ate lights by small columns;
the heads of these lights are ogee-shaped, and the spaces between them
and the horizontal lintel are filled in with circles, richly
quatrefoiled or otherwise cusped (Fig. 55). The upper arcade of the
Ducal Palace at Venice offers the best known and finest example of
this class of tracery.

[Illustration: FIG. 55.--TRACERY, FROM VENICE.]

_Roofs and Vaults._

The vaulting of Italian churches is always simple, and the bays, as
has been pointed out, are usually wider than those of the northern
Gothic churches. Frequently there are no ribs of any sort to the
groins of the vaults. A characteristic feature of Italian Gothic is
the central dome. It is rarely very large or overpowering, and in the
one instance of a magnificent dome--the Cathedral at Florence, the
feature, though intended from the first, was added after the Gothic
period had closed. Still many churches have a modest dome, and it
frequently forms a striking feature in the interior, while in some
northern instances (_e.g._ at the Certosa at Pavia, or at Chiaravalle)
it is treated like a many storeyed pyramid and becomes an external
feature of importance. At Sant' Antonio at Padua there are five domes.

The churches of the preaching orders are some of them covered by
timber ceilings, not perfectly flat but having an outline made up of
hollow curves of rather flat sweep. The great halls at Padua and
Vicenza displayed a vast wooden curved ceiling resembling the hull of
a ship turned upside down.

The ordinary church roof is of flat pitch and frequently concealed
behind a parapet. Dormer windows, crestings, and other similar
features, by the use of which northern architects enriched their
roofs, are hardly ever employed by Italian architects.

_Mouldings and Ornaments._

Ornament is almost instinctively understood by the Italians, and their
mastery of it is well shown in their architecture. The carving of
spandrels, capitals, and other ornaments, and the sculpture of the
heads and statues introduced is full of power and beauty. The famous
capitals of the lower arcade of the Ducal Palace may be quoted as
illustrations.

The employment of coloured materials is carried so far as sometimes to
startle an eye trained to the sombreness of English architecture, but
a great deal of the beauty of this style is derived from colour, and
much of the comparative simplicity and scarcity of mouldings is due to
the desire to leave large un