The Art of the Low Countries

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Excerpt from The Art of the Low Countries: Studies by Wilhelm R. ValentinerThe disposition of' the buildings accords with the way in which the land is thus divided by horizontal lines, marked out into wide rectangles. When a Village is viewed from a distance the roofs seem to cling close to the soil in continuous stretches, for the houses dare present no wide expanses to the sea wind, and the mas sive body of a church, lifting the lines of the houses somewhat higher, often makes more effect than its tower. When we walk the streets the regularity of the arrangement grows still more striking. Even in elder days the houses were commonly placed side by side in straight rows, parallel with the walled canals. The windows are so regularly inserted that, looking along the facades, the sills blend into long horizontal lines with which the level roof-ridges generally correspond. Since the eighteenth century these roof-ridges have for the most part supplanted the more ancient, less weather proof gables, and now they assist the effect of breadth in the houses. In the larger buildings string-courses of lighter coloured stone usually aid the horizontal accentuation. In contrast are the determining per pendiculars the jambs of the windows, the dividing lines between house and house, the trunks of the trees along the canals, and the piles that at intervals reinforce their retaining walls.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.