ARCHITECTURE - Karatunov.net

CH. XXVTIT] ENGLAND NORMAN PERIOD 243license of interpretation may be accorded to most of the Normanothers. Subjects from the Old or New Testament are 8Cnlptarcsometimes attempted with miserable success, and nowand then the design seems based on Byzantine example.It will be observed, as for instance in the door-head fromStow Longa, how far superior in technique the purelyarchitectural ornament is to the sculpture in the tympanum.Fig, 140.improve-The capitals gradually grew from the simple cushiontype into something more artistic. At first the ornament atshiotwas treated superficially like the cubical Byzantine capitalcapitals, of which the example given already fromS* Peter's, Northampton,is a favourable instance. Inmany cases the ornament is applied without any constructiveidea whatever. In the. example from Castor(Fig. 140) there is no attempt to express decorativelythe form and function of a capital, but the figures areplaced on the surface anyhow ; a leaf finishes one angle16 2