Page:An Elementary History of Art.djvu/151

Norman Style. 121 copy of some Grecian order ; windows with a semicircular head, often very narrow compared to their length, and sometimes divided by short balusters, used like small columns; very thick walls without external buttresses, and what are known as " long and short " quoins, at the angles of the building. Ornamentation, except in the capitals of columns, is sparingly used. The plan of Saxon churches is generally a rectangle, divided into a body and chancel, and separated by an ornamented arch, the chancel terminating in a semicircular apse. Transepts did not appear until towards the end of the Saxon period. About the same time bells were first used in churches, and towers were erected at the west front. 2. — Norman Style. The Norman style is that which prevailed from 1066 to about 1200, including the reigns of William I., William II., Henry I., Stephen, Henry II., and Richard I. The Normans did not introduce many new features, but they improved the existing style by bringing to this country men who had carried it to a far higher pitch than it had reached here, and who possessed a greater experience in the erection of large buildings, and were accustomed to a richer treatment of details. The following are the chief characteristics of the Norman style. Semicircular arches, such as those of the nave of Gloucester Cathedral, with larger openings than the Saxon, and almost invariably with mouldings and enrichments. The entrance-arches of churches were profusely decorated — as, for example, at Ely — with mouldings, wreaths, masks, human figures in relief, etc. Towards the close of the period pointed arches were