CHAPTER IV.AUVERGNE.

CONTENTS.

Church at Issoire—Clermont—Fortified Church at Royat.

Thelast of the Southern provinces which requires to be distinguished is that of Auvergne, one of the most beautiful as well as one of the most complete of the round Gothic styles of France. The country in which it is found is as distinctly marked out as the style, for no naturalist can cross the frontier of the territory without at once being struck by the strange character of its scenery. It is a purely volcanic country, to which the recently extinguished craters impart a character not found in any other province of France. Whether its inhabitants are of a different race from their neighbours has not yet been investigated. At all events, they retain their original characteristics less changed than any other people inhabiting the South of France. Their style of architecture is distinct, and early reached a degree of perfection which no other in France had then attained; it has, moreover, a greater resemblance than we have hitherto found in France to the Lombard and Rhenish styles of architecture. The other styles of Southern France—whatever their beauties may be—certainly never reached that degree of independent completeness which enables us to class that of Auvergne among the perfected styles of Europe.

592. Church at Issoire. (From Mallay.) Scale 100 ft. to 1 in.

In the department of Puy de Dome there are at least four churches of the typical form of this style, which have been edited by M. Mallay—those of Issoire, of N. D. du Port at Clermont, of Orcival, and of St. Nectaire—which only differ from one another in size, and in the arrangement of their apsidal chapels. That of Issoire has a square central chapel inserted, which is wanting at Clermont and Orcival, while St. Nectaire has only three instead of four apsidal chapels.

The largest of these is that of Issoire, of which a plan is here given, from which it will be seen that, though small, it is beautifully arranged. The transepts are just sufficiently developed to give expression to the exterior, and to separate the nave from the choir, which are beautifully proportioned to one another.

593. Elevation of Church at Issoire. (From Mallay.) Scale 50 ft. to 1 in.

They all possess central towers, raised on a mass of masonry extending to the whole width of the church, which gives them a breadth of base found in no other style. The want of this is painfully felt in most of our own central spires, all of which need something more to stand upon than the central roof, out of which they seem to grow; but I do not know that any attempt was ever made to remedy the difficulty anywhere but in Auvergne. All these churches were intended to have western towers, the massive foundations for which are found in every example, though there does not appear to be a single instance in which these exist in a complete state.

594. Section of Church at Issoire, looking East. (From Mallay.) Scale 50 ft. to 1 in.

The side-aisles are always covered by intersecting vaults, but that of the nave is invariably a simple tunnel-vault, as in the Southern styles, ornamented by occasional transverse ribs, and which in the church at Issoire is slightly pointed.

To support this great vault, a semi-vault is carried over the side-aisles—as shown in the section—which forms a massive and perfect abutment to the thrust of the great arch, besides, as before pointed out, rendering the vault independent of a wooden covering, which, though in some instances supplied, was certainly not originally intended. The defect of this arrangement is of course evident, as compared with the Northern styles, inasmuch as a clerestory was impossible, and the only effective light that could be admitted was through the side-aisles. These churches, however, have an approach to a clerestory not found in that at Fontifroide, before quoted, in having a triforium or range of arches opening into the gallery, which gave a lightness of character to the superstructure, and admitted to a certain extent a borrowed light.

595. Elevation of Chevet, Notre Dame du Port, Clermont. (From Chapuy.) No scale.

Externally, the projection of the buttresses is slight, and they are connected by arches, struck from the same centres as the windows, above which three small arches relieve and ornament the upper part of the nave. The central arch of these is pierced with the small window which lights the upper gallery. Above this is a cornice of more elegance and of greater projection than is usually found in churches of this age.

The most beautiful and most admired feature of the style is the arrangement of the chapels of the chevet externally.

In the view given above of St. Sernin, Toulouse (Woodcut No.578), as in almost all the churches of that style, it will be observed how awkwardly these chapels are stuck on, as if they were afterthoughts,and altogether foreign to the main lines of the building. Here, however, all the parts are pleasingly subordinated one to the other, and the whole are so grouped as to form a design equal, if not superior, to the galleried apses of the German and Lombard churches. The place of these galleries is here supplied by a mosaic decoration formed with the different coloured lavas of the extinct volcanoes of the district, which gives not only a pleasing local character to the style, but is interesting as the only specimen of external polychromatic decoration now to be found so far to the north. In effect, this is perhaps hardly equal to the open galleries of the German churches; but the expense must have been considerably less, and the variety of the outline of the chevet arrangement, as compared with the simple apse, gives to these churches some advantages over the contemporary buildings on the Rhine. Indeed, as far as external decoration is concerned, it may be questioned whether the French ever surpassed these; and had they been carried out on the same scale as those of Amiens and Chartres, they would probably be thought more beautiful. It is true the flying buttresses and pinnacles of the pointed style enabled the architects to introduce far larger windows and gorgeous decorations of painted glass, and so to improve the internal effect of their churches to an immense extent; but this was done at the sacrifice of much external simplicity of outline and propriety of effect, which we cannot but lament could not be reconciled with the requisite internal arrangements.

596. Plan of Chevet, Notre Dame du Port, Clermont. (From Chapuy.) No scale.

The age of these churches is not very well ascertained. M. Mallay is inclined to place them principally in the 10th century, though the pointed form of the vault at Issoire induces him to bring that down to the 12th century; but we have seen enough to know that such a pointed form, on the contrary, is more likely to be ancient than the rounded one, which requires better construction, although in that age it was thought more beautiful. My own impression is, that theybelong generally to the 11th century, though some were no doubt commenced in the 10th, and probably continued to the 12th; but their uniformity of style is such, that not more than one century could have elapsed between the first and the last. Only one circular church, so far as I know, is found in the district. It is a sepulchral chapel in the cemetery at Chambon, small in size, being only 26 ft. wide over all, but elegant in its proportions, and showing the same style of decoration as the apses of the larger churches.

597. Fortified Church at Royat. (From Gailhabaud.)

Among the exceptional churches of this district, one of the most interesting is that of Royat, illustrated in Woodcut No.597, being a specimen of a fortified church, such as are sometimes, though not frequently, found in France. That at Maguelonne, quoted above (p.57), is another, and there are several others in the South of France; but none probably either so complete or showing so many castellated features as this. In its ruined state we lose the western, or possibly the central tower, which might have somewhat restored its ecclesiastical character; but even as it is, it is a singularly picturesque and expressive building, though it speaks more of war and bloodshed than of peace and goodwill to all men.

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