The Brochure Series

OF ARCHITECTURAL ILLUSTRATION.

THE CLOISTER AT MONREALE, NEAR PALERMO, SICILY.

The island of Sicily, being in form
nearly an equilateral triangle, with
one side facing towards Italy,
another towards Greece, and the
third, towards Africa, was a tempting field
for conquest to the various nations surrounding
it. It was successively overrun
by the Greeks, Carthaginians, and Romans,
and later, after the Christian era,
again successively by the Byzantines, the
Moors, and the Normans. Almost all of
the architectural remains of the older
periods belong to the time of the Greeks,
as neither the Carthaginians nor Romans
left much to show for their occupation
of the island. With the exception of
occasional ruined examples surviving
from the time of the Dorian Greeks who
colonized Sicily, most of the monuments
now existing belong to the Byzantine,
Saracenic, and Romanesque periods.
As would be natural to expect, the latter
influences are not clearly separable
one from another either in time or in
locality. They overlap in all directions;
but in general the Byzantine, which was
the earliest and most powerful element,
is found more strongly marked, and more
frequently on the east coast. It however
forms the groundwork and is the main
ingredient of all that follows. The Saracenic
work, which succeeds the Byzantine
in date, found a stronger foothold in
the South, on the coast nearest Africa;
and the influence of the Normans appears
in the North.

Every new race of masters in this frequent
recurrence of conquest found the
island already occupied by a very numerous
population of extremely various
origin. The newcomers could do no
more than add their own forms to those
previously in use; the consequence being
in every case a mixed style, containing
elements derived from every portion of
the inhabitants.

Palermo, being on the northern coast,
has felt the Norman influence strongly.
Its architecture is principally Romanesque
in form, with a generous admixture
of Byzantine and Saracenic motives in
detail and decoration. Exuberance of
detail and wealth of color are the rule.

Under the Norman conquerors the Sicilians
built as they were directed. Their
arts and their civilization were superior
to those of their masters, and the Normans
were apparently willing to make use of
this superiority, and merely adapted the
forms of decoration and methods of
construction which they found here in use
to their own needs and purposes. The
polychromatic decoration of the buildings
of this neighborhood, such as the interiors
of the Capella Palatina and the cathedral
at Monreale, ranks among the most successful,
if it be not the most successful,
work of its class now in existence. It is
thoroughly Oriental in character, although
applied to buildings intended for Roman
ritual. On account of the great superiority
of the Moors in art and civilization, not[37]
only to the Normans but to all the other
inhabitants at the time of the Norman
conquest, in the eleventh century, many
of the buildings of this period show very
little Norman influence. In fact the Oriental
character is so extreme in some
instances, such as the church of San Giovanni
degli Eremiti, that there is very
little to suggest that it was Norman and
intended for Norman uses.

The village of Monreale is situated on
the steep mountain-side about five miles
to the west of and overlooking the city
of Palermo. The cathedral and the
cloister-adjoining it on the south were
both parts of a Benedictine convent,
which is now mostly in ruins. They
were erected by King William the Second,
between the years 1174 and 1182, and
richly endowed by him. The plan of the
cathedral is that of a basilica.

The famous cloister, with coupled
columns and clusters of four in the corners,
and with a charming fountain and
a separate little square of cloisters around
it, as it were, in one corner of the open
space, is one of the most interesting
relics of Palermo. In arrangement it
follows the style universal in the countries
bordering on the Mediterranean,
that is, consisting of a pointed arcade
supported by small but elegant columns
of Corinthian design, grouped in pairs;
while in the North, in England, France,
and Germany, a cloister is formed of a
series of unglazed windows.

The columns surrounding the fountain,
which unfortunately cannot be seen in
the general view given in Plate XX., show
the richest decoration. The shafts are
either plain, rusticated, or covered with
patterns executed in relief or mosaic.

There appears to be some doubt as to
the date of this work, as the columns
have evidently been inserted since the
arches which spring from them were
built. The discrepancy will be seen in
Plates XVIII., XIX., and XX. The disproportion
of the dainty columns and
capitals to the heavy arches which are
entirely in keeping with the architecture
of the rest of the cathedral, but which
manifestly do not fit the columns, leads
to the conclusion that the columns were
a later addition, although probably
inserted soon after the other work was
completed.

XVII. Capitals from the Cloister of Monreale, Sicily.

XVII.

CAPITALS FROM THE CLOISTER OF MONREALE, SICILY.

The hybrid character of this work will
be perfectly evident at a glance. It
plainly belongs to none of the styles of
the North, but nevertheless has a distinct
character and unmistakable charm. The
use of mosaic originally placed in the
channels of the shafts added greatly to
the decorative effect and airiness of these
columns.

XVIII. Capitals from the Cloister of Monreale, Sicily.

XVIII.

CAPITALS FROM THE CLOISTER OF MONREALE, SICILY.

A common device in most of the Romanesque
cloisters for adding interest to
the long colonnade was the grouping of
two columns of dissimilar design. This
plan is followed here in treating the
mosaic inlay vertically in one and horizontally
in the other.

XIX. Capitals from the Cloister of Monreale, Sicily.

XIX.

CAPITALS FROM THE CLOISTER OF MONREALE, SICILY.

The design of the capitals shown in
this plate follows the Corinthian model
very closely.

XX. The Cloister of Monreale, Sicily.

XX.

THE CLOISTER OF MONREALE, SICILY.

In a later number of THE BROCHURE
SERIES another view of this most charming
building will be given. The portion
surrounding the fountain, with its groups
of four clustered columns, is, in many
respects, the most beautiful portion of the
structure This will be taken up later.

Ravenna Capitals.

With the reign of Constantine, and
the introduction of Christianity as the
acknowledged religion of Rome, Byzantine
art, as such, made its appearance.
The culture of Rome was transferred to
Byzantium, henceforth to be known as
Constantinople. Governed alternately
by Greek and by Persian, it had received
a strong Oriental character from
the Eastern nations, and had added to
the Greek subtlety and delicacy of expression
the Oriental love of detail. When
converted by Constantine into New
Rome, it became a perfect treasure
house of Eastern and Grecian art. The
Byzantine work, which spread over the
East in the sixth, seventh, and eighth[39]
centuries, is therefore a union of the
refinement of the Greek, the desire for
color and detail of the Oriental, and the
vigor of constructional invention and
conception of mass and grandeur of
the Roman. A portion of it was transplanted
to Ravenna during Justinian’s
reign, and there is a glorious afterglow in
the Venetian splendor of the tenth and
eleventh centuries. The three great centres
of Byzantine art work are Constantinople,
Ravenna, and Venice; and the
three most noted examples, the churches
of Sta. Sophia, S. Vitale, and St. Mark’s.
Apart from these, the cathedral at Monreale,
and the Capella Palatina in Palermo,
Sicily, represent a variation from the Byzantine
type affected by Moslem design.

From the time of Constantine to that
of Justinian, one hundred and fifty years,
is a period of formation. Under the
reign of Justinian, Byzantine art reached
its height. Prominent among its factors
is the use of mosaic, the influence of
which spread insidiously through its
whole system, until in the later work the
cornices and entablatures of classic design
withered into long thin lines of
moulding; projections which disturbed
the effect of color by the shadows they
cast were discarded; voussoirs disappeared
under a mosaic veil; surfaces
resolved themselves into broad expanses
of infinitely varied tones, bounded by
narrow but strongly contrasting bands and
borders of marble. All ornament had
resolved itself into surface decoration, or
as nearly that as possible.

In 539 Belisarius took Ravenna in the
name of the Emperor Justinian, and to
celebrate this event Justinian decided to
erect a magnificent monument in the
city. He chose to replace, by a more
important structure, the small church
dedicated to S. Vitale, and built by Néon
in the reign of Theodoric.

The wonderful basilica of Sta. Sophia
at Constantinople was just completed, and
the novelty of its plan and immense effect
Produced by its dome, a method of construction
entirely novel in Roman architecture,
doubtless excited the admiration
of the Emperor and led to the adoption
of a similar plan for S. Vitale. S. Vitale
18 by no means a copy of Sta. Sophia, but
unquestionably was strongly influenced
by it.

It was founded in 540, and consecrated
in 547. It is octagonal in plan, with an
inner structure of eight large piers,
arranged in a circle, connected by arches
which support a pendentive dome. Following
the custom then in vogue, its interior
is incrusted throughout with elaborate
mosaics in a wealth of color. The
most elaborate design and richest color
is used in the apse, which was the centre
of display in all Byzantine churches.

XXI. Capital from the Apse of the Church of S. Vitale, Ravenna, Italy.

XXI.

CAPITAL FROM THE APSE OF THE CHURCH OF
S. VITALE, RAVENNA, ITALY.

This is one of the most beautiful and
most characteristic capitals of the Byzantine
style. Its form and decoration are both
typical of the style. The flat treatment
of the interlace of the vine motive is very
generally used, and can be seen in great
variety in S. Vitale and elsewhere. The
ornament is here enriched with gold and
color. In the double capitals of Ravenna
the upper member, or cushion, is usually
ornamented with symbolic designs drawn
from various sources, both Pagan and
Christian.

XXII. Capital from the Church of S. Vitale, Ravenna, Italy.

XXII.

CAPITAL FROM THE CHURCH OF S. VITALE,
RAVENNA, ITALY.

Here again is the rhomboidal double
capital of a much more severe design
than that of the preceding plate, but with
a remarkable delicacy and refinement of
treatment.

XXIII. Capital from the Church of S. Vitale, Ravenna, Italy.

XXIII.

CAPITAL FROM THE CHURCH OF S. VITALE,
RAVENNA, ITALY.

This is a mean between the two extreme
types shown in Plates XXI. and XXII.

In all these examples the treatment of
the angles should be noted. Strong confining
lines, with a distinct upward tendency
of the ornament, contrasted with
the flat sides, contribute much to the
good effect of these capitals as constructive
members.

XXIV. Capital in the Museum of the Accademia di Belle Arti, Ravenna, Italy.

XXIV.

CAPITAL IN THE MUSEUM OF THE ACCADEMIA DI
BELLE ARTI, RAVENNA, ITALY.

Whether this capital was originally intended
for S. Vitale or some of the other
churches of Ravenna we cannot state,
but at all events it is a fitting companion
for the others illustrated in this number.

[41]

The Brochure Series

of Architectural Illustration.

PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY

BATES & GUILD,

6 BEACON STREET, BOSTON, MASS.

An illustrated catalogue has come to
be one of the important features of exhibitions
of architectural drawings, and
these catalogues are now exceedingly
valuable records of recent progress in
architecture. The contributions of the
present year to this department of an
architect’s library are especially notable.
Of the catalogues which have come to
our notice, that of the architectural
exhibition at the Academy of Fine Arts
in Philadelphia is in point of illustration
the most complete, and shows the
most judicious selection of material. In
this there was a marked endeavor to give
as large a number of geometrical drawings
as possible, and it is unquestionably
a move in the right direction. The desire
for the picturesque, which has been
until recently the ruling motive with
American architects, has had its day, and
trained and conservative designers have
gradually taken the place of the pyrotechnic
draughtsman of the past. The
change has been working gradually to be
sure, but scale and detail drawings both
in the exhibitions, which of necessity are
intended to appeal to a more or less
popular taste, and in the professional
journals are from year to year growing
more prominent. In their recognition
of this tendency, the Philadelphia catalogue
committee are to be highly commended.

The same trend may be observed in a
little less marked degree in the Architectural
League catalogue. The exhibitions
of the League have for years been
the models by which minor exhibitions
have been ruled, and its catalogue has
been a guide to all others. As usual there
is a great deal of valuable and interesting
material presented in its illustrations.

The Catalogue Committee of the St.
Louis exhibition have made a departure
from the general rule, and increased the
size of their pages, allowing the use of
much larger plates. In some of the
drawings this is a distinct advantage, and
their catalogue gains in consequence.

The Boston Society of Architects and
the Boston Architectural Club will hold
a joint exhibition in April, and their
catalogue now promises to be a very
creditable publication.

In the recent draughtsmen’s competitions,
Boston has been more than ordinarily
fortunate. The medal in both the
competitions of the Society of Beaux-Arts
Architects has come to Mr. F. M.
Mann, of the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, and a number of the first and
second mentions have also come to Boston.
In fact, nearly if not quite all the
designs sent from Boston have received
some recognition at the hands of the jury.

A complimentary dinner has been arranged
for by the M. I. T. Architectural
Society in honor of the winners of the last
competition.

The annual competition for the Architectural
League gold medal, which was
awarded to Mr. A. H. Wright, also resulted
in adding another victory to the
credit of Boston draughtsmen.

Interest in these contests is not purely
local, however, for Philadelphia, Rochester,
and several other cities have furnished
contributors and shared the honors. Mr.
H. L. Duhring, Jr., of Philadelphia, was
awarded the Architectural League silver
medal.

Fulfilling the bequest of the late Arthur
Rotch leaving $5,000 to the Boston
Architectural Club, this sum has been paid
to the treasurer of the club by the executors
of Mr. Rotch’s estate. The income
only is to be expended in the purchase
of books to form an architectural library.
This is only one of many indications
that the architectural clubs of the country
are recognized as permanent and established
institutions. With the spread of
this feeling their influence will grow in
importance, and as the working foundation
of the profession they deserve all
the encouragement that can be given
them.

[43]

The Cleveland
Architectural Club.

There are none of the now numerous
architectural associations of the country
which can more deservingly congratulate
themselves upon the early success of their
first few months of existence than the
Cleveland Architectural Club, which was
organized on the 22d of last November,
and is now only four months old.

Its original members, fifteen in number,
met in the office of Messrs. Coburn
& Barnum, and here the meetings for
the few succeeding weeks were also
held.

It soon became evident that a wide
field of usefulness was open to the new
organization, and a permanent location of
its own would become necessary. Such
a location in the heart of the city, with
all necessary conveniences, was found in
the Garfield Building, and the new rooms
have been properly fitted up for the use of
the club.

With the purpose of making the influence
of its work as far-reaching as possible,
the restriction which has commonly
been applied in other similar clubs,
limiting the membership to architects and
draughtsmen, or at least limiting the
number of non professional members, has
been entirely done away with, and any one
who may have an interest in architecture
or the “allied arts” is eligible for
membership. What will be the effect of this
arrangement it remains for the future to
decide. In some of the older clubs it
has been found by experience that the
professional membership was overbalanced
and its work impeded by a too large
non-professional element, and the professional
lines have been closely drawn in consequence.

The work thus far entered upon is
modest but of an important character,
and if pursued with the earnest purpose
which has marked the first few months
will lead to a fruitful future.

Of the monthly competitions in design
the one for March, the subject of which
is a scheme for the public buildings of
Cleveland, has attracted considerable
attention, and the public exhibition of
the designs will doubtless lead to profitable
discussion outside the club. A plan
which we believe has not been adopted
here, but which has been the means of
awakening considerable interest in the
study of design in the clubs of New York,
Philadelphia, and Boston, might possibly
be followed to advantage. In the January
number of The Brochure Series the
competitions instituted by the Society of
Beaux-Arts Architects were outlined. Of
course with all the numberless calls upon
his time, the average draughtsman does
not have the leisure to properly study and
render the drawings required in these
competitions; but by the joining of forces
four or five, or even more, men can
easily work out such a problem, and in
some respects the advantages to be
gained are greater than is the case when
an individual works alone. Several large
tables can be provided in the club-rooms,
and the problem worked up as a club design.
This plan has been followed in the
Boston Architectural Club with great
success.

The study of academic design is of the
utmost importance to the young architect,
and unfortunately the opportunities for
such study in the usual routine of office
practice are not very extensive. The
working out each season of two or three
such designs as those required by the
Beaux-Arts Society will be of material
benefit to the older men who are already
familiar with the academic methods of
design, and of much more benefit to the
younger men whose opportunities have
been more limited. The criticism and
suggestion of the older men in the profession
is easily obtained while the work
is in progress. Nothing could be better
calculated to foster a certain esprit de
corps, which is certainly a desirable quality
in any club.

The personnel of the Cleveland Club
is as follows: Benj. S. Hubbell, president;
Harry S. Nelson, vice-president; Herbert
B. Briggs, secretary; Perley H. Griffin,
librarian; E. E. Noble, treasurer; W. D.
Benes and Wilbur M. Hall, members of
the executive board. The officers and
Robert Allen, Frederick Baird, J. W.
Russell, G. B. Bohm, Williard Hirsh,
Ray Rice, Albert E. Skeel, and C. S.
Schneider constitute the charter membership.

[45]

Books.

Church of Sancta Sophia, Constantinople:
A Study of Byzantine Building.
By W. R. Lethaby and Harold Swainson.
Macmillan & Co. 1894. 307
pages with illustrations. $6.50.

It seems especially fitting that a notice
of Mr. Lethaby’s work on the church of
Sta. Sophia, or as he calls it Sancta
Sophia, should appear in the same issue
with the beautiful Byzantine capitals from
Ravenna, which we publish this month.
In the description of this work from
Ravenna, on another page, the connection
is pointed out between Constantinople,
the capital of the Roman Empire
in the East, and Ravenna, then the
Western capital.

The work before us is an important
and exhaustive study, both architecturally
and historically, of this beautiful building,
which Mr. Van Brunt has called “the
central building of the world.” Nothing
has ever been done in enriching interiors
which approaches in splendor the best
work of the Byzantine builders, and Sta.
Sophia, by general consent, is the most
beautiful of the Byzantine churches;
but its exterior is by no means without
faults, and its claim for distinction would
fall if supported only by this.

The book takes up in order the history
of Sta. Sophia, with citations of various
authorities for statements concerning its
early history; accounts of the various
vicissitudes through which it has passed;
its construction, lighting, details, mosaics,
etc., all carefully and conscientiously
described, the descriptive portion based
on a painstaking study of the building
itself. The illustrations which accompany
the text are numerous and excellent;
there is no attempt to furnish illustrations
at large scale, which are already
accessible in Salzenberg.

The monumental work of Salzenberg,
which has been the architect’s reference
book for Sta. Sophia, is referred to and
largely quoted from.

The two articles by Mr. Henry Van
Brunt and Prof. A. D. F. Hamlin, published
in The Architectural Review, Vol. II.,
No. 5, and Vol. III., No. 2, will be found
of considerable interest in connection
with Mr. Lethaby’s book.

Club Notes.

When in our January issue it was announced
that we should devote a certain
amount of space and attention to the
architectural clubs of the country, we had
no idea of the extent to which these
organizations had developed within the
last year or two. The work of a few of
the older clubs was familiar to us, but it
is a surprise to find that nearly every city
of importance in the United States has
an active and flourishing society of
draughtsmen and young architects. It
may be well to suggest right here that any
city which has not such an organization
should look to its laurels.

Among the newer accessions to the
ranks is the Baltimore Architectural
Club. It is fortunate in being able to
start with a strong, if limited membership.
It is holding weekly meetings,
and has already instituted a series of
monthly competitions in design, for which
a small cash prize is offered.

The list of officers is the best evidence
of its seriousness of purpose and ability
to accomplish an unlimited amount of
good work.

The officers are: president, J. E.
Sperry; vice-president, J. B. N. Wyatt;
secretary, Louis E. Simon; and E. F.
Baldwin, George Worthington, J. W. Case,
and W. G. Keimig, together with the
officers, constitute the Board of Control.

The Sketch Club of New York is following
the lead of the Chicago Architectural
Club in delegating to one or two
of its members the office of Entertainment
Committee for one evening, when these
members act as hosts and provide for the
entertainment of the club. This plan has
resulted in an increased attendance at the
meetings, and is giving general satisfaction.

An outgrowth of the Boston Architectural
Club which has shown a great deal
of vitality and in many ways justified its
claim to a separate existence is the little
club of twelve members known as the
“P. D’s.” Without organization and with
only the mutual desire for a sort of Bohemian
companionship, these congenial
spirits have worked together and amused
each other for the last two years.

[47]
They are all members of the Architectural
Club and among its most zealous
supporters.

The mystic monogram of the club, the
initials P and D contained in a circle,
which was placed on their designs submitted
in the two Beaux-Arts competitions,
has probably set more than one interested
person guessing its significance.
Its primary meaning is said to be “Poor
Draughtsmen.”

Preceding the last regular meeting of
the Philadelphia T Square Club an informal
supper was held at “Bohemia,” a
charming rathsheller recently designed
by Wilson Eyre, Jr., a member of the executive
committee of the club. The president,
Walter Cope, presided, while the
fifty-four members present lubricated their
supper with 158 steins of old musty ale.

The meeting which followed was of
unusual interest, as the double programme
brought forth a great many designs.

In the competition for a chapel located
on the terrace of a wealthy gentleman’s
country house, Albert Kelsey, who submitted
two sets of drawings, was fortunate
enough to win both first and second
mentions, while E. S. Powers was voted
third place.

The competition for a pedestal for a
monument was well contested, but the
winner of the first place failed to claim
his design. Mr. A. C. Munoz, a former
winner of the McKim Travelling Scholarship,
won second place; and Chas. Z.
Klauder, third.

To the list of Architectural Clubs contained
in our February issue should be
added the following:—

Baltimore Architectural Club; secretary,
Louis E. Simon, Builders’ Exchange
Building.

Cincinnati Architectural Club; secretary,
John E. Zettel, 227 Main St.

Society of Beaux-Arts Architects.

The Committee on Education proposes
as the subject for its third competition.

A LARGE CITY CHURCH

for an Episcopal parish.

The wealth of the congregation has
been lavished upon this building to give
it a special character of devotion and
beauty, to which the richness of material
and the sedate spirit of its classic architecture
alike contribute.

In addition to the vast body of the
church, which is to be so arranged as
to give an impression of amplitude and
splendor, provision should be made for
vestry, sacristy, and choir-room,
conveniently situated for the service of the
sanctuary. Two small chapels for the
celebration of minor services will be
situated so as to be accessible both from
the exterior and from the interior of the
church proper.

The plot of ground secured for the
building is rectangular, and measures two
hundred feet by four hundred feet, open
to streets on all sides.

Sketches of plan, elevation, and section,
at a scale of one thirty-second inch
to the foot, will be required of all students
wishing to compete; these sketches should
be made on opaque drawing paper, not
tracing paper, and forwarded not later
than 22d April, 1895, to Mr. John E.
Howe, 140 West 34th Street, New York City.

For the finished drawings the plan will
be rendered at a scale of one sixteenth
inch to the foot, the elevation and section
at twice that scale, and a detail at a
quarter of the size of execution. The
finished drawings should in every case be
mounted on stretchers. The address to
which they are to be forwarded will be
announced later. All drawings must be
sent on or before 24th June, 1895.

(Signed) Ernest Flagg, Chairman,
John M. Carrere,
John G. Howard,
Thomas Hastings,
Whitney Warren,
John E. Howe, Secretary, Committee on Education.

This competition is open to all students
of architecture. Conditions of judgment
and jury to be arranged by the committee.

1st April, 1895.