Page:Charles Moore--Development and Character of Gothic Architecture.djvu/209

Rh strip of greater or less projection. But an examination of the structure above the vaults of the aisles reveals the existence of powerful abutments in the form of solid walls built upon the transverse ribs, and reaching up to the rafters of the timber roof (Fig. 101). A deep pilaster buttress rising against the clerestory wall, and a similar one reinforcing the wall of the aisle, augment the stability of the structure. This certainly cannot be called Gothic construction, but the hidden wall over the aisle vault is practically a flying buttress, though an exceedingly clumsy one, and there is therefore something approaching the principle of Gothic in it. I know not how far this mode of hidden abutment may be carried out in Italian pointed buildings generally, but the presence of the iron tie in many cases shows that the stone abutments, if they exist, are not adequate. It may be added that the piers of Sta. Maria Novella are light for an Italian edifice, and are thoroughly functional in form and adjustment to the superstructure (Fig. 102).

Perhaps the next Italian pointed building of importance is the Franciscan Church of Sta. Croce at Florence, which was designed towards the close of the thirteenth century. It consists in plan of a broad nave with side aisles, a transept across the east end with square eastern chapels, and a polygonal apse of five sides. The apse and chapels only are vaulted, all the rest of the structure being covered by open timber roofs. The roofs of the aisles are a series of gables, set with their ridges perpendicular to the axis of the nave. These roofs rest upon walls carried on transverse arches of stone, and as the feet of their rafters abut each other, they are not trussed. There is of course no triforium, and the pier arches reach high up into the aisle gables. The piers are simple octagonal columns of coursed masonry, with bases and capitals of corresponding form. The archivolts are of two orders of plain square section. Shallow pilasters rise in the nave, one from each of the pier capitals, to the cornice of the wall. At the level of the sills of the clerestory lights a narrow passage way, carried on corbels, runs around the whole interior. This passage way rises in a flight of steps, on each side, to pass over the great arches of the transept. The windows are tall and narrow with pointed arches, divided by mullions into two