Architecture in Sardinia from the 5th to the 16th Centuries 489
in the retinue of the Aragonese oversaw the construction of the sanctuary of
the Madonna of Bonaria (1324–1325), the earliest example of Catalan Gothic
in Sardinia. But it is at the cathedral of Santa Maria in Castello in Cagliari,
which began as a Romanesque building in the thirteenth century, and was ex-
panded in the Italian Gothic style between 1274 and the early fourteenth cen-
tury, that the new course of artistic development becomes particularly evident
(Fig. 18.10). The “Pisan” chapel (pre-1323), in the left semi-transept of the
church, finds its exact counterpart in the “Aragonese” chapel (post-1326) of the
right semi-transept. The latter semi-transept has a semi-octagonal, rather than
a square plan, and a cross vault culminating in a complex pendant of umbrella-
like ribs that nonetheless intersect in a simple fashion (Fig. 18.11). The heraldic
Figure 18.9 Semestene. San Nicola di Trullas church exterior.
Courtesy of R. Martorelli.