Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 29.djvu/666

643 lines lead the eye upward from the richly decorated ground-panels to the gorgeous walls, which are of crystal, for the stone-work is seen only as the framing of the glass, as the division between the windows. The light of day is not admitted plain and undivided, to show up fresco or canvas, but, resolved into its constituent colors, it is forced itself to paint, in rainbow tints which no surface pigment could produce, the chief events connected with the religion of the worshipers. First we see depicted the scenes of old Bible story. Past these pictures—through them—the lines flow up, and show us the corresponding incidents and revelations of the New Dispensation. Type is succeeded by antitype, and the dim teachings of the Law are seen perfected in the clear light of the Gospel. Still upward fly the lines. Drawn in dull, heavy stone as they are, they can not lead us up to heaven, but, having helped to point the way, they divide into branching curves, and bound our upward vision with a canopy or roof of spreading fairy fans. This roof is really a vault of solid masonry, in some places more than three feet thick, yet there is not-a single pillar to indicate that it needs support from below. Not an inch of the material is hid, but by simply chiseling its surface the ponderous mass is completely veiled by the cobweb texture of the tracery. To appreciate the solidity of the structure, we must ascend and inspect the rough upper surface of the stone. Only then do we become sensible of the weight of the huge blocks, some of them weighing over a ton, which, by the masterly system of vaulting, are made, simply by the force of their own gravity, to bridge over the awful abyss beneath. To find the source from which the enormous weight of this roof derives its support, we must go outside the building and examine the buttresses which flank the building on either side. The strength of these is not apparent at first sight, for the lower parts, of course the most massive, are massed by connecting walls, and the intervening spaces thus inclosed are utilized as chantries, leaving only the upper and lighter portions visible. On comparing this chapel with some of the richest Italian interiors, the peculiar character of beauty already referred to as distinguishing Gothic art is at once perceptible; the decoration, instead of being superadded, is bound up with the construction; the parts themselves are made to provide the ornament. From an æsthetic point of view this noble chapel is a consummate work of art; as an example of mechanical ingenuity it is a triumph of engineering skill.

This work was commenced in the middle of the fourteenth century, but not finished till the fifteenth century was far advanced. By this time, however, there were unmistakable signs that the reign of the upward-pointing principle was drawing to a close. Arches were depressed, right angles abounded, and square-headed windows were used, not only in situations where they might be convenient or appropriate, but in such important positions as the east end of a cathedral, as at Bath Abbey.