Page:A history of architecture on the comparative method for the student, craftsman, and amateur.djvu/306

 248 COMPARATIVE ARCHITECTURE. square compartments and covered with sexpartite vaulting, the groined ribs being constructed independently and supporting the infilling or " severies." 3. EXAMPLES. France exhibits several varieties of the Romanesque style, in which different peculiarities are traceable, and for this reason it may be divided into southern and northern provinces, the main dividing line being the Loire. The influence of Roman remains was naturally greatest in the parts where they more particularly occur, as at Nimes, Aries, and Orange, and other places in the Rhone Valley, The South of France may be roughly divided into the provinces of Aquitania, Auvergne, Provence, Anjou and Burgundy. Aquitania has two distinct styles, the first having round- arched tunnel-vaults, and the second having domes spheroidal in shape, elongated upwards and supported on pointed arches, indi- cating an eastern influence. S. Scrnin, Toulouse, is an example of the first type. S. Front, Pcvigueux (a.d. 1120) (No. 84), an example of the second type, is due to a large trade with Byzantium. It is a Greek cross on plan, and closely resembles S. Mark, Venice (page 208). The illustration (No. 84 b) shows the arches supporting the domes as pointed, but they have latterly been made semicircular. Attached to the church is a magnificent campanile in stone, consisting of a square shaft, surmounted by a circular ring of columns, carrying a conical dome. S. Front acted as a prototype of churches with cupolas in France. Angouleme Cathedral (No. 100 e, f, g) is of the second type, but has a long aisleless nave with transepts provided with lateral chapels and an apsidal choir with four chapels, forming a Latin cross on plan. The nave is covered with four stone domes, that over the crossing being carried above the roof and having a stone lantern. Both transepts were originally crowned with towers, but the southern one was destroyed in 1568. Cahors Cathedral (a.d. 1050-1100) is an imitation of S. Irene at Constantinople (page 204). Auvergne being a volcanic district, the geological influence is frequently apparent, the buildings having a local character imparted to them by the inlaid decoration formed of different colored lavas, as at Notre Dame du Port, Clermont-Fervaud, and the Church at Issoire. Provence has numerous remains of the eleventh and twelfth centuries, in many of which pointed tunnel-vaults were used, all showing Classical influence, as at Notre Dame, Avignon. The portals of S. Trophinie, Arks (No. 102), and the Church at S. Gilles, exhibit great richness of effect and beauty of detail. The cloisters, consisting of columns, used in couples in the depth