Page:Charles Moore--Development and Character of Gothic Architecture.djvu/226

Rh choir of Senlis are round columns built up in courses, and are consequently much heavier, and have much less spreading capitals than the one represented in Fig. 112, as may be seen in the elevation of the bay given in Fig. 18, p. 45. The piers of the Cathedral of Paris are of the same form as the intermediate piers of Senlis, and their capitals

FIG. 111.

also are not much expanded. In the triforium of the choir the shafts which carry the sub-orders of the arches are comparatively slender monoliths, and their capitals (Fig. 113) are much more spreading; while in the triforium of the nave the shafts are still more slender and the capital (Fig. 114) is very much expanded.

Another principle which apparently governs the forms of these capitals, though one that is subject to exceptions, is that the thickness of the abacus is in proportion to the