双语+MP3|美国学生艺术史75 乡村大教堂

  
法国的北部有许多哥特式建筑物。几乎每个城镇都有哥特式教堂或大教堂。大教堂是为荣耀上帝而建，人人都在上面加了一点东西，以荣耀上帝。在这里可以找到中世纪所有派别的艺术。油画、玻璃彩画、雕像、建筑、音乐、挂毯、珠宝，以及用于祭坛上的珍贵金属——这一切都成了伟大建筑或宗教仪式的组成部分。直到如今许多人甚至认为那直耸云霄、最适合建造教堂的哥特式建筑风格是最适合建造现代教堂的。  
75 COUNTRY CATHEDRALS乡村大教堂 
  
DID you notice in the pictures in the last chapter that all the cathedrals seem to be in cities? Almost all the French Gothic cathedrals are in cities or towns. They have very little open ground around them. Dwelling houses and shops are crowded about them so close that it is often hard to get a good view of the outside of a French cathedral.  
English Gothic cathedrals are just the opposite. They were generally built out in the country, so most of the English cathedrals have plenty of open space around them— lawns and trees instead of stores and crowded streets. They stand in beautiful settings which make the buildings themselves look even more beautiful.  
Now, a good question is, why should cathedrals be in the cities in France and in the country in England?  
Well, in France the cathedrals were built by the people of the towns. They were used much more often than a church is used now. The French cathedrals were the schools, the theaters, the public meeting places of the people, besides being houses for prayer and worship. They had to be in the center of things, because they were so important in the lives of the people of the towns.  
But in England the cathedrals were usually built by the monks for their own use. The village people had parish churches where they could worship. Of course ordinary peoplecould worship in the cathedrals, but the cathedrals were built chiefly for the monks. As monasteries were places where the monks could get away from the world outside, so monasteries were more often built in the country away from the cities. And of course the monastery or abbey church was built in the country, too.  
That is one difference between English Gothic and French Gothic -one in the country, the other in the city.  
Here is another difference.  
English cathedrals are much longer for their width than French cathedrals are. An English cathedral looks long and narrow, while a French cathedral looks short and wide. The eastern ends of the English cathedral where the monks worshiped had to be much longer because there were so many monks. The French cathedrals with their crowds of people who came to listen to their priest, needed a wider and shorter space so all the people could hear him. Each country shaped its cathedrals to fit the use to which the cathedrals were put.  
Here is another difference.  
Most of the French cathedrals have doors at their western ends opening into the nave and aisles. Most of the English cathedrals have doors at the side, besides those at the end, with little porches to keep out the wind and rain.  
And here is yet another difference.  
Most of the French Gothic cathedrals have two towers on their western ends above the doors. But many of the English Gothic cathedrals have their main tower over the crossing of the transept and nave, and sometimes no towers at all on the western end.  
So you can see again very readily that the same kind of architecture is different in different countries. No doubt an Englishman thinks English Gothic is best, and no doubt a Frenchman prefers French Gothic.  
An important thing to remember about Gothic cathedrals is that few cathedrals were built all at one time. In many cases the cathedral was begun as a Romanesque building and finished as a Gothic building, years later. The great Durham Cathedral, which was built in England as a fort against the Scotch as well as a church, has a Norman nave but Gothic towers.  
Durham is plainer, less decorated on the outside, than other cathedrals and for this reason it looks strong and solid and is very dignified.  
  
No.75-1 SALISBURY CATHEDRAL（索尔慈伯里大教堂）  
FROM A PAINTING BY CONSTABLE（选自康斯太勃尔的绘画作品）  
Courtesy of The University Prints  
As time went on, the Gothic style changed in England. There are really four kinds of Gothic there, corresponding to four different periods of time. Sometimes it took so long to build a cathedral that all four periods of architecture can be found in one building.  
In the thirteenth century churches were built in Early English Gothic. Salisbury Cathedral, which has the tallest spire in England, is Early English.  
In the fourteenth century the style was Decorated Gothic. The nave and east end of Lincoln Cathedral is in the Decorated style.  
  
No.75-2 LINCOLN CATHEDRAL, ENGLAND（英国林肯大教堂）  
Courtesy of The University Prints  
In the fifteenth century the style was Perpendicular Gothic. Perpendicular is a long word, meaning straight up and down. The towers of Canterbury Cathedral are Perpendicular Gothic.  
And last came the Tudor period. The famous chapel of Henry VII in Westminster Abbey is Tudor.  
Westminster Abbey itself is more like French cathedrals than most English buildings, perhaps partly because it is in a city—London. It is famous as the burial place of many of England’s great men.  
If you keep a scrap-book you might try to find for it pictures of two other famous cathedrals. One is Peterborough Cathedral with huge pointed archways over the door— archways that are as high as the roof. The other is Wells Cathedral which has a famous tower over the crossing that I’m pretty sure you will like. If you haven’t a scrap book, why not get one? You will find it fun hunting for pictures that you want to paste in. You might make it a game to see how long it will take you to get pictures of eight different English cathedrals for your scrap-book. You can find the pictures in magazines and in railroad and steamship catalogues. Then when you go to England some day, each cathedral you see will seem like an old friend.  
  
No.75-3 CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL, ENGLAND（英国坎特伯雷大教堂）