Mediaeval Church Vaulting
MEDIAEVAL CHURCH VAULTING
Princeton Monographs in Art and Archaeology V
BY CLARENCE WARD ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF ARCHITECTURE, RUTGERS COLLEGE LECTURER ON ARCHITECTURE, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS PRINCETON LONDON: HUMPHREY MILFORD OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS 1915 Copyright, 1915, by Princeton University Press —— Published November, 1915
To A. M. WITH THE LASTING AFFECTION OF THE AUTHOR, WHO IS INDEBTED TO HIM FOR MUCH INSPIRATION
The student of Mediaeval architecture, especially of the Gothic era, finds perhaps its strongest appeal in the peculiar structural character which it possesses. Greek architecture, even at its best, strongly reflects a preceding art of building in wood. Roman architecture, when it does not closely follow its Greek prototype, often depends upon a mere revetment or surface treatment for its effects, and the Renaissance builders in general followed this lead. Only in the Middle Ages was the structure truly allowed to furnish its own decoration, and the decoration itself made structural. And by far the greatest single problem of construction was that of vaulting. A knowledge of vaulting is, therefore, essential for the thorough student of Mediaeval architecture. On the vaulting system depend in a large measure the shape of piers and buttresses, the size and form of windows and arches, and a host of decorative mouldings and details which form the complex whole of Mediaeval construction.
Inheriting from Early Christian times a church of well-established plan, the builders of the eleventh to the sixteenth centuries set themselves the problem of substituting for the wooden roof of this Early Christian Basilica a covering of masonry which would resist the conflagrations that were among the most destructive forces of the Middle Ages. It is with these efforts that the following pages are to deal. It has been my purpose to classify and to discuss in a systematic manner what has been gathered from authorities here and abroad and from a study of the monuments themselves.
Clarence Ward
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MEDIAEVAL CHURCH VAULTING
Domes on Spherical Pendentives
Domes on Squinches
The School of Perigord
Comparison of Perigord and Byzantine Domes
The Exterior Roofing of Perigord Domes
Characteristics of Perigord Churches
The Centering of Perigord Domes
Naves Vaulted with Domes on Squinches
Pyramidal Vaults
Tunnel Vaults
Romanesque Schools of Tunnel Vaulted Churches
The School of Provence
Provence Churches of the First Type
Provence Churches of the Second Type
The Lighting of Tunnel-Vaulted Churches
Provence Churches of the Second Type continued
Provence Churches of the Third Type
Provence Churches of the Fourth Type
Provence Churches of the Fifth Type
Vaults Similar to those of Provence in other Romanesque Churches
Naves with Tunnel Vaults and Aisles Groined
The School of Poitou
The School of Auvergne continued
Churches of the Auvergne School
Churches of Auvergne with a Clerestory
The School of the Loire
The School of Bourgogne
Churches with Transverse Tunnel Vaults Over the Nave
Churches with Transverse Tunnel Vaults Over the Aisles
Tunnel Vaults with Cross Ribs
Naves with Groined Vaults
Groined Vaults Over Rectangular Nave Bays
Groined Vaults over Square Nave Bays
Aisles with Groined Vaults in Lombardy and Normandy
Aisles with Semi-Groined Vaults
Ribbed Vaults
Ribbed Vaults Over Naves with Square Bays
The System of Alternate Supports
Naves without Side Aisles
Anjou Ridge Ribs
Square Nave Bays Outside of Lombardy and Anjou
Square Nave and Rectangular Aisle Bays
Ribs with Caryatid Supports
Square Nave and Rectangular Aisle Bays continued
Lighting Problems in Naves with Square Bays
Origin of Sexpartite Vaulting
False or Pseudo-Sexpartite Vaulting
Development of Sexpartite Vaulting
Sexpartite Vaulting in the Ile-de-France
Variants of Sexpartite Vaulting
Eight-Part Vaulting
Rectangular Nave Bays with Four-Part Cross-Ribbed Vaults
Irregular Four-Part Vaulting of Durham Cathedral
Early Four-Part Ribbed Vaults in Normandy
Transitional Four-Part Ribbed Vaults in the Ile-de-France
Developed Four-Part Ribbed Vaults
The Curve of Vault Ribs
Rectangular Four-Part Ribbed Vaults in Churches without Side Aisles
Vaulting with Added Ribs
Origin and Use of the Ridge Rib
Tierceron Vaulting
Lierne Vaulting
Interpenetrating Multiple Ribbed Vaults
Tracery Vaults
Fan Vaulting
Pendants
Vaults with Added Ribs—Outside of England
Side Aisle Vaulting
Five-Part Aisle Vaults
Multiple-Ribbed Aisle Vaults
Triforium Vaulting
Nave and Aisles of Equal Height
Transepts with Tunnel Vaults
Square Chevets
Vaulting of Semicircular Transepts
The Vaults of Transept Aisles and Chapels
Crossing Vaults
Lantern Towers
Ribbed Domes
Lobed Domes
“Gothic Domes” or Double Chevets
Square Lanterns with Eight-Part Vaults
Rib-Vaulted Crossings with no Lanterns
Apses Vaulted with Half Domes
Lighting Problems Connected with the Construction of Half Domed Apses
Apses with Ribbed Half Domes
Apses with Four-Part Ribbed Vaults
The Chevet Vault
Types of Chevet Vaults
Radiating-Ribbed Chevets
The Use of Wall Ribs in Gothic Ribbed Vaulting
Radiating-Ribbed Chevets continued
Broken-Ribbed Chevets
Buttressing-Ribbed Chevets
Diagonal-Ribbed Chevets
Chevets with Added Ribs
The Number of Chevet Cells
The Use of A Central Pier in the Apse
Impost Levels of Chevet Vault Ribs
The Shape of the Chevet Cells
Chevets with Pierced Panels
Early Ambulatories
Origin of Ambulatory Vaulting
Annular Tunnel Vaults
Ambulatories with Half Tunnel Vaults
Romanesque Ambulatories with Alternating Triangular and Square Bays
Ambulatories with Transverse Tunnel Vaults
Ambulatories with Groined Vaulted Trapezoidal Bays
Ambulatories with Ribbed Vaults
Morienval
Trapezoidal Ambulatory Vaults with Straight Diagonal Ribs
Trapezoidal Ambulatory Vaults with Curved Diagonal Ribs
Trapezoidal Ambulatory Vaults with Broken Ribs
Method of Construction in Ambulatory Vaults
Trapezoidal Ambulatory Vaults with Added Ribs
Ambulatory Vaults which Include the Radiating Chapels
Ambulatories with Alternate Square and Triangular Bays
Ambulatories with Triangular Bays Only
Ambulatories with Multiple Ribbed Vaults
Exceptional Eastern Terminations
The Vaulting of Radiating Chapels
