The upper member of these mouldings retains the square profile till well on in the thirteenth century, when it sometimes assumes a variously curved profile, as at Amiens (Fig. 118), where A and B are profiles of abaci from the west front and from the triforium respectively.
FIG. 118The profile of the bell of the capital is, in Gothic design, a fine Corinthianesque curve almost without exception. Of the capitals of the ancient orders—the Doric, the Ionic, and the Corinthian—only the latter influenced to any extent the art of the Middle Ages. Derived from the Roman type, the Corinthianesque capital of the Romanesque builders was, in the best examples, an improvement upon its prototype; while in the hands of the Gothic artists it was still further modified and refined in profile. This form is one that admits of almost endless minor changes which adapt it perfectly to all the varied conditions which Gothic capitals have to meet. The circular form of the bell is adjusted to the square of the abacus by projecting crockets, which have the additional function of augmenting the strength of the angles of the abacus, as in Figs. 113 and 114. The French Gothic capital, taken as a whole, is certainly a most admirable object; but it is in the early period of the style that we must look for the finest examples. In these alone is perfect structural adaptation joined with the highest and most temperate grace. The French capitals of the latter part of the twelfth century are quite unmatched by anything of their kind that has been produced in any age.
It does not fall within the scope of this work to follow the later transformations of the Gothic capital; but it may here be remarked that in the course of the thirteenth century certain modifications of its form were made which, though not improvements on the earlier forms, were yet largely necessitated by changed conditions, and were at first productive of results that have much interest and merit. These
