The Architecture of Provence and the Riviera

by David MacGibbon

The above three edifices at Ravenna present fully developed examples of the three chief buildings required in connection with the church services up to the ninth century, viz., the church, the baptistery, and the mausoleum. As we proceed we shall meet with proofs that the same classes of edifices were in use and were carried out in a similar manner in other parts of the Western Empire. The circular or octagonal baptistery is of frequent occurrence in Southern Gaul. Examples of circular churches are also not awanting, but there is every ground for believing that the basilican form of church, like that of St Apollinare, was the plan most generally adopted in Western Europe.

At Ravenna, an early circular tower or campanile, generally similar to the square ones at Rome and elsewhere, still exists. This is a feature the origin of which has not yet been accurately determined. The prevailing opinion, however, now is that these towers were at first erected as places of observation and defence, being in that respect somewhat similar in their conception to the round towers of Ireland. As in San Vitale, one form of a Roman octagonal-domed building is followed, so at San Lorenzo in Milan another design of a somewhat similar character is carried out, showing that the basilican form, although general, was not universal.

In consequence of the destruction caused by the invasions of the Barbarians, by fire or otherwise, very few edifices now exist in Western Europe of the time between Justinian and Charlemagne. During all that time of disaster in the West, the Eastern Empire still maintained itself in splendour, and gave encouragement to architecture and the fine arts. From an early time the Byzantine architects showed a preference for the dome over the intersecting vault, and it is possible to follow in the still existing edifices, the mode in which the domical form of roof was gradually worked out, until in the great church of Sta. Sophia, erected under Justinian, in the sixth century, the largest and noblest building of the style was successfully completed.

In the details of the style of the Lower Empire, as practised in the East, there is considerable evidence of Greek taste. The sharp thistle-like sculpture of the foliage is designed in a manner not unlike that of the Corinthian capitals of the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates at Athens. The Byzantines also excelled in flat and delicate carving, such as that generally executed in ivory or fine wood, and in ornamental metal work and jewellery. When the West began to revive, this Byzantine art naturally produced some influence on it. A very remarkable example of this occurs in the church of St Mark’s at Venice, erected about A.D. 950, which in every feature—in plan, in distribution of parts, in the use of the dome, and in its mosaic decorations,—is a distinct importation from Constantinople.

But the art of the East was destined to produce, at a later period, a much stronger effect, as we shall afterwards see, in Provence and Aquitaine. Besides the domical structures of Constantinople, another series of Christian buildings which had a great influence on Western architecture exists in the East. A large number of churches have been brought to light in Syria by the work of Count Melchior de Vogüé. These correspond in general features with the early churches of the West. They comprise a central nave and side aisles, separated by rows of piers, with nave arches thrown longitudinally between them. The nave is also crossed transversely with arches cast between the piers, and these are abutted by arches thrown over the side aisles. The latter, in order to resist the thrust of the central arch, require to be placed at a considerable height. The side aisles are thus rendered unnecessarily lofty, and are therefore divided into two storys with a floor which forms a gallery. The nave piers and their transverse arches are placed pretty close together in order to carry the great flag stones of which the roof is frequently composed, and which are supported upon them. Although the roof is in some cases flat, the general system of construction of these Syrian churches is very similar to what is found in the oldest churches of Southern Gaul; and which, as already mentioned, was also used in the Nymphæum at Nimes. There can be little doubt but that the Syrian structures were carefully studied by the numerous monks who visited the East in the eleventh century, while Palestine was in the hands of the Crusaders, and that they were thereby helped forward in the enterprise which was then absorbing the attention of the Western architects, viz., how to roof their churches with stone vaults.

Hitherto the Western basilicas had been roofed with timber. A few examples of these early basilicas have escaped the universal destruction, and serve to indicate what the other churches which existed before the eleventh century were like.

The Basse Œuvre at Beauvais is a well known specimen. It has a row of square piers on each side of the nave, separating it from the side aisles and carrying, on round arches, the upper walls containing the windows of the clerestory—the whole being covered in with a wooden roof. It was probably terminated to the east with a semicircular apse, and at the west with a narthex or porch.

These early churches were no doubt all of very simple construction, the only ornaments being the marble columns and carved work which in some localities were available from Roman buildings. Where these existed the style adopted naturally followed the Roman forms, but in districts where they were absent the style gradually passed into the Romanesque, under the influence of the new elements imported by the Northern invaders. We have seen how Charlemagne attempted to follow a Roman structure in his great church at Aix, and that is a distinct indication of the general tendency. The chief object at this period of transition was to produce an effective internal design, the exterior being invariably very simple. In this also the system by which Roman architecture had been developed continued to be carried out.

When the new political conditions of the different divisions of Europe had become somewhat settled, these principles were worked out separately and independently in each country and province, and produced a great variety of styles, all comprehended under the general title of Romanesque. They were in reality all derived from ancient Roman architecture, but by their very variety they indicate the new spirit which was now beginning to express itself.

As above mentioned the great desideratum in the eleventh century was a simple form of stone roof. The earlier wooden roof had been found so liable to destruction by fire, that great efforts were now made to provide a fire-proof covering.