. Architecture, classic and early Christian . ially the same plan as the basilicas, though a con-siderable number of circular or jj >lygonal churches werealso built. Sant Ambrogio at Milan, and some of thechurches at Brescia, Pavia, and Lucca, may be cited aswell-known examples of early date, and a little later thecathedrals of Parma, Modena, and Piacenza (Fig. 167),and San Zenone at Verona. These churches are all dis-tinguished by the free use of small ornamental arches andnarrow pilaster-strips externally, and the emi^loyment ofpiers with half-shafts attached to them, rather thancolumns,
. Architecture, classic and early Christian . ially the same plan as the basilicas, though a con-siderable number of circular or jj >lygonal churches werealso built. Sant Ambrogio at Milan, and some of thechurches at Brescia, Pavia, and Lucca, may be cited aswell-known examples of early date, and a little later thecathedrals of Parma, Modena, and Piacenza (Fig. 167),and San Zenone at Verona. These churches are all dis-tinguished by the free use of small ornamental arches andnarrow pilaster-strips externally, and the emi^loyment ofpiers with half-shafts attached to them, rather thancolumns, in the arcades; they have fine bell-towers; cu- nOMANESQUE. 225 cular windows often occupy the gables, and veiy fre-quently the walls have been built of, or ornamented Avith,coloured materials. The sculpture—grotesque, vigorous,and full of rich variety—which distinguishes many of thesebuildings, and which is to be found specially enrichingthe doorways, is of great interest, and began early todevelop a character that is quite Fig. 1C7.—Cathedral at Piacenza, Turning to Germany, we find that a very strong re-semblance existed between the Eomanesque churches ofthat country and those of North Italy. At Aix-la-Chapellea polygonal chuich exists, built by Charlemagne, andAvhich tradition asserts was designed on the model ofSan Vitale at Ravenna. The resemblance is undoubted,but the German church is by no means an exact copyof Justinians building. Early examples of GermanRomanesque exist in the cathedrals of Mayence, Worms,and Spires, and a steady advance was made till a point 226 CHRISTIAN ARCHITECTURE. ?was reached (in the twelfth century) at wliicli the stylemay be said to have attained the liigliest developmentAvhich Romanesque architecture received in any countryof Europe, Tlie arcaded ornament (the arches being very frequentlyopen so as to form a real arcade) which was noticed asoccurring in Lombard churches, belongs also to Germanones, though the secondary in
Size: 1661px × 1503px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, bookidarchitecture, bookyear1888
