Page:Charles Moore--Development and Character of Gothic Architecture.djvu/269

Rh in the Italian pointed style; but the great pier bases are rarely as good as these of Sta. Maria Novella. They are often, indeed, of very unsatisfactory form. The profile B, Fig. 163, for instance, from the Cathedral of Florence, is almost as poor as the capital of the same pier just noticed. This base, like the capital, consists of a mere series of mouldings, and no distinct and well-formed footing for the body of the pier is provided. It is true that the straight line, a b, in this profile projects a little beyond the face of the pier above, giving somewhat the effect of an enlarged base, but the enlargement is too slight to be readily appreciated by the eye. In the profile C in the same figure, from the base of one of the piers of Sta. Croce, this straight line is advanced considerably beyond the face of the pier, and the character of a base is thus in greater measure secured.

Arch mouldings in the Italian pointed architecture do not exhibit a great variety of profiles. They have, in fact, the simplest profiles which occur in this style. Interior arches are almost without exception perfectly square in section, and without subdivisions or adornments of any kind. They are in some cases, as in Sta. Croce, in two orders—the one advancing but little beyond the other; and sometimes, as in the Cathedral of Florence, a simply bevelled hood moulding is added. Where more than one order occurs their very slight projection gives an effect like that of the fasciæ of the ancient architrave rather than of the arch orders of the styles of the North.

Italian vault ribs are commonly bevelled, but they are rarely otherwise adorned. The diagonal ribs of the Cathedral of Florence, however, have the section shown in Fig. 164, where the use of the  is one of the many indications of the hold which classic features had on the minds of the builders at this time in Italy. It is always observable that the use which the Italians made of these classic elements was never inventive, as it was with the Gothic architects. They are often associated with elements which differ greatly from those of classic design, but they themselves remain unmodified.

The outside cornice is generally of classic profile; but it is not unfrequently carried on a corbel table, and