Page:A History of Architecture in All Countries Vol 2.djvu/268

252 252 SPANISH ARCHITECTURE. Paut II. French cathedral in every respect, very nearly identified with that of St. Sernin at Toulouse (Woodcut No. 338), i^ossessing only tliree aisles instead of five in the nave, though otherwise very similar to it in arranoement and o-eneral dimensions. Its internal structure is also that of the French cathedral, and forms an instructive ])oint of comparison with our Englisli examples of the same age. Up to the string-course above the triforium the Spanish, French, and English examples are much alike, except that the section of the l>iers in England is nearly double that of the others. Above tliis, at Toulouse and Com- postella, there is a bold tunnel vault with trans- verse ribs ; at Ely, Nor- Avich and Peterborough a clerestory with a flat wooden roof. These differences in the treat- ment of the upper part no doubt arose to some extent from the differ- ence of latitude, suffi- cient light being attain- able in the South with- out a clerestory, though the gloom of such a design could never be tolerated in Normandy, and much less in Eng- land. What is most striking, however, at Compostella is the completeness of the style. The piers are not only judiciously proportioned to the work they have to perform, but are as perfect in their details as any of the contemporary churches in Auvergne; and, though in what may be called a Doric style, this church is as complete in itself as any of the florid Corinthian Gothics that succeeded it. The same may be said of the church of San Isidoro at Leon, which, though probably somewhat later — the church seems to have been completed about 1149 — ])reseiits the same simple style in vFroiu Street.)