and is the finest of the whole series in the broad massiveness of its
effect; so simply characteristic, indeed, of the grandeur of style in
the entire building, that I chose it for the first Plate in my folio
work. In spite of the sternness of its plan, however, it is wrought with
great care in surface detail; and the ornamental value of the minute
chasing obtained by the delicate plumage of the birds, and the clustered
bees on the honeycomb in the bear's mouth, opposed to the strong
simplicity of its general form, cannot be too much admired. There are
also more grace, life, and variety in the sprays of foliage on each side
of it, and under the heads, than in any other capital of the series,
though the earliness of the workmanship is marked by considerable
hardness and coldness in the larger heads. A Northern Gothic workman,
better acquainted with bears and wolves than it was possible to become
in St. Mark's Place, would have put far more life into these heads, but
he could not have composed them more skilfully.