History of mediæval art . e aper-tures above each arcade {Figs. 210 and 211). The building was decidedly in advance of the Provencal models,the independence being particularly evident in the cruciform plan, 348 ARCHITECTURE OF THE ROMANIC EPOCH. which had not appeared in the districts of the Rhone during theearlier period, there having previously been no continuation of thenave beyond the transept. The ingenious methods by which theconstructive difficulties were met had no parallel among all thechurches of Southern France. The dome above the intersection ofthe transept and nave was supported,
History of mediæval art . e aper-tures above each arcade {Figs. 210 and 211). The building was decidedly in advance of the Provencal models,the independence being particularly evident in the cruciform plan, 348 ARCHITECTURE OF THE ROMANIC EPOCH. which had not appeared in the districts of the Rhone during theearlier period, there having previously been no continuation of thenave beyond the transept. The ingenious methods by which theconstructive difficulties were met had no parallel among all thechurches of Southern France. The dome above the intersection ofthe transept and nave was supported, as was the ceiling of the nave,by bisected barrel-vaults, these being of the same width as those ofthe side aisles, but constructed upon a much higher level, so as toabut against the impost of the dome. The ends of the transeptwere covered with barrel-vaults, the axis of which was naturally atright angles to that of the body of the church. The pyramidal com-position thus attained culminated in the dome, in the same manner. Fig. 211.—Plan of Notre-Dame in Clermont. as did the vaults of the galleries in the great arch above the arrangement was eminently organic and successful: the outerand lower parts supporting the higher ones within. The nave and transept were insufficiently membered by cornicesand imposts; the barrel-vaults were without ribs, and the windowswere small; all this gave to the interior a bald and gloomy charac-ter, similar to that of the churches of Southern France. On theother hand, the choir became more varied and elegant by the con-tinuation of the side aisles as a passage around the apse, the conchof which was supported upon columns. The design of pilastersand arcades in relief, on the exterior of the apses of SouthernFrance, was thus reproduced in a semicircle of real columns, open FRANCE. 349 between the apse and the surrounding passage. Four smaller nicheswere added to the curve of the exterior wall, their radial axes point-ing to the main alta
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