Circular Churches.
In the earliest times of Christian architecture, as we have already seen, the circular form of church was nearly as frequent as that derived from the Roman basilica. In process of time the latter was found to be much better adapted to the extended requirements of Christianity. Hence in the 11th and 12th centuries, when so many of the early churches were rebuilt and enlarged, most of the old circular buildings disappeared. Enough, however, remain to enable us to trace, though imperfectly, what their arrangements were.
Among those which have been illustrated, perhaps the most interesting is that known as the church of San Stefano at Bologna, or rather the circular centre of that congeries of seven churches usually known by that name.
It is one of those numerous churches of which it is impossible to predicate whether it was originally a baptismal or a sepulchral edifice. In old times it bore both names, and may have had both destinations, but latterly, at all events, the question has been settled by the compromise usually adopted in such cases, of dedicating it to the first martyr, to whom a sepulchral form of building is especially appropriate.
454. Plan of the Duomo, Brescia. (From Hübsch.) Scale 100 ft. to 1 in.
455. Elevation of Duomo at Brescia. (From Hübsch.) Scale 50 ft. to 1 in.
Notwithstanding a considerable amount of ancient remains mixed up in the details, no part of the present church seems older than the Carlovingian era; while, on the other hand, its extreme irregularity and clumsiness of construction point to a period before the 11th century. Its general form is that of an extremely irregular octagon, about 60 ft. in diameter, in the centre of which stands a circlet of columns, some coupled, some single, supporting a semicircular dome. The circumscribing aisle is covered with the usual intersecting ribbed vault of the 10th century, but the whole is so rude as scarcely to deserve mention except for its antiquity.
The Duomo Vecchio of Brescia is ascribed to the 8th or 9th century, but this date according to Cattaneo[[302]] can only be ascribed to an earlier basilica church, the crypt of which still exists on the east side of the Duomo. As will be seen from the plan, it is a large church, 125 ft. across over all, and is covered by a dome 65 ft. in diameter internally supported by eight piers of plain design. The mode in which light is introduced into the central compartment illustrates the various tentative expedients by which the architects in that age attempted to accomplish their object. First, there is a range of small windows in the dome below the springing of the dome. In the dome itself there are four circular sides, and, as if the architect felt that he was doing something unusual and inartistic, he managed externally to confuse these with the rudiments of the roof gallery.
456. Section of Duomo at Brescia. (From Hübsch.) Scale 50 ft. to 1 in.
457. San Tomaso in Limine. Scale 100 ft. to 1 in.
458. San Tomaso. (From Isabelle, ‘Édifices Circulaires.’) Scale 50 ft. to 1 in.
It is not clear whether originally it had or was intended to have an apse between its two round towers—where the foundations of some buildings can still be traced; but these may be the remains of the early church referred to.
Turning from these, we find the round-arched Gothic style completely developed in the church of San Tomaso in Limine, near Bergamo. From the annexed plan it will be seen that the circular part is the nave or entrance, as in Germany and England, in contradistinction to the French mode of arrangement, where the circular part is always the sanctum, the 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 eight pillars, supporting a vaulted gallery, which forms a triforium or upper storey, and, with the dome and its little cupola, raise the whole height to about 50 ft. A small choir with a semicircular niche projects eastward.
The dimensions of the building are so small that it hardly deserves notice, except as a perfect example of the style of the 11th or 12th century in Lombardy, and for a certain propriety and elegance of design, in which it is not surpassed, internally at least, by any building of its age. It is to be regretted that the idea was never carried out (at any rate no example remains) on such a scale as to enable us to judge of the effect of such a domical arrangement as is here attempted. The great defect of all one-storeyed domes is their lowness, both internally and more especially externally. This method of building a dome in two storeys would seem calculated to obviate the objection; but though common in small sepulchral chambers, it has never been tried on a scale sufficiently large to enable us to judge of its real effect. After this period the circular shape was so completely superseded by the rectangular, that no further improvement took place in it.