A Text-Book of the History of Architecture: Seventh Edition, revisedHamlin, A. D. F. (Alfred Dwight Foster)
History
A Text-Book of the History of Architecture: Seventh Edition, revised
Hamlin, A. D. F. (Alfred Dwight Foster)
Architecture -- History
+THE REPUBLIC.+ Since the disasters of 1870 a number of important
structures have been erected, and French architecture has shown a
remarkable vitality and flexibility under new conditions. Its
productions have in general been marked by a refined taste and a
conspicuous absence of eccentricity and excess; but it has for the most
part trodden in well-worn paths. The most notable recent monuments are,
in church architecture, the +Sacré-Cœur+, at Montmartre, by _Abadie_,
a votive church inspired from the Franco-Byzantine style of Aquitania;
in civil architecture the new +Hôtel de Ville+, at Paris, by _Ballu_ and
_Déperthes_, recalling the original structure destroyed by the Commune,
but in reality an original creation of great merit; in scholastic
architecture the new École de Médecine, and the new +Sorbonne+, by
_Nénot_, and in other branches of the art the metal-and-glass exhibition
buildings of 1878, 1889, and 1900. In the last of these the striving for
originality and the effort to discard traditional forms reached the
extreme, although accompanied by much very clever detail and a masterly
use of color-decoration. To these should be added many noteworthy
theatres, town-halls, court-houses, and _préfectures_ in provincial
cities, and commemorative columns and monuments almost without number.
In street architecture there is now much more variety and originality
than formerly, especially in private houses, and the reaction against
the orders and against traditional methods of design has of late been
growing stronger. The chief excellence of modern French architecture
lies in its rational planning, monumental spirit, and refinement of
detail (Fig. 212).
+GERMANY AND AUSTRIA.+ German architecture has been more affected during
the past fifty years by the archæological spirit than has the French.
A pronounced mediæval revival partly accompanied, partly followed the
Greek revival in Germany, and produced a number of churches and a few
secular buildings in the basilican, Romanesque, and Gothic styles.These
are less interesting than those in the Greek style, because mediæval
forms are even more foreign to modern needs than the classic, being
compatible only with systems of design and construction which are no
longer practicable. At Munich the Auekirche, by _Ohlmuller_, in an
attenuated Gothic style; the Byzantine Ludwigskirche, and _Ziebland’s_
Basilica following Early Christian models; the Basilica by _Hübsch _, at
Bulach, and the Votive Church at Vienna (1856) by H. Von Ferstel
(1828-1883) are notable neo-mediæval monuments. The last-named church
may be classed with Ste. Clothilde at Paris (see p. 371), and St.
Patrick’s Cathedral at New York, all three being of approximately the
same size and general style, recalling St. Ouen at Rouen. They are
correct and elaborate, but more or less cold and artificial.
[Illustration: FIG. 212.--MUSÉE GALLIÉRA, PARIS.]
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