How to Study Architecture by Charles H. Caffin (reading the story of the .TXT) 📖

In certain instances as that of S. Clemente, in Rome, the accommodation for the choir projected from the bema into the nave. It was enclosed with low screen walls called Cancelli (whence was derived the word chancel); the side walls projecting to afford space for two reading desks, or ambones; respectively, the Gospel ambo and the Epistle ambo.

Treatment of Columns.—There were two ways of treating the columns. In the earlier type of churches, the aisles were spanned by arches, while those of the nave supported an entablature. But this necessitated a narrow intercolumniation, considerably obstructing the view. Accordingly, the practice ensued of placing the columns further apart and surmounting them with arches. The first example of this use of arcades in a nave is believed to occur in the northern gallery of the Palace of Diocletian in Spalato, Dalmatia. Both methods continued to be employed and were sometimes combined in the same building. Over the entablature or arches, as the case might be, was a high stretch of wall, rising above the level of the aisle roof, pierced with a row of clerestory windows. The nave and aisles terminated in arches, that of the former, the principal entrance to the sanctuary, being called the Arch of Triumph. The roofs were of timber; that of the nave rising to a ridge and finishing at each end in a gable, while a slope from below the clerestory covered the side aisles. The construction work of the roofs was usually hidden in the interior by flat ceilings, beamed and coffered.

The decoration of the interior included the use of antique columns, which were sometimes adapted to their new place by cutting down or removing the bases. The walls above the nave arcading or entablature were adorned with mosaics, which also embellished the space above the Arch of Triumph and the semi-dome of the apse. The floors were covered with geometric patterns of marble sliced from columns and other antique fragments.

The principal examples of basilican churches, still existing in Rome, are St. Paul-without-the-walls, S. Clemente and S. Maria Maggiore. The first named is of modern construction, completed in 1854, but preserves the plan and dimensions of the older church which was destroyed by fire in 1823. It had been begun in 380 by Theodosius, on a plan closely following that of the old St. Peter’s, except that the transepts of the bema project less and the atrium was abandoned, leaving only the narthex. Its construction and embellishment were continued by other emperors and by many popes, the munificence of the latter being commemorated in a series of portrait medallions of the popes which extends in a band above the arcade-arches on each side of the nave. The wall space above them is veneered with rare marbles, enclosing panels filled with paintings representing incidents in the life of St. Paul. Amid the somewhat extreme sumptuousness of the interior a feeling of the older character of a basilican church is preserved in the mosaics of the fifth century which adorn the arch of triumph, and in those of the apse which date from the early part of the thirteenth century.

S. Maria Maggiore presents an original basilican plan of nave and single aisles, from each of which during the Renaissance was built out a square side chapel, surmounted by domes, giving the plan the form of a cross. But the interior of the nave dates from the time of Sixtus III in the fourth century and shows on each side a series of Ionic columns, supporting an entablature. Above this, as also over the arch of triumph, are mosaics of the fifth century.

The Church of S. Clemente is notable for the retention of the atrium and also for the termination of the aisles in apses, a feature which suggests Byzantine influence.

Circular and Polygonal Plans.—In addition to the basilican buildings of this period were some which involved a circular or polygonal plan, suggested probably by the circular temples and tombs of the Romans. They were applied in the early Christian era both to tombs, which in some cases were afterward converted into churches, and to baptistries. The latter were independent buildings, so called from their use at first solely for the sacrament of baptism. In later times, however, it became the custom to place the font inside the church; yet as late as the eleventh century was erected the famous Baptistry of Florence, in which even to this day every child born within the city is baptised.

The examples in Rome of circular or polygonal buildings are the Baptistry which forms part of the group of buildings of S. John Lateran, the Tomb of S. Constanza, the daughter of Constantine, which was converted into a church in 1256, and the church of S. Stefano Rotondo.

The general character of the Roman tomb was a circular mass, superimposed on a square podium. The cylindrical mass was sometimes decorated with pilasters, supporting an entablature, and occasionally was surrounded by a peristyle, while its roof was apt to be conical.

In early Christian architecture this principle of construction was developed. The peristyle was enclosed by outer walls, and the lower part of the walls of the cylindrical mass was replaced by columns. Thus, in the Baptistry of S. John, which has been called the Baptistry of Constantine, the conical roof is supported by a circle of eight columns, in two stories.

The Tomb of S. Constanza has a dome which is supported on twelve pairs of granite columns, while the wall of the circular aisle is inset with sixteen recesses, alternately apsidal and rectangular in shape, one of the latter being opened through to form the entrance. The sarcophagus of the saint which formerly occupied one of the niches, is now in the Vatican Museum. Its sides are carved with genii gathering grapes—a motive which is also represented in the mosaics that adorn the vaulting of the church’s circular aisle.

S. Stefano Rotondo, though much reduced from its original size, is said to be still the largest circular church in existence. The wall of the cylinder, surmounted by a wooden conical roof, is supported on a circular entablature, carried by antique columns. It was surrounded, when built by Simplicius in the fifth century, by double circular aisles, covered by a sloping roof. The latter was supported by columns and arches, while the external wall was decorated with pilasters. Traces of these are still apparent; otherwise the outer aisle has disappeared and the present exterior represents the walling up of the spaces between the columns. This was done by Nicholas V in the fifteenth century, by which time the edifice, once richly decorated with marble veneers and mosaics, had fallen into decay. Its lateral walls are now covered with horribly naturalistic scenes of martyrdom, executed at the end of the seventeenth century.

Syrian Examples.—Syria has disclosed to explorers—of whom the late Marquis of Vogüé and Dr. H. C. Butler of the American Archæological Expedition have been the foremost—a number of interesting monuments, both civic and religious, erected between the third and eighth centuries. While details of moulding and ornament appear to have been copied from those of Roman remains, the methods of construction were worked out by the builders themselves. They seem to have retained the Phœnician preference for using the largest stones that could be quarried, transported, and put in place. Thus, arches were frequently carved out of a single stone, and when voussoirs were used, they were either few in number or, if numerous, of great height and depth. Large slabs of stone were also employed for roofing, especially in houses. In imitating antique details the architects appear to have had little if any feeling for their constructional origin or meaning; the capital and half the shaft of a column, for example, being carved out of one piece of stone, while the remainder of the shaft and the base were cut out of another. On the other hand, they developed for themselves certain fine features of construction, as for instance, in the arcading of their basilican churches, in which the columns were sometimes replaced by large rectangular piers, carrying arches of great width. An example of this impressive method is found in the interior of the Church of Kalb-Lauzeh. This corresponds with the larger Church of Turmanin, the western façade of which shows a very independent spirit of design. It has a broad arched entrance, flanked by two square towers, connected over the doorway by an open gallery, constructed with columns.

A corresponding inventiveness marked their use of the basilican plan. A fine example is the large Church of S. Simeon Stylites at Kalat-Seman. The nucleus of the plan is an octagonal court, open to the sky, in the centre of which stood the pillar on which the saint spent thirty years of his life. This court forms the intersection or crossing of four rectangular wings, arranged in shape of a cross, each one of which has a basilican form, the nave and aisles of the eastern one terminating in apses.

Another very interesting plan occurs in the Cathedral at Borah. It presents a circle inscribed in a square, in the angles of which are apsidal recesses projecting from the circle. Moreover, from the east side of the square project three short rectangles, terminating in apses, which suggest the prolongation of the nave and aisles that have been interrupted by the circle. Nothing but the foundations of this church remain. Meanwhile, the Church of S. George at Esrah shows a similar plan and is surmounted by a high elliptical dome. It is conjectured that these two churches were the prototypes of S. Sergius, Constantinople, and S. Vitale at Ravenna, which will be discussed later, and of many corresponding churches of Byzantine architecture.

Ravenna.—In the development of early Christian architecture a very interesting part was played by Ravenna. For this city, situated on the Adriatic (though the sea has since receded to a distance of six miles), was the chief port by which the trade of Constantinople or Byzantium entered Italy. Accordingly some of the tombs and churches present a fusion of Byzantine and Syrian influences with Roman. The change from the basilican type is especially marked in the character of the plan and by the adoption of domes.

Thus the Baptistry of Ravenna is an octagonal structure, surmounted by a dome of hollow tiles. The Tomb of Galla Placidia is cruciform in plan with a lantern raised over the crossing or intersection of the arms of the cross. The lantern is pierced with four windows and surmounted by a dome, supported on pendentives—a method of construction, peculiarly Byzantine, which will be considered presently.

When Theodoric the Great, King of the Ostro-Goths and ruler of Northern Italy, selected Ravenna as his capital, he built the Church of S. Apollinare Nuovo, importing twenty-four marble columns from Constantinople and employing Byzantine artists and artisans. The plan is basilican, though the atrium and apse have been removed by subsequent alterations, but the interior is richly embellished with Byzantine mosaics. The latter also adorn the larger basilican Church of S. Apollinare-in-Classe, so called from its being situated near the port. Its columns also are distinguished by the peculiarly Byzantine feature of the impost block, to be described later.

After the death of Theodoric in 536 the Emperor Justinian, having through his general, Belisarius, routed the Goths from the country, made Ravenna the political capital of Italy, under the authority of an exarch. Then was built, probably as Court Church, the famous example of Byzantine influence, the Church of S. Vitale. We will return to this after a consideration of what is involved in the Byzantine style.

Byzantine.—The term Byzantine is applied to the style of architecture gradually developed in Byzantium after Constantine, in A.D. 324, transferred the capital of the Roman Empire to that city. Its distinctive