History of mediæval art . spacewas used as a burial-ground, and from this time was also known asthe paradisus—or as the /tortus or cepotaphium, in reference to thetrees and bushes with which the grounds were planted, as is thecustom at the present day in our church-yards and cemeteries. Inits fundamental character the atrium is analogous to the outer TYPICAL BASILICAS. 23 court of Solomons Temple and to the Latin templum; its form,however, is certainly derived from the private basilica of the Ro-man dwelling, which was, in this respect also, the prototype of theearly Christian church. It is th
History of mediæval art . spacewas used as a burial-ground, and from this time was also known asthe paradisus—or as the /tortus or cepotaphium, in reference to thetrees and bushes with which the grounds were planted, as is thecustom at the present day in our church-yards and cemeteries. Inits fundamental character the atrium is analogous to the outer TYPICAL BASILICAS. 23 court of Solomons Temple and to the Latin templum; its form,however, is certainly derived from the private basilica of the Ro-man dwelling, which was, in this respect also, the prototype of theearly Christian church. It is the original atrium or peristyle ofthe ancient house, the great antechamber of all the living rooms,which, for ritualistic purposes, was freed with the basilica from thesurrounding complex. Few of the early basilicas now known areprovided with an atrium ; in Rome there is but a single example,that of S. Clemente, and the superstructure of this was not builtuntil towards the close of the ninth century (872-882). {Fig. 13.). Fig. 12.—Plan of the Original Church of St. Peter in Rome. It may hence be assumed that, in Rome at least, this addition ofan atrium was exceptional; it was generally found sufficient tobuild before i;he front of the church a court {pronaos, propyld),which extended across the entire width of the facade, or appearedas a portico supported upon two or four columns. This court orportico was known as the narthex. When to an atrium there wasadded a transverse colonnade, before or inside the basilica, this wascalled the inner narthex. Having entered the portal of the basilicaitself, the visitor found himself upon the small side of an oblongspace, the farther end of which was extended by an apse. In rare 24 EARLY CHRISTIAN AND BYZANTINE ARCHITECTURE. cases there was only one nave, without columns, as at Rome inS. S. Cosma e Damiano and in S. Balbina. The usual form of thebasilica was three-aisled, being divided by two rows of columnsextending along its length. The
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