Decoration and Motif within a
Gothic Cathedral:

• Altarpiece : An individual or group of panels or screens located near or on the altar.
  
  
• Annulet : A circular finishing found on pillars or piers, sometimes decorated with carvings.
  
  
• Archivolt : An ornamental molding seen often in arch shaped portals following the lines of the face with sculpted figures.
  
  
• Armatures : Iron framework used within mason-less Rose Windows to support the glass weight.
  
  
• Ball flower : An ornamented ball sculpture surmounted in the petals of a flower.
  
  
• Bar tracery : The dominant class of Tracery consisting of decorative patterns formed from stone bars..
  
  
• Boss (Rib-boss) : Ornamental masonry strips used to conceal the breaks in vault work.
  
  
• Chevron :An ancient European design motif consisting of a pattern of pointed zig zags.
  
  
• Cinquefoil : A five sided design of converging arcs, often used in frame work.
  
  
• Cornice : A decorative horizontal outcropping serving to crown a wall or column.
  
  
• Crockets : A distinctive Gothic motif formed of floral and leaf ornamentation. Primarily used on spire and pinnacle sculpture.
  
  
• Cusp : Found within Tracery decoration to form the meeting point of foils.
  
  
• Fan vaulting : An intricate form of Tracery in which the ribs of a Vault arch out in a concave fan pattern.
  
  
• Fillet : Delicate adornment strips applied to shafts and archways along the moldings.
  
  
• Finial : An ornamental capping piece placed atop spires.
  
  
• Fluting : Carved vertical groove work found on Piers, Columns and Pillars.
  
  
• Foils : A small arc design used in Tracery, often utilized within Rose Windows.
  
  
• Grisaille : A stained glass window incorporating muted tones as opposed to bright colors.
  
  
• Grotesques : A class of decorative sculpture forms often found in or on Gothic structures. A term used broadly for gargoyles, although traditionally a gargoyle serves as a drainage spout for rain water, while a grotesque may function solely as decoration.
  
  View the Foundation Stone about Gargoyles
  
  
• Lierne vaulting : Vaults containing small decorative rib work not originating from the corners; primarily found in England.
  
  
• Moldings : Carved contours given to Piers and columns to exploit optical effects of light.
  
  
• Ogee arches : An arch formed by the meeting of two double curves forming a long S shape; a definitive design of the Gothic era.
  
  
• Pinnacle :A vertical ornament forming the spire of a turret.
  
  
• Predella : A series of small images or carvings at the base of an altarpiece.
  
  
• Quadratura : An intended architectural illusion used to create the sense of a larger room.
  
  
• Reredos : An elaborate wall carving or screen utilized primarily on or behind the high Altar.
  
  
• Spandrels : The semi-triangular space formed by arches and the moldings surrounding them.
  
  
• Vesica Pisces : The oval shape created by the intersecting of two equal circles. A ancient symbolic motif which has great significance within many cultures. In Christianity the form represents the sacred Body of Christ.

Bibliography

 Dictionnaire raisonné de l'architecture française
      du XIe au XVIe siècle,
      E. Viollet-le-Duc, Paris  (1858-68)
 Mont Saint-Michel and Chartres,   Henry Adams  (1904)
 Gothic Painting,  Jacques Dupont & C. Gnudi, Skira  (1954)
 The Gothic Cathedral,  Otto von Simson, Pantheon, NY  (1956)
 The Gothic,  Paul Frankl , Princeton U. Press  (1960)
 The Cathedral Builders,  Jean Gimpel, Grove Press, NY  (1961)
 Gothic Architecture,  Robert Branner, G. Braziller, NY  (1961)
 High Gothic,  Hans Jantzen ,  Pantheon, NY  (1962)
 Medieval Art I, II, III  Georges Duby, Skira, Geneva  (1966-67)
 The Medieval Architect,  J. H. Harvey,  London  (1972)
 The Age of the Cathedrals,  Art and Society 980-1420,
      Georges Duby, London  (1981)
 French Gothic Architecture of the 12th and 13th Centuries,
      J. Bony ,  Berkeley  (1983)
 The Gothic Cathedral,  C. Wilson ,  Thames & Hudson  (1990)
 The Art of Gothic,  Könemann Verlagsgesellschaft mbH,  (1999)