Henry Hobson Richardson was one of the most innovative designers during the latter part of the 19th century. He introduced a massive yet simple masonry architecture, inspired by the Romanesque, for which he became famous. Trinity Church, his most elegant religious structure, was built according to a cruciform plan in yellow-gray granite and brownstone. Its crossing is capped by a massive lantern, the dominant element in a pyramidal composition modeled on Salamanca Cathedral in Spain. Richardson said that in his work he sought "a peacefully quiet and massive treatment of wall surfaces."