That 'Saint Michael's Mount has become a popular lion, and can only be
seen under the vexatious companionship of a guide and a party' is true
enough; nevertheless, we can stay at the inn on the island, and thus be
enabled to examine and make drawings of some of the most beautiful
thirteenth-century work in the cloisters that we shall meet with in
Normandy. These cloisters and open arcades (supported by upwards of two
hundred slender pillars) are carved and decorated with grotesque and
delicate ornament, the capitals to the pillars are richly foliated, and
the fringe that surrounds them has been well described as a 'wilderness
of vines and roses, and dragons, winged and crowned.'
Like the churches in Normandy, the architecture of these monastic
buildings is in nearly every style, from the simple romanesque of the
eleventh century to the rich _flamboyant_ of the fifteenth; and, like
many of the churches, its history dates from the time when the Druids
took possession of the island to the days when the storm of the
Revolution broke upon its shores.
The ordinary time for visiting the rock is when the tide is out, but we
have not seen Mont St. Michael to advantage until it is completely
surrounded by water, as it is during the spring tides; it is then that,
approached from the west, we may see it half-obscured by sea-foam, with
its turrets shining through the clouds, and the heavy Atlantic waves
booming against its foundations.
Pages:
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104