LINCOLN CATHEDRAL

It was a little over a month ago, on June 28, that Frank and I visited Lincoln Cathedral, one of the greatest in England.  It went through a number of rebuildings after fires and even an earthquake, but took its Gothic form in the early thirteenth century.  In the early fourteenth century, the three towers were raised higher, the crossing tower (in the background in this picture) being the tallest.  Until its main spire came down in the mid-sixteenth century, Lincoln cathedral was the tallest building in the world.  If you want to know more go to the cathedral's website.

This is not my picture, but one from Wikimedia.  With the trees full of greenery, I didn't have a decent shot of the whole facade.  Even in this picture buildings including the gate in front of the cathedral block the view of the lower facade.

This is a view down the nave toward the choir.  In person, the vaults seem to soar even higher.

This is a view back toward to entrance from within St. Hugh's Choir, noted for its beautiful choir stalls and "crazy" vaults above.  If you compare the way the ribs meet in these vaults to the way they do in the vaults in the picture above, you can understand how they came to be called "crazy.".

This is just a bit of the lower wall in one of the aisles.  English Gothic walls tended to be thicker and heavier than French ones, but by various means, such as the two-layer arcades seen here, the builders did work to give them a lighter feel.  The modern lighting adds to the impact nowadays, of course, but the play of forms and colors would be great even without them.

For my money, few elements of architectural decoration are more beautiful than rose windows in great cathedrals.  While it is not one of the truly great ones, the Dean's Window in the north transept at Lincoln, is quite nice,,,and unusual in having much of its original glass from the early thirteenth century, although certainly not all.  The roses in the north and south transepts originally featured scenes of the Last Judgment, but the iconography is not so clear anymore.  Anyway, I just like the forms and colors.

These wood-vaulted passageways of the cloister are quite amazing since a lot of the woodwork is original.  Note the bosses where the ribs of the vaults meet.  Each on is different and wonderful.

This is one of my favorites, carved as a dragon-like creature with a canine-looking head.

I will stop here and plan my next post.