. A history of architecture in Italy from the time of Constantine to the dawn of the renaissance. rom the interior, being concealed by a continuous woodenceiling covering the whole transept. From the east wall of the tran-sept open three very deep tribunes, the middle one in two squarebays, covered by groined vaults, and each terminating in an the transept ends, the wall has on three sides of the bay, justunder the vault, an open arcaded gallery of small depth, in thethickness of the wall, with small round arches on columns, — a Lom-bard feature of which this is perhaps the only exampl
. A history of architecture in Italy from the time of Constantine to the dawn of the renaissance. rom the interior, being concealed by a continuous woodenceiling covering the whole transept. From the east wall of the tran-sept open three very deep tribunes, the middle one in two squarebays, covered by groined vaults, and each terminating in an the transept ends, the wall has on three sides of the bay, justunder the vault, an open arcaded gallery of small depth, in thethickness of the wall, with small round arches on columns, — a Lom-bard feature of which this is perhaps the only example in Sicily. The central apse and one of the two groined bays of the centraltribune are still covered — walls and roof — with the original goldmosaics. All the others have disappeared. Those which remainconsist entirely of single standing figures of saints and great half-length figure of Christ on the vault of the centralapse dominates the whole interior. Below on the wall of the apseand the adjacent bay are three ranges of figures, over a very high SICILIAN ARCHITECTURE 97. Fig. 303. Cefalu. Interior of Cathedral. wainscoting, now of rich parti-colored marbles. The greater por-tion of the interior of the church has been cruelly modernized, butthis cannot destroy the striking effect of the extraordinary loftychoir, with its high groined vault, opening from the flat east wall ofthe transept, by the high and narrow pointed arch. There is nothinglike it south of the Alps ; and even in the North the effect of thesimilar choir is wholly different, because the vault and its supportscontinue, in appearance, those of the nave, while here the choiropens from the flat wall, the effect being greatly enhanced by thecontrast with the comparatively low and narrow arches which con-nect the side tribunes with the transept. (Fig. 303.) ^ 98 ARCHITECTURE IN ITALY The exterior of this church is scarcely less interesting than theinterior. The west front is flanked by the square
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