Page:A History of Architecture in All Countries Vol 2.djvu/321

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Bk. VIII. Ch. II.
305

Bk. VIII. Ch. II. PAVIA. 305 is also given, which adds not a little to the pleasing effect of the building. There are at least two other churches in Pavia, which, though altered in many parts, retain their apsidal arrangements tolerably perfect. One of these, that of San Teodoro, may be somewhat older than the San Michele, and has its gallery divided into triplets of arcades by the bold flat buttresses springing from the ground. The other, San Pietro in Cielo d'Oro, is considerably more modern, the 742. View of the Apse of San Michele, Pavia. (From Dusomerard, " Les Arts au Moy en-Age.") arcade being omitted round ^the apse, though introduced in the cen- tral dome. It has besides two subordinate apses of graceful design, but inferior to the older examples. Thouo-h Milan must have been rich in churches of this age, the only one now remaining tolerably entire is San Ambrogio, which is so interesting as almost to make amends for its singularity. Historical evidence shows that a church existed here from a very early age. It was rebuilt in the 9th century by Bishop Anspertus, aided by the munificence of King Louis the Pious ; but except the apse and the older of the two tOM-ers — that called "the canons" — nothing VOL. II. — 20