chapel of Charlemagne’s palace at Aix-la-Chapelle bears evidence of Byzantine influences; it is polygonal in shape and belongs to the eighth century. This is the only fragment left from the great emperor’s numerous palaces in Germany. A few basilicas of the Carlovingian era have come down to the present day. Basilicas with two choirs, the principal one on the east the other in a niche on the west, appeared in the ninth century. The crypt was beneath the choir proper, which was raised, and sometimes this disposition was repeated under the other choir. But, notwithstanding these various innovations, the architecture of the period was Roman in general disposition and details alike.
The disturbances following the Carlovingian era effectually arrested all progress in the arts and it was only in the eleventh century that any considerable intellectual movement was again felt. From that time onward a German national art may be seen outlining itself, gradually freeing itself from Roman dictation and presenting in its ensemble and details a new and original character.
In the eleventh century the plan of the basilica underwent some modifications; the choir and transept were enlarged. The crypt became general, the cubical capital superseded the ancient type. The nave and side-aisles were for a long time yet covered with exposed timber-work and two towers were reared on the west, quite detached from the church itself. During the second half of the eleventh century vaulted basilicas were introduced into the Rhenish districts; columns were little by little replaced by piers, the latter being sometimes used alone and sometimes alternating with the columns.
In the twelfth century the Romanesque style reached its maturity; the edifices of this period are characterized by a noble simplicity and are the productions of a well-poised and settled art.
The thirteenth century witnessed the appearance of a socalled transitional architecture, which nevertheless exhibits Romanesque structures of signal importance, not only in size but also in the beauty of their style. This period is remarkable for the amplitude of the plans, the picturesque grouping of the different parts and for a multiplicity of towers, one of which surmounts the cupola covering the intersection of the nave and transept. In addition to this unusual number of towers — in some cases there are as many as seven — the church architecture of the time is still farther characterized externally by rows of arches beneath the cornice, which impart a peculiar richness to the choir and transept and are sometimes even carried around the entire edifice. Examples of this type are especially common in the Rhenish districts, where it long withstood the inroads of Gothic art.
This last style had made its appearance in Germany in the middle of the thirteenth century when it had already reached an advanced stage of development in France. After crossing the Rhine it ceased to grope its way slowly and ere long it attained the height of its perfection ; early productions of the style are now rare.
In the fourteenth century, when Gothic architecture was in its maturity in Germany, the principle of verticalism was carried to the extreme limit; all horizontal lines gradually disappeared; the facades lacked the noble proportions and the tranquil divisions of the French cathedrals in the interior; the capitals were done away with so as not to interfere with the soaring effect of the architecture, and the ribs were thrown off directly from the pillars, without any intermediary element whatever.
A common representative type of the German Gothic is seen in the church with three aisles of equal height, in German the Hallen Kirche. This disposition gives the edifice a singular character of grandeur, equality and simplicity. The side-aisles were broadened to the width of the nave at the same time that they were raised to its height; the pillars were disposed in squares making the vaults of equal dimensions. This general plan, which had already been applied to the Romanesque basilica in Westphalia, came into common use during the Gothic period, especially for parish churches. The cathedrals and churches belonging to religious orders generally maintained the more costly and more picturesque disposition of a nave with lower side-aisles.
The fifteenth century saw the abandonment of those principles on which Gothic art was based, namely, truthfulness in construction and the exercise of a wise discrimination in decoration. Stone was now cut to imitate wood; consoles for the support of weights were made to represent interlacing
branches; the general dulness and listlessness was succeeded by a great enthusiasm for the past, and yet there is an ingenuity, a picturesqueness, in many of the arrangements, as well as a boldness in the dispositions, that makes the childishness displayed in the details and the lack of constructive simplicity tolerable.
The Gothic style still retained a sufficient hold at the beginning of the sixteenth century to enable it to cope, in civil architecture, with the aggressive spirit of the Renaissance down to the first quarter of the seventeenth century. The later style was often forced to submit to compromises and it never completely shook off the yoke of Gothic tradition in its ecclesiastical constructions.
A study of the development of German architecture and of its relations with that of neighboring countries from the eleventh to the sixteenth century would far overpass the limits of this sketch; the schools are many in number and vary in the different provinces according to climatic conditions and the character of the building material accessible.
Naturally, broad differences exist between the basilicas of the south, which are usually built of handsome sandstone, easy to work, and the stern rural churches of the north, painfully reared, course by course, with irregular blocks of granite; moreover, in the same section of the country these primitive edifices bear but slight resemblance to somewhat later ones in which brick was employed either exclusively or together with granite. Again, to confine ourselves to religious structures, the cathedrals of the Hanseatic cities, whose powerful masses of brick have the air of fortresses, have but little in common with the ornate architecture of the southern churches.
We therefore refer, the student to those portions of our articles on Romanesque and Gothic architecture in which we have treated of these styles in Germany. We will turn our attention in the following pages more especially to Renaissance art; its study is of more vital interest to the majority of architects since it is of more frequent application.
(To be continued.)
THE DOLPHIN IN ORNAMENTATION. 1—V.
THE ORNAMENTAL DOLPHIN.
THE different modes of disposing or grouping dolphins in deeoration are not very numerous, although great variety is allowed; they can be summed up into seven principal types. We find this animal: (1) alone; (2) in line; (3) facing one another; (4) back to back; (5) bound or interlaced; (6) beheaded or only the head; (7) unnatural.
TIIE DOLPHIN ALONE.
Introduced alone in a composition, the dolphin is to be seen not only in paintings and sculptures, medals and bronzes, but also on cascades and fountains, on ceramics and arms, on furniture, stuffs, ironwork, etc., in short on all those articles that are the products of art applied to industry; he also occupies a large place in heraldry. Then, according to circumstances, he is represented in two distinct fashions; either with the accessories of water — waves, sea-foam or aquatic plants — or without any representation of the element in which he lives. All depends on the idea to which he is applied, for he can be used with numerous attributes, as we already know he is by
1 From the Revue lies Arts decoratifs. Continued from No. 813, page 58.
Fig. 34.
The disturbances following the Carlovingian era effectually arrested all progress in the arts and it was only in the eleventh century that any considerable intellectual movement was again felt. From that time onward a German national art may be seen outlining itself, gradually freeing itself from Roman dictation and presenting in its ensemble and details a new and original character.
In the eleventh century the plan of the basilica underwent some modifications; the choir and transept were enlarged. The crypt became general, the cubical capital superseded the ancient type. The nave and side-aisles were for a long time yet covered with exposed timber-work and two towers were reared on the west, quite detached from the church itself. During the second half of the eleventh century vaulted basilicas were introduced into the Rhenish districts; columns were little by little replaced by piers, the latter being sometimes used alone and sometimes alternating with the columns.
In the twelfth century the Romanesque style reached its maturity; the edifices of this period are characterized by a noble simplicity and are the productions of a well-poised and settled art.
The thirteenth century witnessed the appearance of a socalled transitional architecture, which nevertheless exhibits Romanesque structures of signal importance, not only in size but also in the beauty of their style. This period is remarkable for the amplitude of the plans, the picturesque grouping of the different parts and for a multiplicity of towers, one of which surmounts the cupola covering the intersection of the nave and transept. In addition to this unusual number of towers — in some cases there are as many as seven — the church architecture of the time is still farther characterized externally by rows of arches beneath the cornice, which impart a peculiar richness to the choir and transept and are sometimes even carried around the entire edifice. Examples of this type are especially common in the Rhenish districts, where it long withstood the inroads of Gothic art.
This last style had made its appearance in Germany in the middle of the thirteenth century when it had already reached an advanced stage of development in France. After crossing the Rhine it ceased to grope its way slowly and ere long it attained the height of its perfection ; early productions of the style are now rare.
In the fourteenth century, when Gothic architecture was in its maturity in Germany, the principle of verticalism was carried to the extreme limit; all horizontal lines gradually disappeared; the facades lacked the noble proportions and the tranquil divisions of the French cathedrals in the interior; the capitals were done away with so as not to interfere with the soaring effect of the architecture, and the ribs were thrown off directly from the pillars, without any intermediary element whatever.
A common representative type of the German Gothic is seen in the church with three aisles of equal height, in German the Hallen Kirche. This disposition gives the edifice a singular character of grandeur, equality and simplicity. The side-aisles were broadened to the width of the nave at the same time that they were raised to its height; the pillars were disposed in squares making the vaults of equal dimensions. This general plan, which had already been applied to the Romanesque basilica in Westphalia, came into common use during the Gothic period, especially for parish churches. The cathedrals and churches belonging to religious orders generally maintained the more costly and more picturesque disposition of a nave with lower side-aisles.
The fifteenth century saw the abandonment of those principles on which Gothic art was based, namely, truthfulness in construction and the exercise of a wise discrimination in decoration. Stone was now cut to imitate wood; consoles for the support of weights were made to represent interlacing
branches; the general dulness and listlessness was succeeded by a great enthusiasm for the past, and yet there is an ingenuity, a picturesqueness, in many of the arrangements, as well as a boldness in the dispositions, that makes the childishness displayed in the details and the lack of constructive simplicity tolerable.
The Gothic style still retained a sufficient hold at the beginning of the sixteenth century to enable it to cope, in civil architecture, with the aggressive spirit of the Renaissance down to the first quarter of the seventeenth century. The later style was often forced to submit to compromises and it never completely shook off the yoke of Gothic tradition in its ecclesiastical constructions.
A study of the development of German architecture and of its relations with that of neighboring countries from the eleventh to the sixteenth century would far overpass the limits of this sketch; the schools are many in number and vary in the different provinces according to climatic conditions and the character of the building material accessible.
Naturally, broad differences exist between the basilicas of the south, which are usually built of handsome sandstone, easy to work, and the stern rural churches of the north, painfully reared, course by course, with irregular blocks of granite; moreover, in the same section of the country these primitive edifices bear but slight resemblance to somewhat later ones in which brick was employed either exclusively or together with granite. Again, to confine ourselves to religious structures, the cathedrals of the Hanseatic cities, whose powerful masses of brick have the air of fortresses, have but little in common with the ornate architecture of the southern churches.
We therefore refer, the student to those portions of our articles on Romanesque and Gothic architecture in which we have treated of these styles in Germany. We will turn our attention in the following pages more especially to Renaissance art; its study is of more vital interest to the majority of architects since it is of more frequent application.
(To be continued.)
THE DOLPHIN IN ORNAMENTATION. 1—V.
THE ORNAMENTAL DOLPHIN.
THE different modes of disposing or grouping dolphins in deeoration are not very numerous, although great variety is allowed; they can be summed up into seven principal types. We find this animal: (1) alone; (2) in line; (3) facing one another; (4) back to back; (5) bound or interlaced; (6) beheaded or only the head; (7) unnatural.
TIIE DOLPHIN ALONE.
Introduced alone in a composition, the dolphin is to be seen not only in paintings and sculptures, medals and bronzes, but also on cascades and fountains, on ceramics and arms, on furniture, stuffs, ironwork, etc., in short on all those articles that are the products of art applied to industry; he also occupies a large place in heraldry. Then, according to circumstances, he is represented in two distinct fashions; either with the accessories of water — waves, sea-foam or aquatic plants — or without any representation of the element in which he lives. All depends on the idea to which he is applied, for he can be used with numerous attributes, as we already know he is by
1 From the Revue lies Arts decoratifs. Continued from No. 813, page 58.
Fig. 34.