THE ROMANESQUE STYLE C. IOOO-C. I2OO

IJ. DECORATED BLOCK CAPITAL FROM

THE CRYPT OF CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL,

EARLY 12TH CENTURY.

The rib-vault imparts indeed to
the whole structure an alertness
opposed to the weight of inert
wall so oppressive in nth-century
interiors. This alertness is taken up
in the more animated expression of
the arcades and their mouldings,
and the introduction of a few
sharp ornamental forms, the zig-zag
above all. Still, in spite of this
quickening of rhythm Durham is
far from playful or busy. The
circular pillars of the arcades arc
still of overpowering strength, their

sheer bulk being emphasised by the elementary Decoration, lozenges,
zig-zags, flutes exquisitely carved into their surfaces. The fact, inci-
dentally, that all ornament at Durham is abstract, is typical only
of Norman architecture in England and Normandy, not of Roman-
esque architecture in general. In France many types of foliated
decoration, especially of capitals, exist. The best-known instance in
England is characteristically enough in the crypt of Canterbury, the
gateway through which a Continental style had passed once before,
about 600, and another one was going to pass in 1175. The capitals
here (fig. 15) have foliated decoration, and some even beasts. But
nature had no immediate influence on these. They derive from sam-
ple-books kept in the lodges of the masons and based on illuminated
manuscripts, ivories, previous work of the lodge, etc. Originality
was a conception unknown, so was observation of nature. Style as a
restrictive force of discipline ruled as unchallenged as authority in
religion. Still, Durham seems more humane than Winchester, and
12th-century capitals more humane than the block shapes of the nth,
just as the sermons of St. Bernard seem more humane and more
personal than those of the theologians before him.

The exterior of Durham Cathedral is one of the most magnificent
sights of England. There it stands, flanked on one side by the Bishop's
Castle, on the top of its steep wooded hill with its mighty tower over
the crossing and the two slenderer western towers to balance its
weight. They are not Norman in their present form, the western
towers dating from the I3th, the central tower (originally with a
spire) from the isth century. But towers were planned from the be-

22