As you enter the cathedral, at the center door, by descending two steps,
you are struck with the length and loftiness of the nave, and with the
lightness of the gallery which runs along the upper part of it. Perhaps
the nave is too narrow for its length. The lantern of the central large
tower is beautifully light and striking. It is supported by four massive
clustered pillars, about forty feet in circumference; but by casting your
eye downward, you are shocked at the tasteless division of the choir from
the nave by what is called a Grecian screen; and the interior of the
transepts has undergone a like preposterous restoration.
The rose windows of the transepts, and that at the west end of the nave,
merit your attention and commendation. I could not avoid noticing, to the
right, upon entrance, perhaps the oldest side chapel in the cathedral, of
a date less ancient than that of the northern tower, and perhaps of the
end of the twelfth century. It contains by much the finest specimens of
stained glass--of the early part of the sixteenth century. There is also
some beautiful stained glass on each side of the chapel of the Virgin,
behind the choir; but altho very ancient, it is the less interesting, as
not being composed of groups, or of historical subjects.
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