A fan vault is a form of vault used in the Gothic style, in which the ribs are all of the same curve and spaced equidistantly, in a manner resembling a fan. The initiation and propagation of this design element is strongly associated with England.
The earliest example, dating from about the year 1351, may be seen in the cloisters of Gloucester Cathedral. The largest fan vault in the world can be found in the chapel of King's College, Cambridge.
The fan vault is peculiar to England. The lierne vault of the cathedral of Barbastro in Spain closely resembles a fan vault, but it does not form a perfect conoid. Harvey (1978) suggests Catherine of Aragon as a possible source of English influence in Aragon.
Read more about Fan Vault: Birth of The Fan Vault, Structure, List of Buildings With Fan Vaulting, Gothic Revival Buildings With Fan Vaulting
Famous quotes containing the words fan and/or vault:
“Already nature is serving all those uses which science slowly derives on a much higher and grander scale to him that will be served by her. When the sunshine falls on the path of the poet, he enjoys all those pure benefits and pleasures which the arts slowly and partially realize from age to age. The winds which fan his cheek waft him the sum of that profit and happiness which their lagging inventions supply.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Heaven froze above, severe; the clouds congeal,
And through the crystal vault appeared the standing hail.”
—Geoffrey Chaucer (1340?–1400)