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VI. THE NATURE OF GOTHIC. 209
composed of round; and this distinction would be quite as
clear, though the roofs were taken off every cathedral in
Europe. And yet, if we examine carefully into the real force
and meaning of the term "roof" we shall perhaps be able to
retain the old popular idea in a definition of Gothic architecture which shall also express whatever dependence that architecture has upon true forms of roofing.
§ lxxxi. In Chap. XIII. of the first volume, the reader
will remember that roofs were considered as generally divided
into two parts; the roof proper, that is to say, the shell, vault,
or ceiling, internally visible; and the roof-mask, which protects this lower roof from the weather. In some buildings
these parts are united in one framework; but, in most, they
are more or less independent of each other, and in nearly
all Gothic buildings there is considerable interval between
them.
Now it will often happen, as above noticed, that owing to
the nature of the apartments required, or the materials at
hand, the roof proper may be flat, coved, or domed, in buildings which in their walls employ pointed arches, and vare, in
the straitest sense of the word, Gothic in all other respects.
Yet so far forth as the roofing alone is concerned, they are
not Gothic unless the pointed arch be the principal form
adopted either in the stone vaulting or the timbers of the roof
proper.
I shall say then, in the first place, that " Gothic architecture
is that which uses, if possible, the pointed arch in the roof
proper." This is the first step in our definition.
§ lxxxii. Secondly. Although there may be many advisable or necessary forms for the lower roof or ceiling, there is,
in cold countries exposed to rain and snow, only one advisable
form for the roof-mask, and that is the gable, for this alone
will throw off both rain and snow from all parts of its surface
as speedily as possible. Snow can lodge on the top of a dome,
not on the ridge of a gable. And thus, as far as roofing is
concerned, the gable is a far more essential feature of Northern
architecture than the pointed vault, for the one is a thorough
| Title | The stones of Venice - 2 |
| Creator | Ruskin, John |
| Publisher | J. Wiley |
| Place of Publication | New York |
| Date | 1889 |
| Language | eng |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Title | 00000237 |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Transcript | VI. THE NATURE OF GOTHIC. 209 composed of round; and this distinction would be quite as clear, though the roofs were taken off every cathedral in Europe. And yet, if we examine carefully into the real force and meaning of the term "roof" we shall perhaps be able to retain the old popular idea in a definition of Gothic architecture which shall also express whatever dependence that architecture has upon true forms of roofing. § lxxxi. In Chap. XIII. of the first volume, the reader will remember that roofs were considered as generally divided into two parts; the roof proper, that is to say, the shell, vault, or ceiling, internally visible; and the roof-mask, which protects this lower roof from the weather. In some buildings these parts are united in one framework; but, in most, they are more or less independent of each other, and in nearly all Gothic buildings there is considerable interval between them. Now it will often happen, as above noticed, that owing to the nature of the apartments required, or the materials at hand, the roof proper may be flat, coved, or domed, in buildings which in their walls employ pointed arches, and vare, in the straitest sense of the word, Gothic in all other respects. Yet so far forth as the roofing alone is concerned, they are not Gothic unless the pointed arch be the principal form adopted either in the stone vaulting or the timbers of the roof proper. I shall say then, in the first place, that " Gothic architecture is that which uses, if possible, the pointed arch in the roof proper." This is the first step in our definition. § lxxxii. Secondly. Although there may be many advisable or necessary forms for the lower roof or ceiling, there is, in cold countries exposed to rain and snow, only one advisable form for the roof-mask, and that is the gable, for this alone will throw off both rain and snow from all parts of its surface as speedily as possible. Snow can lodge on the top of a dome, not on the ridge of a gable. And thus, as far as roofing is concerned, the gable is a far more essential feature of Northern architecture than the pointed vault, for the one is a thorough |
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