DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.29898#0597
Bk. II. Ch. IY.
PIACENZA.
561
west end, and the octagonal tower rising from the intersection is sup-
ported on eight pillars, the sqnare being completed by four polygonal
piers. The principal point, however, to observe is, how completely the
440a.
0 5 10 2ti t.0 SO 80 100 \?oFe.et
Section of Church of San Antonio at Piacenza. (From Osten.)
style has emancipated itself from all Roman tradition. A new style
has grown up as essentially different from the early Christian as the
style of Cologne or of York Cathedral. The architect is once more at
liberty to work out his own designs without reference to anything
beyond the exigencies of the edifices themselves. The plan, indeed, is
441. Plan and section of Baptistery at Asti. (From Osten.) Scale 50 ft. to 1 in.
still a reminiscence of the Basilica; but so are all the plans of
Mediseval cathedrals, and we may trace back the forms of the pillars,
the piers, and the arches they support, to the preceding style. All
these were derived from Roman art, but the originals are forgotten,
and the new style is wholly independent of the old one. The whole of
the church too is roofed with intersecting vaults, which have become
an integral part of the design, giving it an essentially different
character. On the outside buttresses are introduced—timidly, it is
vol. i. 2 o
PIACENZA.
561
west end, and the octagonal tower rising from the intersection is sup-
ported on eight pillars, the sqnare being completed by four polygonal
piers. The principal point, however, to observe is, how completely the
440a.
0 5 10 2ti t.0 SO 80 100 \?oFe.et
Section of Church of San Antonio at Piacenza. (From Osten.)
style has emancipated itself from all Roman tradition. A new style
has grown up as essentially different from the early Christian as the
style of Cologne or of York Cathedral. The architect is once more at
liberty to work out his own designs without reference to anything
beyond the exigencies of the edifices themselves. The plan, indeed, is
441. Plan and section of Baptistery at Asti. (From Osten.) Scale 50 ft. to 1 in.
still a reminiscence of the Basilica; but so are all the plans of
Mediseval cathedrals, and we may trace back the forms of the pillars,
the piers, and the arches they support, to the preceding style. All
these were derived from Roman art, but the originals are forgotten,
and the new style is wholly independent of the old one. The whole of
the church too is roofed with intersecting vaults, which have become
an integral part of the design, giving it an essentially different
character. On the outside buttresses are introduced—timidly, it is
vol. i. 2 o