CEILING (Fr. ciel; Lat. cerium, heaven). This term seems to have been suggested by the use of arched coverings for churches, and even for rooms, which prevailed in the middle ages, and was not unknown to the Romans. Whether the term was further sug. gested by the habit of tinting ceilings of a blue eolor, and decorating them with stars, or whether that usage arose from the use of the term already introduced, is more doubtful. Arched ceilings among the Romans were known by the name camerce or camera, the Greek origin of which seems to furnish an argument in favor of the view that the arch vas known to the latter people. The camera was formed by semicircular beams of wood, at small distances from each other, over which was placed a coating of lath and plaster. In later times, the camerm were frequently lined with plates of glass; whence they were termed ritrece. But the ceilings most commonly in use amongst the Romans were flat, the beams,•as in modern times, havinr. been at first visible, and afterwards covered with planks and plaster. Sometimes having spaces were left between the planks, which were frequently covered with gold and ivory, or paintings. The oldest flat C. in existence is believed to be that of Peterborough cathedral. Like that at St. Alban's abbey, it is made of wood, and plastered over like a modern ceiling. Ceil
ings of churches, in the middle ages, were generally painted and gilded in the • most brilliant manner; and many existing ceilings still exhibit the traces of early decoration of this kind. The older ceilings generally follow the line of the timbers of the roof, which, in the early English and decorated, are often arranged so as to give the shape of a barrel vault. In ceilings of this description there are seldom many ribs, often only a single one along the top. In the perpendicular style, the C. often consists of a series of flat surfaces or cants, formed on the timbers of the roof. Though sometimes altogether destitute of ornament, they are more frequently enriched with ribs, dividing them into square panels, with bosses (q.v.) or flowers at the intersections. Wooden ceilings are sometimes formed in imitation of stone-groining, with ribs and bosses, examples of which will be found at York, Winchester, and Lincoln. In the Elizabethan age, ceil ings were generally of plaster, but they were ornamented with ribs having bosses or small pendants at the intersections. It is not unusual for the C. immediately over the altar, or the roodloft, to be richly ornamented, whilst the rest is plain.