A Text-Book of the History of Architecture: Seventh Edition, revisedHamlin, A. D. F. (Alfred Dwight Foster)
History
A Text-Book of the History of Architecture: Seventh Edition, revised
Hamlin, A. D. F. (Alfred Dwight Foster)
Architecture -- History
+PLANS.+ The wide diversity of local styles in Italian architecture
appears in the plans as strikingly as in the details In general one
notes a love of spaciousness which expresses itself in a sometimes
disproportionate breadth, and in the wide spacing of the piers. The
polygonal chevet with its radial chapels is but rarely seen;
+S. Lorenzo+ at Naples, Sta. Maria dei Servi and S. Francesco at Bologna
are among the most important examples. More frequently the chapels form
a range along the east side of the transepts, especially in the
Franciscan churches, which otherwise retain many basilican features.
A comparison of the plans of S. Andrea at Vercelli, the Duomo at
Florence, the cathedrals of Sienna and Milan, S. Petronio at Bologna and
the Certosa at Pavia (Fig. 153), sufficiently illustrates the variety of
Italian Gothic plan-types.
[Illustration: FIG. 153.--PLAN OF CERTOSA AT PAVIA.]
+ORNAMENT.+ Applied decoration plays a large part in all Italian Gothic
designs. Inlaid and mosaic patterns and panelled veneering in colored
marble are essential features of the exterior decoration of most Italian
churches. Florence offers a fine example of this treatment in the Duomo,
and in its accompanying +Campanile+ or bell-tower, designed by _Giotto_
(1335), and completed by _Gaddi_ and _Talenti_. This beautiful tower is
an epitome of Italian Gothic art. Its inlays, mosaics, and veneering are
treated with consummate elegance, and combined with incrusted reliefs of
great beauty. The tracery of this monument and of the side windows of
the adjoining cathedral is lighter and more graceful than is common in
Italy. Its beauty consists, however, less in movement of line than in
richness and elegance of carved and inlaid ornament. In the +Or San
Michele+--a combined chapel and granary in Florence dating from
1330--the tracery is far less light and open. In general, except in
churches like the Cathedral of Milan, built under German influences, the
tracery in secular monuments is more successful than in ecclesiastical
structures. Venice developed the designing of tracery to greater
perfection in her palaces than any other Italian city (see below).
+MINOR WORKS.+ Italian Gothic art found freer expression in
semi-decorative works, like tombs, altars and votive chapels, than in
more monumental structures. The fourteenth century was particularly rich
in canopy tombs, mostly in churches, though some were erected in the
open air, like the celebrated +Tombs of the Scaligers+ in Verona
(1329-1380). Many of those in churches in and near Rome, and others in
south Italy, are especially rich in inlay of _opus Alexandrinum_ upon
their twisted columns and panelled sarcophagi. The family of the
_Cosmati_ acquired great fame for work of this kind during the
thirteenth century.
The little marble chapel of +Sta. Maria della Spina+, on the Arno, at
Pisa, is an instance of the successful decorative use of Gothic forms in
minor buildings.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account