POINTED ECCLESIASTICAL ARCHITECTURE--THE CHURCHES OF ST. OUEN, ST.
MACLOU, ST. PATRICE, AND ST. GODARD.
(_Rouen, June_, 1818.)
In the religious buildings, the subject of my preceding letters, I have
endeavored to point out to you the specimens which exist at Rouen, of
the two earliest styles of architecture. The churches which I shall next
notice belong to the third, or _decorated_ style, the aera of large
windows with pointed arches divided by mullions, with tracery in flowing
lines and geometrical curves, and with an abundance of rich and delicate
carving.
This style was principally confined in England to a period of about
seventy years, during the reigns of the second and third Edward. In
France it appears to have prevailed much longer. It probably began there
full fifty years sooner than with us, and it continued till it was
superseded by the revival of Grecian or Italian architecture. I speak of
France in general, but I must again repeat, that my observations are
chiefly restricted to the northern provinces, the little knowledge which
I possess of the rest being derived from engravings.
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