which the few who have had an opportunity of examining, declare to be
surpassingly rich in its decoration, but it is for the most part
Romanesque.

The Gothic work remaining in and about Naples is most of it extremely
florid, and often rich, but seldom possesses the grace and charm of
that which exists further north.

Sicily shows the picturesquely mixed results of a complication of
agencies which have not affected the mainland, and is accordingly an
interesting field for architectural study. The island was first under
Byzantine influence; was next occupied and held by the Saracens; and
was later seized and for some time retained by the Normans.

[Illustration: FIG. 53.--THE CATHEDRAL AT ORVIETO. (BEGUN 1290;
FACADE, 1310.)]

The most striking early Gothic building in Sicily is the richly
adorned cathedral of Monreale, commenced in the twelfth century. Here
very simple pointed arches are made use of, as the entire surface of
the interior is covered with mosaic pictures of Norman origin. The
small Capella Palatina in Palermo itself is of the same simple and
early architectural character, and adorned with equally magnificent
mosaics. In these buildings the splendour of the colouring is only
equalled by the vigorous and often pathetic power with which the
stories of sacred history are embodied in these mosaics. The cathedral
of Cefalu is a building bearing a general resemblance to that at
Monreale, but not enriched in the same manner.

Of the fourteenth century are the richly ornamented cathedral of
Palermo and that of Messina. The latter has been so much altered as to
have lost a good deal of its interest; but at Palermo there is much
that is striking and almost unique. This building has little in common
with the works of northern or central Italy, and not much more
alliance with the Gothic of North Europe. It is richly panelled and
decorated, but its most striking feature is its bold arcaded portal.

ANALYSIS OF BUILDINGS.

_Plan._

The plans of Italian churches are simple, compared with those of the
northern and western architects. As a rule they are also moderate in
size, and they bear a close resemblance to those of the early basilica
churches from which they are directly descended. Though the apse is
all but universal, the French _chevet_, with its crown of clustering
chapels, was not adopted in Italy. There is very much in common
between the churches of Lombardy and those of Germany, but the Ge