Abstract
ORIGIN OF ENGLISH GOTHIC STYLE.—An interesting suggestion, which is not without attractions for students of racial psychology, was put forward by Mr. H. E. Irving Taylor to explain the “prependicular” style in English Gothic in a paper presented to the Society of Engineers on December 7. After showing how “curvilinear” tracery has gradually developed from the desire to obviate the objection to unsightly spaces of bare stone which often exist when the original single lancet windows are gathered together as a composite window within one frame, he pointed out that in England the curves of the typical gothic window of France quickly gave way to the “rectilinear” or “perpendicular” framework. The chief explanation of this deviation from the natural development was undoubtedly a suddenly awakened predilection in England for Bible history told pictori-ally through stained glass. Pictures demand a straight rather than a curved framework, while a long or narrow-paned window best suited the human figure, and as windows increased in size owing to the diminished light given by stained glass, straight rather than curved lines were required to give strength.
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Research Items. Nature 116, 914–915 (1925). https://doi.org/10.1038/116914a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/116914a0