Decorated Period

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The West Front of Exeter Cathedral

The West Front of Lichfield Cathedral

The Decorated Period, in architecture (also known as the Decorated Gothic, or simply "Decorated") period is a historical division of English Gothic architecture. Other names applied to the period and its architecture include the "middle pointed", "Geometric", Curvilinear and Flamboyant.

The Decorated style was in use between c. 1290 and c. 1350, according to Sir Nikolaus Pevsner. It was a development of the Early English style of the 13th century, and would itself develop into the Perpendicular style, which lasted until the middle of the 16th century. These terms were originally coined by Thomas Rickman in his Attempt to Discriminate the Style of Architecture in England (1812—1815) and are still widely used.

Rickman dated the Decorated period to 1307-1377, but, as with all of these early architectural styles there is a gradual overlap between the periods: as fashions changed, new elements were often used alongside older ones, especially in large buildings such as churches and cathedrals, which were constructed (and added to) over long periods of time.

[edit] Elements of the Decorated style

Decorated architecture is characterized by its window tracery. Elaborate windows are subdivided by closely-spaced parallel mullions (vertical bars of stone), usually up to the level at which the arched top of the window begins. The mullions then branch out and cross, intersecting to fill the top part of the window with a mesh of elaborate patterns called tracery, typically including trefoils and quatrefoils. The style was geometrical at first and flowing in the later period, owing to the omission of the circles in the window tracery. This flowing or flamboyant tracery was introduced in the first quarter of the 14th century and lasted about fifty years. This evolution of decorated tracery is often used to subdivide the period into an earlier 'Geometric' and later 'Curvilinear' period.

Interiors of this period often feature tall columns (often more slender and elegant than in previous periods) which may support elaborately vaulted roofs. Arches are generally equilateral, and the mouldings bolder than in the Early English Period, with less depth in the hollows and with the fillet (a narrow flat band) largely used. The ballflower and a four-leaved flower motif take the place of the earlier dog-tooth. The foliage in the capitals is less conventional than in Early English and more flowing, and the diaper patterns in walls are more varied.

Examples of the Decorated style can be found in many British churches and cathedrals. Principal examples are those of the east ends of Lincoln Cathedral and of Carlisle Cathedral and the west fronts of York Minster and Lichfield Cathedral. Much of Exeter Cathedral is built in this style, as is the crossing of Ely Cathedral, (including the famous octagonal lantern, built between 1322—1328 to replace the fallen central tower), three west bays of the choir and the Lady Chapel. In Scotland, Melrose Abbey was a noteworthy example, though much of it is now in ruins.ya!