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.