plate tracery (plattra"ser i)

In medieval arch., a form of tracery in which the openings are cut or pierced in slabs of stone, as distinguished from ordinary tracery, which is constructed of a embled blocks. This form appeared early in the transition from the round-arched to the point Plate-tracery. - Head of a clearstory window, Cathedral of Chart res, France; 13th century. ed style, and was often employed in subsequent periods in places where stone nece ary formation toughne was available. It was particularly esteemed in Italy, where the excellent building-marbles, in addition to their mechanical fitne , supplied a medium adapted for delicacy of outline and profile, and lending itself to high decorative quality in such tracery.