It seemed sensible of the
close vicinity of the heavy Roman columns.
Moreover, these buildings of the transition from Roman to Gothic are no
less valuable studies than the pure types. They express a gradation of the
art which would otherwise be lost. They represent the ingrafting of the
pointed arch upon the semicircular.
Notre Dame at Paris, in particular, is a curious example of this variety.
Every face, every stone of the venerable monument is a page not only of
the history of the country, but also of the history of science and art.
Thus, to allude only to leading details, while the little Porte Rouge
attains the almost extreme limit of the Gothic refinement of the fifteenth
century, the pillars of the nave, in their size and gravity of style, go
back to the Carlovingian Abbey of Saint-Germain des Pres. One would say
that there was an interval of six centuries between that door and those
pillars. Even the Hermetics find among the symbols of the great door a
satisfactory epitome of their science, of which the Church of St. Jacques
de la Boucherie formed so complete a hieroglyph.
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