At the distance of a few paces is a monument with this inscription, SEXLMIVLIEICFPARENTIBVSSVEIS; but these names do not help us to the date. The style of architecture, I should think posterior to that of the arches. Millin thinks it later than the Antonines. It is composed of a square plinth elevated on two steps, which supports a pedestal filled with sculpture, representing equestrian combats; upon this rises a square edifice, with a three-quarter column at each angle, or perhaps rather more than three-fourths of the column are exposed. The architrave has hardly any projection before the face of the work, so that the columns stand out beyond it for half their diameter, and do not appear to contribute materially to its support. This peculiarity was perhaps the result of judgment, (good or bad) and not of ignorance or carelessness, as it certainly preserves the pyramidal shape of the monument, and the general form of the whole is very fine, though thus singularly obtained. Above this division of the edifice is a circular temple of six columns, with a conical, or perhaps rather funnel-shaped roof, and in it are two statues, one male and the other female, the parents to whom the monument was erected.
We were fortunate enough to meet with a cabriolet de poste at St. Remi, and found cause enough to congratulate ourselves, that our carriage was ‘suspendu.’ Places are sometimes found on our sea-shores, where a bed of large rounded stones is fixed with some degree of firmness in the sand. This was precisely the state of the first part of our road. After having passed the long bridge of the Durance, a vast destructive torrent, rather than a river, descending from the Alps, we travelled for some leagues through a plain, sprinkled, not shaded, with mulberry trees. The little bridges over the water-courses which intersect and fertilize this plain, were hardly wider than the carriage, and without any sort of fence; one of them, moreover, had a large hole in it, and this was not the only place in the way where it appeared impossible that we should escape an overturn, but we happily passed them all without any accident.
We were later in the day than we ought to have been at Vaucluse, for the rays of the sun had already entered the deep, and almost naked valley, in which the spring rises; and being reflected from the rocks, rendered the heat insupportable. The place in England most like Vaucluse, is Malham Cove; but the rock at Vaucluse is much higher, and the river, after issuing from its subterraneous reservoir, foams along its rocky channel in a deep valley: this however shortly opens, and it assumes a more tranquil character: a column has lately been erected in the middle of the spring, to the memory of Petrarch and Laura.
From Vaucluse we returned to the high road at St. Andiol, where Mr. Sharp found a place in the diligence to Marseille, and I remained in a dirty, miserable inn, in order to resume my journey next morning to Avignon.
I find from Millin that there were two or three Roman monuments within the district I have been rambling over, which I did not see; a triumphal arch at Carpentras, another at Cavaillon, and the Pont de Chamay, consisting of a bridge, with a fine arch at each end. I am sorry to leave the country without seeing them, but there are so many objects of antiquity in these provinces, both of Roman times, and of almost every succeeding age, that it would take many months to examine them all, and I must leave them to the chance of a future opportunity.
Having now communicated to you my observations on the Roman architecture in these provinces, I will endeavour to throw into something of a connected form, those remarks on the edifices of a later date, which I have hitherto refrained from particularizing, in order to be able to give you a general view of the subject. If I were to arrange all the ancient buildings which I have lately seen, according to their supposed date, they would be in the following order:
| Arch at Vienne | Perhaps before our era. | |
| Arch at Orange | ||
| Arch at St. Remi | In the first century. | |
| Maison Carrée at Nismes | ||
| Temple at Vienne | In the second century. | |
| Temple of the fountain at Nismes | ||
| Monument at St. Remi | ||
| Entablature and capitals at Arles, said to be part of the Capitol | In the third century. | |
| Columns supposed of the theatre at Arles. | ||
| Theatre at Arles | In the fourth century. | |
| Portico of Nôtre Dame de Dom at Avignon | In the sixth century. | |
| Church of Nôtre Dame de Dom | In the seventh century. | |
| Church at Orange | ||
| Cathedral at Arles | ||
| Some other small churches | ||
| Cathedral at Nismes | In the ninth century. | |
| Front of ditto | In the tenth century. | |
| Cathedral at Valence | In the eleventh century. | |
| Porch of the church of Tarrascon | ||
| Porch of the church of St. Trophime at Arles |
These dates startle you, but if we still have many Roman buildings remaining, why should we not find some of later dates? Europe was in so disturbed a state during the period immediately following the fall of the Roman power, that we do not readily conceive that the means, or the will, should have been found, of erecting any considerable buildings; but from 539 to 585, after its submission to the kings of France, who made of Arles a sort of capital; and during the whole of the seventh century, and beginning of the eighth, Provence seems to have enjoyed a degree of tranquillity quite sufficient to account for the erection of public buildings of some magnificence; and their intercourse with Greece and Italy might have supplied artists. In 876, Arles became the capital of a powerful kingdom, and if the ambition of its sovereigns drew them away from their own subjects, the Counts of Provence, who were rich, powerful, superstitious, and nearly independent, may be well supposed capable of adorning their country with churches and monasteries. In short, from 539 to 736, and again from 879 to 1131, history offers no objection to the idea that magnificent edifices may have been raised in this country. The twelfth century was an age of republics, but of very turbulent ones.
I have already described the remains of Roman architecture; I will now particularize the others, in the supposed order of dates. The porch of the church of Nôtre Dame de Dom, is said by some antiquaries to be prior to the church; while others maintain, that the body of the building is also of the same early date; there is an upright joint in the masonry, about 15 inches from the main edifice, which appears to me to separate the erections of two different epochs. It seems quite the general opinion, but not resting on sufficient authority, that this porch was part of a Roman temple dedicated to Hercules. It is not in itself a complete edifice, but forms three sides of a small quadrangular building, with a Corinthian column at each of the two angles of the front, and an arch between them. The columns are set on pedestals, but the pilasters of the arch pass between them to the ground, as is usually the case in the Roman triumphal arches; so far the whole is correct. Above the columns there is merely an architrave, whose upper moulding is very large and solid. It is even finely profiled as a termination, but would appear rather too massive, if it were surmounted by a frieze and cornice; I will not assert that this was not the case, though there are now no vestiges of either: the present termination being a plain gable end to the roof. Though a little stiff and dry, both the ornaments, and their disposition, are decidedly Roman. The inner doorway, which is in the wall of the church tower, is nearly a repetition of the composition of the entrance to the porch, but instead of a pilaster, there is a little column under the impost of the arch, which is not brought down so low as the larger column, and the impost is an entire entablature. The columns may still be called Corinthian, but the volutes are little more than curled leaves, and the caulicoles have entirely disappeared. Instead of the bold and masculine character of the outer architrave, we find a small detached rectangular block above the capital, supporting a compressed cornice; and a raking cornice, with two rows of modillions, forms a very acute pediment. From the porch we enter into the vestibule: this is square below, octangular above, and is finished, I believe, by a hemispherical dome, which has eight ribs springing on the faces of the octagon, and not from the angles. It is in the tower, the whole lower part of which is likewise attributed to the Romans, but from the character of the architecture, it appears that the inner doorway, this vestibule, the nave, and the lantern at the end, are all of the same date, and though much disturbed by subsequent alterations, they offer the best specimen I have seen of cavern-like Gothic. Here is a new term for you, but it is also a new style of architecture, and one which seems nearly peculiar to the south of France. It is principally characterized by the continued vaulting of the roof, generally pointed, but without groins, and by the absence of windows in the sides of the nave, or if any, they were very small. There is no proper transept, but sometimes there are approaches to one; altogether it has very much the appearance of a cavern. In the present instance, four semi-circular arches open under the vaulting of the nave; the fifth division is not vaulted, but four advancing arches on each side contract it to a square, which is surmounted by an octagonal lantern with a dome; there have been eight windows in this drum, but seven are now filled up, and windows have been opened in the nave. There is also a window on each side below the lantern, which perhaps existed in the original work. The choir, I suspect to be somewhat later. In the fourteenth century all the arches on the south side seem to have been altered to the style of that age, the semicircular arches having been taken out, and pointed ones introduced; side chapels of greater extent were also then added, in one of which is a Gothic tomb of John XXII., of excellent design, but poor workmanship. Another, called the chapel of the popes, is also attributed to the fourteenth century, and corresponds in several particulars with the church of St. Nizier at Lyon, which is of the same period. The bases are all at the same elevation, but the shafts run up through the capitals, and are lost among the mouldings of the ribs. The roof of the earlier part of the building is covered with stone slabs, which I believe rest on the vaulting without the intervention of any wood-work. There is a little ridge ornament of intersecting ribs of stone, which does not seem to be of equal antiquity.
The next subject is the church at Orange. The arch which forms the western doorway here, is so much like the Roman work of the theatre, that it might almost be supposed to be of the same age. The church itself is of very high antiquity, and of a style of architecture very similar to that of Nôtre Dame de Dom; it is vaulted with a continued arch, slightly pointed, but without groins; there are no side aisles, but on each side are four chapels, with semicircular arches; the windows are small also, with semicircular heads, which enter into the vaulting of the nave, and are not perhaps as old as the building. At the end of the church is an apsis. I believe this is a semicircular niche, nearly as high as the nave, and like that with a pointed arch, but modern ornaments hide its form; and in the back of it there is a single lancet window. This I write from memory, as I neglected to note it on the spot; at any rate I should doubt of its being part of the original construction; it is rare to find this ancient apsis existing, as it has usually been pulled down to make room for a more spacious choir.