236 Contemporary Evolution. 



face), the effect of paintings must ever be ruined by the 

 brilliant hues of the material with which every window of 

 a perfect gothic church should be glazed. Thus, in spite 

 of the beauty of stained glass, it has in addition to its 

 intrinsic irrationality the grievous disadvantage of marring, 

 or rather destroying, the effect of perhaps the most impor- 

 tant of the arts which minister to religion.* 



But not painting alone ; sculpture also (as now used 

 for purposes of devotion) finds a place more readily and 

 harmoniously in an Italian than in a gothic church. 

 In the former, holy images can attain both a larger and 

 more independent development than the latter, where 

 each, closely buried in its niche, assumes a quasi-architec- 

 tural character. The second writer referred to goes on 

 indeed to add that in the gothic style " the images of our 

 Lord and the saints are not representations of our Lord 

 who came in the flesh, or of the saints, who were men of 

 like passions with ourselves. They are as if ' clothed in 

 white samite, mystic, wonderful.' " But this objection 

 seems a very unreasonable one. To assert that mediaeval 

 sculpture was necessarily defective, from the imperfect 

 anatomical knowledge of the period, would be reason- 

 able enough ; but to object to images which are to 

 suggest to us divine and sanctified beings as they now 

 are in glory, because they are "mystic" and "wonderful," 



* The church of S. Apollinaris at Remagen is a good example of 

 the incongruity of gothic with paintings. 



