ABSTRACT
“The parts of Gothic buildings are adapted to each other, as well as to the general design. The arched doors and mullioned windows are essential parts; and the spires, pinnacles, and buttresses serve by their weight to bind together the whole edifice. The Gothic cathedrals of Germany far surpass in size and magnificence any that England can boast. The Cologne Cathedral is admired by many, as the finest specimen of the Gothic style in Europe; the richness of its decoration can scarcely be imagined. The Germans unquestionably preceded the English in perfecting the Gothic. “The principle of the Gothic Architecture is Infinity made imaginable. It is no doubt a sublimer effort of genius than the Greek style.”—Coleridge. The characteristic forms of Classic Architecture, were “horizontal, reposing, definite;” of the Christian Architecture, “vertical, aspiring, indefinite.” In Scotland, the ancient ecclesiastical edifices, although inferior in size to those in England, are generally in the best style of Gothic Architecture.
