Sasanian architecture as viewed by the 19th century French architect Pascal-Xavier Coste

Abstract

The 19th century French architect Pascal-Xavier Coste was one of the first European artists to recognize Sasanian architecture as a distinct and significant architectural style in Late Antiquity. He considered this style to be parallel to Byzantine and Romanesque architecture in the Eastern and Western Roman Empire, respectively. Sasanian architecture, according to Coste, belonged to a period of ‘decadence of the arts’ following the fall of the Roman Empire, during which small construction materials replaced large masonry blocks. Despite this general ‘decadence’, Coste attributed several architectural inventions to Sasanians and described their buildings as precursors to Arabic (Islamic) architecture which, in turn, played a fundamental role in the shaping of Gothic architecture. He saw Sasanian architecture as being characterized by the invention of ovoidal arches, domes, and use of small stones. The Palace of Ardashir in Firuzabad, the Khosrow Palace in Ctesiphon, and the Sarvestan monuments near Shiraz display the whole array of these architectural features according to Coste.