Page:History of Architecture in All Countries Vol 1.djvu/431

Rh sprang, and to which it returns. After treating of the imperfect Gothic of the north, we pass easily to the imperfect Byzantine of the southern division of the peninsula.

9th. From Italy, by an easy gradation, we cross the Adriatic, and begin again the history of Christian art by tracing up the successive developments of the Byzantine style of architecture in the countries lying to the eastward of the boundary line, with the description of which this chapter commenced. Owing to the greater uniformity of race, the thread of the narrative is far more easily followed to the eastward than to the westward of the line. The Byzantine Empire remained one and undivided during the Middle Ages; and from that we pass by an easy gradation to Russia, where the style continued to be practised till Peter the Great superseded it by introducing the styles of Western Europe.