Page:A history of architecture on the comparative method for the student, craftsman, and amateur.djvu/438

 38o COMPARATIVE ARCHITECTURE. FRENCH GOTHIC. B. Walls. — Early buttresses were a development from the slight projections of the Romanesque period, or were sometimes semi- circular, especially in the apses of churches. Later buttresses of deep projection have chapels between them (No. 157). The weatherings to offsets of buttresses are flatter the higher they occur. Buttresses often nearly vertical, without offsets (No. 153). Flying buttresses largely em- ployed, being necessary on account of height and width of aisles and naves. They were used with special effect at the east end. Interiors owe their effect largely to their great height, otherwise they are considerably less ornate than the English examples. Open tracery parapets are typi- cal (Nos. 164 and 165 c, d). The characteristic west front is Notre Dame, Paris (No. 156). c. Openings. — Doorways elaborate and rich, larger and finer than in England, and deeply set in west fronts, as at Notre Dame, Paris, Rheims, and Coutances (Nos. 156, 161 and 162). Windows have much "plate" tracery, the final development in the later period being " flam- boyant " tracery. There is an absence of cusps in late French tracery. Circular windows in west fronts (Nos. 156 and 161) and transept ends (No. 153 b), with intricate tracery, are special features. D. Roofs. — These are always steep and ornamented with metal ridges and finials (Nos. 154 and 164). They are constructed with double timbers of special type to surmount high vaults. Wooden roofs, treated ornament- KNGI.ISH GOTHIC. !■.. Walls. — Early buttresses are flat projections. Later ones are much pronounced, and strongly marked with offsets and pinnacles, and were highly ornamented with niches and panelling. Transitional buttresses may be seen at Salis- bury with curious weathering. The weatherings to offsets of buttresses are steeper the higher they occur. Buttresses usually formed with offsets (No. 141). Flying buttresses are not so prominent a feature because the clerestory is comparatively low, and there are seldom double aisles or die vet. Interiors owe much to the elabo- ration of triforium, complex piers, variety of clerestories and richness of vaulting. Battlemented parapets are typi- cal (No. 147 m). The characteristic west front is Wells Cathedral (No. 115 g). c. Openings. — Doorways often placed laterally, and provided with a projecting porch, as at Glou- cester, Canterbury, and Salisbury (Nos. 115 H, 116 c, 121). Windows develop on the same lines, but "plate" tracery was seldom used, the final develop- ment, specially characteristic of English work, being " Perpendicu- lar " tracery. Circular windows are not much used in England, although found at Chichester, Westminster Abbey, Durham, and elsewhere. D. Roofs. — These are of moderate pitch, approaching to flatness in later periods (Nos. 113, 122, 133). Carpentry was more advanced, and single-framed timbers were used. Wooden roofs of an ornamental