wrought with tails bonded into the wall (alternating right and left), which he regards as contrary to classic practice. The bull’s-eye of the tympanum is also not Roman, but might be an addition. It is probable that the sides of the porch were originally open.
The date of this porch has been the subject of much discussion; but it seems most likely that it belongs to the early part of the eleventh century. It was at that date that architecture began slowly to revive; and this is probably one of the first efforts. Designers would then naturally fall back on the classic forms, of which examples were abundant around them. There are many instances in which the early mediæval architecture can be traced to Roman structures found in their vicinity. We have already met with one striking example at St Paul-trois-Châteaux; and it was previously shewn how the gates of Autun influenced the architecture of a large district, in which pilasters, copied from those of the Porte d’Arroux, are universally used instead of round shafts. We shall also presently see how the dome-topped campaniles of Provence are also copied from Roman monuments, such as that at St Remy; and how in almost all the churches throughout Provence Roman columns, caps, cornices, mouldings, and enrichments are freely imitated. But these imitations are generally incomplete, and invariably contain defects or omissions, which shew that they are imperfect copies, and not real Roman work. Such imperfections affect the details rather than the general style. In the instance before us, it is stated that the cornice of the antique part of the tower above the porch is copied exactly from that of the attic of the Arch at Orange.
The interior of Notre Dame des Doms is an example of an early Provençal church, but not a very favourable one, as it has been frequently altered and added to. The choir is of 1671, and the lateral chapels are of the fourteenth century, while Renaissance balconies in marble have been added in front of the gallery, over the side aisles.
In the choir is a remarkable chair of the twelfth century, in white marble, which was the seat of the Pope; and the tomb of John XXII. ([Fig. 48]), in one of the side chapels, is a fine specimen of the imported Northern Gothic style.
The tower, partly destroyed in the fifteenth century, was repaired in 1430; and the colossal statue of the Virgin was added in 1859.
The walls of the interior were once decorated with frescoes by Simone Memmi, but they are now almost obliterated; and the interior is so dark, that the few fragments remaining cannot be seen.
FIG. 48.
MONUMENT OF POPE JOHN XXII.