Page:Architectural Review and American Builders' Journal, Volume 1, 1869.djvu/354

 294 Sloan's Architectural Review and Builders'' Journal. [Nov. jecting Roman base, with Romo-Gothic exterior supporting brackets. Notwith- standing the commingling of unallied forms, the general effect is by no means bad ; but there is a want of those over- poweringly grand features naturally be- longing to the lace of a might}' edifice; and all its grace and beauty ill compen- sate for the lack of a lofty, deeply recessed and highly embellished Gothic portal, dominated by a far loftier pointed window, with artistically flowing tracery, and at least tenfold the comparative size of any in this front. It is one peculiarity of this church, that — along with the mixture of geomet- rical and flambo} r ant tracery, both in the same windows, and in separate ones, — with the exception of the main tran- sept windows, the flamboyant, which, in other edifices, is mostly reserved for the exhibition of art and skill in the chief features, here, in its best mani- festations, constantly occurs in rather subordinate positions. Of the three great windows in the tribune, all of the same size, the centre one is the more geometric — having, inside the governing circle, a square cross of five circles, the centre, larger one, being fashioned of eight wav}^ scrolls, the top and bottom circles having quatrefoils, a la St. George's Cross, and the side ones with their quatrefoils treated saltire-wise, or as St. Andrew's Cross. The windows on either side, on the contrary, have each a cen- tral open octofoil, whence volute-wise ra- diate eight large whorls, with their steins inward, refiexed into as many small ones, with their stems outward — all bound- ed b}- a single line, and best popularly represented by two of those figures called bj' the ladies — in describing shawls or dress patterns — "palms," adjoining one another and laid "in and out" or "stem to leaf," the eight pairs completing the circuit. The main transept windows have these eight larger and eight smaller whorls — all bounded by one single flow- ing line, as before — arranged similarly iu the ffreat circle — though emanating from circled-trefoil-centre circles with the single leaf uppermost — save that the whorls here most resemble heraldic gultse or drops, and correspond with straight radii. As the perpendicular divisions of the windows all terminate in lancets under- neath the dominating circles, of course the outer ones are higher than those in the middle. These are arranged in twins, the two outmost pairs with acute croch- eted and finialecl sub-heads, the inmost pair without ; and the heads of all which are filled with acute trefoils, the single point uppermost. The upper angles of all the windows are filled in, above the predominant cir- cles, either with simple trefoils, or circles with inscribed trefoils, — all single points upward — flanked with cusped "palms," or leaves, points out- ward and downward ; and throughout all is a world of minor traceiy, quite unprofitable to particularize, in so gen- eral a view, but exceedingly rich in ef- fect. The exterior of the minster through- out is divided into many slender vertical compartments by cluster mouldings, ra- mifying into cusped, crocheted and fini- aled straight - angled heads, passing through a horizontal string-course and finalty terminating in straight lancets, elaborated and filled in with cusped semi- circles, surrounded by acute trefoils, and with the usual accompaniment of crockets and finials. The very elaborate flying-buttresses, provided with slender vertical piers mid- way, are finished beneath with oblique tri-cusped arcs, the centre cusps having pendant trefoils. This portion of the cathedral — immediately over the outer aisles of the nave, and itself, by the upright middle supports of the flyiag- buttresses, just glanced at, divided into two twin-adjoining and ever com- municating aisles, open to the sky ; and forming a splendid promenade on either flank, — has thousands of multi- foils, crockets and finials, each of a dif-