Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
A rib vault or ribbed vault is an architectural feature for covering a wide space, such as a church nave, composed of a framework of crossed or diagonal arched ribs. Variations were used in Roman architecture , Byzantine architecture , Islamic architecture , Romanesque architecture , and especially Gothic architecture .
Ploughshare vault – A Rib vault where the wall ribs spring from a higher position than those of the diagonal ribs. Quadripartite vault – A Rib vault where the bay is divided by diagonal and transverse ribs into four cells or webs. Rampant vault – A Barrel vault where one springing in point is higher than the opposite springing point.
In later buildings employing ribbed vaultings, groin vaults are most frequently used for the less visible and smaller vaults, particularly in crypts and aisles. A groin vault is almost always square in plan and is constructed of two barrel vaults intersecting at right angles. Unlike a ribbed vault, the entire arch is a structural member.
A pattern of three stages—vault, arcade and clerestory—was established in the 11th century. [9] Masonry vaults were preferred for larger churches, and were initially barrel or groin vaults, often with arches spanning the nave between the vaults. Vaulted bays are square. [9] The earliest ribbed high vault in France is at Saint-Etienne, Caen ...
Gothic rib vault ceiling of the Saint-Séverin church in Paris Interior elevation view of a Gothic cathedral, with rib-vaulted roof highlighted. In architecture, a vault (French voûte, from Italian volta) is a self-supporting arched form, usually of stone or brick, serving to cover a space with a ceiling or roof.
A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault, wagon vault or wagonhead vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve (or pair of curves, in the case of a pointed barrel vault) along a given distance. The curves are typically circular in shape, lending a semi-cylindrical appearance to the total design.
A common association of vaulting in cathedrals of the Middle Ages involves a nave of barrel vault design with transepts of groined vaulting. [8] Rib vaults resemble groin vaults but introduce structural ribs running along the angles which carry much of the weight, making possible much greater variations of proportion.
The style evolved to one that was less heavy, had larger windows, lighter-weight vaulting supported on stone ribs and above all, the pointed arch which is the defining characteristic of the style now known as Gothic. With thinner walls, larger windows and high pointed arched vaults, the distinctive flying buttresses developed as a means of support.