ESL Ce a HE i It) ea Rte TE BIER aa Han lili a. RF Tries Se 0 JE Rs Ann BEBE Bebe BA AE AER IE) St ie BOTs ha 2 : 2 FH Hi i it Fi) x 1 fit ti Gi Hw ron A BO OUS UES REN ne FATT IT eT oh 3 EF i RN ENIR AG LAY og Lie Attias sith ERICA yes PEI ht B00 Ar She £ St] SIMI Tae) Bre BEE WAHT ith RGRAY ROTOR (RNR PEL) Prep rok nala Ti Ea The Romance Churches of France AUTUN WEST DOOR See page 134 The Romance Churches of France A Manual of French Ecclesiastical Architecture in the Twelfth Century for the Student and the Traveller By Oliver E. Bodington With Original Photographs by the Author Boston and New York Houghton Mifflin Company mdcccexxv Printed in Great Britain by The Riverside Press Limited Edinburgh Au Peuple Francais en reconnaissance de la souriante hospitalité qu’il m’a prodiguée au cours de mes voyages a travers son magnifique pays ; et comme un léger témoignage d’une affection qui s’est progressivement épanouie a mesure que s’achevait mon travail Je dédie ce Livre 040118 Foreword Thuis work is the outcome of a great number of brief and often hurried journeys through France made dur- ing the rare moments of leisure in a busy professional existence. While he lays no claim to originality it does not appear to the author that any work of the kind, dealing with a century so remarkable for its religious and artistic sincerity, can be entirely superfluous. From the day when the author first came within the influence of the twelfth century, and the special appeal made by its profusion of ecclesiastical monuments, it has been a labour of love; and as the work has pro- gressed, and the labour increased, so also has the love regularly outrun the drudgery. The author does not attempt to conceal that he was also moved by a subconscious idea of propaganda. The nation which in the past has with such fervour, with such artistic conscientiousness, produced those masterpieces of architecture the description of which has been here attempted, appears to him worth studying much more closely than the English- speaking peoples seem yet to have studied it, not only in its present but in its past; and the study of its past may well lead to a more fruitful study of its present. He will be amply satisfied if his work helps to strengthen the conviction of those of his readers who are already convinced and form that of those who are 7 Foreword not, that a nation which combines the peculiar virtues which it possesses to-day with such glorious traditions of the past, is a corner-stone which cannot be spared from the edifice of modern civilisation and progress. I am indebted to the editor of Arts and Decoration, New York, for permission to republish the substance of an article on “Aix-en-Provence,” and some of the photographs accompanying it. O.E.B. PARris, January 1925 Contents Chapter Page : . The Twelfth Century in France and its Men of Mark . ‘ ‘ : 17 Disorganisation— Lawlessness— Pessimism —In- fluence of Crusades—Return of optimism— Louis VI.—Henry II.—Louis VII.—St Bernard — Abbé Suger . Architectural Introduction : 2% All pre-Gothic architecture in England culled Norman—A misnomer—In France at least six different schools of Romanesque—Romanesque should more properly be called Romance architecture—Derivation from Roman basilica —Structural problems—Vaulting and lighting of nave iii. The Various Schools of Romance Architecture . . 38 Norman — Folterinnautergnat — Pitcolndin. Provencal—Burgundian—The dome churches of Périgord hold a position apart—Comparison with Venetian and Byzantine churches iv. Geographic Origins and Distribution of Romance Architecture . 61 Persia the cradle—The zenith of the seal corresponding with the decay of the Roman Empire — Migration currents — The Byzantine and Venetian—The Armenian—The Syrian— Why Persian decoration is found in Normandy and in Ireland—The banishment of sculptors by the iconoclastic emperors—Their flight into Sicily and down the Rhine 9 Contents Chapter Page v. Historical Influences . 74 The age of Constantine—The age of Charlemngie — Carolingian the first real school of architecture —The age of Philip I.—The First Crusade—The rise and fall of the Templars i. Decoration—Painting . . 85 The original intention to paint the whole interior of Romance churches — No books: therefore people must be taught religion by eye—This favoured by Gregory the Great ; strongly opposed by St Bernard—The frescoes of St Savin— Z%e Last Judgment—Impression compared with that of Sistine Chapel—Date—Origin—Imitated from Greek artists — Issoire — Sainte Radegonde at Poitiers vii. Decoration—Sculpture : Capitals . 97 “ Adam and Eve” capital at St Gaudens—* Last Supper ” capital at Issoire—Saulieu—Elne—The Pyrenean cloisters—Combination of Scriptural and mythological subjects—And Saracen de- coration leading up to culminating profusion of decoration on facade of Rheims—Did not recoil from painting over sculpture—even exteriorly— e.g. Senlis—Notre Dame de Paris viii. Decoration—Sculpture : Doorways 108 Gradual evolution of recessed doorway from primitive form of lintel on two imposts—Notre Dame du Port—Conques and triangulated lintels —Beaulieu (Corréze)—Cahors—Recessed archi- volts—Arles—St Gilles and St Lazare (Avallon) —Development of decoration of tympana—The vesica or mandorla—Divine symbolism of fish- bladder—Detail of decoration of Notre Dame - du Port, Conques, Moissac, Beaulieu—Cahors— Souillac—Senlis earliest representation of the Virgin—Semur and Charlieu with Paschal Lamb I0 Contents Chapter ix. The Churches of Burgundy Vézelay — Its importance in Middle Ages— Spaciousness of Burgundian churches—Descrip- tion of subjects of capitals—Avallon—Saulieu— Paray-le-Monial x. The Churches of Burgundy—continued . Autun—Translation of remains of saints from frontiers to interior—And later from crypt to body of church—Reasons of protection for this —Paray-le-Monial—Tournus xi. The Pyrenean Cloister Churches St Bertrand de Comminges—Pope Clement V., the first Avignon Pope—Elne called after Helena, the mother of Constantine—Detailed descrip- tion of capitals—St Lizier—Moissac—Detailed description of capitals xii. Le Puy : : Le Puy—A church by itself—The volcanic region —The cathedral—The Rocher de I’Aiguilhe— St Laurent and du Guesclin—The oldest fresco in France xiii. Poitiers . . The five churches of Poitiers—Notre Dame la Grande—Sainte Radegonde—St Hilaire—Mon- tierneuf—Cathedral built by Henry II. of England xiv. Chauvigny and some other Poitevin Churches ; . . : Angouléme—Bad restoration—Civray—Pendant statues of Constantine and Charlemagne—Saintes —Chauvigny—St Savin—Gargilesse—Neuvy St Sépulcre—Nohant-Vic 11 Page 120 133 142 175 188 Contents Chapter XV. Nosmizady and Brittany Caen—Bayeux—Influence of Lanfranc—St Loup —Brittany—Loctudy a Templars’ church—Sainte Croix at Quimperlé . Provence . Arles—St let Dessriiinn of SIE scription of cloister at Arles—Montmajour— Vaison—Chapelle St Gabriel—Aix xvii. Of some Churches in the Devastated Area Rheims—St Rémi—The cathedral—Comparative photographs—Tracy-le-Val—Souain I2 Page 204 220 241 List of Illustrations Autun: West Door Glastonbury : North Portal Avallon . Santa Sabina, Rome . San Clemente, Rome Jumieges : Vignory . . Caen: Abbaye-aux-Dames Winchester : South Transept Poitiers: Notre Dame de la Grande . Caen: Towers of St Etienne . Issoire . Conques: Tiled Roofs Orcival : A Templar Church . Conques: The “ Enfeux” Issoire: Capital St Mark’s, Venice: Frescoes . Périgueux : St Front Interior of St Mark’s, Venice . St Gilles: St John and St Peter Chancelade Paray-le-Monial Vézelay Bayeux: Interior . St Benoit-sur-Loire : Narthex Tournus: Choir 13 Frontispiece Facing page 30 30 31 31 36 36 37 37 42 42 43 43 47 47 48 52 53 53 54 54 55 55 58 58 59 List of Illustrations Tournus: Columns of Choir . Germigny-les-Prés ; St Benoit-sur-Loire: Crypt Bayeux Elne . : St Savin: The Nave. Chauvigny Rheims: St Rémi Loctudy: A Templar Clinch Issoire: Interior Poitiers: Temple St Jean Chapelle St Gabriel, near Tarascon St Gilles: Frieze Clermont Ferrand : Notre Pais du Port Cruas (Ardeche): Capital St Gaudens: Capital . Moissac: Two Capitals Moissac: Zhe Vision of the Ine Conques: Zhe Last Judgment Moissac: Recess of Portal Beaulieu: Recess of Portal Senlis: Portal : Semur-en-Brionnais: Portal . Beaulieu: Facade Saulieu: Portal Valcabrere : Portal of St Jost Charlieu: Portal Vézelay : Central Doorway of N writen Vézelay : Left Portal of Narthex Vézelay : Right Portal of Narthex Avallon : Portal of St Lazare 14 Facing page 50 66 66 67 67 86 86 87 87 94 94 95 95 100 100 101 106 107 107 116 116 117 117 118 118 119 119 122 123 123 132 List of Illustrations Facing page Elne: Cloister . : 132 Autun: Interior 133 Paray-le-Monial : Interior 133 Paray-le-Monial : Exterior 140 Paray-le-Monial : Doorway of North Transeo: 140 Tournus: Eglise supérieure 141 St Bertrand de Comminges: Doorway 141 St Bertrand de Comminges, from Valcabrere 144 St Bertrand de Comminges, from the South . © 144 St Bertrand de Comminges: Entrance to Cloister 145 St Bertrand de Comminges: Column of the Four Evangelists : ‘ . iiind4h St Bertrand de Comminges: “ Basket-Work” Capital 148 Elne: Cloister . . . vi 140 Toulouse : Interior of St Sernin 149 St Lizier: Cloister 154 Moissac: Cloister 155 Brantéme : Gabled Spire 164 Moissac : St Simon the Apostle 164 Le Puy . 165 Le Puy: Cloister 165 Le Puy: Rocher del’ Aiguilhe 170 Le Puy: Interior 171 Le Puy: Porch 171 Le Puy: Doorway of the Chanelle St Michel 172 Le Puy: Fresco ' 172 Le Puy: Chapelle St Michel 173 Surgeres: with Two Equestrian Statues 173 Poitiers: Ste Radegonde 188 Chauvigny : St Pierre 188 Poitiers: Montierneuf 189 15 List of Illustrations Saintes: St Eutrope Melle : Facade of St Hilaire Melle: Exterior of St Hilaire Civray : Portal St Savin: Spire Poitiers: St Hilaire . St Pol de Léon: Kriesker Toulouse: St Sernin Gargilesse Neuvy St Sépulcre Caen: St Etienne Bayeux Caen: Abbaye-aux- Daines da Trinit) Montmajour . Arles: Portal Arles: Cloister Aix-en-Provence: Altar Aix-en-Provence: Statue of Mion; Aix-en-Provence: Arcading Arles: Arcading Rheims, before and ote the War Rheims, North Transept, before and after die War Rheims: St Rémi . . Rheims: Virgin on the Groat Door . Tracy-le-Val: Ruins Souain: Ruins 16 Facing page 189 192 193 193 198 198 199 199 202 202 203 203 218 218 219 219 234 234 235 235 242 243 244 245 248 248 Chapter 1 The Twelfth Century in France and its Men of Mark STUDY of the architecture of the twelfth A century in France would be incomplete with- out some notions at least of contemporaneous history and some knowledge of the men by whom that history was moulded, their characters and the part they played. Michelet says that architecture was specially an art whose tradition was perpetuated by the chiefs of the ecclesiastical order. The ecclesiastical orders were the sole depositaries of such rudimentary culture as was to be found in a lawless age. The law- lessness of the time, and the widespread brigandage, which made the shortest journey a matter of the greatest risk, themselves go far to explain the amazing number of churches which sprang up or were reconstructed during this century. They were often not merely oases of learning and settled government, but actual sanctuaries affording some shelter and comparative safety during the too-frequent periods of disturb- ance to the small settlers around them, who snatched a precarious living from the sparsely cultivated soil under the perpetual menace of recurring famines. The country at large was as yet unsubdued by any central authority and generally infested with robbers and outlaws. Agriculture under these B 17 The Reine Churches of France nds was precarious, and the produce of the land gathered in this hazardous way insufficient to support even the sparse population of those early times. Not only famines but devastating epidemics were common during the eleventh century. The main cause of this disorganisation, of the almost complete absence of any social life or government, must be sought in the atmosphere of universal pessimism, and even despair, with which the eleventh century opened. A superstition universally prevailed that the thousandth year after Christ would see the end of the world. This consummation was indeed welcomed, in a sense, as the only way out of an existence of universal misery and chaos. For chaos it was in the early Middle Ages, even the orderly civil govern- ment of the cities which existed in more ancient times being quite unknown in early medieval France. The Roman Empire had crumbled into dust. The Empire of Charlemagne had followed it. Misfortune was piled upon misfortune, ruin on ruin. To borrow ~ Michelet’s graphic words, the prisoner in his cell, the serf in the furrow, the monk in the cloister, even the lord in his castle, awaited simultaneous destruc- tion with fatalistic resignation, as a deliverance. The whole world was damned and there was no escape. One can imagine how this despair was accentuated by a terrible plague which devastated the whole centre of France shortly before the year 1000. The peasants were reduced to devouring roots in the forest. Even cannibalism was not unknown. The whole of the eleventh century was marked by a 18 The Twelfth Century in France recurrence of famines and epidemics which decimated the population. Nevertheless two events at least combined to produce a moral reaction before the century had run half its course. The non-arrival of universal destruction in the year 1000 did not immedi- ately affect the pessimistic outlook. It was generally accepted that a mistake had been made, and that the end of the world was to come not on the anniversary of Christ’s birth, but on that of His crucifixion. When, therefore, this latter date passed and the world still carried on, a gleam of hope began to spring in the sorely tried hearts of this famine- and plague-stricken population ; and this hope was kindled first into en- thusiasm and later into a species of frenzy by the movement which culminated in the First Crusade. Although the crusade properly so called was not undertaken as a collective movement until 1095, numerous individual pilgrims had made the hazardous journey in a vain endeavour to appease the Deity, who, it was believed, had afflicted the people of France with these awful visitations. Few returned. The first attempt in the nature of a military expedition was made by the Bishop of Cambrai, with a thousand Flemings, as early as 1054, but did not reach Jerusalem. A second expedition, organised by the Bishops of Mayence, Ratisbon, Bamberg and Utrecht, with some Norman knights, 7000 strong at the start, just man- aged to get to Jerusalem; needless to say, they were unable to maintain themselves there; and only 2000 returned. These continued failures did not however damp the crusading enthusiasm. If nothing else could 19 The Romance Churches of France have kept it alive there was the knowledge of the perpetual Holy War being waged across the Pyrenees by the Spanish against the Saracens; and the victories of the Cid stimulated the fond imaginings that the knell of Saracen domination had sounded. This wave of new-born optimism, which rapidly became a flood of religious fervour, fanaticism and superstition, centred in Peter the Hermit, the monk of Amiens, whose preaching determined Pope Urban II. to decree the First Crusade. This is not the place to describe the history of the first or any other of the succeeding crusades. All that it is here necessary to do is to deduce their effects, and especially the effect of the first two, on ecclesiastical life and architecture in France in the twelfth century. The crusades, while they rendered the service of restoring hope and faith to a world overborne by fatalistic pessimism, seriously accentuated on the other hand the lawlessness of the period. How in those days could it be possible for an army—which even at the start was, with a few knightly exceptions, much more of a rabble than an army, as it is usually understood—to live during its march across uncivilised and sparsely cultivated Europe otherwise than by forced requisition and plunder? Indeed, the crusading bands were looked upon by the inhabitants of the countries through which they passed as pests, to be hunted down as such. They consequently had to fight their way through, at all events until they reached the Byzantine dominions, where wider culture and greater civilisation prevailed. Meanwhile, a premium 20 The Twelfth Century in France had been placed on undisciplined fighting, lawlessness and brigandage, and these, with the common ruck of the crusading horde, became a habit with them, which increased rather than diminished the unrest at home, and still further stimulated the resort to all possible means of physical protection and the embryo of civilised existence which the small communities gathered round the churches had some slight chance of secur- ing. The amenity which the crusaders experienced at the hands of the Byzantine emperors, Alexius Comnenus in particular, was by no means disin- terested. Alexius had a big axe to grind in seeking, with the aid of the crusaders, protection against Saracenic ambitions. Numbers of the crusaders succumbed to the blandishments of Alexius and got no farther than the Capuan delights of Constantinople. Others he used for the conquest of Nicea and Antioch. The former might well have considered these delights as a just reward for the hardships they had endured in getting thus far. With this brief description we may now deduce the direct results of the crusades, especially the First Crusade, on Romance church building in France. A large section of the crusaders came home still further imbued with the lawlessness which they had been obliged to practise on their way out. Hence more churches, the only oases of protection, were necessary for the purpose of countering this increased unrest and forming nuclei of teaching, good government and personal protection for the scanty law-abiding popula- tion. The Church indeed showed herself wholesomely 21 The Romance Churches of France democratic, for it was through her influence that the first Communes were formed. Another large section of returned crusaders supported these efforts, for they had been privileged to witness the benefits of civilised government in the dominions of the Emperor. Lastly, the money and palaces, and masterpieces of art and decoration with which Byzantine churches abounded, fired many more of them with the ambition to adorn their own churches in France in similar fashion. Hence the rapid development of the artistic and decorative side of church building in the twelfth century. It should be borne in mind that France in the twelfth century was by no means the homogeneous kingdom which it became in later times. The dominion proper of the French King included only the Ile de France—that is to say, a narrow strip stretching from about Soissons on the north to some- what south of Orleans. Even within this small strip travel was extremely dangerous. One could go, says Michelet, in comparative safety from Paris to St Denis (say about three miles), but anyone wishing to travel farther must go lance in rest; and even the King could not safely travel from Paris to Orleans — that is, within his own proper dominions—except under the escort of an army. Outside the Ile de France the King enjoyed only a precarious sovereignty over the remainder of what we know as modern France. Intrigues and wars were being perpetually carried on between the King and his unruly vassals, who were hardly better than 22 The Twelfth Century in France robber barons, and a severe breach was made in the prospective unity of the kingdom by the second marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine, the divorced wife of Louis VII. of France, with Henry II. of England. This marriage threw Poitou and Aquitaine—z.e. the heart of France—into English hands, and seriously imperilled the fortunes of that injudicious French monarch, who lacked the wisdom of his father. His father, Louis VI., indeed, known as “ The Fat,” far better deserved his second sobriquet of “The Wide Awake,” for he was one of the most astute monarchs known to the Middle Ages. The greater part of his reign was employed in a successful en- deavour to subdue the feudal barons who infested the immediate neighbourhood of the Ile de France, and in consolidating the power of the Church, of which he was an active protector. He supported the foundation of the Communes, and earned somewhat undeservedly the title of “ Father of the Communes,” for it was the ecclesiastics, and notably Suger, of St Denis, who initiated that movement. He was fortunate in not being mixed up with the crusades, for the First Crusade (1095) took place before he came to the throne, and the Second (1147) not until ten years after his death. Thus he was able to devote his whole energies—which were of no mean order—to the internal affairs of his kingdom, and invest Royalty with a prestige which it had never previously enjoyed, but which became somewhat tarnished by the inefficiency of his son and successor, Louis VII. 23 The Romance Churches of France To do him justice, Louis in the earlier years of his reign exhibited a good deal of the vigour of his father. He subdued Champagne and held the Normans at bay by taking Gisors. His decline began from the time he determined on the Second Crusade, in 1145. In that year the Pope, Eugenius I11., had been notified of the fall of Edessa, and sent out an encyclical to France, which was responded to with enthusiasm by Louis—whether from remorse at having earlier incurred the Pope's interdict or from pure crusading zeal seems uncertain. That, however, was not the full extent of the Pope's achievement, for he actually prevailed on St Bernard to espouse the crusading cause, and St Bernard preached in favour of it at Vézelay. St Bernard, who was not a believer in pilgrimages, must have done so with some misgivings, which the result justified, for it proved a signal failure —the causes of which it is unnecessary to relate here— and its failure dragged down the reputation both of the King and St Bernard himself. In 1152 Louis made a serious error of judgment in consenting to the annulment of his marriage with Eleanor of Aquitaine, who later on married Henry II. of England. On the other hand, it was upon the decaying in- fluence of Louis and St Bernard that the reputations of the two other great figures of the twelfth century, Henry II. of England and the Abbé Suger of St Denis, were built up. Henry II. dominates the latter half of the twelfth century, not only in England, but in practically the whole of Western France, over which his marriage 24 The Twelfth Century in France with Eleanor gave him dominion. He was, despite his quarrel with Becket and its tragic ending, never a real enemy of the Church, although uncompromising in his determination that the Church should not en- croach on the civil jurisdiction. He initiated and contributed to the building of many beautiful churches. It was in his reign (1186) that Glastonbury Abbey, of which he held the revenues, was restored and St Joseph's Chapel built, under the supervision of St Hugh of Avallon. He began the building of the cathedral of Poitiers, and restored the choir of Le Mans, where he was born and where he died. He also began to build the cathedral of Saintes, which must have been seriously damaged in the siege of that town which he sustained against his unruly son, Richard, as it was later more seriously mutilated in the wars of religion. It would be hard to conceive of a greater contrast between two men than that which existed between the Abbé Suger and St Bernard, who were very close contemporaries. Suger was nine years older than St Bernard, having been born in 1081, and he died in 1151, only two years before St Bernard. St Bernard was a pure ecclesiastic—or a monk, it would be more correct to say—who achieved his European reputation mainly by his high character and his violent asceticism, which was not merely personal, but was an integral part of his propaganda. He inveighed bitterly against the prevailing tendency to decorate and adorn churches, of which Suger was the protagonist, Suger holding that nothing in sculpture 25 The Romance Churches of France or painting, or any other form of art, could be too beautiful for the adornment of a place of worship. Suger was not only distinguished as an ecclesiastic, but also as a statesman, and was regent of the kingdom during the unfortunate Second Crusade. It was his wisdom which had arranged Louis’ marriage with Eleanor of Aquitaine, and he violently opposed its annulment. He built the Abbey Church of St Denis, and from his own pronouncements it is fairly true to say that, of all the outstanding characters of this remarkable century, Suger perhaps best understood the spirit of Romance architecture, its religious, artistic and structural aims. 26 Chapter ii | Architectural Introduction and Carolingians—if architecture it can be called—and the rise of Gothic—that is to say, between the end of the tenth century and the begin- ning of the thirteenth—there flourished a mode of architecture which, although it manifested itself in a variety of different schools, each endeavouring to solve its problems in different ways, yet had a common genius and common strivings. It was original in the sense that it did not, like the Carolingians, bodily appropriate portions of more ancient buildings, as Charlemagne used the columns from Ravenna in the cathedral of Aix-la-Chapelle; and its problems once solved it ceased to be, and gave place with striking rapidity to Gothic, which indeed represents the direct outcome of the solution of those problems, the nature of which will be explained later on. For this mode of architecture we English have never yet devised a really appropriate designation. Such architecture of this period as is found in Eng- land we commonly call Norman, because the Norman Conquest brought to our shores almost, but not quite exclusively, as we shall see later on, the Norman variety of that architecture. But there are many other schools of the kind; so when we wish to be 27 B ETWEEN the architecture of the Merovingians The Romance Churches of France more comprehensive we call it ‘“ Romanesque,” a term which has every disadvantage; for it is vague, is borrowed from the French, and even in French does not bear the meaning we attribute to it in this connection. The French give to the architecture of this period the far more appropriate designation roman, a term which must be carefully distinguished from romain ; and for this roman the exact equivalent in English is “ Romance "—that is to say, something grafted on Roman models but infused with a new poetic and artistic spirit. Anthyme St Paul, one of the best- known writers on the subject, defines Romanesque architecture (architecture romane) as Roman archi- tecture” (architecture romaine) chastened and com- pleted in accordance with the needs of the Catholic religion and the peculiar genius of each of the peoples who practised it from the tenth to the thirteenth century. We, on the contrary, as has been said, commonly call every species of architecture which is to be found in England of the period immediately prior to Gothic, Norman, embracing in this wholly inappropriate appellation not only churches which properly belong to the Norman school but also such diverse monuments as St John’s Chapel, in the Tower of London, which is in the Auvergnat style, and the decorated portals of St Joseph's Chapel at Glaston- bury, which are as surely of Burgundian origin. St Hugh of Avallon, who afterwards became Prior of Witham and Bishop of Lincoln, was almost surely responsible for these portals. No confusion need arise 28 Architectural Introduction from the fact that there were several Saints Hugh in the twelfth century, nor from the existence of several Withams in England. There was a St Hugh of Wells, but he is not concerned, for we cannot trace him to any French origin. There are at least three places named Witham: one in Lincolnshire, one in Essex and one in Somersetshire. But the place of which St Hugh of Avallon was prior before being translated to Lincoln is Witham Priory, in Somersetshire, only about twenty miles east of Glastonbury. Hugh of Avallon, like most of his fellow-ecclesiasts, had already acquired a reputation for church building in his country of origin. The building or renovation of churches was indeed an occupation which at that time fell almost within the ordinary duties of every priest. It there- fore seems indisputable that he must have had a hand in the building of these portals. It is not necessary, however, to prove this; an ordinary acquaintance with the Burgundian architecture of this period easily establishes their origin, and a comparison of the photographs of Avallon and Glastonbury must prove convincing even to the tyro. The explanation of our description of all these churches as Norman without regard to their real origin is a purely historical one. The apogee of Romance architecture in France was during the middle and towards the end of the twelfth century— say, the reign of Henry II. of England, who was also king of the whole of the western part of France. A hundred years after the Norman Conquest the influ- ence of Normandy was still predominant in England, 29 The Romance Churches of France so that it is not surprising that we should have borrowed our religious, and indeed also our civil, architecture in the main from Normandy, and consequently have given to all pre-Gothic ecclesiastical architecture in England the generic name of “ Norman.” The case of France was, however, widely different. There, there existed at least six different schools of pre-Gothic architecture—viz. the Norman, Auvergnat, Burgundian, Poitevin, Provencal and Périgourdin— which had nothing in common but their origin and their aims. Their structural aims will be dealt with later. Their origin it was that gave them their generic French name of roman, for which up to the present the aforesaid awkward name of “ Romanesque ” is our only equivalent, but to which the word “ Romance ” is just as applicable as to the art and literature of the same period, because this style of architecture, like the art and literature which already bear the name of Romance, is derived, historically speaking, from the Roman, and yet is not Roman, but is suffused with new influences which were a combination of the nascent artistic genius of France with the spirit of chivalry and religious fervour underlying the crusades. For all these reasons, therefore, “ Romance” is the word which is claimed as being the most appropriate English designation of the architecture with which the present work will deal. Structural Origin of Romance Churches We are not engaged here on an architectural treatise, therefore an elaborate technical disquisition 30 GLASTONBURY AVALLON NORTH PORTAL OF ST. JOSEPH'S CHAPEL, OF BURGUNDIAN THE PROTOTYPE OF GLASTONBURY ORIGIN See page 29 SANTA SABINA, ROME S. CLEMENTE, ROME A BASILICAL CHURCH See page 31 Architectural Introduction on the intricate distinguishing characteristics of French architecture would be quite out of place. It is need- ful, however, to give a brief explanation of their common structural origin and also of the architectural problems which it was the aim of all the various schools equally to solve. For it was the ultimate solution of these problems which rendered possible the birth and rapid development of Gothic architec- ture. An endeavour will be made therefore to present these characteristics in the simplest and most intelli- gible form, so that anyone interested in the subject, although not deeply versed in architecture, can, with little effort, identify them by outward contemplation of the churches to which reference will be made. The prototype of all Romance churches is the Roman basilica, which was originally an edifice of a very simple character, quite different from the elaborate basilical churches seen in modern Rome, far less so than that majestic ruin the basilica of Constantine, in the Roman Forum ; and dedicated originally to purely civil uses. Fig. 1 (A) shows a cross-section of the primitive type of basilica upon which Romance churches were modelled ; Fig. 2 that of an early Romance church. It will be seen that the basilica comprises a central " space, N, which becomes the nave of the church, as CC will become the collaterals, or aisles, and TT the galleries of the triforium. The whole is covered by a wooden roof. But it is obvious that in a con- struction such as that of Fig. 1 (A) the nave, N, could get no direct light from outside. Now here is the 31 The Romance Churches of France kernel of a problem, which in a sunny climate like that of Italy may have been of secondary importance, but which became a far greater desideratum in the more northerly and greyer climate of France. The material with which they worked made it easy for the Italians to obtain direct light in the nave. All they needed to do was to raise the inner walls and pierce windows in the clerestory ; for as the nave had to support only a light wooden roof the loss in strength involved in piercing the window-spaces did not compromise the solidity of the structure to any appreciable degree, Fig. 1 (B). The problem was a much more formidable one for the French Romance architects ; for they had set them- selves the task of vaulting the basilica with stone and, having done so, of evolving a building of suitable elevation, spacious and well lighted. In other words, they sought, while adopting the same organic form of construction, to devise a method of letting direct light into the nave through the clerestory windows. The difficulty of achieving this was immensely enhanced by the fact that they worked in stone, and their naves were topped by a heavy keyed barrel-vault of stone, the vertical downward thrust of which tended to make the walls of the nave bulge or thrust outward the moment openings were made in the clerestory, thus compromising the solidity of the whole structure. The “barrel” or “tunnel” vault (bercean) is in fact the main characteristic of early French Romance churches, and is still seen there quite frequently, although it is nowadays very rare in pre-Gothic English churches. The finest remaining example of 32 A, 7 7 A, C ec rr Pl 77 rf Yr 0 FIG. 1 (A) AND (B); AND FIG 2 33 The Romance Churches of France it in France is at St Savin, a famous Poitevin church about which there will be many interesting things to say when we come to deal with Romance decoration. Remnants in outline of it can also be seen at St Hilaire (Poitiers), which although badly mutilated by inju- dicious restoration still shows that not only the nave but also the double collaterals were originally all vaulted en berceau. The student of Romance churches should invariably bear in mind that this was the main, if not the only, architectural problem on which Romance builders were engaged, and upon which the builders of all the various schools concentrated their main effort. The constant recollection of this will much simplify his study. The different schools of Romance architecture approached the problem in various ways: some boldly, like the Burgundians, who went the length of experiments which, as we shall see, seriously endangered the stability of their churches; others more timidly ; until finally the problem was completely solved by the discovery of rib-vaulting and the flying buttress, the two great structural essentials upon the discovery of which Romance architecture gradually faded out into Gothic. This consummation was not reached, however, till nearly two centuries after the first truly Romance churches had been built in France. One may reason- ably inquire why the Romance builders deliberately chose a material which so greatly enhanced their difficulties. Easily workable stone was almost uni- versally abundant, as also was wood, but stone had the supreme advantage over wood in affording pro- 34 Architectural Introduction tection against fire. Besides, a stone church could, without much difficulty, be converted into a strong- hold of defence against enemies in an age when almost every man’s hand was against his neighbour. These difficulties, these necessities, were far from discouraging the Romance builders. Rather they whetted their genius and exalted their energy and ingenuity, taxed as they were by the endeavour to solve the problem we have described. Let it be remembered then that the solution of this problem of direct lighting of the nave was the main architectural puzzle of the Romance builders; so we shall cease to be bewildered by the variety of methods through which the different schools sought to attain this end. Now the reason why so few examples of stone vaulting to the nave are found in England is because English Romance is modelled in the main on the Norman school, which alone amongst the French schools of Romance shirked the problem of vaulting and lighting altogether by preserving the wooden roof of the old Roman basilica. Doubtless the two great Romance churches of Caen, St Etienne and La Trinité, the prototypes of most of the English Norman churches as well as many other Norman churches in England and in France—Durham, for example-—now possess stone-vaulted naves, but it must not be inferred from this that these vaults are of the Romance period, nor that the remainder is Gothic. The main structure belongs to the Romance period ; the stone vaulting is a later Gothic addition. In the earlier Norman churches, such as the abbey 35 The Romance Churches of France of Jumiéges, one of the noblest ruins in Christendom — built, like the great churches of Caen, St Etienne and the Abbaye-aux-Dames, about the time of the Norman Conquest—the roof was gabled. It is not intended to suggest by this that Normandy, has a monopoly of the gable roof, although it is a frequent characteristic of the Norman style. It is fairly obvious that no sane person would try to put a stone vault on a church with gable ends. These gable ends were indeed only appropriate to a wooden covering —which, as has been said, is the main character- istic of the original Norman school. But like many other characteristics of the Romance style it is to be found straying far from its main province, and notably in a very well-known and beautiful church as far away from Normandy as Vignory, in the Haute Marne. Indeed it is a general peculiarity of all these various schools that they almost all founded offshoots or colonies” outside the territory from which they derived their name. In the main, however, their architectural characteristics are con- fined to their own province, although in point of sculptural decoration they have a good deal in common. The explanation of this is that the church builders—they could hardly be called architects in those primitive times—usually lived within the district where they built, whereas the masons who undertook the decorative part of the work were skilled workmen, who travelled about from one part of the country to another. To resume this preliminary portion of our subject, 30 iNORY VIG JUMIEG INTO HAS ‘‘ STRAYED MARNE WHICH HAUTE CHURCH THE GABLED A NORMAN MAN CHURCH NOR GARBLED A Ie See pa CAEN : ABBAYE AUX DAMES WINCHESTER THE CHURCH OF MATILDA, WIFE OF WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR SOUTH TRANSEPT - See page 4o. Architectural Introduction therefore, the architecture which existed in the period to which this work will be mainly devoted—z.e. the twelfth century—in France was divided into at least six schools, each of which possesses certain distinguish- ing characteristics which will be described later on. It is called by the French “roman” (not “romain” —i.e. something grafted on the Roman, but taking on a new character through the peculiar native genius of the French. Owing to historical influences, England was in the main colonised by only one of these schools, the Norman (although specimens of at least two other schools are found there). Con- sequently, this architecture was originally known as Norman, but has later been described as Romanesque, a hardly more appropriate term. As there is a true analogy between this class of architecture and “Romance” languages and literature, the word “ Romance” seems more appropriate than either of the foregoing, and has been adopted. All these schools were engaged on the same vital problem—namely, the direct lighting of the nave of a stone building without compromising the solidity of the structure. The Normans shirked it by putting wooden roofs on their churches. The Burgundians showed such hardihood in tackling it that their great church at Cluny fell in on more than one occasion, and others threatened to. Other schools handled the problem by more tentative methods, and that process went on until the discovery of rib-vaulting and the flying buttress, and these marked the end of Romance and the birth of Gothic architecture. 37 Chapter 1i1 The Various Schools of Romance Architecture - HIS, as has already been said, is no architec- : tural treatise. No further excursion into the ~ realm of architectural technicalities will there- fore be essayed beyond that which is needful to grasp the different characteristics of the various regional schools, and even here regard will be had almost exclusively to those characters which can be easily and obviously distinguished by a superficial observer, acting under ordinary guidance, in the way of outward structure and ornament. Thus the discussion of abstruse and technical archi- tectural peculiarities, which are difficult for any but specialists to comprehend, and which are superfluous for the purpose in hand, will be avoided. So it is hoped that the student and traveller may learn the various apparent signs by which the various schools are distinguished easily and without needless effort. Any more technical knowledge which he thereafter desires to acquire can then be easily grafted on this preliminary acquaintance with the main outlines by further exploration of the bibliography which accom- panies this volume, and principally of the well-known treatise of Choisy. : 38 Various Schools of Romance Architecture Normandy The main structural peculiarity of the Norman - school, which so deeply influenced English church architecture both Romance and Gothic—viz. that it avoided the lighting problem by clinging to wooden roofs over the nave although the aisles were vaulted— has already been mentioned. Regarding as we must the later twelfth century as the zenith of Romance architecture, this school figures as by far the oldest of all, for it was already in the full flower of its development by the middle of the eleventh century. Thus the two great churches of Caen, St Stephen and the Trinity, were built in 1060; Jumiéges be- tween 1040 and 1067; and the western facade of Le Mans, which still exists, dates from the end of the same century. Norman churches usually possess two western towers, as well as smaller towers above the first bays of the sanctuary and a lantern tower over the intersection of nave and transepts—square in the Abbaye-aux-Dames (Caen), hexagonal in St Etienne. It will be remembered that William the Conqueror married his cousin Matilda, who was within the prohibited degrees. So they, in order to make their peace with the Church, each built a most noble abbey: William built St Etienne, or the Abbaye-aux-Hommes, in the lower western part of the town; Matilda the Abbaye-aux-Dames, or the Trinité, in the higher eastern part. The Abbaye- aux-Hommes is now used entirely as a church. The 39 The Romance Churches of France Abbaye - aux - Dames is divided rather mysteriously into two parts by a curtain. Behind the curtain is the sanctuary, which is used as the chapel of the adjoining convent. The nave and aisles are used by the public. St Etienne has still two beautiful spires. Those of the Trinité no longer exist, and are said to have been destroyed in the wars between du Guesclin and the English. The churches of Caen, Jumiéges and St Georges de Boscherville are the finest examples of the Norman group, and it is to them we owe the Norman portions of Winchester, Rochester, Norwich, Peterborough and Ely. Those who are acquainted with Winchester will recognise the close similarity between the south transept and similar portions of churches of the same period in Normandy. Poitou The churches of Poitou are modelled on the basili- cal pattern, with a nave crowned by a true barrel- vault—i.e. a vault the section of which is a perfect semicircle. The nave has no direct lighting. Many of them are easily recognisable externally by the conical imbricated towers covered with what look like stone tiles, known as “fish-scale ” or *“ pine-cone” work. The most remarkable of Poitevin churches, St Savin, about twenty-five miles east of Poitiers, which dates from the eleventh century, does not now possess any such towers, but a Gothic spire, which, although quite out of keeping with the Romance 40 Various Schools of Romance Architecture interior, is a work of remarkable elegance, and re- lieves the somewhat sombre monotony of the exterior. Such Poitevin churches as date back to the eleventh century are sober in ornament; but by the beginning of the twelfth century the First Crusade began to exert its artistic influence. Crusaders had witnessed the artistic and architectural splendours of Constan- tinople. They had brought home ample loot and presents of Byzantine caskets and ornaments, which their stone-workers proceeded to copy by way of ornament on the facades, doors and columns of their churches. Nowhere can this kind of decoration be witnessed in greater profusion than in Poitou and Saintonge. The later twelfth-century churches, such as Notre Dame de Poitiers and others, are characterised not only by the fish-scale decoration of their towers but also by a profusion of outward ornament and heavy statues very Oriental in character. For Poitiers was not only influenced by the Crusades. The Oriental character of the decoration of its churches is further accounted for by its having been the culminating and most westerly point reached by two separate archi- tectural “waves of migration,” as Choisy describes them, moving along the ancient trade routes. The original line of migration of Byzantine architecture passed from Constantinople through Venice across North Italy to Marseilles. There it divided into two, one going up the valley of the Garonne through Périgord and the Charentes, the other following the valley of the Rhone, and thence branching off in a 41 The Romance Churches of France westerly direction through Cluny to Poitou, where the two lines mingled again— where consequently the Oriental origin of both was emphasised, more particularly on the decorative side. The breast-high parapet which protects the gutters of the roof of Notre Dame de Poitiers indicates the extent to which the possibility of their churches being used as strongholds was present to the minds of Romance builders, although features of this kind are less common in inland towns than nearer the frontiers. The idea of defence thus occasionally makes itself manifest elsewhere in similar details; but the typical church-fortress is almost confined to the region of the Pyrenees. The influence of the Poitevin school was wide- spread, and can be traced into Brittany, Normandy, Le Velay, and the diocese of Chartres. One of its most salient external features is the singular contrast between the profuse decoration of the facade generally and the total absence of decoration on the tympana of the portals. This is peculiarly noticeable in both Notre Dame La Grande at Poitiers and at Civray. Another is the presence of an equestrian statue on the facade, usually that of Constantine the Great. Constantine may or may not have been a good Christian. It is more than doubtful whether he did not recognise Christianity in the main from motives of policy. However this may have been, he was invariably regarded as one of the high protectors of the Church, and it is in this capacity that his statue figures on the facade of many Poitevin churches. 42 POITIERS CAEN: THE TOWERS OF ST. ETIENNE NOTRE DAME LA GRANDE THE CHURCH OF WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR See pages 41, 176 See page 40 ISSOIRE CONQUES ; TILED ROOFS See page 44 See page 47 Various Schools of Romance Architecture Occasionally an equestrian statue of Charlemagne forms a pendant to his. The best examples of this school are all at Poitiers itself or in the near neighbourhood : Notre Dame de Poitiers and Montier- neuf at Poitiers; St Savin, Chauvigny, Civray, Melle, Vieux Parthenay, Ste Eutrope at Saintes and the cathedral at Angouléme (the latter much over- restored). It will not be forgotten that Poitiers, one of the most interesting ecclesiastical centres of France from the point of view of the Romance epoch, was during the twelfth century in the occupation of the English. It was Henry II. of England in fact who began the building of the cathedral at Poitiers, and his name appears on a tablet in the cathedral of Saintes, next to that of King Pépin, as one of the earliest benefactors of the Church. Although he had no direct responsibility for Becket’s murder he without doubt felt that his rash prayer that someone would rid him of “this audacious priest” was taken too literally by Thomas's enemies and his own over- zealous friends, so that in addition to the actual penance imposed upon him by the Church he seems to have wished to cement his peace with Heaven by lavish church-building. Auvergne The school of Auvergne possesses the same chief structural features as that of Poitou. It has two- storeyed collaterals and a blind nave. It is conjectured by Choisy that this upper storey above the side aisles 43 The Romance Churches of France or collaterals was used for storing articles of value which the pilgrims and Crusaders had brought back from the East and for which they needed a place of safety before resuming their pilgrimage. At all events, they are not found after the Crusading period, being abandoned in the thirteenth century. This school is easily identified externally by the blind arcades connecting the outer buttresses of the nave, and especially by the raising of the middle portion of the transept into an upper storey of box- or coffer- like appearance, from out of which the central tower springs. Auvergnat churches are also recognised by polychrome stonework usually running in a band or dado round the outside of the choir. This is not a mere veneer or ‘placage,” as it often was in the Italian works from which it is copied, but a true inlay. It is not peculiar to this school of Romance. Indeed it is found in England at Exeter and Worcester. There is also usually a retro-choir with numerous radiating apsidal chapels, and on the west, not twin towers as in Poitou but a single rectangular tower. The Auvergnat school was founded b before the beginning of the el eleventh “and arrived at its full development in the sa e carly years of the twelfth century. e church of Issoire is by far its most imposing example, although Notre Dame du Port, at Clermont Ferrand, is not far behind in interest. The latter, however, suffers from the disadvantage of its situation in a crowded town, whereas Issoire is detached, and its sombre beauty is a landmark for miles round. In situation, if not also in structure, it is indeed unique, 44 Various Schools of Romance Architecture and the “patine” or weathering of its stonework will compare in its way with that of St Mark’s at Venice, with this difference, that whereas the marble of St Mark’s is iridescent with delicate blues, pinks and greens, Issoire, being built of dark volcanic stone, reflects a rich scheme of dark yellows and browns. The interior has an aspect of great solemnity and religious sincerity. The capitals of the Auvergnat churches are usually storeyed and somewhat heavy in style, copied from the Gallo-Roman models. One capital in the choir of Issoire is extremely curious, representing Christ and the Apostles seated round the column at the Last Supper. The table with its white cloth goes all round the column, and the feet of the Saviour and the Apostles appear beneath it. The whole of the inside of the church was repainted in 1859, not entirely in the best taste but quite in accordance with the original intention of the Romance builders, which was to paint the whole of the interior of their churches. Issoire and St Savin are the only two French churches of the Romance period the interior of which is still entirely painted. The symbolic meaning and intention of this painting will appear when we come to deal with the subject of decoration. Other interesting examples of Auvergnat churches are Orcival, St Nectaire and Brioude. Orcival is a little village hidden away among the volcanic mountains south of the Puy-de-Doéme, well worth a visit. In the old days before the advent of the motor-car, when the writer paid his first visit there, 45 The Romance Churches of France the best way to get to it was to take the train from Clermont, which mounts via Royat and circles all round the Puy-de-Dome, leaving the train at a station called Rochefort-Montagne. There if you were independent you would shoulder your camera, jump on your bicycle and, forestalling the station omnibus, ride into the village, which is several kilometres off. In those days the dining-room of the local inn was roofed with authentic Gothic vaulting. The inn- keeper himself presided at dinner and you “took wine” with him after the most approved old-time fashion. Even then the Touring Club de France had set its mark on the bedrooms, which were modernised with ripolin and spotlessly clean. Next day Orcival was an easy ride, and after visiting Orcival there is a splendid ride down into Clermont, coasting most of the way. Outside the church of Orcival we see hanging the chains which are reputed to be the shackles worn by the Crusaders in captivity. For chains eight or nine hundred years old they seem remarkably well preserved, so that it may be charitably supposed that their symbolism outruns their authenticity. No school perhaps threw out more distant ‘“colonies” than the Auvergnat. We find it in Switzerland at Granson, in Spain at Santiago de Compostella, in St John’s Chapel in the Tower of London, and nearer to its own home in the two remarkable churches of St Sernin at Toulouse and Conques in the Aveyron. No doubt many lovers of France know the imposing Church of St Sernin, one 46 Various Schools of Romance Architecture of Viollet-le-Duc’s best-known and most successful restorations. 1 wonder how many of them have had the pertinacity to work their way to the remote church of Conques. This is another church which has to be hunted down with considerable ingenuity, for it is quite difficult to find even when you are close to it, lying as it does high up off the main road, in hilly wooded country, and only visible from below when you come close upon it. But it will repay the hunt and the toil uphill to find it. Every feature of it arrests attention and fixes itself in the mind; the warm brown-tiled roofs of the nave and apsidal chapels, the rude beauty of the primitive sculpture of the tympanum of the main portal, the delicate moulding of the side doors and, above all, the “enfeux,” or outside burial-places (from enfourr =to bury), which are here very characteristic and numerous. These outside tombs can be found in England at Lichfield Cathedral. Other more accessible ““ colonies” of the Auvergnat school are to be found in St Etienne (Nevers), St Martin (Tours) and Germigny-les-Prés. Germigny can, however, hardly be called a colony or offshoot of the Auvergnat school. It should rather be de- scribed as a prototype of some of the main characters of that school. For it was consecrated as early as the year 816 by Théodulfe, Bishop of Orleans. It is therefore, strictly speaking, a Carolingian church. No one who wishes to form an idea of the splendour of Oriental mosaics which were copied in the early Romance churches should fail to pay a visit to 47 The Romance Churches of France Germigny. The church is in the form of a Greek cross, and on one of the cusps of the vault formed by the intersection of the arms of the cross there still remains a magnificent piece of blue and gold mosaic. On one only ; for all the rest has disappeared. But this fragment suffices to give an idea of what must have been the splendour of the interior when it was covered all over, as it undoubtedly was originally, with mosaics of equal beauty. In a church of so early a date, Crusading influences cannot of course have played any part. The decoration undoubtedly comes straight from Greek or early Venetian models. There is usually a well-informed and obliging priest here, who gives an intelligent description of the origin and structure of the chapel. Périgord We next come to deal with the domed churches of Périgord. For a proper understanding of dome building a slight excursion into the technical domain of architec- ture is necessary, which shall be made as brief and as simple as possible. Fig. 3 is intended to repre- sent the intersection of a hemispherical dome and a square tower, the circumference of the dome impinging upon the sides of the tower at four different points, A, B, C, D. Clearly the shaded portions at each corner of the square must be filled in to complete the structure. Now the domes of most Oriental buildings, particularly mosques, are of light wood, which needs 48 ISSOIRE CAPITAL REPRESENTING THE LAST SUPPER See page 45 ORCIVAL: A TEMPLAR CHURCH See page 43 CONQUES : THE ‘‘ENFEUX ~~ OR EXTERIOR TOMBS See page 47 Various Schools of Romance Architecture no further support than that which it gets from rest- ing on the four sides of the square tower, so that the FIGS. 3 AND 4 corners can easily be filled in horizontally without diminishing the solidity of the structure. The Great Mosque of Cordova was formerly covered with clusters D 49 The Romance Churches of France of cedar domes in this way. But when the dome is of brick or heavy stone the case is far different, and means must be devised for making the filling in of the corners serve as supports for that portion of the circumference of the dome which does not rest on the edges of the tower. The spaces to be filled are the spherical triangles (Fig. 4) at each corner (E, F, G, H). Two methods of effecting this were used in the domed churches of the Middle Ages, which are shown in perspective in Figs. 5, 6 and 7. Both are called “pendentives.” Fig. 5 is called the spherical-triangle pendentive, and Figs. 6 and 7 by the unpicturesque name *‘squinch,” supposed to be a corruption of “sconce” (in French, trompe)— “ brackets,” they are sometimes called. This brief technical explanation is necessary to unravel what must be always a structural puzzle to the tyro in the study of church architecture, and also because these two different methods of dome support are dis- tinguishing characteristics of certain churches. The churches of Périgord, for instance, exhibit their un- mistakable Byzantine origin by the use of spherical- triangle pendentives. The squinch pendentive is of Persian origin, and may be observed in France at Le Puy. The connection between Persian and Romance architecture will be traced in a later chapter. Historically speaking, the Périgourdin is not an original school of architecture, but in reality an off- shoot of the Romano-Byzantine school; for its principal examples are copied from the churches of Venice and Constantinople. The true Byzantine 50 Various Schools of Romance Architecture churches were, however, built of brick; the French Byzantine, of stone. St Front has been said to be St Mark's translated into stone ; and Choisy (Histoire tees a FIGS. 5, 6 AND 7% de U’Architecture) calls attention to the similarity of the two, and to the fact that the French architects used a scale plan of St Mark's with slight differ- ences due to Périgourdin standards of measurement. Doubtless the adoption of cupola-roofed churches 51 The Romance Churches of France originated from the trade relations subsisting between Venice and Limoges and Périgueux, but in reality neither St Mark’s nor St Sophia was their prototype. St Sophia indeed is a single-domed church, whereas St Mark’s and the French churches are five-domed churches in the shape of a Greek cross, three forming the nave and two the transepts. It is conjectured that both St Mark's and St Front must have been modelled on the Church of the Holy Apostles at Constantinople, a church which has now disappeared. “St Front,” says Choisy, ‘is more imposing in its severe nudity than St Mark with its dazzling cloak of mosaics and marbles.” This, however, can surely only apply to the exterior, which, picturesquely situated as it is on the banks of the River Isle, has to that extent the advantage over St Mark's. But it is difficult to shake off the chilling bareness of its interior : while the warmth and colour of St Mark's give the impression of a living and vivid faith, the empty coldness of St Front suggests a vast mau- soleum. Indeed it is only necessary to compare the photographs of the interior of St Mark's with some of the Romance interiors reproduced in this work (see for example the interior of Montierneuf in the chapter on Poitiers) to realise what richness of decoration could have been achieved if the Romance builders had been able to carry out their original intention of decorating their church interiors entirely, even by painting only, leaving out of account mosaics, which were probably beyond their talents and resources. 52 INTERIOR OF ST. MARK’S, VENICE : FRESCOES AND MOSAICS ro ILLUSTRATE THE ORIGINAL IDEAS OF PROFUSE DECORATION OF INTERIOR OF ROMANCE CHURCHES See page 52 PERIGUEUX : ST FRONT INTERIOR OF ST. MARK’S, VENICE NOTE PROFUSE DECORATION See page 52 See page 52 Various Schools of Romance Architecture The churches of Périgord likewise stand apart from other Romance churches in that the problem of direct lighting of the nave did not exist in their case. The dome formation was accompanied by the suppression of collaterals or aisles ; they have no resemblance to, nor have they anything in common with, the basilical formation ; and windows in the walls supporting the dome in no wise compromised the solidity of the structure. The principal churches of this category are St Front, at Périgueux, which shows its kinship with the Poitevin school by the fish-scale roofing of its domes and tower ; St Etienne, at Périgueux, an older church than St Front and formerly the cathedral; Solignac and the cathedral of Angouléme, which likewise possesses the Poitevin feature of equestrian statues on the facade. Farther afield, in the nature of colonies, traces of the domed formation are found at Moissac (Tarn-et-Garonne)—of which more will be said when we come to describe Pyrenean cloisters— in Anjou, at Fontevrault, and at Loches, near Tours. The Churches of Provence In Provence the usual structure is a barrel-vaulted nave without aisles. Occasionally the nave is but- tressed by a series of transverse barrel-vaults occupy- ing the place of collaterals, as in the cathedral of Orange, recalling the plan of the Basilica of Con- stantine or Maxentius in the former. Some possess a narrow collateral, as at Vaison and St Paul Trois 53 The Romance Churches of France Chateaux. Between the nave and the sanctuary is usually an octagonal cupola, forming a lantern tower, as in the cathedrals of Avignon and Marseilles, or set inside a square or octagonal central tower. Other churches have larger lateral square bell towers, such, for example, as St Trophime at Arles and St Gilles (Gard). Provence was greatly influenced by the Lombard school of architecture, which also reigned supreme in Corsica. Being the nearest province to Italy it was naturally more subject to direct Roman influence than the other schools; but this is more apparent in the decoration, which will be dealt with separately, than in the structural features. Like other schools it threw offshoots in various directions. Vienne (Isére), although more strictly an Auvergnat church, bears traces of Provencal influence; and the Abbey Church of Chancelade, a few miles west of Périgueux, has a flat bell tower which is Provencal if not Italian in feeling. Almost all the Provencal churches possess cloisters with richly decorated sculp- tures and capitals. The cloisters were regarded as a sanctuary and place of refuge equally with the churches themselves. The finest examples of the Provencal school are St Gilles (Gard), St Trophime at Arles, Montmajour, Vaison and the Chapelle St Gabriel near Tarascon. Burgundy We have kept to the last the greatest school of all in point of boldness of conception and execution, 4 LADE CHANCE LES: ST. GII PETER JOHN AND ST. ST. 5 See page PARAY LE MONIAL VEZELAY See page 56 See page 124 Various Schools of Romance Architecture that one which ultimately solved the main structural problem and brought about the transition from Romance to Gothic. The great church of the Bur- gundian school, St Peter, at Cluny—of which to-day only fragments exist, but the memory and descriptions of which overtop in grandeur all other Romance churches which remain to us or of which we know— was as extensive as the modern St Peter’s at Rome, and was in its time equally important. Indeed when the abbey was built, at the end of the eleventh century, the Abbot of Cluny was second only to the Pope himself in ecclesiastical importance. The church of Cluny was begun by St Hugh (another of the numerous Saints Hugh of this period, not, of course, St Hugh of Avallon) in 1089, and consecrated by Pope Urban II. in 1095, although only the choir was then finished. It was completed thirty years after, despite its unusual size; but the haste with which it was built brought about disaster. A vibration produced by a disturbance in the church in 1123 sufficed to bring down the vaulting of the nave. Six years afterwards the roof was repaired, and in 1130 Pope Innocent II. reconsecrated the completed monument. Two years later a procession of 1200 monks, representing all the houses of the Benedictine Order, filed through the church and the cloisters on the occasion of the third chapter-general of the Benedictine Order, which met there in that year. It is a source of regret that of the vast church of Cluny only the merest fragments remain; for Cluny was the prototype of the Burgundian churches, which 55 The Romance Churches of France are in many ways the most beautiful, certainly the most elegant as well as the boldest—architecturally speaking—of the Romance churches. The Cluniac builders were determined to achieve the direct light- ing of the nave at all risks, so they made their berceau or barrel-vault as light as possible, and occasionally pointed the arch of it, so as to diminish to the utmost the outward thrust. In that way they contrived to give to the interior an aspect of light- ness and elegance quite absent from the churches of all other schools—likewise of height. And this was not always mere illusion; for the nave of Paray-le- Monial in point of pitch runs some of our English Gothic cathedrals close. The Burgundian churches cannot compare with those of Auvergne in solemn external beauty. One might almost pass by the exterior of Saulieu without noticing it; and Paray, except for its towers, looks like a farm-building by comparison with Issoire or Brioude. But in interior elegance and in spaciousness they far surpass any others. Issoire is fairly large for a Romance church, but it is sombre and oppressive compared with the lightness and delicacy of the interior of Paray-le- Monial or Autun. A new feature observable in the churches of Bur- gundy is the narthex, or vestibule; sometimes closed in, as at Tournus and Vézelay; sometimes consisting of an open gallery or columns, as at St Benoit-sur- Loire. In the primitive churches the narthex was the refuge of penitents and neophytes. In Romance times it appears to have been a kind of antechamber . 56 Various Schools of Romance Architecture —or salle des pas perdus—where pilgrims awaited their turn for admission, or a pratorium where the abbots held their court. It therefore had civil as well as ecclesiastical uses. At Tournus and at Paray-le Monial the narthex is double-storeyed. At Tournus the upper storey is a complete church in itself, known as the église supérieure —a sanctuary or refuge undoubtedly in times of disturbance. At St Benoit- sur-Loire the upper storey is a terrace with columns, open on the outside, suggesting that it was devoted to special ceremonies, such as pontifical benediction. Paray-le-Monial, Tournus, St Benoit and Autun are the principal Burgundian churches which remain to us. Fine as they are, we cannot but deplore the disappearance of the three great churches which really embodied the ecclesiastical history of Bur- gundy in the Middle Ages. Clairvaux, the birth- place of St Bernard, is now a prison; Citeaux, the cradle of the Cistercians, a penitentiary ; and the few relics of Cluny, the metropolis of the Benedictines, are transformed into schools and farm-buildings. Resuming the characteristics of these: various schools, it should be borne in mind as an historical and architectural fact which greatly simplifies the study of Romance churches for the novice in archi- tecture that the Romance builders were, structurally speaking, seeking one end, and one only—namely, to contrive the direct lighting of the vaulted nave with- out endangering the safety of the structure. The Normans shirked the problem by adopting wooden roofs. The Périgourdins avoided it by reverting to 57 The Romance Gharches of France the dome formation of the Byzantine churches. Prac- tically no other school except the Burgundian ever really solved it. Indeed it may be said never to have been really solved, except in a precarious way, until the invention of rib- vaulting and the flying buttress; and when these came on the scene the foundation of Gothic architecture was laid. By way of supplementing our description of the character- istics of Romance architecture, a few words of ex- planation should now be given of these two new elements which at one and the same time solved the problem which had thus puzzled the Romance builders and sounded the death-knell of the architecture which went by that name. I assume that anyone who is sufficiently interested in architecture to read this book knows what rib- vaulting is. In pre-Gothic times the edge formed by the intersection of two vaults of equal height and diameter was known as an avéle—or “groin” vault, according to the English term. The Gothic builders ran a “rib” of stone along the edge of this “oroin’” or aréte, and then discovered that the framework or skeleton of these ribs formed by them- selves an organic structure which was not only self- supporting but which could absorb all the various thrusts which might be distributed throughout them. The vault then, instead of being a preponderating part of the structure the weight of which had to be carefully underpinned and buttressed, became to a large extent merely a rubble filling, the weight of which was distributed among the ribs. With the 58 BAYEUX : WITH ORNAMENTS IN THE SPANDRELS OF PERSIAN ORIGIN See page 69 ST. BENOIT SUR LOIRE: THE NARTHEX See pag R on NN TOURNUS: CHOIR TOURNUS : COLUMNS OF CHOIR See page 57 See page 57 Various Schools of Romance Architecture addition of the flying buttresses, raised above the aisles to the walls of the clerestory, it became possible not only to raise the nave to heights un- dreamed of before, but also to open not mere slits but spacious windows in the clerestory, conveying abundance of direct light into the centre of the church. This was the beginning of the rapid and bewildering development of Gothic architecture. Solid stone vaults tend to produce a downward and outward thrust caused by their weight. The result in case the walls are weakened in any way—e.g. by window openings in the clerestory—is outward bulging and imminent collapse of the whole structure. With the aid of rib-vaulting and flying buttresses the downward thrust is partly absorbed along the contour of the structure and its ribs and partly con- veyed through the buttresses to the ground. Thus the stability of the structure and the possibility of increasing its height, space and lighting are greatly increased. Summary of Characteristics of the Different Schools Normandy.—Wooden vaulting. Two western towers. Poitou.—Barrel-vault. No direct lights to nave. Fish- scale towers. Profuse exterior ornament, Oriental in character. Undecorated tympana. Equestrian statues. Auvergne—Two - storeyed collaterals. Buttresses strengthened by blind arcades. Polychrome 59 The Romance Churches of France stonework. Box-like raising of centre of tran- sept. Retro-choir with radiating chapels. Single rectangular western tower. Périgord.—Dome churches. Domes supported on spherical-triangle pendentives. No collaterals. Lighting problem of nave absent. Provence—Barrel-vault in aisles. Lantern tower. Rich exterior decoration, largely borrowed from Roman. Richly decorated cloisters. Burgundy.— Direct lighting of nave by thinning stone- work of barrel-vault. Narthex. Pointed arch of vault. Plain outside; spacious and elegant within. 60 Chapter iv Geographic Origins and Distribution of Romance Architecture N describing the dome churches of Périgord, it I will be recalled, the “squinch” or “bracket” form of dome construction is stated to be of Persian origin: Choisy, in describing certain architectural combinations in the churches of Le Puy and Tournus, in particular, talks freely of their imitation from Persian models. This apparently intimate connec- tion between the architecture of regions as remote as Persia and France is a matter of surprise for the reader at the outset of his study, particularly when he reflects how much farther these two countries were separated from each other in everything, not excepting mere material distance, during the age with which our subject deals. It is a long way from Persia to Le Puy; still farther from Persia to Scandinavia or Ireland. Nevertheless, in both those countries, as well as in France, even in the most north-westerly part of France, can be found traces of decoration which are unmistakably of Persian origin. The time has now come to explain how these architectural similarities were thus transferred from almost the Far East to the extreme west of Europe. To appreciate this, some brief study of the formative periods of architecture is required. 61 The Romance Churches of France The salient periods of history from which the formative influences of Romance architecture are derived are, firstly, the beginning of the fourth century —that is to say, the age of Constantine the Great; secondly, the beginning of the ninth century, the age of Charlemagne; and, lastly, the eleventh century— that is to say, the century illustrated by the Norman Conquest of England and the First Crusade. While in Europe the first of these periods is illuminated by the great name of Constantine, and the halo thrown round him by his adoption of Christianity, farther east it is remarkable as being the culmination of the famous Sassanian dynasty, which ruled over a Greater Persia, including the site of the modern Baghdad, and having for its palatial capital the city of Ctesiphon, of which to-day only ruins remain. Whether Constantine embraced Christianity from conviction or from motives of policy seems always to have been, historically speaking, a matter of doubt. His sudden abandonment of his traditional prudence and caution in his campaign against Maxentius, when he boldly crossed the Alps with an inferior force, marched to Rome and attacked and defeated Maxentius on his own ground, is attributed by contemporary chroniclers to the miracle of the appearance at high noon of a flaming cross bearing the legend, “In hoc signo vinces.” This at any rate was only his own personal conversion. Not until fourteen years later did he decide to make Christianity the official religion of the Empire and simultaneously transfer the capital of the Empire to Byzantium, or Constantinople, whose 62 Distribution of Romance Architecture site was said to have been revealed to him in a dream. The importance of these two events, not only in the history of the Empire but in the history of architecture, cannot be overrated. The new capital was inaugur- ated in A.D. 330 and dedicated to the Blessed Virgin. This then was the starting-point of that Byzantine splendour in art and architecture which even before —but still more as a consequence of—the First Crus- ade exercised such a potent influence on Romance architecture in Western Europe. Constantine, in his migration from Rome, is reputed to have carried off a large quantity of monolithic columns, and also workmen to assist in building his new capital, a process imitated later on by Charle- magne. Not a trace of any of Constantine’s churches now subsists either in Constantinople or Palestine, although there are traces of civil architecture at Constantinople attributable to his reign. Contemporaneously with the rise of Constantine the Sassanian dynasty had risen to its zenith. A remarkable parallel might be drawn between the evolution and aspirations of the Sassanian rulers and those of modern Germany before the outbreak of the late war. The accession of Ardashir I. (or Artaxerxes) in A.D. 226 was the occasion of a return to the ideal of a national Persian Empire and to old-time dreams of world dominion as well as, religiously speaking, to pure Zoroastrianism, involving as it did popular worship of the War God. The Emperor was to be “King of the Kings” not only of the Iranians, but also of the non-Iranians; and similarly religion 63 The Romance Churches of France was made to subserve, and even to inflame, the greed of material ambitions which soon overwhelmed such infusion of spirituality as this Empire may have origin- ally possessed, and stamped it with the soullessness and ruthlessness which are inseparable from a cult of mere materialism, characteristics which finally brought upon it its inevitable doom. It is worthy of note that this calculated ambition never throughout the whole Sassanian period was able to prevail to any marked extent against the Roman Empire. At the time of the foundation of Con- stantinople, and for some years after the death of Constantine, Shapur II. was Sassanid Emperor ; but his bombastic pretensions to rule over the non-Iranians never went very far; despite his persecution of the Christians and the subsequent conquest of Armenia, at the end of the Sassanid dynasty Asia Minor remained Christian, and even Northern and Western Mesopotamia remained under Roman rule. The Sassanian dynasty was, however, highly cultured, and particularly advanced in architecture, at a period when Roman culture was in decay. The perpetual conflicts between the Sassanid and the Roman Empire made it inevitable that the influence of this culture should spread and leave traces of a permanent character, if not in the sphere of politics or religion — for Zoroastrianism may be said to have died with the Sassanians—at all events in the realm of art and of architecture, that branch of art which most nearly concerns us here. While Roman and Greek art were on the decline, the vitality of Persian art was every- 64 Distribution of Romance Architecture where manifest. Little enough of it remains to-day in its original home ; of the great palaces of Ctesiphon and Serbistan we possess only the merest fragments; but those fragments suffice to show the gradual develop- ment of the pendentive, which was an essential feature of the dome form of construction which the Sassanians practised. It will be shown how some of the charac- teristics of this architecture gradually permeated—in forms modified by the various milieux through which they passed—throughout the whole of Western Europe. Thus, as we shall see, did the land of the Fire Cult, by a singular antithesis, become the cradle of Christian religious architecture. Before, however, proceeding to explain the trans- migration of Persian forms into Western Europe it is necessary to signalise the influence of Charlemagne on Western architecture. Charlemagne was the first monarch to develop a Western school of architecture having some claim to individuality. His most im- portant monument, the cathedral of Aix-la-Chapelle, is said to have been copied from St Vitale, at Ravenna. As a matter of fact it was; but it is also material to add that Charlemagne bodily transported columns from Ravenna to Aix and used them in the building of the cathedral. His workmen had, however, neither the skill nor the sense of beautiful proportions possessed by the architects of St Vitale. The result, therefore, gives the impression of a clumsy and heavy imitation. The interior of the dome was, like Germigny-les-Prés, encrusted with mosaics, which no doubt were equally beautiful with the fragment E 65 The Romance Churches of France remaining at Germigny. Aix and Germigny are probably the only complete Carolingian churches now in existence. Thereare, however, numerous fragments of Carolingian architecture in existence—such as the crypt of St Benoit-sur-Loire. Carolingian architecture has a distinct recognisable style, both in structure and decoration. Charlemagne had numerous sources to draw upon: Roman, Saxon, Byzantine and Saracenic. He also benefited by the services of the refugee architects and workmen from the Court of the iconoclastic emperors; and these heterogeneous elements were gradually welded into a rough but distinctive style, which was the stepping-stone to the more perfect style of the twelfth century, to which it stands much in the same relation as the latter does to Gothic. The transmission of Sassanian architecture west- ward was in the main effected by a series of what Choisy, in his celebrated and often quoted work on the history of architecture, describes as “currents of migration.” These migration currents were gradual and successive and, as might be expected, followed the lines of the ancient trade routes. Sassanian Persia, which was the sole heir to Asiatic traditions, was the focus from which radiated three well-marked currents. These migration currents followed along three principal routes: the first through Asia Minor and Constantinople, known as the Byzantine current; the second, passing through Armenia and Transcaucasian regions, called the Armenian current; and the third, 66 GERMIGNY LES PRES ST. BENOIT SUR 1.OIRE: CRYPT See page 66 BAYEUX ELNE COMBINATION OF SARACENIC AND BYZANTINE INFLUENCES See page 213 See page 70 Distribution of Romance Architecture passing through Syria and along the southern coast of the Mediterranean, the Syrian or African current. The Byzantine current was the one which, on the whole, exercised most influence on the Romance architecture of France. This current, on leaving Persia, proceeds for a time along the valley of the Euphrates, crosses the Taurus and joins the Medi- terranean in the neighbourhood of Smyrna. In its passage through Asia Minor it comes into contact with, and is to a certain extent influenced by, Roman and Hellenistic traditions. There this triple combina- tion of Greek, Roman and Persian is to be found in the fourth-century basilical monuments of Philadelphia, Ephesus and Sardis ; a combination which reached its full development, upon the migration of this current to Byzantium, in St Sophia and similar buildings. Thence it went west by sea routes, which in those days involved short voyages and frequent stopping- places. The first place of importance at which ships stopped west of Byzantium was Corinth. Thence goods were shipped by land across the isthmus, and another short voyage to Venice followed. Venice was the natural entrepst for France, the Rhine Provinces, and indeed the whole of Western Europe — not excepting England. The trade route from Venice to England lay across North Italy, via Genoa, to Marseilles, and thence diagonally across France by road or river, following the general direction of the valley of the Garonne, until La Rochelle was reached, ending by a sea route from thence on. Distributed along these routes is to be found a trail of churches 67 The Romance Churches of France of Byzantine origin, moulded from the original types in form, in material and in decoration, according to the religion, the climate, the habits and the technical skill of the local populations. We have already noticed the Greco- Persian and Romano - Persian monuments of Asia Minor and the later ones of Byzantium. To this current we also owe the famous collection of churches at Ravenna, as well as St Mark's at Venice. When it reached France it begot the rich architectural colony of Provence which has Arles as its centre. Then, as we have seen in the description of the architecture of Poitou in Chapter iii., it divided into two branches, one running up the valley of the Rhone and laying the foundations of the Burgundian and Auvergnat schools, the other following the valley of the Garonne, and giving us the more purely Byzantine dome churches of Périgord. Then again these two branches joined together to form the mellowed and richly decorated architecture of Poitou. The second migration of Persian architecture is the Armenian. This moved due north from Baghdad through Armenia and the region of Trebizond, and thence across the Black Sea to the mouths of the Danube and the Dniester, whence it also bifurcated, one branch following the Volga across Russia and thence into Scandinavia, whence it was later to be propagated farther west by the incursions of the Northmen ; the other crossing Central Europe to the mouth of the Oder. Before making these two long treks, however, the Armenian current threw out a small offshoot in a southerly and westerly direction, 68 Distribution of Romance Architecture and distributed a series of churches in Rumania and Serbia, which, although not far removed from Byzantium, are not of direct Byzantine origin, but belong chiefly, if not entirely, to the Armenian school. The two northerly branches of the Armenian current joined forces again in Scandinavia, only to be scattered once more throughout the British Isles and North-West France through the raids of the Northmen pouring down the Channel. This explains why in the decoration on the spandrels of the arches of the nave of the cathedral at Bayeux we see the grimacing Sassanian lion and Armenian inter- lacing work ; hence the close resemblance between the embroidered ornaments on the so-called “tapestry” of Queen Matilda (the Bayeux Tapestry) and the crockets of certain churches in Norway, which are undoubtedly of Persian origin, transmitted thence by this Armenian movement. The third great movement of Sassanian architecture was the Syrian, which proceeded through Palestine to Egypt and thence along the north coast of Africa. It then turned north and, crossing the Straits of Gibraltar, permeated Spain, and finally joined the Byzantine current in the south of France. On its way it threw an offshoot into Sicily, and even left traces on the Italian mainland. For example, the famous tomb of Theodoric, at Ravenna, with its mas- sive monolith roof, is of undoubted Syrian origin. Professionals determine this by the resemblance of certain technical architectural details. Amateurs must take it on trust. This migration was strongly 69 The Romance Churches of France tinctured on its passage through Africa by Arab and Saracenic influences. This Arab influence explains the striking resemblance between the decoration of Elne, and other cloisters in the south of France and north of Spain, and that of the later and more elaborate work of Monreale, for example. It also in- fuses them with an additional richness of geometrical decoration which the pure Byzantine lacks. We have seen that the movements of architecture followed in the main the trade routes. Occasionally, however, they were diverted or influenced by mili- tary political or religious events and upheavals. For example, as has already been noticed, it was the Northmen, through their incursions into North- Western France, who introduced there the remnants of Persian ornament which had wandered along the normal trade route into Scandinavia. Again the icon- oclastic controversy which raged during the eighth and ninth centuries was responsible for the wholesale emigration of Byzantine and Syrian sculptors to countries more favourable to the development of art for art's sake. The excesses of the iconoclasts pro- ceeded from their hostility not only to image worship. but to every form of religious art. In those days monks and priests were artists, sculptors, illuminators, as well as scribes, and they therefore naturally favoured image worship. When therefore the iconoclasts got the upper hand their fury was such that the monks fled, not only from the destruction of their works but for their personal safety. The ascendancy gained by the iconoclastic emperors forced these fugitives to 70 Distribution of Romance Architecture scatter themselves over Sicily and Calabria, and even Egypt, where traces are found in the Coptic churches of the primitive basilical architecture of Byzantium. Ultimately the iconoclastic doctrines, as well as the violence by which they were enforced, were utterly vanquished, to be revived, about eight centuries later, and in a somewhat less virulent form perhaps, by the English Puritans. Meanwhile, however, countless beautiful buildings and priceless artistic treasures were destroyed. Thenceforward the more wholesome doctrines of Gregory the Great prevailed—to the effect, namely, that pictures and images in churches are legitimate, and consonant with the most en- lightened religious principles, as contributing to teach the ignorant through the eyes what they should adore with the mind and soul. None the less, this wholesale and enforced flight of the sculptor and painter monks was Byzantium’s loss, and the gain of Italy, of Charlemagne’s Court, and of the Western churches in general. There was another movement of the same kind brought about by the persecution of the Nestorian heretics and their banishment from Byzantium in the reign of Theodosius II. (fifth century). With this migration, however, we have less concern, as these exiles moved in the main eastward, not westward, into Syria and Persia, and indeed as far as China. It is of capital importance to bear in mind these various migration currents of Eastern architecture, for they afford the natural and simple explanation of the presence in various parts of Western Europe of 71 The Romance Churches of France numerous traces not only of Byzantine but also of Persian architecture. Thus Persian influences came into the south of France through the African current and the Byzantine current combined; and into the north through the Armenian and Scandinavian cur- rents, modified as they were, no doubt, here and there, by local influences. For example, the African current was profoundly modified by the Mussulman prohibition which forbade the representation of any living thing. In the main, the characteristics of French Romance can be identified by being traced back to later and more immediate influences than those of the East. In exceptional instances, however, it is necessary to refer back straight to Persia to explain some peculi- arity of construction or some decorative feature. The most noteworthy examples of this are the squinch or bracket supports of the dome at Le Puy, the transverse barrel-vaulting at Tournus, various details of decoration, some of which have already been noticed, in the cathedral of Bayeux, as well as isolated ex- amples of decoration in many other regions. But, whether directly or indirectly, all forms are ultimately traceable back to their original home in the Sassanian Empire, and principally to the monuments of its once splendid cities Serbistan and Ctesiphon, the few remains of which are not far distant from modern Baghdad. 72 Chapter v Historical Influences RENCH Romance architecture reached its Fon by slow stages in the twelfth century. It was influenced and developed by three salient periods of history, alluded to in the preceding chapter, which now merit closer attention. First among these is the period which began with Constantine the Great —i.e. the late third and early fourth cohtnsyeming ended with Justinian (sixth century). The sudden promotion of Christianity from the creed of a persecuted sect to a State Religion (ap. 313) proved a ready stimulus to ecclesiastical architecture. Even before the transfer of the capital to Constantinople, Byzantine architecture had taken on a character of its own, distinct from the Roman, the chief characteristic of which was the substitution of the Sassanid arch for the Roman lintel. The churches built by Constantine, which must have been numerous, no longer exist. Those which we know of date from at least two centuries later. Although the architectural history of this period is necessarily obscure, we know that to it belong a whole series of magnificent churches built at Constantinople, the models of St Mark’s at Venice and the Western domed churches. Such are the churches of St Sergius (a.n. 527) and St Sophia (A.D. 532-537), at 75 The Romance Churches of France Constantinople, the Church of the Holy Apostles, built in A.D. 536 and since destroyed; farther west, the older Church of San Clemente, at Rome, where there are to-day two churches superposed, and the three great churches of Ravenna: St Apollinare Nuovo (493-525), St Apollinare in Classe (538-549), and St Vitale (539-547), all of which had their influence, more or less direct, on the Byzantine architecture of Western Europe. These churches, all remarkable in their way, are by no means all after the same pattern. St Sergius, or the Little St Sophia, is a small square single-dome church. The Great St Sophia is also a single-dome church, of vast proportions; the dome is 107 feet in diameter, but the plan of the church is oblong. St Vitale, at Ravenna, is also a round single-dome church. In fact, the five-dome form church—i.e. three domes in the nave and one in each of the transepts —does not seem to be found till we get to St Mark's, unless it existed in the Church of the Holy Apostles, at Constantinople, from which St Mark’s is reputed to be copied. But the Church of the Holy Apostles was destroyed by the Turks, and no plan of it has come down to us. The two churches of St Apollinare and San Clemente are on the ordinary basilical plan. It will be noted that all the churches named were built during the reign of Justinian (483-565). He was addicted to the building of palaces and churches, and unremunerative buildings generally. His extrava- gance in this propensity indeed led him into diffi- culties. He resorted to fiscal oppression, which caused 74 Historical Influences insurrections. But he made an attempt to correct the consequences of his extravagance by curtailing his civil service, to the general disgust of office-holders and seekers, exhibiting a courage in this direction which modern statesmen would find it difficult to emulate however great their need and desire for economy. Notably he did away with the Consulship, an institution centuries old. Like his great pre- decessor Constantine he was constantly at war with the Sassanid emperors, which added to his financial embarrassments without procuring any very tangible result—in fact, largely contributing to weaken the Empire, politically as well as financially. When Choisy talks about St Front as being St Mark’s translated into stone this is, in the main, if not entirely, a figure of speech. For the better opinion is that St Front and St Mark’s, which are nearly contemporaneous, were both modelled on the Church of the Holy Apostles, which at the time St Mark’s and St Front were built (early eleventh century) was still in existence. It was in fact de- stroyed in 1454 by Mahomet II. to be replaced by a mosque. The period from Constantine to Justinian was thus a period of prolific church building. After Justinian, however, the iconoclasts gained the upper hand, in the Eastern Empire at all events, where they violently, and for a time successfully, opposed both painting and sculpture, holding that these arts encouraged the worship of images, and making no distinction between worship of images and worship of what the images stood for. Consequently 75 The Romance Churches of France church building, and above all church decoration, in the form of painting and sculpture, went through a rough time. The second forward movement came with the age of Charlemagne. One of the conse- quences of the iconoclastic upheaval was the migra- tion of a whole generation of artists from Venice along the trade route of the Rhine to the Court of Aix-la-Chapelle, where they formed the nucleus of Carolingian art. Now, at last, it will be seen that we are getting nearer to the true theatre of our subject and away from both Persia and Byzantium; but the numerous traces of Persian and Byzantine influence which, as a consequence of deliberate or accidental migration, we find in France and in the Rhine valley are there to testify to the usefulness of these geographical and historical digressions. The Carolingian has already been noticed as the earliest manifestation of Occidental art and architec- ture which could be dignified by the name of a school, clumsy as were its first efforts. The cathedral of Aix-la-Chapelle, built under the eyes of Charlemagne himself, is a ponderous imitation of St Vitale, with all its beautiful proportions perverted and its difficulties scamped. The columns of Ravenna were the original work of Byzantine sculptors. Those at Aix were bodily transported from Italy and clumsily fitted in without any organic plan. Germigny-les-Prés (816) has already been noticed as the most complete Carolingian church which France still possesses. There remain, however, numerous Carolingian crypts —at St Benoit-sur-Loire, St Avit and St Aignan at 76 Historical Influences Orleans, Jouarre and St Germain d’Auxerre; also the famous Basse (Fuvre at Beauvais, which was built in the last years of the Carolingian dynasty (987-998). Most of the English churches of this period were destroyed by the Danes. A few remain, however— such as Monkwearmouth, Bradford-on-Avon, Reculver, Stanton-Lacy, and others. Indeed church building during the Carolingian period, in England, was more active than in France, possibly because England was farther removed from the iconoclastic frenzy. At all events, more churches were built, and on the whole more remain to us of this period which we call “ Saxon.” It is somewhat remarkable that the restless miser- able period which prevailed about and around the thousandth anniversary of Christ’s birth and that of his crucifixion, of the horror of which some description has already been essayed, does not seem to have slackened to any appreciable degree the passion for church building exhibited by sovereigns and ecclesiasts. Despite these pessimistic predictions, despite the fact that the populations did not begin to recover their moral equilibrium till well through the eleventh century, in Italy and in Gaul there prevailed such emulation, and such a passion for the possession of the most beautiful churches, that churches which were in no need of it were constantly restored or rebuilt. In 1005 the plans of a Church of St Rémi, at Rheims, were laid, so large that no architect could be found to complete it. Vignory, in the Haute Marne, was consecrated in 1050; Montier en Der in 9go. 77 The Romance Churches of France Nevertheless the true Romance formula was not established till hope began again to dawn on suffering humanity—i.e. in the latter half of the eleventh cen- tury. Indeed, the commencement of the period which most influenced the Romance, and stamped it as a distinct school, as clearly marked off from the Merovingian and Carolingian monuments which had preceded it, as these in their turn were removed from the Roman basilica, is coincident with the accession of Philip I. in 1060. His was the reign of the Norman Conquest and the first of the Crusades, which were to exercise so deep an influence on Western art and architecture and stamp them once more with Eastern characteristics. The magnitude of the debt which the West owes to the East through the Crusades has often been discussed and disputed. From the special standpoint of architecture, while it is certain that the Crusades did not bring Byzantine architecture for the first time into France—St Etienne at Périgueux was built eighty years before the First Crusade and the Chapel of Germigny-les-Prés much earlier—it is no less certain that the Western churches were deeply influenced by the Eastern culture absorbed by the Crusaders on their quest. By a singular irony—while their main undertaking failed, and the Holy Places are to-day, nearly nine hundred years after the First Crusade, still under Mohammedan rule — nevertheless the Crusaders could not fail to absorb, almost uncon- sciously no doubt in many instances, many of the elements of the Saracenic culture which lay so near 78 Historical Influences to the Persian birthplace of all Western architecture. It has already been explained, but it does no harm to reiterate the fact, that the Crusades were not under- taken in an unalloyed spirit of religious self-sacrifice. They were, in fact, an extraordinary medley of roister- ing, of brigandage and of religious fervour. These contradictory elements are typified in two of the best- known leaders of the First Crusade: Godefroy de Bouillon and Raymond of Toulouse. Godefroy the saint, the ascetic, the true “poor knight of Christ”; Raymond the libertine, the lavish millionaire, sur- rounded by concubines and bastards. Godefroy who when offered the kingship of Jerusalem answered that he “could not wear a crown of gold there where his Master wore a crown of thorns”; Raymond who prodigally offers his followers a penny for every stone brought to throw into a moat which it took several days and nights to fill up. Unfortunately, perhaps, asceticism did not prevail, nor did it ultimately suffice to effect the permanent rescue of the Holy Places from the Infidel. Meanwhile, the covetousness of the filibustering element was excited by the gilded domes and marble palaces of Constantinople; by the gems of antique art heaped up in them; by the enormous variety of industries and merchandise of the East, which alone seemed to them an inexplicable problem. Tricked by the Greeks into putting their military prowess at the service of Greek territorial ambitions, to the detriment of the true object of their pilgrimage, they were seduced at the same time by the opulent presents of treasure and valuable merchandise. Sic 79 The Romance Churches of France vos mon vobis. Having started upwards of 600,000 strong, and conquered Niceea and Antioch for the benefit of the Emperor Alexius, they arrived before Jerusalem only 25,000 strong, and ultimately left Godefroy with 300 knights only to perform the im- possible task of holding the sacred prize which they had won at so terrible a sacrifice. Those of them who were fortunate enough to return to France took back what was for the times enormous wealth, and this wealth formed the foundation of the money power of the Templars in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The Knights Templars were, like almost all those engaged in the First Crusade, of purely French origin. Their severe rule of chastity, obedience and poverty and Holy War to death, was laid down for them by the Council of Troyes, under the inspiration of St Bernard, the austere Cistercian reformer, in 1128. Their foundation arose quite naturally out of the Crusades in the twelfth century, and their original function was to endeavour to discipline the unruly horde which formed the main mass of the Crusaders, and provide some form of protection for the pilgrims who flocked to the Holy Places of Palestine. This discipline, which they exercised in so salutary a manner over the rougher description of Crusaders, secured for them their first important privilege—namely, exemp- tions from excommunication by the local clergy. They took their name of Templars from being lodged by Baldwin I., King of Jerusalem, in a portion of his royal palace known as the Temple of Solomon. By the middle of the twelfth century they had established 80 Historical Influences themselves all over Europe, particularly in Normandy, Brittany, Languedoc and Castille, where they obtained grants of land; also in England, where they obtained from Stephen and Matilda grants of land at Witham in Essex and Cowley near Oxford. Their head- quarters were the monastery and church situated in that quarter of Paris still known as the Temple, originally given to them by King Louis VII, a portion of which, surviving at the time of the Great Revolution, served as prison for Louis XVI. As they obtained material privileges from the kings, so the popes lavished on them numberless spiritual privileges —including the exceptional ones of exemption from ordinary excommunication and interdicts and the right to their own churches and churchyards; so that a person excommunicated and refused burial elsewhere might sometimes be buried in the consecrated ground of the Templars. The wealth they acquired during the Crusades was generally regarded as legitimate compensation for the hardships they had endured. Through their wealth they became the most powerful and influential of Orders, “a church within the Church and a state within the State.” Above all, through their great territorial possessions and moneyed wealth, they became, in course of time, the bankers of popes and kings. The initiatory rites through which ap- plicants for admission to the Order had to pass were of the most occult and secret character, which not even kings could penetrate. So long as Christendom was bent on the recovery of the Holy Land their position was unassailable and all efforts to restrict their powers F 81 The Romance Churches of France were unavailing. But so soon as the Crusading impulse had spent its strength their downfall began. They had acquired such overpowering financial strength that kings and potentates, and even the Pope himself, were, financially speaking, in their tutelage. This was the beginning of their undoing. It would be beside the subject to describe here the persecution, torture and spoliation of the Templars by Philippe le Bel, egged on, no doubt, by his Dominican teachers, who were mendicants, and therefore inspired by envy of the noble Order; or to speculate on the genuineness of some of the confes- sions, extracted by torture, as to the alleged sacrilegious character of their rites. Suffice it here to recall that this rather unwholesome chapter in the medieval history of France was brought to a close by the confiscation of the whole property of the Order by Philippe le Bel, and its dissolution in 1312 by Clement V., the first Pope who resided in Avignon, less than twenty years after it appeared to be at the zenith of its power and influence. Much the same treatment, less the torture, was meted out to them in England. Thus, after nearly two centuries, their unique record of ecclesiastical, political and financial influence was brought to an ignominious close. No account of the twelfth-century Church in France would be complete, however, without a brief allusion to this privileged and powerful Order, which wielded such enormous ecclesiastical influence and founded and possessed so many churches, both in France and England as well as in other countries. 82 Historical Influences Nothing now remains to us of the Temple buildings in Paris except the name. But there are to-day Templars’ churches in considerable numbers in both England, France and Spain—at Cambridge, North- ampton and London, at Laon and Montmajour and Segovia. Usually they were circular or polygonal, in imitation of the Holy Sepulchre, and were used as the chapels attached to the monastic buildings of the Order. Some of them have been enlarged later by the addition of a choir, of a nave or a porch. The ~ church of Loctudy, in Brittany, for example, which is a Templars’ church, has the ordinary shape of a Romance church with nave and aisles. The church of Orcival, to which allusion has already been made, was likewise a Templars’ church. The Crusading influence is again evidenced in other round churches which, without having been built by the Templars, were built in this shape in remembrance of the Holy Sepulchre and all that it stood for in the symbolism of the Crusading age. Such are the churches of Neuvy St Sépulcre (Indre), Charroux (Poitou), of which a mere fragment and a tower only remain, St Clair, near Le Puy, Ste Croix, at Quim- perlé in Brittany, and St Michel d’Entraigues, near Angouléme. Thus, historically speaking, we must look again and again to the East for the influences which moulded Western ecclesiastical architecture as well as—be it incidentally said — every form of Western art and culture in the Middle Ages. Originally sprung out of Persia, with Baghdad, the ancient Ctesiphon, as its 83 The Romance Churches of France cradle, it followed its normal course along the various trade routes. But French Romance would not be what it is to-day if it had not been likewise deeply influenced by the accidental causes of historical origin which have been detailed above: by Constantine's recognition of Christianity; by the exile of the Byzantine artists and sculptors under the icono- clastic régime and their welcome at Charlemagne’s Court ; and, above all, by the spiritual symbolism of the Crusades, by the contact of the Crusaders with the opulence and culture of the Byzantine Court; and, later, by the more material advantages derived from the wealth and influence of the Knights Templars. Nor could it have become what it became at its cul- minating period—that is to say, at once the simplest and most genuine expression of religion in architec- ture—had not all these Oriental influences been moulded by the rising genius and absolute sincerity of French builders and sculptors. 84 Chapter vi Decoration of Romance Churches 1. Painting Tw the average Englishman the idea of painting the interior of a church is anathema ; although he might be puzzled to say why. Yet it is not difficult to analyse the feeling on historical, religious and psychological grounds. Historically he is inspired by a subconscious survival of ideas of Puritan simplicity. Religiously he has a tendency to imagine that such decoration is symbolic of excessive ritual. Psychologically he feels that religion, in these enlightened days, should appeal not to the eye but to the spirit, and that simplicity in externals is conducive to spiritual meditation. On pure grounds of art—if indeed the Englishman ever thinks in terms of pure art—he must admit that there can be no valid objection to the proceeding — provided, of course, that the art be indeed pure. = The only objection that can be advanced against such interior decoration of English churches as we possess is that the art of it is usually detestable. And from a psychological stand- point, although he may be right to-day it has not always throughout history been possible to appeal, religiously speaking, to the mind and not the eye. The period with which I am dealing is a conspicuous ; 85 The Romance Churches of France illustration of the contrary. Then not only was there no education outside the ranks of the ecclesiasts; but there were no printed books. The spoken word of the preacher was at best a fugitive method of touching the mind of his flock and of reaching their spiritual being through the crude, ignorant exterior of the average twelfth-century citizen. Therefore it was a religious and spiritual necessity to appeal to him through the eye, and to appeal to him with vigour and even flamboyance, so as to leave on his mind a permanent impress of religious events and symbols. The religious necessity of this form of appeal did not establish itself without the fiercest controversy. The primitive Church violently opposed the use of graven or painted images as being in contravention of the sacramental use of Christ's name, which should be a living and real but umseen Presence. This indeed was the bedrock argument of the iconoclasts: the one most worthy of respect. The iconoclastic emperors made their doctrines the occasion for a series of violent and bloody persecutions which vexed the Eastern Church for nearly two hundred years. An attempt was made at the Second (Ecumenical Council at Nicea, in 737, ito define the Catholic doctrine in regard to images; but the iconoclasts were not finally defeated and concord restored until the regency of the pious Empress (and Saint) Theodora (842-859). This lady must not be confused with the somewhat notorious Theodora, the consort of Justinian. She lived nearly three centuries later, and was the wife of the Emperor Theophilus. This Emperor was an 86 THE NAVE WITH See page go ST. SAVIN BARREL VAULT COVERED WITH FRESCOES 4 RLY alo See page 196 alo § elo EOL a) RB (CY A 50 8 oper) CHAUVIGN Shah eee a So aide | ’ REMI TUDY LOC ST. LIMS : 3, RHF TEMPLAR CHURCH A D DURING THE WAR ELLY RUINE COMPLETE See page 83 ge 246 See pa Decoration of Romance Churches iconoclast, and issued an edict against the worship of images. Theodora, however, in the last year of his reign overruled him, convened a council which dispossessed the iconoclastic clergy, and finally re- stored the worship of images. For this she was canonised. Apart from the extreme doctrines of the iconoclasts, we find the Fathers of the Church at different times raising objections to the employment of the fine arts for religious purposes on more general grounds. Thus Augustine remonstrates with those who look for Christ on “painted walls” rather than in his written word. Later on, Gregory the Great, con- demning the iconoclastic outburst of a Bishop of Marseilles, gives so excellent a definition of the true meaning of church decoration that it is worth reproducing : “It is one thing to worship a picture and another to learn from the language of a picture what that is which ought to be worshipped. What those who can, learn by means of writing, that do the uneducated learn by looking at a picture. . . . That therefore ought not to have been destroyed which had been placed in the churches, not for worship, but solely for instructing the minds of the ignorant.” Much later still we find St Bernard inveighing, with the emphasis which we should expect from his extreme asceticism and self-mortification, against the gradual invasion of the church by luxurious and costly works of art. He indeed makes a distinction which it must be admitted had some foundation in 87 The Romance Churches of France - fact. “I pass over,” he says, “the surprising height of churches, their excessive length, the useless am- plitude of their nave”—this was in 1130. What would he have said of a Gothic cathedral >— their choice materials polished with so much care, their paintings captivating the onlooker,” which he ad- mits no doubt legitimately attract the attention of the faithful gathered together for contemplation and symbolise the ancient material worship of the Jews. Then, assuming that the glory of God is the end in view, and addressing himself as a monk to monks, he quotes the passage from Persius’s Satires beginning : “ Dicite, pontifices, in sacro quid facit aurum ?” “But I,” he says, “am not addressing pontiffs. I am addressing the poor, or at all events those dedi- cated to poverty.” Then he makes a palpable hit. “ Granted,” he says, “that the secular clergy, the bishops, appealing as they do to congregations where the witless are mingled with the wise, in their inability to ‘kindle the devotion of a carnal crowd by spiritual means, must contrive to do so by material orna- ments '—nevertheless we monks, who are apart from the crowd, and who have renounced the pomps and vanities of the world, whose religious fervour have we to kindle? Furthermore,” he asks, “are not the secular spurred on ultimately by avarice in the ex- position of costly images and paintings? For riches attract riches. The magnificent image of a saint attracts costly gifts to the saint or the church, or both. Thus the walls of the church glitter with treasures and her poor go starving. Vanity of Decoration of Romance Churches Vanities! She covers her stones with gold and leaves her children unclad.” St Bernard's austerity did not, happily for us, pre- vail—could not indeed prevail—against the national artistic spirit, which the clergy, both regular and secular, did not fail to encourage and stimulate. The age of St Bernard was likewise the age of Suger, the famous Abbot of St Denis, who defended the beauti- fying of churches, as has been well said, both by trowel and pen—by trowel, in founding the Church of St Denis, the precursor of the present-day cathedral, still called by the local population “ La Basilique,” and adorning it with the costly monuments which his great wealth could well afford; by his pen, in stoutly enun- ciating the dictum that nothing could be too grand, too rich or too costly for a Christian temple. It was the idea of the Romance architects that the interiors of their churches should be painted through- out; and in a great many instances this intention was fulfilled. This idea by no means originated with them, but was the universal practice of the Byzantine decorators, with this distinction—that in the great Byzantine churches the decoration was almost wholly mosaic, of the glass-cube variety, which on this scale produced an impression of the utmost splendour. Thus are decorated the churches of Ravenna, a large part of St Mark’s, San Clemente at Rome, and many others. In the Romance churches of France, on the other hand, mosaic as a mural decoration hardly figures at all after the Carolingian period. Only fragments indeed have survived from that period. 89 The Romance Churches of France It is conjectured that the Romance builders did not in general possess the skill to execute this very elaborate form of decoration. Indeed the Carolingian specimens which remain are obviously the handiwork of imported talent—i.e. Byzantine or Greek workmen. But the intention of the later Romance ecclesiasts was quite obviously to decorate the whole of the interior of their churches with painting or distemper, which does not certainly produce the same richness, but which accomplishes the same religious object, over and above its decorative character — viz. to teach ‘religion pictorially to people who had neither in- struction nor books. The structure of a Romance interior, with its broad flat wall-spaces and large columns unbroken by multiple shafting, lent itself admirably to the execution of this plan. In later Gothic times the wall-spaces were broken up by arcades and pilasters; consequently the transference of the decoration from the walls to the windows, which in Gothic churches were more numerous, in the form of stained glass, was a natural transition. Very few French Romance churches have come down to us decorated completely. Ste Radegonde at Poitiers has a remarkable painted choir. Money if not talent was probably lacking to complete them all thus. St Savin-sur-Gartempe (Vienne), Chauvigny and Issoire are the only ones which now preserve their complete interior decoration; and of these Issoire should be left out of account, for most of its decoration is modern restoration or imitation of a very inferior order. St Savin, however, demands more than a passing notice. 90 Decoration of Romance Churches When one enters the Sistine Chapel at Rome for the first time the immediate impression is that of a light blue milky haze, through which the features of Michelangelo’s stupendous work gradually detach themselves. There is a similar impression, on a less grandiose scale, to be experienced on a first visit to St Savin, but the impression there is a shimmer of reds and yellows, given out by the paintings on the great barrel-vault. These represent the whole of the events of the books of Genesis and Exodus, down to the crossing of the Red Sea. The first is a very curious representation of the creation of the Sun and the Moon. The Creator holds the sun in one hand and the moon in the other, and launches them on their orbits, figured by concentric circles. The composition is of majestic simplicity. Next comes the creation of Man; the Temptation and the Fall; the killing of Abel, in which Cain is represented in a nimbus; the nimbus representing the power of evil as well as the radiance of goodness. Then the history of Noah, Abraham and Joseph ; Noah, intoxicated, mocked at by his sons ; the interment of Abraham; Jacob sending Joseph to Shechem; the offerings of Cain and Abel; the Tower of Babel; Joseph sold by his brothers to the Midianites (this one a good deal damaged); defeat of the four kings by Abraham; Christ in glory surrounded by the emblems of the Four Evangelists (it is noteworthy that Christ is here in a circular not an almond-shaped space); Joseph in prison; Joseph before Pharaoh; the delivery of the Tables of the 91 The Romance Churches of France Law to Moses on Mount Sinai; the Ark and the waters of the Deluge; the going out from the Ark and Noah's sacrifice; and several scenes from the Apocalypse. Only two scenes from Exodus are now preserved: the passage of the Red Sea and God appearing to Moses. Prosper Mérimée, in a mono- graph written on the St Savin frescoes, which contains a valuable analysis of the subjects, attributes them to Greek artists. André Michel holds that, while Byzantine in technique, they are French in spirit and must have been painted by local artists, after Greek models, perhaps. He compares them in their sim- plification and generalisation to the work of Puvis de Chavannes. They date from the late tenth or early eleventh century. The predominance of reds and yellows in their composition has already been mentioned. Hardly any blue was used, except for the vestments and nimbus of Christ. It is not clear whether this is because blue was considered a more sacred colour than any other or because it may have been more costly. There is no light and shade in the faces, which are painted with a uniform flesh- colour made up beforehand, the lips and cheeks being reddened with a touch of vermilion. On the ground floor, under the tower, is the oldest representation in France of the Last Judgment. The choir is also filled with paintings, and those of the crypt which can be looked at quite close are remarkable; but these have suffered more from the ravages of time than the rest. Even the columns of the nave are painted with marbling, which is intended to symbolise, according to 92 Decoration of Romance Churches the naive idea of the period, the precious stones with which the Heavenly Jerusalem was built. All the decoration—except the actual cartoons on the barrel-vault and in the crypt—is, however, tawdry. Little enough can be found in books about St Savin and his fellow-martyr, St Cyprien, part of whose history is recorded in the frescoes of the crypt; and the difficulty of tracing their careers is enhanced by there having been several Saints Savin and several Saints Cyprien in France. It is practically certain that the St Savin of Poitou is not the same saint that we find buried in the little village of St Savin, in the Hautes Pyrénées, not far from Cauterets. The St Savin of Poitou is said to have been born in the region of Bresse, in the east of France, and to have been at one time deacon at Auxerre. But nothing is certain about the history of the saints. It does not appear clearly whether they were martyred by Romans or Huns, although according to the frescoes their persecutors have Roman names. How- ever this may be, the two saints who are depicted in the crypt of St Savin-sur-Gartempe seem to have had a hard time of it. They were first arrested by the people of Amphibolis-——wherever Amphibolis was, for this is a geographical expression which appears to beat all ordinary encyclopadias, both French and English—and were there and then accused of pro- fessing Christianity. Accordingly they were brought before a certain Proconsul Ladicius and duly ad- monished, if we are to judge by his expression; 93 The Romance Churches of France also before the Proconsul Maximus, who seems to be talking to them pretty firmly too. He having apparently failed to move them, they are then again brought before Ladicius, who endeavours to prevail upon them to sacrifice to the “idol of Dionysos.” They evidently refused ; so next we see them thrown to the lions in the circus. The lioness and two lions (without manes or tails, and about as big as terrier dogs), instead of devouring them, lick their feet. This plan having therefore also failed, torture is next tried, and we see them both successively on the wheel. St Cyprien seems to be bearing it stoically, but St Savin is clearly crying out. Lastly they are seen unclad, and being torn by iron prongs. What their final end was is not depicted, or if it ever was the picture has been destroyed by age; but even here they are clearly in a condition of exhaustion, which makes it certain that the end is not far off. The legend does not make it clear whether they were finally decapitated or burned. Next in interest to St Savin come the frescoes in the baptistery of St Jean, at Poitiers. Here there still remain a few frescoes of the twelfth century, although they are mingled with thirteenth and fourteenth century work. These are less well preserved than those of St Savin, but are recognisable as being similar in style and period. The chapel itself is of course much older, and goes back to Merovingian times. The chief feature of interest is a painting of a large equestrian figure, which we recognise as Constantine, the benefactor of the Church, by the 94 Soils OES See nl A ISSOIRE POITIERS : TEMPLE ST. JEAN WITH REMAINS OF FRESCOES See page 94 CHAPELLE ST. GABRIEL, NEAR TARASCON ST. GILLES COLUMNS AND CAPITALS APPROPRIATED FROM ROMAN MONU- FRIEZE INSPIRED BY ROMAN SARCOPHAGI MENTS See page 8 See page 99 Decoration of Romance Churches inscription “(Const)antin(us).” This is one of the evidences showing that the equestrian statue on the outside of Poitevin churches is indeed that of Constantine. All the churches of Poitiers seem to have been decorated in the same manner during the twelfth century. The painted choir of Ste Radegonde has already been mentioned. There are traces of similar painting in St Hilaire, and also in Notre Dame la Grande. Painting and sculpture were not always separated in Romance times. There are numerous examples where the carving of the capitals is painted over— such, for example, as Issoire and Chauvigny-—and painting is even found in certain instances outside the churches. I have myself noticed traces of painting on the Romance portal of Senlis, and I am told there are such traces on the statues of the facade of Notre Dame de Paris, although I have never seen them. It would seem as though the clergy of this time felt that the religious instincts of the people must be roused by the most striking and brilliant combination of artistic methods at their command. Other churches containing fine frescoes of this period are Montoire (Loir et Cher), Le Liget (Indre et Loire) and Mont- morillon (Vienne). Painting is found in certain of the churches of Burgundy and the south of France. These are distinguished from those which have been described by being painted on a dark blue background. The painting in the twelfth century was always sub- servient to the architecture and, apart from its decora- tive as well as its didactic character, which has been 95 The Romance Churches of France noticed, was invariably designed to throw into relief the main architectural features of the church. It is in this respect that the modern painting of churches like Issoire and Notre Dame la Grande at Poitiers fails ignominiously. 96 Chapter vii Decoration of Romance Churches 2. Sculpture : mainly of Capitals HE painting of Romance churches can be dealt with briefly. Not so the sculpture. The ambitions of the Romance ecclesiastics to paint their churches completely were quite certainly never entirely fulfilled. If in particular instances this may have been the case, at all events the medium of paint is, far more than sculpture, exposed to the ravages of time; so that examples of painted churches which have come down to us, completed in accordance with the original design, are of the rarest. Doubtless, also, the task of the painter in those primitive ages was complicated by the difficulty of obtaining suitable materials, as well as by their cost; and the display of his talent was likewise hampered by paucity of models for imitation or for inspiration. Failure to carry out the plan of complete decoration, originally a Byzantine idea, is easily accounted for by the far greater number of French Romance churches. The Byzantines and Venetians were rich. It was therefore a comparatively easy task for them to adorn with completeness and richness the interiors of a few great churches, such as St Sophia, St Mark’s and the churches of Ravenna. The French Romance builders G 97 The Romance Churches of France were poor by comparison, so that it was an impossible task for them to decorate fully the interiors of all their churches, which—even those of the twelfth century alone—are to be counted by hundreds. The medieval sculptor suffered far less from these disadvantages. His stock-in-trade of hammer, chisel and compass was simple and inexpensive. France abounded then, as now, with easily workable and time-resisting stone, and he had before him a profusion of models in the abundant monuments disseminated through the country in Roman and Gallo-Roman times. In the beginning he simply appropriated Roman capitals and pillars and set them up as portals to his churches, or even inside the churches, adding almost no original decorative work of his own. We have already told of the bodily removal of columns from Italy—probably Ravenna—to Aix-la-Chapelle, and the shocking misfits they proved to be when they got there. And although this characteristic of Aix appertains rather to structure than to decoration, the practice of borrowed decoration can be observed in numerous instances in those regions where we should most expect to find it—that is, nearest to Roman influences—the classic land of Provence. Look, for example, at the doorway of the Chapelle St Gabriel, a little gem of early Romance art lost in the open country near Tarascon. Does it not seem quite obvious that the columns supporting the portal and the capitals, particularly the one on the left, with its purely classical acanthus leaves, were taken from some Roman temple? Indeed, were it not for the carving 98 Decoration of Romance Churches in the tympanum, a crude representation of Daniel in the Lions’ Den, the inset of the three prophets higher up, and above all the Paschal Lamb at the apex of the gable, we could easily believe the monument to be purely classical. The figured portions of the sculpture on this fagade are in all probability copied from Roman sarcophagi, although this origin is not so obvious in their case as at St Gilles (Gard). St Gilles needs a brief notice. Although the small town is in the Department of the Gard it is best reached from Arles by driving across the Camargue or Rhone delta, where wild ponies and small bulls, not always of the tamest, abound. St Gilles is about twenty kilometres from Arles, and is situated at the edge of the delta, just beyond the ‘ Little Rhone,” on what would be called in Canada “bench land.” The history and legends of St Gilles (or Giles) are somewhat more complete than those of most of the saints and martyrs to whom the medieval churches were dedicated. He was born at Athens, and reputed to be of royal race. Various miracles, chiefly in the way of healing, are attributed to him before his journey to Marseilles. Thence he went to Arles, where he spent two years, and then went out “into the desert” —the desert being undoubtedly the neighbourhood of the present town of St Gilles. There he lived on herbs and the milk of a hind, which came to him from time to time, and which he protected. The legend runs that the hind was one day hunted down by the King and his pack of hounds, and was miraculously protected from the dogs, which dare not approach 99 S The Romance Churches of France nearer than a ‘stone’s-throw,” as the legend has it, by means of the fervent prayers of the Saint. He founded a monastery on the spot, and it was here that the Romance church which we know and admire was —much later—built. At St Gilles the rows of saints on the frieze are quite clearly inspired by the designs found on Roman, and later on early Christian sarcophagi; the imitation is a happy one, and the whole effect harmonious and rich. Indeed, St Gilles belongs to the end of the twelfth century, when Romance sculpture had attained to a high degree of development, and it is mentioned here to show how in Provence, at all events, the inspira- tion of Roman and Gallo-Roman models persisted throughout the Romance period. The next stage in the development of Romance sculpture was very tentative, very crude, original work. The earliest attempts at sculpture which have been found in France are in the form of moulded bricks, remains of which have been discovered in various parts of France, particularly at St Palais (Cher), in the Loire Inférieure and the Puy-de-Déme. The earliest-known examples of sculptured Romance capitals are clearly copies in stone of these moulded bricks. Take for example the capitals of the church of Cruas (Ardéche). They have every appearance of having been cast in a mould, and are in fact stone imitations of the moulded brickwork referred to. There are numerous similar examples of this at Tournus, St Martin d’Ainay, at Lyons, and elsewhere. They represent either Biblical subjects—such as Adam 100 CLERMONT FERRAND CRUAS (ARDECHE) NOTRE DAME DU PORT BRICK MOULDING ~~ CAPITAL See page 110 See page 100 ST. GAUDENS CAPITAL REPRESENTING THE TEMPTATION See page 101 Decoration of Romance Churches and Eve, the Sacrifice of Abraham, Daniel in the Lions’ Den, the Lamb with the Cross, the Virgin and Child—or mythological subjects: animals or monsters drawn from the bestiaires, or stories of animals, real and imaginary, which formed the rudi- ments of the natural history of the times. These capitals at Cruas, with their flat relief and small subjects, representing anthropomorphic figures and chimeras, form the transition between the rudimentary Carolingian sculpture and the Romance properly so called. At St Gaudens, in the Haute Garonne, not far from Toulouse, we find an excellent example of the next advance of Romance sculpture. The church is dedicated to one of those numerous but obscure Saints Gaudentius, whose only history which has come down to us is the bare fact of his martyrdom. The most remarkable capital here represents the scene of the Temptation in the Garden of Eden. We are already far removed from the flat relief of Cruas. The relief here is as full as it ever will be—the true ronde bosse. The proportions of the figures are singularly unreal, their heads being far too large for their bodies. There is a quaint humour about the scene. An enormous serpent, with a body twice as thick as the tree trunk, is wound round the tree, and holds the apple in his mouth by its stalk. Eve, with an ex- pression of half-smiling anticipation, feels the apple with one hand, while Adam, on the other side, with averted eyes, strokes his beard and tries to look un- concerned. With these figured capitals alternate, as 101 The Romance Churches of France will be seen, foliated capitals, modelled on celery and acanthus leaves, which are not so much imitations of classical models as original attempts to imitate natural foliage. From these primitive essays we can follow the whole development of ecclesiastical sculpture in France, through Romance to Gothic times, until we arrive at its culminating and most luxuriant manifestation, now —thanks to the barbarism of war—almost completely lost to us: I mean the superb collection of statuary on the west front of Rheims Cathedral. But before we proceed to other forms of sculpture there is still something to be said about the develop- ment of Romance capitals. While St Bernard in- veighed against the growing luxury of church decoration, the monkish sculptors chiselled away diligently at their capitals—chiefly cloister capitals, as being the most elegant and on the whole the most unobtrusive form of decoration within their reach. Side by side with the Adam and Eve capital of St Gaudens, perhaps a little later in date, we have Balaam’s Ass at Saulieu, the Good Shepherd at Brioude and the symbolic representation of the Psychomachia, or conflict of Virtues and Vices. Here we see Chastity overcoming Lust; Faith, Idolatry ; Peace, Strife; Humanity, Pride; Charity, Avarice; Patience, Anger; and so forth. On the capitals of the churches of Auvergne we find, singularly enough, repeated and emphatic condemnation of the vice of usury. » The Virtues are usually represented as war- like maidens; the Vices as demons. The monsters 102 Decoration of Romance Churches are sometimes duplicated on adjoining faces of the capital and one head at the angle does duty for two bodies, as at Chauvigny. Figured subjects are by no means the only form of decoration of capitals. Indeed when we come to geometrical and foliated subjects their variety is end- less. It would be tiresome, even if it were possible, to furnish a complete catalogue of these. The most that can be done within the compass of a work like the present is to notice the chief categories into which they fall, leaving further details to accompany the general description which it is proposed to give later on of the most important Romance churches and cloisters. The chief source of inspiration for capitals which do not comprise figure or animal subjects are the classic capitals, particularly the Corinthian, which often degenerates into a very rudi- mentary representation of vegetable stalks, through the clumsiness of early copyists; and the interlaced work derived from Carolingian (Comacine) imitations of Persian and Armenian work. There are some very early specimens of work of this kind at Morienval (Oise). The basket-work of the Byzantines and the Saracens is much more elaborate and elegant than the flat interlaced Carolingian designs, and easily distinguished from them. Examples of degenerate Corinthian are found at St Sever (Landes), at Val- cabrére (Haute Garonne) and St Benoit-sur-Loire. Interlaced work is to to be found at Brantome, and the basket-work column at St Bertrand de Comminges. What we know in England as the cushion column, 103 The Romance Churches of France and its development, a capital with two or three “cushions,” is also fairly frequent. The capitals are usually the oldest portion of the sculptural decoration of a Romance school. For example, the south door of Notre Dame du Port at Clermont, of which a more detailed description will be given later on, is much later in date than the capitals in the interior of the church. It will be observed that no attempt has been made to classify sculpture under the heads of the various schools into which Romance churches have been dis- tinguished from a structural point of view. Nor will any such attempt be made. For although there are certain territorial distinctions to be drawn in respect of sculptural decoration, they are by no means so strongly marked as are the structural peculiarities. They shade off very gradually the one into the other, and an attempt to classify them would bewilder rather than entertain the reader. There is an historical reason for this comparative homogeneity. The actual builders in the earliest days of Romance church build- ing were in general local men, whereas the decorators were usually peripatetic masons who wandered about from one part of the country to another, or even from one country to the other, when they were bid. We have already seen this to be the case at Glaston- bury, where the structure is English while the decoration of the portals is the work of Burgundian craftsmen brought over by St Hugh of Avallon. In this connection it is necessary to give some account of the work of Comacine “masters” and their 104 Decoration of Romance Churches probable influence on French Romance architecture as far as we can trace it. As early as the seventh century there can be traced an edict which gives important and exclusive building privileges to this guild, but their origin must have been still earlier. It is conjectured that they were formed in Italy among the refugee craftsmen who fled from iconoclasm early in the eighth century. At all events, they received from the Pope the privilege of living according to their own laws and ordinances. They were, indeed, in the most practical sense of the term, the Freemasons of the Middle Ages. The Comacine or Lombard decoration is very characteristic, and can be recognised in a great number of Roman churches, vestibules and crypts—e.g. San Clemente, Sta Agnese, Santa Maria in Cosmedin. The Comacine ““ masters ” travelled to various countries, in particular to England under Augustine and to France under Charlemagne. Their privileges were confirmed to them by papal authority in these various countries. They depended solely on the Pope, and were absolved from the observance of local laws. They enjoyed a practical monopoly. A very significant modification of their constitution, as time went on, permitted the inhabitants of those foreign countries to which they had migrated to join the guild. Ecclesiastics of high rank joined the guild and supervised the work. Abbots employed their own monks, at first only to assist in the manual labour, later no doubt to share in the decorative work under the teaching of their Lombard associates. 105 The Romance Churches of France Charlemagne utilised the Comacines extensively, not only in Italy, where they were employed for the rebuilding of Rome, but elsewhere. Their handiwork is apparent in the more elegant portions of Charle- magne’s cathedral and tomb at Aix-la-Chapelle; and very obvious traces of Comacine or Lombard ornamentation are visible throughout France. It has been stated that a comparison of the portals of St Joseph's Chapel at Glastonbury with those of Avallon shows that the former are Burgundian. Similarly a comparison of the portals of Avallon with those of St Michele at Pavia leads to the unmistakable conclusion that the portals of Avallon are of Lombard origin. The famous capital at Moissac, representing the miraculous draught of fishes, is undoubtedly Comacine in feeling and execution, especially the frieze portion. But it would be a grave error to suppose that all the Romance decoration in France is Comacine. The farther one pushes back towards the reign of Charlemagne the more marked, no doubt, becomes the Comacine origin of the work. But the nearer one gets to the later twelfth century—which, as we have seen, was the apogee of French Romance, —the clearer it becomes that the Romance craftsmen had succeeded in elaborating an admirable style of their own. They first borrowed wholesale Roman or Gallo-Roman ornaments, such as columns, capitals and portions of sarcophagi. Then they began to imitate them, very crudely at first, as we see in the brick mouldings of Cruas and the clumsy imitations of acanthus capitals and the primitive representations 106 MOISSAC TWO CAPITALS THE MIRACULOUS DRAUGHT OF FISHES A VISION OF THE APOCALYPSE See page 106 MOISSAC CONQUES TYMPANUM REPRESENTING THE VISION OF THE APOCALYPSE THE LAST JUDGMENT See page 114 See page 111 Decoration of Romance Churches of the Temptation and other Scriptural subjects at St Gaudens and elsewhere; finally elaborating a free and beautiful style of their own, of which there are numerous examples in the later Romance churches. They derived, no doubt, much benefit from their as- sociation with the Comacine masters, but they very soon emancipated themselves from any suspicion of being permanently enslaved to them. The broad distinctions that the student will easily observe himself during his wanderings, and which will amply suffice him at the outset, at all events, are that in Provence classical influences obviously predominate. Towards the centre the Byzantine prevails, tinctured near the Pyrenees by obviously Saracenic influences; while farther north and west we gradually find more originality breaking through, in the imitation, at first crude and clumsy, of natural foliage and the repro- duction of figure subjects, Biblical or mythological ; and everywhere, no doubt, reminiscences of the Comacine tradition. The capital is on the whole the most profuse and luxuriant manifestation of the isolated subject in stone. Only in rare instances do we find it as the vehicle for representing complex groups. For these we must address ourselves to the doorways and portals, which now claim consideration. 107 Chapter viii Decoration of Romance Churches 2. Sculpture : mainly of Doorways HE primitive doorway was merely a flat stone lintel placed over two flat stone doorposts. Experience soon taught the early builders that the superincumbent weight of the stone wall had a tendency to cause the lintel to crack and give way. So they endeavoured to obviate this in two different ways. They either inserted above the lintel a discharging arch, Fig. 8 (A), or triangulated the top of the lintel, (B), or both (C). Having done this, they next dis- covered that the structure was then so solid that they could carve the tympanum between the lintel and the arch, and even the face of the lintel itself, without diminishing its strength. This combination we find in its most beautiful form at Notre Dame du Port (Clermont Ferrand). The next step in the evolution of the portal was to recess it, the face of the recessed portion being at right angles to the front wall. At Conques there is a very beautiful example of a double door with triangulated lintels recessed in this manner. Similar examples are found at Beaulieu (Corréze) and Cahors (Lot). From this right-angled recess there came about a transition to the portal recessed with a gradually deepening splay of successive archivolts and 108 Decoration of Romance Churches columns; and thus we get the Romance portal in its most beautiful and perfect form, as for example at Senlis (Oise), Arles, St Gilles and St Lazare (Avallon). The decoration of the tympanum developed gradu- ally from the rough inset which we have noticed at NT St Gabriel to the magnificent representations of Christ in Glory surrounded by Saints and Angels, the Last Judgment or the Vision of the Apocalypse. In the more recent of these magnificent sculptural groups Christ is separated from the other figures by an 109 The Romance Churches of France almond-shaped space, the meaning of which seems to be invariably taken for granted by all writers on the subject but which requires explanation. The explana- tion is really a simple one, although a good deal of investigation is necessary to verify it. It is a figure which is easily obtained by two overlapping circles of equal diameter—a figure familiar to every school- boy as the foundation of one of the most elementary propositions of Euclid. It is called in French a mandorle, from the Italian mandorla=an almond, the shape of which it resembles; a much more picturesque appellation than the English one, vesica, or bladder. The English word has a symbolical meaning however. It was intended to represent—although it does so only imperfectly—the wvesica piscis, or fish's bladder. The fish in Greek was a deeply revered Christian symbol, the Greek word for fish, IXOUZ, forming the first letters of the phrase, IHZOUZ XPIZTOZ 6EOU UIOS ZQTHP (Jesus Christ the Son of God, the Saviour). Thus this fish -bladder - shaped space, in which Christ was represented in Glory, was deemed to symbolise His Divine mission. Following on this brief explanation of the evolution of the Romance portal it will now be appropriate to give some detailed description of a few of the best- known portals in France. Very remarkable in this respect is Notre Dame du Port at Clermont, already mentioned. The church was originally built in the ninth century, and was restored in the tenth century after a series of Norman raids. It belongs therefore to the earlier period of Romance. It was again care- II0 Decoration of Romance Churches fully restored in 1834. Of the famous south portal only the tympanum and the lintel remain of the original design. The four insets above and below, if they are a portion of the original design, are clearly not now in the positions originally assigned to them. These represent (top left) the Annunciation; (top right) the Nativity; (bottom left) St John the Baptist; (bottom right) the Prophet Isaiah. In the tympanum is Christ giving benediction, supported by two cherubim. On the lintel, from left to right, are represented the Adora- tion of the Magi, the Presentation in the Temple and the Baptism of Christ. This is an excellent example of the decorative development of the tympanum and lintel on the flat wall without any attempt at recessing. Next comes Conques, in the Aveyron, dedicated to Sainte Foy, about whom all we know is that she was a Christian virgin who suffered martyrdom at Agen. The church possesses a valuable treasury, the chief objects among which worthy of notice are the famous A-shaped reliquary of Charlemagne and a silver-gilt bust, studded with gems, of Sainte Foy herself. The portal of Conques is only slightly recessed, the recess being just deep enough to contain two slender columns. The tympanum is divided into three tiers by flat bands of stone bearing inscriptions. The gabled outlines of the original lintels are indicated on the lower tier. In the centre of the middle tier is Christ, seated, within the almond space, His right hand raised towards the elect, His left lowered towards the lost souls. Above Him in the upper tier are the arms of a large cross, round which angels descend from an opening in the III The Romance Churches of France heavens, bearing the implements of the Passion and sounding on trumpets the call to the Last Judgment. The inscriptions are chiefly taken from St Matthew's Gospel : “Venite benedicti patris mei”; “Gloria pax requies, perpetuusque dies,” etc. On the right of Christ is a procession of abbots, founders and bene- factors of the abbey, following the Virgin with hands joined in supplication. On the other side are angels armed with swords watching over the entrance to hell, where demons are torturing the souls of the damned. In the lower register, just below the feet of Christ, in the space above the triangular heads of the lintels, is represented the weighing of souls. On the left-hand lintel is a representation of the souls of the elect being received into Abraham’s bosom. On the right-hand one is the entrance to hell, shown as the jaws of an enormous dragon, with beyond the various tortures which await more particularly the sins of Avarice, Pride, Falsehood and Lust. These tympana are, according to Viollet-le-Duc, mural paint- ings transformed into stone—that is, no doubt, copies of similar subjects which formerly existed as paintings inside the churches. They were themselves origin- ally painted over with polychrome decoration, and traces of this polychrome work still exist at Conques, as they do on the facade of Senlis and elsewhere. This is a further illustration of the determination of medieval ecclesiasts to arrest the attention of their flock by the most dazzling artistic combinations at their command. Next in order of development come the portals of 112 Decoration of Romance Churches the class of Moissac and Beaulieu. Both are more deeply recessed than Conques, affording room for a double arcade supported by engaged columns enclos- ing elaborate sculptured subjects; as well as a splay of three archivolts and pilasters, beautifully decorated at Moissac with foliated bands ; bare at Beaulieu, prob- ably owing to scamped restoration. The tympanum of Moissac represents the Vision of the Apocalypse : ‘““ Behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold. . . . And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal, and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind. And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.” In addition to its sculpture, Moissac is interesting as being a domical church possessing a Romance tower and having been partially fortified by a parapet wall with crenellation over the entrance. The church, dedicated to St Pierre, suffered severely during the wars of religion. J Here again the tympanum is divided into three tiers or registers. The figure of Christ occupies the centre of the two upper registers, the remainder of H 103 The Romance Churches of France the second and the whole of the lower register being filled with figures of the elders. The registers are divided off by lines of undulating clouds, formerly painted in polychrome, which is now entirely effaced. The figure of Christ, says André Michel, is archaic, with bulging eyes and detached ears, far too large, and a beard divided into long symmetrical tufts; but the attitudes of the elders, their faces all turned in a rapture of devotion towards the central figure, evince much originality of composition. The lintel, with its elegant decoration of rosettes or pateraz, belongs to an earlier period, and is a handsome reproduction of a Gallo-Roman motive. The lions, male and female, superposed on the trumeau or central pier, are a striking illustration of the Romance practice of juxta- posing a purely decorative motive with other motives of the deepest symbolism. This portal was originally built at the west end of the church, and later moved to its present position on the south side. André Michel conjectures that it was at the period of this removal that the bas-reliefs on the arcades of the re- cess were executed. These represent on the western side the Punishment of Avarice and Lust, and in the upper panels from right to left the Feast of Dives and Death of Lazarus and his reception into Abraham's bosom. On the eastern side are the Annunciation, the Visitation and the Adoration of the Magi. The head of the angel in the Annunciation is a bad piece of modern restoration. Above are represented the Presentation in the Temple, the Angel speaking to St Joseph and the Flight into Egypt. Set into the 114 Decoration of Romance Churches side supports of the lintel are figures of St Peter and the Prophet Isaiah, archaic in design, but instinct with movement and elegance. No description, or even photograph, can do justice to the magnificence of this famous portal, which must be seen to be ap- preciated, and once seen becomes for ever a luscious memory. Those who are deprived of the possibility of seeing the original may take some small consolation from contemplation of an excellent cast of it in the museum of the Trocadero at Paris. A contemporary chronicle fixes the execution of this portal in the year 1115, under the Abbot Ansquitil. It would seem to be established, however, that it was not completed till after the death of the Abbot Roger in 11335. Precisely similar in arrangement, though later in date, is the portal of Beaulieu (Corréze), a church be- longing originally to a monastery founded by Raoul de Bourgogne on the spot where he defeated the Normans. It does not present so magnificent an ensemble as Moissac, but the tympanum, which repre- sents the Last Judgment, has a wonderful impress of originality. Christ is seated on a throne—we do not find the “almond” in this early work—with arms ex- tended. Two angels blow the last trumpet, holding the cross above and to the right of the figure of Christ, Who is surrounded by the Apostles. At His feet the dead rise from their tombs, and on the lintel, divided into two tiers, are represented dragons and monsters devouring the lost souls. The whole composition is at once more severe and more powerful than at Moissac. The church of Beaulieu is an excellent example of 115 The Romance Churches of France the value of the Separation law in the preservation of historical monuments in France. Here was a famous church which was literally rotting away with damp. It has now been classified as an historical monument, with the consequence that now, at the joint expense of the State and the locality, it has been detached from the surrounding buildings, drained all round, and its stones mortared and pointed, so that it is now in a relatively good state of preservation, and likely to remain so for a generation or two. Another fine specimen, still later in date, belonging to quite the end of the twelfth century, is the portal of St Etienne, at Cahors (much restored). The tympanum represents the Ascension, and we again find the figure of Christ in the mandorla, which is absent from Moissac and Beaulieu. The tympanum is surrounded by a single moulding and no part of the recess is splayed. Other interesting examples of recessed and sculptured portals are to be found at Carennac (Lot) and at Souillac. Carennac has been very much restored, but it is worth a visit for its associations with Fénelon; for it was here that he wrote Télémaque. The “Ile de Calypso” still exists in the River Dordogne, on which the little town is picturesquely situated. From the recessed portal we pass to the portal, consisting of a deep splay of numerous archivolts, a pilaster or the statue of a saint corresponding to each of the archivolts. These prefigure the deep splay of the Gothic portals with their profusion of statues, as Rheims, Bourges, Amiens, and others. 116 KU BEAULIE SSAC MOI THE PORTAL RECESSES OF THE or ONE TURES OF WEST RECESS OF PORTAL SCULP See page 116 5 See page 11 rr Lad SEA evra ea mm A a BRIONNAIS EN MUR D SE SENLIS AND SAINTS THE VIRGIN or CORONATION age 118 d See p See page 117 Decoration of Romance Churches One of the finest examples of this class of Romance portal is found at Senlis (Oise). It is a late example, and belongs to the end of the twelfth century ; it is, however, the first portal almost entirely devoted to an iconographic representation of the Virgin. On the lintel are the Death and Resurrection of the Virgin, and in the tympanum is the Coronation—or, more accurately, the Virgin in Glory after the Coronation. The archivolts represent a Jesse-tree, and the uprights corresponding to them contain eight statues. These statues are difficult to identify, although they were very conscientiously restored after their mutilation at the time of the first Revolution. They are, however, probably the following. Outside on the left St John, the Baptist in the act of baptizing a Gentile at his feet. Next, Samuel. Third, Moses crowned. [Fourth and inmost, Abraham about to sacrifice Isaac. Outer right, David, with his legs crossed, bearing a phylac- tery in one hand and three nails, the symbols of the Passion, in the other. Next to him Isaiah, holding the stem of a flower, emblematical of the stock of Jesse. Third, Jeremiah, with a cross symbolic of the Passion. Inmost, Simeon bearing the infant Christ. Most fortunately, this beautiful portal has not suffered at all during the Great War. Other interesting examples are found at Charlieu and Semur-en-Brionnais, with its exquisite twisted and net-work pilasters. This Semur, a little village in the department of Saéne et Loire, with less than one thousand inhabitants, must not be confused with Semur-en-Auxois, a much more important town, and 117 The Romance Churches of France sous préfecture of the Cote d'Or. The latter town possesses the picturesque remains of fortifications, but ecclesiastically speaking contains now not a vestige of twelfth-century architecture. The small but extremely elegant portal of St Just de Valcabrére, in the Haute Garonne, with figures; the three portals of St Lazare at Avallon; Charlieu with its delicate lace-like decoration; and lastly the two great provencal facades, St Trophime, at Arles, and St Gilles, on the edge of the department of the Gard, just beyond the western side of the Rhone delta, exhibit an interesting combination of the splay with the rectangularly recessed portal. At St Gilles the arched portion of the portal consists of a splay of archivolts totally denuded of decoration, contrasting with the luxuriance of the decoration below them, not inharmoniously, however, by reason of the extreme elegance of their mouldings ; while the scheme of the lower portion is that of the rectangular recess, the faces of the recess being occupied by statues of apostles, above which is a continuous frieze, occupy- ing the level of the lintel and fitted with the usual procession of undivided figures. At Arles, in contrast with the arrangement at Moissac, the under portion of the arch is at right angles to the face, and is richly decorated with half- length figures of angels. The outer portion is splayed and, like St Gilles, undecorated. The lower portion, including the frieze, exhibits the same general arrangement as St Gilles. We have now, it is hoped, completed the general 118 BEAULIEU : FACADE See page 116 SAULIEU : A RESTORED PORTAL WITH BLANK LIN EL at vs |p pn AR VALCABRERE : ST. Just CHARLIEU See page 119 See page 118 Decoration of Romance Churches outline of the subject, and enabled the reader to dis- tinguish the various schools of Romance churches by reference to their salient and most visible distinguish- ing characteristics and also to their historical and geographical origin. An attempt has been made to give a general description of their very profuse and varied decoration, both painting and sculpture. The ground having thus been cleared, it is believed that a closer acquaintance with the subject may best be fostered by a more detailed description of particular churches of importance, as well as of the churches of particular districts. I19 Chapter ix The Churches of Burgundy : Vézelay, Avallon and Saulieu \ JazrlAY, situated slightly to the south of the main road from Auxerre to Avallon, is a church on a hill, but privileged among churches on hills in having the hill to itself in the land- scape, like Lincoln and Laon and St Bertrand de Comminges. Chauvigny is on a hill ridge, but, besides being far less imposing in proportions than Vézelay, it shares the ridge with the remains of no less than five feudal strongholds; while the hill church of St Flour, although imposing at a distance, is sombre and disappointing on closer inspection, as the town is squalid and desolate. Vézelay becomes visible almost immediately we leave the main road at Sermizelles, although it is ten or eleven kilometres away, and when once we see it we realise that the church owns the hill. The grandeur of its situation and general aspect grows upon us as we climb the long road which winds up to it, and makes us over- look the meanness of the surroundings. Only when we take in the frigidly correct restoration of the facade do we experience a slight chill of disappointment. This, however, soon vanishes as we enter the narthex, or ante - church. Three doors, the most wonderful feature of the whole structure, lead from 120 The Churches of Burgundy the narthex into the church proper, and correspond in position with the three outer doors of the narthex. In case the central door should be closed, travellers are recommended to get the verger to open it, in order to enjoy the vista through the nave to the end of the (Gothic) choir. The whole church is very long for a Romance church, being 120 metres—i.e. nearly 400 feet—from end to end; but it should be borne in mind that the choir and narthex are subsequent additions to the nave. The subject of the tympanum of the central door of the narthex is the Pentecost. The figure of Christ is not the most successful part of the design. It is too large for the composition, so that He is too huddled up on the mandorla, notwithstanding that His head projects into the central space of the in- most archivolt. His hands are of disproportionate size, and are stretched out stiffly on either side. The inner archivolt is divided into sectors containing groups of figures deeply undercut, the significance of which, like that of the groups of figures and animals on the lintel, has never been satisfactorily established. The whole composition is harmonious and imposing notwithstanding the blemishes in the sculpture of the figure of Christ. It is enhanced by a very fine figure of St John the Baptist, on the central support (trumeau), holding a disk which originally bore the image of the Paschal Lamb, to which the Saint is pointing with his forefinger. The middle archivolt is composed of a series of medallions, on which the signs of the zodiac alternate with representations of the labour of 121 The Romance Churches of France the twelve months of the year. These medallions, as well as other portions of the decoration of the west doors of Vézelay, are very Comacine in design and execution. Compare St Michele at Pavia and St Marcello at Capua, the latter of which is as old as the fourth century. The two side doors of the narthex each possess two archivolts of deeply cut rosettes and floral decoration. Their small tympana are divided into two registers. The upper register of the left-hand or north portal represents the Ascension, the lower the meeting with the two disciples at Emmaus, Christ breaking bread with them and the return of the two disciples to Jerusalem to announce the miraculous event. In the upper register of the south portal is the Adoration of the Magi; below, the Annunciation, the house of Zachariah, and the shepherds guided by angels to Christ’s birthplace. These two side portals are in elegant contrast with the massive proportions of the central door. The spaciousness of Burgundian churches has already been mentioned as their main characteristic, and the nave of Vézelay i is no exception to this rule. But its mere size is by no means its only claim upon us. Indeed from this point of view only it would have to yield in elegance, I had almost said airiness —a term which can rarely be used of a Romance church—to Paray-le-Monial, were it not that its rather heavy proportions are admirably counter- balanced by a simple but most appropriate scheme of decoration. This decoration consists of two 122 Hmmm VEZELAY CENTRAL DOOR OF NARTHEX LOOKING INTO NAVE See page 122 fox i 1 4 " VEZELAY VEZELAY LEFT PORTAL OF NARTHEX RIGHT PORTAL OF NARTHEX See page 123 The Churches of Burgundy elements: felicitous alternation of grey and white stones in the arcading between nave and aisles and on the transverse arches of the nave; and the delicate ribbon string-course, covered with rosettes, above the arcades of the nave, reproduced over all the arcades and wall-arches as well as between the transverse arches of the nave and the vault. Imagine the nave of Vézelay without these two extremely simple but very effective devices of decoration. Not all its height and luminosity could then remove the impression of heaviness, of top-heaviness indeed. It is verily a bold undertaking, this nave. The Burgundian architects were determined to have it spacious and luminous at all risks. And the risks taken by the builders of Vézelay were as grave as those taken by the Cluniacs, although fortunately not followed by such disastrous results. The nave of Vézelay never, as far as we know, actually fell in. But imminent danger of a collapse was ever present in its earlier years, and the ugly expedient of iron girders thrown across it had to be resorted to. For these, much later, were substituted external flying buttresses. Indeed it is related, we know not now with how much truth, that it was at Vézelay that the flying buttress was —accidentally—invented. The early builders placed great faith in the outer buttresses of the aisles coupled with the resistance of the aisle-vaulting to counteract the outward thrust of a super-elevated nave (Fig. 9, seen in section). When they found this was insufficient, the idea occurred to them to build up these outer buttresses into pinnacles projecting high above the 123 The Romance Churches of France aisles, the superincumbent weight of which was sup- posed to strengthen, and did to some extent strengthen, the whole structure (Fig. 10). Some architect more ingenious than his fellows, seeing one day that, not- withstanding these devices, the clerestory wall of the nave still bulged and threatened collapse, conceived the idea of jamming a massive timber diagonally into the space between the pinnacle of the outer buttress and the clerestory wall: thus the flying buttress was brought into existence (Fig. 11). The story, if not true, is ben trovato, and admirably illustrates the true function of the flying buttress. At all events, it seems difficult to regard the flying buttress as anything but a some- what ponderous makeshift; at best the most cumbrous and least attractive feature of a Gothic structure. It seems strange that, inasmuch as Vézelay is within a day’s motor drive from Paris, so few people seem to have more than a hearsay knowledge of it, even if they have that. Some years ago the writer en- countered in the church on the occasion of his third or fourth visit an aristocratic couple, who had driven there in a luxurious private car, English evidently, and as evidently people of culture, who had stumbled across it, so to speak, and had never heard of it before. Their almost speechless admiration was a gratifying testimonial to the beauty of the monument. The occurrence recalled an Atlantic crossing made by a friend many years ago in company with one of those naive and blatant Americans who are constantly talk- ing about their own exploits and their own business. This gentleman's particular line was the bodily moving 124 The Churches of Burgundy of houses from one place to another; and during the voyage he described to all comers, in picturesque | | First stage Second stage ] | | { / | Third stage 9) | | FIGS. 9, 10 AND II American, his marvellous achievements in that rather unusual line of business. Later on, the two met inside 125 The Romance Churches of France St Mark’s. The American rushed up to my friend (also an American, by the way), and wrung his hand in dumb admiration and moved almost to tears. For here he had found a building, not only of a trans- cendent beauty of which he had never dreamed, but one which defied the ingenuity of the most skilled house remover, and effectually silenced his professional gabble. Without any desire to belittle the genuine- ness of his emotion, thus eloquently emphasised by silence, it is perhaps fortunate that this gentleman's professional skill stopped at terrestrial transporta- tion of buildings; otherwise we might conceivably find that by this time St Mark’s had flitted across the Atlantic. A detailed description of the extraordinary variety of subjects sculptured on the capitals of the nave of Vézelay will not be attempted, but it will be convenient to give the nomenclature of the most interesting among them. North Side 2nd Pillay. Allegory of Calumny and Avarice. 3rd Pillay. Judith and Holofernes. 4th Pillar. West. Sacrifice of Jephthah’s Daughter. North. David and Goliath. South. Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. sth Pillar. North. Death of Absalom. 6th Pillar. West. Combat of Demons. North. Golden Calf. 126 The Churches of Burgundy 7th Pillay. 8th Pillay. oth Pillar. 10th Pillar. 1st Pillar. 2nd Pillay. 3rd Pillar. 4th Pillar. sth Pillar. 6th Pillar. West. Death of St Paul. North. Legend of Sainte Eugénie. East. Execution of Agag, King of the Amalekites. North and East. Legend of Saint Anthony. Adam and Eve and the Temptation. St Peter delivered by the Angel. South Side Enigmatical. West. A horseman on a dragon casting a stone at a monster. South. An eagle carrying away a child in its beak and a dog in its claws, etc. North. A man on the gallows. West. A Duel. South. Allegory of Lust and Hate: a serpent gnawing the vitals of a woman; a demon killing himself with a javelin. North. Slaughter of Ammon. West. Legend of St Hubert. East. A representation of the zodiacal sign of the scales. North. Noah coming out of the Ark. South. Dives and Lazarus. West. A miller loaded with corn. Vintage. North. David and Lion. West. Legend of St Martin and the Woodmen. South. Daniel and the Lions. 127 The Romance Churches of France 6th Pillar. North. King Zedekiah throws Jeremiah into a dungeon. 7th Pillar. West. Jacob wrestling with the Angel. North. Jacob simulating his brother Esau, to obtain Isaac’s blessing. 8th Piller. East. Daniel 1 in the Lions’ Den. The nave of Vézelay was built between 1096 and 1104, under Abbot Artaud, who was massacred two years after this part of the church was completed. The narthex came later, in 1132, when it was conse- crated by Pope Innocent II. Innocent II., it will be recalled, had a very precarious tenure of the Papacy. In fact it may be doubted whether he was ever validly elected Pope at all, for he was originally only elected by a minority of the Cardinals, a rival being elected by the majority, under the title of Anacletus II. Innocent, although recognised as Pope in France by the influential party of St Bernard of Clairvaux, had to enlist the services of the German King to defend his title in Italy. This was accomplished successfully. But Innocent seems to have been a man of poor judgment and of a quarrelsome disposition. He quarrelled with his chief benefactors, and a final squabble with King Louis VII. of France was only ended by his death in 1143. The narthex of Vézelay was completed probably in 1138. Still later, at the end of the twelfth or early in the thirteenth century, were built the (now Gothic) choir and transepts. In modern times the church suffered much from revolutionary vandalism; still 128 The Churches of Burgundy more perhaps from neglect and the decaying hand of time, until its scientific restoration was taken in hand in 1840 by Viollet-le-Duc, and carried to a successful conclusion. The solemn deserted aspect of the town and church makes it difficult for us to realise that in its heyday Vézelay was one of the most important religious centres in Christendom, and that the rumour that it possessed relics of the Magdalen once spread abroad rapidly raised it to the equal of Rome, Jerusalem or Santiago de Compostella. Pilgrims flocked there from every corner of the Christian world. They so overflowed on the feast day of the Magdalen (22nd July) that people slept on straw in the streets. Commerce followed religion. It became a great trade centre in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. The abbey prospered and flourished exceedingly. Its ~ glories were spread abroad by Gerard of Roussillon, who succeeded in obtaining for the abbey various immunities after having endowed it with rich lands. Small wonder that such a place should have been selected by St Bernard in which to preach the Second Crusade in 1147, or that forty years later Richard Ceeur de Lion and Philip Augustus should have taken the cross there. These very privileges, however, were the beginning of the abbey’s undoing. The monks, puffed up with their own importance, attempted to throw off the spiritual overlordship of Cluny as well as the feudal suzerainty of the counts of Nevers. They were “in but not of the diocese of Autun,” said they. Hence I 129 The Romance Churches of France a period of agitation and strife, in which the abbots ultimately succumbed, and their privileges were gradually taken from them. The authenticity of relics of the Magdalen was questioned. Pilgrims dwindled away, until in 1538 the glories of the abbey were finally extinguished by its secularisation. The traveller should endeavour to leave Vézelay in the direction of Avallon, about eighteen kilometres north-west, not only because Avallon is worth a visit, and lies on the way to Saulieu, which must not be missed, but also on account of the picturesqueness of the route. After a short visit to the little Gothic Church of St Peére-sous-Vézelay, just below the hill, whose graceful porch and elegant spire relieve the eye momentarily from the contemplation of the more massive Romance contours, a long hill is to be climbed, by the preordained method of locomotion, whether motor, bicycle or foot, the slower the better, in order to enjoy the retreating view of the great hill-commanding church. There about half-way, after some up and down work, we drop at Pontaubert into the romantic valley of the little River Cousin, which is followed for the rest of the way. Among the miles and miles of fascinating wooded river valleys which France possesses this brief stretch of the Cousin always seems to hold its own particular niche in one’s recollection. Avallon need not detain us long. The portals of St Lazare are of particular interest to the Englishman as being the prototypes of those at Glastonbury. Beyond that, the church to which they belong presents little interest, for the interior has been 130 The Churches of Burgundy badly restored, is out of proportion to the facade and ill-lighted. The author observed on the occasion of his last visit, a few years ago, that a reprehensible act of vandalism had been committed there. One of the slender columns of the main portal had frittered away, decayed by time, and in its place the slim figure of a thirteenth-century saint had been set up, an unpardonable offence against both art and style. If all the columns had been removed and replaced by saints this would have been excusable, for then we should have had the scheme of Senlis or of Valcabrere. But this lonely thirteenth-century saint in a little forest of twelfth-century columns cuts a lamentable figure. The chief beauty of the facade of Avallon is to be found in the archivolts of the central portal. The first or inner one next the tympanum—the sculpture of which is no more—consists of a series of medallions representing angels, full of elegance and movement; the second, the twenty-four elders of the Apocalypse ; the third, the signs of the zodiac and the different phases of agriculture; the fourth, a succession of dec- orative acanthus leaves, and the fifth and last, now partly filled up, very graceful leaf scroll-work. The unassuming exterior of the Burgundian churches has frequently been noticed. Even Paray-le- Monial has a barn-like appearance outside. Saulieu is no exception to this rule. So unnoticeable is it exteriorly that a friend of the author’s who frequently motors over this road, to whom he was once describing 131 The Romance Churches of France the interest the church possessed, replied that he did not even know there was anything of a church there. All he had observed was that the landlady of the inn was of exceptional comeliness! It would certainly not need such a counter attraction as this to draw the traveller's attention away from so inconspicuous a monument. The interior nevertheless is imposing, and the decorated capitals, in the style of Vézelay, although less elaborate, are worth study. There is also an elegant portal, well restored except for the lintel, which, as at Avallon, has been left a frigid blank. The interior gives an impression of great height for a Romance church, an impression which is fostered by the high narrow arches of the triforium. In reality the church is neither as large nor as well- lighted as Paray-le-Monial, nor is it as spacious as the cathedral of Autun, which it resembles in general arrangement. Once at Saulieu it is worth while pushing on to Semur, a picturesquely situated little town in the Cote d'Or, with ramparts and fortifications still remaining. The cathedral was originally built in the eleventh century, but entirely rebuilt in the fourteenth, nothing of the Romance period now remaining to it. 132 AVALLON : WITH STATUE OF Sce page 131 See page 147 XIII CENTURY SAINT SUBSTITUTED ELNE FOR PORTAL OF ST. LLAZARE DECAYED PILASTER AUTUN : INTERIOR PARAY LE MONIAL See page 137 See page 139 Chapter x The Churches of Burgundy (continued) : Autun, Paray-le-Monial and Tournus or Semur, but it is far more picturesquely approached from the southern end of the Morvan, the ridge of volcanic hills which stretches from Vézelay in the north to Chateau Chinon. For a bicyclist Chateau Chinon is a heavy pull up on the west side, but whatever mode of locomotion is adopted, and despite the poorness of the accommoda- tion (although this may probably have been improved since the author visited the place fifteen or twenty years ago), the beauty of the run down into Autun on the east will amply outweigh these minor draw- backs, especially at the time of year when the gorse is in bloom in the valleys to the north. Those classically inclined may make a slight detour to visit the remains of the ancient Oppidum of Bibracte, now Mont Beuvray, famous in the annals of Vercingetorix. It was there that, after compelling Ceasar to raise the siege of Gergovia, in the Puy de Do6me, he was pro- claimed “Chieftain of Gaul.” This seems to have intoxicated him, at all events to have impaired his military judgment. For soon after he made the tactical error of attacking Caesar near Dijon, was overwhelmed, and had to take refuge in Alésia, where 133 A UTUN can be easily reached from Saulieu The Romance Churches of France he finally surrendered. He was taken captive to Rome, and there executed six years afterwards. Autun is a place to be avoided on a fair-day, for travellers may very well find that every bed in the place is taken, and may be compelled, as was the writer on the occasion of his last visit, to drive out into a neighbouring village to get housed for the night. The most ancient as well as the most interesting part of the exterior of the cathedral of Autun is the great West Door, flanked by two lateral portals. Unfortunately it is difficult to get a comprehensive view of them, owing to surrounding buildings. The portals are too much overhung by the narthex and its columns, and the houses in front crowd the facade so that it is almost impossible to get the whole of it in suitable perspective. Permission can sometimes be got to climb to the first-floor balcony of one of the houses opposite; but even then one is too near. The tympanum of the central door holds a fine re- presentation of the Last Judgment, cut in deep relief. Its only blemish is the mutilation of the figure of Christ, seated in the centre in a mandorla. The figures on the lintel are extraordinarily vivid and life-like. Note on the left St Peter conducting the souls of the blessed, and the little angels hoisting them up into the precincts of the Heavenly Jeru- salem. On the other side is the usual scene of the weighing of souls. On the north side of the cathe- dral is a handsome Romance portal, into which a Renaissance door has been set. Curiously enough, the two, although four centuries apart in style, 134 The Churches of Burgundy harmonise admirably. The choir is a piece of gross vandalism. Its roof is twice as high as, and of a different pitch to, that of the transepts. It cuts through the beautiful blind arcades of the central tower and completely destroys the symmetry of the tower and transepts. The work of Goths in a very literal sense. The decoration of Autun proceeds from, and is inspired by, Vézelay. The capitals strongly resemble those of Vézelay. The most noticeable perhaps is that of the Flight into Egypt. André Michel gives an account of one of the most important and original pieces of sculpture which the twelfth century produced at Autun. It is a figure of Eve recumbent in the Garden of Eden, formerly on one of the lateral doors of the narthex, now in private hands. Probably a figure of Adam, now lost, formed the pendant to it. The importance of Autun as a religious centre was derived from the tradition of the translation of the remains of St Lazarus thence from Marseilles. The legend runs that after the Ascension the faith- ful were violently persecuted by the Jews, who, not daring to use personal violence towards them, but wishing to get rid of them, put Lazarus and his sister, Martha, and Mary Magdalen into a ship without sails or rudder. By the grace of God, and under the con- duct of one of His angels, they landed at Marseilles, where Lazarus preached, became the first Bishop of Marseilles, and died. The treasury of the Church still possesses the Oriental cloth in which the saint’s 135 The Romance Churches of France remains were wrapped. His tomb is behind the high altar. In like manner the relics of the Magdalen were taken from St Maximin to Vézelay, and those of many other saints were removed from outlying parts of the country to the interior, chiefly into Bur- gundy. The reason of this is that Burgundy was, until the middle of the twelfth century, comparatively the safest part of France. The east was exposed to the incursions of the Huns; the north to those of the Normans; the south to the Saracens. Burgundy was reputed the sanctuary from those foreign brigands, so we find the relics of St Baudele removed from Nimes to Beaune, St Philibert from Noirmoutier to Tournus, St Médard from Soissons to Dijon. St Médard is the French St Swithin, whose feast falls on 8th June. If it rains on that day forty consecu- tive days of rain may be expected. If, however, it is fine on St Barnabas Day, which is June 11th, then the St Médard spell is reputed to be broken and fine weather may still be expected. The tag runs as follows :— “Quand il pleut a la St Médard I1 pleut quarante jours plus tard A moins que la Saint Barnabé Ne lui vienne couper le nez.” St Médard, who lived at the end of the fifth century, was Bishop of Noyon, in France, and Tournai, now in Belgium. St Barnabé was a Levite, born of a Greek Jew family in Cyprus, where he spent most of his apostolate. He had no direct connection with France. 136 The Churches of Burgundy Numerous other instances could be cited of trans- lation of saints’ remains from boundary or sea-coast provinces to the interior. In that disturbed period the crypts of the churches served as a hiding-place for these precious relics, preserving them from spolia- tion and sacrilege. Thus invariably, until the middle of the twelfth century, do we find saintly relics rele- gated to the crypt. Not until after this period was it safe to expose them in the body of the church. Thus, to return to Autun, the remains of St Lazarus were placed in a sarcophagus in the crypt, whereas the tomb which was formerly behind the high altar was not built till towards the end of the twelfth century. The interior of the cathedral of Autun is a master- piece of its kind. The other most characteristic schools of Romance show us churches with sombre interiors, wherein, after our eyes have grown accus- tomed to the darkness, the balance of light and shade is often blotchy and inartistic, the deep shadows over- bearing the main structural features. Gothic churches, on the other hand, are often painfully luminous and garish. The whole internal anatomy of the church thrusts itself irresistibly and inevitably upon us in a bewildering vibration of endless vertical lines. Autun just strikes the artistic mean of mysterious pen- umbra: all the contours of the structure appear, but appear softened, estompés, floating deliciously in an atmosphere of half light, which tones them down without obscuring any essentials. In this respect Autun overtops both Paray-le-Monial and Vézelay, 137 The Romance Churches of France and is indeed superior to every other Burgundian church. Its characteristic structural features and decoration add to the beauty of the impression. The barrel-vault is just “broken,” as the French say—that is, slightly pointed to relieve the downward thrust and supported by transverse arches corresponding with the bays of the nave. The same scheme is followed in the pointing of the arches of the nave and transepts. Fluted columns and pilasters here and there appropriately give a classical flavour to a church which is the cathedral of a town renowned as the Augustodunum of Roman times. We can only conjecture what must have been the magnificence of the interior of Cluny, for Cluny exists no more. Failing this comparison, however, we may be fairly well content with Autun as the most beautiful Bur- gundian interior which has come down to us. There is only one blemish on this picture. When contem- plating the nave of Autun be careful to turn your back on the fifteenth-century choir. Forget also that the great—perhaps it would be more accurate to say the notorious—Talleyrand was once for a brief period Bishop of Autun, from the fateful year 1789 until 1791, when, after having accepted the decree of Civil Con- stitution of the Clergy, which was designed to make them independent of the Pope, he resigned his see. The Talleyrand of tradition strongly resembles a “Vicar of Bray” of the Revolutionary period. He was Bishop of Autun and Agent-General of the Clergy during the closing years of the reign of Louis XVI. He last celebrated Mass at the Altar 138 The Churches of Burgundy of Liberty in the Champs de Mars in 1790. Then he was exiled as an émigré, but managed to get his name removed from the list of émigrés in 1795, and returned to France, where his transcendent ability singled him out as Foreign Minister of the Directorate. He was later on Foreign Minister of Napoleon, and, at the Restoration, Foreign Minister of Louis XVIIL After the Revolution of 1830, Louis Philippe offered him again the post of Foreign Minister, but he pre- ferred to take the post of Ambassador to London. He died in 1838. Recent historical researches embodied in the brilliant dialogue of Sacha Guitry’s remark- able stage play Béranger, in which he figures, show him, under the outward appearance of a turncoat, to have been animated by a single-minded desire to place his abilities, which were brilliant, unstintingly and constantly at the service of his country without regard to its political régime; and his reputation for immorality and corruption seems to have been greatly exaggerated. A chapter on Burgundian churches would not be complete without some reference to Tournus and Paray-le-Monial. Both are within easy reach of Autun, Tournus lying south-east, in the valley of the Saone, and Paray south-west, close to the Loire, divided from Tournus by the watershed of the Charolais Hills. The elegance and height of the interior of Paray- le-Monial have already been alluded to. It is spoilt, however, by being whitewashed throughout in the at- tempt to make it more luminous; the effect is garish, 139 The Romance Churches of France and destroys the normal light and shade of its really elegant proportions. The outside of the church is barn-like and unimpressive, except for the three towers which are its main characteristic. The surroundings are degraded by innumerable tawdry booths, which are the inevitable accompaniment of a pilgrimage church, as this is. For it is dedicated to the worship of Ste Marie or Marguerite Alacoque, a seventeenth- century nun, canonised in 1364, who in a celebrated devotional monograph instituted the worship of the Heart of Jesus, which became later the Féte of the Sacré Cceur. She is said amongst other things to have prophesied the exact date of her death. At Tournus we have as chief feature a double- storeyed narthex, the upper part of which is an in- dependent church, the église supérieure, used without doubt as a sanctuary and place of refuge in disturbed times. The interior is massive, but interesting. The nave is composed of a series of transverse barrel-vaults in successive bays, divided by transverse arches, a combination of Persian origin, which conveys an impression of great strength while completely destroying the perspective effect. Sculpture is rare, the only capitals worthy of note being the foliated capitals of the choir. Note also the massive pillars of the narthex upholding the église supérieure, and the remains of frescoes and chequerboard-work on portions of the vault. Italian influence is un- doubtedly apparent in the “Lombard bands” of the blind arcading of the clerestory, which only faintly relieve the traditional plainness of the Burgundian 140 PARAY LE MONIAL PARAY LE MONIAL SHOWING BARN-LIKE APPEARANCE OF EXTERIOR DOORWAY OF N. TRANSEPT See page 140 See page 140 SHEEN HAA) rr TOURNUS ST. BERTRAND DE COMMINGES EGLISE SUPERIEURE DOORWAY See page 140 See page 143 The Churches of Burgundy exterior. Visitors who are energetic enough to climb on to the roof will be rewarded by a fine view over the valley of the Saéne. Tournus is dedicated to St Philibert, who began life as a young knight at the Court of “le bon roi Dagobert,” left it for a monastic life, and after constant struggles with the Evil One, who had the audacity to endeavour to keep him out of his own church, founded monasteries, and performed all kinds of good works, dying in the odour of sanctity. 141 Chapter xi The Pyrenean Cloister Churches HE cloister churches of the Pyrenean district may be likened most aptly to Portia’s leaden casket : “So may the outward shows be least themselves: The world is still deceived with ornament.” Dust-powdered and unadorned at Elne, sombre and fortress-like at St Bertrand de Comminges, invariably bereft of any external elegance, they give no inkling of the beauty of their cloisters, bejewelled with capitals which breathe the quintessence of Romance decoration in its most refined and variegated form. Four principal churches belong to this class: Elne, situated between Perpignan and the Mediterranean; St Bertrand de Comminges near Luchon; St Lizier de Couserans ; and lastly, stateliest of all, Moissac, which, although farther removed than the others from the. Pyrenean region, belongs very obviously to the same group. : Provence has its cloisters as well as Gascony, but they differ as much as do the two provinces, their climate and the character of their population. On the one side of the scarcely perceptible watershed which divides them are grey soil and deciduous trees ; on the other, red ferruginous earth, groves of olives 142 The Pyrenean Cloister Churches and evergreen oaks. In Languedoc Saracenic, in Provence Romano-Byzantine influences prevail. So the cloisters of Provence will have their own chapter. St Bertrand de Comminges is within such easy range of summer visitors to Luchon that it is singular how few of them seem ever to have visited it. Yet the sheer charm of its surroundings ought surely to grip even those who are bored by mere architecture, however beautiful. To such as these I recommend the distant view of it from the churchyard of St Just, at Valcabrere, in the valley, five kilometres or so distant. There is a fine cypress-tree just within the churchyard wall. In the far background are the foothills of the Pyrenees, and in the middle distance, on an eminence of its own like Vézelay, but more detached and im- posing, still shimmers in the warm southern atmosphere the great mother church of what was in Roman times the Lugdunum of the Convenes. When the writer first visited St Bertrand, one freezing Whitsuntide when the snow was still lying low on the Pyrenean foothills, there was an ugly board over the portal of the church bearing the inscription : “Magnum Jubileum : Ici on gagne le Saint Pardon et Coulpe donné par le Pape Clement V.”—“ Coulpe ” meaning here, not, as its etymology would imply, “the sin,” but the “forgiveness of the sin.” With Bernard de Gouth, who later became Pope Clement V., we have already a passing acquaintance, for it was he who, presiding over the Council of Vienne in 1312, dissolved the Templars’ Order. If Clement had been anything more than a very weak man, and entirely 143 The Romance Churches of France enslaved to the French Court, he might possibly have withstood, or at least tempered, the violence of the French King, Philip IV., which burst forth in the general arrest of all the Templars in France, a measure dictated by royal greed and the chafing of the Court under the money power of the Order. But Clement was too mindful of Philip’s share in his election as Pope. He had demeaned himself by the creation of nine French cardinals shortly after his election, no doubt at the bidding of the French King. He was no Becket; and neither by temperament nor by circumstances was he capable of resisting the King’s greed and violence. In 1309 he migrated to Avignon, and there and then began the seventy- year-long “ Babylonian captivity of the Church.” In 1312 he was prevailed upon to convene the Council of Vienne which dissolved the Order. Nominally the French possessions of the Order were handed over to the Hospitallers, but in reality Philip IV. kept them till his death. Prior to his election he had been Bishop of St Bertrand de Comminges (1295-1299), and subsequently Archbishop of Bordeaux, his birth- place. While he appears to have been distinguished and esteemed in these subordinate offices, his Papacy was in every way disastrous for the Church, owing to his extravagance, and in particular his widespread sale of offices in the endeavour to restore the Papal finances. On the writer's second visit, in grilling August weather, which amply compensated him for his earlier sub-arctic experience, he noticed with satisfaction that the board had been removed, much to the advantage 144 ST. BERTRAND DE COMMINGES ST. BERTRAND DE COMMINGES FROM VALCABRERE FROM THE SOUTH See page 144 ST. BERTRAND DE COMMINGES ST. BERTRAND DE COMMINGES ENTRANCE TO CLOISTER COLUMN OF THE FOUR EVANGELISTS See page 146 The Pyrenean Cloister Churches of the exterior appearance of the church. It is well that intending visitors to the cloister should make their presence known to the sacristan, even when the door leading out of the church into the cloister is open. Otherwise they may go through the rather unpleasant experience that the author and his com- panion did. Observing that Mass was going on in the church, but also that the cloister door was ajar, and time being limited, they quietly crossed the church and passed swiftly and silently into the cloister with their cameras, and were soon so absorbed in photography that they failed to observe, after half-an- hour or thereabouts, that the door leading back into the church had been locked behind them. As knock- ing on the door produced no response they cast about for an issue from their novel prison. On the north side was the impenetrable church door; on the west a blank cloister wall; on the south a sheer drop of at least thirty or forty feet into the road below. At length, on the east side, was discovered a narrow passage leading round the apse of the church to the north side, where they were able to climb a wall and swing down on to a heap of stones by the friendly aid of a tree branch, whence, after having very gingerly handed each other down their cameras, they were able to push their way through a narrow passage, un- comfortably well provided with nettles and brambles, back to the little square in front of the church. The church door dates back to St Bertrand—that is, to the end of the eleventh century—although the only Romance portions remaining are the cloister 2 145 The Romance Churches of France and the West Door. St Bertrand was born at L’Isle Jourdain, in the department of the Gers, and was the grandson of Guillaume Taillefer, Count of Toulouse. He became Archdeacon of Toulouse and Bishop of Comminges, now called St Bertrand de Comminges. It was he who rebuilt the cathedral, as it then was, and built the cloister. He died in 1123, after having been Bishop for fifty years. The arches of the cloister are supported by twin columns and double capitals joined together on the inside and covered by a single abacus. At the angles of the cloister the columns become pilasters, engaged in a square column of stone. In only one instance does this vary. In the centre of the west side of the cloister is a column bearing figures of the Four Evangelists, each carrying his characteristic symbol— z.e. St Matthew the Youth, St Mark the Lion, St Luke the Bull and St John the Eagle—and united under a single capital rather larger than the rest. This column is certainly of much later date than the others, and although fine in itself, and a bold conception, it breaks into what one may be permitted to call the Saracenic harmony of the others. For the foliated designs on the other capitals, and the almost entire absence of the representation of any living thing, which the Koran forbids, shows how the Saracenic current has here overborne the Byzantine current of which we spoke in Chapter iii. The cloister has been carefully restored and re-roofed with wooden framework and tiles, like most other Pyrenean cloisters, a character- istic which distinguishes them from the Provencal 146 The Pyrenean Cloister Churches cloisters, such as Arles and Vaison, which are vaulted. The effect of the foliated capitals is happily varied by alternation with basket-work capitals, of extremely elegant design, on the south and east sides. The description of St Bertrand de Comminges has been given first possibly because, being nearest to the fashionable summer resort, Luchon, it may have seemed the easiest place to which to tempt the un- initiated and to arouse their interest in these Pyrenean jewels of architecture, dull-set as they occasionally are. But the conscientious student who wants to see them all, and take them in the most convenient order, geo- graphically speaking, will begin by Elne, go thence to St Lizier and on to St Bertrand, either direct over the hills or by the valley, which will enable him on the way to visit St Gaudens, with its famous Adam and Eve capital, already described. He will then end up with Moissac, the latest in date and the largest, on the way home. Elne, twenty kilometres beyond Perpignan, may seem a long stretch from Paris. But motors have annihilated distance. Even a motor-cycle, with or without a side-car, will do the distance comfortably in a few days if the travellers do not shrink from a little extra tyre trouble ; and many agreeable moments can be passed on the way, at such places as La Charité-sur-Loire, Brioude, Issoire, Clermont Ferrand, and in the famous gorges of the Tarn. Once at Perpignan there is a short run, over a not too good road, deep with dust in summer-time, to Elne, formerly a Mediterranean seaport, now silted up and nearer 147 2 The Romance Churches of France inland even than Rye or Winchelsea; wind and dust swept, situated on a small knoll, which can hardly be called a hill, and crowned by the square tower of its —as usual—inconspicuous church. Its name recalls Constantine the benefactor of the Church, for it was named Elne after his mother, St Helena. Constantine never overlooked an opportunity of showing his rever- ence for his mother, who had been brutally repudiated by his father, Constantius Chlorus, when he became Caesar. She was honoured by her son as Augusta and Empress, and her name was engraved on the coinage. She had no doubt a large share in Con- stantine’s conversion to Christianity. She also made pilgrimages to Palestine, and instituted the search which ended in the discovery of the True Cross. Hence numerous churches are dedicated to St Cross and St Helena. Her sarcophagus, a handsome piece of work, is in the Vatican. Elne was made a bishopric at the beginning of the fourth century. It was also one of the seven cities left by Clovis to the Visigoths when he dismembered the powerful kingdom which, after spreading from the Carpathians over Western and Southern Europe, they had formed, with Toulouse for its capital. : You may walk through the church of Elne and all round it without seeing the remotest sign of a cloister, or anything leading into one, until you come to a little double flight of steps, or perron, leading to a door marked ‘“ Mairie.” This strikes you as a useful place to inquire; so you enter, and ask dubiously your way to the cloister, by this time almost believing it to 148 ST. BERTRAND DE COMMINGES ‘“ BASKET-WORK ~~ CAPITAL See page 147 SERNIN ST. TOULOUSE L ELNE wn I page See See page 149 The Pyrenean Cloister Churches be a myth. One of the Mayor's scribes, from behind a desk, jerks his pen in the direction of a door on the opposite side of the room. You enter, and immediately wonder why you did not say, ‘“ Open, Sesame!” before passing through, for that would seem to be the only appropriate invocation upon entrance to such a little ~ fairyland. The first thing that strikes the eye is the wonderfully beautiful texture of the columns. They are like yellow beeswax covered with a dark weather- ing or patine. They seem as though they could be cut into like butter. Alabaster, I still believe them to be, although when I was last there the custodian insisted they were only some ordinary local stone. The cloister here is vaulted, although the ribbing of the vault shows that it is only a Gothic afterthought. There are geminated columns here, as at St Bertrand, but farther apart, so that the capitals are clear of each other, and although united under a single abacus are oblong instead of being square as at St Bertrand. The torus and plinth at the base of each column are likewise separate. At every third arch instead of columns there is a massive square buttress, the heavy appearance of which is toned down by an elaborately decorated frieze topped by a square abacus, harmonis- ing with the abaci of the adjoining capitals. On the occasion of the author’s first visit to Elne the cloister garth was an unkempt place full of wild and dank vegetation, which seemed likely to hasten the decay ° of the stonework; when he returned there in 1913 he was glad to see that all this had been changed. The place had been weeded, drained and laid out in 149 The Romance Churches of France flower-beds with box borders. A handsome old aloe stood in the centre, redolent of the south, massively picturesque and in good keeping with the age of the surroundings. The general scheme of decoration here is very elaborate, more so than at St Bertrand, or even Moissac, although Moissac is later in date and more imposing in size. Arab influences are less apparent; Byzantine and Venetian more so. The capitals are more profusely decorated and represent, as well as foliated subjects, imaginary animals and birds. On the friezes of the square columns are found figure- subjects. The columns, of the yellow wax-like stone already described, are carved with the greatest possible variety of designs, some fluted, others covered with basket - work or flowered patterns; all of singular elegance and beauty. Monsieur Lacvivier, a local authority who has written an interesting little monograph on the church and cloister, has been good enough to write to the author to point out the importance of distinguishing between those capitals which are still genuinely twelfth- century and those which were recopied in the fourteenth century, after the destruction wrought by the wars of the thirteenth (the place underwent a siege in 1285). These copies are often very poor. They are however easily identified, for several subjects of the twelfth century which still remain are reproduced in copies of the fourteenth, so that a comparison of the two styles can be made in situ. For this reason, as well as on account of the untutored methods of the Romance 150 The Pyrenean Cloister Churches sculptors, it is not always an easy task to identify the subjects of some of the highly embellished capitals. Monsieur Lacvivier gives an instance where the sculptor has so clumsily followed the design of the cartoon before him that he represents Our Lord, in- stead of blessing St Peter, as was intended, grasping him by the hair of his head. This is found on the third pillar on the south side, adjoining the church. The main subjects are the following :— South Gallery : 3vd Pillar. Apparently Our Saviour stopping St Peter leaving Rome; separation of Peter and Paul; presentation of Peter’s decapitated head. The last scene is also reproduced (fourteenth- century) on the third pillar of the west gallery. Fur- ther on the Creation and the Fall (twelfth-century), reproduced in fourteenth-century style (much inferior) in the east and west galleries. 4th Pillar. Massacre of the Innocents (twelfth- century). East Gallery. All the embellished capitals here are fourteenth-century copies: the Annunciation; the Visitation; the Nativity; the Shepherds; the Wise Men; Lazarus and Dives; the Flight into Egypt; Jesus in the Temple. North Gallery. Massacre of the Innocents (four- teenth-century); Martyrdom of Saint Eulalia (fourteenth-century). West Gallery. Martyrdom of St Peter; Massacre of the Innocents (fourteenth-century). I am indebted to Monsieur Lacvivier’s monograph for these details. I51 The Romance Churches of France The cloister also contains numerous tombstones, amongst them that of its founder, Guillaume Jorda, bishop, who died in 1186. He is represented as a recumbent figure, with hands crossed over his breast, and guarded by angels, one on each side of his head. André Michel calls attention to the composite style of the sculpture, resembling as it does both the pro- cesses used in certain ivory carvings and the elaborate drapery round the legs such as is seen on the statues of Arles and St Gilles, a touch of Provencal influence which was to be expected in the most easterly of the Pyrenean cloisters. Before striking the western road, which will take us from Perpignan towards St Lizier and Moissac, we turn north for a short distance, leaving Rivesaltes, the birthplace of Marshal Joffre, on our right. Thence we run almost due west, over country in the main bare, sombre and rocky, until Pradelles is reached, whence a wooded descent gradually takes us down northward into the famous defile of Pierre Lys, a rocky gorge through which the River Aude boils and foams on its way down to Quillan. Neither the gorges of the Tarn or the Verdon can show anything as fine. A steep hill follows Quillan, after which the road again turns west, descending through woods into the valley, which brings us to Foix, the capital of the Ariege— distinguished by the towers of its thirteenth-century chateau, perched on a bold rock of its own, the stronghold of the once powerful Counts of Foix— an imposing and picturesque town, but containing no relics whatever of the twelfth century except a bridge 152 The Pyrenean Cloister Churches over the Ariége. Only twenty-five miles or so now separate us from the little town of St Girons, which will be our stopping-place for the visit to St Lizier, about a mile farther on. Again there is a hill to climb to St Lizier, steeper even than the hill of St Bertrand de Comminges. Here there is no danger of being locked in. The cloister, the only part of the church worth lingering over, is invariably kept locked, and the key must be sought at the sacristan’s house in the village, which can be found by inquiry of the first child found play- ing in the square. St Lizier was a saint of Spanish origin, who crossed the Pyrenees and attached himself first to the Bishop of Tarbes, and later to St Quintien, Bishop of Rodez, in the Aveyron, who ordained him priest in 504. He was elected Bishop of Couserans, the region of which the town of St Lizier was then the capital. It was the author’s good fortune on a recent visit to get into conversation with the curé and to elicit the information that, from evidence he possessed in the church archives, he placed the building of the cloister in about the year 1120. In the year 1130 the town of St Lizier was sacked and burned by Count Bertrand de Comminges, a disaster from which it never completely recovered. Whether the cloister suffered the fate of the town is not known, and matters little, for even if it has been rebuilt its capitals and columns are most unmistakably twelfth- century work. Like St Bertrand and Elne it is small, but in one respect, at least, more elegant than either, for here 153 The Romance Churches of France twin columns alternate with single columns, giving an aspect of great refinement and variety to the whole. The twin columns are linked together by capital, abacus and base as at St Bertrand. In the centre of each side, as well as at the corner, there are square ~ shafts, in which pilasters and half-capitals are engaged. The single capitals are, generally speaking, more flattened out than the others, resembling in this respect those of Moissac. Here, again, we get back from the Byzantine to the Saracenic influence, for the subjects of the capitals are almost all foliated or basket- work, scarcely any living thing being represented. Taken altogether, the cloister of St Lizier is a work of rare charm, distinct in general character and ap- pearance, as well as in detail, from St Bertrand and Elne, and by no means to be missed out of a pilgrim- age to this region. On ringing at the presbytere it is possible to see the ##¢sor of the church. A remark- ably intelligent and wide-awake serving-woman of the curé opens the latch for you, and after she has satisfied herself by careful scrutiny that you have no burglari- ous intent, she shows you upstairs into the cu#zé’s living-room, and brings out from a small cupboard the various articles of the #7édsor, notable among which are a painted bust of St Lizier, his crozier, mitre and gloves. The peculiarity of the mitre is that it is made chiefly out of a piece of handsome gold embroidery studded with crescents—showing its unmistakable Saracenic origin. Coming down the hill again to St Girons for dinner, coffee and bed one could observe, even in pre-war I54 LIZIER ST. MOISSAC MOISSAC See page 133 The Pyrenean Cloister Churches days, the extent to which the cheap and lucrative cinematograph had already ousted the strolling theatre from the scheme of popular pleasures. A large white screen is set up outside the main café in the square. Projected from a room in the adjoining hotel a cinematograph throws on to it a series of “ movies"— instructive, some of them, frivolous others—a spectacle which you may enjoy for a post-prandial hour or so at the price of your coffee, while those who cannot afford a consommation languish outside in Cimmerian darkness, secured by the application of a black cloth to the back of the white screen. The simplicity yet modernity of the show, in the warmth of the southern night, form a combination which stamps itself agreeably on the recollection as we head for Moissac next morning. Moissac is almost due north from St Lizier, but as the road leads through Toulouse we may appropriately divert our attention from cloisters for a moment to take in St Sernin, one of Viollet-le-Duc’s most suc- cessful restorations. St Sernin, while not perhaps the largest Romance nave in existence, gives the impres- sion of being the most extensive church in the sense of covering more ground. This impression is derived more especially from the extraordinary multiplicity of its apsidal chapels and the width of the transepts; also from its standing quite by itself at some consider- able distance from any surrounding building. The choir was consecrated by Urban II. as early as 1096. Urban II., it will be recalled, was a Pope of French origin, born near Chétillon-sur-Marne. He studied 155 The Romance Churches of France at Rheims under St Bruno, became Archdeacon of Rheims and Prior of Cluny, and was made a cardinal by Gregory VII. He was Pope during the First Crusade, and strongly supported the preaching of Peter the Hermit. He died in 1099, a short time after the taking of Jerusalem by Godefroy de Bouillon. St Sernin has double aisles, the inner one of two storeys. Its most characteristic feature is the central tower, in the style peculiar to the Toulousan school, of successive arcaded storeys gradually diminishing in size and ending with a balustrade and a stunted spire. Moissac lies about twenty kilometres west of Montauban at the eastern extremity of that marvellous stretch of the Garonne valley throughout which, from Port Ste Marie eastward, road, river and rail intertwine in an ever-varying succession of picturesque vistas. A sleepy, and in summer-time dusty, little southern town, it has nothing of interest beyond its pleasant situation and its church. The church itself is now bereft of any Romance elements except the portal— which has already been described in detail—and the famous cloister. It is a Benedictine abbey, the origin of which is lost in the night of time, in all probability a foundation of the seventh century, when it was then dedicated to St Peter. After the battle of Poitiers —not, needless to say, the battle with which we are most familiar, but that much earlier one (732) in which Charles Martel defeated the Saracens—these latter destroyed the first buildings in their retreat, burning the church and sacking the treasure-house. The church was restored by Pépin, and rebuilt at the 156 The Pyrenean Cloister Clnrches beginning of the ninth century by Louis le Débon- naire, the third son of Charlemagne, King of France and Emperor. It was again ravaged by the Normans and the Huns in the course of the same century. No trace of these buildings now remains except possibly a few fragments of masonry embodied in the walls of the cloister. The church was again rebuilt in the tenth or beginning of the eleventh century, but owing to spoliation by local lords the abbey had become so poor that funds were lacking for its restoration; and in 1042 it fell in, owing to a fire which ravaged the whole town. In 1047 it was taken over and affiliated to the congregation of Cluny, which was the beginning of an era of prosperity. Thenceforward for two or three centuries Moissac became one of the most powerful abbeys of Christendom. It had as many as a thousand monks, and possessed property in eleven dioceses. The celebrated Abbot Durand, whose effigy is in the cloister, was the first Clunisian abbot of Moissac (1048-1072); he also became Bishop of Toulouse, and he began to build a new church, which was con- secrated in 1063. It appears to have been of the same dimensions as the present (Gothic) church, if we may judge from portions of the substructure which have recently been discovered. At the end of the twelfth century this church was replaced by a new church, roofed with domes, and consecrated in 1180. Meanwhile, the square western tower, which still exists, had been built (1130-1140); and the cloister had also been built, its capitals dating from 1150-1160. But in 1188 another devastating fire consumed this church ; 157 The Romance Churches of France and not until after the wars of religion, towards the end of the thirteenth century, could its reconstruction be undertaken. At this time the cloister was rebuilt, but with the original sculptures of the preceding cen- tury, so that, as far as the sculptures are concerned, we, to all intents and purposes, still possess to-day the twelfth-century cloister. The domed church gave place to a Gothic structure in the fifteenth century, and in 1625 the abbey was finally secularised. The first impression we gain of the cloister of Moissac is its extent. Without having actually measured them, the author judges that the colonnade of Elne, St Bertrand, St Lizier and another of equal size could all go comfortably inside Moissac. Con- sequently the columns and capitals are vastly more numerous : there are as many as seventy-six capitals. They have much more overhang than those of the other cloisters described—in other words, the perpen- dicular height of the capital is less by comparison with the size of the abacus. The arcades are brickwork of the fourteenth century, elegantly moulded and painted, the aspect of which is still further lightened by openings in the spandrels. As at St Lizier, there are alternate single and twin columns, and at the angles and the middle of the sides are massive square pillars of brick with a marble veneer, resembling those at Elne, but lacking the figured frieze which at Elne relieves their heaviness. They are here in striking contrast to the almost feminine, though by no means effeminate, delicacy of the rest. On the inner side of them are effigies of nine apostles and the Abbot 158 The Pyrenean Cloister Churches Durand. Their execution shows them to be inexperi- enced and servile copies of Byzantine ivories. The figures of St James (N.E. pillar) and St Paul (S.E. pillar) are a slight improvement on the rest, and great effort has been made to give some individuality to the figure of the Abbé Durand. The sculpture of the capitals and columns exhibits on the other hand the most advanced skill of Romance art. Every portion of the capital, including the abacus, is richly ornamented. Only the columns, in contradistinction to those of Elne, are quite plain. The subjects of the capitals are taken from Scripture and the lives of the saints. They follow each other quite at random: Several of them are accompanied by brief inscriptions. But while the representations of real life are admirably life-like, the rendering of some of the passages of Scripture is to the last degree trivial. Such, for example, are the figures intended to represent the Beatitudes, and the two little horse- men intended for the armies of the Apocalypse. Excellent, above all, are the foliated and floral motives, which are treated with extraordinary freedom and talent. Eastern feeling and influence, both Byzantine and Saracen, predominate in this decoration, although they seem to have had no symbolic meaning, as is sometimes contended. Otherwise St Bernard, the Puritan in matters of decoration, would doubtless have shown himself more indulgent towards it; whereas * he most particularly denounced this particular variety for its “ineptitude.” The cloister seems to have been originally built in 159 The Romance Churches of France the year 1100, under the Abbé Ansquitil. The low- relief effigies date back to this period, but the advanced character of the capitals shows that they are much later, probably about 1150 to 1160. The apostles represented are St Bartholomew, St James, St John, St Matthew and St Simon, who are barefooted; St Philip, St Andrew, St Peter and St Paul, with sandals. Some of them hold books, St Peter holds the keys, and St Andrew across. The figuresare framed in a circular arch, bearing the title of the saint, and supported on narrow pilasters. In the spandrels are small rosettes. Starting from the pillar representing St Bartholomew, the nearest one to the south-west corner, where we enter, the description of the principal capitals is as follows, beginning with the capital engaged on the north side of the pillar: First Capital. David and Goliath. The heads of the figures are almost invariably broken off. Second Capital. A decorative fancy of birds and figures. Fourth Capital. Cain and Abel. Sixth Capital. Figures representing the Beatitudes, as we learn from the inscriptions: B(eat)i Paup(er)es Sp(irit)u; B(eat)i q(u)i lugent q(u)o(n)i(am) ip(si) c(on)solabu(ntur), etc. Tenth Capital. Coronation of David. The central pillar bears the inscription recalling the building of the cloister by Ansquitil. Thirteenth Capital. Resurrection of Lazarus. Fourteenth Capital. Demons with trumpets and bows. 160 The Pyrenean Cloister Churches Sixteenth Capital. The Angels and Shepherds. Daniel in the Lions’ Den. Daniel here is very like the figure of Dives in the lateral bas-relief of the portal. Twentieth Capital. The Sacrifice of Abraham. Pillay of North-west Angle. North: St Andrew; west: St Philip. Northern Gallery Twenty - first Capital. Jesus and the Woman of Samaria. Twenty-third Capital. Story of St Martin. Twenty - fourth Capital. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the Fiery Furnace. Twenty-sixth Capital. The Four Evangelists, repre- sented by four figures with their different symbols as heads. Twenty-seventh Capital. A Byzantine-Arab motive. Twenty-ninth Capital. Daniel in the Lions’ Den. Habakkuk. “ Thirtieth Capital. The Miraculous Draught of Fishes. Thirty-third Capital. St Peter cures a Paralytic. Thirty - fifth Capital. Episode in the life of St Benedict. Thirty-eighth Capital. Angels overcoming demons. Corner Pillar. North: St John; east: St James. Eastern Gallery Thirty-winth Capital. Annunciation and Visitation. Fortieth Capital. Martyrdom of SS. Augurius L 161 The Romance Churches of France Eulogius and Fructuosus: Spanish saints burned at Tarragona in the third century. Forty-second Capital. Martyrdom of St Saturninus, who, refusing to sacrifice to idols, is tied to an infuriated bull. Forty-fifth Capital. The Adoration of the Magi and the Massacre of the Innocents. Forty-seventh Capital. The Marriage at Cana. Central Pillay. Effigy of Abbé Durand. Fiftieth Capital. Lazarus and Dives. Fifty-second Capital. The Washing of Feet. Fifty-thivd Capital. Martyrdom of St Lawrence. Fifty-fifth Capital. Adam and Eve. Fifty-sixth Capital. Byzantine-Arab motive. Fifty-seventh Capital. Martyrdom of St Peter and St Paul. Fifty-eighth Capital. Samson and the Lion. Corner Pillar. East: St Peter and St Paul. Southern Gallery Fifty-ninth Capital. Baptism of Christ. Sixtieth Capital. Imprisonment and delivery of St Peter. Sixty-first Capital. Probably one of the appear- ances of Christ to His disciples after His Resurrection. Sixty - second Capital. Vision of St John; the Apocalypse. Sixty-third Capital. The Temptation of Jesus. Sixty-fourth Capital. The Good Samaritan. Sixty - fifth Capital. Christ healing the daughter 162 The Pyrenean Cloister Churches of the Syrophenician woman and the centurion’s servant. Sixty - sixth Capital. The Symbols of the Evan- gelists. Sixty - seventh Capital. The Visions of the Apocalypse. Sixty-eighth Capital. The City of Jerusalem. Sixty - minth Capital. David and the musicians of the Temple. Seventy-first Capital. Martyrdom of St Stephen. Seventy - second Capital. The story of Nebuchad- nezzar. Seventy-fourth Capital. The City of Babylon. Seventy-sixth Capital. Beheading of St John the Baptist. Corner Pillar. South: St Matthew. The cloister of Moissac exercised a wide influence throughout the surrounding region, and numerous Romance buildings bear traces of its influence—as for example the Daurade and St Sernin, at Toulouse, St Bertrand de Comminges, Conques, St Gaudens and, farther afield, the cathedral of Pampeluna and the churches of Salamanca and Avila. Like many other churches, Moissac has benefited by the recent reawakening of France. When the author was first there, more than twenty years ago, one could have said of the cloister more truly even than of Elne: “Fie on it! "Tis an unweeded garden.” It was full of fine trees, but choked up with rank undergrowth. But in 1913 the same reformation had 163 The Romance Churches of France taken place as at Elne. The undergrowth had been cut away and rooted up, and the whole of the garth laid out tastefully with flower-beds and gravel walks. Most of the smaller trees had been removed. A few only remained, but amongst those few was a remark- ably fine spreading cedar-tree. This old cedar seemed strangely symbolical of modern France. It had been there perennially for those who knew, strong, fragrant, richly verdant, but overgrown and hidden by a tangle of useless and noxious undergrowth. Now this is swept away and all the world can admire its vigour, its fragrance and its verdure, as it takes its deserved place in the sun. It is indeed a majestic spectacle, with downward sweeping branches glittering almost silver-white in the splendour of the southern sunshine. “The righteous shall flourish like the palm-tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall bring forth fruit in old age.” 164 MOISSAC : ST. SIMON THE APOSTLE BRANTOME : GABLED SPIRE See page 167 See page 160 PUY LE CLOISTER PUY: LE See page 167 See page 170 Chapter xii Le Puy ; ET those who would appreciate by contrast the individual charm of the Haute Loire country approach Le Puy from the east, through St Etienne, from Lyon. The grime, smoke and squalor of places like Rive de Gier and St Chamand have nothing picturesque about them, although un- doubtedly they reflect the energy and power of that “black country ” of Central France of which St Etienne is the centre. But when you have reached the summit of the watershed which divides the Rhone from the Loire then stop, look east and west, and compare. East, low down in the valley, lies the black pall which not even the summer sun can dispel, covering the busy, begrimed hives of industry through which you have just passed. Westward, you look down on the sparkling sunny atmosphere of the Haute Loire. Soon you will descend and follow through its bright wooded valley, almost but not quite as far as Le Puy itself, the crystalline infant Loire, which, thus unsullied in its higher reaches, after surging with gathering volume through adolescence and maturity in the sunlit plains of Touraine and Anjou, itself ends its course in the grime and sweat of a big seaport town. Here, however, and until we leave it just before Le Puy, it 165 The Romance Churches of France is scarcely more than a rather large and beautiful, rippling and sparkling trout stream. We thus come almost suddenly on Le Puy, the chief town of the region known as the Velay, where there formerly existed a Gallo-Roman—and later a Gallic—town, and where the now splendid cathedral, whose architectural influence has extended as far as Spain, has taken the place of an ancient Pagan temple. We shall leave it later—as is befitting—Ilingeringly and longingly as we move westward. Only gradually when we approach it from this side do we take in the grandeur of the town and its cathedral church, terraced as it is on the sides of that great “Puy,” the Rocher de Corneille, and crowned by the imposing, though not beautiful, statue of the Virgin. Part of the charm of Vézelay is grandeur in desolation. The cathedral of Le Puy is severe indeed in design, but its severity is diminished by its being, in contrast with Vézelay, the cathedral of a prosperous region and a busy town. Both are unique churches, each in its own way. But it is in their surroundings that the contrast between them is most striking. The town has now about 20,000 inhabitants. It was originally the capital of the Vellavi, towards the beginning of the fifth century, when the bishopric was transferred thence from the neighbouring village of St Paulien. It was the centre of rivalries between the bishops, who depended directly upon Rome, and the lords of Polignac, who resented in particular the coining privileges possessed by the bishops. It was ravaged successively by the Saracens, the English, the 166 Le Puy Burgundians ; plague and the religious wars ended its prosperity. The name of Le Puy is derived from “Puy,” the Greek ‘““Podion”=a dome-like mound or eminence, and describes the various volcanic mounds which are common in the district, the most noteworthy of which are the Rocher de Corneille, on which is built the upper portion of the town, including the cathedral ; and the Rocher de I’Aiguilhe, a little farther west, crowned by the small Chapelle St Michel. It will be well to climb first right up above the cathedral and look down on it from beneath the statue of the Virgin. With our present knowledge of the different schools of Romance we at once see how, while borrowing from almost all of them, it differs totally from any other complete church. It possesses a dome like the churches of Périgord, yet it is not a dome church. It has a tower which with tier above tier of arches, like the churches of Toulouse, yet is buttressed with gables like the churches of Périgord (Brantdome). It is covered with polychrome work, like the churches of Auvergne. The narthex, a Burgundian feature, takes the form of an open porch of large dimensions, through which a magnificent stone staircase penetrates right into the church proper. Burgundian features are likewise apparent in the interior, in the vaulting of the nave. The central dome is pronouncedly Byzantine in con- tour. A slender minaret quite Oriental in character, perched at the summit of one of the gables, seems al- most incongruous on a Christian church. Where else could we find such an amazing variety of architectural 167 The Romance Churches of France features brought together upon such a unique site? Then the outlook. South we look over the rolling hills and “puys”—on the summit of each of which there is a church, or at least a chapel—towards Le Monastier and Solignac. North towards Chamali¢res, where there is another famous church. Westward on the horizon are the ruins of the chateau of Polignac; below us the steep little “Puy” of the Rocher de I'Aiguilhe, round which a staircase of three hundred steps will later on lead us toiling to the Chapelle St Michel at its summit. If we were to abstract the dome, the tower and the little Saracenic minaret, the cathedral and the adjoin- ing buildings would then form a dungeon-like group, viewed from this vantage spot. The cloister seems closed in at the bottom of a veritable pit. Yet there is a massive substantiality about the low-pitched roofs and sturdy supporting outlines of the main structure, softened only here and there by the decoration of pink-and-grey stone insets, which allures by contrast with the gently undulating landscape, and by its own suggestion of power and permanence. The interior conveys a like impression. Indeed, if we have per- chance come straight from the almost fragile airiness of the Burgundian churches, as Vézelay or Paray-le- Monial, the contrast is startling. The builders of Le Puy took no chances of endangering the stability of their structure in the slightest degree in devising their timid scheme for lighting the nave. So that instead of the airy almost flimsy-looking naves of Burgundy, which it seems sometimes as though a puff 168 Le Puy of wind would bring down, we have here a nave buttressed by longitudinal arches, supported on square columns, from which spring a series of transverse arches, cutting up the perspective of the nave and dividing it into a series of square dome-covered sections, massive almost to the point of oppression. Yet here again the mark of power and solidity—one cannot call it beauty—prevails. The conformation of the ground demands this massiveness, moreover. Observe that the church is built on a slope of hard volcanic rock, where horizontal space is lacking. Never indeed was so imposing a church built on so exiguous a space, and the feat which consisted in enlarging the church westward, prolonging it far over the head of the great staircase, is a unique architectural achieve- ment. The capitals of the nave, which delicately relieve the massive stonework, are strongly Byzantine in character. Indeed they have a still more Eastern flavour—frankly Persian they might almost be called, like the decoration of the capitals at St Eutrope of Saintes. One feature jars the general impression : Le Puy has a flat east end, which seems inexplicable in the case of a church surrounded by schools—notably the Auvergnat—which invariably practised the more elegant, the more mystic form of the apsidal ending. In fact, as we learn from Sir Thomas Jackson’s well- known treatise on Byzantine and Romanesque archi- tecture, it had an apsidal ending till 1865, when some vandal of a restorer made away with it and substituted the flat ending which to-day so much offends us. The same kind of desecration was reproduced at 169 The Romance Churches of France Durham, as is proved by the apsidal foundations of the east end which were brought to light some years ago. How far more satisfactory would have been such an ending to the sanctuary. We could even have been content with a semicircular ending and a semi- spherical roof-space according to the basilical tradition —which might have become the groundwork of a fresco later on. But this flat end is bathos: little better than a mere hoarding to keep the weather out. The cloister resembles neither those of Gascony nor Provence. Here is no smiling place of pictur- esque meditation. This is the stern retreat of those who have forever forsaken the delights of the eye with the renunciation of worldly things. No storied capitals here; nothing but the severest foliated forms. The polychrome stonework prevailing throughout relieves to some extent the massive solidity of the archways and the sombreness of its enclosed position. Small medallions carved in the keystone of the arches form the only figure of decoration. It would seem as though the builders had started from the opposite point of view to those of Moissac, Elne and St Ber- trand, and instead of urging their decorative talent to the extreme of prodigality had severely restricted it to the irreducible minimum. The impression produced is that of a prison, with a certain stern and mitigated charm indeed, but widely different from the suggestion of the southern cloisters as smiling and agreeable meditative retreats. Before quitting the precincts of the cathedral a visit must be paid to the Great Porch, at the south- 170 — LE PUY ROCHER DE L’AIGUILHE POLIGNAC IN DISTANCE See page 172 LE PUY: INTERIOK LE PUY: PORCH WITH ‘“SQUINCH" SUPPORTS TO DOME See page 169 See page 171 Le Puy east extremity, on the small Place du For, where is also the Bishop’s residence. The general impression of massive strength which the whole church conveys is here again reproduced, remaining here as elsewhere just on this side the border-line of heaviness. The cross-braces which hold together the openwork archi- volts are by no means inelegant; indeed they impart a wheel-like lightness to the curves, which if they were carved in the full body of the stone would certainly have the appearance of overweighting the side columns. Equally distinctive is the tooling of the side columns. These as well as the arches are relieved by alternate dark and light stonework. There is a far-off Oriental flavour about the capitals which seems to throw back far beyond even Byzantium, and once more to suggest the permanent impress of Persia. From our first observation-point under the great statue of the Virgin we lord it over the church, taking it all in below us with the landscape beyond. As we leave it by the great staircase, part within and part out- side the church, it begins to tower over us. This stair- case is one of the most monumental and impressive in the world, and it is an extraordinary sight after Mass is over to see the crowd pouring down it from the lofty church to the lower precincts of the town. By and by, as we get lower down, it falls again into its normal perspective, crowning the city upon the summit of its “Puy.” The staircase leads us down westward to our next objective, the Rocher de I'Aiguilhe, at the summit of which is the unique Chapelle St Michel. But before leaving the staircase we must not miss 171 The Romance Churches of France a glimpse of one of the oldest frescoes in France. It is on the right, and almost at the top, of the staircase as we leave the church. Very little now remains of it, but by the aid of a photograph we can distinguish the outline of the face of a Christ in Glory, the halo, the arms of His throne and portions of drapery, and the heads and haloes of two saints on either side. It is impossible to assign even an approximate date to this work. To reach the Rocher de I’Aiguilhe we must descend the whole length of the grand staircase and, continuing our downward path, cross a rather noisome suburb, till we get to the little round Chapel of St Clair, already noticed as of Templar origin. A short way behind this is the entrance to the stone staircase leading up the ““ Puy,” which is opened on the payment of a few pence to the guardian. The climb up the staircase, though fatiguing, affords variety at every step by reason of the ever-changing aspects of the view over the surrounding country. The whole summit of the mound is occupied by the small irregular Chapelle St Michel, entered through a small stone doorway with an elegant tympanum, the inner space of which is un- decorated but the outer—divided from the inner by an archivolt of rich interlacing floral decorations—is divided into three semicircular spaces containing figure motives, the cusps which divide them repeating the floral decoration on a flat instead of a rounded surface. The whole is framed in by a discharging arch of poly- chrome stonework in the shape of lozenges, of the happiest effect. The monument is a late Carolingian 172 LE PUY LE PUY DOORWAY OF CHAPELLE ST. MICHEL FRESCO IN GREAT STAIRCASE nN See page 172 See page 17 LE PUY: CHAPELLE ST. MICHEL See page 173 SURGER WITH TWO EQUESTRIAN STATUES OF CONSTANTINE AND CHARLEMAGNE See page 128 Le Puy one, dating from 962-984. We can easily recognise the Carolingian style of primitive decoration in the shallow-cut tracery of some of the foliated capitals of the interior and the somewhat massive “celery-leaf” design of others. The interior is an irregular oval, which follows to some extent the shape of the top of the mound, or ““puy,” on which it is perched. Its roof, still more irregularly vaulted and almost imperceptibly groined here and there, would suggest the traditional appearance of a crypt were it not that the slenderness of the columns distinguish it from the ordinary massive Carolingian crypt—such as St Benoit-sur-Loire, for example—and that the ample lighting dispels this impression. The interior is covered with frescoes, now scaled off to the merest fragments and quite undis- tinguishable. From the terrace surrounding the chapel we may again enjoy a view of the surrounding country, less extensive doubtless than that from above the cathedral, but having the advantage of giving us a full view in profile of the graduated terraces of the Rocher de Corneille, crowned with the great statue of the Virgin and gradually sweeping down past the cathedral and the upper town into the valley. Such are the main features of this curious city, and such their unique setting. We may search France throughout, we may search the universe doubtless, without finding anything exactly resembling it. Other cities, other churches, possess more or less individuality which can be singled out and distin- guished in our memory, but Le Puy, geographically and architecturally, stands unique and alone. It 173 The Romance Churches of France possesses other monuments of interest, such for example as the Church of St Laurent, containing the heart of Bertrand du Guesclin, the great Constable. These however will detain us but for a moment, and we shall inevitably return, in reality as in memory, to the great rock, with its ponderous massive cathedral, and the small rock, with its delicate chapel; and albeit we burst upon them suddenly from the east we shall on the contrary tear ourselves reluctantly and lingeringly away from them westward as we mount the long hill toward St Paulien and Polignac. On the brow of the hill we take one last view. Below us stretch the fer- tile plains of the Velay. In the middle distance, first and nearest is the Rocher de I'Aiguilhe, surmounted by the tower of the chapel; next the summit of the Rocher de Corneille, with the massive statue of the Virgin towering on the skyline. Lower down the cathedral, bathed in the haze rising from the busy city. Against the background is the undulating watershed between Loire and Rhone, and in the dim distance we guess the whereabouts of the Rhone Valley. We are in presence of an unequalled panorama, so we linger as long as we dare, to get the final impress, before moving westward to the hill churches of St Paulien and La Chaise Dieu, and thence on into the valleys of Auvergne. 174 Chapter xiii Poitiers RCHAOLOGICALLY, Poitiers is one of Ae most captivating cities of France. Quite apart from other medieval monuments of first- class importance, it contains at least four Romance churches of the highest interest. Historically, it is a city which must always possess a keen attraction for Englishmen; for it was one of the chief towns of that western region of France which, in the twelfth century, was the home of the Angevin kings. Henry II. of England, who was held responsible for the murder of Becket, was a great church builder, and especially after Becket’s death he seems to have devoted himself in almost frenzied fashion to church building, as though impelled thereto by some super- stitious idea that in this way he might help to atone for his crime. The cathedral of Poitiers was built in his reign; and he figures as one of the earliest benefactors of the cathedral of Saintes. He was King of these regions at the time most of the Romance churches of Poitiers were built. The four great Romance churches of Poitiers are, in order of importance—Notre Dame la Grande, Ste Radegonde, St Hilaire and Montierneuf. Notre Dame is in the busy centre of the city. Marketing is often going on there in front of it, and the market 75 The Romance Churches of France stalls, with their canvas coverings hiding a good deal of the small but wonderfully ornate facade, are a vexation to the photographer. The other three are in outlying quarters of the city, and can be studied externally at leisure and with freedom. Ste Rade- gonde is in the east of the city below the cathedral, its east end abutting on the River Clain; St Hilaire at the southern end, and Montierneuf on the northern bend of the river just before it sweeps westward. The distinguishing characteristic of Notre Dame is its facade, which has often been compared to the ivory triptychs of the mediaeval sculptors; and no comparison could be more accurate, for it is without question inspired by study of more ancient Byzantine ivories. It is a miniature in facades, both literally and symbolically. The ornament, covering a space only seventeen by fifteen metres, is amazingly rich, but does not for a moment appear crowded or confused. Despite the multiplicity of subjects the general impression is one of complete decorative repose. To realise the complete artistic balance of this profuse ornament it may be contrasted a moment with another example, the product of a much later century, which possessed vastly greater technical resources, and consequently had less excuse for the confusion of ornament it exhibits — I allude to the “Rococo” rood-screen, known as the ¢ Trascoro,” of the cathedral of Seville. The comparison of these two examples of church decoration, the one in its vigorous infancy and the other in decrepitude, is not without profit. Coming back to Notre Dame la Grande, we see 176 Poitiers in the middle of the gable an imposing mandorla containing a representation of Christ, accompanied by the symbols of the Four Evangelists, on a stone groundwork, the upper part of which is inlaid with lozenges, the lower with circles. The flatness of this groundwork is offset by the two bristling “ pine-cone” or ‘““fish-scale” turrets on each side; as lower down the profuse chiselling of the facade is balanced by the plain columns which support these turrets. Below the gable the facade is divided into three bands or zones. The lower one consists of a recessed portal, supported by two recessed blind portals, which are “themselves subdivided by two blind arcades. As in all Poitevin churches, the tympana are blank. The decoration of this arcading is of an elaborate geo- metrical kind. Above this ground-floor zone are two superposed bands, or “galleries,” containing statues of the Twelve Apostles in arcaded niches, and also those of two bishops, probably St Hilary and St Martin. In the spandrels which separate these galleries from the ground-floor scheme are found the most elaborate and curious storied sculptures. They were formerly polychromed, like all similar work on primitive Romance churches, as has been explained in the chapter on decoration. The chief scenes represented are the Temptation, the Annunciation, the Visitation and the Nativity. The latter is remarkable because it represents the Virgin in a couch, or bed, plentifully provided with sheets. This is doubly curious in that it is inconsistent both with the tradition of Christ's birth in a stable and with the customs of the times. M 177 The Romance Churches of France For we know that even as late as in Shakespeare’s time beds were a rare household possession worthy to be specially bequeathed by will. Most people even in the sixteenth century slept on rushes spread on the ground with a billet of wood for a pillow. How much more primitive must have been the sleeping accom- modation of the people in the early twelfth century, which is the period of this decoration.. We can only conclude that, according to the spirit of the time, as we learn from the mouth of old Abbot Suger of St Denis, no setting was too rich for depicting the great events of Christianity, and that it was this motive which inspired the Romance sculptors to enrich the couch of the Virgin to the utmost limit of their imagination. A century later we find an almost exactly similar representation of the Nativity amongst the celebrated frescoes of Giotto in the Chapel of the Arena at Padua. There the modernity of the bed, and indeed the whole scene, at a distance of more than 600 years is most striking. There are many facades in Poitou and Saintonge which bear a family likeness to that of Notre Dame la Grand; for example Civray, Surgeres, Ruffec, and many others; none quite resemble it either in com- pleteness or perfect balance of design. It represents in all probability the unique culmination in point of decorative art of those two currents of Romance which we have described as dividing at Marseilles and reuniting in Poitou, one coming up the Rhone and across the centre of France via Cluny, the other going down the valley of the Garonne. 178 Poitiers The interior of Notre Dame la Grande is somewhat older than the facade, and belongs to the end of the eleventh century. Externally, its only remarkable feature is the facade and the central tower, topped by a “pine-cone” summit similar to those flanking the facade. The interior is spoiled by bad modern polychrome decoration in almost worse taste than that of Issoire. By way of compensation, the original fresco of the apse, representing the Virgin crowned with an aureole and surrounded by six saints, has survived, and occupies the place of honour, as is befitting in a church dedi- cated to Her. The figure of Christ with the four evangelistic symbols is relegated to the vault of the choir, which is, of course, a barrel-vault, the smooth surface of which lends itself admirably, as we have already noticed, to decorative painting of this kind. Until recently the church contained a statue of the Virgin known as “Our Lady of the Keys.” The tradition runs that when the city was besieged by the English in the early thirteenth century a traitor offered the keys of the city to the besieging army; but the Virgin of Notre Dame took them under her protection, and it was in the hands of her statue that the Mayor ultimately found them, and thus the city was saved. In honour of the miracle, the Poitevins later raised chapels to the Virgin on all their bridges. The last of these was removed from the Pont Joubert a few years ago, and set up again a short distance away. Ste Radegonde comes next in order of importance 179 The Romance Churches of France to Notre Dame, not because of its structural features, which are less distinctly characteristic than St Hilaire or Montierneuf, but because it figures more prominently in the religious history of Poitou, and furthermore because it contains in fragmentary form one of the best specimens of Romance polychrome decoration extant after St Savin. The decoration which remains covers only the columns, capitals and apse of the sanctuary. The author has been unable to find in any of the books to which he has had access any detailed description of this decoration. But although even André Michel ignores it, none, as far as I know, has ever condemned it as the latter-day daubing of Notre Dame la Grande and Issoire has been con- demned. Not only on this negative ground, but on the more substantial one of comparison with other work known to be of the period, one may therefore safely form the conviction that it is original Romance work carefully preserved. Here the apse is occupied by an imposing Christ in Glory, the church being dedicated not, like Notre Dame, to the Virgin, but to Sainte Radegonde. Sainte Radegonde (521-587) was born in Thuringia and was carried off captive by the ~ French King, Clotaire I., when she was only eight years old. He afterwards married her. Later on, Clotaire having made away with her brothers, she left him, and was received into the Church by St Médard at Noyon. Thence she fled to Orleans, Tours, and finally Poitiers. She was pursued by Clotaire, but at the instance of the bishops was allowed to remain in the Church. She built the Monastery of the Holy Cross at Poitiers, 180 Poitiers probably on the site of the church now dedicated to her, so called because the Eastern Emperor Justin had sent her a portion of the True Cross. She appears to have been a woman of fine culture, and highly respected as such, as well as for her saintly life and works. The characteristic of the ca : is their squareness. One of them, just behind the altar to the right, representing some Scriptural scene, the nature of which appears obscure, shows no over- hang at all. In the next one to the right the Ionic volutes above the acanthus leaves alone project. Figure and foliated subjects alternate with imaginary winged creatures as decoration of these capitals, the massiveness of which suggests a greater age than the twelfth century, has indeed a Carolingian flavour. Alone the foliated capitals point to imitation of Roman or Gallo-Roman models. The others are pretty obviously crude original efforts. The apse and choir, as well as the lower portion of the beautiful West Tower, belong to the eleventh century; the remainder of the church to the twelfth century; the vaulting of the nave to the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The porch is Gothic. Outside the church, in the space enclosed by stone benches, a court of justice was formerly held. This is symbolised by the figures of lions which decorate the entrance. In the eleventh- century crypt is the tomb of Ste Radegonde, a black marble sarcophagus of great antiquity, the supports of which alone are modern. St Hilaire and Montierneuf are distinguished for their technical characteristics of construction, not for 181 The Romance Churches of France any decorative features, which are conspicuously absent from both of them. Thus they are undoubtedly less attractive to the casual visitor than Notre Dame or Ste Radegonde. St Hilaire is however the more in- teresting of the two, because there the original scheme of the building can still be traced, although it has been severely mauled by bad restoration. The original plan of the church was a barrel-vaulted nave with triple barrel-vaulted collaterals thus: FIG. 12 Of these only the vault, the nave and a small portion of the northernmost collateral remain. One attractive peculiarity of St Hilaire will appeal to everybody. Its triple collaterals—or aisles, as we call them— together with the nave produce no less than seven parallel avenues of columns, a quite unusual number, The multiplicity of columns which this arrangement involves gives the interior, looked at diagonally, a forest-like appearance which is unknown in the ordinary diminutive Romance church, where one can almost touch the columns on each side with arms outstretched, and reminds us somewhat of the general aspect of the interior of the Mosque of Cordova viewed in the same way. This suggestion of space imparts a 182 Poitiers grandeur to the interior of the church which somewhat compensates for its obvious lack of height, and dis- sembles to some extent the faulty plan of the restora- tion. The original building was dedicated to St John and St Paul by Hilary, who was Bishop of Poitiers in the fourth century. Hilary, who became the “ Athanasius of the West,” was born a Pagan, and when he embraced Christianity, and even when he was elected Bishop of Poitiers, was a married man with children. He tilted energetically against the Arian heresy, and thus incurred the displeasure of Saturninus, the Arian Bishop of Arles, who intrigued against him and obtained, at the synod of Béziers, in 316, an Imperial rescript banishing him to Phrygia, where he remained four years. He wrote many books combat- ing the Arian heresy. He got into trouble again later on with the Arians, but this did not prevent him acquiring the reputation in history of one of the most illustrious doctors of the Universal Church. Hilary was originally buried in a chapel which he himself had built ; but in the eighth and ninth centuries the church, which was outside the precincts of the city, suffered so severely from the ravages of the Saracens and Normans that—as happened in many other instances—the monks migrated with the remains of the Saint to Le Puy en Velay. Nothing now remains of Hilary’s church, of course. The present church was originally built by Queen Emma of England, mother of Edward the Confessor, although little of this has come down to us, for it also suffered badly, like many churches in Poitou and Saintonge, from the religious wars of the 183 The Romance Churches of France sixteenth century. A further characteristic of the interior is that the nave is not tunnel but dome vaulted on squinches, a reproduction of the dome form of construction which is reminiscent of Persia. Exteriorly St Hilaire presents no features of interest. The apse, with its cluster of apsidal chapels, is squat and unimposing by comparison with the loftier apses of Auvergne. Apart from this the outside is patch- work, which in too many instances is the inevitable sequel of war’s ravages. Montierneuf, were it not for infelicitous latter-day restoration, would be the most imposing Romance church in Poitiers, or perhaps even in Poitou. The word means New Monastery (Monasterium Novum). The first stone was laid by William VI., Duke of Aquitaine and Count of Poitiers, who is buried there, in 1077; and the choir was consecrated by Pope Urban II. in 1096, the second year of the First Crusade. Montierneuf still imposes by its height and spacious interior, but the academic frigidity of the restoration, and above all the mathematic accuracy of the “pointing” of the stones, is both chilling and tiresome. The general effect is like that of the in- terior of St Front—an empty mausoleum. The only feature of elegance which strikes the eye externally is the ruin of a central lantern tower. Only one side and two turrets now remain, which in general style are curiously reminiscent of parts of Jumieges. The characteristic apsidal chapels, no less harmonious than those of St Hilaire, are completely dwarfed by the big barn-like transepts and the flying buttresses of 184 Poitiers the (now Gothic) choir. Altogether a church whose sole remaining beauty is in the suggestion of what it once was rather than what it now is. No account of pre-Gothic architecture in Poitiers would be complete without a description of the Temple or Baptistery of St John. This curious building has been variously described as having been originally a Pagan temple, a mausoleum and a baptistery. The better opinion seems to be that it was designed as a baptistery by the early Christians soon after the promulgation of Constantine’s edict officially recog- nising the Christian religion. Traces have been discovered of the pool or bath in which the catechumen was bodily immersed, according to the rite prevailing during that age. Later, in the seventh century, when baptism by sprinkling began to be substituted for baptism by immersion, the pool was drained and covered over, and a font put in its place; at the same time the building was raised and three apsidal recesses were added. It was the place where the Poitevins almost invariably had their children baptized down to the great Revolution, when it was secularised. After many vicissitudes and menaces of demolition by the municipal authorities this unique edifice was taken under the protection of the Commission of Historical Monuments, and after having been requisi- tioned during the war of 1870 was finally handed over to the Society of Antiquaries of Western France, and used as a museum to shelter the stone antiquities of the sixth and seventh and eighth centuries. Part of the building—the lower portion of the 185 The Romance Churches of France projecting rectangular centre—dates back to the fourth century. The upper part, with its insets of pilasters and frontons borrowed from the sixth century, belongs to the seventh century. The western ante-porch or narthex belongs to the eleventh and twelfth centuries. This is now the entrance. The whole building is now a good deal below the level of the street. The upper part of the interior is decorated with frescoes in the style of those of St Savin, and attributed to the twelfth century. Among them is a fine representation of the Ascension. The cathedral is a “Plantagenet” construction, begun towards the end of the twelfth century, in the reign of Henry II. of England, but not completed till much later. It is now a purely Gothic structure. It formerly communicated with the Baptistery of St John by an underground passage. Poitiers formerly contained many more churches which have now disappeared. Of St Porchaire only a handsome Romance tower remains. The Church of the Cordeliers has also disappeared. It was in the Convent of the Cordeliers that Clement V. stayed when he came to confer with Philip IV. on the question of the dissolution of the Order of the Templars. This Philip was also known as Philippe le Bel, from his striking personal beauty. The dis- solution of the Templars was the culmination of his persecution of the Jews and Lombards, to which he was driven by his financial extravagances and straits. It is related that when Molay, the Grand Master of the Order of Templars, was burning at the stake he 186 Poitiers verbally summoned the King before the bar of the Kingdom of Heaven a year later. Certain it is that the King died within a few months of Molay’s martyr- dom; and also that the spoliation of the Templars turned out to be the worst day’s work the King ever did—if not for himself, at all events for the future finances of the French Royalty. 187 Chapter xiv Chauvigny and some other Poitevin Churches S- far as situation goes, Angouléme singularly resembles Poitiers, being built on a commanding spur of high ground dominating the valley of the Charente, as Poitiers dominates the valley of the Clain. Here however the resemblance ceases, as far as the purposes of the present work are concerned, for Angouléme’s inferiority to Poitiers in ecclesiastical interest soon becomes obvious. Angouléme was the capital of the ancient province of Angoumois. After having been tossed about between Visigoths and Franks in the Middle Ages, it was made a condition of the Treaty of Brétigny that Angouléme should be garrisoned by the English. The English garrison was driven out by Charles V., who granted privileges to the city. Francis I. made it a duchy, and it was not finally united to the French Crown until 1710. Calvin introduced the Reformed religion there, and the celebrated Huguenot Admiral Coligny is said to have been guilty of numerous acts of cruelty there, but particulars of these are not forthcoming. The cathedral is here the only building of the Romance age which is preserved to us. Surely there was never a building so ravaged by excess of inexpert restoration. It is tantalising in what it conveys and what it fails to convey. For the most ordinary connoisseur can perceive, even through the whitened and polished 188 POITIERS CHAUVIGNY STE RADEGONDE ST. PIERRE See page 180 See page 196 POITIERS : MONTIERNEUF SAINTES : ST. EUTROPE See page 184 See page 193 Chauvigny and other Poitevin Churches symmetry of the restored version, that he is in the presence of what must have been in its day one of the half-dozen most remarkable twelfth-century churches in France. But in its present condition it offends the more the more we contemplate it. Photographs there are extant of the facade before its restoration, which is of comparatively recent date. But our disillusion is complete without reference to these. We are not reading the death warrant of all res- toration, but only of bad restoration. The West Front of Vézelay is there to show how successful the boldest kind of restoration can be when carried out by a master hand. Would that Angouléme had fallen to the hand of Viollet-le-Duc, bold as he was, indeed, but ever skilful and conscientious. This, however, was not to be. The architect responsible for the restora- tion both of St Front and the cathedral of Angouléme was a certain Abadie, of the nineteenth century. He was possessed no doubt of great architectural science, but he lacked the imagination, the judgment and, above all, the unerring good taste of Viollet-le-Duc. The great Haussmann in another sphere of activity had his rivals; for those who know Paris their errors still exist and serve to some extent as a foil to Haussmann’s achievement. Witness the dam between the two lakes in the Bois de Boulogne, which had to be constructed because one of his—now forgotten— rivals, intending to make one lake only, had drawn his levels wrong. Some rivalry of the same kind may possibly have occurred between Viollet-le-Duc and Abadie. History does not inform us about this; but 189 The Romance Churches of France there is a gulf between their handiwork which is observable to the least initiated. The restoration of the central gable and the two fish-scale towers are entirely the work of Abadie. The main motive of the fagade is the coming of Christ for the Last Judgment. In the great central arcade Christ appears from out the clouds surrounded by the symbols of the Four Evangelists and escorted by angels. Lower down other angels kneel, and in the various arcades which cover the facade are distributed the Apostles, whose eyes are turned towards the Master. In the lateral tympana of the lower portion of the facade are represented the Apostles going forth to evangelise the world. The general scheme of this part of the decoration resembles that of the church of Charlieu (Loire). The tympanum over the western door is modern. The interior is almost more gloomy and frigid than that of St Front, which it greatly resembles in general appearance, being vaulted on the dome plan. It suffers, like many other churches of the kind, from the irritating monotony of the “pointing” of the restored stonework. It is a common reproach levelled at French churches that in their interior decoration they lack the evidences of history and tradition afforded by the numerous monuments which English cathedrals almost invariably contain. These monuments, although not always in the best taste, at all events seem to furnish the interior, so to speak; they are at least a token of continuity of dedication, which is too often absent in the French churches, 190 Chauvigny and other Poitevin Churches even the later ones. No church interior in France is more bare in this respect than Angouléme. A portion of the nave dates back to the eleventh century; the rest is twelfth century; but the excessive restoration of Abadie has completely obscured all distinction between the two. Comparisons have often been drawn between the facade of the cathedral of Angouléme and that of Notre Dame at Poitiers. There is a certain family resemblance between them, no doubt, even now, in certain decorative details, and the general arrange- ment of some of the upper zones of decoration is similar ; but photographs taken of Angouléme before its restoration show that not even in its best days could it compare in harmony, richness and complete- ness of ornament with Notre Dame, and in its modernised form all traces of similarity have been destroyed, except those details which all churches of the same school have in common. At Melle, a picturesque little town in the department of the Deux Sévres, there are the remains of several twelfth-century churches in the Poitevin style, although the town itself is not in Poitou, but belonged in medieval times to the Counts of Maine. Of these, St Hilaire is in an excellent state of preservation. It bears, as will be seen from the photograph, a general resemblance to the plan of Notre Dame la Grande at Poitiers, but its appearance is far more dainty in outline, owing to the absence of the heavy battlements and the delicacy of the two western turrets by com- parison with the heavy “ pine-cone ” towers of Poitiers. 191 The Romance Churches of France Melle was one of the numerous towns whose medieval prosperity fled upon the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. In more modern times it seems however to have recovered a large share of its trade. Another Poitevin church whose facade must, in its heyday, have much more closely resembled Poitiers is that of Civray. Civray, which we are told by Poitevin pundits should be written Sivrai, the ancient Severiacum, is a small agricultural town of about 3000 inhabitants, about forty kilometres off, close to the southern boundary of the department of the Vienne. It possesses the remains of a feudal castle and an interesting twelfth-century church, but otherwise is not remarkable except for its chickens, its truffles to stuff them with, and the mule and grain market. The biped variety of mules is not unknown in Poitou, for Poitevins have the reputation of being tenacious to the point of obstinacy, but the quadruped variety is famed throughout France. Here the general arrangement of the ground-floor zone of decoration is almost exactly similar to Poitiers. There is the same arrangement of arches and blind arcades, bolder indeed in general outline, for the outer arches, instead of being slightly pointed and narrower than the central arch, which gives them a somewhat pinched appearance, are semicircular, and even a little broader, and conse- quently of more spacious effect. Above this triple portal is a corbel-table exactly similar to the one at Poitiers. The statuary is much mutilated. The spandrels have no sculpture except a statue inserted here and there, obviously during the process of repair 102 HILAIRE ST. MELLE : See page 191 MELLE: ST. HILAIRE See page 191 CIVRAY See page 192 Chauvigny and other Poitevin Churches and restoration. Higher up on the left is the mutilated remnant of an equestrian statue, Constantine, no doubt. In the corresponding space on the right there was originally, with no less doubt, the pendant statue of Charlemagne. This has completely disappeared, and has been replaced by four or five smaller statues, which have evidently migrated from their original places on the monument. The figures of the “Amazon” saints which decorate the archivolts of the central arches are very striking. The tympanum of the central door is a latter-day error. The door originally opened under a semicircular archivolt far more in keep- ing with the whole scheme of the facade. The interior is. painted in garish colours, but serves as a reminder of the original intention of the Romance builders, to which attention has been frequently called in these pages. Despite these blemishes, the hoary decay of Civray is more worthy of respect, and indeed more pleasing, than the mock rejuvenation of Angouléme. The visitor to this neighbourhood should contrive to spend a day at Saintes, a thriving little town of some 20,000 inhabitants, on the Charente, some fifty kilo- metres or so to the south-west of Civray, if only for the sake of its Church of St Eutrope, which is unique of itskind. Saintes in Roman times was the capital of the Santones, although then it bore the Roman name, Mediolanum. It was then the most prosperous city of Aquitania, which explains the extraordinary wealth of Roman remains it still possesses, notably the Arch of Germanicus, a few remaining vaults of the amphitheatre and remains of Roman baths. Later on, it of course N 193 The Romance Churches of France became the capital of the province of Saintonge. It was here that Bernard Palissy took up his residence between 1543 and 1563, although he travelled about the country a good deal in search of material for his experiments ; here that he married his shrewish wife, and here that he conducted his world-renowned ex- periments in search of the ideal glaze or enamel, sacrificing part of his furniture, it is said, to keep his ovens burning. The town retains to-day a reputation for porcelain and earthenware. Saintes resembles Poitiers in that it possesses a great number of Romance churches and one Gothic cathedral. None of them, however, exhibits the opulent ornament of the churches of Poitiers, and many of them are mere ruins, turned into barns or devoted to other secular uses. Indeed, St Eutrope is the only one worthy of close study. St Eutrope was a Christian martyr of the third century, apostle of Saintonge and disciple of St Denis, who became the first Bishop of Saintes. A successor of his named Palladius erected a church to his memory in the year 600. Philippe le Bel and his queen, Jeanne, honoured the saint with a special cult. The present church is a very old Romance construction, having been built in 1096, only thirty years after the Norman Conquest. Its most characteristic Romance features have disappeared through mutilation and in- judicious restoration in the fifteenth century. Almost the only features of interest remaining to-day are the choir, with its archaic capitals—where figure subjects and animals alternate fantastically with interlacing work and foliage—and the crypt. When Saintes 194 Chauvigny and other Poitevin Churches was visited some years ago, although permission was readily given to photograph in the body of the church it was peremptorily refused in the crypt. No valid reason was assigned for this distinction. Possibly it was because the crypt contains the tomb of the Saint. Even so, it is a difference which does not pre- vail by any means universally, and fails to recognise the reverent spirit which inspires the archeaologist- photographer. Let us hope that the successor of the curé who made this regulation is more indulgent. Saintes should not be left without paying a short visit to the cathedral, which probably more than any other church in France has suffered from the wars of religion, to which its patched and battered structure bears ample witness. These wars finally destroyed any remains of Romance which it ever possessed. Henry II. of England had a share in the building of it, and on a tablet near the entrance appears his name, second only to that of King Pépin on the list of benefactors of the foundation. These are the principal remaining Romance churches of interest in the southern extremity of the department of the Vienne; but there are two churches farther north which surpass all others in Poitou, if not in their structural characteristics at least in decoration, and perhaps also in picturesqueness of surroundings, an element which is not without value as a setting to the architecture and an agreeable aid towards the retention on our mental retina of the salient features of the buildings themselves. These are the churches of Chauvigny and St Savin. 195 The Romance Churches of France Chauvigny is about fifteen miles due east of Poitiers. The old town is built on a high ridge, and comprises the ruins of no less than three chateaux-forts or medizeval fortresses. The ruins of the baronial chateau and the Tour de Gouzin remain. The Chateau d'Harcourt now serves as a prison. These three chateaux belonged formerly to the Bishop of Poitiers, who also held the title of Baron of Chauvigny. In the midst of them stands—a marvel of Romance architecture—the Church of St Peter. The harmony of its proportions and the richness and variety of its interior and exterior decoration exhibit the art of the twelfth century risen to its highest degree of perfection. The square central tower is somewhat later than the rest of the church, perhaps early thir- teenth century. It bears a close family likeness to the tower of St Porchaire, in Poitiers, the solitary tower of a church now long since disappeared; but the small staircase-tower, topped with a “pine-cone” turret, is a pure Romance specimen, and is of the same family as those which flank the fagade of Notre Dame la Grande. Here it is tucked away in the angle formed by the choir and the south transept. The sanctuary is undoubtedly the oldest portion of the monu- ment, and dates back most probably to the eleventh century, whereas the west end, which reveals the pointed arch, may be as late as the end of the twelfth, in parts at all events. The capitals of the sanctuary are very remarkable. On the first capital to the right are represented two men being devoured by birds of prey; on the second, 196 Chauvigny and other Poitevin Churches the Archangel Gabriel with wings outspread, and the lettering : “ Gabriel Angelus”; and above the wings : « Dixit Gloria in excelsis Deo.” On another face of the same capital the Archangel Michael is shown weighing souls, and his side of the balance descends despite the frantic efforts of the demon, shown as a hideous animal and labelled with the inscription: «Ecce Diabolus.” On the third are large sphinxes with two bodies and a single head. On the fourth are scenes from the Bible on each of the four faces —namely, the Adoration of the Magi; the Annuncia- tion ; Simeon receiving Our Lord, and the Temptation in the Desert. The remaining capitals are ornamented with sym- bolical sculptures, consisting of birds with human heads, men with two bodies and a single head, and other grotesques of the kind. Although these sculptures are in deep relief they are not yet the complete ronde bosse. They are indeed sufficiently archaic in design to enable us to trace their development from, and likeness to, the outlines of those early carvings, of the shallowest possible relief, copied from brick mouldings, which have been noticed in Chapter vii. Externally the roofs of the apsidal chapels are of massive stone. Below run a row of sculptured brackets and stone carved insets representing the signs of the zodiac, the elegance of which relieves the heaviness of the roofing. The signs of the zodiac are indeed a feature common to many schools of Romance. We find them at Issoire, in Auvergne, and in other Burgundian churches. 197 The Romance Churches of France The village of Chauvigny possesses another Romance church, Notre Dame, which contains a column the capital of which represents the Tempta- tion in much the same style as that at St Gaudens {Chapter vii.).. lt is so high up, however, and so inaccessible, that it is impossible for the amateur to obtain a detail photograph of it. Only ten miles or so east of Chauvigny lies the little village of St Savin-sur-Gartempe, with its church dedicated to the saint of that name. The Gothic spire, almost the most elegant in France, next to that of the Kriesker at St Pol de Léon, stands out at a great distance, and serves as a convenient landmark to motor-men or bicyclists who approach the place by road; for the road from Poitiers and Chauvigny as it nears the village winds round in a rather confusing fashion. These spires, indeed, with that of St Sernin at Toulouse, are three remarkable landmarks for miles round of Northern, Central and Southern France. We have endeavoured to outline the position this remarkable church occupies in the scheme of decora- tion of Romance churches in Chapter vi. Its beauties form, however, such an inexhaustible theme that we shall readily be pardoned for returning to them here. We owe their discovery, for all modern purposes, to Prosper Mérimée, who combined the talents of a dis- tinguished author with the duties of an inspector of historical monuments, and in 1836 wrote an admirable monograph on the famous frescoes which attracted public attention to them, and secured for them the much-needed protection of the State. They constitute 198 SPIRE OF ST. SAVIN: A CENTRAL LANDMARK See page 198 POLTIERS : ST. HILAIRE See page 182 A NORTHERN LANDMARK A SOUTHERN LANDMARK STs. POL DE LEON | KREISKER TOULOUSE ! ST. SERNIN See page 198 Chauvigny and other Poitevin Churches almost the whole ornament of the church.. By a rare congruity there is hardly any sculpture, so that we are able to devote our whole attention to the painting. The frescoes of the barrel-vault are, of course, the most important feature, as the space occupied by them is the more extensive; so broad is their treatment that they incline us to lose sight of the chief structural blemish—viz. the extreme narrowness of the building in relation to its height. These frescoes are, on the whole, the best preserved, although many portions of them have scaled off. We have enumerated the chief of them in the chapter on decoration. In the tribune above the porch opening into the nave are another series, apparently representing the principal scenes of the Passion, although they have suffered so much from the ravages of time and from neglect that they are hardly distinguishable. We can nevertheless just make out the Descent from the Cross, the Burial, and the pilgrims of Emmaus, as well as some figures of saints. Those of the crypt, which is completely covered, are in a much better state of preservation, and almost the whole surface is recognisable. They deal, as has already been explained, with the trial and martyrdom of the two saints: St Savin, the patron saint of the church, and St Cyprien. They are worthily com- pleted by a fine figure of Christ seated in a circle, in the act of benediction, and surrounded by the symbols of the Four Evangelists. These frescoes, as has already been stated, date in all probability from the end of the eleventh century 199 The Romance Churches of France and the beginning of the twelfth. They are not, as Mérimée supposed, the actual work of Greek artists, but that of early French painters inspired by Greek models. The last of these paintings belongs to a later period. This is the one known as the “Doorway Virgin,” or “Vierge Porti¢re.” It is to be found on the western wall of the narthex, above the West Door. The Virgin is enthroned and surrounded by a double aureole. She bears in her right hand what is con- jectured to be the stalk of a lily: the flower has dis- appeared. On her knees is seated the Infant Jesus, His right hand raised in the attitude of benediction and holding a book in His left. Angels and monastic figures complete the picture. This is a work of the thirteenth century, and is interesting as such because it belongs to a period which very soon abandoned mural painting for ornament in the shape of coloured glass. This artistic evolution was by no means dic- tated by mere choice, for as we have seen in Chapter v. rib-vaulting, together with its inevitable concomitant of clusters of shafts and pilasters, the main characteristics of the Gothic architecture which sprang up at the be- ginning of the thirteenth century, seriously diminished the wall-space available for mural painting, while on the other hand they enabled large windows to be pierced in every part of the structure without compro- mising its solidity. These windows were an obvious vehicle for a remarkable development of stained-glass ornament. But it should be borne in mind that the art of stained glass by no means made its first 200 Chauvigny and other Poitevin Churches appearance in France in the thirteenth century: there are examples of it to be found there, although neces- sarily on a far less ambitious scale, at least as early as the tenth century. The energetic tourist who has come thus far east from Poitiers will not be deterred from pushing a little farther, and getting into what may be described as the George Sand region, where there are several Romance churches of interest, which may be quite appropriately brought within the scope of a Poitevin ramble. Do not omit to look back for a moment at St Savin, for the view of the church from the east gives an excellent general impression of it ; then make straight for the valley of the Creuse, at Le Blanc, and follow it along as far as Argenton. Thence press on, still in the valley of the Creuse, which keeps on increasing in picturesqueness, to the curious little village of Gargilesse. Here you will find a late twelfth-century church, full of interest, where you are told George Sand was accustomed to worship. You can also visit, if you care to, a shaded nook where she is said to have bathed in the River Creuse. The church shows a link with Périgord in the domical formation under the lantern tower, but its other characteristics are mainly those of a Poitevin church. It contains elaborate storied capitals and mural paint- ings as well. Those in the body of the church are of the fifteenth century only, but the crypt contains a few which are much older, and probably belong to the twelfth century. Half-way between Gargilesse and Nohant-Vic, where 201 The Romance Churches of France George Sand lived, is Neuvy St Sépulcre, with a cir- cular church built in the form of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem: “ad formam Sancti Sepulcri Ierosolomi- tani.” It is a curious circumstance that the building of this church, founded by a Viscount of Bourges, is assigned to the year 1o45—i.e. half-a-century before the First Crusade. Its resemblance to the Holy Sepulchre must therefore be more or less conjectural. Lastly we come to Nohant-Vic, a small village in the valley of the Indre, near La Chatre, where the great authoress spent the earlier and least happy portion of her remarkable existence. The country house in which she was brought up, rather absurdly dignified by the name of chateau, still exists; and she is buried in the church. The church was remark- able, however, long before George Sand was heard of, by its twelfth-century frescoes, a large number of which are still in a tolerable state of preservation. They include the cycle of the Childhood, the cycle of the Passion, Christ the Judge, a fragment of Hell, and a Paradise. André Michel calls attention to the marked contrast between the paucity of colours used and the amazing vigour of movement and expression which characterises the whole composition. The Apostles are talking and gesticulating; the scene of the kiss of Judas is a most tumultuous composition ; and even in the most solemn scenes all the personages seem to be on the move—walking, running, hurrying in some way or another. Yet only four colours are used to express all this vigour of movement: red ochre, yellow ochre, white and grey. The frescoes 202 SEPULCRE GARGILESSE NEUVY ST. See page 201 CAEN: ST. ETIENNE BAYEUX See page 204 See page 213 Chauvigny and other Poitevin Churches are one amongst many collections of the kind which are to be found in this region. There are others somewhat farther north, at Le Liget (Indre et Loire), Montoire (Loir et Cher), as well as at Montmorillon (Vienne). But the collection of St Savin remains the completest and the finest of all. With this brief notice of Nohant-Vic our rovings in Poitou may fittingly cease. 203 Chapter XV Normandy and Brittany Y a singular paradox we are to find in Normandy —the province which in England has given its name to the kind of architecture we are dealing with—fewer typical Romance churches, as we are now familiar with the type, than anywhere else in France. The greater ones are ruined, like Jumiéges, or their “dominant character has been transformed by Gothic superstructure, as in the great churches of Caen. Only very occasionally, in a few village churches here and there, such for example as St Loup Hors, near Bayeux, do we find the complete type. Rouen has been called a city of churches; so also has Caen. Caen appeals to us here a good deal more than Rouen, for Caen is a city of Norman Romance churches, in the main, whereas Rouen contains nothing now but advanced —some people would say often debased—Gothic. Matilda’s church, La Trinité—Abbaye-aux-Dames —was, if not completed, at least sufficiently advanced to be consecrated in the year 1066, a few weeks before William left for the conquest of England. There is, of course, no trace left to-day of the wooden roofing which originally covered the church, for this was replaced by stone-vaulting in later Gothic times; but de Lasteyrie makes an ingenious suggestion in regard 204 Normandy and Brittany to this. From traces left on the walls of certain churches which originally had wooden roofs he con- cludes that we can form a fair idea of what the roofs of La Trinité and other Norman churches were like by a study of those which are still preserved in Sicily in some of the sumptuous edifices built by Norman princes, especially at Monreale and Céfali. Caen may have existed, is said indeed to have existed, in very remote times. But little is known of the town before the eleventh century. No vestiges of any earlier period remain, and Caen as we know it, monumentally speaking, is the city of William the Conqueror and Matilda; and it is in this character that, as far back as the eighteenth century, with an interval caused by the Napoleonic Wars, it has con- tinued, and still continues, to attract English pilgrims. The remains of the fortifications which are shown as dating back to William’s reign in reality only go back to the time when Edward III. recaptured the town in 1346. Boulevards have now been built on the moats of these ancient fortifications. The oldest Romance building is a civil edifice with gabled roof, known as the ““ Echiquier "—the meeting-place of the Exchequer of Normandy. Who the architect of La Trinité was seems to be a matter of conjecture. M. Prentout, a Caen professor himself, in his excellent monograph, published in the series of Les Villes d'Art Célebres, tells us that it may legitimately be supposed to have been Gandulf, a monk whom Lanfranc had brought with him from the abbey of Bec, and who afterwards became Bishop 205 The Romance Churches of France of Rochester, and built the cathedral there. La Trinité, like so many other churches in border or frontier provinces, was a fortress as well as a church, and until as late as the nineteenth century was entered by a large machicolated gateway. Despite the demoli- tion of this gateway it still bears some of the forbidding aspects of a stronghold, although here the religious fabric dominates. In this respect it differs from the fortified churches of Southern France, such as Béziers, for example, where the place of worship has to be discovered under the frowning exterior of a building framed in the first instance with a view to defence. La Trinité stood sieges, indeed, and in the fourteenth century was defended against the English by the doughty Du Guesclin. The abbess had certain military privileges, and as late as the eighteenth century gave the watchword to the commandant of the chateau. The stern aspect of the facade in no way detracts from the imposing character of the en- semble of the pile, the homogeneity of which is its chief charm. Interiorly, this homogeneity is broken in upon by the Gothic vaulting, which obviously was not a part of the original building. The ‘“sexpartite” scheme of the vaulting alone shows this. (This rather barbarous word simply means that the cross ribs of the vault, instead of throwing themselves across one bay of the nave, throw themselves across two at once.) De Lasteyrie calls attention to the exceptional breadth of the transepts of the Anglo-Norman churches: usually, he says, the transept projects beyond the nave by a space equal to the width of a bay of the nave 206 Normandy and Brittany on each side; but the projection of the transepts of La Trinité is quite one and a half times this, and those of Durham at least twice. Occasionally the transepts have an aisle, or bas-cdté, to themselves—like Durham, for example—but this is rare, and La Trinité is without them. On the other hand, the transepts of La Trinité are embellished with deep and narrow absidioles, or apsidal chapels, on their eastern side. The aisles of the nave are prolonged on each side of the choir, but are rounded off before reaching the apse in semi- circular ends—in other words, they do not form an ambulatory ; and they also present the peculiarity of being shut off from the choir by a full wall. We have said that La Trinité was consecrated in the year of the Norman Conquest; but it was by no means completed then; indeed the choir and apse were not built until the Crusaders were beginning to return from the First Crusade, bringing with them a rich collection of works of art from the East, which were to serve as models. Among the Norman knights was notably Robert de Courteheuse, whose sister Cecile was then Abbess of La Trinité. This was in 1100, which was the precise period when the choir and apse which contain these curious sculptured subjects were rebuilt. We no longer know the sym- bolic meaning of them, if they had any. The crypt where Matilda was originally buried is earlier than the choir. It contains some very interesting and primitive foliated capitals. This date explains why the decoration of the capitals of the choir is much more advanced and elaborate than that of the nave. 207 The Romance Churches of France Whereas in the nave capitals we find chiefly the ordinary cushion, with occasional interlacing work and heads of animals, in the apse and choir there are found richly sculptured subjects, such as storks eating frogs, an elephant (although without his trunk), and a contest of winged dragons. The absence of the elephant’s trunk no doubt comes from slavish imitation of a broken Oriental model. The church contains the tomb of Matilda, the foundress of the abbey; but her remains were rifled by the Protestants in 1562; the monument was again destroyed during the great Revolution, and finally restored in 1819. During the Middle Ages the abbey became a fashionable school for the daughters of the nobility, and a literary centre of some renown. Exist- ence there was by no means of a severe monastic order: the abbesses had a country residence out at Quistreham, and were accustomed to make excursions from that port into England in order to visit their possessions there. Matilda, the daughter of EdwardIIIl. of England, and Adela, the daughter of Edward I, were educated there. The convent school seems to have carried on until the great Revolution, for Charlotte Corday was educated there. The facade of St Etienne, the Abbaye-aux- Hommes, William's church, is one of the noblest as well as the most severe in France. The massive simplicity of the actual east end is in strong contrast with the elegant shafting of the two soaring towers. Indeed it is nothing but a dead wall, broken only by four massive and entirely unadorned flat buttresses and 208 Normandy and Brittany two storeys of plain round-arched windows. Yet the whole effect is one of a combination of strength and height which has rarely, if ever, been equalled. St Etienne is one of the largest churches in France, and like all other such churches took a correspond- ingly long time to build; no one knows now exactly how long. It was possibly begun in 1063, the year in which William brought Lanfranc from Bec to Caen. In 1077 it was sufficiently advanced for Lanfranc, who had then become Archbishop of Canterbury, to consecrate it, in presence of William, Matilda and a large concourse of ecclesiastics. In 1087 William was buried there. The church suffered much from war and pillage in the Middle Ages. Thus in 1562 the church was pillaged by the Protestants, and in the following year Montgomery, who was commanding at Caen on behalf of Coligny, removed the lead roofing, which left - the church open to all the winds of heaven. In 1566a foolish order given by the seneschal of the abbey caused the falling in of the tower of the transept. The church was practically ruined, and all worship was aban- doned until the beginning of the seventeenth century. It was then admirably restored by Jean de Baillache. The choir is very fine, and although entirely Gothic harmonises very well with the Romance nave. Round the ambulatory are no less than fifteen chapels, which preserve their ancient altars. The cloister, which possesses nothing remarkable in the way of ornament or sculpture, is now the court of honour of the Lycée. By reason of the greater size of St Etienne, the Gothic additions obtrude more here than in La Trinité, so 0 209 The Romance Churches of France that the Romance character of the structure is more effectually obscured. The chief beauty of the interior as well as of the exterior of St Etienne is its spacious- ness and grandeur, rather than any ornamental characteristics, in which it is, now at all events, con- spicuously lacking. The Gothic vaulting accentuates the contrast between what is left of the Romance period in the nave and the purely Gothic choir. William's tomb in the choir no longer contains his remains: they were dispersed when the tomb was rifled in 1562. Even the marble slab which covered the monument was destroyed in the great Revolution and restored in 1802. Like La Trinité, St Etienne was used as a fortress, but this aspect of it has been almost completely submerged in its Gothic transformation. As far back as the eleventh century the two abbeys built churches for the parishioners of their districts. St Gilles was the parish church of Bourg I’Abbesse, or the district of La Trinité; St Nicolas that of Bourg I'Abbé, the district of St Etienne. Of the original of St Gilles nothing now remains; St Nicolas, on the contrary, retains much of its original character, and possesses an elegant Romance porch with round arches and billet-moulding, much resembling the doors of the chapter-house at St Georges de Boscherville. The extent of Lanfranc’s influence on the Romance architecture of Normandy and England has been a matter of considerable discussion. Many authors see Lombard influences in the churches of these regions, and attribute them to the fact that Lanfranc was a 210 Normandy and Brittany native of Pavia and that when he came to France he propagated these influences in church building there, in which we know he took so large a share, either through monkish sculptors whom he brought from Italy or through the famous magistre Comacini, or master-workmen of Como, who have already been dealt with, and about whom so many interesting monographs have been written. There is extant no record of any such direct migration of monks or masters; and the whole trend of the development of Romance archi- tecture discourages any such supposition. It was as a rule gradually evolved by the slow development of local talent, influenced from a variety of different sources, including no doubt the influence of Comacine masters, who had without question worked extensively for Charlemagne earlier; and instances of its being formed or transformed by a sudden and wholesale invasion of foreign artists are rare in the extreme. André Michel calls attention to the propensity of the Comacine masters for travel, and the carrying on of their trade far away from home, but does not discuss the extent of their influence in England or in Nor- mandy. De Lasteyrie is more explicit. While recognising the large share which Lanfranc took in the building of the great Norman churches, and the introduction of the style into England, he disputes his having initiated there an entirely new style, either through the Comacine artists or otherwise. In proof of this he calls attention to the fact that St Etienne was in the main copied from Jumieges, and that Jumiéges was already being rebuilt in 1042—1.e. 211 The Romance Churches of France two years before Lanfranc came to Bec. . Furthermore, there is no evidence that Lanfranc had any expert knowledge of architecture; and numberless are the churches built in England by other Norman bishops and priests who could have had no possible connection with Como or its masters, or with Lombardy in any fashion whatsoever, but who simply copied the models already existing in their own country of Normandy. This statement of De Lasteyrie entirely overlooks the existence and influence of a famous Italian pre- decessor of Lanfranc, William, Abbot of St Bénigne, at Dijon. Sir Thomas Jackson, in his interesting and beautiful work on Byzantine and Romanesque architecture, relates how Duke Richard II. of Nor- mandy succeeded in overcoming the fears entertained by William of the reputed cruelty and savagery of the Norman dukes and finally brought him to Fécamp. Many religious houses in Normandy were placed under his rule, and there is no doubt that it was through his influence that Lombard methods of architecture were introduced into France. There is no evidence, how- ever, of his influence having extended into England; indeed it could hardly have done so before the Norman Conquest; therefore we may take it as reasonably certain that the earliest traces of Italian influence in English architecture came in soon after the Norman Conquest through Lanfranc. To sum up this matter, therefore, it may fairly be stated, without in any wise disparaging the skill or renown of the Comacine masters, that the purely territorial extent of their influence has occasionally 212 Normandy and Brittany been somewhat exaggerated; that this influence, in so far as it extended to Normandy in particular, was moulded and fashioned into a new and original style by the genius of local craftsmen, working under the supervision of prelates of Italian origin, one of whom afterwards became Primate of England and carried the school over with him, together with its infusion of Italian influences. Next to Caen, Bayeux is the most interesting town in Normandy from the point of view of Romance architecture. Not that we find here the magnificent Romance churches of Caen: indeed, there is no com- plete church in Bayeux itself which could properly be called a Romance church; but there are details in the few remaining Romance portions of the cathedral which are of unique interest in illustrating one of the well-known migration currents of Romance architecture at the farthest possible distance from its source. In the spandrels of the arcades of the nave, the sole remaining Romance portion of the church, is found by way of embellishment the grimacing Sassanian lion. De Lasteyrie, quoting Ruprich Robert, says that this is a Chinese dragon copied from some Oriental bronze or enamel. This is a mistake. There is no evidence that the Western architects of this period possessed any familiarity with as distant an art as that of the Chinese, whereas there is ample historical and geo- graphical evidence to show that they had access to Persian forms of art. Choisy puts this right by his very clear explanation of the movement of the “ Armenian” migration, as he 213 The Romance Churches of France calls it. This movement proceeded up the Euphrates from Baghdad, thence across Asia Minor to the neigh- bourhood of Trebizond, whence it crossed the Black Sea, spread through Russia by means of the Volga, and crossed over to Scandinavia. From there it was carried by the invasions of the Northmen into the British Isles and the north of France. Thus it is that we see cropping up here and there, even as far away as Ireland, traces of Persian decoration; and this is why the grimacing lion of Bayeux is Persian and not Chinese. A careful examination of it indeed shows that it is less grotesque and a little more true to nature than the Chinese beast; in fact, a distinct lion and not to be mistaken for a dragon or any other mythical or equivocal animal. In addition to this it is accompanied by entrelacs, or interlacing work, which can be easily identified as of Armenian origin. Choisy’s explanation, which thus rests, as is seen, upon a scientific and historical basis, and not upon mere conjecture or fanciful resemblance, should consequently be accepted as accurate. Gothic architecture reached its perfection in the north of France, and could only be displayed in com- plete exuberance in the largest form of church—i.e. the cathedral. That is why in the north of France almost all the larger Romance churches have been swept away to make room for Gothic, and only the smaller ones have remained in fairly complete form ; while in the south there are no large Gothic churches, but quite a number of large Romance ones. It is, indeed, remarkable that the Gothic architects should 214 Normandy and Brittany have left anything aboveground of the Romance churches which they rebuilt. In Caen, as has been seen, almost all of the nave and a fair portion of the exterior of St Etienne and La Trinité are of the twelfth century ; but no one could find any trace of that century’s handiwork in the exterior of Bayeux; and internally only the arcades of the twelfth-century nave remain. The crypt alone here, as at Chartres and elsewhere, gives us the outline of the original Romance church. Of the Romance Church of St Vigor, formerly situated on the north side of the town, nothing now remains except a doorway of the priory, which dates only from the thirteenth century. On the west side there is still in existence a very perfect specimen of a Norman Romance church, the Church of St Loup, a short distance out on the road towards Coutances. The name of St Loup illustrates probably better than any other the difficulty of identifying the saints to whom these ancient churches were dedicated, and also of obtaining reliable information about the chief events of their lives. According to the encyclopadias, St Loup was a most matter-of-fact person, born at Toul, who was married, and who separated from his wife, each taking to a religious life. After an excursion as far as the Iles de Lérins, where he worked under St Honorat, he became Bishop of Troyes, and was instrumental in saving Troyes from the violence of Attila. Indeed he seems to have struck up quite a friendship with the formidable Hun invader. He was born about 400 and died in 479. But according to the far more picturesque, although 215 The Romance Churches of France possibly less reliable, narrative of the Legende Dovée, St Loup was born at Orleans, was of royal race, and possessor of transcendent virtues. He became Archbishop of Sens, and gave everything to the poor. One day he was giving a dinner-party, and had so despoiled himself in this way that there was nothing like enough wine for his guests. He offered up a prayer, and was immediately informed by a messenger that a goodly provision of wine had just been left at his door. On another occasion, King Clotaire having heard that the bells of Sens were particularly melodious, ordered them to be brought to Paris, where he could hear them oftener ; but they had hardly left the town before they lost their sweet- ness. So the King sent them back, and when they were within seven leagues of the town they at once recovered their tone. This particular St Loup died in 610. No doubt, as in many other instances, there were several saints of the same name. The chief features of this little church—known as St Loup Hors—are an extremely elegant tower and a small doorway, in the tympanum of which, surrounded by an arch of very characteristic Norman toothwork, is seen a figure of the Saint chasing a dragon which devastated the countryside. The tower dates from the early twelfth century. This saint seems to have been the third of the name who was one of the earliest Bishops of Bayeux. Brittany, the “land of granite and oak,” so far from evolving a separate school of Romance architecture, never at any time possessed more than a very few 216 Normandy and Brittany specimens of Romance churches which have strayed there from Normandy, and perhaps, in one or two instances, from other parts of France. Those slender soaring steeples, with their overhung galleries, which, from the Kriesker at St Pol de Leon, that “ Campanile of the North,” down to the humblest village spire, so felicitously contrast with the horizontal undulations of landscape, clothed alternately with heather, gorse and dwarf oak, belong to a much later age. The ossuaries and the elaborate if roughly carved calvaries which complete the picture—that picture which, despite its rudeness and occasional melancholy, draws us back again and again when once we have felt its charm— we must perforce leave, for they are beyond the scope of the present study. Nevertheless there are a few interesting remains of the eleventh and twelfth centuries, and at least one complete Romance church, in Brittany. The church of Loctudy is of interest not only because it is a complete church dating probably from the eleventh century, but because, although situated in a province adjoining Normandy, and apparently remote from other influences, it has nothing whatever Norman about it. I have seen it described as a Templars’ church, although we do not find any direct authority for this attribution. Interiorly it bears a strong resemblance to the churches of Auvergne, especially Orcival, which, as we know, is dedicated to the Crusaders, if not to the Templars, by the chains, a relic of their captivity, which are hanging outside the church. The most characteristic feature of similarity 217 The Romance Churches of France between them are the stilted arches of the choir, which we find not only at Orcival, but also at Issoire, and later in Burgundian churches, such as Paray-le- Monial. Loctudy also exhibits its relationship with the churches of Central France, and in particular with those of Auvergne and Burgundy, in the three radiating chapels thrown out from the apse. It is a waif, and a most interesting one. The Crusading idea is kept alive in Brittany by two remaining circular churches formed on the model of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem—Quimperlé and Lanleff. Ste Croix at Quimperlé is unimpressive now, having been completely rebuilt in modern times on the original plan. The eleventh-century crypt still exists, and possesses some curious Romance capitals. The church or “temple” of Lanleff, between St Brieuc and Paimpol, is a building on the same plan, and seems to be still the original structure. Perros-Guirec, a little farther on, on the coast, has an interesting church of the twelfth century. Most of the churches of Brittany are built of the grey granite which abounds in the country. This granite, unlike most other kinds of stone, does not acquire a picturesque weathering, or patine, with age, but tends to preserve its grey tone, thus adding to the general sombreness of the Breton landscape. Perros- Guirec is a fortunate exception, being built of pink granite. It possesses a series of Romance capitals depicting the Psychomachia, or Combat of the Virtues and Vices. Numerous other churches in Brittany contain frag- 218 CAEN : LA TRINITE See page 206 See page 229 ARLES ARLES “STEELY” EFFECT OF SCULPTURE CLOISTER See page 222 See page 224 Normandy and Brittany ments of twelfth-century work—such, for example, as St Sauveur, at Dinan; St Sauveur, at Redon, and many others; but in a region where fifteenth and sixteenth century churches are more numerous than in any other part of France those described above are almost the only complete examples remaining of pre-Gothic churches. 219 Chapter xvi Provence F indeed “all good Americans when they die go 1 to Paris,” then true lovers of Provence would be - inclined to say that “all good Frenchmen when they die go to Provence.” How difficult to put into words the simple natural charm of the Provencal hinterland, which is in such striking contrast with the meretricious ornamentation of the Riviera. Certainly no pre-war motorist, whirl- ing feverishly across from the Rhone Valley to the coast, could ever adequately take in its manifold attractions. These are only completely revealed to the chosen few who approach them in a mood of repose and contemplation. Their complete conquest demands opportunities for prolonged lounging, placid dawdling even, some imagination and artistic flair— to all of which the frenzy of modern existence, typified by the motor-car, is frankly inimical. Let us there- fore lounge and dawdle for a while among those churches and cloisters of Provence which immediately concern us; afterwards we may, perhaps, be able to sum up a few of those characteristics which preserve for Provence its unique position in the Latin world as a region of perennial smiles and perennial youth. In she popular judgment Arles comes first of all Provencal towns in archaeological interest, although 220 Provence a real twelfth - century connoisseur would certainly place Aix ahead of it. Let us however defer to the majority and begin with Arles. The medizval interest of Arles centres round the Church of St Trophime—that is to say, round a portal and a cloister; for in their main structure the Pro- vengal churches have very little character of their own ; their distinctive features lie almost wholly in ornament. The Trophimus to whom the church is dedicated was the Ephesian companion of St Paul who accompanied him to Jerusalem and was left behind sick at Miletus. The principal zone of the facade of St Trophime is a fine colonnade, the spaces between the columns forming large niches, each containing the life - size statue of one of the Apostles. On the left-hand side of the doorway nearest to it is St Peter; next to him St John. The first figure fronting on this side is St Trophimus, in his canonical robes; next come St James and St Bartholomew. On the right-hand side of the doorway facing St Peter is St Paul; next to him and opposite St John is St Andrew. As pendant to the statue of St Trophimus is a representation of the Stoning of St Stephen ; then on the extreme right come St James and St Philip. On the tympanum is a figure of Christ, in the mandorla, surrounded by the symbols of the Four Evangelists, and below on the frieze, which occupies the whole width of the portal, is a representation of the Last Judgment in a succes- sion of figures very obviously inspired by, if not actually copied from, Roman sarcophagi. None of 221 The Romance Churches of France the figures is completely detached from the surface; and this peculiarity, coupled with the stiffness of the sculpture and the dark weathering of the stone, give the whole facade a metallic appearance, as though it were of repoussé or hammered bronze. The plinths at the base of the columns bear a series of rude sculptures: Samson killing the Lion, Samson delivered to the Philistines, Daniel in the Lions’ Den are the principal subjects. The pedestals of other columns are animals and grotesques. The frieze which decorates the lintel of the portal is continued round the entablature above the lateral columns, and constitutes an imposing representation of the Last Judgment. Lower down, and at the back and summit of the recesses which contain the statues, runs another frieze, of less width than the outer one. Here are represented a series of Scriptural scenes, such as the Annunciation, the Magi, the Massacre of the Innocents, the Flight into Egypt, and the usual series of scenes from the Nativity. Before we deal with the cloister of Arles a word must be said of the portal of St Gilles, which is very similar to that of St Trophime in general arrange- ment, but also very different in execution. St Gilles lies about sixteen kilometres south-west of Arles across the «“Camargue,” as the space enclosed by the Rhone delta is called, on the edge of the department of the Gard, which is here divided off from the Bouches du Rhone by the small arm of the Rhone which is the western boundary of the delta. St Gilles possesses three portals, which alone make 222 Provence it more imposing at first sight than Arles; and it does not need a very much closer inspection to observe that in general effect it is softer and more harmonious than St Trophime. Here only the upper and outer frieze bears figure subjects, the lower and inner one being very beautifully foliated. André Michel calls attention in an interesting passage to the originality of this work, composite as is its character, by comparison with the clumsy archaism of St Trophime, which he describes as a maladroit imitation of previous models by the disciples of a school in full decadence. He describes it as a mere veneer by comparison. This would account for the hard metallic appearance which has been already noticed. The statues at St Gilles are more numerous than at Arles, there being six on each side of the great door, two in the recess, and four facing front. In the recess left are, as at Arles, St John and: St Peter. The St Peter of St Gilles is in strong contrast to that of Arles. Here he is the true Byzantine Prince of the Church, in a rich mantle with an embroidered border studded with enormous cabochons. In the recess right are St Paul opposite to St Peter, and St James opposite to St John, both in a somewhat better state of preservation. Facing front on the left side of the door, and from left to right, are St Jude, St Bar- tholomew, St Thomas, and St James the Less; on the right-hand side, also counting from left to right, St Andrew, St Matthew, St Philip and St Simon the Canaanite. The tympanum of the Great Door has been destroyed and very poorly reproduced; it 223 The Romance Churches of France represents, as at Arles, Christ, in the mandorla, sur- rounded by the symbols of the Four Evangelists. In the tympanum of the portal on the left is an Adoration of the Magi; on the right-hand door the Crucifixion. This superbly decorated facade is now the sole feature of interest left to the church, with the single exception of a crypt roofed in by a singularly bold specimen of cross-vaulting. Nothing in the shape of a cloister is to be found. Nevertheless, the facade alone is well worth the brief digression from the beaten track which the visit entails; and a comparison of the two portals of St Trophime and St Gilles is of itself an education in the Gallo-Roman art of Provence. We may now return to Arles and proceed to study the cloister of St Trophime. Here again is a com- posite work, no two sides of the cloister being of the same period, yet all of great interest, although of varying merit. We assume that the visitor, after taking in the portal, has passed through the church, which has long since ceased to possess any of the characteristics of the century on which our thoughts are fixed, and has ascended the staircase which leads from the south side of the choir up to the cloister : for the cloister is at a considerably higher level than the church itself. Arriving thus, he will find the north gallery of the cloister on his left hand. It should be at once re- marked that this north gallery is the only true Romance one of the four, dating as it does from as far back as the end of the eleventh century, while the others are much later, the east gallery being bastard 224 Ce Provence Romano-Byzantine work of the thirteenth century and the south and west belonging to the ogival school of the late fourteenth century. Despite this wide divergence of style, the general aspect of the whole cloister is not inharmonious. The author wondered for long how such different styles could thus rest har- moniously together, and the conclusion at last come to was that when we are taking a general view of the cloister from the interior of the garth the impression is one of a robust but fairly uniform stone framework to the decorative portion of the work, the varying styles of which do not thrust themselves upon our mind until a detailed and separate examination is made of them. When we are examining one gallery the contrasts of the others are shut out from us, and when we are looking at the ensemble the setting predominates. Right opposite the head of the staircase is an angle pillar, forming the junction between the north and west galleries, bearing three fine statues: St Trophimus in the centre, St Peter on the left, and St John on the right. On the left-hand panel, between the statues of St Trophimus and St Peter, is the Holy Sepulchre, with two sleeping Roman soldiers, guarded above by two angels. Between St Trophimus and St John are the holy women bearing perfumes to the Sepulchre and the merchants counting out the price of the perfumes. The north gallery is divided into three bays by square columns similar to this one. On the capitals of the first bay are sculptured the Resurrection of P 225 The Romance Churches of France Lazarus, the Sacrifice of Abraham and the Prophecy of Balaam. The second dividing pillar bears statues of St James and two others, somewhat uncertain, probably a pilgrim and a Moor. The capitals of the next bay show the promise to Abraham of the birth of Isaac, St Paul preaching before the Areopagus, and other purely ornamental sculptures. On the third pillar come St James, St Thomas and Our Saviour convincing St Thomas. The last capitals are mostly purely ornamental, but amongst them are the Burning Bush and the delivery to Moses of the Tables of the Law on Mount Sinai. On the angle pillar dividing the north and east galleries are St James, St Stephen and St Matthew. The intervening bas-reliefs represent the Ascension, the Stoning of St Stephen and the appearance of the Saviour to the martyr. The capitals of the columns of the first bay exhibit the Purification, the Visitation and the Annunciation, three eagles and an angel with outspread wings, and the angels and the shepherds. On the second pillar is a representation, much mutilated, of the Scourging of Christ; on the following capital the Massacre of the Innocents, Rachel weeping for her Children, the Vision of the Magi, the Flight into Egypt and the Kings before Herod. On the third pillar are the Lamb of St John and statues of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. On the columns of the last bay are the Adoration of the Magi, the Feast of Palms, the Entry into Jerusalem, the Conversion of St Paul and the Last Supper. 226 Provence Notice the statuettes of the Wise and Foolish Virgins on the upper part of the entablature. All these are New Testament subjects, while all the subjects of the north gallery are drawn from the Old Testament. The south-east angle pillar is one of the most curious. The statues are those of St Matthew, a figure (? pilgrim holding out a shell of holy water) and Gamaliel, recognised by the inscription of his name. In the panels are the Washing of Feet, the Last Supper, the Kiss of Judas, and the triple Tempt- ation of Christ, symbolised by the mountain, the Temple and Jerusalem. The twin columns of this gallery are surmounted by a single capital. A detailed description of all the decorative subjects would be wearisome and out of place. They relate to early Christian symbolism taken from ecclesiastical history, chiefly that of the religious orders. The western gallery is frankly Gothic, dating from the end of the fourteenth century. The scenes re- presented are the Stoning of Stephen, Samson and Delilah, Samson and the Lion, St Martha and the Tarasque, the Magdalen anointing the feet of Jesus, the Annunciation, the Coronation of the Virgin, Pentecost, the Descent of the Holy Ghost. Such is a very bald description of the details of this wonderful monument. The visitor, if he wishes to observe the gradation of styles in their chrono- logical order, must be careful to go round the galleries in the order given; if he breaks in upon this he is certain to bear away a confused and discordant impression. 227 The Romance Churches of France Four kilometres to the north-east of Arles lies the hill of Montmajour (mons major), with its fortress, church and cloister. In ancient times this hill was a natural fortress, inaccessible to anyone not intimately acquainted with the intricacies of the surrounding country, which was an almost uninterrupted succession of swamps and marshes. It served as a retreat for St Trophimus, Bishop of Arles, as early as the third century, and the stone “confessional of St Trophimus,” so called, is still shown. The abbey church dates back to the eleventh and twelfth centuries ; the fortress portion, exceedingly imposing from a distance, seems to have been built round it in later medieval times. The cloister is more harmonious and more chaste than that of Arles. The columns, with their rounded arches, are grouped by twos or threes under a massive arch of masonry which imparts an aspect of combined simplicity and strength to the whole monument. The capitals are indeed far simpler and more elegant in design than those of Arles, as befits such a setting. There are, for example, very few figure subjects. One of them should not be missed: a figure of a man with a furious countenance, long bristling hair, a puckered forehead, grinding his teeth. This is intended to represent the “mistral,” one of the three “plagues” of Provence, the other two being, according to the medieval gibe, the local parliament and the River Durance, which is particularly liable to floods. The cloister was originally built at the end of the twelfth and beginning of the thirteenth century. It was restored in the fifteenth. 228 Provence A couple of hundred yards farther on is a tiny masterpiece of medieval architecture known as the Chapelle de Ste Croix. It was formerly reputed to have been built between 1016 and 1019, but later researches have revealed that it is a Neo-Byzantine construction, dating back no further than the early thirteenth or late twelfth century. It takes the shape of a cross with equal ends, closed by apses vaulted with “oven-ends.” The use to which it was put seems doubtful ; it may have been a mortuary chapel for the monks of the baptistery. In connection with Montmajour (which as high an authority as Sir Thomas Jackson calls erroneously Montmajeur) it is impossible not to say a passing word of Vaison, a small town twelve or fifteen miles north-east of Orange. Here again the cloister is the chief, almost the only, feature of interest left. It is so similar to Montmajour that one would suppose it must have been built by the same hands. Again we see the grouping of three bays of coupled columns under a single segmental arch, unrelieved by any moulding. Vaison is less well preserved than Montmajour, but the similarity of arrangement is striking. Much the same arrangement occurs in the cloister of St Paul du Mausolée, at St Rémy, not far from Tarascon. Close to Tarascon, and standing quite alone in the open fields, is the curious little Chapel of St Gabriel. In structure this little building contains nothing to arrest the attention or to instruct. Its decoration merely illustrates the fashion, which characterised the earliest period of Romance architecture in Provence, 229 The Romance Churches of France of setting into the facade rough sculptural bas-reliefs exhibiting no originality or individuality of invention whatsoever on the part of their authors, but which were merely servile copies of sculptural motives found on Gallo-Roman sarcophagi. Here we see in par- ticular a very crude representation of Daniel in the Lions’ Den, Adam and Eve, and others. These inset bas-reliefs occur in many other southern churches, such, for example, as Viviers, Cruas and St Restitut, in the Ardeche. Last, but, as we have said, by no means least in interest, of the Provencal cities comes Aix. The Romans, who were nothing if not a hygienic people, discovered the healing springs and sources of ancient Gaul, and called them ¢ waters,” “aque,” which translates into modern French in the form of the somewhat brusque monosyllable “aix,” the “ai” of which is pronounced very short and the “x” hard; so that the whole word sounds nearly, though to trained ears not quite, identical with the first syllable of « Exeter ” and “ Exmouth.” Thus itis in French; but in the honeyed tongue of Provence it becomes a soft dissyllable, “ais.” It is then of Aix-en-Provence that we propose here to discourse, a town older by far than Charlemagne’s Aix-la-Chapelle or the modern fashion- able Aix-les-Bains, but undoubtedly less known than either of them to-day. Indeed Aix-en-Provence is so little known and so imperfectly explored by tourists that it may still well be classed, so far as the ordinary traveller is concerned, as a part of “La France Inconnue.” 230 Provence As a discipline and preparation for the right mood in which Aix should be approached the deliberate though not lengthy railway journey, or the still more deliberate tramway journey, from Marseilles cannot be improved upon. A day will easily suffice to see the place well. A camera should not be forgotten, for its after -produce will afford the pleasantest memories. The town of Aix, the Aque Sextie of the Romans, is situated in the department of the Bouches-du-Rhoéne, eighteen miles north of Marseilles and about an equal distance from the eastern edge of the Rhone delta. Its waters, as the name indicates, were the waters of Sextius, and that part of the town which contains the remains of the old Roman Therma is still called the Sextian Quarter. If you have chosen a fine day in early spring for the trip, and have an eye for the picturesque, the changing landscape will show you the heart of Provence: red ferruginous soil everywhere, with limestone outcropping, silver olives, pink peach and white apple bloom twinkling against a background of sombre cypresses. Here an ivy - covered farm-building in the foreground, a tower perched on a knoll in the middle distance and silhouetted against a distant mountain of dolomitic shape, bathed in the southern haze. Later on terraced uplands of the same red soil and grey rock, a great crucifix standing out on a stretch of moorland against the skyline, and lower down patches of yellow gorse. As we approach the town we see the full sweep of the amphitheatre sloping towards the south-west, the centre of which Aix occupies, backed up 231 The Romance Churches of France against those rolling foothills which farther east begin to tell unmistakably of the Alps. The cathedral belfry towers standing out from the cluster of town buildings indicate the principal monument. The modern part, with the chief hotels, is centred round the Cours Mirabeau, a handsome broad avenue powdered with that yellow dust which covers the houses and clothes them with a golden sheen in the southern sun. At its western end nearest the station is a monu- mental fountain; at the east end a rather poor statue of King René of Provence. This king was by the way never King of Provence—possibly for the excellent reason that Provence was never a kingdom. He was Duke of Anjou, Count of Provence and King of Naples, Sicily and Jerusalem. He had a chequered career, was constantly falling foul of the Burgundians and was twice imprisoned by them, and only got free by hostages and a heavy ransom. He stood stoutly by the fortunes of Charles VII. in his wars, which ended by the expulsion of the English, and was present at his coronation at Rheims. The peace with England was consolidated by the marriage of his daughter, Margaret, with Henry VI. Later in life, after numerous political and domestic disappoint- ments, he took to poetry and, some say, painting. He was indeed an amateur of painting and a patron of art, but the paintings now extant which are attributed to him are not really from his hand, but were prob- ably painted under his patronage. One of these, a triptych of the “Burning Bush,” is in the cathedral at Aix. He encouraged the performance of mystery 232 Provence plays, and left many writings behind which have been republished in modern times. To reach the cathedral one must plunge boldly into the labyrinth of tortuous streets which surround the eastern extremity of the Cours, and finally strike a street running as nearly as possible at right angles to it northward. Crossing the Place de 'Hétel de Ville we pass under the gateway of the old belfry tower, and a little farther on come to a small square on the right of which is the cathedral, and on the left the law school. Aix is by tradition an important legal and university centre. Portalis and Siméon, two of the fathers of the Code Napoléon, were natives of Aix. It is the seat of a Court of Appeal, not only for the Bouches-du-Rhéne but adjoining departments. As, therefore, it entertains all appeals from the court of Marseilles its functions are correspondingly import- ant. The cathedral of Aix, which is an archbishopric, is entered by a Romance portal to the right of the tower. This was originally the main entrance of the original eleventh-century structure, which is now the south aisle of a much later fifteenth-century building devoid of any great architectural interest. This portal, shorn of all its ornaments except the columns, is still a work of remarkable elegance. The columns are a fine example of the skill of the early Romance sculptors in imitating the columns of the Corinthian order. Indeed, so skilful were they that in some in- stances it is difficult to determine whether the columns are imitated, or only transported from some Roman temple. These particular ones, however, it seems, 233 The Romance Churches of France . are true Romance handiwork. Inside the cathedral there are three features of special interest. The first is a sixth-century baptistery immediately to the right of the entrance. The columns here are genuinely Roman work, and may possibly have inspired the Romance sculptor of the portals. The general scheme of the small circular building reminds one forcibly of the Baptistery of Sta Costanza, adjoining the Church of St Agnese at Rome, although it lacks the mar- vellous frescoes of the latter. The next feature of interest is an altarpiece on the north side of the church, almost opposite to the baptistery, known as the “ Autel en Pierre.” On the right-hand side of an imposing statue of the veiled Virgin with the Child is a figure of St Martha and the formidable « Tarasque.” This was said to be an amphibious beast, of a rapa- cious kind, which in the first century infested the country at the mouth of the Rhone, at that time covered with dense forests. Not content with ob- structing navigation, it made incursions inland. Six- teen valiant youths are said to have banded themselves together in the determination to destroy it—an enter- prise in which they finally succeeded; but not before eight of them had been slain. The eight survivors, it is said, founded the towns of Beaucaire and Tarascon. Another version is that it was St Martha, the sister of Lazarus, who settled at Tarascon, and subdued the beast by the sign of the cross. That is why she is here represented with the Tarasque. At all events, St Martha died at Tarascon, and a church was erected there to her honour, and to-day 234 AIX EN PROVENCE AIX EN PROVENCE ¢¢ AUTEL EN PIERRE” STATUE OF MIRABEAU See page 23 See page 237 AIX WHICH THE PRESERVATION OF THE ORIGINAL ARCADING RENDERS HARMONIOUS See page 236 ARLES THE ARCADING HAS BEEN RESTORED AND OVERWEIGHTS THE COLUMNS See page 224 Provence at the annual festival of the town to which the monster gave its name a representation of the Tar- asque figures in the procession. The figure of the Tarasque on the altar at Aix takes on the appearance of a kind of winged calf, covered with scales, resem- bling a somewhat forbidding presentment of our old friend the “Mock Turtle”; certainly far more grot- esque than terrible. One can only conjecture the origin of the legend. Possibly it relates to times when the river was infested by some kind of pre- historic crocodile or dinosaur. As pendant to St Martha and the Tarasque is a fine figure of St Maurice in armour; above is a beautiful calvary. The whole work is a fine production of the fifteenth century. The third feature of interest inside the church is a collection of Flemish tapestry of the early sixteenth century. It was made for St Paul's Cathedral, and some of the figures represent, it is said, the great Court ladies of England early in the reign of Henry VIIL Whether it ever got to England or not seems uncertain. Some say it was intercepted, others that it was bought in England at the time of the Reformation. Nothing further need arrest attention for long within the cathedral. We may therefore leave it, by a small door next to the baptistery on the south side, and pass into the Romance cloister, the gem not only of Aix but of the whole of Southern France. Although when the writer last visited it in 1916 it was seen under some disadvantage, as it was undergoing a much-needed restoration, it is no exaggeration to 235 The Romance Churches of France say that this cloister, while the smallest, is likewise the most beautiful of all the cloisters of Southern France, whether in Gascony or Provence. Its chief element of beauty lies in the fact that the arcading is of the same period as the capitals and columns—i.e. twelfth century, whereas in almost all other instances, notably at Moissac and St Bertrand de Comminges, the arcades are of a later period, or are merely rough stonework without any attempt at architectural style. Not only is this the case, but the decoration of the arcades is of the most delicate and beautiful kind, lightened with toothwork, elegant mouldings and patere in the spandrels, so as to completely avoid that “crushing” effect on the delicate capitals and columns produced by arches of unadorned masonry from which so many otherwise beautiful cloisters suffer. Another elegant feature is found in the ornamental bosses above the abacus of the capital, rounding off the junction of the adjoining arches. The motives of the capitals themselves are shockingly mutilated by time, neglect and, it must be feared, deliberate vandalism. Some, nevertheless, are easily recognis- able. We observe on one, for example, the mutilated outline of two cows, a basket of hay and a child in a cradle ; and from these primitive symbols we divine a representation of the Nativity. On another, two headless angels are watching over a sarcophagus, while on the adjoining face is a soldier in armour with closed eyes and bent head: clearly the Resurrection. On a third, we easily recognise the Adoration of the Magi; and with a little ingenuity it would, doubtless, 236 Provence be possible to puzzle out all those which represent Scriptural subjects. Not all of them do, by any means. As is always the case, Scriptural subjects alternate with purely decorative or floral motives and figures of mythical animals. The restoration of this unique production of the twelfth century seems to have been intelligently undertaken. No attempt has been made, nor it is hoped will be made, to resculpture the mutilated capitals. For the mere design of the capitals is a secondary attraction. The features which place it above all other cloisters, not even excepting that of St Trophime at Arles, are the completeness of its decoration and its homogeneity. For it is all the best work of the twelfth century, while, as we have seen, each side of the cloisters of St Trophime is of a different period, from the eleventh to the thirteenth century, one side even being debased Neo-Greek. The name of Mirabeau occurs so frequently in connection with Aix it is easy to fall into the error of supposing that he was born there. As a matter of fact, his connection with Aix began only in 1789, two years before the end of his riotous impecunious exist- ence, when he was appointed representative of the Third Estate to the States-General. He was, in fact, born near Paris, and spent the main part of his time in more northerly regions, in somewhat fruitless endeavours to outrun the constable: for he was constantly being imprisoned for debt. In the courtyard of the Hétel de Ville is a fine modern statue of him, imposing by its attitude : head thrown back and arm outstretched—truly the attitude 237 The Romance Churches of France of the thunderer, ‘“Mirabeau tonnant”—the white marble standing out in fine contrast against the sombre, weatherbeaten building. It is not generally known that the great Mirabeau had a brother who likewise in his day rendered some less noteworthy public service, but being addicted to the bottle was distinguished from his greater brother, ‘“ Mirabeau tonnant,” as ‘“ Mirabeau tonneau”; as we should say, Mirabeau the Tub-thumper and Mirabeau the Tub. Despite a life of escapades and excesses, culminating in the disgrace of taking money from Queen Marie Antoinette to pay his debts, this “Thunderer” deserves to be remembered as a great political genius, possessed of very clear ideas of the principles of constitutional government. His answer to the Marquis de Dreux-Brézé, who was sent by the King to dissolve the National Assembly, “We are here by the will of the people and shall only be driven hence by force of bayonets,” is still one of the dramatic episodes of the revolutionary period; and, if we may judge from the pose and expression, must have inspired the sculptor of this statue. Mirabeau was one of the “might have beens” of history. Had his character and integrity been above reproach it is conceivable that his undoubted political capacity might have directed the revolutionary torrent into calmer channels. Being what he was, the Revolution swept him remorselessly out of its course. He died, the victim of his excesses, at the early age of forty-two: the same age, by the way, as Gambetta, “the thunderer” of the Third Republic. Gambetta in his statue in the Tuileries Gardens strikes much the same attitude as 238 Provence our Mirabeau at Aix. But, alas, the frock-coat and trousers of the nineteenth century translated into stone produce a dismal effect compared with the knee-breeches and ruffled habit a la frangaise of the eighteenth. Puget, the sculptor, a famous citizen of Marseilles, left some fine work at Aix in the shape of doorways supported by Atlantes and Caryatides, upon which one stumbles unexpectedly in the narrow, tortuous streets. Many of the houses are really monuments in them- selves, and would be called palaces if they were found in an Italian town—Florence, for example—tall sym- metrical and imposing buildings as they are, in the style of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Leaving the town, you may now see again in the evening light the red soil, the olives, the peach-bloom and the cypresses, and you will marvel at this country, which is not French as the rest of France, while neither is it Italian. It is, as has been said, France getting more sociable as she reaches the frontier and preparing to assimilate herself to the country she is about to join. It is something very like Italy, yet not Italy. It is Provence, Latin France indeed, the France of King René, of the troubadours, of Mistral and of Daudet, smiling and stretching out her arms to her Italian sister. The troubadours indeed took a large share in the earlier Crusades, which, as we now know, were one of the most potent formative influences of Romance architecture. They represented a singularly refined culture in a barbarous age, and they must, above all others, have reacted with great sensitiveness to the 239 The Romance Churches of France culture and artistic beauty of the Byzantine Court. Guilhem IX., a famous troubadour, Count of Poitiers and Duke of Aquitaine, himself led an army of 300,000 men to the Crusade in 1101. They seem to have been severely mauled about, but supported their discom- fiture cheerfully and with song. Guilhem’s daughter, Eleanor of Guyenne, married Henry II. of England, a king we have often heard of in these pages, and it was at her Court that Bernard de Ventadour, the most famous poet of them all, became known. It is, perhaps, less well known that our swashbuckler King Richard Cceur de Lion was also a most distinguished troubadour, who wrote remarkable verse in both langue d’oil and langue d’oc; and his discovery in prison in Austria by his minstrel Blondel is founded on historical fact. Not always is it true, therefore, that ingenuas didicisse fideliter artes emollit mores, for he remained to his last day an insatiable and remorseless warrior. The troubadours remain as a marked illustration of a spontaneous growth of culture in Western France which responded with alacrity and discernment to the Oriental culture of Byzantium, and thus influenced most happily the trend of Occidental art and architecture. 240 Chapter xvii Of some Churches in the Devastated Area T was painful enough to learn of the wholesale I destruction of the homes of both poor and well- to-do by shot and shell in the devastated region of North-East France. Dwellings, however, can be reconstructed in the long run for all material purposes, although the sentimental associations of a homestead or an ancestral mansion cannot be revived at command. But the widespread destruction of historical monu- ments is specially distressful to those who have had the privilege of making those monuments the object of their particular and affectionate study. For such monuments as the twelfth-century churches, which it is the special object of this work to describe, as well as the splendid Gothic cathedrals, which came after them, once destroyed, can never be rebuilt. The spirit of our age cannot give the fervour of inspiration which is a vital element of their beauty, and the single- minded and thoroughly conscientious workmanship, which was uniformly displayed in their construction, is lacking in modern times. Not that the artistic skill of modern times is to be disparaged by this comparison ; but that peculiar combination of skill and faith which gave us those monuments has to-day been diverted into other artistic channels more consonant with the modern spirit. Q 241 The Romance Churches of France The period of impotent recrimination is long past; but let readers who have the opportunity climb up to the German gun emplacements on the heights north- east of Rheims and ask themselves whether it might not have been possible, comparatively speaking, to have spared the cathedral ; whether, even if the suggestion that the cathedral was used as an observation post had been true—which is stoutly denied by the French—this were excuse enough for the reckless bombardment of inanimate stone, with all the irreparable consequences, moral and material, which it entailed. It seems im- possible to believe that so prominent and outstanding a monument could not relatively have been spared. The mere word “devastation ” draws us at once and inevitably towards Rheims, although Rheims itself is beyond the immediate scope of this short study. Yet we should reflect that this magnificent temple, the effulgent crowning-place of kings, could never have existed had it not been preceded and led up to by the persevering and conscientious labours of those twelfth-century builders which we have endeavoured thus briefly to review. This glorious culmination of the evolution from Romance to Gothic deserves, therefore, more than a passing notice, even in a work dedicated entirely to the former, were it only for the recent vicissitudes it has suffered. Amongst the general destruction of the decorative portion of the fabric, one small but infinitely char- acteristic featlire has remained substantially unharmed —namely, the statue of the Virgin and Child on the trumeau of the Great Door. Standing out from the 242 FACADE RIMS RHE AFTER THE WAR (1920) WAR THE BEFORE 2 See page 24 RHEIMS; N. TRANSEPT BEFORE THE WAR AFTER THE WAR (1920) See page 243 Of some Churches in the Devastated Area innumerable representations of the Virgin in stone which are to be found in French churches, this figure holds a supreme place as a masterpiece of the fourteenth century. Here is the true girl-mother, smiling with a purely human smile at the Child in her arms, unconscious, apparently, of her Divine mission and bearing her crown, one would say, merely as the worthy ornament of sheer motherhood. In what sharp contrast does she stand to so many other figures of the Virgin which represent her a forbidding matron, and how characteristic she is of the artistic optimism of the century which produced her. Some of us may wish that the sculptor had spiritualised her features more; none could have possibly desired a more human exemplification of the Divine episode. It is hardly paradoxical to say that its very human- isation seems to give it a supernatural touch. Apart from this notable exception, the whole of the decorative scheme of the west front has been com- pletely shattered by fire and bombardment. The next most beautiful exterior feature, the door of the north transept, has also been badly damaged by shell splinters, as well as by the calcining of fire. On the trumeau of this portal will be seen a very beautiful statue of St Sixte, who is said to have been the first Archbishop of Rheims: but no ordinary encyclopadias or books of reference afford any information about him. The fact that he wears full pontifical robes is puzzling, and seems to cast still further doubt on his identity. St Rémi became Archbishop of Rheims, at the early age of twenty-two, in the reign of King Clovis. Clovis 243 The Romance Churches of France was the chieftain of the Sicambrians, a Germano- Frankish tribe, springing originally from the region between the Rhine and the Weser, which ultimately settled in the valleys of the Somme and the Oise. At the beginning of Rémi’s archiepiscopate Clovis was still a Pagan, although his wife was a Christian. Later he promised that if he was victorious over a foreign horde by whom he was being attacked he would ask the Archbishop to baptize him. He gained the victory in the battle of Tolbiac, and accordingly he presented himself at the font for baptism. At that moment St Rémi perceived that he had no Holy Chrism wherewith to anoint the King. ¢ But the holy bishop raising his eyes toward heaven prayed secretly and in tears. And behold suddenly a dove as white as snow appeared carrying in its bill an ampulla full of Holy Chrism sent from heaven ; whose perfume was so admirable and whose sweetness was so ineffable that no one of those pre- sent had ever smelt the like. The bishop took this ampulla, and after he had sprinkled some of the Holy Chrism upon the baptismal water the dove vanished. “ The King, moved by so great a miracle and full of joy, renounced at once the pomps and works of the devil, and demanded baptism of the Archbishop. When he had entered the font of eternal life the Archbishop said to him: Mitis depone colla, Sicamber arvogans ; adora quod incendisti, incende quod adorasti” (““ Baisse la téle humblement, fier Sicambre ; adorvez ce que tu a brulé, briles ce que tu as adoré”=‘ Bow thy 244 RHEIMS : ST. REMI NOW COMPLETELY DESTROYED See page 246 RHEIMS TOWER OF TRACY LE VAL VIRGIN ON GREAT DOOR NOW COMPLETELY DESTROYED See page 243 See page 246 Of some Churches in the Devastated Area head humbly, proud Sicamber ; adore what thou hast burnt, burn what thou hast adored”). : Thus the Archbishop was enabled to anoint the King according to the appointed rite. This is the legend of the Holy Ampulla (or phial) which was preserved in the cathedral of Rheims, and from which the Kings of France were invariably anointed, so long as French kings were crowned there. It is said to have been broken at the time of the great Revolution, but sufficient fragments of it were preserved for use at the coronation of Charles X., the last kingly coronation which took place at Rheims. It will be noticed that the war has completely de- stroyed the canopy over the statue of St Sixte, and that the tympanum above has been severely battered about and calcined. The curious statue of St Nicaise, the second on the spectator’s left, does not seem to have suffered. He is carrying his head in his hand, as so many saints who were decapitated are repre- sented as doing, and angels hover round his shoulders. This manner of representing decapitated martyrs gave rise to the legend, notably in the case of St Denis, that he picked up his head immediately after execution and walked away with it. This legend is embodied in a highly dramatic picture by Bonnat, now at the Pantheon. There is still hope that, despite these ravages, the cathedral of Rheims may be approximately restored to its former beauty. It is impossible, alas! to look forward to any such 245 The Romance Churches of France restoration at the Church of St Rémi, one of the greatest churches of the twelfth century, which, although farther away from the German guns, is practically a complete ruin. When it was intact the severity of its Romance arcading was broken in two very happy ways: first by the famous tapestries, representing episodes in the life of St Rémi, which were hung at intervals round the church; and also by a handsome Renaissance screen connecting the columns of the sanctuary, and softening their solemn rotundity. The tapestries were fortunately removed at the outbreak of war, and have been preserved. The screen has, of course, been involved in the common destruction. The destruction of beautiful churches in the war area has been widespread, as can be imagined, although not all of it may affect us as harrowingly as the ruins of the cathedral of Rheims. There was, before the war, at Tracy-le-Val a little gem of a twelfth-century church, not much bigger, say, than the Savoy Chapel Royal in London, perfect in style and most delicately decorated outside with corbel figures and ribbon tracery. Tracy-le-Val lies near Ribécourt, a few miles beyond Compiégne. It was between the lines during the whole of the trench- war period, was the scene of frequent and severe fighting and suffered accordingly. On the whole, the spectacle of the small rubble-heaps, which are all that remain of Tracy and other churches which were formerly the objects of our admiration, is less dis- tressing than the sight of a great church which has partially resisted the hurricane of war; for in the 246 Of some Churches in the Devastated Area former case the monument lives wholly in our recollection, like the loved memory of a dead friend ; whereas in the latter we continue to make hopeless and despairing efforts to restore its original perfection. The ruin of the little church of Souain has been selected for remembrance, not because it ever possessed any remarkable architectural features, but because it illustrates a phenomenon which was quite common in the war area just after the Armistice—the spectacle of a village or town where the remains of the church can only be recognised because they form a rather larger heap of rubble than the remains of the houses and cottages. This was noticeably so at Lens, and other places along the front, though in villages such as Givenchy, for example, where the fighting was particularly furious and continuous, the church has been completely razed, and its place taken later on, there, as elsewhere, by a war monument. On the whole, however, Romance architecture has suffered comparatively little by the devastation of North-East France ; for, numerous as are the Romance churches of France—there are eighty-one churches or ruins of churches of twelfth-century origin in the department of the Oise alone—it is not in this region that we find either the most beautiful or the most characteristic specimens of twelfth-century architecture. It is consequently a source of permanent consolation, for this as for many more vital reasons, that the tide of invasion was stemmed where it was, and that the beautiful churches which form the most distinctive 247 The Romance Churches of France examples of the different schools of which the description has been briefly attempted in this work have been spared the inevitable results of a wider devastation. From this point of view, then, France is, to all intents and purposes, materially, as well as spiritually, intact. It is still possible for the humblest traveller to trace the inspiration of the twelfth-century builders back to the Roman basilica and sarcophagi, to the ivory caskets, jewelled ornaments and tapestries of Byzantium, and even to the decoration of the ancient temples of Nineveh and Ctesiphon, through the channels into which it has been the endeavour of the author to direct him. The author will have ample reason to congratulate himself if he has succeeded in inspiring his readers with some understanding of that profoundly formative influence of the century described —as exemplified in its religious architecture—upon the development of the country as a whole, and the deep and permanent impress of sincerity which it has inculcated in the expression of all French art. It cannot be expected that the casual traveller will be able to absorb, in the course of a short visit, that extensive knowledge which the author has only imperfectly acquired through long residence in the country, frequent wanderings through it, and pro- tracted study. But he is not without hope that even to the passing tourist this work may prove to be of some value, in opening up for him, with ease and not without profit, at least a few of those pleasant vistas which lie in profusion before all those who approach 248 TRACY LE VAL: RUINS (1920) See page 246 SOUAIN : RUINS (1920) See page 247 Of some Churches in the Devastated Area conscientiously and with due reverence the study of those marvels of architecture with which the sove- reigns, the ecclesiastics and the craftsmen of the twelfth century have so generously endowed Western Europe. Appendix i Photographic Notes photographs accompanying this book are somewhat above the average of amateur productions of the kind. If this claim is recognised it may be appropriate that I should afford such of my readers as are addicted to this interesting hobby an opportunity of benefiting to some extent by a photographic experience extending over thirty-five years or more. In the early days, after a brief apprenticeship with a “bullseye” kodak, I frequently carried an old- fashioned English full - plate camera on my bicycle, followed by a French 13x 18 cm. with a more modern lens. Neither of these forms of handicap can be recommended to anyone on the shady side of forty, or even thirty. Very soon, therefore, I cut down my photographic kit to “weight for age” dimensions and adopted the French gx 12 cm. size, with the most up- to-date lens, in a leather case, carried knapsack-fashion by means of a device familiar to alpinists. Indeed, so little then did I feel the weight that this particular camera has been carried to the top of Monte Rosa and other Swiss peaks without undue fatigue. The 9x 12 size is quite sufficient for all ordinary purposes, as the perfection of the lens permits of very considerable enlargement without any loss in sharp- ness. If artistic photography is aimed at it is essential that the tyro consent to submit himself to a brief elementary, but systematic, study of perspective and 250 I T may perhaps be claimed without vanity that the Appendix i artistic composition. Such artistic merit as my photo- graphs possess I attribute to my studies of these subjects. They are quite necessary for the purpose of producing a harmonious view of a church interior, of which I claim to have made somewhat of a specialty, and even for snapshots out of doors they enable the operator to acquire that artistic habit of recognising, in a flash, the combination which will make a picture. This, indeed, in the case of a photographer must be seen—and taken—in a flash. The photographer has not like the artist the leisure to sit down and com- pose his plans deliberately. This flair for the muse en plaque, as the French call it, after a short study of composition and a little experience, becomes intuitive, and the results amply repay the preliminary labour. I have in my collection a snapshot taken, in a village in the Puy de Do6me, quite casually, when strolling with a friend and otherwise absorbed in conversation, which is one of the best compositions I possess. I have enlarged it in the form of an oil-print; it has thus much of the rich velvety texture of a mezzotint, but it is the composition, not the medium, which has the greater charm. To return to the subject of ecclesiastical architecture. I very soon realised, as do all photographers who are also artists, how excellently photography renders all stonework, and I devoted myself to the photography of the churches, of which I had gradually hunted down such numbers, both inside and outside, with the keenest enjoyment, and with steady progress in the results achieved. There are few more difficult subjects in photography than the interiors of churches, particularly of Romance churches, which are much darker as a rule than Gothic churches, with their larger windows. [I shall not 251 The Romance Churches of France attempt to suggest anything as to length of exposure, for that varies so extraordinarily from one church to another, and even in the same church at different times of day, and according to the variations of the light outside and the speed of plate, that experts themselves are frequently baffled. All I will say under this head is, that in the average Romance church it is almost impossible, at any time of day, and in any light, to over-expose. As regards apparatus : since the dawn of the motor era, now that weight is no longer any particular draw- back, I have taken to a reflex camera. But I should like to point out that a reflex camera has several very marked drawbacks for the photographing of church interiors. In the first place, it is a heavy camera for a stand, unless the stand is exceptionally strong and steady. And for this class of photography it is essential to be able to resort to stand work. One cannot always be propping the camera on the edge of chairs, or pews, or harmoniums. It is difficult to get it plumb-level, as is essential in architectural photography. And besides, this makeshift device restricts one’s choice of position in a way which may often detrimentally affect the composition. Further- more the reflex system is of no particular advantage inside a dark church. In other words, there is no advantage in being able to see the whole of your image the same size as the plate when you can see no image at all—except the outline of a window or of a lighted taper—till you have kept your head under the focussing cloth for a full ten minutes, an expedient both tiresome and unnecessary. The camera which has brought me most success in photographing the interiors of churches is a French gx 12 “Spido,” the particular advantage of which is that it has a finder of quite a 252 Appendix i respectable size, with a collimator which moves hori- zontally or vertically in conjunction with the lens board; so that, by composing your picture on the finder by means of one or other, or both, of these movements, you know that you are getting exactly the same composition on the plate. Few churches are so dark as to preclude you from composing your picture on the finder and so getting the same picture on the plate. It is better even then, however, to check the picture, as far as you can, on the ground glass with a stand, chiefly in order to be sure of your focus. You will rarely need to take a church interior which has not some portion of a window in it, in which case you should focus at full opening on the window and then stop down liberally so as to be sure of getting your foreground—which you almost certainly cannot see —in proper focus. Of course if there should happen to be a lighted taper in the foreground it will suffice to focus on that. If these simple rules are adhered to, and if some few preliminary experiments on length of exposure are made, the beginner will very soon find his difficulties gradually disappearing and become pleasur- ably able to produce clear, luminous and interesting negatives of church interiors, although at first he may find himself groping for the result like a half-blind man. And the results which are capable of being attained are easily worth these preliminary efforts. In conclusion, a golden rule for photographicamateurs who are aiming at artistic results inside or outside churches, landscape in particular, is to compose most carefully their foreground. ¢ Take care of your fore- ground and the rest will take care of itself” is an almost universally applicable rule, the truth of which they may well accept from a practical amateur who has succeeded, by a strict application of it, in producing 253 The Romance Churches of France very tolerable pictures of such an apparently confused subject as the Roman Forum. As regards permission to photograph church interiors, I can only recall throughout all my travels two occasions when I experienced any difficulty: once, many years ago, when I was forbidden to photograph inside the cathedral of Amiens without a permit from the Minister of Fine Arts—which it was impossible, of course, to obtain on the spot; and once when I was forbidden altogether to photograph the crypt of St Eutrope, at Saintes. Naturally one would never attempt to take photographs when religious observances are in progress. At other times, it may be well to enlist the friendly co-operation of a verger, if there is one about, by means of a small gratuity. He will almost always be interested and helpful, especially when it is desired to photograph from some unusual position. But in the large majority of cases I have been allowed to take my views quite undisturbed and without any such preliminary. 254 Appendix ii Bibliography André Michel: Histoire de I Art. Anthyme St Paul: Histoire Monumentale de la France. Baum, Jules (Hachette et Cie): L’ Architecture Romane en France. Bumpus: The Cathedrals and Churches of North Italy. Choisy : Histoire de I’ Architecture. Dalton : Byzantine Art and Archeology. Ferguson: Handbook of Architecture. Foret: Voyage aux Pays des Sculpteurs Romans. Jackson, Sir T. G.: Byzantine and Romanesque Architecture. Lasteyrie, de: Architecture Religieuse en France a I’ Epoque Romane. Leader Scott: Cathedral Builders. Michelet : Histoire de France. Rosengarten : Architectural Styles. Also the following collections published by Laurens: Les Villes d’ Art Célébres. Petites Monographies des Grands Edifices de France. 255 Index ABADIE, his bad restoration of Angouléme, 189 Abbaye-aux-Dames, Caen, 36 Abbaye-aux-Hommes, Caen, 39 African migration, 67 Agnese, Sta, Rome, 105, 234 Aignan, St, Orleans, 76 Aix-en-Provence, 230 — cathedral at, 233 — — ** Aytel en Pierre” in, 234 — — baptistery in, 134 — — cloister at, 235 Aix-la-Chapelle, 27, 65, 76, 98, 106 Alexius Comnenus, 21, 80 Amiens, 254 Ampulla, the, of Rheims, 245 André Michel, on * Comacine ”’ masters, 211 — on Moissac, 114 — on Nohant-Vic frescoes, 202 — on sculpture at Autun, 135 — on sculpture of Elne, 152 — on technique of frescoes of St Savin, 92 Angouléme, 43, 53, 189 Anthyme St Paul, 28 Apollinare, St,in Classe, Ravenna, 74 Apollinare Nuovo, St, Ravenna, 74 Aquitaine, 23 Arab influences, 70 Ardashir I. (Artaxerxes), 63 Avréte vaulting, 58 Arles, 68, 220 — St Trophime at, 54, 109, 118 — description, 221, 225 Armenia, 64, 66, 68 Armenian migration, 66, 68 Asia Minor, 64, 66, 67, 68 Augustine, St, hostile to painted walls, 87 Autun, 56, 133 Auvergnat school, 43, 56 — characteristics of, 59 Avallon, 29, 106, 109, 130, 131 Avignon, 54 Avit, St, 76 BAGHDAD, 62, 68, 72, 83 Baptistery of St Jean Poitiers, 94, 185 Barnabé, St, 136 Barrel-vault, 32, 40, 53, 56 Basilica, Roman prototype, 31, 78 Basilica of Constantine, 31, 53 Basse (Euvre, Beauvais, 77 Bayeux, 72, 213 Bayeux, Sassanian spandrels, 69, 214 Bayeux Tapestry, 69 Beaulieu, Corréze, 108 — description of portal, 115 Becket, 25, 43, 175 Benedictines, 55 Benoit-sur-Loire, St, crypt, 66, 76, 173 — Corinthian designs, 103 — narthex, open, 56 Berceau, 32, 34, 56 Bernard, St, contemporary of Suger, 25 — inveighs against church decora- tion, 87, 89, 102, 159 — lays down Templars’ rule, 80 — preaches Second Crusade, 24, 129 Bernard de Gouth, afterwards Clement V., 143 . Bernard Palissy, 194 Bertrand de Comminges, St, 143, 146, 163 — basket-work, 103 — cloister, 142 Bestiaiyes, 101 Béziers, fortified church at, 206 Bibliography (App. ii.), 255 ‘“ Bracket *’ pendentive, 50 Bradford-on-Avon, 77 Brantbéme, 103, 167 ““ Brick moulding ”’ capitals, 100 Brioude, 45, 56 Brittany, 42, 216 Burgundian school, 54 — boldness of, 34, 37 — characteristics of, 60 R 257 Index Burgundy, 29, 54 Byzantine architecture, 78 — dome formation, 58 — migration current, 41, 66, 69 — ornaments, 41 Byzantium, 67, 68 — distinct character, 73 — transference of capital to, 62 CAEN, St Etienne, or Abbaye-aux- Hommes, 35, 36, 39, 40, 208 — LaTrinité, or Abbaye-aux-Dames, 35, 36, 39, 40, 204, 207 Cahors, Lot, 108, 116 Carennac, Lot, 116 Carolingian architecture, 27, 65, 173 — earliest Occidental style, 76, 78 Chancelade, 54 Chapelle Ste Croix, Montmajour, 229 Chapelle St Gabriel, 229 Charlemagne, 18, — architectural period of, 62 — borrows columns from Ravenna, 27, 65 — first to develop Western school, 65 — reliquary at Conques, 111 — uses Comacines, 106 Charlieu, 117 Charroux, Templars’ church, 83 Chauvigny, 43, 95. 120, 188, 196 Choisy, 38, 41, 43, 51, 60, 66, 75, 213 Church of Holy Apostles, stantinople, 52 Cistercians, 57, 80 Citeaux, 57 Civray, 43, 178, 192 Clair, St, Templars’ chapel, 83, 172 Clairvaux, 57 Clement V., first Avignon Pope, 82, Con- 143 — dissolves Templars, 82 Clemente, San, Rome, 74, 105 — mosaics at, 89 Clermont Ferrand, Notre Dame du Port, 44, 104, 108 — description of portal, 110 Clotaire, and bells of Sens, 216 Clovis, coronation of, 244 Cluny, 37, 42, 55 — relics of, 57 Coligny, 188 ““ Colonies,” 36 ““ Comacine masters,” 103, 104, 211 Communes, foundation of, 22 Conques, 46, 47, 108, 163 — description of portals, 111 Constantine the Great, 42 — architecture of, 62 — equestrian figure of, 94 — period of, 73 — reverence for his mother, 148 Constantinople, 41, 50, 66 — Holy Apostles at, 52, 74 — riches of, 79 — St Sophia at, 52 Cordova mosque, 49, 182 Corinth, 67 Corsica, Lombard school predomi- nates in, 54 Costanza, Sta, 234 Croix Ste, IY 83 Cruas, Ardéche, 100, 106 Crusades, 20, 41, 78, 79, 80, 83 — First Crusade, 19, 20, 21, 23, 41, 63, 78, 79, 80, 156, 207 — Second Crusade, 24 Ctesiphon, 65, 72, 83 Cushion capital, 103, 104 Cyprien, St, 93, 199 DENIS, St, 22, 23, 26 Dinan, St Sauveur, 219 Dome construction, 48, 49 Du Guesclin, 174, 206 Durand, Abbot of Moissac, 157 Durham, 35, 170, 207 Eglise supérieure, Tournus, 57, 140 Eleanor of Aquitaine, 23, 24 Elne, 142, 147 — description of capitals, 151 Ely, 40 Enfeux, 47 Entrelacs, 214 Ephesus, 67 Etienne, St, Caen, 35, 36, 39, 40, 208, 209 Etienne, St, Nevers, 47 Etienne, St, Périgueux, 53, 78 Eugenius III, Pope, 24 Exeter, 44 F1sH-BLADDER, symbolic meaning of, 109 ‘ Fish-scale ”’ work, 41, 177 258 Index Flying buttress, reputed origin of, 58, 59 Foix, Ariége, 152 Fontevrault, 53 Foy, Ste, 111 Front, St, Périgueux, 51, 52, 53, 75, 184, 190 GABRIEL, Chapelle St, 54, 98, 109, 229 Gandulf, 205 Gargilesse, 201 Gaudens, St, 107, 163 — ““ Adam and Eve ” capital at, 101, 197 Genoa, 67 George Sand, 201 Georges de Boscherville, St, 40 Gerard of Roussillon, 129 Germain d’Auxerre, St, 77 Germigny-les-Prés, 47, 65 — rare Carolingian survival, 76 Gilles, St, Gard, 54, 109, 118, 222 — description, 99 — statuary of, 223 Glastonbury, 25, 29, 106 Godefroy de Bouillon, 79 Gothic architecture, 27, 35, 37, 66, 214 — characteristics of, 58, 241 Granson ‘‘ Colony ”’ from Auvergne, 4 Greek art on decline, 64 Greek trickery with Crusaders, 79 Gregory the Great condemns icono- clasts, 71, 89 “ Groin ”’ vaulting, so-called, 58 HAUSSMANN, 189 Helena, St, mother of Constantine, 148 Henry I1., 23. 24, 29, 43, 175, 186, 195 Hilaire, St, Poitiers, 34, 181 Holy Apostles, Church of, Con- stantinople, 74 Hugh of Avallon, St, 25, 28, 29, 55 ICcONOCLASTIC controversy, 70 Iconoclasts, 70 — defeated by St Theodora, 86 — prevail after Justinian, 75 Ile de France, 22, 23 Innocent IIL, 55, 128 Iranians, 63 Ireland, 61 Issoire, 44, 56, 96 — “Last Supper ” capital at, 45 — painting over sculpture at, 95 Jackson, Sir Thomas, 169, 212 Jean, St, Baptistery of, Poitiers, 04 John’s, St, Chapel, Tower of London, 28, 46 Jouarre, 77 Joseph’s, St, Chapel, Glastonbury, 28, 106 Jumiéges, 36, 39, 40, 184, 211 Justinian, 73 ~_ his propensity for church build- ng, 74 : — warring with Sassanids, 75 KnicuTs TEMPLARS, account of, 8o Kriesker, spire of, 198, 217 LLANFRANC, 205, 210 Lanleff, 218 Laon, 83 Lasteyrie, de, on Bayeux ornaments, 13 — on “ Comacines,” 211 — on La Trinité, 204 — on Norman transepts, 206 “ Last Supper ” capital, Issoire, 45 Lazare, St, Avallon, 130 Lazarus, translation of remains, 135 Lichfield, 47 Liget, le, Indre et Loire, 95, 203 Lizier de Couserans, St, 142, 153 Loches, 53 Loctudy, a Templars’ church, 83, 217 Lombard school, 54, 140, 212 Louis VI., 23 Louis VII. 23, 128 — grant of Temple, 81 Loup Hors, St, Bayeux, 204, 215 Luchon, 143 7 ‘““ MANDORLA,”’ 110 Mans, Le, 39 Marcello, St, Capua, 122 Maria in Cosmedin, Sta, Rome, 105 Marie Alacoque, Ste, 140 Mark, St, Venice, 45, 51, 52, 68,73, 74 — decoration, 97 — mosaics, 89 259 Index Marseilles, 41, 54, 67 Martin d’Ainay, St, Lyons, 100 Martin, St, Tours, 47 Matilda, wife of Conqueror, 39, 205 — buried in La Trinité, 207 Matilda Tapestry, 69 Maxentius, defeat of, by Constantine, 62 Médard, St, French St Swithin, 136 Melle, 43, 191 Merovingian architecture, 27, 78 — temple of St Jean, 94 Mesopotamia, 64 Michel d’Entraigues, St, 83 Michele, St, Pavia, 106, 122 Michelet, 17, 18, 22 ‘“ Migration currents,” 66 Mirabeau, 237 Moissac, 53, 106, 155, 156 — cloister, 142 — description of capitals, 160 — description of portal, 113 Molay, Grand Master of Templars, 186 Monkwearmouth, 77 Monreale, 70, 205 Mont Beuvray, ancient Bibracte, 133 Montier en Der, 77 Montierneuf, Poitiers, 43, 175, 181, 184 Montmajour, 54, 83, 228 Montmajour, Chapelle Ste Croix, 229 Montmorillon, Vienne, 95, 203 Montoire, 95, 203 Morienval, 103 Mosaics employed by Byzantines, 89 — fragment of, at Germigny, 46 Mosque of Cordova, 49 NARTHEX, description of, 56 Nectaire, St, 45 Nestorian heresy, 71 Neuvy St Sépulcre, 83 Nicaise, St, 245 Nohant-Vic, 202 Norman architecture, 27, 29, 35, 36, 39, 57 — characteristics of, 59 — gabled roof, 36 Norman Conquest, 27, 29, 62, 212 - Northmen, raids of, 68, 69, 70 Norwich, 40 Notre Dame du Port, Clermont Ferrand, 44, 104, 108 — description of portal at, 110 Notre Dame la Grande, Poitiers, 41, 42, 43, 95, 96 — compared with Angouléme, 191 ORANGE, cathedral of, 53 Orcival, 45, 46; 217 Orleans, 22 PAINTING of Romance churches, 45, 5 Palais, St, Cher, 100 Palestine, 63, 69 Paray-le-Monial, double-storeyed narthex, 57 — inconspicuous exterior, 131 — lofty nave, 56, 122, 139, 168 Paul du Mausolée, St, 229 Paul Trois Chateaux, St, 53 Pendentives, 50 — ““squinch,” 50, 61 Pépin, 43, 195 Périgord, 41, 48, 167 Périgourdin school, 57 — characteristics of, 60 Perros-Guirec, 218 Persia, 61, 65, 67 — influences of, 72 Peter, St, Cluny, 55 Peter the Hermit, 20 Peterborough, 40 Philadelphia, 67 Philibert, St, 136, 141 Philip IV. (Le Bel), his spoliation of Templars, 82, 144, 186 — honours St Eutrope, 194 Philip Augustus, 129 Photographic notes (App. i.), 250 ““ Pine-cone ’ work, 177 Poitevin school, 40 — characteristics of, 59 Poitiers, 175 — cathedral built by Henry II., 43 — compared with Angouléme, 191 — Montierneuf, 43, 175, 184 —- Notre Dame la Grande, 41, 42, 43, 95, 96, 175 — St Hilaire, 95, 175 — Ste Radegonde, painted choir of, 90, 175 — Temple St Jean, frescoes, 94, 185 Poitou, 23 260 Index Pol de Léon, St, 198, 217 Prentout, Prof., on architect of La Trinité, 205 Prosper Mérimée, his monograph on St Savin, 92, 198 Provencal school, characteristics of, of, 60 Provence, 53, 68, 220 Psychomachia, 102, 218 Puritans, iconoclasm of, 71 Puget, sculptures at Aix, 239 “ Puy,” meaning of, 167 Puy, Le, cathedral, 165 — Chapelle St Michel, 167 — Rocher de Corneille, 167, 171, 173 — Rocher de I’Aiguilhe, 167,171, 172 — ““ Squinch ”’ pendentives, 50 Pyrenees, 42 — cloisters, 53, 142 QUIMPERLE, Ste Croix, 218 RADEGONDE, Ste, Poitiers, painted choir in, go, 179 Ravenna, 27, 68 — decoration, 97 — mosaics, 89 — St Apollinare Nuovo, 74 — St Apollinare in Classe, 74 — St Vitale at, 65, 74, 76 — tomb of Theodoric, 69 Raymond of Toulouse, 79 Reculver, 77 Rémi, St, 244 — Church of, at Rheims, 77, 246 René of Provence, 232 Rheims Cathedral, 102, 242 Rib-vaulting, description of, 58 Richard Ceeur de Lion, 129, 240 Rochefort-Montagne, 46 Rochelle, La, 67 Rochester Cathedral, 40 — built by Gandulf, 206 Roman art, 64 ‘“ Romance ~’ architecture, why so called, 28, 37 — school of, 30, 38 Romance portal, evolution of, 108 ‘“ Romanesque,” 28 Rome, San Clemente, 74 — St Peter’s, 55 Ruffec, 178 SABINA, Sta, Rome, 31 “ Sainte Ampoule,” 245 Sainte Croix, Quimperlé, 218 Saintes, 193 — St Eutrope, 43, 169, 193 Saintonge, 41 Santiago de Compostella, 129 — colony from Auvergne, 46 Saracens, 78 — influence of, 70 Sarcophagi, models for Romance sculpture, 221, 230 Sardis, 67 Sassanian Dynasty, 62, 64, 65 — zenith of, 63, 66, 75 Saulieu, inconspicuous exterior, 50, 131 — decorated capitals, 102 Sauveur, St, Dinan, 219 Savin, St, 34, 40, 43, 45, 93, 198 — description of frescoes, 90, 91 — *“ Vierge Portiére,” 200 Scandinavia, 61 Semur-en-Auxois, 117, 132 Semur-en-Brionnais, 117 Senlis, traces of painting, 95 — description of portal, 117 Serbistan, 65, 72 Sergius, St, Constantinople, 73 Sernin, St, Toulouse, 46, 155, 163 — — spire landmark, 199 Sever, St, Landes, 103 “ Sexpartite ”’ vaulting, 206 Shapur II., Sassanid Emperor, 64 Sicily, 71 Sistine Chapel, 91 Sixte, St, first Bishop of Rheims, 243, 245 Soissons, 22 Solignac, Haute Vienne, 53 — Haute Loire, 168 Sophia, St, Constantinople, 52, 67, 73:74 — decoration of, 97 Souain, 247 Souillac, 116 Spherical-triangle pendentive, 50 ‘“ Squinch ”’ pendentive, 50, 61 Stanton-Lacy, 77 Structural origin of churches, 30 Suger, Abbot of St Denis, 24, 178 — contemporary of St Bernard, 25, Romance 26 — defends beautifying of churches, 89 261 Index Suger initiated foundation of Com- munes, 23 Surgeéres, 178 Syrian migration current, 67, 69 TALLEYRAND, Bishop of Autun, 138 Tarascon, Chapelle St Gabriel, 54, 229 Tarasque, 234 Templars, history of, 80, 144 — influence of, 83 Temple, the, 81 Theodora, St, her opposition to iconoclasm, 86 Theodoric, tomb of, at Ravenna, 69 Toulouse, St Sernin, 155, 163 Tournus, 139 — brick moulding, 100 — closed narthex, 56 — église supérieure, 57, 140 — transverse barrel-vaulting, 72, 140 Tracy-le-Val, 246 Translation of remains of saints, 136 Trinité, La, Caen, 35, 39, 40, 207 Trophime, St, Arles, 54, 22 Troubadours, 239 . ‘“ Tunnel ”’ vault, 32 URBAN II, Pope, consecrates abbey of Cluny, 55 — consecrates St Sernin, 155 VAISON, 53, 54, 229 Valcabrére, Haute Garonne, 118, 143 ; Venice, 41, 50, 52, 67 Vercingetorix, 133 “Vesica,”” meaning of, 120, 166, 168 Vézelay, description of, 121, 125 — narthex, 56, 121 — restoration of, 189 Vienne, Isére, 54 ““ Vierge Portiére,” St Savin, 200 Vieux Parthenay, 43 Vignory, 36, 77 Viollet-le-Duc, 47 — compared with Abadie, 189 — his opinion of Conques, 112 — his restoration of Vézelay, 189 Visigoths, 148 Vitale, St, Ravenna, 65, 74, 76 103, WiLLIAM of St Bénigne, his influence in Normandy, 212 William the Conqueror, 39, 205, 208 Winchester, 40 Witham, 29 Worcester, 44 ZOROASTRIANISM, 63, 64 262 " RETURN CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT TOm=sp 202 Main Library LOAN PERIOD 1 |2 3 HOME USE 4 5 6 ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS 7. ( 4m Renewals and Recharges may be made 4 days prior to the due date. Books may be Renewed by calling 642-3405 DUE AS STAMPED BELOW AUTO DISC CIRC lrg 13°93 3'93 JUN 0 7 1994 AUTO DISCCIRC| May 12C 1) 21-05 FEB 03 2003 ———A13-2003 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY FORM NO. DDé BERKELEY, CA 94720 24 C03201k998 This volume preserved with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities, 1990.