bar tracery

architecture

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July 16, 2026

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In architecture, bar tracery refers to decorative elements within windows or other openings, formed by the curves and intersections of molded stone bars (mullions). This technique developed during the Gothic period in Europe, evolving from earlier plate tracery where solid stone pierced openings.12

Bar tracery allowed for more intricate and lighter designs, with stone bars separating increasingly complex patterns of openings. Notable examples include the windows of Reims Cathedral and the development of the Perpendicular style in England, characterized by straight, vertical lines connected by horizontal bars. This decorative approach also influenced Islamic architecture, particularly in pierced marble screens found in Mughal India and Persia.1

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tracery
…France a developed type of bar tracery with cusped circles (having pointed bars of stone projecting in toward the centre of the circle) was executed in the apse chapels of Reims Cathedral (prior to 1230). From about 1240 on, bar tracery became common, and it quickly exhibited increased lightness and…
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…France a developed type of bar tracery with cusped circles (having pointed bars of stone projecting in toward the centre of the circle) was executed in the apse chapels of Reims Cathedral (prior to 1230). From about 1240 on, bar tracery became common, and it quickly exhibited increased lightness and…
Read More