Page:A history of architecture on the comparative method for the student, craftsman, and amateur.djvu/308

 250 COMPARATIVE ARCHITECTURE of the nave are comprised under one vaulting compartment, which thus being approximately square, the rise of the transverse, diagonal, and wall ribs is nearly equal. This resulted in a system known as sexpartite vaulting (page 225) (Nos. 100 c, d, 112 E, f), which, however, was superseded immediately on the introduction of the pointed arch, when each compartment, what- ever its shape, could be vaulted without reference to the neigh- bouring one, because the difference between the width of the nave and the distance longitudinally between the piers could be easily surmounted by pointed arches of different radius manipulated so as to equalize the height of the ribs. The Ahbaye-anx-Dames {La Trinite), Caen (a.d. 1083) (No. 99), in which the progress of intersecting vaulting is seen, the Church of S. Nicholas, Caen (a.d. 1084), and the Abbey Church of Mont S. Michel (since restored), are notable examples. The Abbey of S. Denis, near Paris, was erected by the great building abbot, Abbe Suger, in 1144, and the choir and west front still remain as left by him, although a fourteenth century nave has been wedged between them. 4. COMPARATIVE. A. Plans. — In the south, internal buttresses, inclosing the outer range of chapels, were preferred, as at Vienne cathedral. Round churches are rare in this district. Towers are detached, resembling Italian Campanili. Cloisters were treated with the utmost elaboration and richness, usually having double columns with magnificent capitals which receive the round arches of the narrow bays, and were left entirely open, as glazing or tracery were not required by the climate. In the north, the increasing demand for vaulted interiors modified the planning, and the vaulting ribs were provided with individual shafts, which developed the pier plans. In the setting out of the bays important changes were introduced, thus in early plans the naves were vaulted in square bays com- prising two aisle bays longitudinally (No, 100), but on the intro- duction of the pointed arch each oblong bay of the nave formed a vaulting compartment corresponding in length to each aisle bay. B. Walls. — Massiveness is the characteristic of all the early work. Walls were of rubble with facing stones. Elaboration was reserved for doorways in the arcaded lower portion of the facades, which are often models of simplicity and richness. 1 buttresses are often mere strips of slight projection (No. 99), and the facades were arranged in stories, with window lights in pairs or groups. Flying buttresses, admitting of high clerestories with windows lighting the nave, were introduced between a.d. i 150-1200. The towers are mostly square with pyramidal roofs (Nos. 98 and loi).