and each is
divided into three bays in front, the central bay being divided from the
other two by pendants richly carved with foliage of the same character
as the capitals of the shafts. Between the shafts and the pendants are
trefoil arches, one to each bay, and above the arches and pendants are
gables crossing each other and ending in finials of carved oak leaves.
Where the gables cross each other are carved heads and figures. The
sculpture of the arcade as a whole is the finest in the cathedral, and
some of the finest in England; but the art of the Gothic sculptor
reaches its culmination in these heads. In grotesqueness, fertility of
invention, and perfect fitness as decoration they could hardly be
surpassed. The canopies are decorated at the top with a cornice of
carved grapes and vine leaves. Above them is a passage running round the
whole chapter-house and passing behind the vaulting shafts and through
the masses of masonry between the windows. The vault is of wood, though
ribbed and painted to give it the appearance of stone. This vault is
arranged so that the ribs diverge from the vaulting shafts until they
reach the central octagon of the roof. At this point they converge to
the boss in the middle of the central octagon. This boss is modern. The
roof was restored in 1845. Before this time it was painted with figures
of kings and bishops, and the bosses were covered with silver. The
modern decoration of the roof is dull and trivial in design and
offensive in colour. During the same restoration many of the marble
shafts were replaced and the floor was paved with tiles, with a most
unfortunate effect. The east window has also been filled with very bad
modern glass. In fact, restorers have done their worst to the
chapter-house; but, luckily, their work is not irreparable. We may hope
that some day the glass, the tiles, and the paint on the roof will all
be removed. This chapter-house marks the farthest point reached in the
development of such buildings. It differs from the chapter-houses at
Lincoln, Salisbury, Westminster, and Wells in that it has no central
pillar, and this absence of a central pillar is supposed to be its
special glory. No doubt the pillar was an inconvenience when the chapter
met, and the architect was given a fine opportunity for the display of
his mechanical ingenuity when he decided to do without it. But there can
be no doubt that a central pillar or cluster of shafts such as is found
at Wells