ARCHITECTURE. 
and the emulation of the architects, edifices 
were raised to an incredible height. Hence 
the lofty towers, and the still more elevated 
spires that occasion such awful grandeur, 
and sublime sensations in the mind of the 
astonished beholder. The ceilings of the 
churches were formed by groined vaulting, 
a portion of the pressure of which was di- 
rected in the length to the ends, and the 
remaining pressure to the springing points 
on the sides. 
In the Roman buildings the walls were 
most commonly without projections, and 
of vast thickness, which was necessary in a 
vaulted building, erected upon a rectilineal 
plan, in order to counteract the efforts of 
the resisting arches. Hence, if the building 
had been groined, the weight of the arches 
would have been thrown upon the spring- 
ing points. From this it is evident that a 
vast quantity of materials must have been 
employed without effect ; but this is not the 
case with the pointed style of architecture, 
for the walls were thickened by buttresses 
opposed only to the pressing points: and 
to aid the resistance with still more power- 
ful effect, the buttresses were surmounted 
with high pinnacles, and, from their sloping 
position, their general form was almost one 
continued prop, in a straight line to the bot- 
tom : this straight line was a tangent to the 
arch. Those that understand the nature of 
the centre of gravity will easily perceive, 
that a plain wall will be overturned with 
much more ease than one with buttresses, 
of the same length and height, the same 
quantity of materials being employed in 
both. The extremity of the aisles was sus- 
tained by strong pilastered buttresses on the 
outside, and the other extremity rested on 
the imposts or capitals of the pillars. These 
pillars, with their superincumbent walls 
not being assisted as on the outside with 
buttresses, were liable to be bent with the 
pressure of the arches, unless the sides of 
the nave had been of sufficient thickness 
which, in many of our churches, experience 
has proved to be the contrary, by the bend- 
ing of the walls inwardly, which is a serious 
defect, and threatens ruin to many of those 
venerable piles of building. W& cannot 
therefore expect these edifices to rival, in 
duration, the immortal constructions of 
Egypt, Greece, and Rome. As to the groin- 
ing of the nave, the arches were equally re- 
sisted on both sides by the flying buttresses 
which pressed forcibly at the imposts of the 
arches. It would appear, that the method 
practised in the erection of these edifices. 
was to insert the springing stones as the 
work went on, but to leave the vaulting to 
be turned after the wal'# had been carried 
up to their full height, and the whole roofed 
in. Hie roofs of Gothic buildings were very 
high pitched, a form, more from choice thaii 
necessity, rather adopted in compliance with 
the pointed and pyramidal style of architec- 
ture, than rendered necessary by the cli- 
mate, being generally covered with lead. 
These roofs are therefore faulty in burden- 
ing the walls with an unnecessary load of 
timber and lead ; and they are also deficient 
in the construction, by the omission of tye- 
beams, to counteract their tendency to 
spread and thrust out the walls. 
After having thus discussed the several 
styles of building, which have been gene- 
rally and unmeaningly classed under the 
appellation of Gothic, we must now make a 
retrogression to Italy, where the Grecian 
style had been revived for a considerable 
time, and was flourishing in great purity. 
Let us therefore retrace the steps by which 
it again arose to its ancient splendour and 
magnificence. 
Fillipo Brunelleschi, born 1377, may be 
looked upon as the restorer of ancient ar- 
chitecture, and the founder of the modern 
style. 
After having prepared his mind by the 
study of the writings of the ancient authors, 
and the ruins of Roman edifices which he 
carefully measured, he discovered the or- 
ders, and recognized the simple forms and 
constructions of the ancients, and having 
thus formed a system upon unshaken prin- 
ciples, he was enabled to construct works 
with beauty, solidity, and durability. He 
erected the dome of St. Maria da Fiore at 
Florence, an undertaking beyond the abili- 
ties of any other builder then living : Ar- 
nolfo, the original architect of this vast ca- 
thedral having been two years dead. This 
dome, rising from an octangular plan, is of 
great elevation, and is only inferior in size 
to that of St. Peter’s. It is constructed by 
two vaults, with a cavity between them, 
and was erected without centring. It is 
the only elevated dome supported by a wall 
without buttresses. From this, and many 
other buildings erected by Brunelleschi, 
the learned began to study the works of Ve- 
truvius, and a general taste for the princi- 
ples of the art began to warm the breasts of 
the Italians. 
Leo Battista Alberta, born A. D. 1398, 
was the first modern author who published 
a learned treatise on architecture, from 
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