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Chap. XXXI.

PRINCIPLES OF PROPORTION.

1C35

which the arch was struck from more than twocentres: the naves of York, Canterbury, andWinchester Cathedrals have been cited asamong the best examples. But we have nowto describe the principles of a style foundedupon the others, and applied to all buildingsin England from the middle of the fifteenthto the middle of the sixteenth century; it isnot met with on the continent, the Italianor revived classic architecture having therebeen generally introduced and preferred.

The variety exhibited in groined vaults,progressing from simple ribs to those of anintricate and net-like arrangement, no doubtled the masons of the time to the constructionof the cloisters at Gloucester, King’s College,and Henry the Seventh’s Chapel at Westmin-ster, which works are the best evidences thatcan be adduced of the improvements made inprofessional science, and which could onlyresult from a continued perseverance in thestudy of the subject: an examination of theseveral styles will prove that they must havebeen produced by the same school or fraternity',and that neither Sir Reginald Bray nor Wil-liam of Wykeham could have become ac-quainted with the mysteries of the craft, unlessthey had been instructed by the freemasons;and that to them, and not to any individual,nor to the clergy as a body, ought we toattribute the construction of these scientificand highly decorated works.

The Division of Henry the Seventh's Chapel bears a strong resemblance in its general pro-portions to that of St. George’s at Windsor,although it is rendered more ornamental bythe multitude of figures enshrined in delicatetabernacle-work, which covers almost the entirewalls. The mouldings of the main piers (fig.3055.) that separate the middle from the sideaisles are enclosed within a circle dividedinto a pentagon — a form the best adapted toreceive the weight of the ribs, and the flyingbuttresses that were to resist their force.

The Rev. James Callaway, whose dis-courses upon the architecture of England,created so many admirers of this interestingsubject, observes, that “ here the expiringGothic seems to have been exhausted by everyeffort. The pendentive roofs, never beforeattempted on so large a scale, are prodigiesof art.” But it is not to the profusion ofsculptured angels, statues, royal heraldic de-vices, &c., that we are desirous of drawingthe attention, so much as to the extraordinaryconstruction that prevails throughout thismaster-piece, in which we have the strongestevidence that theory and practice went handin hand; that the knowledge of geometryhad advanced to its highest pitch in the con-structive arts, and that not only were theprinciples of the arch thoroughly understood,but considerable advance made in the appli-cation of the properties belonging to the cone.

The section of this beautiful chapel is 78 feetin width; the buttresses and outer wallstogether are 6 feet 9 inches, the side aisles 1 lfeet3 inches; the piers from north to south 4 feet

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Fig. 30f)G. HENRY VII,*s CHAPEL.