512 Mr. H. Hardinge Cunynghame [March 1, 



And the Church, therefore, seems to have resolved to curb the 

 arts, and for the future to retain them in the strictest leading 

 strings. 



The languishing embraces of graceful Greek gods were exchanged 

 for the severe and even repellent types of Byzantine mosaics. But 

 this very restraint, salutary as it was while the morals of Europe 

 were being reformed, was not without disadvantages ; for where 

 literature or art is in complete subjection to a system of morals, 

 religion, or politics, it is certain to be cramped down and kept in 

 bondage by artificial rules which destroy its vitality. Therefore, 

 though the fire of Christianity purged classical art of most of its 

 dross, it destroyed a good deal that was valuable in the process. 



The rejection of ornate ritual and church decoration is partly due 

 to this feeling. But it is also true that an art which is intended to 

 appeal, not to Anchorites or Puritans, but to ordinary men, must 

 satisfy not only the moral but also the esthetic sentiments. There- 

 fore the perfection of sacred art is seen when the highest beauty 

 has been reached without the sacrifice of pure and noble religious 

 feeling. The work of art must, so to speak, have a noble soul 

 enshrined in a beautiful body. 



The method adopted by the Byzantines was to mark upon a plate 

 of metal the outlines of the desired pattern, to solder over those out- 

 lines little cloisons, or walls of metal about T<To* n °f an mcn thick 

 and sVth of an inch deep, and to melt glass into the spaces. 



The chief examples of this style that remain are at St. Mark's, 

 Venice, St. Ambrogio at Milan, and at Limburg, but small specimens 

 are to be found in most museums. 



The figures in Byzantine enamels resemble the figures in Byzan- 

 tine illumination and mosaic. They are undoubtedly derived from 

 classical sources. But the sense of artistic effect is always subordinated 

 to the religious aim of the work. The attitudes are stereotyped, and 

 they are sometimes rather more like religious hieroglyphics than like 

 pictures. But the charm of them is in the pure healthy colour, and 

 the strong devotional feeling they display. On account of this, we 

 can overlook goggle eyes, and uncouth drapery, which would be 

 unpardonable in a modern artist acquainted with the work of the 

 great European schools. 



It will be remembered that it was the ungrateful hand of Venice, 

 which had benefited so much by Byzantine art and trade, that 

 struck the first and heaviest blow at the Byzantine Empire. When 

 it fell, the art of glass-making passed to Venice, and by Venice was 

 transmitted to Europe. For years the Venetians kept the secret of 

 making coloured glass. If one of their workmen betrayed them, 

 they had him tracked down and murdered, even in the most distant 

 country. 



But, in spite of all their care, the secrets which they had learned 

 from the East leaked out, and as the power of Venice declined, the 

 chief seat of the enamel trade was transferred to Limoges, just at the 



