west pair on
each side is inclosed within a spacious arch, which occupies nearly
two-thirds of the gable. Eastward of the transepts is a series of blank
intersecting arches, remarkable for their mouldings, which consist of a
flat, wide, and very shallow band;[45] and here the mixture of the
pointed with the semi-circular architecture commences. This portion of
the building altogether resembles the cathedral of Coutances in the
disposition of its parts.

[Illustration: Plate 23. ABBEY CHURCH OF ST. ETIENNE, CAEN.
_Elevation of compartment of the Nave._]

It would be difficult to describe the interior of the church in clearer
or more comprehensive terms, than has been done by Mr. Cohen in Mr.
Turner's Tour,[46] from which work the following account is, therefore,
extracted.--"Without doubt, the architect was conversant with Roman
buildings, though he has Normanized their features, and adapted the
lines of the basilica to a _barbaric_ temple. The Coliseum furnished the
elevation of the nave;--semi-circular arches surmounted by another tier
of equal span, and springing at nearly an equal height from the basis of
the supporting pillars. The architraves connecting the lower rows of
pillars are distinctly enounced. The arches which rise from them have
plain bold mouldings. The piers between each arch are of considerable
width. In the centre of each pier is a column, which ascends as usual to
the vault. These columns are alternately simple and compound. The latter
are square pilasters, each fronted by a cylindrical column, which of
course projects farther into the nave than the simple columns; and thus
the nave is divided into bays. This system is imitated in the gothic
cathedral at Sens. The square pilaster ceases at about four-fifths of
its height: then two cylindrical pillars rise from it, so that, from
that point, the column becomes clustered. Angular brackets, sculptured
with knots, grotesque heads, and foliage, are affixed to the base of
these derivative pillars. A bold double-billeted moulding is continued
below the clerestory, whose windows adapt themselves to the binary
arrangement of the bays. A taller arch is flanked by a smaller one on
the right or the left side, as its situation requires. These are
supported by short massy pillars: an embattled moulding runs round the
windows.--In the choir the arches become pointed, but with Norman
mouldings: the apsis is a reconstruction. In that portion of the choir
which