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Glossary

Rib-vault: TermRib-vault; Alternative Termsrib vault, rib vaulting, rib-vaulting; Replaced with-; Short Description-; Long DescriptionA vault with a masonry framework of intersecting arches (ribs) supporting cells, used in Gothic and late Norman architecture. A wall rib or wall arch spans between wall and cell vault. A transverse rib spans between two walls to divide a vault into bays. In a quadripartite rib-vault, each bay has two pairs of diagonal ribs dividing the vault into four triangular cells. A sexpartite rib-vault, usually set over paired bays, has an extra pair of ribs springing from between the bays. More elaborate vaults may include ridge-ribs along the crown of a vault or bisecting the bays; tiercerons, extra decorative ribs springing from the corners of a bay; and liernes, short decorative ribs in the crown of a vault, not linked to any springing point. A stellar or star-vault has liernes in star formation. A fan-vault is a form of vault used after c. 1350, made up of halved concave masonry cones decorated with blind tracery.; Images; See also
See also:Commissioners’ Gothic Norman Blind tracery Cell Wall-rib Arch Transverse rib Quadripartite rib-vault Sexpartite rib-vault; Term Language-