ARCHITECTURE. 141 
guished archzeologists, Kugler and Schnaase, give the period of its construe- 
tion as being in the twelfth century, whilst not a single detail, far less the 
plan of the hall, corresponds with the style of the latter period. 
C. Gothic and Lombardic Styles. 
1. Gormic Styte. About the middle of the fifth century when the Byzan- 
tine style was prevailing in Constantinople and the East, and the Romanesque 
the most frequent in Rome and the west, a new style was introduced in 
Northern Italy under King Theodoric, the Gothic, which must not be 
confounded with the old German style which is often misnamed Gothic. 
Theodoric was passionately fond of the arts and lavish in his expenditures 
for their development. He devoted large sums annually to the preservation 
of the ancient Roman monuments, especially the aqueducts and the amphi- 
theatre. During his reign a great number of buildings were erected in 
Naples, Pavia, Spoleto, Verona, and Ravenna. In the last town there are 
still ruins of the palace of Theodoric which testify to an economy in out- 
ward decoration, quite uncommon in that period in other countries. The 
mausoleum of Theodoric in Ravenna (pl. 28, jig. 18), built in the sixth 
century and still existing as the St. Mary’s round church; the front of the 
Franciscan convent, believed to be part of the palace; the baptistery and 
other buildings of the fifth, sixth, and seventh centuries show the peculiari- 
ties of the Gothic style proper. These consist in very strong walls; in 
columns and pillars of good proportions but with capitals decorated with 
other foliation than the antique orders; in Roman leading ideas and the 
exclusive application of the semicircular arch and semi-cylindrical vault. 
The mausoleum of Theodoric was built by order of Queen Amalasunta. 
It is of Istrian marble, and its details may serve as a good illustration of 
the Gothic style. Its cupola is of a single block of marble, 34 feet in 
diameter. Twelve projections were left on the exterior of the cupola, to 
which the ropes were fastened for lifting this monolith. They appear in the 
elevation like so many small garret windows. The parts of the exterior are 
well arranged, the doors well profiled and ornamented. The lower part, 
containing the sepulchre, is filled up with earth. 
Only a limited number of buildings in the Gothic style have been pre- 
served. They all prove that this style equally approaches the ancient 
Roman and the Romanesque. Triangular gables, such as were peculiar in 
the Byzantine and German styles, never occur in the Gothic, which there- 
fore cannot be confounded with either. 
The Visigothic style is sufficiently independent to claim a special notice. 
It occurs chiefly in Spain. The principal church of Tarragona and one of 
the gates of Barcelona are good examples. The Visigothic style in which 
the walls are frequently interrupted by round or polygonal towers came 
into requisition when, in the times of club-law, strength in building was 
particularly desirable. It therefore was termed the castle style by the 
Franks and Normans, who frequently erected buildings in this style. We 
have treated more largely of this style in the part of this work relating to 
Military Sciences when noticing the fortification of the middle ages, and 
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