Architecture, Medieval; Church architecture; Vaults (Architecture)
The vaults thus far discussed have been largely those of England, but
some of the types with added ribs, most highly developed in that country
were not without Continental examples. In France, for instance, ridge
ribs, besides being used in vaults of the domed up Anjou type already
described, are also found marking level ridges like those of the
standard English vaults. The nave of the abbey church of Souvigny
(Allier) (late fifteenth century), the north transept of the cathedral
of LeMans (before 1430), and the chapel of the Maison de Jacques Coeur
at Bourges (middle of fifteenth century) afford excellent examples of
the use of the longitudinal without the transverse ridge rib, while the
chapel of the château of Blois, and the cathedral of Tulle (Corrèze),
have already been cited as rare instances in which both were employed in
vaults with level crowns. That the French builders were even more
impressed with the decorative possibilities which these ribs afforded
than were those of England is perhaps shown by the fact that, whereas in
England this rib has carved decoration[260] only rarely as in the nave
of Lichfield cathedral it is carved in no less than three of the French
examples cited, the chief among these being Souvigny, in which a deeply
cut foliate design decorates both sides of the rib throughout its entire
length. In Spain also there is a notable example of the decoration of
both a longitudinal and transverse ridge rib in the form of a knotted
rope or scourge in the cathedral of Vizeu.[261]
Tiercerons as well as ridge ribs were freely used on the continent
though usually not at a very early date. Fine examples are to be seen in
France in such churches as those of Brou (Ain) (1506-1536), and Saint
Nicolas-du-Port (Meurthe-et-Moselle) (cir. 1505).[262] Both of these are
also of interest because their vaults still retain the domed up crown
characteristic of French construction, and because of this the builders,
to avoid the awkward rise and fall of continuous ridge ribs, have
brought these out only far enough to meet the pair of tiercerons in each
severy. Many other examples of tierceron vaulting could be cited both in
France and elsewhere, but they would add nothing of importance from a
structural standpoint.
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