sxxiv
FRENCH ART.
least the arrangement of a nave betwixt lower aisles, with the former
supported by pillars instead of columns, is practically universal.
The transepts project but slightly beyond the aisles, and, in the
French examples, almost invariably terminate in a straight line.
The simple apse is developed into a choir, frequently with radiating
chapels. Many churches posse ss a vestibule, in some cases forming
practically an anterior nave. The edifice is crowned by a square,
an octagonal, or (more rarely) a circular tower, rising above the cross¬
ing, or on one side of the choir, or in the centre of the facade.
Occasionally two, three, or even six towers are found. But the main
distinguishing feature of the fully developed Romanesque style is
the vault. The tunnel-vaulting of antiquity is universal in South
Eastern France and was there most persistently adhered to; but in
Burgundy and Northern France, where at first the choir and aisles
only were vaulted, the nave receiving a flat roof, a transition was
made at an early period to the groined vault, the full importance of
which, however, was not at first recognized. Finally, in South
Western France we find domed structures, recalling San Marco at
Venice, the most prominent of which is the church of St. Front at
Perigueux. The most celebrated Romanesque churches in France are
St. Sernin at Toulouse and Ste. Foy at Conques in the S., Notre-Dame-
du-Port at Clermont-Ferrand and St. Paul at Issoire in Auvergne,
St. Philibert at Tournus and Ste. Madeleine at Vezelay in Burgundy,
St. Etienne and the Trinite" at Caen in the North West, Notre-
Dame at Poitiers in the West, and Ste. Croix at Bordeaux in the
South West.
The substitution of heavy stone vaulting for the earlier wooden
roofs involved a substantial increase in the thickness of the walls
and a very great reduction in the size of the windows and other
light-openings. The result was somewhat heavy and sombre, and
an endeavour to relieve this effect was made by the free use of
painting and sculpture. In the interior, sculptures were chiefly
placed on the capitals of the pillars; on the exterior, at first in the
pediment, ur tympanum, over the portal, but later on the entire
facade. Byzantine influence manifests itself in Southern France not
only in the exaggerated length of the figures and in the peculiar
arrangement of the folds of the drapery, but also in the preference
shown for chimaeras, dragons, quadrupeds with human heads, and
similar monsters. The sculptors of Burgundy and Auvergne, however,
early developed a certain measure of independence and began to
utilize the native flora and fauna as patterns for carvings. The exe¬
cution is still generally clumsy, but the dignity of the general result,
the feeling for decorative effect, the rich play of fancy, the profound
sincerity and delightful abandon of the sculptors, all lead us to
prize these 'Bibles in stone' as the significant heralds of a great art.
Every lover of art will be richly repaid by a close study of the por¬
tals and capitals of St. Gilles, St. Trophime at Aries, the monastery
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