But for this change of plan, the ambition of the Florentines might have been in some measure satisfied, whose instructions to the architect were, that their cathedral “should surpass everything that human industry or human power had conceived of great and beautiful.”
About a century later (1390), the Bolognese determined on the erection of a monster cathedral, which, in so far as size went, would have been more than double that at Florence. According to the plans that have come down to us, it was to have been about 800 ft. long and 525 wide across the transepts; at the intersection was to have been a dome 130 ft. in diameter, or only 6 ft. less than that at Florence; and the width of both nave and transepts was to have been 183 ft.: so that the whole would have covered about 212,000 ft., or nearly the same area as St. Peter’s at Rome, and three times that of any French cathedral! Of this vast design, only about one-third (Woodcut No. [504]), 74,000 sq. ft., was ever carried out; but that fragment is quite sufficient to enable us to judge of the merits or defects of this style in its state of greatest perfection. The only other building in the same style on a sufficient scale to admit of comparison with this is the nave of the cathedral at Florence just described, but that is nearly as may be only half of its dimensions, or 36,000 ft. as compared with 72,000. The chapels, too, at Bologna add practically a fifth aisle, giving great variety and richness to the perspective. The varied heights and proportions of the central and side aisles are singularly pleasing, and there being six arches at Bologna instead of only four as at Florence, and twelve side chapels where none exist in the other example, go far to redeem the lean mechanical look which is the great defect of this style. The great advantage San Petronio has over the Florentine church is in the size and number of its windows, and these not being filled with stained glass the whole church has a bright and pleasing effect that contrasts most favourably with the gloom of its great rival. Notwithstanding this, the nave of San Petronio cannot be considered as a successful work of art. In the first place it is too mechanically perfect. The area of the points of support as compared with the voids is, as far as can be made out from such plans as exist, about one-twelfth, which would be a merit in a railway station, but something more is wanted in a monumental building. In the next there is a singular deficiency of either constructive or constructed ornament. On this side of the Alps an architect with vaulting shafts, string-courses, galleries, and fifty other expedients, would have relieved the bareness of the walls. At Bologna it probably was intended they should be painted, and this never having been executed may account for most of its apparent defects.
504. Plan of the part executed of St. Petronio, Bologna. (from Wiebeking.) Scale 100 ft. to 1 in.
In Gothic architecture one of two systems seems indispensable: either painted glass with strongly-marked carved mouldings over the whole of the interior, or white glass with flat surfaces suitable for opaque paintings. Few cathedrals are complete in both respects at the present day, but in their imperfect state the Northern system has an immense advantage over the Southern. The architecture of our cathedrals is complete and beautiful even in ruins. An Italian church without its coloured decoration is only a framed canvas without harmony or meaning. Were San Petronio as complete in its coloured decoration as the Certosa at Pavia or Monreale at Palermo, it might stand a fair competition with the best interiors on this side of the Alps. As it is, it is only a splendid example of ornamental but unornamented construction, and, as was attempted to be explained in the Introduction, both elements are wanted for success in architectural design.
505. Section of San Petronio, Bologna. (From Wiebeking.) Scale 50 ft. to 1 in.
The exterior of the church is in too unfinished a state to enable us to judge of what its effect might have been if completed, but many of its details, especially of the façade, are of very great beauty, in many respects superior to what is to be found on this side of the Alps. Its central dome, however, never could have been a feature worthy of so vast a church. In diameter it is equal, or nearly so, to that of Florence, but the points of support are so small, and so far apart, that it must have been mainly if not wholly of wood. No such towering structure as Arnolfo’s vast substructures show that he intended, could have stood on the slim supports of the Bolognese church.[[312]]
506. Plan of the Cathedral of Milan. (From ‘Chiesi Principali d’Europa.’) Scale 100 ft. to 1 in.