Indeed, the frequent appearance of Bray's arms, sometimes
single, sometimes impaling his alliances, in many parts of the ceiling
and windows, has led to the supposition that he himself contributed
largely to the expense of the work. The groined ceiling of the chapel
was not commenced till the twenty-seventh year of the reign of Henry
the Seventh, when the pinnacles of the roof were decorated with
vanes, supported by gilt figures of lions, antelopes, greyhounds, and
dragons, the want of which is still a detriment to the external beauty of
the structure,
"The main vaulting of St. George's Chapel," says Mr. Poynter, "is
perhaps, without exception, the most beautiful specimen of the Gothic
stone roof in existence; but it has been very improperly classed with
those of the same architectural period in the chapels of King's College,
Cambridge, and Henry the Seventh, at Westminster. The roofing of the
aisle and the centre compartment of the body of the building are indeed
in that style, but the vault of the nave and choir differ essentially from
fan vaulting, both in drawing and construction. It is, in fact, a waggon-
headed vault, broken by Welsh groins--that is to say, groins which cut
into the main arch below the apex.
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