Page:Character of Renaissance Architecture.djvu/109

Rh these ressauts coffered archivolts are sprung under the ends of the barrel vaults which cover the arms of the cross. The Doric order is designed here, for the most part, in close conformity to ancient models, save for the pilaster on the angle, which does not generally occur in Roman monuments. The common Roman treatment of the angle is shown in the arch of Septimius Severus (Fig. 20, p. 41), where the end column of the order is placed at some distance from the end of the façade, which is left in retreat without any pilaster. But Serlio describes the ruins of an ancient Roman building (Fig. 39) that appears to have been a sort of open arcade or stoa, used as a meeting place for merchants, on the angles of which pilasters are set together with columns, somewhat as they were by Alberti in Santa Maria Novella, by San Gallo here in San Biagio, and by many other architects of the Renaissance. He speaks of the treatment of the angles of this building as follows: "The corner pilasters are larger than the others, and were truly made with excellent judgment, for they strengthen