Page:Charles Moore--Development and Character of Gothic Architecture.djvu/199

Rh The nave of the Cathedral of Strasburg, too, begun in 1277, though more consistently Gothic in character, is far removed from Gothic in the design and adjustment of its west end, which shall be more particularly referred to a little farther on.

In the Kreuzkirche at Breslau (Fig. 96) the pointed arch is employed exclusively, though the design differs widely from French models. This edifice was completed as it now exists

FIG. 96

before the close of the thirteenth century, and it affords a good illustration of the distinctively German taste at this period. The vaults of the nave are in square compartments, while those of the aisles, which are of equal height with the nave, are so curiously and awkwardly mixed in form as to be difficult to describe in words. They may, however, be understood by reference to the illustration (Fig. 96 bis}, a plan of one bay as given by Forster. The vault ribs spring from corbels, and the piers are therefore entirely devoid of vaulting shafts. They are of rectangular section,