Bray's Chapel in St. George's Chapel, Windsor (from Elias Ashmole's "The Institution, Laws & Ceremonies of the most Noble Order of the Garter," London 1672) 1663

Wenceslaus Hollar etched this vision of Bray’s Chapel in St. George's Chapel, Windsor, around 1672. Light floods the chapel through the tall windows in the pointed arches, a style which evokes feelings of reverence and aspiration toward the divine. Look closely at these arches. They echo similar forms in Gothic cathedrals across Europe. The pointed arch wasn’t just an aesthetic choice; it symbolized the intersection of the earthly and the heavenly realms. We see a similar striving upward in the minarets of Islamic architecture, a universal yearning to bridge the gap between humanity and the cosmos. Consider how these architectural forms, repeated and reimagined across cultures, tap into our collective memory. They stir within us a subconscious longing for connection with something greater than ourselves. The arches and the light – they engage us on a visceral level, resonating with the spiritual impulses encoded deep within our psyche. They resurface through history, perpetually evolving and adapting to new cultural landscapes.