Page:A history of architecture on the comparative method for the student, craftsman, and amateur.djvu/484

 426 COMPARATIVE ARCHITECTURE. The Gothic style was best developed in Catalonia, where, though on French lines, as in most parts of Spain, it has a special character, owing to the grand scale of the single-span vaulted interiors. Leon Cathedral goes beyond its French original at Amiens, in the expanse of window opening and tenuity of its supports. The exteriors usually are flat in appearance, owing to the space between buttresses being utilized internally for chapels, and generally, it may be said that a liking for excessive ornamentation without any regard to its constructive character is apparent. Contrary to Northern Gothic, broad wall surfaces and horizontal lines are special features of the style. The cloisters of many of the cathedrals, as Barcelona, Toledo, and Lerida, are characteristic. In the later period, the grafting of classical details on to Gothic forms produced some of the most picturesque features imaginable. 3. EXAMPLES. ECCLESIASTICAL ARCHITECTURE. S. Isidoro, Leon (completed 1149), and old Salamanca Cathedral (a.d. ii 20-1 178), which has a dome over the crossing of nave and transepts, were both influenced by the Southern French Romanesque models of Aquitaine and Anjou. Santiago de Compostela Cathedral (a.d. 1078), on the other hand, is an example of a building with nave, transepts and a complete chevet, due to the influence of Northern French Romanesque. In this church the nae is covered with a barrel vault and the side aisles with cross vaults. Burgos Cathedral (a.d. 1230) is irregular in plan (No. 190 l). It has two towers to the western facade, which, with their open- work spires (No. 185), recall Cologne, and a richly-treated lantern over the crossing which was completed in 1567. The lantern (known as the " cimborio "), and the peculiar treatment of the interior is shown in No. 186. The " coro " or choir is in the usual position to the westward of the crossing, the nave being reduced to a mere vestibule, while the extraordinary size and importance of the side chapels are striking, as that of the Capilla del Con- destable (a.d. 1487), which is octagonal, over 50 feet in diameter, and specially remarkable for the beauty and richness of its late detail. Toledo Cathedral (a.d. 1227) (No. 187 d), is a five-aisled church and resembles Bourges (page 368) in general idea. It is about the same length, but nearly 50 feet wider, and has the choir inclosure west of the crossing, with a singularly shallow