The Romanesque is an architecture of inertia, with arches heavily weighted by great masses of wall, and with broadly contrasting masses of light and shade. It does not depend for its effect upon intellectual quality beyond a rigorous sense of simplicity, or upon refinement of conception or detail, but rather upon size, picturesque mass, and staccato light and shade. The proportion of capital to column in quantity of surface was very slight. The proportion of voussoirs to arches naturally depended upon the size of the arch,--large voussoirs to large arches, small voussoirs to small arches. Columns were only grouped around piers and on either side of openings; and lastly, the natural development of the column in Romanesque work was toward attenuation,--the later and the better the work, the more slender became the columns, until at last they were merged into the Gothic multiple-columned piers. The carving upon the arch-mouldings is, to a great extent, geometric, consisting of numerous facets cut in the stone, lozenges, etc.; the so-called dogtooth moulding is a very favorite form of decoration. All these carved mouldings were picked out in color, usually in red and green. The acanthus in the Romanesque has lost much of its vigor, is flat, heavy-tipped, round-edged, and scratched with V-cuts, and the vine is the leaf preferred by designers. Frequently masses of wall are cut in geometric diaper patterns, also touched with color. Borders are not broad; and circular forms, except in the arches, are seldom used. Romanesque was a barbaric art at the best, and has the usual virtue of the barbarian,--a directness of attack at the problem in hand and a simplicity in treating it which is invigorating to see. [Illustration: XXV. Window in the Church of S. Teresia, Trani, Italy.] [Illustration: XXVI. Window in the Church of S. Teresia, Trani, Italy.] XXV. and XXVI. WINDOWS IN THE CHURCH OF S. TERESIA, TRANI, ITALY. These two windows have very little to suggest Byzantine influence in their design. The form and detail are essentially Romanesque, although there is a certain crispness and piquancy of treatment in the first (Plate XXV.) which belongs to the Byzantine work. [Illustration: XXVII. Window in the Facade of the Basilica at Altamura, Italy.] XXVII. WINDOW IN THE FACADE OF THE BASILICA AT ALTAMURA, ITALY. The employment of grotesque beasts supporting the columns at each side of this window is a very common device in the Italian Romanesque work. The use of a reversed capital in place of a base for the centre column is also a peculiar treatment frequently found in Romanesque work. [Illustration: XXVIII. Windows in the Facade of S. Gregorio, Bari, Italy.] XXVIII. WINDOWS IN THE FACADE OF S. GREGORIO, BARI, ITALY. [Illustration: XXIX. Triforium Window in the Church of S. Gregorio, Bari, Italy.] XXIX. TRIFORIUM WINDOW IN THE CHURCH OF S. GREGORIO, BARI, ITALY.