a
remarkably effective central tower that rises nearly sixty feet above
the high-pitched roof; a well-developed chevet, a walled-in triforium
similar to that of Chartres, a noble series of clerestory and several
grand rose windows filled with very beautiful stained glass.

[Illustration: Gothic Clustered Column]

In the Cathedral of Amiens French Gothic architecture touched its
highest point of excellence, before the over exaggeration of its
distinctive peculiarities sounded the note of decadence. Begun in 1220,
when all the structural problems of the pointed style had been finally
solved, it was completed in 1272, and although it has more than once
been seriously injured by fire, it has been so successfully restored
that it still remains one of the noblest churches of Europe, the one
thing detracting from the solemn beauty of its general external
appearance being the later Flamboyant spire, that is quite out of
character with the rest of the building. Its great height and breadth;
the symmetry of its proportions; the dignified simplicity of its
vaulting, which in nave, aisles and transepts, chevet chapels and
ambulatory is of similar design, the centre from which the ribs radiate
being in every case so situated that these ribs are all of equal length;
the grand sculptures and fine arcading of the great west front, the
towers of which, though they differ in detail, harmonise well with each
other; the exquisite statues and bas-reliefs of the transept portals;
the combined strength and grace of the many flying buttresses; the
admirable system of lighting, windows occupying the whole of the space
between the main arcades of the nave and the roof; the beautiful and
varied effects of perspective from many different points of view in the
interior; with the minor detail of the marvellous carvings in the choir,
justify the claim that Amiens Cathedral is the crowning glory of Gothic
architecture and an ample vindication of its principles.

In the contemporaneous Beauvais Cathedral, that was intended to rival
that of Amiens in its height and in the ethereal lightness of its
stilted arches, a convincing proof was given of the danger of carrying
those principles too far, for the vaulting of the choir collapsed before
the completion of the building, which, though it was restored and added
to later, still remains unfinished. With it may be mentioned the Sainte
Chapelle of Paris, the window tracery in which is very fine; the
Cathe