Transverse rib

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A transverse rib (French : arc doubleau) is the term in architecture given to the rib of a rib vault which is carried across the nave, dividing the same into bays. Although as a rule it was sunk in the barrel vault of the thermae , it is found occasionally below it, as in the piscina at Baiae and the so-called Baths of Diana (Nymphaeum) at Nîmes. In the Romanesque and Gothic styles it becomes the principal feature of the vault, so much so that Scott [1] termed it the "master rib". [2]

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References

  1. Robert A. Scott, The Gothic Enterprise: A Guide to Understanding the Medieval Cathedral University of California Press (2003)
  2. Chisholm 1911.