Page:An Elementary History of Art.djvu/106

 76 Romanesque Architecture. peculiarities than the earlier building ; the form of the cross is fully developed by the extension of the transepts on either side of the choir, but it has the flat wooden roof of an early basilica. The church of San Michele at Lucca is of the same style as the cathedral of Pisa; it is remark- able for the profusion of columns and arches characteristic of the later Romanesque style. Lombard architecture early freed itself from Roman influence, and in the buildings of the eleventh century we can trace the growth of its peculiar style. The church of San' Antonio at Piacenza was built in the early part of the eleventh century ; the plan is Romanesque, but even that differs considerably from the ordinary type, the transepts being at the west end, and the tower, which rises from the point where the nave and transepts meet, is supported on eight pillars and four piers. The whole building is roofed with intersecting vaults, and outside we see the buttresses which afterwards became so important a feature of Gothic architecture. In the cathedral of Novara a further development of the Lombard style is noticeable. It too belongs to the early part of the eleventh century, and retains the atrium, the baptistery and the basilica. One chief characteristic of this and other buildings of the age was the introduction of open arcades immediately under the eaves of the roofs, through which light and air were admitted. The church of San Michele of Pavia is one of the most perfect of Italian buildings of this age. In it we see the style almost developed into the true Gothic — the only subsequent inventions being the pointed arch and window-tracery. The cathedral of Modena is another example of this style. In the Cappella Palatina in the palace at Palermo we have