Sicily will demand a chapter to herself; not only because a fourth element is introduced there in the Saracenic—which influenced her style almost as much as it did that of the South of Spain—but because such pointed Gothic as she possesses was not German, like that of Northern Italy, but derived far more directly from France, under either the Norman or Angiovine dynasties. Gothic architecture in Palestine also requires a chapter, and is best described here owing to its close resemblance to the style in the South of Italy.
CHAPTER II.
EARLY CHRISTIAN AND BYZANTINE-LOMBARDIC STYLES.
CONTENTS.
Basilicas at Rome—St. Peter’s—St. Paul’s—Ravenna—St. Mark’s, Venice—Dalmatia and Istria—Torcello.
CHRONOLOGY.
| DATES. | |
| Honorius | A.D. 395 |
| Valentinian | 425-435 |
| Theodoric, King of the Ostrogoths | 493-525 |
| Justinian | 527 |
| Alboin Longimanus, King of Lombardy | 568 |
| Gregory I. | 590 |
| Charlemagne | 768 |
| Conrad I. | 911 |
| Henry the Fowler | 918 |
| Otho the Great | 936 |
| Otho II. | 973 |
| Otho III. | 983 |
| Henry II. | 1002 |
| Conrad II. | 1024 |
| Henry III. | 1039 |
| Henry IV. | 1056 |
| Henry V. | 1106 |
| Lothaire II. | 1125 |
| Conrad III. | 1138 |
| Frederick Barbarossa | 1152 |
| Henry VI. | 1190 |
| Frederick II. | 1212 |
| Conradin | 1250 |
Basilicas.
Like the study of all modern history, that of Christian architecture commences with Rome; and not, as is sometimes supposed, where the history of Rome leaves off, but far back in the Empire, if not, indeed, almost in the Republic.
As has already been pointed out, the whole history of the art in Imperial Rome is that of a style in course of transition, beginning with a purely Pagan or Grecian style in the age of Augustus, and passing into one almost wholly Christian in the age of Constantine.