Mediterranean Paths. The Construction of Vaults in Southern Italy, Sicily and Sardinia (15th–16th Centuries)

In the south of the Italian peninsula and the big Italian islands, vault construction in the 15th and 16th centuries was characterised by a peculiar coexistence of continuity and innovation. The vaults built over this extended territory in the 15th and 16th centuries can be divided into two large classes of artefacts according to different architectural, formal, and geometric criteria: rib vaults and pavilion vaults.In this rich and varied panorama, the essay dwell on some of the details and single elements of more articulated structures, which fully render the complex intertwining of models and technical skills, inertia and experimentation, expressed in buildings in this period in southern Italy and the islands. Some building details of the vaults, such as springing, keystones, ribs and edges, provide concentrated evidence of change and innovation; moreover, the corner connection, squinch, or pendentive, offered some differentiated solutions, identifying building responses related to different territories, local traditions, and research, but sometimes more overtly experimental or making connections with other constructive civilisations.