Gothic architecture wove an intricate fantasy of forms and details, differing one from another in the same building, and with varying interpretation in the several countries of Europe where Gothic architecture took root. SUMMARY EGYPTIAN ARCHITECTURE Types of Building: Temples, Pyramid tombs, rock-cut tombs and rockcut temples. Private dwellings of perishable and impermanent sort. Construction: Column and lintel, columns either of one colossal stone, or built of drums or blocks. Materials: Stone; brick was known, but little used. Detail: Carved.-In low incised relief, usually highly coloured. Surface decoration.-Sturco was often used, as it formed a satis factory ground for painting. Motifs.-Conventionalised renderings of Deities, scenes from royal and private life, hieroglyphic inscriptions and decorative forms based chiefly on the lotus and the papyrus. ASSYRIAN ARCHITECTURE Types of Building: Temples and palaces. Construction: Brick-built walls, occasional use of the arch, though seldom as a structural aid. Methods of roofing buildings largely conjectural. Materials: Brick and tile. Detail: Carved detail.-Use of carved bas relief in isolated instances. Stone was scarce, and used sparingly. Surface decoration.-The Assyrians were the first to demonstrate the great decorative possibilities of glazed tiles and glazed brick. Motifs. Conventionalised renderings of Deities, scenes from decorative forms. GREEK ARCHITECTURE Types of Building: Temples, open-air theatres, mausoleums and private residences. Construction: Column and lintel. Roofs usually of slabs of stone. Column and lintel construction carried to the point of perfection. CHAPTER III THE EVOLUTION OF ARCHITECTURE (Continued) GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE AND RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE. A STUDY OF THE DIFFERING EXPRESSIONS OF THESE TWO GREAT STYLES IN ITALY, FRANCE, SPAIN, BELGIUM, ENGLAND, AND GERMANY T O dismiss in a few paragraphs a subject so extensive, so diversified, so elaborate and so rich in interest, is at once a task and a necessity. It is to be said, however, that many of the "literary," or symbolic, qualities of Gothic architecture which must be passed over in this chapter will find opportunity for mention in the fifth chapter. Gothic architecture is remarkable in that it is dually a structural architecture and a decorative architecture, with both of these essential aspects existent in equal proportions. The most important single thing to remember in considering Gothic architecture is that it may be closely likened to an organic growth. Its development was as natural and as consistent as the growth of a tree, rising up, putting forth branches, and these, in turn, putting forth leaves. In a few paragraphs, let us endeavour to summarise the evolution of the Gothic church or cathedral, from its beginning in the vaulting achievements of the late Romanesque builders. The typical plan took the form of a great cross, with three short arms and one long arm. The entrance was at the end of the long arm, and gave directly into the great central nave, flanked by side-aisles. The arms of the cross formed the transept, and a great tower rose at its intersection with the nave, or there were twin towers rising above the entrance front. The remaining arm of the cross was the apse, or sanctuary. There were other types of plan, but the cross was the most usual. Architecturally, the plan was carried out with an intricate diversity of which only Gothic architecture could be capable. The walls of the nave, above the lower side-aisles, were carried on columns and pointed arches; the side-aisles, also arched and vaulted, were supported, outside, by buttresses to take the lateral thrust. Above these, on the exterior, rose flying buttresses to take the thrust of the nave arches, and everywhere there was opportunity for pinnacles, turrets, grotesques, gargoyles, niches with images of saints, and all the profusion of Gothic detail. Within, the building was lofty and mysterious, richly and dimly lighted by tall, pointed windows fitted with stained glass-perhaps a magnificent rose window at the near end of the nave. Everywhere, too, carved niches and holy images, intricate carving, dull colour in polychrome or textiles. Gothic architecture is often nicknamed "perpendicular architecture," which is reasonably descriptive, inasmuch as the horizontal entablature, with its frieze and cornice, forms no part of the Gothic idea, wherein all members mount ever upward, climbing one upon the other in one magnificent expression of altitude. Columns, arches, vaults, windows, pinnacles, buttresses, towers-all point upward—even the details of tracery and the niches for images point upward. It is this sense of upward motion, reaching often to the height of the sublime, which has made Gothic architecture essentially the architecture of the church, ren This side view shows the Gothic system of buttress and flying buttress, as well as the flèche, or small spire, at the intersection of nave and transept The upward motion" of the composition is characteristic. The flame-like leaf carvings are in the flamboyant" vein, and there is also to be seen the typical Gothic introduction of grotesque heads and animal forms |