Page:A History of Architecture in All Countries Vol 2.djvu/388

372 372 ITALIAN ARCHITECTUKE. Pa kr II. is very badly designed ; either it was one of the earliest examples, and the architects had not learned how to combine the sloiiino- roofs of the aisles with the upjjer j)art of the fayades, or it has been altered in more modern times; but for this slight defect it would be difficult to find a church in Italy containing more of classic elegance, with perfect appropriateness for the purposes of Christian woi-ship. glum likDi Hun iiHii Ilia f'llllMllilllll llliu Hill I nil ^fmmm ^ilf^^: 796. Section of San Miniato, near Florence. (Fium (.;iilh.iijau.l., ^v .ii. :,ii u. i.i 1 in. There must have been several, prol>al)ly many, buildings in the same style erected in Tuscany during the first lialf of the 11th century. Otherwise it is almost impossible to understand how so complete a design as that of Pisa Cathedral could have been executed. It was commenced apparently in 103, and com|)leted in 1002. Internally its design is evidentlv based on that of the ])asilicas of Kome and Kavenna, except that itistead of the range at the latter j)lace of figures in mosaic, it has a sjtlendid triforium gallery and in plan strongly marked projecting transepts. Its great merit, however, as a design arises from the fact that the builders had learned to proportion the parts to one another so as to get greater magnificence with very much smaller dimensions. The size, for instance, of the nave of San Paolo fuori le Mure at Rome is 290 ft. by 21.5 ; these dimensions are nearly double those at Pisa, where they are 173 ft. by 106. Yet, in consequence of the greater relative height of the nave and the better spacing of the pillars and proportion of the parts, the interior of Pisa is more pleasing and more impressive than the Roman church. Its effect too is im- mensely increased by the truly MedijBval projection of the transepts. In no church in Italy is there such poetry of perspective as in looking anglewise across the intersection, and seldom anywhere a more satis- tory interior than that of this church. The exterior too is almost equally pleasing. The side-aisles are adorned with a range of l>lind arches running all round, adorned with party-colored marble, inlaid either in courses or in patterns. Above this is a gallery, representing the triforium, carried all round, and in