OF PYRAMIDAL VAULTS.

35

pyramidal vaults. Attempts have been made to pre-vent the erection of furnaces, except upon the prin-ciple of consuming their smoke. An ugly object isas much a nuisance to one man, as a smoky atmo-sphere is to another. If a building is to be erected ofsuch a height, as to be visible over a whole country, itought to have a beautiful form, and the properform for a smoke duct is fortunately of thatcharacter.

Convex pyramidal vaults form a conspicuous featurein the architecture of Hindoo temples in the EastIndies ; as at Bindrabund, about 70 miles south ofDelhi, on the river Jumna , dedicated to the idolSeva ; and at Agooree, on the river Soane Bahar *(Fig. 15 .) ; and, as in our churches, the arch is an in-tersection of two small arcs of a great curve.

At the revival of the arts under Bruneleschi, theconvex pyramidal vault was in great esteem, as atSanta Maria delle Fiore ; and, as might have beenexpected, this example was eagerly followed in lessbuildings. Bruneleschi wisely adopted the pointedarch for the form t of his cupola. Serlio , in his fifthbook, has given some designs of domes of this kind:the French nation, in more modern times, has almostexclusively appropriated them to herself; and mayshe long enjoy the “ voutes en arc de cloitre”(Fig. 16.), in an exclusive and unenvied possession.

* See Daniel’s Views.

t See a section in the Templum Vaticanum et ipsius origo, &c.by Carlo Fontana , and vol. iv. Bouchard’s edit, of Ruggieri’sStudio d’Arch: civile.

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