Page:Charles Moore--Development and Character of Gothic Architecture.djvu/120

Rh  of the long side marked by the transverse rib which separates the apse from the choir.

FIG. 51.

The apse of Amiens (Fig. 52) is perhaps the grandest in which this polygonal plan is carried out. And its plan, though perfectly simple, is most ingenious and perfect. The centre of the arc is in this case set to the eastward still farther than at Chartres, and upon this centre the ribs are made to converge. These ribs are now consequently all of the same length; and the whole effect is harmonious and admirable in the highest degree.

Among the finest earlier Gothic apses is that of St. Remi of Reims, which was constructed toward the end of the twelfth century. Below the clerestory it closely resembles the apse of Paris; its lower piers, its vaulting system, and the forms of ground-story and triforium arcades (like Paris it has a vaulted triforium gallery) being almost identical in design. It is, however, in advance of Paris as regards attenuation of supports and general lightness of construction. Like the Cathedral of Noyon it has a second triforium; and it is noticeable that this second triforium is united with the clerestory by shafts which embrace both stories, as at Amiens and St. Denis. The openings of the clerestory and the outer openings of the vaulted gallery are three in each