A History of Architectural Development Volume 2 (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1909 edition. Excerpt: ... transverse arches plain. In all three churches the vaults are very domical. The aisle vaults of Mainz Cathedral have no ribs, only transverse arches. This, coupled with the fact that on the nave side there are no projections from which either diagonal or wall ribs can spring, seems proof that the nave vault of this church is a later addition. The transverse arches are slightly pointed, an additional reason for doubting that the "vault is the original one. In Worms Cathedral diagonal ribs may have been intended from the first, as the piers are large, and there are projections. These, however, are not conclusive proof of this, as there are similar ones at Speier, where the vaults, which date from the middle of the twelfth century, have no ribs. In nearly all the churches, late as well as early, the fine plan of one big bay of nave vaulting equalling two bays of aisle vaulting is followed. The early builders preferred this plan because of the fine effect which it produces, and not because they wished all bays square. They wanted their vaults to be big and to look big, and they relied on the subdivision of the arcade at the sides to give scale and to emphasize the result they were striving for. Most of the vaults are quadripartite, but in some cases where the vaulting is a subsequent addition, as in S. Maria, Cologne, the sexpartite plan is adopted. The vaults of this description in the Church of the Apostles, in the same town, are more satisfactory than is customary. None of the bays in either naves or aisles of the three large representative churches mentioned above is exactly square--those of Mainz Cathedral, in fact, are distinctly oblong. Absence The grand simplicity inside of the three great Rhenish churches is one of their chief...