Chapter VII: The Perpendicular Style

The main feature in which Perpendicular foliage differs from Decorated is its tendency to squareness and to long sprawling leafage. The squareness culminated in what is known as the Tudor ornament. Drilled holes to emphasise the indentations of the leaves are also a frequent feature. As most of the foliation is of a decadent Decorated character with more or less marked tendencies of the kinds we have mentioned, it does not seem worth while to disfigure this volume with many illustrations of the decadence. We therefore select a few characteristic specimens only, and then pass on to the wood-carving.

At Aldenham there is a monument (Pl. 79) of doubtful date in a spandril of which is a human face with sprays coming out of its mouth--a fancy we have noticed before in both Norman and later work. The foliage is like the Decorated seaweed but more rippling and elongated.

On the back of Abbot Ramryge’s Chantry at St Albans (Pl. 80) is a string of vine leaves and grapes of a very square type, and with numerous drill-holes. This was probably executed in the abbot’s lifetime. He died in 1524. The same class of vine stems and foliage is seen on Bishop Alcock’s Chantry at Ely (Pl. 81). He died in 1500. A pulpit at North Cerney, Glos, has some rather remarkable lilies on stiff stalks (Pl. 82).

In the spandrils of the canopies over the sedilia at St Mary’s, Oxford (Pl. 83), there is foliage of a similar kind to that at Aldenham, but better executed. The cornice above has vine stems with leaves of a very square-cut conventional type, approaching the Tudor ornament in shape. The carving is much broken, but can never have been anything but poor and clumsy in design.

A much better specimen of this late and poor work is the watching loft of St Frideswide’s shrine in the Oxford Cathedral, the general effect of which is rich and ornate. A close examination, however, will show that the richness is caused by elaborate multiplication of similar ornaments and not by any excellence of design (Pl. 84). Below the openings is a row of Tudor ornaments, well enough executed, as much like one another as the dog-tooth of the thirteenth century or the ball-flower of the fourteenth. Above is an arrangement of tall finials forming crocketed pinnacles. Above these is a cornice of vine stems, with leaves and grapes. This is much finer work than the others we have described, but there is a lack of grace in the curves of the stems, and the same design is repeated over and over again. On the top is another row of Tudor ornaments of a slightly different shape from those below.

It is refreshing at last to come to something more original and with more design about it. In the hollow of the mouldings of the west doorway of King’s College Chapel, Cambridge (Pl. 85), and in the spandrils above is some carving which is particularly interesting. Heraldic devices appear in English architectural ornament as far back as the reign of Henry III, when Simon de Montfort’s arms are sculptured on a wall arcade at Westminster. Many shields and arms appear on the Percy Monument at Beverley, but it is not until the Perpendicular period that armorial bearings became the chief features of monuments and not until late in the Tudor period that they appear on the walls of royal chapels. The shields were at first triangular and simple in outline. Towards the end of the Tudor period and the commencement of the Renaissance they developed into plaques with curvilinear edges, round indentations and curled-over projections, such as we frequently see placed on wrought iron gates. These plaques, we would suggest, have a sort of family resemblance to such leaves as we saw on the Ramryge Chantry at St Albans. The royal masons who were employed at King’s College were very expert in the carving of armorial bearings--crowns, portcullises, the animal supporters, and Tudor roses. Great roses are carved on the walls both of the interior and exterior of King’s, but the feature to which we would specially call attention is the stems and leaves of these roses. It is true that the size of the roses makes the whole design top-heavy, and is almost like a caricature with a large head out of proportion to the body, but the stem and leaves are a new departure. They are naturalistic, and, being the work of skilled masons, they are well done. They are the very last effort of Gothic stone-carving and indicate a desire to break loose from the hard-and-fast convention, and return to nature for a fresh inspiration. What this might have led to we do not know, for Renaissance invasions nipped this effort in the bud, and Gothic art expired. It should be mentioned that these roses and leaves have been copied on the Houses of Parliament at Westminster.