The Architecture of Provence and the Riviera — John Shaqi
The Architecture of Provence and the RivieraMacGibbon, David
History
The Architecture of Provence and the Riviera
MacGibbon, David
Architecture -- France -- Provence; Architecture -- France -- Riviera
The work of restoration has been executed with great care and success.
The west side has been almost rebuilt, but with plain stone, applied
merely for the purpose of preserving the rest. No attempt has been made
to imitate the old work, and what remains of the ancient structure is
not scraped and polished up, as so often happens in French restorations,
whereby the value of the monument as an example of ancient art is
entirely destroyed.
Not very far from Orange, as above mentioned, another Triumphal Arch is
found at CARPENTRAS. It is much simpler in design than that at Orange,
having only one arch supported by fluted pilasters with composite caps.
The whole of the upper parts above the arch are destroyed. Some
sculptures still survive on the ends, representing captives chained to
trophies. The very bold projection of the bas-reliefs is remarkable, and
also the fact that in the sculpture distant objects are marked with a
sunk line round them. This style of emphasising shadows and outlines,
and also the method of doing so by means of holes drilled round objects
is common in the sculpture of the lower Empire.
Part of another single arch, apparently also an arch of triumph, has
been preserved at CAVAILLON, but it is very sadly mutilated, and has
been restored at an ancient period, when stones carved with ornaments,
mouldings, and enrichments have been all mixed up in the masonry.
At ST REMY (which is easily accessible by railway from Tarascon) there
are also the ruins of a triumphal arch, together with a well-preserved
and most interesting mausoleum (Fig. 8).
These monuments are the sole surviving remains of the Gallo-Roman town
of Glanum Livii, a flourishing colony under the Romans, surrounded with
walls and adorned with temples, aqueducts, and public buildings, of
which some faint traces only now exist. The chief employment of the
inhabitants was to supply stones from quarries in the neighbourhood for
the buildings in Arles and elsewhere. The town was destroyed by the
Goths in 480.
The triumphal arch has only one opening, which is rather low in
proportion, and is flanked by fluted pillars of which the caps are gone.
On each side of the arch are well sculptured bas-reliefs representing
captives in chains accompanied by women. The flanks have niches, but no
statues remain.
Mérimée admires the archivolt of the archway, which he calls a garland
of fruit and flowers sculptured with the same perfection of imitation,
with the same taste and
[Illustration: FIG. 8. TRIUMPHAL ARCH AND MAUSOLEUM, ST REMY.]
variety of details, as is observed in the Gothic period. The arch is
about 40 feet long by 18½ feet wide and 25 feet to the under side of the
vault.
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