J^gi, ON GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE I39 



" tower, and to give to the whole fuch a form as 

 " would make it an elegant finifliing to the tower :" 

 And the architeft, after having fettled in his own mind 

 what was the form of arch that the circumftances ren- 

 dered pra£ticable, and the adjun£ls required to give it 

 the neceffary flability, feems to have feledted the 

 papal crown as the objeft it would be moft eafy and 

 proper for him here to attempt to imitate, by giving 

 arbitrary forms to the parts that could not be difpenfed 

 with, that fliould accord with the general figure of the 

 tiara. 



With thefe ideas he proceeded, being happy to find 

 that the high conical form of the tiara accorded very 

 well with the gre^t elevation andflreightnefs of the rib, 

 that was neceffary to make it fupport itfelf with fo 

 fmall a load upon its outfide as the circumftances of the 

 cafe required. By this means, he was enabled to make 

 the ribs much more (lender, and of courfe lighter to 

 the eye, than otherwife could have been practicable. 

 By this means too, he was enabled to make the pinnacles 

 at the bottom much fmaller than woujd have other- 

 wife been neceffary *, as well as to rear upon the top 

 a liigher and more elegant pinnacle than would other- 

 wife have been prafticable. 



Still, however, had the ribs been left totally bare, 

 and of the (lender ftru£lure our architeft judged necef- 

 fary to produce the light effeSt he inteqded, notwith- 

 ftanding its height, the preffure at the top would have 

 been too great not to have endangered the flying out- 

 wards of the arch towards the middle. To counterba- 

 lance this preffure, therefore, he contrived to load each 

 of the ribs with two pinnacles of proportional fizes, 



* Still farther, however, to diminifh the fize of thefe bottom pinnacles, 

 which would have otherwife been difproportioned to the others for the 

 defign in view, the cautious architeft has made the ribs themfelves deep- 

 er at the bafe than the top. It would form a pleafing objedl of refearch 

 for a perfon of flclll, to compare the various devices that had been a- 

 dopted by thefe artifts fcr effeiling the fam • purpofc in different ci f 

 cumflances. 



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