A manual of gothic moldings

 

A Third Edition of the Manual of Gothic Moldings having been called for, the present Editor, at the request of Mr. Paley, has undertaken to prepare it for the Press. Though it is always difficult for one person to carry out satisfactorily the work of another, the Author was of opinion that the revision of a professional man would secure accuracy, and gives the work that practical character which he wished it to have.

The additions and alterations that have been made, have chiefly been done by way of further explanation where anything might not previously have seemed clear to a student; at the same time, the Editor has been careful to keep the book within its present limits, lest he should change its whole character from an elementary treatise to one of an entirely different class.

A considerable number of woodcuts have also been inserted by way of additional illustration, and, as far as practicable, the localities of the examples in the plates have been indexed; but, as these were taken from the Author's note-books when the work was first published, many of them cannot now be ascertained with certainty.

The Author has employed the terms “Early English,” “Decorated,” and “Perpendicular” throughout, and these are so thoroughly engrafted into the work, and are, besides, so generally understood, that the Editor felt it would have been undesirable to attempt any alteration. But the student should remember that the object to be attained in nomenclature is to define clearly the date and locality at which certain kinds of work prevailed. Now the two latter of these terms do not fulfill this condition, and therefore, in using them, the student must be careful that he knows the dates to which they refer. Several new terms have been proposed, but those here employed have become so generally adopted that no others have succeeded in displacing them. Mr. Fergusson has proposed the adoption of Edwardian and Plantagenet in a manner analogous to Tudor, Elizabethan, &c, already in common use; also such terms as “early thirteenth century,” “late fourteenth,” &c, are frequently employed, and have the advantage of being very precise.

An accurate knowledge of Moldings is indispensable to any one professing even an amateur's acquaintance with architecture; but he who attempts to practice as an architect (however freely he may use his knowledge) must study them thoroughly, not merely by reading a work like this (though that may be of great assistance), but by actually going about observing and measuring them himself; for very little can be learnt without measuring, as scale has a very important effect on the character of Moldings.

There is, perhaps, hardly an old Church existing without something worth sketching in it; and often, in Moldings, charming little variations may be found, which at first sight would hardly be suspected. The Editor, therefore, feels that he cannot do better than advice those who wish to attain a true knowledge of the science of Gothic Moldings, not merely to read about them, but to sketch them carefully, and to measure them accurately.

It seems certain that all the forms of Gothic Moldings are the peculiar and genuine offspring of Christian architecture, or at least are very partially and indirectly borrowed from the Classic styles; although, as might be expected, some coincidences of form exist between them. There are some who contend that Gothic moldings are derived, mediately indeed, yet very decidedly, from Roman ; a supposition hardly probable in itself, when we observe that in the Norman style (in England at least), which was most closely connected with the Classic, the forms of the moldings which we call Gothic are merely nascent, and entirely undeveloped; and one which appears scarcely tenable, from the consideration that the mediaeval architects of this country could have known little of Italian architecture, and if they had, we cannot suppose they would have cared to copy in its details what they altogether repudiated in its kind. But the convincing argument is this: that in Gothic molding all the links in the process of formation are connected and complete, from the first and rudest origin to the most elaborate development; and the steps are so natural, the transitions so easy, that any two styles working independently of each other from the same beginnings and elemental forms, could hardly fail of arriving at least at some of the same results. Again, if at this or that period, a new member was introduced, and, as it were, a new letter added to the alphabet, why should it not be attributed to invention, rather than sought for in the resemblance which an Italian molding may happen to bear to it? However, the discussion of this question is rather for those who have to do with the theory of moldings, as the determination of it does not in the least affect the facts of which this work treats.

From the time of the formation of the first Christian Basilica to the middle of the twelfth century, there is such a general resemblance in the character of the work, as to have caused it to be classed under the one title of Romanesque. About that time it must be remembered that the whole of Western Europe was engaged in the first Crusade, and though it can hardly be said that the early Gothic forms are mere copies of Classic or Eastern ones, the effect of travel would naturally be to accustom the mind to see beauty in an entirely different class of forms, and to enlarge its capacity of designing according to the requirements it met with.

That the whole tone of architecture was then altered is an undoubted fact, and some leading features were then introduced for the first time. Also in matters of mere detail, we find new forms, some of which may be traced to foreign sources: the Early English base is allowed by all to have been borrowed from the Attic; and it will hereafter clearly be demonstrated that such was the case. And it is undeniable that several forms and combinations of the ogee curve are nearly identical in Classic and in Gothic buildings. Still, if every Gothic form can be shown to be an improvement or modification of a preceding one, it must be concluded that the whole series is the offspring of one and the same progressive art.

In truth, Gothic architecture grew up under peculiar circumstances, and to satisfy special wants ; in its origin eclectic, it adapted details from Saracenic or Moorish (i.e. Arabian), from Norman, from the debased Classical, from the Byzantine churches, half Greek in design, and from Italian, Lombardic, and Romanesque edifices of all dates and descriptions. Its history is truly one of "evolution;" that is, of successive changes of form and modifications produced by various climates, national taste or genius, material, and numerous other influences, both internal and external.

In their use also Gothic moldings differ as widely as possible from Classic. The former are repeated to almost any extent, so as entirely to occupy the large recessed spaces in jambs and arches. They are repeated too in groups, each group being composed of the same members, or nearly so, especially in the earlier styles. The latter are few in number, and very limited in their application. The combinations of the one are in a great measure arbitrary, though the forms themselves are fixed; in the latter both are absolutely defined. The former run principally in vertical lines, the latter in horizontal. In Gothic architecture, horizontal moldings occur in water-tables and string-courses, and in capitals and bases, in which positions they invariably form subordinate lines, so as to contrast and display the predominant principles of a vertical ascending sweep, and may so far perhaps be regarded as lingering vestiges of the Classic usage. They are also used very effectively to divide lofty walls into stages, and are carried under windows and arcades, round the weatherings of buttresses, and extensively in base-courses.

An intelligent and thoughtful writer in the English Review has the following remarks on the differences between Grecian and Gothic moldings: "Where the Grecian delighted in broad level surfaces, catching the light in masses, or in projecting curves on which it dies away by degrees into shadow, the Gothic roughened and encrusted them with carving. And thus in general we measure, or, if the expression may be used, we read, and peruse, a Grecian molding by its lights, and the Gothic by its shadows. Again:" Of the differences between the two classes of molding, some may be detected by a superficial view. For instance, the Grecian delights in convex lines, the Gothic in concave; the Grecian in broad lights, the Gothic in narrow. The Grecian throws out projections to catch the eye; the Gothic endeavours to bury it in deep recesses. The Grecian leads it gently along in sweeping, unbroken undulations; the Gothic fractures its lines, and combines them in angles and curves. The lights and shadows of the Grecian melt and slide insensibly into each other; those of the Gothic are planted together in strong and bold contrast. , .... In the purest Grecian buildings, vertical moldings are rare. Horizontal moldings form the leading lines; and it is by these, even in later and degenerated specimens, that the vertical moldings are regulated. In the Gothic, vertical moldings are most frequent; and they overrule and determine those which are horizontal. And Grecian moldings are simple and easily divisible into parts ; Gothic are entangled in labyrinths, and perplexed with innumerable intricacies."

The notion of ascending moldings is coeval with the introduction of the arch, and may indeed be traced to a still earlier period in the sides of doorways and similar positions. When the Romans broke up, by means of the arch, the continuous horizontal entablature of the Grecians, the cornice moldings were carried around it, and fell on each side in vertical lines into the horizontal, thereby producing the same result as in Gothic, though with a different effect ; in the one case, horizontal lines continuing to predominate, in the other, being subdued and rendered secondary and subordinate to the vertical principle.

Gothic architecture revelled in the use of moldings, not only what are usually called ornamental moldings, such as the dogtooth, the ball-flower, &c., but also the plain continuous lines of light and shadow; though they are in effect identical, since the former are nothing but serrated ridges, more or less rounded and modified from the first process.