Byzantine and Romanesque architecture . the south, where Roman remains were frequent, andperhaps some Greek traditions lingered. But even inthe north it held its own, and the scroll (Fig. 148) on thewest portal at Mantes, which dates from the end of the12th century, is a nearer imitation of the Roman typethan that at Lucca (vol. i. p. 255, Fig. 58) while the 264 BYZANTINE AND ROMANESQUE [ch. xxix Classicinfluenceweak inEnglishRoman-esque capitals of the interior are as Corinthian in motive asthose of Avallon or V^zelay. The Roman-esque of Nor-mandy and Eng-land, for reasonsthat have beenalread
Byzantine and Romanesque architecture . the south, where Roman remains were frequent, andperhaps some Greek traditions lingered. But even inthe north it held its own, and the scroll (Fig. 148) on thewest portal at Mantes, which dates from the end of the12th century, is a nearer imitation of the Roman typethan that at Lucca (vol. i. p. 255, Fig. 58) while the 264 BYZANTINE AND ROMANESQUE [ch. xxix Classicinfluenceweak inEnglishRoman-esque capitals of the interior are as Corinthian in motive asthose of Avallon or V^zelay. The Roman-esque of Nor-mandy and Eng-land, for reasonsthat have beenalready explained,shows but littletrace of classic in-fluence except inits stubborn ad-herence to theround arch, duemainly to the na-tural conservatismof the monasticorders. There isa much closerconnexion withRoman work inthe preceding Saxon style asshown for in-stance at Brad-ford-on-Avon (, sup.). Andwhen the pointedarch finally tri-umphed the Eng-lish architect couldhardly make his arches pointed enough ; there is nothing. ^of CH. xxix] BYZANTINE AND ROMANESQUE 265 beyond the seas like our sharpest lancet work; and ouradoption of the round abacus put an end to all possibleimitation of the Corinthian capital, which lasted longerin France where the square abacus was retained. In constructional skill the Romanesque builders were Un-of course far behind their successors in the 13th, 14th and constmc-15th centuries, when construction had become scientific, Roman-no problem of masonry was left unsolved, and the due ^^^^^equilibrium of forces was understood and skilfully em-ployed. The earlier men made up for what they wantedin skill by solidity of mass ; but in spite of their enormouspiers and thick walls their towers fell, and their barrelvaults pushed their walls out and had to be sustained inlater ages by flying buttresses and other devices. Butinferior as they are in science, the solidity of Romanesquebuildings with their sturdy columns and massive prop
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