GOTHIC. 



of churches, in the pointed style, in the 

 Italian states, Germany, France, Spain, 

 &c. &c. though it must be admitted that 

 the latter country being conquered by 

 the Moors may have, in some measure, 

 operated to introduce an imitation of their 

 mosques, which are very like gothic ar- 

 chitecture. 



Such are the conjectures which natu- 

 rally follow the consideration of this sub- 

 ject, and yet they may be altogether er- 

 roneous, as much might be said to induce 

 a supposition, that the pointed style was 

 gradually invented by the abberration of 

 the pencil and compasses, or similar in- 

 struments of ingenious architects, who, 

 having observed intersected arches in 

 some very ancient Roman buildings, of 

 Grecian architecture, admired their effect, 

 and followed them as fundamental princi- 

 ples in new designs. This speculation 

 may be supported by referring to an en- 

 graving by Marco Sadeler, representing 

 the ruins of the Terme di Diocletiano, 

 which shows the perspective of a long 

 passage, very similar to the aisle of a 

 church, where the roof is made com- 

 pletely and decidedly gothic by the inter- 

 section of arches throughout. 



Some enquirers as to the origin of the 

 style have thought that the first idea of 

 high pointed ailes was taken from avenues 

 of lofty trees, the branches of which inter- 

 weaving, suggested the rich ribs and tra- 

 cery of the later specimens of the art, but 

 this is mere conjecture and fancied re- 

 semblance. 



One of the most plausible reasons for 

 supposing the invention gradual is, the 

 finding of interlaced arcades on the sides 

 of Saxon buildings, intimating an inclina- 

 tion to deviate from the semicircle of that 

 style. (See plate GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE, 

 fig. 1.) The pointed arch, as has been 

 mentioned, intermingled with the circu- 

 lar in the ribs or groins of the roof, and 

 lastly occurred the plain and positive 

 pointed manner, the earliest instances of 

 which have very little decoration, com- 

 pared with the more modern ; indeed the 

 rapid increase of ornament may be traced 

 in our numerous and magnificent cathe- 

 drals, till their introduction operated to 

 render the gothic style too expensive for 

 continuance. 



That this taste was imported into Eng- 

 land from the continent will not admit 

 of a doubt, but it is absurd to suppose 

 that architects and masons were import- 

 ed with it, as certain authors have ima- 

 gined. 



It is impossible to treat this subject me- 



thodically, as the principles of the gothic 

 are simply those mentioned at the com- 

 mencement of the article ; indeed the va- 

 rieties and caprices often obervable in 

 the same building set all rules at defi- 

 ance, and yet there are numbers of regu- 

 lar structures, the parts of which corres- 

 pond exactly. 



One of the arcades in the choir of 

 Gloucester cathedral is seventeen feet 

 wide, the columns on its sides are fifty- 

 seven feet high, and the arch from the 

 capitals to the point twenty-one feet ; a 

 circular arch, aperture, or window into 

 another part of the church, in the same 

 arcade, has the. following proportions, 

 width twelve feet, and the height fifteen 

 feet. The west front of the same church 

 has a great central window, and two la- 

 teral; those certainly should be of the 

 same dimensions, to preserve the neces- 

 sary uniformity, but that is not the fact, 

 one being sixteen feet wide and thirty- 

 one high, and the other twenty-nine feet 

 high and twelve wide. 



Two segments of a circle meeting at 

 the tops make the pointed arch, (see 

 fig. 2.) To improve the nakedness of this 

 figure, the inventors introduced the sec- 

 tion of a quatrefoil, or figure formed of 

 four leaves, within the arch, (see fig. 3.) 

 and ribs or borders, sometimes raised, and 

 at others excavated ; each of those were 

 afterwards enriched by pierced tracery, 

 see fig. 4. 



The windows were bounded by nume- 

 rous pillars with beautiful capitals of fo- 

 liage, and intersected by perpendicular 

 and horizontal bars or mullions, the for- 

 mer of which turned into delicate ramifi- 

 cations and filled the arch, (see fig. 5.) ; 

 painted glass rendered those extremely 

 grand when viewed within the struc- 

 ture, mouldings or cornices almost uni- 

 versally divided the different ranges of 

 windows, the doors of the casement 

 nearly reached the lower, and the angles 

 above the arch are adorned with tracery, 

 see fig. 6. 



The windows are separated by but- 

 tresses, which vary in breadth, depth, and 

 solidity, according to the fancy of the ar- 

 chitect, and are frequently very magnifi- 

 cent, as they admit of being pierced into 

 an arch, (as in fig. 7.) in order that they 

 may contribute to the support of two walls 

 on different lines, and are decorated with 

 niches under fretted canopies, statues 

 and pinnacles, see fig. 8. 



Battlements extend along the summits 

 of the walls, those are of different kinds, 

 see fig. 9, 10. 



