40 Removal of the Screen at York Minster. its receding length to the foot of the first flight of steps; then a platform; and then another flight of steps to another broad platform. The gradual approach to the altar in its beautiful simplicity behind it; the elegant altar Screen (when I think of all this lost, my wounds bleed afresh, my heart and my eyes are full); and when an ample space beyond, till the eye in the distance is filled with the magnificence of the great east window, forming altogether a coupd'ail unequalled in the world, a space, a combination in which the eye and the mind are filled with images of majesty, splendour, beauty, and extent beyond any thing I ever witnessed, and I have seen many of the most celebrated cathedrals in Europe. "Cut off the space proposed, you throw back the steps, the platforms, the altar under the east window, at least twenty feet. The altar now forms, as it should, a prominent, elegant, and delightful medium between the choir and that splendid mass of light; put it under the east window and the matchless beauty and harmony of these parts are destroyed, and unillumined. The Arab proverb says, Under the lamp it is dark; ' under that splendid window its beauties must be eclipsed, and the whole balance of the choir overthrown." "The alteration of an ancient cathedral is justifiable only on one ground, viz. the improvement of the choir for the purposes of religion. This was not the reason for the alterations at Salisbury and Lichfield, or the dilapidations of Durham: nor can it be alledged by Mr. Vernon in support of his proposed innovations at York. Thirty-five years have made considerable changes in taste as to architecture; and the capricious fancy of an individual is not sufficient now, as it was formerly, to command the disarrangement of the interior of a cathedral, to demolish or dilapidate whatever his whim disapproves, or to lengthen views and vistas in a church as he would cut down hedges in a landscape. One would have thought that the innovators would have made good use of their time since July in collecting accurate and useful information from other cathedrals and ancient churches in support of their measure, but they gave no proofs of their researches in this way; they did not, of course, ascertain that "the screens of our Norman churches were commonly placed across the second or third division of the nave, owing to the plan or proportions of the constituent members of the building, resembling in shape the Christian cross. But when the change of taste in architec ture took place the plan also was altered; the choir, as at York, being elongated, and the nave shortened; and by these alterations a sufficient space for the purpose was obtained, and the choir became a distinct portion of the building. The Screen was removed from the nave to the eastern pillars [Jan. of the lantern, or central tower, the natural boundary of the choir in churches built after the change of taste of which I have spoken. But there is no example of a Screen being situated further east than the line I have mentioned. Bristol is quite out of the question, the nave of that church having been destroyed, and the Screen removed to its present position within the ancient choir, subsequently to the Reformation." * He is a bold innovator who would first lay his hand on York Minster to disorder the harmony of its arrangement and destroy its principal Screen. Mr. Vernon is labouring to distinguish himself in this way; but he has encountered difficulties which he did not foresee. He undervalued the veneration which the inhabitants of the county, and those of the "good city" especially, feel for their glorious Minster; and it is to be hoped that no lawful means to defeat this daring scheme of sacrilege will be left untried. Opposed to it is a constellation of names which will for ever be associated with correct taste, and with those of the preservers of our ancient architecture; of Morritt, Markham, Wellbeloved, Strickland, Currer, Etty, and Scott, whose observations on the distinctive characteristics of the style of the choir; on the propriety and beauty of the position of the Screen; on the sublimity of the effect produced by the combination of just and elegant proportion and occasional enrichment; on the utter disregard of ancient authority evinced by the removalists; and on the use of an inferior material in the ornamental work of the roof; † should be read and treasured by all who wish to form a correct taste on the subject of our ancient architecture. It is certain that the pamphlets and speeches of these gentlemen are among the most valuable essays on architectural innovation. "Were I to offer (writes the highly gifted artist Mr. Etty), to repaint and improve the Cartoons of Raffaelle, or the Last Judgment of Michael Angelo, would it not be regarded as a piece of madness, folly, or presumption; and most justly so? Now, I say the case is a parallel one: York Minster is as perfect in its kind, or more, than the great work in question is of the same epoch, the fifteenth century; has the same hallowed feeling of antiquity to make all but Vandals respect, venerate, and hallow it.” * Private Letter. + Mr. Smirke stated that he had heard of a building partly composed of American pine remaining solid and perfect after the assaults of forty seasons; but to convince the ineeting of the indestructible property of the said material, he stated that he had seen a building composed of it quite perfect after sixty years' standing! This is indeed a date worthy of being compared with the antiquity of York Minster! 1831.] [ 41 ] REVIEW OF NEW PUBLICATIONS. The History and Description of the Town and Borough of Ipswich, including the Villages and Country Seats in its Vicinity, more particularly those seated on the Banks of the Orwell. 8vo. pp. 504. EVERY commercial town of importance should have a local history, in matter and embellishment, worthy of it, and this we can truly say of the work before us. The inAluence and utility of such books are not indeed subjects of sense, but their indirect action may be, and often is of the most important consequence. To enter into an elucidation of this general position is unnecessary, because we have often done so ; and have no room to spare, on account of copious ex tracts. Our author has exhibited superior taste in the selection of subjects for his excellent plates. These, of course, under such guidance, apply to architectural remains of curious construction and probable demolition. The chief of these is the subject of the plate before us (see Plate II), viz. the interior of a room at the Tankard Inn. The history of this valuable relic is as follows.-Pp. 220–223. "Sir Anthony Wingfield, K. G. Vice Chamberlain, Privy Counsellor, and one of the Executors of Henry VIII. had a residence where the Tankard public-house and the Theatre now stand. In the former, some curious remains of the decorations of Sir Anthony's mansion still exist, particularly in a large room on the ground floor; the oak wainscot of which, beautifully carved in festoons of flowers, and a variety of devices, was formerly gilt, but is now painted blue and white. The cieling is of groined work, carved and wrought something after the manner of Henry the Seventh's Chapel at Westminster. In various compartments of this ceiling numerous coats of arms are sculptured, and have been emblazoned in their proper colours, most of which are defaced, but still several of those of the Wing-, field family, encircled with the motto of the Order of the Garter, remain in tolerable preservation. This room is twenty-seven feet long, sixteen feet nine inches wide, and only nine feet five inches high. The ceiling is divided into pannels sixteen inches and a half square; there are twelve of these in the length of the room, and eight in the GENT. MAG. January, 1831.. breadth; each pannel is bordered with a' band, and alternately emblazoned with a coat of arms, or filled up with a projecting oruament, in the shape of an inverted pediment, with concave sides, richly carved, and pendentive six inches from the ceiling. Each of these projections terminates nearly in a beam intersects the ceiling, in the centre, point, topped with a leaf or rose. One large the whole length of the room, and two smaller transverse ones." Whatever defect there may be in the description, has been amply compensated by the accurate and beautiful engraving (here given) from a drawing by Mr. H. Davy, which at once stanips him as a master of his profession. With regard to ceilings, it is known, that among our ancestors these were rare, and that they had only two ideas upon the subject: one, that if rooms were lofty they must be arched; and, if low (for they had no idea of high rooms, with horizontal ceilings), ornamented and cross-beamed. That the beams were intended for ornament as well as use cannot be doubted, because they are often moulded and wrought, where they are crossed, in rooms which had ornamented fire places. If the ceiling was carried up to the roof, the mere barn and stable rudeness was relieved by a succession of wooden arched timber couples, resting upon brackets, as at Westminster Hall, and the Grammar School here engraved (p. 281). And we are inclined to think that arched windows were essential to this plan, when correct, and not the square transom windows intruded in the school mentioned, for we must not condemn our ancestors for want of taste in the pure Gothic. An arched window, with a flat ceiling, must be out of keeping; and the innovation condemned is due to the barbarisms of the Tudor style. "Over the fireplace is a basso-relievo, rudely carved in wood, and coloured in a tasteless style. It represents the Judgment, of Paris. It is much mutilated." It is a disgrace to the national character, that Englishmen should feel a * This is engraved at large in our vol. LXVL P.913, |