Some are merely in bas-relief:
in others the central circles are deeply perforated, whilst the ribs are
composed of delicate tracery.--There are so many peculiarities both in
the arrangement and in the details of this cathedral[91], that it is
quite impossible to convey an adequate idea of them by a verbal
description; and I can only hope that they will be hereafter made
familiar to the English antiquarian by the pencil of Mr. Cotman or Mr.
Stothard.
[Illustration: Ornaments in the Spandrils of the Arches in Bayeux
Cathedral]
The screen that separates the nave from the choir is Grecian, and is as
much at variance with the inside of such a church, as the cupola, which
is nearly over it, is with the exterior.--Upon the roof of the choir,
are still to be seen the portraits of the first twenty-one bishops of
Bayeux, each with his name inscribed by his side. The execution of the
portraits is very rude, particularly that of the twelve earliest, whose
busts are represented. The artist has contented himself with exhibiting
the heads only, of the remaining nine. Common tradition refers the whole
of these portraits to the time of Odo; but it is hardly necessary to
observe, that the groined and pointed vaulting is subsequent to his
date.
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