Chap.

IV,
POINTED.
2.1:
to a pointed arcli, ogn-e is merely llie pojiuhir continuation of an error committed by tlis
ignorance of some writers in the present cenimy.
.539. Heavy roofs, liaving few ribs with great width of plain intrados, and carried bv
masses of walling, with small openings,
are cliaraeteristic of llomanesijue work.
Its successor was exactly the reverse :
the subdivision of' rooting into a col-
lection of liglit ribs with no marked
r^"^
1 f intiados, the growth of the engaged
ii |
I
or disengaged pillars into the lines of
-a-S
jjjy vaulting, and the carriage of the
weiglit of the ribs by buttresses tliat
fonn the resisting points of walls
I
I
I
which are merely frames to windows,
mJ
A A ft
1^ jj,.g distinctive features of the Gotliic
'
^^^ I I
architecture of the l;iih century, with
the addition of the pointed arch wiiich
had previously been emjiloyrd in ways
that tended to tlie d.vtlopement of the'
sti/le oi/ival primaire As an exam-
ple of the transitional character of the
style in this period, the two bays.
Jig
i'31. from the catliedral in Paris, and
fiy.
2;i'_'. from the church of the abbey
at St. Denis, may be compared as
having been executed respectively at
the beginning and end of the period.
The sculptors do not seem to have
studied nature beyond exhibiting the
costume of th'iir period; and if they
chose models at all for the r foliage,
these were furnished by indigenous
plants. The great attention paid in the
II til century to ancient literature is
clearly responsible for the centaurs and
other fabulous creatures then used for

ornament. In like manner, the devo-

F'g- 232. st. dkxis.
tion of the 12th century to the sciences is expressed by the zodiacal signs and emblems
of the seasons sculptured on the jiortals and choirs of churches built in that and tiie suiceed-
ing century. The door-
ways at Amiens, Autun,
Avallon, Notre D.ime in
Paris, St. Denis, and
\ izelay, with the choir
of the chinch at Issoire,
supply curious examples
of this new branch of
decoration. This conti-
nuation of details, origi-
nally belonging to the
I'ith century, suggests
the remark that the edi-
fices constructid bj' the
Gotliic school, at the
commencement of the
13th century, do nut
possess features so dis-
tinct as to furnish al-
ways a means of dis-
tinguisliing them from
those belonging to the
jieriod of transition
a
remark which may be
applied to the two exam-
jiles of domestic archi-
tecture at Caudebec,
which iov\u
Jiy.
233.
NOTltK DAJIE, 1'^
lllJlbliS, CAUDtBl.C.