File:Medieval architecture, its origins and development, with lists of monuments and bibliographies (1912) (14597349869).jpg

Identifier: medievalarchitec01port (find matches)
Title: Medieval architecture, its origins and development, with lists of monuments and bibliographies
Year: 1912 (1910s)
Authors: Porter, Arthur Kingsley, 1883-1933
Subjects: Architecture, Medieval Architecture, Medieval Architecture
Publisher: New Haven, Yale University Press
Contributing Library: University of Connecticut Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: University of Connecticut Libraries

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mans frequently constructed groin vaults with a completecentering; in certain instances,^ however, they employed a newmethod of building which is of the greatest importance as fore-shadowing the medieval rib vault. The groins themselveswere erected first as complete and self-sustaining arches. As-suming the vaults to be semicircular, it is evident that eachpair of groins will form an arch slightly elliptical. The twoarches will be at right angles to each other, and will have a com-mon keystone. After these arches have been constructed, a The Romans diil not live out-of-floors nearly to tlie extent that the Greeks had done.Another ini(Kirtant result of the vault was the Iaet tliat it made possible fire-proofconstruction. E.g., the Palatine, the Arch of Jainis Quadrifrons, and tlie Thernise of Diocletian and Cara-calla. When concealed rihs were einploved I believe the remainder of the vault was alwaysfilled iu with rubble or concrete, and nut with cut stone. 17 THE HERITAGE OF ANTIQUITY
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THE GROIN VAULT (•(Mit(M-ing of the desired form may he j)laced beneath and touch-ing the groins, and a vault built thereon in a manner preciselysimilar to the procedure in the case of a barrel vault. Thisvault would be carried from the keystone in all four directions,being bounded by the groins. The groins, as complete arches,will be fully capable of sustaining the weight of the vault, what-ever tendency there might be of the vault on one side to pushthe arch sideways being exactly counterbalanced by the con-verse thrust of the vault on the other side. Thus the entireweight and thrust of the vault is gathered on the four groins;and the groins being arches will, by the principle of the arch,transmit all the weight they have received from the vault, andtlischarge it as a thrust at a single point on each of their fourhaunches. That is, the thrust of a groin vault, instead of beingcontinuous like that of a barrel vault, is concentrated at fourisolated points, and consequently requires

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