DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.26747#0610
546
LOMBARD ARCHITECTURB.
Book II.
promise usually adopted in sucli cases, of dedicating it to the first
martyr, to whom a sepulchral form is especially appropriate.
Notwithstanding a considerahle amount of ancient remains mixed
up in the details, no part of the present church seems older than
tlie Carlovingian era; while, on the other hand, its extreme irre-
gularity and clumsiness of construction point to a period hefore the
11th century. Its general form is that of an extremely irregular
octagon, ahout 60 ft. in diameter, in the centre of which stands a
circlet of columns, some coupled, some single, supporting a semi-
circular dome. The circumscrihing aisle is covered with the usual
intersecting ribbed vault of the 10th century, hut the whole is so rude
•as scarcely to deserve mention except for its antiquity.
At Brescia there are two circular churches—one, the Duomo Vecchio,
may he, at least the lower part of it, of very considerahle antiquity,
but the upper part has certainly heen rehuilt at a more modern epoch.
The other, the church of Sta. Julia, assumes the octagonal form ahove,
and, as it at present stands, cannot he dated earlier than the 12th
century : hoth, however, are small, and, thougli interesting, can liardly
he called important. A hetter specimen than either of these is the
church of San Tomaso in Limine, near Bergamo,
which shows the style in all its completeness.
From the annexed plan it will he seen that the
circular part is the nave or entrance part, as in
G-ermany and England, as contradistinguished from
the French mode of arrangement, wdiere the cir-
cular is always the sanctum, tlie 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
8 pillars, supporting a vaulted gallery, forming a triforium or upper
story, which, with the dome
and its little cupola, raises the
whole height to ahout 50 ft.
A small choir with a semicir-
cular niclie projects, as will he
seen, to the eastward.
The dimensions of the
huilding are so small, that it
hardly deserves notice, except
as a perfect example of the
style of the 11th or 12th cen-
tury in Lombardy, and from
a certain propriety and ele-
gance of design, in which it is
not surpassed, internally at
least, hy any huilding of its
age. We must regret that the
idea was never carried out (at any rate we liave no example of its
heing so) on sueh a scale as to enable us to judge of the eflcct of such
423. San Tomaso in Limine
Seale 100 ft. to 1 in.
San 'l’omaso. From Isabelle, Edifices Circulaire.s.
Scale 50 ft. to 1 in.
LOMBARD ARCHITECTURB.
Book II.
promise usually adopted in sucli cases, of dedicating it to the first
martyr, to whom a sepulchral form is especially appropriate.
Notwithstanding a considerahle amount of ancient remains mixed
up in the details, no part of the present church seems older than
tlie Carlovingian era; while, on the other hand, its extreme irre-
gularity and clumsiness of construction point to a period hefore the
11th century. Its general form is that of an extremely irregular
octagon, ahout 60 ft. in diameter, in the centre of which stands a
circlet of columns, some coupled, some single, supporting a semi-
circular dome. The circumscrihing aisle is covered with the usual
intersecting ribbed vault of the 10th century, hut the whole is so rude
•as scarcely to deserve mention except for its antiquity.
At Brescia there are two circular churches—one, the Duomo Vecchio,
may he, at least the lower part of it, of very considerahle antiquity,
but the upper part has certainly heen rehuilt at a more modern epoch.
The other, the church of Sta. Julia, assumes the octagonal form ahove,
and, as it at present stands, cannot he dated earlier than the 12th
century : hoth, however, are small, and, thougli interesting, can liardly
he called important. A hetter specimen than either of these is the
church of San Tomaso in Limine, near Bergamo,
which shows the style in all its completeness.
From the annexed plan it will he seen that the
circular part is the nave or entrance part, as in
G-ermany and England, as contradistinguished from
the French mode of arrangement, wdiere the cir-
cular is always the sanctum, tlie 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
8 pillars, supporting a vaulted gallery, forming a triforium or upper
story, which, with the dome
and its little cupola, raises the
whole height to ahout 50 ft.
A small choir with a semicir-
cular niclie projects, as will he
seen, to the eastward.
The dimensions of the
huilding are so small, that it
hardly deserves notice, except
as a perfect example of the
style of the 11th or 12th cen-
tury in Lombardy, and from
a certain propriety and ele-
gance of design, in which it is
not surpassed, internally at
least, hy any huilding of its
age. We must regret that the
idea was never carried out (at any rate we liave no example of its
heing so) on sueh a scale as to enable us to judge of the eflcct of such
423. San Tomaso in Limine
Seale 100 ft. to 1 in.
San 'l’omaso. From Isabelle, Edifices Circulaire.s.
Scale 50 ft. to 1 in.