From, Beautiful Buildings in France & Belgium, Including many which have been destroyed during the war. Reproductions in Colour and Monochrome from rare old Prints and Drawings, by and after Prout, Boys, Coney, W. Callow, David Roberts, C. Wild and others, with descriptive notes, by C. Harrison Townsend, F.R.I.B.A.; New York: The Hubbell Publishing Co., 1916; pp. 90-93.
DIEPPE : CHURCH INTERIOR
(David Roberts, R.A.)
HE treatment of the stonework of the church interior which David Roberts has made the subject of his sketch, and the intricacy of the carved detail in such features as the triforium or gallery, lead us to wonder, with Fergusson, “that stone could be cut into such a marvelous variety of lace-like forms,” and to join with him in doubting whether sober reason should approve of so great an amount of detail and elaborate finish.
The glazed triforium shown is not an English feature, but it is one of frequent 92 occurrence in French architecture, “and,” says the same author, “where it retains its colored glass, which is indispensable, produces the most fairy-like effect.” He goes on, however, to profess a preference for the deep shadow and constructive propriety of the English usage, and to doubt whether in a stone building more apparent solidity of construction is not required to produce a perfectly pleasing result.
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