Page:Charles Moore--Development and Character of Gothic Architecture.djvu/235

Rh considerable thickness the pressure is more diffused upon the lower member, and a footing which is assuring to the eye, as well as really secure, is obtained. Gothic bases are, therefore, in most cases composed of at least two superposed members. Very fine early examples of such bases occur in the nave of Senlis (Fig. 120), in the choir of Paris (Fig. 121), and in many other buildings. The functional

FIG. 121.

propriety of these profiles could hardly be surpassed, while for beauty of line and proportion they are unsurpassed by those of any other age or style.

A conspicuous feature of these bases is the angle spur shown in Figure 121, which occurs in a great variety of beautiful forms during the whole early Gothic period. Though it can hardly be said that this feature has a really constructive function, it nevertheless has an im-