Page:A History of Architecture in All Countries Vol 2.djvu/330

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314
ITALIAN ARCHITECTURE.
Part II.

314 ITALIAN ARCHITECTURE. Part U. attempted to accomplish tlieir object. First, there is a range of small windows in the drum below the si^ringing of the dome. In the dome itself there are four circular holes, and as if the arcliitect felt that he was doing something unusual and inartistic, he managed externally to confuse these with the rudiments of the roof-gallery. This last feature is managed in even a more rudimentary fashion than at Novara (Woodcut No. 739), and is evidently intended to look, ex- ternally, as if it lighted the interior of the church. It is not clear whether originally it had or was intended to have an apse between its two round towers — the foundations of which can still be traced. Most probably it had. What renders this church of peculiar interest now is that its ordonnance had probably even more influence on the design of the churclies at Aix-la-Chapelle and else- where in Germany than San Vitale at RaA^enna, which is usually considered the prototype of all the circular churches north of the Alps. The other circular church at Brescia is that of Sta. Julia, which is certainly more modern than the Duomo, and, as it at present stands, cannot be considered older than the 12th century. In its upper part it assumes an octagonal form, and altogether tends much more towards the Gothic forms than its rival. Turning from these we find the round-arched Gothic style com- pletely developed in the church of San Tomaso in Limine, near Bergamo. From the annexed plan it will be seen that the circular part is the nave or entrance, as in Germany and England, in contradistinction to the French mode of arransce- ment, where the circular part m 751. San Tomaso in Limine. Scale 100 ft. to 1 in. 752. San Tomaso. (From Isabelle, " Edifices Circulaires.") Scale 50 ft. to 1 in. is always the sanctum, the rectangular the nave or less holy place. The general plan of this example is circular. It is not more than 30 ft. across internally. In the centre stand eight jnllars, supjwrting a vaulted gallery, which forms a triforium or upper story, and, with the dome and its little cupola, raise the whole height to about 50 ft. A small choir with a semi-circular niche projects eastward. The dimensions of the building are so small that it hardly