[Plate VIII.], Fig. 4, shows a common form of Tudor door-head with the label or square dripstone and carved spandril (a triangular space). Columns were circular, with octagonal bases and capitals, the latter moulded or carved with oak-leaf foliage or conventional ornament, resembling that in [Plate VIII.], Fig. 9. Corbels with shields ([Plate VIII]., Fig. 9), armorial bearings, and the Tudor rose ([Plate VIII.], Fig. 2), frequently occur.
Many Perpendicular churches are rich in ornamental woodwork: choir stalls with lifting seats (misereres), under which are grotesque carvings; poppy-heads (Fr. poupée, a doll), the bench-end ornaments which sometimes carried a small carved figure among foliage; panelled screens crowned with brattishing ([Plate VIII.], Fig. 5), and other ornaments. The term brattishing is also applied to the open tracery of some battlements of the Perpendicular period.
The Perpendicular is the longest of the English Gothic periods. In it Gothic construction attained its climax; ornamentation declined from a refined realism to coarse conventionalism, coinciding with the decline of spiritual life in the Church. Cathedrals and churches increased in all dimensions, and everything showed the tendency towards the renaissance of classic art which was flourishing on the Continent. Classic mouldings were imitated, and carved ornament of pure Italian design was applied to decorate Gothic forms—notable instances being the tomb of Henry VII. in Westminster Abbey, and the Salisbury Chantry in Christchurch Priory near Bournemouth. Both were the work of Torregiano, a contemporary of Michael Angelo.
The English people clung to their Gothic style for a century after the same had almost disappeared from the Continent, and in the Elizabethan period, 1558-1603, classic details, including the five orders, were completely incorporated into Gothic design. The pointed arch disappeared; the Roman semicircle took its place. Brickwork superseded masonry, roof construction was concealed, and all kinds of shams were introduced. Then came a period of close imitation of Greek and Roman temples, until the Gothic revival under its pioneer, A. W. Pugin (b. 1812, d. 1852), whose literary works are very instructive and interesting reading. The present-day (1922) tendency is towards a revival of Byzantine architecture.
PLATE X
ENGLISH GOTHIC ROOFS
PLATE X