PROFESSIONAL INSTITUTIONS. 563* 



"Previously to the reign of Charles I the sculptor seems hardly to have 

 been considered an artist." "Nicholas Stone was the sculptor most in 

 vogue. He was master-mason to the king." 



I may add that in early days, monks St. Dunstan being an ex- 

 ample occupied themselves in executing the details of ecclesias- 

 tical buildings the foliations of windows, screens, and the like. 

 It is said that when sculpturing the heads used for gargoyles, 

 they sometimes amused themselves by caricaturing one another. 



Recent stages in the development of sculpture are not easy to 

 trace. But there seems to have occurred in modern times a pro- 

 cess parallel to that which we saw occurred in Greece. During 

 the first stages in the secularization of his business the carver of 

 marble carried with him the character previously established 

 he was a superior artisan. Only in course of time, as his skill 

 was employed for other than sacred purposes, did he become inde- 

 pendent and begin to gain reputation as an artist. And his posi- 

 tion has risen along with the devotion of his efforts more and 

 more to subjects unconnected with religion. 



Let it be observed, however, that even still sculpture retains in 

 considerable measure its primitive character as an ancillary to 

 ancestor- worship. A carved marble effigy in a Christian church 

 differs but little in meaning from a carved wooden figure of a 

 dead man placed on his grave in savage and semi-civilized socie- 

 ties. In either case the having an image made, and the subse- 

 quent conduct in presence of it, imply the same prompting senti- 

 ment : there is always more or less of awe or respect. Moreover, 

 sculpture continues to be largely employed for the expression of 

 this sentiment, not in churches only, but in houses. The preser- 

 vation of a bust by descendants commonly implies recognition of 

 worth in the original, and is thus in a faint way an act of worth- 

 ship. 



Hence only that kind of sculpture which is not devoted to the 

 representation of deceased persons, in either public or in private 

 edifices, or in open places, can be considered as absolutely secular- 

 ized. One who takes his subjects from ancient myth, or history, 

 or from the life around, may be considered as alone the sculptor 

 who has lost all trace of the original priestly character. 



With recognition of the completed process of differentiation 

 there is nothing here to join respecting the process of integration. 

 Sculptors have not yet become sufficiently numerous to form 

 entirely independent unions. Such combination as has arisen 

 among them we shall have to recognize in the next chapter, in 

 association with the combinations of painters. 



