DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.22423#0149
Letter XXV.
SALISBUKY CATHEDRAL.
137
in the arrangement of the lower row of windows, where the centre
one of three is always higher than the other two, and in the zig-
zag ornament. The interior of the huilding, consisting of three
aisles, has a very beautiful, but not so grand an effect as that of
the cathedral of Winchester. Under the windows of the nave runs
a fretwork cornice, the arches of which, with their broad and
heavy proportions, indicate the Norman style. The four piers on
which the tower rests are comparatively slender; the lower part,
with which the choir terminates, is supported by very slender and
elegant pillars. On a continued base, between the pillars which
connect the nave with the aisles, are here and there very ancient
monuments, such as recumbent figures ; among which I noticed as
particularly simple and dignified those of two knights of the name
of Longsword, father and son, and of two bishops of the twelfth
century.
There is also no lack of monuments of a later date. One of
the most important is that of an Earl of Hertford, who died
in 1621. It is executed in white marble in the Italian style,
which appears quite out of place here.
Three monuments by Flaxman, two of which are in the Gothic
taste, prove that he was superior to most English sculptors in
knowledge of the architectonic style. There is nothing extraor-
dinary in the design, but the workmanship is good, and there is
real feeling in the heads.
Some painted windows, executed by Flemish artists, are of very
great beauty; they were brought from Dijon during the French
Revolution. Here and there, however, more modern work has been
mixed up with them. A large painting on glass, by Egginton,
representing the Resurrection, after a design by Sir Joshua Rey-
nolds, affords, in the extravagantly dramatic composition, a melan-
choly proof how much the correct feeling for this kind of art had
been lost, while the heavy brown colouring shows the low ebb to
which technical execution had also sunk towards the end of the last
century.
To the cathedral are attached cloisters, which, with their richly-
adorned Gothic arches, are certainly some of the most beautiful in
the world. The chapter-house is, however, still more important.
This is an octagonal Gothic building of the 14th century, with
eight large windows, in the centre of which rises a slender pillar,
which, spreading like a palm, supports the roof. The lightness
SALISBUKY CATHEDRAL.
137
in the arrangement of the lower row of windows, where the centre
one of three is always higher than the other two, and in the zig-
zag ornament. The interior of the huilding, consisting of three
aisles, has a very beautiful, but not so grand an effect as that of
the cathedral of Winchester. Under the windows of the nave runs
a fretwork cornice, the arches of which, with their broad and
heavy proportions, indicate the Norman style. The four piers on
which the tower rests are comparatively slender; the lower part,
with which the choir terminates, is supported by very slender and
elegant pillars. On a continued base, between the pillars which
connect the nave with the aisles, are here and there very ancient
monuments, such as recumbent figures ; among which I noticed as
particularly simple and dignified those of two knights of the name
of Longsword, father and son, and of two bishops of the twelfth
century.
There is also no lack of monuments of a later date. One of
the most important is that of an Earl of Hertford, who died
in 1621. It is executed in white marble in the Italian style,
which appears quite out of place here.
Three monuments by Flaxman, two of which are in the Gothic
taste, prove that he was superior to most English sculptors in
knowledge of the architectonic style. There is nothing extraor-
dinary in the design, but the workmanship is good, and there is
real feeling in the heads.
Some painted windows, executed by Flemish artists, are of very
great beauty; they were brought from Dijon during the French
Revolution. Here and there, however, more modern work has been
mixed up with them. A large painting on glass, by Egginton,
representing the Resurrection, after a design by Sir Joshua Rey-
nolds, affords, in the extravagantly dramatic composition, a melan-
choly proof how much the correct feeling for this kind of art had
been lost, while the heavy brown colouring shows the low ebb to
which technical execution had also sunk towards the end of the last
century.
To the cathedral are attached cloisters, which, with their richly-
adorned Gothic arches, are certainly some of the most beautiful in
the world. The chapter-house is, however, still more important.
This is an octagonal Gothic building of the 14th century, with
eight large windows, in the centre of which rises a slender pillar,
which, spreading like a palm, supports the roof. The lightness