How to Study ArchitectureCaffin, Charles H. (Charles Henry)
History
How to Study Architecture
Caffin, Charles H. (Charles Henry)
Architecture -- History
In England the interior wall spaces and vaulting were decorated with
paintings, for in this branch of decorative work the Normans found no
scarcity of skill, since the Anglo-Saxon school of miniaturists,
originally started by Celtic missionaries, had attained a high degree of
proficiency, and now developed the principles of missal-painting into
the larger and freer scope of mural decoration.
A good example of the small Norman church is that of =Iffley=, near
Oxford. Especially interesting is the west front. In the larger examples
this feature underwent change with the introduction of the pointed arch;
but here is a distribution of the gabled end into three well defined and
excellently proportioned stories, pierced, respectively, with a doorway,
circular window, and an arcade of three windows. All are deeply recessed
and enriched with characteristic moulding, and the effect, while a
trifle barbaric, is vigorously decorative.
RHENISH ROMANESQUE
In the Rhenish Provinces is found the most fully developed Romanesque
style, characterised by the fewest local differences. When, during the
years 768-814, Charlemagne built his royal tomb-church, which with
subsequent Gothic additions is now the =Cathedral= of =Aix-le-Chapelle=, he
adopted the plan of S. Vitale in Ravenna and imported classic columns.
Moreover, the Rhine Provinces possessed many remains of Roman
architecture. Later they became closely allied by commerce with Northern
Italy and seem to have employed the services of Lombard architects.
All these circumstances tended to make Rhenish Romanesque resemble that
of Northern Italy. On the other hand, it developed a style more
constructively adventurous, vigorous, and picturesque; while at the same
time it was on the whole more systematically organised than the French.
It was, however, about fifty years behind the latter in its development
which began late and continued longer.
A typical example of the earlier period of Rhenish Romanesque is the
=Cathedral at Worms= (1110-1200). Its design shows features that are
characteristically Rhenish: an apse at both the west and east end,
flanked in each case by two towers; the use of transepts at the west end
as well as the east (the eastern ones being here omitted), the erection
of octagonal lanterns over both crossings, and entrances on the north
and south sides instead of the west.
The exterior exhibits a well-defined orderliness and picturesqueness.
The walls are reinforced with projecting piers and pierced with deeply
recessed, round-arch windows. Noticeable also is the effective use of
corbel arcades beneath the gable ends of the roofs and in various string
courses, while the richer emphasis of open arcades is applied with equal
discretion and effectiveness. Another noteworthy feature in the towers
is the use of dormers to embellish the conical or octagonal roof, which
in effect are rudimentary spires.
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