The Nature of Gothic

I remember reading John Ruskin's The Nature of Gothic, part of his larger work The Stones of Venice, and thought at the time is was a good psychological theory for the 19th century.

As I've gotten older the less I feel about this. His idea was in the third stage, Gothic Art, the artist could just rearrange random elelments in certain places seperate from the larger form of the architectual design of a building and do pretty much whatever, very liberating. But then I see this picture of a Norman gate and it angers me. The head is so close to the apex of the arch but is off. Just makes me want to climb up there and fix it with a chisel and a hammer.