History of mediæval art . he narrow passages within thethickness of the walls being round-arched, while the barrel-vaultsand cupolas are of a parabolic outline. Both these systems ofstone ceiling had appeared, at least in their beginnings, in theprimitive architecture of Assyria. The peculiar custom of givingto the arches and vaults a larger diameter than was required by theopening between the vaults beneath them was probably due to a * E. Flandin et P. Coste, Voyage en Perse. 4 vols. Paris, s. a. 122 PERSIA UNDER THE SASSANID^. desire to increase the stability of these supports. The most im-p
History of mediæval art . he narrow passages within thethickness of the walls being round-arched, while the barrel-vaultsand cupolas are of a parabolic outline. Both these systems ofstone ceiling had appeared, at least in their beginnings, in theprimitive architecture of Assyria. The peculiar custom of givingto the arches and vaults a larger diameter than was required by theopening between the vaults beneath them was probably due to a * E. Flandin et P. Coste, Voyage en Perse. 4 vols. Paris, s. a. 122 PERSIA UNDER THE SASSANID^. desire to increase the stability of these supports. The most im-portant achievement is the fine solution of the problem of coveringa hall of square plan with a dome: the place of the Byzantine pen-dentives being taken by a number of squinches, or arches of steppedprojection, somewhat similar in construction to those of San Lo-renzo in Milan. (Compare Fig. 67.) The oblong Palace of Sarbistan is of much the same disposition,but of smaller dimensions, being only 41 m. long by 36 m. Fig. 67.—Section of one of the Domed Halls of Firuz-Abad. There is here but one domed hall before the square court, and thiswithout the ornamentation of the ancient Persian door and windowcornices. On the other hand, the oblong spaces are provided withcolumns, which are placed close to the wall and connected longi-tudinally and latitudinally by arches. The shafts are scarcely threemetres in height, and, like the somewhat lighter engaged columnsof the facade {Fig. 68), are without bases and capitals. It is remark-able that, in contrast to those of Firuz-Abad, the arches and even ARCHITECTURE. 123 the cupola-vaults of Sarbistan are smaller in diameter than the dis-tance between their supports. The most magnificent of the ruined palaces is that of Ctesiphon,probably erected by the Solomon of the Sassanidae and contempo-rary of Justinian, the great Khosru I., Nushirvan (A. D. 531-579),who founded his new capital on the Tigris opposite to the ancientcity of Sel
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