The Romanesque church also differed from a basilica in the
use of vaulting to take the place of a flat ceiling. The old Romans had
constructed their vaulted roofs and domes in concrete, which forms a rigid mass
and rests securely upon the walls like the lid of a box. Medieval
architects, however, built in stone, which exerts an outward thrust and tends
to force the walls apart. Consequently they found it necessary to make the
walls very thick and to strengthen them by piers, or buttresses, on the outside
of the edifice. It was also necessary to reduce the width of the vaulted
spaces. The vaulting, windows, and doorways had the form of the round arch,
that is, a semicircle, as in the ancient Roman monuments. [12]
[12] The cathedral, baptistery, and campanile of Pisa form
an interesting example of Romanesque architecture.
THE GOTHIC STYLE
Gothic architecture arose in France in the country around
Paris, at a time when the French kingdom was taking the lead in European
affairs. Later it spread to England, Germany, the Netherlands, and even to
southern Europe. As an old chronicler wrote, "It was as if the whole world
had thrown off the rags of its ancient time, and had arrayed itself in the
white robes of the churches." The term Gothic was applied contemptuously
to this architectural style by writers of the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries, who regarded everything non-classical as barbarous. They believed it
to be an invention of the barbarian Goths, and so they called it Gothic. The
name has stuck, as bad names have a habit of doing, but nowadays every one
recognizes the greatness of this medieval art. The most beautiful buildings of
the Middle Ages are of Gothic architecture.
