LOMBARDIC ARCHITECTURE, a of architec ture prevalent in Italy from the commencement of the seventh to the thirteenth century ; it succeeded the debased Roman, and forms the intermediate link between it and the Gothic. It derives its name from the circumstance of its prevalence during the supremacy of the Lombards in Italy, and not from any notion of its invention or introduction by that people, for they had no architecture of their own, as is evident from the fact of their being compelled to employ native artists in the construction of their works. The style is indeed nothing more than a natural and gradual development of Roman architecture ; and the principles involved in it had already begun to manifest themselves ere the fall of the empire. This mode of building, as well as those which preceded and followed it, owe their existence to the invention and adaptation of the arch to constructive purposes; and as the latest exhibits this new principle perfected and fully developed, so does the second manifest an improvement to and more perfect development than the earliest.
The Lombards, during whose dynasty this style prevailed, established themselves in Italy at the close of the sixth century, and remained in undisturbed possession of the country for two hundred years, when it was wrested from them by Charlemagne, who in 774 put an end to that dynasty, and united Italy to the new western empire. Italy does not seem to have suffered much, but rather the reverse, from their government, and during their possession, the arts flourished and were cultivated with greater success than during the periods either immediately preceding or following. It is certain that they gave a great impetus to building, for during the two hundred years of their sway, the northern and central portions of Italy had become studded with churches and baptisteries, amongst which we may give as examples, San Michele, Pavia; San Thomas() in limine, near Bergamo, and the baptistery at Florence. The influence of the style does not seem, however, to have been much felt at Rome, for during all this period, we know of only one Lombardio building in that city, the church of San Giovanni e Paolo.
The change of dynasty in A. D. 774, does not appear to have had any very great effect upon the arts, during the existence of the Carlovingian line, but when that line became extinct, A. D. 875, the troubles caused by the disputed claims of rival princes in the north, and by the incursions of the Saracens in the south, greatly impeded the progress of archi tecture. Matters were not greatly improved by the govern ment of the German emperors, for at this time Italy was distracted with discord and civil eommotions. The Carlo vingian dynasty ceased, A. D.875, and the German emperors acquired sovereignty in Italy about the middle of the tenth century, during all which time, and for half a century longer, architecture made but little or no progress. When the arts again flourished in the eleventh century, some little altera tions had been introduced into the style of architecture, which were again increased and multiplied in the twelfth. Many churches were built in the Lombardic style during these two centuries, but in the next the Pointed style began to make appearance, and partially superseded its predecessor ; we say partially, for the Pointed style never took very deep root in Italy, nor were the features of the Round style ever entirely efTh ced.
The Lombardic style may be classed under the general title of Romanesque, which comprises the debased Roman and all those styles which emanated from it, until we come to the Pointed or Gothic., including the Byzantine and Lom bardic, as also the Norman and Saxon, which are essentially Lombardic in character, and may be considered as forming a subdivision of that style. The last two, however, will not be considered in the present article, but will be treated of separately.
The style under consideration, was employed almost exclusively in ecclesiastical structures ; to them therefore we must look for its characteristic peculiarities. It was the adaptation of the arch to purposes of construction, as we have bcfore stated, which gave rise to the grand revolution in classical architecture ; it was the various modifications of the same feature which gave origin to the subdivisions of the new system. Of these, the Lombardic is characterized by the constant use of the semicircular areh for the purposes of construction and decoration, and more especially by the excessive employment for the latter purpose in the exteriors of buildings. The external walls were frequently almost covered by a series of arcades rising in stories one above the other, On one or more sides, and sometimes all round the building. These were either blank arcades, that is, attached to the surface of the wall, and employed solely for ornament, or else they were detached and stood out from the wall, form ing a sort of gallery or portico ; they were more frequent in the Ilicades of buildings than elsewhere, in which situation may sometimes be observed live or more. tiers one above the other, as at Pisa cathedral, and in other examples, hi which the front is literally covered with them. There is another peculiarity observable in the arrangement of these arcades, where they run under gables or raking cornices ; lb]• in such cases the arcades follow the line of the One, the arches rising in succession one above another ; and this is effected either by raising the shafts which support the arches on steps rising with the slope of the roof, or else by elongating the shafts as they approach the apex, their bases being upon the same horizontal line. These arches are supported on shafts, either plain or ornamented, with capitals and bases, the arches likewise being with or without archivolts: sonic times the arcade itself and the spandrels are elaborately enriched. This peculiar arrangement of arcades under the gable, forms a very decided characteristic of the style, such decoration being generally found in this part of the building, if nowhere else : another position in which it is commonly seen, is round the angular or semicircular apsides which were frequent at the east end of churches in this style ; but we not unfrequently find the same decoration employed on the sides of the building, covering the entire surface of wall as at Pisa cathedral. Corbel-tables at the top of the walls immediately under the roof, are also very common, and these again follow the same rule as arcades when carried under a gable ; they are generally formed of a series of very small arches, sometimes interlaced, so as to present a scolloped appearance underneath. Each story of a building is generally marked by a horizontal string-course.