Fig. 168.—Vaults of the excavated Roman Baths, in the Musée de Cluny, Paris.
A specially French feature is the chevet, a group of apsidal chapels which were built round the apse itself, and which combined with it to make of the east end of a great cathedral a singularly rich and ornate composition. This feature, originating in Romanesque churches, was retained in France through the whole of the Gothic period, and a good example of it may be seen in the large Romanesque church of St. Sernin at Toulouse, which we illustrate (Fig. [169]). The transepts were usually well [!-- original location of Fig. 169 --] marked. The nave arcades generally sprang from piers (Fig. [170]), more rarely from columns. Arches are constantly met with recessed, i.e. in receding planes,[35] the first stage of progress towards a Gothic treatment, and are occasionally slightly moulded (Fig. [171]). Western doorways are often highly enriched with sculpture; and the carving and sculpture generally, though often rude, are full of vitality. Towers occur, usually square, more rarely octagonal. Window-lights are frequently grouped two or more under one arch. Capitals of a basket-shape, and with a square abacus, often richly sculptured, are employed.
Fig. 169.—Church of St. Sernin, Toulouse.
Fig. 170.—Nave Arcade at St. Sernin, Toulouse.