 
 Ftrreol, bishop of Limoges, an architect, 50. 
 
 Florence. The church of St, Miniato on the mount, built in 1013, 
 87. 
 
 France. The Goths driven out of France in 713, 3(5. Churches 
 erected in France by Clovis, 47. By Childebert, Hid. By Clotha- 
 rius, ibid. Character of buildings in France by these persons, 
 idid. Other erections in France in the reign of Childebert II. 
 and Chilperic 1.50. Benedict Biscopius, abont 073, s'ent to France 
 for architects and glaziers, 54, 150. Wilfrid, bishop of York, 
 about 674 procured workmen from Rome, France, and other 
 countries, 54. Buildings in France in the time of Louis the 
 Pious, 71. Almost all the monasteries and churches in France 
 were, till the year 1000, of wood, 73, n. This fact how far true. 
 Hid. n. Architecture in France in the time of Louis the Pious iti 
 a deplorable state, 73. Ravages in France by the Norman Danes, 
 74. Buildings in France repaired and re-erected about the year 
 1003, 87. Those in France under Hu!2,h Capet, and king Robert, 
 05 et seq. Erections in France under Henry I. QS. Edward the 
 Confessor's architects believed to have been procured from France, 
 and particularly from Normandy, 115. All our artists after the 
 conquest procured from Normandy, and loved to work in Caen 
 stone, 116. The chin-ch of St. Denis rebuilt in 1140, one of the 
 earliest instances of the modern Gothic in France, 134. In the 
 twelfth century architecture in F'rance underwent a total change, 
 ibidf Architects of France about 12l6, affected to fill their 
 
INDEX. 
 
 buildings with sculpture, and disregarded proportion, US. Uh- 
 less the cathedral at Amiens be an instance of the pure and un- 
 mixed Gothic, the earliest structure of that kind in France is the 
 church of St. Nicasius at Rheims, begun in 1229, 142. A coun- 
 cil at Rheims in 1 131, attended by the archbishops and bishops of 
 France and other kingdoms, 148. 
 
 Freart, Roland — See Chmnbray. 
 
 Fulhert, bishop of Chartres, an architect, rebuilds his cathedral, 96. 
 
 G 
 
 Gayfere, Mr. mason to Westminster abbey, entitled to the thanks of 
 ail renl antiquaries for his mode of conducting the repairs of Henry 
 the Seventh's chapel, 226. 
 
 Gemellus, supposed a Roman, the architect of the church of St. Agatha 
 at Ravenna, about 400, ninety-three years before the arrival of 
 Theodoric king of the Goihs in Italy, 34. 
 
 Genseric, king of the Vandals, besieged and took Rome about 455, 
 31 ; and gave it up to plunder for foiirteen days, ibid. 
 
 Germain, St. bishop of Paris, an architect, 4Q. 
 
 Germain, St. des Prez, the church of, an instance of the use of the 
 pointed arch, 125, n. 126, n. This church erected at the beginning 
 of the eleventh century. Hid. An earlier example of the pointed 
 arch than the church of the hospital of St. Cross at Winchester, 
 135. 
 
 Cermany, buildings rhere, in the tenth century, 82. Architects of 
 Germany, about 1216, affected to fill their buildings with sculpture, 
 and disregarded proportion, 138. A council at Rheims in 1131, 
 attended by ihe archbishops and bishops of Germany and other 
 countries, 148. 
 
 Class-making. Benedict Biscopius, about 6/3, sent to France for 
 artificers skilled in glass-making, 54. The art unknown at that 
 time in Britain, iliid. 
 
 Glass, painted, abbot Sugger, supposed the reviver of the practice of 
 introducing it into ecclesiastical structures, 148. The reason and 
 necessity for its introduction, 149. Mentioned so early as the sixth 
 eentury, 150. The painted glass in the church of Notre Dame at 
 Paris, described by Fortunatu.^, who lived In the sixth century, ibid. 
 Earliest instance of its use in France after the introduction of the 
 lighter Gothic style secrns to have been that of the abbey of St. 
 Denis, built in 1150, 150. Le Noire's account of abbot Sugger's 
 exertions to procure it, 151. His suggestion that the abbot was 
 duped, refuted, 152. A curious account of the process of painting 
 and staining it, and preparing the colours, in Felibien's Treatise on 
 Architecture, 153. An abridgment of it given, 227 etseq. 
 
 Ghistovhury, the churches there, 57. A chapel there constructed by 
 the direction of king Ina, 58. This chapel described, 5g. 
 
 (juths had no peculiar style of architecture, 4, 5, 33. Opposed the 
 edi:c3lion of one of their young prinrcs, and defeated the attempt, 
 3. Driven out of Spain in 713, 6, Architecture in their time the 
 same as it had been before, 9. Besiege and take Rome in 409, 31. 
 Were Christians from the reign of Constantin*, ibid. But se'duced 
 
 s 4 
 
INDEX. 
 
 to Arianisna, by Ulpliilas, their bishop, if/id. n. First settled ip 
 Italy under Theodoiic their king, in '\Q3, 32. Again besiege and, 
 take Rome, about 54/, 32. Their ravages stopped by the remon- 
 strances of Belisarius, the emperor Justinian's general, 32. Their 
 conduct tended much more to the destruction than preservation of 
 buildings, ibid. A new style of building attributed lo them, and 
 they have been erroneously supposed the inventors of that which 
 prevailed in the middle ages, 33. When settled in Italy they em- 
 ployed Italian architects, ;ind professed to follow the Roman style, 
 ibid. Their buildings characterized, 34. Instances of their build- 
 ing!:, 36, Goths driven out of Italy in 5.53, ihid. In France and 
 Spain they continued til! 7 J 3, when they were expelled from both, 
 ihid. 
 
 Grose, Capt. his opinion as to the rise of Gothic architecture, 5. I^e- 
 futed, ihid. 
 
 Gunzo, a monk of Clugny, the architect of the church of the abbey 
 there, erected in IO93, 121. 
 
 H 
 
 Henry VII, chapel of, in Westminster abbey, the repairs now pro- 
 ceeding there conducted with great skill and judgment, 226. 
 
 JIoppus, Edward, author of an excellent compendium entitled Pro- 
 portional Architecture, or the Five Orders regulated by equal Parts, 
 published in 1/33, 224. Proportions of Grecian architecture, a^i 
 given by him, ibid. 
 
 I 
 
 Ina, king of the West Saxons, orders the construction of a chapel at 
 Glastonbury, 58. 
 
 Isidore of Constantinople, nephew to Isidore of Miletus, one of 
 the builders of the city of Zenobia in Syria, 29. 
 
 Isidore of Miletus, one of the architects of the chtirch of Santa 
 Sophia at Constantinople, when rebuilt by Justinian about 52^, 
 23. 
 
 Itali/. Wilfrid, bishop of York, procured architects from Rome, 
 Italy, France, and other countries, 54. Buildings there in the ninth 
 century, 7^. Edifices in Italy repaired and rebuilt about the year 
 1003, 8". Those in Italy from the year IO61 to 1250 charac- 
 terized, Q5. Little or no improvement in archir4»<rture in Italy 
 •within that period, ibid. The dome of Sieni a, crn?ecrated in 
 ] 180, contains pointed arches, 136, Vasari thought tb*» clustered 
 column and some of the ornaments of the later Gothic irtroduced 
 into Italy by Murchion of Arezzo, who was appointed arci.!t#-ct to 
 the pope about 1200,13/. He conceived the church erected at 
 Arezzo, in 12l6, the earliest instance of them in that countiy, 
 ibid. Architects in Italy, about 12l6, affected to fill their buildings 
 with sculpture, and disregarded proportion, 138. 
 
 J 
 
 Jerusalem. Church of the Holy Sepulchre there permitted by 
 Aaron, caliph of Bagdad and Morocco, to be rebuilt in 813, 70. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Rebuilt accordingly, by Thomas patriarch of Jerusalem, Hid. A 
 great resort of persons thither in expeclation of the end of th» 
 world, 86. Church of Uie Holy Sepulchre there rebuilt by Coi> 
 stantine Monomachus, emperor of the East, in the eleventh cen- 
 tuiy, 99. Some circumstances relating to this rebuilding, ibid. 
 This fabric, erected in 1048, the same structure as that standing ia 
 the twelfth century, ibid. Not rebuilt by Godfrey of Boulogne, 
 100, This church no longer existing, 102, 247, «• It was the 
 model for many Gothic cathedrals, ibid. 248. Contained the clus- 
 tered column, and is supposed to havesuggested that form, ibid. Fur* 
 tiished the idea for constructing a Gothic cathedral of three stories, 
 and with a vaulted ambulatory over the side-aisles of the nave, 143, 
 250. It also suggested the clustered column, ibid. 24g. And gave 
 the hint for the chapels surrounding the east end of the choir, 144, 
 249. A representation of its plan, Plate V. Explained, 247. 
 The church itself burnt, ibid. n. A sectional view of the arch 
 and cupola over the choir, Plate VI. and of its vestibule, Plate 
 VII. ' ' 
 
 John of Miletus, one of the builders of the city of Zenobia in Syria, 
 29. 
 
 Journeys of the monks from one convent to another, one cause why 
 intelligence so widely dispersed as to buildings undertaken in va- 
 rious parts, 147. 
 
 Juliana, Marco, an architect about 1120, 130. 
 
 K 
 
 Kent, Mr. his communication as to a book on the subject of Gothic 
 architecture, 154. Wholly useless, as neither the book nor any 
 mention of it or its author is to be found, 155. Some incompre- 
 hensible mistake or error supposed to have been committed by the 
 informant, 156. 
 
 Knight, Mr. his opinion as to the construction of the pointed arch, 
 198. Refuted, 199. 
 
 L 
 
 La Charite sur Loire, the church of, an instance of the use of the 
 pointed arch, 125, «. Built towards the close of the eleventh cen- 
 tury, 135. An earlier example of the pointed arch than the church 
 of the hospital of St. Cross, ibid. 
 
 Lancet windows, why so called, 44,n. Not from (he surgical Instru- 
 ment, 45, 7/. 
 
 Leon, bishop of Tours, an architect, 49. 
 
 Libergier, Hugues, an architect, began to rebuild the church of St. 
 Nicasius at llheims, in 1229, 139, l^^- He died in 1263, ibid. 
 
 Lombards succeeded to the Goths in Italy, in'50'8, 36. And establish- 
 ed themselves under Alboin their king, 3/. Their history to the 
 reign of Edawald, in 616, 38. Character of their buildings, 
 ibid. Instances of their erections, ibid. Their kingdom ended 
 by Charlemagne, in 774, 45. Felibien's opinion as to their build- 
 ings, 51. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Lonati, Domenico, an architect employed on the cathedral at Mila», 
 194. 
 
 Louis the Pious, buildings erected by him, Jl, 
 
 Lucca, the church ot St. Martin there, erected in IO6I, from the de- 
 sign of some of the disciples of Buschetto, gA. Some particulars 
 of its style, gS. 
 
 iM^arclie, Robert de, an architect, began about 1220 to build the ca- 
 thedral of Amiens, 138. 
 
 M 
 
 Malmslury, William of, asserts that the church of Westminster was 
 in a new mode of building. 111, A passage from him, ascertain- 
 ing what that new mode was, 1 12, n. 
 
 RJungoni, Fabio, an architect employed in the church of Milan, \Q4. 
 
 Marchione, architect to pope Innocent III. 133. Vasari seems to at- 
 tribute the introduction of the clustered column, and some of the 
 ornaments of the later Gothic into Italy, to Alarchion d'Arezzo, 
 who was appointed architect to the pope in 1200, 137- He ap- 
 pears to have thought the church of Arezzo, built by him, the 
 earliest example of the use of them in Italy, ibid. 
 
 Bleda, Giuseppe, an architect employed on the cathedral of Milan^ 
 194. 
 
 Megliavacca, Melchiotte, an architect employed on the cathedral of 
 Milan, 194. 
 
 Mctrodorus, a Persian, an architect in the timeof Constantine, 26. Not 
 known to have erected any structure at Constantinople, ihid. IVa- 
 velled to India, and improved architecture there, ibid. Rewarded 
 uith jewels of great value, ibid Supposed to have communicated a 
 taste to Constantine for the decorations which were afterwards 
 adopted, ibid. 
 
 Milan, the cathedral of, its plan, and two sectional views, inserted 
 by Caesar Caesarianus in his translation of Vitruvius, to show the 
 principles of Gothic architecture, 100. The plan given from him, 
 in Plate VIII. of this present work, and explained, lS6et seq. The 
 measures of several parts of the editice, 1S8, IQS et seq. An 
 elevation of the church in Plate IX. and explained, I90. Another 
 elevation, with the addition of the exterior of the transept, Plate 
 X. Described, 192. Some particulars of its history, I94. Ar- 
 chitects employed on it, ibid. 
 
 Militia, places the change of Gothic architecture from the massy to 
 the light and delicate style in the reign of Charlemagne, 62, 64. 
 Gives no authoiiiy for his assertions, 6-i. Merits every degree of 
 censure for this practice, ibid. 
 
 Milner, Dr. his opinion as to the rise of Gothic architecture, 10. 
 Refuted, ibid. 
 
 Monxa, near Milan, the church of St. John the Baptist there, built 
 tmder the administration of Theodolinda, queen of the Goths, 3y. 
 
 Mosaic, supposed originally invented by the Persians, 21. Employed 
 by Constantine in several churches, 26,72, Artificers for mosaic 
 procured at Constantinople, in 1066, 29,n. Some ornaments in 
 mosaic in the fifth century contain the principles of Gothic archi- 
 
INDEX. 
 
 lecture, 6,n. A picture in mosaic in the church of St. Agatha at 
 Ravenna, believed to be nearly as old as the year 400, and ninety- 
 tJiree years before the arrival of Theodoric, king of the Goths, m 
 Italy, contains the pointed arch, 33. Two specimens given by 
 Ciampini contain the pointed arch, 92. See them in Plate III. 
 Fig. 1 and 2, of the present work. 
 
 O 
 
 Odo, one of the workmen who rebuilt the church of St. Lucien at 
 
 Beauvais, in 1078, 107. 
 
 Odoacer, king of the Heruli, besieges and takes Rome in 473, 31. 
 Estabhshed himself in 476 at Ravenna, as king of Italy, 32, 
 Dethroned and murdered by Theodoric king of the Goths, in 
 493,32. 
 
 Olgiali, Gio. Maria, an architect employed on the cathedral of Milan, 
 194. 
 
 Omodea, Casa, an architect, supposed the artist who erected the ca- 
 thedral of Milan, in 1387, 194. 
 
 OpinioHy an erroneous one, as to the destined end of the world, 85. 
 Effects produced by it, 86. In consequence of it, buildings suf- 
 fered to fall to decay, ibid. 
 
 V 
 
 Painting on glass. A curious account of the process of painting on» 
 and staining glass, and of preparing the colours, in Fell bien's Trea- 
 tise on Architecture, 153, An abridgment of it, 227 et seq. 
 
 palm-tree, its nature, and propensity to resist a burden, 104. The 
 dnm-palni tree has many stems, 106. Its fruit perhaps tended to 
 continue the use of the triangle as the principle of the Gothi« 
 arches, 107. 
 
 Paris, the church of Notre Dame there, a description of its paint- 
 ed glass, given by Fortunatus, who lived in the sixth century, 150. 
 
 Paris, Matthew, affirms that the church of Westminster was in a 
 new style of building, and that it was an example for other erec- 
 tions, 111. 
 
 Pellegrini, Pellegrin, an architect employed on the cathedral of Mi- 
 lan, 194. 
 
 Perugini, Galeazzo, an architect employed on the cathedral of Milan, 
 194. 
 
 Peterborough, then called Medehamstead, a church and monastery 
 erected there by Sexulphus, about 674, 52. 
 
 Pinnacles, the idea for them, whence borrowed, 146. 
 
 Pisa, the baptistery of St. John there, said by Vasari to have been 
 built in 1060, 93, 130. Some particulars of its style, 94. Delia 
 Valle asserts it was erected in 1153, ibid. 130. A specimen of its 
 style given in Plate VII. Fig. 2, of this work. What particulars 
 of the Gothic style suggested by it, 131. 
 
 Pisa, dome of, built in IO16, 6,n. 88. An instance of the pointed or 
 Gothic arch prior to the crusades, 6,88. Erected in IQld, by Busf- 
 ehetto of Dulichium, a Greek architect, ibid. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 plan of Gothic dihedrals probably taken from that of the church of 
 the Virgin Mary at Bethlehem, 144. 
 
 Principles. Gothic architects said to have had no principles, and to have 
 worked without rules for forms or proportions, 182. This assertion 
 refuted, 183. The new work of the church of Sienna objected to in 
 1321, as not containing that measure in length, breadth, and height 
 ■which the rules for a church required, 183. The old part there 
 commended, because those particulars agreed so well with each 
 other, ibid. This a plain and unequivocal recognition of principle 
 and rule, 184. Principles of Gothic architecture exhibited and ex- 
 plained from Caesar Caewrianus, 188, lyo, 19 1. 
 
 Proportions of Gothic cathedrals, as given by Browne Willis, IQ5. 
 Those of the conventual and cathedral churches of Ely, ipS. 
 Variety of proportions of the pointed arch, 202. Of Gothic co- 
 lumns, 217 et seq. Of doors and windows, 219. Propor- 
 tions of Gothic architecture compared with those of the Grecian, 
 22(>, Variations of proportion in Grecian architecture, 223. 
 
 Q 
 
 Quadro, Girol. an architect employed on the cathedrai of !^Iilan, 194. 
 
 R 
 
 Jtamsey, in Huntingdonshire, the church of the abbey there finished 
 JQ 97^> 112. An earlier instance of a structure in the form of a 
 cross than that of Westminster abbey, erected by Edward the Con- 
 fessor, ibid. A description of the fabric, ir2,w. 
 
 RcwennCi, marbles for decorating the buildings there, brought frona 
 Rome and Constantinople, 34. Charlemagne procured from Ra- 
 venna columns for the church at Aix-la-Chapelle, ciO. 
 
 Jtavcnna. St. Agatha, church of, contains an instance of a pointed 
 aich in mosaic over the head of our Saviour, 33. That church 
 built about -100, ninety-three years before the arrival of Thecdoric 
 king of the Goths, in Italy, Hid. The picture beHeved of ncar>y 
 the same time, 34. The architect of the church named Gemel- 
 lus, 34. 
 .Rsiiault, son of Thomas de Cormont, completed the cathedial of 
 Amiens, 13t}. 
 
 Rhetms, the cathedral of, rebuili by Ebon, bishop of Rheims in the 
 reign of Louis the Pious, "J \ . Rumald, the king's architect, had 
 the conduct of the work. Hid. The structure not described by 
 any author, but only its rich furniture mentioned, 72. The church 
 and monastety of St. Remigius there founded in 1049, 9^- ^"t . 
 rebuilt in 1210, Hid. 
 
 Rheims. St. Nicnsius begun to be rebuilt in 1229, hy Hugues Liber- 
 gier, 139. A view of thi^ church as it lay in ruins in 1601, pub- 
 lished, with another of the west front, in 1805, ibid. Said to be 
 erected ^fter 1300, Hid. In l&Ol the west iront totally de- 
 stroyed by Santair, 140. Its dimensions. Hid. The tirst stone 
 laid in 1.229, 3"*^ '^ ^^^ erected by two aiciiitecis: the former, 
 Hugh Libergier, be^an it in 12<;9, and died in 1203 j the latter, 
 Robert de Coucy, was employed on it in 1297, and died in 1311a 
 
INDEX. 
 
 il'id. Mnrlot's dimensions of this church, 141. They are proba- 
 bly more correct than Howlett's, liid. Unless the cathedral of 
 Amiens, erected in 1120, be ai\ instance of the pure unmixed 
 Gothic, the earliest of that kind in France is this church of St, 
 Nicasius at Rheims, begun in 1229, 142. The church of St.Ni- 
 casius a decided example of Gothic architecture in that style which 
 consisted of pointed arches, cluslered columns, and its other parti- 
 culars, Hid. 
 Roman manner in architecture, what it was, 56. 
 Rome. Architecture, when in highest perfection there, 12. Build- 
 ings, ancient, destroyed, and their materials used in erecting others, 
 13. Tlv3 arch of Constantino the earliest instance of that kind, 
 idid. Other examples there, 14 et seq. Church of St. Paul there, 
 another, 17. Arches of that church censured, ibid. This church of 
 St. Paul, and St. Mary the Great there, adequate examples of the 
 style of building in Constantine's time, 22. After Constantine's 
 Temoval sunk much in her importance, 30. Devastations there 
 by the Goths and Vandals, ii-id. The emperor Theodosius spared 
 the productions of the more excellent artists there, ibid. Besieged 
 by Alaric king of the Goths, about 409, ^^'^' Taken in 410, and 
 given up to three or six days plunder, 31. Besieged and taken by 
 the Vandals, about 455, and plundered for fourteen days, ibid. 
 Underwent a similar treatment from Odoacer king of the Heruli, 
 in 473, ibid. Again besieged and taken by the Goths, about 54/, 
 32. Their ravages stopped by the remonstrance of Belisarius the 
 emperor Justinian's general, ibid. Rome and Constantinople fur- 
 nished the marbles for the buildings at Ravenna, 34. Wilfrid, 
 bishop of York, procured architects from Rome, Italy, France, 
 and other countries, 54. Buildings of ;ome of the popes at Rome 
 preferable to those of the Venetians, 77. Erections at Rome iu 
 the ninth century, ibid. In the twelfth, 132. 
 Rome. St. Mary the Great, the church ot, an adequate example of the 
 style of architecture in the reign ot Constantine, 22. When 
 built, ilid.n. 
 Rome. Church of St. Paul without the walls, its arches censured, 
 17. An adequate example of the ryle of building in the reign of 
 Constantine, 22. When built, 22, '.. 
 
 S 
 
 Salisbury, cathedral of, the first iri-;tance of the pure and unnrixed 
 Gothic in England, 142. The c !y one which never had any in- 
 termixture of the former style, ii-id. It was begun in 1220, and 
 finished in 1258, ibid. 
 
 Sappldre, the blue colour in painted glass so called, 152. Does not 
 mean the sapphire-stone, ibid, .vlaterials for the sapphires, signi- 
 fies materials for the blue colour-, ibid. A gross mistranslation of 
 Doublet's on this point detected, ibid. 
 
 Sculpture. Few of tlie most skiU'ul artists in Italy, France, Germany, 
 and England about 1210', had not some practice in sculpture, 133. 
 They atfeetcd to fill their buildings v/itii it, ibid. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Seez, tlie cathedral there rebuilt at the instance of pope Leo IX. 99. 
 
 It had been built riot long before by an architect named Azon, 99. 
 Sevegno, Vicenro, an architect employed on the cathedral of Milan^ . 
 
 194. 
 Sexulphus, abbot of Peterborough about 6/4, rebuilt his church and 
 
 monastery, and conducted the work himself, 52, 
 Siciliani, Aogelo, an architect employed on the cathedral of Milan, 
 
 194. 
 
 Sienna, the church or dome there, consecrated In 1 180, has a pointed 
 arch, l'i5,«. 136. The pointed arch .=aid to hove come into us* 
 about the time of Frederic I. between 1154 and II90, and intro- 
 duced into this church after its erection, 136, n. But these arches 
 existed in this structure before the time of LYederic, ibid. Th« 
 new work there in 1321 objected to as not containing that measure 
 in length, breadth, and height, which the rules for a church requir- 
 ed, 183. The old part there commended, because those particu* 
 lars agreed so well with each other, ibid. 
 
 Soldati, Giac. an architect employed on the cathedral of Milan, 194. 
 
 Spain. Goths driven out of Spain in 713, 6. Buildings there about 
 757 and 787, 56. Erections there in the tenth century, 83. A 
 council at Rheims, in 1131, attended by the archbishops and 
 bishops of Spain and other kingdoms, 148. 
 
 Sugger, abbot of St. Denis, one of l';9 most intelligent persons in 
 architecture of the twelfth century, 133. Conducted tlie rebuild- 
 ing of the church of Sl Denis, which he beean abo'it 1140, and 
 finished in less than ten years, 133. Is supposed the reviver of the 
 practice of introducing painted glass into ecclesiastical structures^ 
 14S. 
 
 Symmachus, a Roman patrician, one of the architects of Theodorie 
 king of the Goths, 34. Died in 526, 146, 248. 
 
 T 
 
 Theodorie, king of the Gotlis, dethrones and murders Odoacer king 
 of the Heruli, in 493, 32. This, by Theodorie, the first settle-f 
 mentof the Goths in Italy, ibid. When settled in Italy, rebuilt most 
 of the principal cities, ibid. A new style of buildiiig attributed to 
 him and the Goths, 33. And they have been erroneously supposed 
 the authors of that delicate style which prevailed in the middl« 
 Hges, ibid. Theodoric's architects in no instance Goths, but Boe- 
 tius, Symmachus, Cassiodorus, and Aloisius, 34. 
 
 Towneley, John, Esq. A singularly curious cut in his possession, ex- 
 hibiting the principles of Gothic architecture, 13S. Kindly gives 
 permission for its publication, and a tracing to be made from it, 
 
 158. But the publication prevented by subsequent circumstances, 
 
 159. This cut traced, and how, to Caisar Cssarianus's translation 
 of, and commentary on, Vitruvius, 159. 
 
 Tracery-ivorh, its intricacy and luxuriancy, to what owing, and 
 wheucc borrowed, 147. 
 
 U 
 
 f/rsinigo, Simone de, an architect employed on the cathedral of Mi- 
 lan, Ip4. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 V 
 
 Fasari, Geo. his opinion oil the origin of Gothic architecture, 5. 
 Refuted, Hid. His character of the buildings of the Goths, 3(). 
 His seniiraents of those of the Lombards, 3S. His account of the 
 building of St. Mark's church at Venice, 76. This last erroneous 
 in two particulars, 77. 
 
 yenice, originally built by Entinopus of Candia, in 420, 27. Build- 
 ings there in the ninth century, 75. The church of St, Mark ther* 
 erected about82S, ibid. This last repaired about 978 by some Greek 
 architects whose names are unknown, 76. None of the edifices at 
 Venice comparable to those which the French had constructed from 
 the beginning of Charlemagne's reia;n, ibid. Vasarl's account of 
 the building of the church of St. Mark at Venice, ibid. Erro- 
 neous in two particulars, 77. Buildings of some of the popes at 
 Rome preferable to those of the Venetians, ibid. The church of 
 St. Mark there rebuilt by an architect from Constantinople about 
 1178, 132. Some particulars of its style, ibid. 
 
 Vesica piscium, or the fish's bladder, a term used by Albert Durer, 
 explained, 244. 
 
 yitruvius, a translation of, and commentary on, by Caesar Cassarianus^ 
 159. Contains cuts exhibiting the principles of Gothic architec- 
 ture, 160. A book of great rarity, but three copies known, ibid. 
 The volume obtained, and how, ibid. Its contents described, 161. 
 
 \V 
 
 fFizrlurlon, Bishop, his opinion on the rise of Gothic architecture, 6. 
 Refuted, ibid. Visits the church of Southwell in Nottingham- 
 shire, to obtain an idea of Gothic architecture before he wrote, 
 7. His opinion an old error, at one time attributed to Balthazar 
 Castiglione, but since to Raphael, ibid. n. 
 
 Westminster abbey rebuilt by Edward the Confessor, 107. Said to 
 have been of a new style of building, ibid. Not begun before 
 1049, 103. Finished in IO65, ibid. No part of that fabric now- 
 standing, ibid. A description of it, I09. Some parts of this de- 
 scription explained, 110. This edifice a deviation from the usuai 
 mode of construction, and adopted as a model for future erections, 
 111. Its peculiarity did not consist in its being in the form of a 
 cross, for that was no novelty, 112. Not wholly taken down by 
 Edward the Confessor, but only the eastern part, and the new work 
 adapted to the western, which was then permitted to stand, 114. 
 The present church, erected in the reign of Henry III. actually 
 covers tlie spot on which the Confessor's building had stood, 115. 
 The Confessor's church shown to have been of the style of architec- 
 ture which prevailed in the reign of king Stephen, 115. The 
 arches there proofs that Gothic arches are formed on correct 
 geometrical principles, 200. 
 
 Westminster, palace of, some particulars relating to, II7. 
 
 Wh:thern in Scotland, a church of stone erected there by Nyma, a 
 bialiop of the British nation, 53. The place called Ad candidam 
 Casam, from this circumstance, ibid. 
 
 Wilfrid, bishop of York, ah architect, 54. The conveq^ual churcjh 
 
 2 
 
INDEX. 
 
 of Ely, built in 674, supposed to have been under his superintend- 
 ence and others directed by him, 54. Procured architects from 
 Rome, Italy, France, and other countries, ibid, 
 
 JViUiam the German, an architect of the twelfth century, 132. One 
 of those who built the bell-tower at Pisa, ibid. 
 
 inilis, Browne, proportions of Gothic cathedrals, as given by him, 
 195. 
 
 Winchester, Henry of, erroneously supposed the inventor of G<)thic 
 architecture, 10. Had been a monk in the abbey of Clugny, ibid. 
 
 jyinchester, the church of the hospital of St. Cross there, not the ear- 
 liest instance in which the pointed arch occurs, 10, 91. Its com- 
 mencement five years later than the completion of the church of 
 the abbey of Clugny, 122, Begun in 1136, 135. The church of 
 the abbey of Clugny begun in IO93, forty-two years before this 
 at Winchester, ibid. 
 
 JVindow. Lancet windows, why so called, 44, n. Not from the 
 surgical instrument, 45, n. Window, circular, at the end of each 
 transept of a Gothic cathedral probably suggested by a carving in 
 the front of the church of the abbey of Clugny, 144. Windowa 
 and doors, proportions of, 219. 
 
 fVirmbolde, one of the workmen who rebuilt tlie church of St. 
 Lucien at Beauvais in 1078, 107. 
 
 IVood. Almost all the monasteries and churches in France were of 
 wood till the year 1000, 73, n. This fact how far true, ibid. n. 
 
 IVren, Sir Chr. his opinion on the origin of Gothic architecture, 5. 
 Refuted, ibid. His sentiments on the construction of pointed 
 arches contradictory to each other, 200. 
 
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