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Article GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE.* Page 1 of 5 →
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Gothic Architecture.*
GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE . *
( Continued from page 429 . )
CHAPTEE IV .
A COMPARISON OP SOME BUTTJOTGS OP THE STYLE OP THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY , IK PnrPEREJfT COUirTRIES OP EUROPE , AND ON THE SEVERAL HYPOTHESES CONCEBNEira THE PIRST USE OP THIS STYLE OP ARCHITECTURE . npHE annexed chronological series of buildings from the eighth to the sixteenth - - century exhibits the gradual development of the different styles of budding which have successively prevaded in Germanywithout having recourse to any hypothesis
, concerning their invention . But as very dissimilar conjectures have been advanced respecting their origin , and especiany respecting the pointed arch style , which , as has been already observed , prevailed over almost the whole of Europe , a short examination of these conjectures may be of some interest . According to these different hypotheses the invention of that style of budding is derived : — 1 . From the holy groves or thickets of the ancient Celtic nations .
2 . From huts made with the entwined twigs of trees . 3 . From the structure of the framing in wooden buddings . 4 . From the pyramids of Egypt . 5 . From the imitation of pointed arches generated by the intersection of semicircles . t
The first opinion , according to which the slender pillars and bold vaults of the churches of the thirteenth century are supposed to be an imitation of the holy groves or thickets in which the ancient Celtic nations worshipped the Divinity , is ingenious and pleasing , but has no historical foundation . The most ancient churches have no trace of this similarity ; it is only in the fourteenth and fifteenth century , consequently seven hundred years after the old reli gion of the country had ceased , that the introduction of
vaults entwined with ribs , which have been compared to twigs of trees , had existence . The second hypothesis , according to which this style of building is supposed to be an imitation of huts , made with the entwined twigs of trees , ancl which an Englishman , Sir James Hall , J has lately endeavoured to support with many examples , is not better founded , ancl inadmissible on the grounds before stated . It is only the latest and corrupt buddings of the fifteenth and sixteenth century that display this imitation of twigs . ll
The third hypothesis supposes that the structure of the timber-work in wooden buildings was the ori gin of the pointed arch style . An attentive examination of the buddings of the thirteenth century shows that the ancient style of church building presupposes , above aU , the art of erecting vaults , and is therefore grounded entirely ou stone constructions . But the later pointed arch style is derived from that more ancient style of architecture ; and although its forms differ from those of the latter , yet they all refer to the vaidt and arch . Stone therefore is likewise with this style of building the materials used in the construction of churches , and it was merely the framing of the roofs which was of wood , and the workmanship of the carpenter . The old timber dwelling or guild houses of the fifteenth or sixteenth century bear no resemblance to the
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Gothic Architecture.*
GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE . *
( Continued from page 429 . )
CHAPTEE IV .
A COMPARISON OP SOME BUTTJOTGS OP THE STYLE OP THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY , IK PnrPEREJfT COUirTRIES OP EUROPE , AND ON THE SEVERAL HYPOTHESES CONCEBNEira THE PIRST USE OP THIS STYLE OP ARCHITECTURE . npHE annexed chronological series of buildings from the eighth to the sixteenth - - century exhibits the gradual development of the different styles of budding which have successively prevaded in Germanywithout having recourse to any hypothesis
, concerning their invention . But as very dissimilar conjectures have been advanced respecting their origin , and especiany respecting the pointed arch style , which , as has been already observed , prevailed over almost the whole of Europe , a short examination of these conjectures may be of some interest . According to these different hypotheses the invention of that style of budding is derived : — 1 . From the holy groves or thickets of the ancient Celtic nations .
2 . From huts made with the entwined twigs of trees . 3 . From the structure of the framing in wooden buddings . 4 . From the pyramids of Egypt . 5 . From the imitation of pointed arches generated by the intersection of semicircles . t
The first opinion , according to which the slender pillars and bold vaults of the churches of the thirteenth century are supposed to be an imitation of the holy groves or thickets in which the ancient Celtic nations worshipped the Divinity , is ingenious and pleasing , but has no historical foundation . The most ancient churches have no trace of this similarity ; it is only in the fourteenth and fifteenth century , consequently seven hundred years after the old reli gion of the country had ceased , that the introduction of
vaults entwined with ribs , which have been compared to twigs of trees , had existence . The second hypothesis , according to which this style of building is supposed to be an imitation of huts , made with the entwined twigs of trees , ancl which an Englishman , Sir James Hall , J has lately endeavoured to support with many examples , is not better founded , ancl inadmissible on the grounds before stated . It is only the latest and corrupt buddings of the fifteenth and sixteenth century that display this imitation of twigs . ll
The third hypothesis supposes that the structure of the timber-work in wooden buildings was the ori gin of the pointed arch style . An attentive examination of the buddings of the thirteenth century shows that the ancient style of church building presupposes , above aU , the art of erecting vaults , and is therefore grounded entirely ou stone constructions . But the later pointed arch style is derived from that more ancient style of architecture ; and although its forms differ from those of the latter , yet they all refer to the vaidt and arch . Stone therefore is likewise with this style of building the materials used in the construction of churches , and it was merely the framing of the roofs which was of wood , and the workmanship of the carpenter . The old timber dwelling or guild houses of the fifteenth or sixteenth century bear no resemblance to the