Page:A History of Architecture in All Countries Vol 2.djvu/343

Rh Bk. VIII. Ch. III. CHURCH OF SAN MAETINO. 327 nave is t modulus, instead of that of the aisles, as in true Gothic churches ; owing to which the pier-arches are further apart than a true artist would liave placed them ; there are also no buttresses externally, but only pilasters. The consequence of this is that the arches have to be tied in with iron rods at the springing, which internally adds very much to the appearance of weakness caused in the first instance by the wide spacing and general tenuity. These bad effects are aggravated by the absence of a string-course at the springing of the vault ; and by the substitution of a circular hole for the triforium, and a hexafoiled 759. One Bay, externally and internally, of the Church of San Martino, Lucca. opening of very insignificant dimensions for the glorious clerestory windows of Northern churches. Altogether, though we cannot help being pleased with the spaciousness and general elegance of design, it is impossible not to feel how very inferior it is to that of churches on this side the Alps. The church of San Martino at Lucca, built about a century after Sta. Anastasia (middle of the 14th century), presents a strikingly happy compromise between the two styles. The pier-arches are still too wide — 23 ft. in the clear; but the defect is remedied to some extent by the employment of circular instead of pointed arches, and the