FROCOURT, Oise. Église is of interest for its tower and its remarkable capitals. (Woillez, ap.) BREUIL-LE-SEC, Oise. Église was destroyed by fire in 1798. The substructions of the façade and of the lateral walls the southern one of which has been many times rebuilt survive. (Woillez.) ST.-GERVAIS-DE-PONTPOINT, Oise. Église is of interest for its portal and tower. The former is ornamented with a quadruple chevron and an arched stringcourse; the latter is in three stories and crowned by a pyramidal stone roof. (Woillez, ap.) FONTENAY-TORCY, Oise. Église is ornamented externally with a double blind arcade, enriched by chevrons and billet mouldings. (Woillez, ap.) COMPIÈGNE, Oise. Église des Minimes. This desecrated edifice, now a gymnasium, is said to contain some remains of XII century archi used as tecture. LÉGLANTIERS, Oise. Chapelle dite du St.-Sauveur-dans-le-Cimetière is a rectangular wooden-roofed chapel adorned with arched string-courses. QUESMY, (near Noyon), Oise. Église is said to date from the middle of the XII century. NOINTEL, Oise. Église of a single aisle is ornamented with arcuated stringcourses, and contains a very rich western portal. (Woillez, ap.) ROCQUENCOURT, Oise. Église possesses a very simple portal, attributed to c. 1160 by M. Enlart. (Enlart, Arch. Rom., 156.) SACY-LE-PETIT, Oise. Église. The interior is of interest for the capitals, which are continued as string-courses and sculptured with figures in profile, — an exceptional arrangement. (Woillez.) ESCHES, Oise. Eglise. The only remains of the rectangular choir are two engaged columns, which doubtless once divided it into two bays. (Woillez.) ST. ARNOULT, Oise. Chapelle. This much modernized and abandoned edifice consists of a single-aisled nave and a polygonal apse, ornamented externally with an arched string-course. (Woillez, ap.) ROSOY, Oise. Église. The interesting tower is ornamented with arched stringcourses. (Woillez.) RICQUEBOURG, Oise. Église. The existing edifice with its polygonal apse is almost entirely of the XVI century, but certain fragments of transitional architecture that survive in the nave show that this portion of the monument was barrel-vaulted in the XII century. (Woillez, ap.) PROULEROY, Oise. Église. The ancient tower, which now stands isolated before the modern church, is decorated with arched corbel-tables. (Woillez, ap.) TIVERNY, Oise. Église possesses a portal in three orders ornamented with chevrons, etc. (Woillez, ap.) BRENOUILLE, Oise. Église. The choir is of the XIV century, the nave of the XII century. (Woillez.) FALVY, Somme. Église, said to be in part of the transitional epoch, possesses a fine chapel of the XVI century. BONNIÈRES, Oise. Église is characterized by a very crude nave and a much modernized façade. (Woillez.) HOMBLEUX, Somme. Église, said to date from the transitional period, was much altered in 1661. ROUSSELOY, Oise. Église. The capitals are ornamented with sculptures of birds. (Woillez, ap.) ROZOY-EN-BRIE, Seine-et-Marne. Église is mentioned by M. St. Paul as contemporary with St. Denis. ST.-AUBIN-SOUS-ERQUERY, Oise. Église. The portal of the façade and the north wall of the nave are of the XII century. (Woillez, ap.) CERISY-BULUX, Somme. Église is said to be in large part of the transitional epoch. ROYE-SUR-MATZ, Oise. Église is said to be largely of the XII century. Joanne.) ERQUINVILLERS, Oise. Église. The façade is surmounted by a slate belfry. (Woillez, ap.) MEULAN, Seine-et-Oise. St. Nicolas. The ruins of this church are said to date from c. 1150. ST.-JUST-EN-CHAUSSÉE, Oise. Église is almost entirely modern. Other transitional monuments may be found in the département of Oise, at BAZANCOURT, CRILLON, ESPAUBOURG, ESSUILES, ÉTOUY, FRESNOYEN-THELLE, GUIGNECOURT, JAUX, LE MEUX, MONCEAUX, MONTIERS, MOYENNEVILLE, NEUFVY-SUR-ARONDE, RÉMÉRANGLES, ST.-PIERRE-ÈS-CHAMPS, ST.-QUENTINDES-PRÉS, ST. RIMAULT, THURY, TROISSEREUX, VELENNES, WACQUEMOULIN, and WARLUIS. ST.-MARTIN-LE-NOEUD, CHAPTER IX THE CULMINATION. GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE OF THE NORTH OF FRANCE, C. 1180-c. 1375 "WHEN the house of God, many-colored as the radiance of precious stones called me from the cares of this world, then holy meditation led my mind to thoughts of piety, exalting my soul from the material to the immaterial, and I seemed to find myself, as it were, in some strange part of the universe, which was neither wholly of the baseness of the earth, nor wholly of the serenity of Heaven, but by the Grace of God I seemed lifted in a mystic manner from this lower, toward that upper, sphere. And I was accustomed to ask travelers returning from Jerusalem, those who had seen the riches of Constantinople and the splendors of Hagia Sophia, whether these marvels surpassed St. Denis." 1 These words of Suger, written in the middle of the XII century, when Gothic architecture had not yet emerged from the mists of the early morning twilight, express more happily the peculiar qualities of this art, than any modern criticism that has ever been spoken. Videor videre me quasi sub aliqua extranea orbis terrarum plaga, quae nec tota sit in terrarum faece. In all the long centuries that have rolled by since the days of Suger, who has ever stood beneath the soaring vaults of a Gothic cathedral, without, however unconsciously, repeating to himself this time-worn but ever new thought of the abbot of St. 1 Unde, cum ex dilectione decoris domus Dei aliquando multi-color gemmarum speciositas ab exintrinsecis me curis devocaret, sanctarum etiam diversitatem virtutum, de materialibus ad immaterialia transferendo, honesta meditatio insistere persuaderet, videor videre me quasi sub aliqua extranea orbis terrarum plaga, quae nec tota sit in terrarum faece, nec tota in coeli puritate demorari, ab hac etiam inferiori ad illam superiorem anagogico more Deo donante posse transferri. Conferre consuevi cum Hierosolymitanis et gratantissime addiscere, quibus Constantinopolitanae patuerant gazae et Sanctae Sophiae ornamenta, utrum ad comparationem illorum haec aliquid valere deberent. (Sugeri, De Re. in Sua Adm. Gest. XXXIII.) |