north of the Alps; and in the middle of the thirteenth century the Dominicans and Franciscans were instrumental in introducing into the country a variety of pointed architecture that was chiefly derived from German sources, and which continued largely to conform to German models.
One of the earliest of their buildings is the Church of St. Francis of Assisi, which was completed in 1253. In form and principle of construction this church is very little like a Gothic edifice.[1] The building is in two stories—an upper and a lower church—the one distinct from the other. The lower church is, in fact, a crypt; though there is a second crypt, of small proportions, beneath it. St. Francis is built against a hillside, and the pavement of the lower story is, toward the north, on a level with the ground without, so that it could be conveniently lighted, and reached by a sloping path to the portal on the north side. The upper church is in one story without aisles, with a transept across the east end, and an apse of segmental form. The vaults, like those of the same period in Germany, are quadripartite in square compartments. They are provided with transverse and diagonal ribs, but are devoid of longitudinal ribs. All the vaulting arches spring from the same level, and hence the lateral cells have not the forms which secure that concentration of thrusts which distinguishes Gothic. There being no aisles, there are, of course, no piers; but the vaults are supported by shafts, five in a group, which rise against the walls, unbroken from the pavement to the springing of the arches. Narrow pointed windows, one in each bay, and each divided by a mullion, are the only openings. The apse has a Gothic vault and traceried openings; but the general character and aspect of the building, especially of the exterior, is little removed from that of a Romanesque structure.
Another example of these pointed monastic edifices is the important Church of Sta. Maria Novella in Florence, which was founded in 1278. Like St. Francis of Assisi and many other Italian churches, it has a transept across the east end, but instead of an apse it has a rectangular eastern arm which is used as the choir. The nave is provided with side aisles, and the structure is vaulted throughout. In
- ↑ Though M. Ramée, in his Hist. Générale de l'Architecture, vol. ii. p. 112, says: "Elle est dans le style ogival pur de France."
