texture or model it???

I really like the look of the fan vaulting designs as i have already stated. (not that i wouldnt be able to model it) but i have been thinking about maybe texturing the vaults with fan design. Obviously normal texturing wouldn't be recommended. I have used a technique cal bump mapping before.. it works very well if executed perfectly. soon i plan to try this out. **could prove to be a good effect** This picture here is the kind of design i would like to use for the bump map. this may take a while though.