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VI. THE NATURE OF GOTHIC.
221
fectlypure and simple; but whether thrown into this form for
the sake of strength or of grace, I am unable to say.
§ xcvi. It is evident, however, that the structural advantage
of the cusp is available only in the case of arches on a comparatively small scale. If the arch becomes very large, the
projections under the flanks must become too ponderous to be
secure; the suspended weight of stone would be liable to break
off, and such arches are therefore never constructed with heavy
cusps, but rendered secure by general mass of masonry; and
what additional appearance of support may be thought necessary (sometimes a considerable degree of actual support) is
given by means of tracery.
§ xcvii. Of what I stated in the second chapter of the
" Seven Lamps" respecting the nature of tracery, I need repeat here only this much, that it began in the use of penetrations through the stonework
of windows or walls, cut into Fig. xvm.
forms which looked like stars
when seen from within, and
like leaves when seen from
without: the name foil or
feuille being universally applied to the separate lobes of
their extremities, and the
pleasure received from them
being the same as that which
we feel in the triple, quadruple, or other radiated leaves
of vegetation, joined with the
perception of a severely geometrical order and symmetry.
A few of the most common
forms are represented, uncon-
fused by exterior mouldings,
in Fig. XVIII., and the best
traceries are nothing more than close clusters of such forms,
with mouldings following their outlines.
| Title | The stones of Venice - 2 |
| Creator | Ruskin, John |
| Publisher | J. Wiley |
| Place of Publication | New York |
| Date | 1889 |
| Language | eng |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Title | 00000249 |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Transcript | VI. THE NATURE OF GOTHIC. 221 fectlypure and simple; but whether thrown into this form for the sake of strength or of grace, I am unable to say. § xcvi. It is evident, however, that the structural advantage of the cusp is available only in the case of arches on a comparatively small scale. If the arch becomes very large, the projections under the flanks must become too ponderous to be secure; the suspended weight of stone would be liable to break off, and such arches are therefore never constructed with heavy cusps, but rendered secure by general mass of masonry; and what additional appearance of support may be thought necessary (sometimes a considerable degree of actual support) is given by means of tracery. § xcvii. Of what I stated in the second chapter of the " Seven Lamps" respecting the nature of tracery, I need repeat here only this much, that it began in the use of penetrations through the stonework of windows or walls, cut into Fig. xvm. forms which looked like stars when seen from within, and like leaves when seen from without: the name foil or feuille being universally applied to the separate lobes of their extremities, and the pleasure received from them being the same as that which we feel in the triple, quadruple, or other radiated leaves of vegetation, joined with the perception of a severely geometrical order and symmetry. A few of the most common forms are represented, uncon- fused by exterior mouldings, in Fig. XVIII., and the best traceries are nothing more than close clusters of such forms, with mouldings following their outlines. |
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