An Introduction to English Church Architecture From the Eleventh to the Sixteenth Century, Vol. 2 (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from An Introduction to English Church Architecture From the Eleventh to the Sixteenth Century, Vol. 2The piers of a medieval church are often considerably less thick than the pier-arches and clerestory walls which they support; e.g., in Lincoln choir the piers are 2 ft. 8 in. thick, the arches over them about 3 ft., and the clerestory wall 4 ft. 7 in. thick. The primary function, therefore, of the capital is to provide a surface broader than that of the pier, on which to build the springers of the pier-arches and the clerestory wall. Artistically, the capital is valuable because it demarcates the support from the load: this is especially so where the arch and the pier are different in plan; the junction of two dissimilar sets of moldings would have an unpleasant effect but for the interposition of a capital; as also would the juxtaposition of the vertical line of the pier with the curve of the arch. Nevertheless, in some work, chiefly of late date, the capital is omitted, the moldings of the arch being continued down to the ground.Of these the chief varieties are: (1) Corinthianesque capitals; (2) Cubical and Scalloped capitals; (3) Capitals with Interlacings; (4) Capitals with Figure sculpture; (5) Capitals with Naturalistic foliage.These are of ancient and honourable lineage, being descendants of the famous Corinthian capital of Greece.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.