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Architecture And Archæloogy.
ARCHITECTURE AND ARCH ? LOOGY .
BOUND CHUECHES . The folloAving is tho paper read by the Rev . T . James , at the meeting of the Northampton Architectural Society , reported in our last : — I fancy that there is no one Avho has arrived at the first
stage of his architectural catechism who Avould not be able to ansAvcr how many round churches there are in England . Tho four round churches arc almost as familiar to us as the seven Aviso men , or the nine Avonders of the Avorld , or any other conventional number of Avorld-ivide notorieties , Avhich Avill always bear a little addition to their sum Avhen critically tested , but Avhich , for a popular lecture , such as this is intended to be , will be found amply sufficient for Avorking
purposes . A round church ! People will at once go to soc that Avho would pass by a hundred rectangular oucs , _ parti }' , no doubt , because tho form is rare , partly because it is connected Avith that little bit of arehaiology Avhich the most modern student lias picked up , of the relation of that plan to the Holy Sepulchre , and partly , I think , also , from tho circular form , in itselfcommending itself to our love of beauty and
complete-, ness , so that from the " round O" that children delight in above all the letters ofthe alphabet , to the globe Avhich is our Avorld , and to the mightier spheres Avhich . circle above us in the A-aulted sky , all round things have a peculiar charm for us , symbolising , as they do , that- eternity Avhich the heart of man yearns to as his home . It beI thinkbecause tho age of imagination has
may , , piassod away , and that we arc become , as most certainly AVC are , more prosaic , flat , common-place , square-headed , and tmidcal , that tho round form has evaporated from our architecture , and that IVC can noiv seldom catch its A'anishing image , except in a Windmill or a Folly . Men are said by civilization to become less angular , and to have their individual points and peculiarities rounded off by
rubbing against their neighbours ; and if the architecture of the day is to symbolize tho existing state of societA , ( as is a favourite and not very false theory ) AVC might expect to find all our buildings Avith all their angularities smoothed off , and all projecting jioints rubbed doAVii to the fashion of most polished circles . But I bclioA'C that it ivould bo truer , both in fact and
figure , to say that our polish and smoothness arc all surface work , little more than a glaze of varnish and a thin A'cnccring , and that all the individual crotchets and ugly corners still exist in the inner man as strongly marked as they do in tho ground plans of our houses ;—the angles , j > orhaps , a little can fed off , but not well-rounded , complete character either in our men or in their buildings . Indeed , it is remarkable that , whereas the old Roman described a perfect character as a smooth and perfect
sphere" Xotus teres , atque rotundas , " round aud tight as a cricket-ball—AVC moderns should take the most angular block in common use for our image of perfection , and call a good follow " a regular brick . " That phrase Avould of itself imply that the day of round buildings has passed away , and yet with them , I ' think , the most beautiful of all formsand the most perfectifj also
, ; , the most ambitious . For who can fancy tho daring tower rising on the plain of Shinar other than a round building , tier above tier , reaching unto heaven ? What are those round towers of Ireland , and those far more ancient topes and hits of India , the Avorks of the early Buddhists , but embodiments of tho same spirit of aspiration , striving to express its craving after the Eternal
and the Infinite by a form at once most lastingand limitless ? The earliest buildings of all nations arc their tombs , and these , also from the same feeling that erected them , arc the best preserved . Love of father or mother , love of ancestry , love of child early snatched away , love of the departed , which is oven stronger because they are . departed , tho wish to perpetuate the memory of fleeting spirit l . y enduring matter—these motives have made our sepulchres the most enduring of our monuments , and those on lvhich the earliest and highest art Avas bestowed . Leaving out tho strange and
isolated art of Egypt , the earliest existing tombs of old Greece and Etriiria , and of tho further North and East , arc ,, for the most part , round ; or , at least , domed and vaulted , and so partially in curved lines . I must omit references Avhich I had made to thorn , and also to that much larger group of later Roman buildings , such as the Pantheon , the Temple of Tivoli , the Tombs of Cecilia Metella , of Augustus
Diocletian's Palace at Spalatra , tho Church of San Vito ( a tomb of one of the Tossia family ) , at Rome , and many otherbuildings in Avhich the round form is distinctly developed . But to come to those circular buildings of Avhich time has spared both their forms and records , and Avhich arc immediately connected with the round Christian tombs , baptisteries , and Churches , from Avhich the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem and its kindred churches sprung .
I have drawn out a series of circular buildings all to one scale , the ground plans being chiefly taken from Mr . Fergusson ' s admirable "Hand-Book of Architecture , " a book enough of itself to fascinate a reader into a student . This series Avill enable you to trace tho growth of the round tomb , through a variety of phases , into tho normal form of round church , such as our English architects adopted .
Passing from the classical period , and taking up the buildings ofthe Christian era of Constantino , AVC have the tomb of his mother , Helena , Avho died in 328 ; and that of his daughter , Constantia , IIOAV knoAvn as the Baptistery of St . Agncse . They are both nearly on the same plan . " I luwo draAvn that of the tomb of Constantia . You will observe au inner circle of double illars supporting the central domea
p , vaulted circular aisle and a further outer row of pillars ,, Avhich is broken by the entrance or forum , which extended on both sides in front much farther than I have shown it . Of the fifth or sixth century is the much larger building ( its diameter being 210 feet ) IIOAV called the Church of S . Stephano Rotnndo , at Bologna . The pillars are all taken from older buildings . This was probably a tomb or a
baptistery . In Santi Angeli , at Perugia , wo have almost the identical form , though of much smaller diameter ( 115 feet ) , and AVO here sec the first additions to the simple round in the forms of the square porches . Lp to this point there is nothing to indicate any placo set apart for the holy communion . The tomb of the saintor the fontAvould tho central point
, , occupy , and though , from the tradition of tho catacombs , the tomb might also form the altar , yet AVO find no divergence from tho concluding circular Avail for eucharistic purposes till Ave come to the budding chancel of the Baptistery at Noccra dei
Pagani ( on the road between Rome and Naples ) Avhcre a small intersecting circle forms a recess , at the entrance of Avhich , or possibly on the chord of the smaller circle , tho altar stood . The ground plan of this church , in Avhich tho type of our future round churches first comes distinctly out , is singularly like ( and it may help you to remember it ) that of one of those venerable Avatches Avhich , our fathers delighted to in their fobs
carry . The integral round being once broken , the expansion rapidly increased iu A-arious directions , the chancel became yet more developed , and the octagon form , the intervening , link between the square and the circle , Avhich had already appeared in tho central font , comes out into prominence , sometimes affecting the outer , sometimes the inner arrangement
ofthe building , as is scon in the main ground plan of St . Yitalc at Ravenna , where I haA e omitted , for the sake of clearness , the accessory chapels , toAvers . and porches . I have done tho same in tho plan of S . Lorenzo , at Milan , Avhcre I ha-A-c retained only the central part of the original plan , Avhich strongly marks tho combination of tho square Avith the circle , and the germ of those foliated geometrical
forms Avhich iu after times characterized thcAviiidoAV tracery and Avail tracery and Avail panelling of the best epoch iii Gothic architecture , but which Avcrc for many centuries confined to the ground plans of a series of tho smaller class of churches and chapels , closely united , in motive and expression , to the earlier round churches . I give ground plans of tho chapels of Planesin FrancoMontmajournear Aries
, ; , , also in France ; and of'Ani , in Armenia . It Avould bo tiresome to give you a mere catalogue ( and time Avould allow no more ) of the many existing circular and octagonal baptisteries and churches still existing in Ital y *
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Architecture And Archæloogy.
ARCHITECTURE AND ARCH ? LOOGY .
BOUND CHUECHES . The folloAving is tho paper read by the Rev . T . James , at the meeting of the Northampton Architectural Society , reported in our last : — I fancy that there is no one Avho has arrived at the first
stage of his architectural catechism who Avould not be able to ansAvcr how many round churches there are in England . Tho four round churches arc almost as familiar to us as the seven Aviso men , or the nine Avonders of the Avorld , or any other conventional number of Avorld-ivide notorieties , Avhich Avill always bear a little addition to their sum Avhen critically tested , but Avhich , for a popular lecture , such as this is intended to be , will be found amply sufficient for Avorking
purposes . A round church ! People will at once go to soc that Avho would pass by a hundred rectangular oucs , _ parti }' , no doubt , because tho form is rare , partly because it is connected Avith that little bit of arehaiology Avhich the most modern student lias picked up , of the relation of that plan to the Holy Sepulchre , and partly , I think , also , from tho circular form , in itselfcommending itself to our love of beauty and
complete-, ness , so that from the " round O" that children delight in above all the letters ofthe alphabet , to the globe Avhich is our Avorld , and to the mightier spheres Avhich . circle above us in the A-aulted sky , all round things have a peculiar charm for us , symbolising , as they do , that- eternity Avhich the heart of man yearns to as his home . It beI thinkbecause tho age of imagination has
may , , piassod away , and that we arc become , as most certainly AVC are , more prosaic , flat , common-place , square-headed , and tmidcal , that tho round form has evaporated from our architecture , and that IVC can noiv seldom catch its A'anishing image , except in a Windmill or a Folly . Men are said by civilization to become less angular , and to have their individual points and peculiarities rounded off by
rubbing against their neighbours ; and if the architecture of the day is to symbolize tho existing state of societA , ( as is a favourite and not very false theory ) AVC might expect to find all our buildings Avith all their angularities smoothed off , and all projecting jioints rubbed doAVii to the fashion of most polished circles . But I bclioA'C that it ivould bo truer , both in fact and
figure , to say that our polish and smoothness arc all surface work , little more than a glaze of varnish and a thin A'cnccring , and that all the individual crotchets and ugly corners still exist in the inner man as strongly marked as they do in tho ground plans of our houses ;—the angles , j > orhaps , a little can fed off , but not well-rounded , complete character either in our men or in their buildings . Indeed , it is remarkable that , whereas the old Roman described a perfect character as a smooth and perfect
sphere" Xotus teres , atque rotundas , " round aud tight as a cricket-ball—AVC moderns should take the most angular block in common use for our image of perfection , and call a good follow " a regular brick . " That phrase Avould of itself imply that the day of round buildings has passed away , and yet with them , I ' think , the most beautiful of all formsand the most perfectifj also
, ; , the most ambitious . For who can fancy tho daring tower rising on the plain of Shinar other than a round building , tier above tier , reaching unto heaven ? What are those round towers of Ireland , and those far more ancient topes and hits of India , the Avorks of the early Buddhists , but embodiments of tho same spirit of aspiration , striving to express its craving after the Eternal
and the Infinite by a form at once most lastingand limitless ? The earliest buildings of all nations arc their tombs , and these , also from the same feeling that erected them , arc the best preserved . Love of father or mother , love of ancestry , love of child early snatched away , love of the departed , which is oven stronger because they are . departed , tho wish to perpetuate the memory of fleeting spirit l . y enduring matter—these motives have made our sepulchres the most enduring of our monuments , and those on lvhich the earliest and highest art Avas bestowed . Leaving out tho strange and
isolated art of Egypt , the earliest existing tombs of old Greece and Etriiria , and of tho further North and East , arc ,, for the most part , round ; or , at least , domed and vaulted , and so partially in curved lines . I must omit references Avhich I had made to thorn , and also to that much larger group of later Roman buildings , such as the Pantheon , the Temple of Tivoli , the Tombs of Cecilia Metella , of Augustus
Diocletian's Palace at Spalatra , tho Church of San Vito ( a tomb of one of the Tossia family ) , at Rome , and many otherbuildings in Avhich the round form is distinctly developed . But to come to those circular buildings of Avhich time has spared both their forms and records , and Avhich arc immediately connected with the round Christian tombs , baptisteries , and Churches , from Avhich the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem and its kindred churches sprung .
I have drawn out a series of circular buildings all to one scale , the ground plans being chiefly taken from Mr . Fergusson ' s admirable "Hand-Book of Architecture , " a book enough of itself to fascinate a reader into a student . This series Avill enable you to trace tho growth of the round tomb , through a variety of phases , into tho normal form of round church , such as our English architects adopted .
Passing from the classical period , and taking up the buildings ofthe Christian era of Constantino , AVC have the tomb of his mother , Helena , Avho died in 328 ; and that of his daughter , Constantia , IIOAV knoAvn as the Baptistery of St . Agncse . They are both nearly on the same plan . " I luwo draAvn that of the tomb of Constantia . You will observe au inner circle of double illars supporting the central domea
p , vaulted circular aisle and a further outer row of pillars ,, Avhich is broken by the entrance or forum , which extended on both sides in front much farther than I have shown it . Of the fifth or sixth century is the much larger building ( its diameter being 210 feet ) IIOAV called the Church of S . Stephano Rotnndo , at Bologna . The pillars are all taken from older buildings . This was probably a tomb or a
baptistery . In Santi Angeli , at Perugia , wo have almost the identical form , though of much smaller diameter ( 115 feet ) , and AVO here sec the first additions to the simple round in the forms of the square porches . Lp to this point there is nothing to indicate any placo set apart for the holy communion . The tomb of the saintor the fontAvould tho central point
, , occupy , and though , from the tradition of tho catacombs , the tomb might also form the altar , yet AVO find no divergence from tho concluding circular Avail for eucharistic purposes till Ave come to the budding chancel of the Baptistery at Noccra dei
Pagani ( on the road between Rome and Naples ) Avhcre a small intersecting circle forms a recess , at the entrance of Avhich , or possibly on the chord of the smaller circle , tho altar stood . The ground plan of this church , in Avhich tho type of our future round churches first comes distinctly out , is singularly like ( and it may help you to remember it ) that of one of those venerable Avatches Avhich , our fathers delighted to in their fobs
carry . The integral round being once broken , the expansion rapidly increased iu A-arious directions , the chancel became yet more developed , and the octagon form , the intervening , link between the square and the circle , Avhich had already appeared in tho central font , comes out into prominence , sometimes affecting the outer , sometimes the inner arrangement
ofthe building , as is scon in the main ground plan of St . Yitalc at Ravenna , where I haA e omitted , for the sake of clearness , the accessory chapels , toAvers . and porches . I have done tho same in tho plan of S . Lorenzo , at Milan , Avhcre I ha-A-c retained only the central part of the original plan , Avhich strongly marks tho combination of tho square Avith the circle , and the germ of those foliated geometrical
forms Avhich iu after times characterized thcAviiidoAV tracery and Avail tracery and Avail panelling of the best epoch iii Gothic architecture , but which Avcrc for many centuries confined to the ground plans of a series of tho smaller class of churches and chapels , closely united , in motive and expression , to the earlier round churches . I give ground plans of tho chapels of Planesin FrancoMontmajournear Aries
, ; , , also in France ; and of'Ani , in Armenia . It Avould bo tiresome to give you a mere catalogue ( and time Avould allow no more ) of the many existing circular and octagonal baptisteries and churches still existing in Ital y *