most important principles of the Gothic vault. The apse of Morienval, therefore, rather than that of St. Denis, must be regarded as the first step known to us on the way to the Gothic style. The full value and far-reaching consequences of what was here rudely accomplished were, indeed, not yet recognised; but everything was sure in time to follow on such a beginning.
Between Morienval and St. Denis no intermediate steps in the line of progress can now be traced. Yet it would seem that such must have existed; for not only does St. Denis show a consistent advance in the direction that had been indicated at Morienval, but the mastery of the new principles, the skill of execution, and the comparative lightness and elegance of the work, are such, that it is hard to believe so much could have been accomplished at a single stride.
Of the work wrought under Suger at St. Denis the greater part has been destroyed; but the aisles of the choir and apse and the apsidal chapels remain in excellent condition. The construction is on a much larger scale than that of Morienval, and in place of the rudimentary apsidal aisle we have here amply developed double aisles to both apse and choir—foreshadowing the vast and magnificent aisles of Paris, Chartres, and Amiens,—whose vaults show no sign of hesitation and little executive imperfection. They are furnished with a full system of sustaining ribs, of which the transverse and longitudinal ones are pointed. The diagonals are round arches, and project vigorously, effectually strengthening the groins. Their intersection is far above the crowns of the enclosing arches, and the cells are thus necessarily much domed. [1] Here, for the first time among existing monuments, does the rib system wholly determine the forms and constitute the strength of the vaults. The architect of St. Denis was a master of the principles involved in his scheme. His complex plan is carried out in all its details with astonishing sureness. [2] In the curved compartments of the apsidal aisle, for instance, the difficulty which in Morienval
- ↑ More or less doming is a constant characteristic of French-Gothic vaults. The courses of masonry, from rib to rib, are all distinctly arched, and the ridges of the cells are consequently arched also, even in Amiens Cathedral.
- ↑ See Viollet-le-Duc, Dict. s.v. Trait, p. 201, et seq.; and Voute, pp. 503-505.
