By James E. Nightingale, Esq. 



113 



are frequently polygonic, or fluted, or twisted together spirally or 

 in zig-zags, as in the beautiful example of the cloister at Wilton, 

 connecting the campanile with the main building. Another cha- 

 racteristic of the Romanesque is the use of the arched window, sub- 

 divided by a small central column into two smaller arched openings, 

 as in the clerestory at Wilton. The capitals in general become com- 

 positions of scrolls and foliage, or combinations of animals and 

 human beings, sometimes simply imitated from nature, in other in- 

 stances monstrous and grotesque. A series of these elaborate capitals 

 is found decorating the columns of the nave in Wilton Church. 



The narthex or portico of entrance becomes a highly decorated 

 canopied porch supported by slender pillars resting on sculptured 

 monsters ; of which we have a fine example at Wilton, as well as 

 of the usual Katherine-wheel window above, inclosed in a richly- 

 circled rosette. The oldest Latin churches subsequent to the 

 basilica generally represent in their front the figure of our Saviour, 

 or the Virgin, or patron Saint, in a niche or projecting canopy ; at 

 Wilton this is seen in the form of an angel giving benediction. 

 The four figures emblematic of the Evangelists, usually disposed 

 round this figure, are found in the frontispiece of Wilton church 

 surrounding the wheel window below. I need scarcely add that 

 the round arch is exclusively employed in pure Romanesque archi- 

 tecture. 



The campanile or bell- tower is an important adjunct to the 

 Lombard churches, and forms a fine feature in the church at 

 Wilton. 



This Romanesque style was never entirely superseded in Italy till 

 the revival of Classical architecture, and, generally speaking, so 

 many schools and styles had a concurrent existence, that the data 

 by which we judge of a building in England lose much of their 

 certainty when here applied. 



On this side of the Alps the Romanesque is seen in most per- 

 fection at Cologne and along the banks of the Rhine ; it gradually 

 spread over the North of Europe, undergoing serious modifications 

 or curtailments; it reached England about the time of the Con- 

 quest, when it became what we usually term the Norman style. 



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