and the central needle in recent times. The peculiar originality of its style gives this cathedral a unique place in the history of architecture (Figure 8). The following observations may not be out of place here: Italian art has never
yielded tractably, in its architectural creations, to the teachings of foreign schools, and local taste in the end always asserts itself; so that imported methods, if not rejected at once, have, at least, always undergone a transfiguring and transforming process that has made them national, This is forcibly demonstrated by the fact that, although Gothic architecture was a hot-house plant in Italy, it nevertheless possessed characteristics of its own there, which were due to the national traditions. The basis of the Gothic system of vaulting is recognized by everybody. Now, Italy has always had a decided leaning in favor of vaults on a square plan. This was derived from Classic tradition and is very ancient; an example of it is seen in the old basilica of San Ambrogio, at Milan, to say nothing of the Cathedral of Modena, and many other churches. If we compare the system of vaulting on a square plan with the rectangular system employed by the peoples of the North, the difference in effect appears at once, and we find new proof of the fact that Italy has never been able to forget the ancient traditions of Roman architecture. In Italian churches, we almost never see apses with radiating chapels, a common disposition in the French Gothic, but unknown in Germany, except in a few instances in which French influence predominated in the construction. The apses of Italian churches are polygonal. At Venice, we have the church of Saint Stephen and that of the Frari; at Verona, San Fermo and Santa Anastasia; at Bologna, Saint Francis and St. James the Flder;
at Sienna, the church of the Holy Spirit; at Florence, Santa Croce and Santa Maria del Fiore, etc.
Returning to our main argument, let us glance at the church of St. Francis of Assisi, one of the most purely Gothic of Italian monuments. It is a well-known basilica comprising two superimposed churches and a crypt. It is celebrated less for its architectural value than because it was the source of that wonderful Italo-Christian art, which, beginning with Cimabue and coming down through the majestic compositions of Giotto, culminated in the paintings of the Stanza della Segnatura at the Vatican. The basilica of Assisi was attributed by Vasari to Jacopo, a German, and by its historian is
termed Opus Teutonicum; but it looks more like the work of a Lombard artist from the Comacino territory. However this may be, unquestionably the corner-stone was laid in 1228, and the first architect, Jacopo, was superseded in the direction of
the work by his disciple Fra Filippo de Campello. The monument is remarkable for the simple elegance of its pillars and the soaring character of the vaults, which are painted.
Turning to the north of Italy, after noting the Gothic Fig. 9. Doge’s Palace, Venice.
Fig. 10. Porta della Carta, Doge’s Palace, Venice.
yielded tractably, in its architectural creations, to the teachings of foreign schools, and local taste in the end always asserts itself; so that imported methods, if not rejected at once, have, at least, always undergone a transfiguring and transforming process that has made them national, This is forcibly demonstrated by the fact that, although Gothic architecture was a hot-house plant in Italy, it nevertheless possessed characteristics of its own there, which were due to the national traditions. The basis of the Gothic system of vaulting is recognized by everybody. Now, Italy has always had a decided leaning in favor of vaults on a square plan. This was derived from Classic tradition and is very ancient; an example of it is seen in the old basilica of San Ambrogio, at Milan, to say nothing of the Cathedral of Modena, and many other churches. If we compare the system of vaulting on a square plan with the rectangular system employed by the peoples of the North, the difference in effect appears at once, and we find new proof of the fact that Italy has never been able to forget the ancient traditions of Roman architecture. In Italian churches, we almost never see apses with radiating chapels, a common disposition in the French Gothic, but unknown in Germany, except in a few instances in which French influence predominated in the construction. The apses of Italian churches are polygonal. At Venice, we have the church of Saint Stephen and that of the Frari; at Verona, San Fermo and Santa Anastasia; at Bologna, Saint Francis and St. James the Flder;
at Sienna, the church of the Holy Spirit; at Florence, Santa Croce and Santa Maria del Fiore, etc.
Returning to our main argument, let us glance at the church of St. Francis of Assisi, one of the most purely Gothic of Italian monuments. It is a well-known basilica comprising two superimposed churches and a crypt. It is celebrated less for its architectural value than because it was the source of that wonderful Italo-Christian art, which, beginning with Cimabue and coming down through the majestic compositions of Giotto, culminated in the paintings of the Stanza della Segnatura at the Vatican. The basilica of Assisi was attributed by Vasari to Jacopo, a German, and by its historian is
termed Opus Teutonicum; but it looks more like the work of a Lombard artist from the Comacino territory. However this may be, unquestionably the corner-stone was laid in 1228, and the first architect, Jacopo, was superseded in the direction of
the work by his disciple Fra Filippo de Campello. The monument is remarkable for the simple elegance of its pillars and the soaring character of the vaults, which are painted.
Turning to the north of Italy, after noting the Gothic Fig. 9. Doge’s Palace, Venice.
Fig. 10. Porta della Carta, Doge’s Palace, Venice.