[1]

The Mentor

“A Wise and Faithful Guide and Friend”

BEAUTIFUL BUILDINGS of the WORLD

TAJ MAHAL THE ALHAMBRA AMIENS CATHEDRAL

SALISBURY CATHEDRAL CHÂTEAU de CHAMBORD NEW YORK CITY HALL

By CLARENCE WARD

Professor of Architecture, Rutgers College

Beauty in architecture is as difficult to define as beauty in nature.
No single factor renders a building beautiful. Size and proportion,
style and decoration, age and setting, all enter into account.
And moreover there is the power a building possesses to appeal to the
ideals of the beholder, to his mind as well as to his sight and touch. Even
when judged from this broad viewpoint, the number of beautiful buildings
in the world is legion. It would be impossible to point to anyone as the
finest, or even to select a dozen without leaving a dozen more that were
equally beautiful. Every age, and every nation, has left to us some crowning
achievements of the builder’s art. The following are therefore merely
selections from this storehouse, illustrating to some degree the wealth of
architectural treasures that is our heritage.

Few if any buildings in the world have been the subject of such praise
as that bestowed upon the Taj Mahal (“Gem of Buildings”). Travelers,[2]
painters, authors, and poets have all sought to express in word or
color the indefinable charm of this gem of Indian art. Built at Agra, in
India, by the great mogul of Delhi, Shah Jahan, as a tomb for his favorite
wife, Mumtaz Mahal, the Taj is a veritable translation into stone of
human remembrance and affection. It was begun in 1632, and was completed
in twenty-two years. The material of which it is built is
pure white marble, and inlaid in its walls are jaspers, agates, and other
stones in marvelous designs. But it is perhaps the dome that gives
the greatest beauty to this tomb. Of typical Eastern shape, it rises a
mass of white against the deep blue of the Indian sky, or shines like
silver in the radiance of the Indian moon.

THE WORLD’S MOST BEAUTIFUL TOMB

It cannot be denied that the Taj Mahal (tahzh mah-hahl´) owes much
of its beauty to its setting. Not merely has it the contrast of the brilliant
sky above, but also the deep green of the gardens at its feet, and more
than this the four tall, graceful minarets standing like sentinels at the
corners of the marble terrace on which the tomb is placed. The interior
is scarcely less impressive than this outside view. Its subdued light
serves only to show more clearly the beauty of the garlands of red and
blue and green inlaid along its walls as never-withering memorials of the
queen who sleeps beneath the lofty dome.

THE TAJ MAHAL

The approach through the splendid gardens seen in the foreground is bordered by dark cypress trees, which contrast
admirably with the color of the marble domes beyond.

[3]

It is perhaps beside her tomb that the traveler sees a vision of the
proud and mighty Jahan, cruel in many ways, but steadfast in his love,
building this glorious resting place for his fair consort, whom he called
by the familiar name of Taj. One may see even farther still and picture
to himself this once proud ruler, bereft of all his power and even of his
throne, looking out from his chamber window toward this same Taj
Mahal. Perhaps its wondrous dome gleamed in the moonlight on that
last night before he came to rest beneath its shades as it gleams today to
the enraptured gaze of thousands who take the pilgrimage to Agra to see
this wonder of the Eastern world.

THE PALACE OF THE MOORISH KINGS

It is not such a step as it may seem from the Taj Mahal to the
Alhambra (al-ham’-bra). Both
are oriental. Both are the products
of Mohammedan art, and
mark in a way its Eastern and
its Western expressions. As
early as the eighth century
of our era the Moors of northern
Africa crossed to Spain and
made the Iberian peninsula a
Moorish califate or kingdom.
Its capital and last stronghold
was Granada. And here on a
lofty hill, overlooking the city,
King or Calif Al Hamar began
the mighty fortress of the
Alhambra in the early years
of the thirteenth century.

COURT OF THE MYRTLES, ALHAMBRA

The pool is bordered on both sides by beautiful old hedges.

As is the case with almost
every Mohammedan building,
its exterior is extremely plain.
But once the door is passed one
seems to have stepped from Europe
to the Orient. Courtyards
and porticos, halls and passages,
open before the visitor in a truly
oriental maze of color and decoration. The first important court is
known as that of the Myrtles. In its center is a marble basin a hundred
and thirty feet long, bordered with trees of myrtle and orange, and
flanked at both ends by two-storied pavilions with slender marble shafts[4]
and graceful Moorish arches. From
one of these pavilions opens the Hall
of the Ambassadors, the throne room
of the califs, and the largest chamber
in the palace.

THE ALHAMBRA’S BEAUTY

But it is not its size that makes
this room imposing. Here, as elsewhere
in the palace, it is the decoration.
Rising for three or four feet
from the floor is a band of colored
Moorish tiles. All the wall above is
of stucco, molded in lacelike patterns
and painted in blues and reds and
brilliant golden yellows. The designs
are largely geometrical or floral, frequently
interspersed with Arabic
inscriptions. Some of these when
translated read, “God is our refuge,”
“Praise be to God,” familiar phrases
in Mohammedan faith, or “There
is no conqueror but God.” Add to
this decoration of the walls imposing
stalactite domes, and ceilings often
of cedarwood inlaid with mother of
pearl, and imagine the floors and
windows again adorned with oriental
rugs and hangings, and the beauty of
the Alhambra will be easily understood.

HALL OF REPOSE OF THE BATHS, ALHAMBRA

THE GATE OF JUSTICE

A part of the Alhambra palace not well preserved.

But neither the Court of the
Myrtles nor the Hall of the Ambassadors
is the crowning glory of the
palace. This honor belongs to the
Court of the Lions. One hundred
and sixteen by sixty-six feet in size,
this court compares with any apartment
in the world for pure, exquisite
beauty of design. An open portico,
its ceiling borne on a hundred and
twenty-four slender and beautiful
marble columns and delicately ornamented[5]
arches, incloses the central space, in the middle of which rises
a magnificent fountain, its basin cut from a single giant block of alabaster,
and supported on the backs of twelve lions of white marble, emblems of
courage and strength.

INTERIOR OF THE ALHAMBRA

Arched window in the “Tower of the Captivity of Isabel.”

It is small wonder that the last of the Moorish kings, Boabdil (bo-ahb-deel´),
looked back with many tears at this glorious palace as he
surrendered it in 1492 to his
Christian conqueror Ferdinand.
Sadly indeed he and his
followers must have crossed
again to the dreary deserts of
Africa, since they left behind
them the whole fair land of
Spain, which they had adorned
not merely with the Alhambra,
but with the Alcázar at Seville,
the mosque at Cordova,
and other monuments of their
civil and religious greatness.

THE GREAT CATHEDRALS

At the very period when
the Mohammedan conquerors
of Spain were building their
palace of the Alhambra, the
Christians of northern France
were erecting those vast cathedrals
which stand today as the
crowning achievements of the
builder’s art. Paris, Chartres
(shahrtr), Bourges (boorzh), Rheims (reemz), Rouen (roo-ong´), Le Mans
(lee-mong´), Beauvais (bo-vay´) and Amiens (ah-mee-ong´) are but a few
of the long list of French Gothic cathedrals of the twelfth and thirteenth
centuries. From such a list it is most difficult to choose. Each one has its
distinctive claim to recognition, and its distinctive features which are not
surpassed in any of the others. This fact, indeed, has caused it to be said
that the ideal cathedral should have the façade of Rheims, the spires of
Chartres, the nave of Amiens, and the choir of Beauvais. But even such
an ideal cathedral would not be perfect without the addition of features
from each of the other churches in our list.

[6]

Since, however, it is necessary to choose, let us choose Amiens; for
perhaps this church is most widely acknowledged as the finest example
of the Gothic style. Its façade is a masterpiece of decoration. Three
deeply recessed portals in the lower story are covered with a wealth of
sculptured figures in the round and in relief. Bible lessons and the
events of human life and history, carved here in stone, taught the terrors
of sin and hell and the joys of a godly life as preached in the church
beyond these lofty doors. Nor is the decoration confined to sculpture;
for the whole façade, and in fact the entire church, is a tracery of stone.

SOUTH PORTAL OF AMIENS CATHEDRAL

The statue of the Virgin which stands in the portal replaces that of
St. Honoré, which was moved to the north transept. The carvings
about the south portal are taken from the life of St. Honoré.

NAVE OF AMIENS CATHEDRAL

It is from a side view, however, that Amiens shows at its best the
true glory of Gothic architecture. Nearly five hundred feet long and over
two hundred feet to the ridge line of the roof, it rises high above the
buildings of the city in which
it stands, a symbol of the
supremacy of spiritual over
earthly things. To be sure
it has its faults. The towers
are too low and the central
spire is of awkward shape;
but the huge windows, with their tracery
in geometric patterns, occupying the
entire space between the buttresses, and
these buttresses themselves with their
soaring arches spanning the aisle roofs
below, afford an unsurpassed example of
beauty of design combined with the
utmost structural daring. Moreover, the[7]
interior is even more imposing.
Lofty piers and pointed
arches separate the nave from
the aisles. Slender shafts
carry the ribs of the huge
vaults of stone forty-three
feet in span, which seem suspended
in air one hundred and forty feet
from the pavement below. In the support
of these vaults lies the keynote of
Gothic architecture. Though they seem
hung as if by magic over walls of glass,
with very little masonry for their support,
their weight and thrust are borne
by the sweeping arcs of the exterior flying
buttresses and the huge piers of masonry
from which they rise beyond the side
aisle walls. Viewed from a central point,
the majestic sweep of the nave, the soaring
height of the eastern apse, the wondrous window of the northern transept,
and the maze of piers and arches and chapels, all unite to produce
a glorious whole which cannot be surpassed in any monument of any age.

SALISBURY’S SIMPLE BEAUTY

If the interior of Amiens personifies in the highest degree the majesty
and glory of Christian faith, the spire of Salisbury may be said to embody
its hope and aspiration. Rising four hundred and four feet from the
ground, this spire has few to rival it in all the world. Other cathedrals
might dispute its claim to first place among spires; but none is
set upon a church so fine. That Salisbury is the most beautiful
cathedral in England is not claimed. As was the case in France, so here,[8]
there are too many churches, each with its own distinctive points of beauty,
for anyone to be the finest of them all.

SALISBURY CATHEDRAL

A view from the northeast, showing plainly the double-cross
shape of the foundation.

NAVE OF SALISBURY CATHEDRAL

A number of interesting monuments were
placed between the columns by James Wyatt.

But Salisbury at least must find a place among the first, and is especially
interesting because it is exactly contemporary as to date with Amiens
in France. Architecturally both are Gothic; yet the difference in design
is as great as the distance in miles between them. Low instead of lofty,
with little decoration, and set in the midst of nature’s grass and trees
instead of in a crowded city, Salisbury’s appeal is through the quiet
beauty of its line, and the simplicity of its construction in contrast to
the complex structure of the French cathedral. The Gothic of England
was rarely the Gothic of carefully balanced thrust and pressures, of flying
buttresses and huge window spaces. Here at Salisbury the walls are still
quite heavy and the windows only moderately large. They have no
tracery of stone; but are simple, narrow openings in the walls, with
pointed heads so like a lance in shape that they have given the name of
Lancet to this period of English Gothic architecture. Slow to throw off
their earlier traditions, the English builders clung, even in Gothic days,
to many of the characteristics of the Norman era, which had produced
such masterpieces as Durham and Peterborough, Ely and Norwich, cathedrals.
The result of this is especially evident in the interior of Salisbury;[9]
for here, in spite of the shafts of Purbeck marble, one for each hour in
the year, and in spite of the rich moldings of the piers and arches, the
lack of structural unity, and the comparative smallness of the windows
and lowness of the vaulting cause Salisbury’s nave to fall far short of that
of Amiens in beauty of construction. Viewed from the west, the cathedral
is also disappointing; for the façade is an
ugly screen wall, badly decorated, and
deserving of little praise. But when seen
from north or south or east, with its spire
rising from the very heart of the church,
Salisbury is truly inspiring. In its quiet
close it seems the very expression of the
church at peace.

CHÂTEAU de CHAMBORD

Between the construction of Amiens
and Salisbury and the building of the
Château of Chambord (shong-bore´) lie
two centuries of history. In them the
spiritual power of the church, and the
temporal power of the pope
and clergy, which had been
supreme throughout the Middle
Ages, gave way to a large
extent to a spirit of individualism
and a rising power on
the part of the king and
nobles. This change had its
effect upon the arts. The palace took precedence over the church in
architecture as the secular took precedence over the religious in painting
and the other arts. The Château of Chambord dates from the earlier
stages of this new architectural era. Built by King Francis I in the early
years of the sixteenth century, it is but one of the hundreds of châteaux
erected by the kings and nobles of France, from Francis to the fall of the
monarchy. Its architectural style is what is known as early Renaissance.[10]
The claim of Chambord to beauty is due, not so much to its decoration
as to its imposing size, to the sense of spaciousness it conveys, and to
the manner in which it reflects the spirit of its age.

CHÂTEAU de CHAMBORD

Showing the Mansard roof put on by the celebrated architect, Mansart, at the order of Louis XIV, to accommodate
a large court.

TOWER OF THE GRAND STAIRCASE

Château de Chambord.

HALL IN THE CHÂTEAU de CHAMBORD

The two stairways seen in the back wind around the same central
shaft and never join.

Four hundred feet square along its outer walls, this vast château
was designed by Francis I merely as a hunting seat. The chief exterior
attraction of the building lies in its roof. This is a very maze of
gables, dormers, chimneys, and cupolas, dominated by the lantern that
crowns the center stair, and in which lights were hung to guide belated
hunters from the forest.

THE STAIRWAY OF CHAMBORD

This stairway is the chief attraction of the interior. Sweeping round
a central newel which forms an open well, it rises the full height of
the building. Moreover, it is not a single flight of steps, but two, so
placed that one person may go up and one come down, yet never meet.
From this stairway four large halls open at every floor, and four hundred
and forty rooms and fifty other stairs fill up the wings of this great
palace. The interior, when richly furnished, must have been magnificent.

In spite of its size, Chambord has little history of which to boast.
Nothing of importance or even of special interest took place there.

NEW YORK CITY HALL

We are fortunate indeed
as a nation to have had in
our earlier days an architecture
that could boast of such
pleasing monuments as the
New York City Hall. Our
ancestors in both the North
and South were strongly influenced
from the point of view
of art by that English Renaissance
which reached its culmination
in the hands of Sir
Christopher Wren. Many a
New England church and
many a Southern home boasts
an architectural beauty of
rare charm and in rare accord
with the natural setting of
this new land. Nor were we
less fortunate in public works.
The old and new statehouses[11]
in Boston, Independence
Hall in
Philadelphia, and
the Capitol in
Washington are
but a few of the
early buildings in
America that, like
the New York City
Hall, are worthy
to rank among the
best in beauty of
design. The latter
was the work of
John McComb,
Jr., and was built
between 1803 and
1812 in a style
based largely upon
the Italian Renaissance.
Though not of very great size, its proportions are remarkably fine,
and its architecture beautiful. For good taste and for excellence of workmanship
it is as worthy of the city of millions today as of the city of
thousands for which it was first built.

STAIRWAY IN THE NEW YORK CITY HALL.

OLD COLONIAL CHAMBER

The office of the Borough President of Manhattan in New York City Hall.

That the source of beauty in architecture is indefinable, this brief
account of six of the world’s finest buildings has clearly shown. No two
are alike; yet all are beautiful. And this quality lies not merely in size
and proportions, in design and decoration, but in the appeal that each one
makes to the mind as well as to the eye. Thus the Taj Mahal fairly
speaks of human remembrance, the Alhambra is the embodiment of
oriental luxury, Amiens affords a majestic picture of religious power, and
Salisbury of quiet Christian worship, Chambord conjures up visions of
gay kings and courtiers, while New York in its City Hall possesses a
worthy monument of civic interest and pride. Many another building
could be added to such a list as ours, and in the case of each it would be
found that added to its visible and tangible beauty was an invisible character
that marked it above its fellows. It is from this broad standpoint
that all architecture should be judged.

Editorial

A man much occupied in his business
was asked how he came to know so much
on so many different subjects. His answer
was: “Not by study—I have had no
time for that—I have got my knowledge
from the men who could give it to me, and
from the reading that they have suggested
to me. When several of my friends
who know a subject have told me about
it, I have got it in a way that I could not
get in study. I have got it from different
points of view.”

*  *  *

These words were said in the course of
a conversation about The Mentor. Someone
had referred to the variety of subjects
offered in the schedule of The Mentor
Association, and had asked whether certain
regular courses of reading could not
be included with advantage. With the
thought of that business man and others
like him, we are aiming for something
larger and more beneficial than a fixed
set of reading courses. We have planned
to give in The Mentor the broad, liberal
knowledge that comes not from a strict
course of study closely adhered to, but
from contact with writers of authority in
varied fields. The readers of The Mentor
get the rich benefits afforded by many
minds, and the year’s reading is wide in
its reach and well balanced.

So much for the general plan of The
Mentor Association. But there is something
to be said for the reader who wants
to have a logical course of reading through
the seasons. So while we offer variety
from week to week, we plan to cover
the larger subjects in groups of articles
that are definitely related to each other.

*  *  *

If one wants to follow out a certain subject,
whether it be travel, history, or art,
he can take up the reading of his Mentors
in groups. Look at the schedule of 1913.
In the varied program of the year’s reading
you will detect numbers that naturally
belong together. You can select a set of
Mentors that will take you on a trip to
interesting places, with Mr. Dwight L.
Elmendorf as a companion. If literature is
a subject of interest to you, you can select
Mentors on literary matters prepared under
the advice of, and some of them
written by, Mr. Hamilton W. Mabie.
Suppose that history is what you are after;
Professor Albert Bushnell Hart gives you
the “Story of America” in several numbers.
It is hardly necessary to point out
what Professor John C. Van Dyke has
done for fine art in the numbers of The
Mentor prepared under his direction. And
so groups of Mentors on other subjects
may be brought together out of the
schedule.

*  *  *

In preparing the schedule for 1914 we
have taken thought not only for the wide
scope of the whole year’s plan, but for the
treatment of special subjects in a way that
will form natural groups. We have found
this condition has met with favor, and it
seems worth while to assure ourselves that
all the readers of The Mentor appreciate
it. We are told that some are gathering
the numbers relating to a single subject
together so as to have a small library on
each subject available for reference. Not
a bad idea. Imagine what an attractive
set of volumes could be made out of
twenty or thirty Mentors on travel by Mr.
Elmendorf! Think what a beautiful and
valuable set of books could be had by
binding up the art numbers! Keep your
back numbers. They are just as valuable
as the ones to come.

——————  ONE  ——————

THE TAJ MAHAL

AT the top of a precipice overhanging the River Jumna
in India stands the most poetic mausoleum in the
world. The Taj Mahal, “a dream in marble, designed
by Titans and finished by jewelers,” is the
tomb built by Shah Jahan, the Mogul emperor, for his wife
Mumtaz Mahal, whom he called Taj-Bibi. She was the loveliest
beauty of the Indies, and Shah Jahan
loved her so passionately that he thought
of no other woman while she lived and was
lost in grief after her death. He vowed
that her tomb should be the most beautiful
building in the world.

The Taj is of snow-white marble outside
and jeweled mosaic within. It was
planned by a Persian, Ustad Isa, who
designed in the Persian rather than the
Indian style of architecture. Twenty
thousand men worked twenty-two years
to finish it. In the center of a great square,
paved with white marble and having a
slender tower of the same stone at each
corner, rises the memorial of Taj-Bibi—not
merely a masterpiece of architecture,
but also a perfect interpretation of womanly
nature. The spirit of Mumtaz
Mahal seems to have been carved into the
marble.

The mosaic work of the interior is the
finest to be found in any eastern country.
Precious stones are used unsparingly—jasper
and agate, carnelian and chalcedony.
Marble lacework of wonderful lightness
screens the windows and doorways. In
the center are the tombs of Mumtaz Mahal
and Shah Jahan; but their bodies, according
to the Indian custom, lie in a
vault beneath the building. Shah Jahan
had begun a tomb for himself on the opposite
side of the river, which he never
finished because Aurantzeb, his son, rebelled
against him and took away the
empire. He was therefore buried by the
side of his beloved wife.

Shah Jahan was a cold and haughty
man; but he ruled India well, and his
pride was softened in later life by the
death of his wife. It is said that during
his reign he brought India peace and prosperity
by putting all his rivals to death.
Besides the Taj Mahal, two other famous
buildings, the Pearl Mosque at Agra and
the great mosque of Delhi, which were
built by Shah Jahan, have made his reign
one of the most memorable in Indian history.
The emperor’s treasury must have
been practically unlimited; for the peacock
throne, made during his reign, was
estimated by Tavernier to be worth sixty
million dollars. The festival at his coronation
alone cost eight millions.

There is a legend that when he had finished
the Taj Mahal, Shah Jahan ordered
the architect to be thrown over the cliff
into the River Jumna, for fear he might
plan another building as beautiful as
the Taj.

PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION
ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR. VOL. I, No. 33. SERIAL No. 33
COPYRIGHT. 1913. BY THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION. INC.

——————  TWO  ——————

THE ALHAMBRA—COURT OF THE LIONS

THE people about Granada have always held that the
Palace of the Alhambra was built under a magic
spell. To their minds human workmanship and the
power of wealth are too feeble for the erection of a
structure so enduring and magnificent. Indeed, great architects
can hardly conceive the skill that balanced those halls
and gardens and towers one against the
other with perfect symmetry, or the patience
that worked out each interlaced design
without error in either the art or the
chiseling.

Pains and expense were not spared in
the construction, and it is no wonder that
the Spaniards should have thought the
work supernatural. Slim pillars of the
rarest white marble give grace to every
court of the palace. The carvings and
designs are everywhere gilded, and where
these are painted between the gilding, blue,
red, and yellow, the purest colors only are
used. The blue is ultramarine, made
from a precious stone, the lapis lazuli of
the Egyptians, which never fades.

Besides warmth of color and grace of
form, the Moorish architects worked for
durability. The aqueducts they built
still bring an abundant supply of water
from the mountains to fill those baths,
fountains and marble-bordered ponds
for which the courts and gardens of the
Alhambra are famous. In spite of earth-quakes
the columns and arches have nearly
all held their place and their perfect form.
The palace that Charles V built there in
a vain effort to rival the Moorish masterpiece,
and for which he made room by
removing part of the Alhambra palace,
stands today an uncompleted and roofless
ruin; while the much older Alhambra is
still clothed in a glory of bright, fresh color.

The Alhambra is not one building, but
a collection of buildings on a high plateau.
Long before the erection of the great palace
the hilltop was surrounded by a wall
with many towers for defense, and the Alcazaba,
the first palace built on the Alhambra
hill, was used as a residence by the
early kings of Granada. Older than all,
the “Vermilion Towers” stand on a neighboring
hill, some distance outside the now
ruined Alhambra wall.

The Palace of the Alhambra is said to
have been started by Mohammed: but the
foundations were probably laid by Calif
Al Hamar, who is also distinguished for
having begun to pay a yearly tribute to
the kings of Castile. The construction
went on during several reigns, and was
completed by Yusuf with the building of
the Gate of Justice in 1348. All the later
kings of Granada lived in it until 1492,
when the Moorish power fell before Ferdinand
and Isabella, and Boabdil was banished
forever from the home of his fathers.

——————  THREE  ——————

AMIENS CATHEDRAL

IT was at Amiens that the renowned Saint Martin
gave half of his cloak to a beggar who stood shivering
by the roadside. Other saints in that city,
though we know less of their life histories, must
have exercised even more generosity during the Middle Ages
to build and rebuild the old cathedral in the face of repeated
misfortune. The patience and zeal with
which those men of Amiens raised up their
cathedral four times from its ashes, remain
forever in the fame of this most perfect
of French Gothic churches.

When the Norsemen plundered the
coast of France in 881 they sent a great
fleet up the River Somme. Amiens, taken
by surprise, fell before the attack of those
reckless and powerful old Vikings, and the
cathedral, then a flimsy wooden structure,
was burned to the ground. A new building
which the people of Amiens put up in
the same place when they had sufficiently
recovered from the losses of the invasion,
was destroyed by lightning in 1019. The
next structure was burned in 1107, and
the one that replaced it was struck by
lightning in 1218 and completely ruined.
Then in 1220 the present cathedral was
begun. Even that has not escaped entirely
from the lightning and conflagration
that had wrecked so many structures
on the same spot. In 1258, before the work
was completed, the woodwork caught fire,
and was so badly charred that part of it
had to be taken down and rebuilt. Traces
of fire may still be seen on some of the
arches. Later the slim central spire, which
is one of the striking features of Amiens
Cathedral, was so badly damaged by lightning
that it had to be made over.

The chief treasure of Amiens is part of
the head of John the Baptist, naturally a
religious relic of extraordinary interest.
It is kept in the chapel of Saint John Baptist,
and shown only at the most important
ceremonies. All that remains is the front
part of the skull, including the face, and
this is inclosed in a hood of silver-gilt.
The relic is said to have been kept for a
long time in one of the churches in Asia,
from which it was removed to Constantinople,
and later taken from that city to
Amiens, where it has rested ever since.

——————  FOUR  ——————

SALISBURY CATHEDRAL

THE Cathedral of Saint Mary at Salisbury is not
filled with gilding and warm color as the churches
of southern Europe are. Its builders aimed rather at
simplicity such as their forefathers used—plain gray
walls, unornamented columns and arches, and few paintings.
The edifice seems to reflect the antique dignity of those upright
pillars of the Druids at Stonehenge, which
is not far from Salisbury. Here we have
the outcome of British race feeling in
splendidly finished architecture placed almost
side by side with that early crude
expression of it.

The cathedral was begun in 1220 by
Richard Poore, the bishop at Old Sarum,
who was so much annoyed by the officers
of the king that he decided to move the
church to a site on his own land which has
since been named Salisbury. Old Sarum
Cathedral, built on a bleak hill, had suffered
for lack of water. In his choice of a
foundation Bishop Poore went to the other
extreme; for the swampy fields by the
Avon, on which this new cathedral was
erected, were so often flooded that services
sometimes had to be suspended for days.

The beautiful Lady Chapel was built in
five years. The entire building, except
the spire, which was not in the original
plan, took only forty-six years to complete.
It was consecrated in 1266. But
when the spire was erected the architect
in charge failed to strengthen the foundations
sufficiently. The pillars and arches
bulged; for they had never been intended
to support such weight. In spite of arches
walled up and buttresses built, the tower
sagged nearly two feet toward the south,
and has remained in that position ever
since.

Though simplicity and calmness are
characteristic of the original Salisbury
Cathedral, they have been emphasized to
the point of bareness by the restoration of
James Wyatt, who destroyed nearly all the
stained glass windows, two chapels, and a
belfry, and moved many of the tombs.
There are niches in the cathedral for over
a hundred statues, which for some reason
were nearly empty at the middle of the
last century. The statues now in place
are almost all modern: sculptured, however,
with a view to holding the original
significance of the architecture. They are
arranged to represent the Te Deum.

——————  FIVE  ——————

CHATEAU DE CHAMBORD

IN the park of the château, near the banks of the
Loire, great ragged trees reach out across the sky,
cutting off the faint light of the stars. It is midnight.
Indistinctly from the direction of the château
comes a baying of deerhounds. It passes overhead through
the middle air, with trampling and the sound of horns, then
dies away into the distance. The ghost of
Tibault de Champagne, first hereditary
Count Blois, a black hunter followed by
black dogs, is chasing the stag. Each
midnight, so the people of that country
say, the grim old baron rides by with a
full pack.

Count Tibault had a castle there by the
Loire, and for centuries his descendants
used it as a hunting resort. In 1397 it
passed into the hands of Louis d’Orléans.
Francis I, a king of the house of Orléans,
who knew the abandoned structure in his
boyhood, developed in the country round
this castle his well known passion for the
chase, and that is why he chose the ruined
feudal stronghold in the heart of a great
forest for the site of his royal palace, when
he might have built on any one of a hundred
lovely spots not far away along the
Loire.

The king’s taste did not please his courtiers,
who were less found of hunting and
solitude. They would have preferred a
large city, or at least some fertile valley
nearby. Chambord was a palace in the
wilderness. It could not be seen from a
distance, and the view from its windows
was only a dreary wood. The building
has been described as a dream from the
Arabian Nights come true.

Louis XIV made many alterations in
the château. He ordered Mansart to construct
rooms enough for the accommodation
of a large court, and the architect,
after racking his brains over the problem,
cut up the roof for projecting windows in
that style which has since become known
as the Mansard roof. The principal door
of the court is also Mansart’s work.

In 1793 the revolutionists sold everything
of value that could be moved from
the château, and Chambord was stripped
of its glory in a few days. It has never
been completely restored. Though by no
means a ruin today, the château suffers
for lack of the magnificent furnishings for
which it was originally designed.

——————  SIX  ——————

CITY HALL NEW YORK

WITH the highest buildings in the world rising in
rivalry nearby, attracting every eye because of
their novelty, the New York City Hall often escapes
notice, or is given shorter consideration than
its excellent architecture and historical significance deserve.
Though it is neither large nor expensive, it is better designed
and more carefully executed than any of
the older public buildings in the country.

John McComb is generally accepted as
the architect; but it would be safer to
speak of him as the builder, since most of
the designing seems to have been done by
a French surveyor, Joseph Mangin. To
Mangin are probably due that shapely and
dignified architecture which gives it a
place among beautiful buildings, and the
skilful design of its decorations. McComb
carried out the work of building with great
care, receiving six dollars a day for his
time. The construction was begun in
1803. The first intention was to use
brownstone. McComb, however, saw that
no meaner material than marble could do
justice to the purpose or the workmanship
of the proposed City Hall. Accordingly
he persuaded the committee in charge to
let him use marble on three sides. The
stone was hauled over from the Berkshire
Hilts by horses and oxen; for locomotives
had not yet been invented.

One room of the City Hall was set
aside for the State governor’s use; and it
has lately been restored to the original
condition. Many excellent portraits hang
on the walls. The furniture of the Governor’s
Room was largely taken from
Federal Hall, where Washington was inaugurated
and the city government was
located before the building of the City
Hall. Federal Hall has unfortunately
been destroyed. It stood at the corner of
Wall and Nassau Streets, and was built
with stone from the wall that gave Wall
Street its name.

A number of years ago there was a proposal
to remove the City Hall from its
present position because it was no longer
large enough for the city government and
was too far from the center of Greater
New York. Then, because of its architectural
merit as well as its history, such
protest was aroused that both building
and park have been kept intact.

In May, 1917, a fire burned the tower
and destroyed the clock of the City Hall.