ARTE

ART. – The abbatial church is preceded by a pillared portico with three arches, of which the side ones are pointed. The interior has three naves divided by cruciform pillars with ribbed vaulting whose ribs descend on inverted-cone corbels; all the naves are vaulted and all the arches are pointed. At the crossing of the central nave and the transept rises a lantern-tower. Conceived in the forms of Burgundian Gothic, the church lacks flying buttresses and other complex devices for counteracting vault thrust; compared with the almost contemporary abbey of Fossanova it represents a slightly more advanced stage of the style; in some decorative details, especially in the portal, there is no lack of contributions by local artists. The cloister is rather simple, with groups of biforas; the chapter house and other rooms of various uses are most elegant, all vaulted with a complex system of supports. It shares with Fossanova the credit of having been one of the centres for the spread of the elements proper to the Gothic style. – See Pl. LV.