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[Illustration: IX. The Principal Doorway to the Cathedral at Trani, Italy.]




THE BROCHURE SERIES

OF ARCHITECTURAL ILLUSTRATION.

VOL. I. FEBRUARY, 1895. No. 2.

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BYZANTINE-ROMANESQUE DOORWAYS IN SOUTHERN ITALY.


The illustrations chosen for this issue are all from the Byzantine
Romanesque work in the province of Apulia, that portion of Southern
Italy familiar in school-boy memory as the heel of the boot. Writers
upon architecture have found it difficult to strictly classify the
buildings of this neighborhood, as in fact is the case with most of the
medieval architecture of Italy, although the influences which have
brought about the conditions here seen are in the main plainly evident.
The traditions and surroundings, of Roman origin, were modified by trade
and association with the Levant through the commerce of Venice and Pisa,
resulting in a style embodying many of the characteristics of both the
Romans and the builders of Byzantium. Oftentimes these characteristics
are so blended and modified by one another as to be entirely
indistinguishable, while at other times features unquestionably
belonging to the Romanesque or the Byzantine will be found side by side.
An illustration of the latter condition may be seen in the two views of
the doorway to the cathedral of Trani. (Plates IX. and X.) On account of
the intimate relations maintained during the Middle Ages between this
province and Magna Grecia, and it may be partly on account of the
comparative remoteness from the principal cities of the north, the
Byzantine influence is here more strongly marked than in the cities of
Central and Northern Italy.

According to the classification adopted by Fergusson, the church of San
Miniato at Florence is one of the oldest examples and a good type of
this rather mixed style. It was built about the year 1013. It is
rectangular in plan, nearly three times as long as wide, with a
semicircular apse. Internally it is divided longitudinally into aisles,
and transversely into three nearly square compartments by clustered
piers, supporting two great arches which run up to the roof. The whole
of the inner compartment is occupied by a crypt or under church open to
the nave, above which is the choir and altar niche, approached by
flights of steps in the aisles. This general arrangement is followed
more or less closely in the churches at Bittonto, Bari, Altamura, Ruvo,
Galatina, Brindisi, and Barletta. The scale of the southern churches is,
however, much smaller than those of the north, the width of the nave of
the cathedral at Trani being only 50 feet, and the length 167 feet,
while the corresponding dimensions of the cathedral at Pisa, which is
referred to by Fergusson as the most notable example of this style in
the north, are 106 x 310 feet.

In these smaller churches, as far as external treatment is concerned,
the main attention is devoted to the principal façade, and here most of
the ornament is usually covered with a rich hood supported by pillars
resting on monsters, following the custom prevalent throughout Italy
during this period. Above this is either a gallery or one or two
windows, and the whole generally terminates in a circular rose window
filled with tracery.

[Illustration: X. The Principal Doorway to the Catherdral at Trani, Italy.]

Fergusson's final summing up of the architecture of this neighborhood
can scarcely be considered too enthusiastic in the light of the eight
illustrations here given. He says: "No one who takes the pains to
familiarize himself with the architecture of these Southern Italian
churches can well fail to be impressed with their beauty. That beauty
will be found, however, to arise not so much from the dimensions or
arrangement of their plans, or the form of their outline, as from the
grace and elegance of their details. Every feature displays the feeling
of an elegant and refined people, who demanded decoration as a
necessity, though they were incapable of rising to any great
architectural conception. They excelled as ornamentists, though at best
only indifferent architects."

The examples of doorways chosen for illustrating this number
unquestionably show the work of men who labored for the enjoyment and
satisfaction to be got from their work. This is sufficiently evident in
the results before us. Its logical and constructive bearing can of
course be called in question, as in fact is the case with all but the
merest fraction of the architectural efforts of the world. As decoration
we can but admire the masterly way in which the ornament is distributed,
the refined sense of scale and proportion, and the skilful and subtle
treatment of light and shade, even if the detail of the ornament itself
is crude and archaic.

In making the choice of these subjects this point was kept in mind, and
they are not offered as material which can be cut out in portions of the
size and shape desired and transferred bodily by the designer to
embellish a modern masterpiece, in the manner in which the Gothic
architects of Venice used their patterns of window tracery. These plates
show certain qualities in decorative design in their fullest and best
development, and are on this account invaluable as suggestions to
designers of the present day. For "cribbing material" they do not stand
for much; but this should not be counted as against their usefulness,
for the draughtsman who has not advanced beyond the "cribbing" stage has
much still to learn before he can do the best and most satisfactory
work.


IX. and X.

PRINCIPAL DOORWAY TO THE CATHEDRAL AT TRANI, ITALY.

The cathedral at Trani dates from about the middle of the twelfth
century. Its main features have been indicated above in describing the
general characteristics of the class of churches to which it belongs.
The bronze doors shown in the illustration were made in 1160, and are
exceptionally fine examples of the work of this period.


XI.

PRINCIPAL DOORWAY TO THE CATHEDRAL AT CONVERSANO, ITALY.

Doorways of this general design are so familiar in the so-called
Romanesque architecture of our American cities that it seems almost like
an old friend; but we regret to say that most of our American designs
would hardly show to advantage if compared side by side with this.


XII.

PORTION OF THE FACADE OF THE BASILICA AT ALTAMURA, ITALY.

The remarkable sense of spotting and distribution of ornament shown in
the designing of this facade can hardly be too much commended. The
strong light and long slanting shadows of the photograph are well
calculated to emphasize this quality in the design, and we can readily
find justification here for the estimate of Fergusson quoted above.


XIII. and XIV.

PRINCIPAL DOORWAY TO THE BASILICA AT ALTAMURA, ITALY, AND DETAIL OF THE
SAME.


XV.

DOOR OF MADONNA DI LORETO, TRANI, ITALY.


XVI.

ENTRANCE TO THE CHURCH OF THE ROSARY, TERLIZZI, ITALY.


[Illustration: XI. The Principal Doorway to the Cathedral at Conversano,
Italy.]




#Advice to Young Architects.#


Prof. Aitchison's Royal Academy Lectures upon Architecture should be
read by all students who can obtain access to them, and this is not
really very difficult to accomplish, as they are always reported at
length in the English architectural periodicals, and then usually
reprinted without credit by one or more of the American papers. The
latest one, reported in the _Builder_ of Feb. 16, is that delivered on
Feb. 4, under the general title "The Advancement of Architecture." It
deals in a common-sense fashion with the aesthetics of architecture, and
contains many valuable suggestions upon the study and practice of
architecture as an art. The three following quotations are well worth
attentive reading:--

"Swift, in his 'Letters to a Young Clergyman,' says: 'I cannot forbear
warning you in the most earnest manner against endeavoring at wit in
your sermons, because, by the strictest computation, it is very near a
million to one that you have none.' Perhaps that would be good advice to
all who consciously seek for what is called originality, which is mostly
attained by exaggeration, disproportion, and oddness of arrangement;
real originality only comes from original minds, and will in that case
show itself properly and naturally, just as wit shows itself
spontaneously in the witty; for surely those original architects, who
have only been able to raise in us emotions of contempt or disgust,
would have been judicious had they abstained from the attempt. I think
that most architectural students, if they will only study the best
buildings, will make their plans to accurately answer the purposes
wanted, including the efficient lighting of the rooms, will study the
Vitruvian symmetry until their eye revolts from disproportion, will try
and make their profiles tell the story they want told, and will try and
bring such parts that, from the exigencies of the case, obtrude
themselves in odd places into harmony with the whole, that they will
produce an effect which will raise their buildings to the dignity of
humanity, and out of the range of the dog-kennel and rabbit-hutch type,
and will not exhibit ugliness, disproportion, or vulgarity. We see
plenty of examples where the designs have sunk much below this level; no
building of dead walls, with holes in it for doors and windows, could
cause us such disgust. Let me here say, by way of a parenthesis, that
if you candidly consider that your design is more offensive than a dead
wall, do not waste money and materials in making the wall more
repulsive, but let it alone."

"Any one can be original if he be only impudent enough; any one can be
graceful if he is servile enough to copy: but to be both original and
graceful requires deep study, much striving, and natural talent."

"I have also to remind you that architecture cannot be brought into
vigorous life again, so long as architects insist on using old forms for
beauty that are inseparable from a construction that has been abandoned;
so long as this practice persists, so long will architecture be a kind
of potted art; to be vigorous it must learn how to take the materials,
and construction that would be ordinarily used in buildings for purely
practical purposes, and give to these materials and this construction
forms that will excite the proper emotions. You must not suppose that I
mean that if you have a vast hall, or what not, that because you can put
an iron trussed roof over it from wall to wall, that this will make it
into a hall that will raise emotions. You will only get a rail-way
platform or a coal shed. You have got to set your wits to work to see
how it can be properly brought within the pale of aesthetics, and not
only as to the shapes and proportions of the parts, but the dividing of
the whole by supports. It is probable that if you were obliged to vault
a cathedral in stone, with no more money than was necessary, and to have
a clearstory to it, that you could not do it cheaper, and perhaps not
better, than the Gothic architects did it; but to vault such a building
in stone when you could do it much cheaper and better with iron ribs and
concrete is, in my opinion, _dilettante_ art. Groins are not beautiful
things, but, on the contrary, are ugly, and we should wish to obviate
their ugliness if we could; but when they were merely unavoidable
methods of cheap construction, we admire them for the invention and
skill of their architects, and we have to some extent got to love even
their ugliness from old association; though perhaps the ribs at
Westminster Abbey, as seen from the west end, are not offensive."

[Illustration: XII. A Portion of the Façade of the Basilica at Altamura,
Italy.]




The Brochure Series of Architectural Illustration.

PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY

BATES & GUILD,

6 BEACON STREET, BOSTON, MASS.

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Subscription Rates per year . 50 cents, in advance
Special Club Rate for five subscriptions . . $2.00.

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All who wish for a complete file of THE BROCHURE SERIES should send in
their subscriptions at once, as owing to the necessity of limiting the
edition of the first numbers and the impossibity of reprinting when this
edition is exhausted, subscriptions will have to date from the current
number at the time the order is received. Until the present stock gives
out, all subscriptions will be dated from the January number, but no
copies will be reserved for this purpose after April 1.

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Response to the call for subscriptions to THE BROCHURE SERIES has been
gratifyingly prompt and generous. The first subscriber was Mr. George B.
Howe, 13 Walnut Street, Boston, the architect of the New Hampshire State
Building at the World's Fair. The first club came from the office of
Longfellow, Alden & Harlow, and was made up as follows: F.B. Wheaton,
R.T. Walker, H.W. Gardner, H.M. Seaver, and J.H. Buttimer. This was
closely followed by a club of eight from the office of Shepley, Rutan &
Coolidge, and another of five from the office of Edwin J. Lewis. The
first response from out of town was a club of five from the office of
Martin & Hall of Providence, R.I. Others "too numerous to mention" came
along in quick succession, and the new magazine may now be considered
well launched on its trial trip.

       *       *       *       *       *

As the plan of THE BROCHURE SERIES is unique in architectural
journalism, much of the work to be done during its first year will
necessarily be, to a certain extent, experimental. Although the
publishers have for a number of years tried to keep as closely as
possible in touch with the profession throughout the country, the
diversity of tastes to which the new magazine is intended to appeal, and
the practical requirements which it is intended to meet, make even the
simple matter of selecting proper material for publication a difficult
task. Consequently suggestions or criticisms which may lead to its
improvement in any particular will be welcome.

       *       *       *       *       *

The design used for the cover of THE BROCHURE SERIES is the result of a
competition in which twenty-three drawings were submitted, and is the
work of Charles Edward Hooper of 250 West 14th Street, New York. The
other competitors, whose designs were all of a high order of excellence,
were: J. Mills Platt, Charles S. King, Francis S. Swales, Edwin S.
Gordon, Fred A. Miller, J.F. Strobel, Jr., George E. Roberts, of
Rochester, N.Y.; G.H. Ingraham, E.P. Dana, F.H. Hutchins, C.E. Patch, of
Boston; J.W. Cinder, W.B. Papin, H.G. Helmerichs, of St. Louis; Louis E.
La Baume, H.H. Braun, of New York City; and Stephen W. Dodge, of
Brooklyn.

       *       *       *       *       *

Following out the general plan adopted in the first two issues, which,
contrary to the expectation of the publishers, has proved even so soon
an important feature of the magazine, the illustrations in the next two
numbers will be made up of related subjects. The March number will have
a collection of capitals (Byzantine and Romanesque) from Ravenna and
Palermo, and the April number eight windows from Apulia, of the same
general character as the doorways in the present number.




#Hints to Draughtsmen.#


Architectural students and draughtsmen will find the series of papers
begun in the Feb. 16 number of the _American Architect_, entitled "Hints
to Art Students on Travelling Abroad," filled with valuable suggestions.
The writer of these papers is Mr. J.W. Case, the latest of the Rotch
scholars returned. In the first paper Mr. Case points out the
desirability of preparatory training in academic design, drawing,
modelling, etc., and a knowledge of architectural history and of the
French language in order that the student may make the best use of the
opportunities open to him. He continues with a number of useful hints
upon the best methods to pursue in gaining this preparatory training.

[Illustration: XIII. The Principal Doorway to the Basilica at Altamura,
Italy.]

The second paper is devoted to practical suggestions of such immediate
value that it is worth while to quote a portion of them in full:--

"To get the most good out of a trip, one should be prepared to work in
all sorts of ways,--to make measured drawings, sketches, color notes,
squeezes, rubbings, sections with the lead; to study from plates and
make T-square sketches, scratch-book notes, photographic notes, and
memory sketches.

"Travelling students are apt to place too much value on perspective
sketches. Good ones make a nice showing on returning home, but they are
of little value to any one but the maker. It is usually possible to find
photographs of the things over which one spends so many hours making
pretty sketches. But sketches do have a certain value in teaching
rendering, and encourage the habit of observing closely the effect of
light and shade.

"Beautiful pencil sketches may be made on English metallic paper by
simply drawing the shadows on carving in full sunshine: colored papers
are very useful to gain quick effects with the use of Chinese white. A
pad of Whatman water-color paper, imperial size, is much better to work
on than a small cramped little book; and it may be used as a
drawing-board, thus diminishing the number of articles to carry. The
T-square will run along the edge of the block well enough for sketches,
but it is better to carry a straight-edge to clamp on the edge of the
block with thumb-screws for the square to work on. Have a canvas bag
made with a flap in which to carry the block. It will keep out the dirt
and dust of travel and be of great service.

"Sometimes valuable color notes are to be had in crowded buildings where
it is not convenient to sit down and make a large study. For such cases
a small pocket water-color block will be very useful. There is a small
vest-pocket water-color box carrying six colors, which may be set over
the thumb, a water-bottle attached, and with it one can stand unobserved
in a corner and get color notes which otherwise must be passed by. In
studying fresco painting, tempera is very useful. It is mixed up with
water and applied to paper, but may be worked over in the manner of
oils,--a great advantage in making studies.

"The _chambre éclaire_ is invaluable as an aid to drawing, in blocking
out water-colors. It will enable one to make a drawing in an hour which
otherwise would require all day. It is an instrument little known
outside of Paris, but is much in use there among architects. It consists
of a prism mounted on a telescoping leg which may be fastened to the
drawing-board. The eye looks through the prism and sees the building
reflected on the paper; all that remains to do is to trace this outline.
It does not teach one to draw, but it does save time, and produces
better drawings than can be made without it. The best place to buy them
is of Cevalier, on the Seine, near the Pont Netif, Paris. Only those
with the best prisms are of any use: such a one, with two adjustments
only, can be had for sixty-five francs. The table which is necessary for
its use costs fifteen francs additional; that is, a total cost of
sixteen dollars. In buying a table, be sure and get one with sliding
legs which can be taken off the head and packed flat.

"One of the very best ways to study, and one which has very direct
tangible results, is by the aid of printed plates. Take such a book as
Letarouilly's _Edifices de Rome Moderne_. Go to the buildings themselves
and compare the drawing with the building; see what drawings on paper
really mean when executed; mark up the plate; note the proportion of
masses, the size of ornament, the relative proportion of openings, and
wall spaces, the effect of color and texture, and the use of material.
Make suggestions for better ornament, proportion, etc., and then go home
and make a new design with all the improvements you have noted.

"The reverse of this method is, to sit down in front of the building
with T-square and triangle and translate the perspective building back
on to paper in elevation.

[Illustration: XIV. Detail of the Principal Doorway to the Basilica at
Altamura, Italy.]

"These two methods will aid one to tell from a drawing how the building
will actually look when executed. It will give an idea of the scale of
ornament, if a cornice looks just the right size on a certain building,
the plate will tell you just how high that is. The T-square sketch is
very valuable in cultivating the sense of proportion. Draw to scale such
parts of the sketch as can be easily measured, and put in the remainder
in proportion, and make these sketches at the scale at which you are
used to working in the office. They will be of immense advantage in
giving you a sense of absolute scale.

"There is such a thing as 'absolute scale,' and scale is not simply
proportion. A drawing might be made in good proportion, and the building
look well if executed a thousand feet long, and yet lose all its
effectiveness if executed but one hundred feet in length, the relative
proportions of the parts remaining the same. It is a fact that certain
designs, which look well on paper, will not look well in execution,
except at a large scale. Therefore it is valuable in making a sketch to
put on it some of the measurements; and freehand sketches with
measurements marked on them have a value in giving absolute scale.

"The back of a photograph is a very convenient place on which to make
notes of the building itself, in regard to color, material, suggested
changes, etc., and will be very useful in recalling the building to
memory.

"Measuring buildings and drawing them out to scale is solid
architectural work, and nothing else can take its place. It gives a
realization of the actual size and appearance of things, and brings to
notice the stone-jointing, sections of mouldings, vaulting, roofing, and
construction in general. Measured work must be done very accurately, or
else the results have no more value than approximate measures on
sketches.

"The drawing should be made exactly as the building exists, without any
change or improvement, or else the drawing will lose a great deal of its
value as a basis for study. Many of Letarouilly's are nearly valueless
as data for study because he has improved on the original, and thus his
drawing does not represent the building as it actually exists.

"A good method of measuring buildings is to measure first the general
dimensions and block out the building on paper at a small scale, then
measure up windows, columns, etc., and set off full-size sections of all
the mouldings with a strip of thin lead, such as may be had at any
whole-sale lead store: only the thinnest sheet-lead will work, as the
thicker leads are too stiff to bend. The large final drawings can then
be made away from the building. It is important to draw out the building
completely at a small scale, however, as it is very annoying when making
the final drawing far away from the building to find that some important
dimension has been forgotten.

"The ordinary tape stretches so much in long dimensions that it is
inaccurate. It is best to get a tape with a metallic strip in it, and it
should be at least fifty feet long in order to take dimensions over all,
which is much more accurate than measuring with a short tape from point
to point.

"The metric system is very convenient, but it is better for American
students to use the English measure that they will have to use in
practice, and take the tape over with them, for it is difficult to find
them on the Continent. A sliding measuring-rod is nearly indispensable,
and it will be most convenient to carry if it folds up to the length of
the imperial drawing pad. Two large triangles are very useful in getting
the projection of mouldings, as they can be held together to form a
right angle."

[Illustration: XV. Door of the Madonna di Loreto, Triani, Italy.]




#Books.#


_Verona and Other Lectures_. By John Ruskin, D.C.L., LL.D. New York:
Macmillan & Co., 1894. 8vo, pp. 204, plates xii. $2.50.


The art of Northern Italy has furnished the text for a very considerable
part of the writings of Mr. Ruskin, and there is no one writer among
those who have ventured to investigate and write upon this extremely
engrossing subject whose work has so great an interest for the
architect, or in fact is of so much value to him. It is not necessary
to agree with all of Mr. Ruskin's elaborate theories or to unqualifiedly
admire his drawings in order to find much of real value in his books. No
student of architecture can afford _not_ to read "The Stones of Venice,"
and there are few books which should take precedence over it in the
formation of an architect's library.

Apropos of the illustrations in the last number of THE BROCHURE SERIES,
in the descriptive notices of which we had occasion to refer to Mr.
Ruskin, his latest published work will be found interesting. The title,
"_Verona and other Lectures_," does not convey a very complete idea of
the contents of the book. None of the five lectures included is strictly
architectural in subject matter, and but one, the first, "Verona and its
Rivers," has any direct bearing upon architecture, and this only from
the historical side. The illustrations, with a single exception from
drawings by the author, although lacking in most of the qualities of
good draughtsmanship, are well worth examination and study. Plates II.
and V., "A Fountain at Verona," and "The Castelbarco Tomb, Sta.
Anastasia, Verona," the first made in 1841 and the second in 1835, are
from the point of view of the architect the most interesting. They are
both pencil sketches, the first accented with a few touches of wash in
the shadows and darker portions of the drawing. Plate IX. represents the
angle of the Ducal Palace, Venice, the same given as the frontispiece in
the last issue of THE BROCHURE SERIES. It would hardly be possible to
come nearer the same point of view if the coincidence were intentional.
In the comparison which this forces upon Mr. Ruskin very naturally
suffers, as might be expected, from the fact that his training in
drawing was not the most thorough. His proportions are somewhat faulty
and the detail is only vaguely suggested, in fact this is more or less
true of all his drawings. Nevertheless the book will be welcome to many
architects for the valuable suggestions it contains both in text and
illustrations; and the author's wonderful and fascinating literary style
is here as unmistakably in evidence as in any of his older works. This
alone is sufficient inducement to tempt the reader to take it up.




#Club Notes.#


At the suggestion of several subscribers, the addresses are given below
of the secretaries of the principal architectural clubs as far as they
are known to us, but there are several omissions and possibly some
mistakes. In order that these associations may be of as great mutual
assistance to each other as possible, through correspondence, the
exchange of notices of competitions, etc., it is requested that any not
included in the following list will communicate the desired information
to the editor of THE BROCHURE SERIES. Corrections or additions will be
made in later issues, and the various secretaries will confer a favor by
keeping the editor informed of any changes of address or organization.


LIST OF CLUBS.

Sketch Club of New York, club rooms 1473 Broadway; recording secretary,
Alfred F. Evans; corresponding secretary, Hobart A. Walker.

Boston Architectural Club, rooms 5 Tremont Place; secretary, F. Manton
Wakefield.

The T-Square Club, Philadelphia, rooms Broad and Pine Streets;
secretary, A.C. Munoz, 212 South Third Street.

Chicago Architectural Club, rooms 274 Michigan Avenue; secretary, John
Robert Dillon.

St. Louis Sketch Club; secretary, E.G. Garden, Telephone Building.

Art League, Milwaukee, Wis.; secretary, Elmer Grey, 904 Winchester
Street.

St. Paul Architectural Sketch Club, rooms 239-241 Endicott Building;
secretary, John Rachac, Jr.

Cleveland Architectural Club, rooms 1002 Garfield Building; secretary,
Herbert B. Briggs.

Denver Architectural Sketch Club; president, William Cowe, 706 Cooper
Building.

Rochester Sketch Club, secretary, G.F. Crump, Wilder Building.

The Architectural League of New York, American Fine Arts Society
Building; secretary, Charles I. Berg, 10 West 23d Street.

The Society of Beaux Arts Architects. New York City.

[Illustration: XVI. Entrance to the Church of the Rosary, Terlizzi,
Italy.]