74G 
PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION H. 
In the Roman period which followed w 7 e find a want of refine- 
ment in conception and execution ; although in its vigour and hold 
assertiveness it suited well the people and buildings of the time. 
After the Augustan age, refinement lost ground; and from 500 a.d. 
everything of beauty, sculpture included, went from bad to worse for 
centuries : nothing very worthy remains. 
But the dreaded year 1000 having passed by without universal 
dissolution, the Gothic spirit pervaded all lands with new hopes and 
new artistic life; and although the work was restrained and severe 
at first, it gained more freedom in unison with the developing 
architecture. It produced a too great realism about 1350, especially in 
Prance and England, and then reverted to moderation. As a whole, 
the period produced much good work all over Europe — full of the 
love of nature, earnestness, and fancy, and admirable both in scale 
and treatment. 
The sculptors of the next period reverted to classical principles 
of design ; but, by taking advantage of the freedom and variety in 
design born of centuries of study of Nature during Gothic times, 
they were enabled, with their improved technique, to produce a 
wide range of exquisite work, especially in Italy during the 15th and 
16th, and France during the 16th and 17th centuries. During this 
period low relief was especially developed to a very high standard ; 
the prominent qualities of the work of the period being individuality 
of expression and delicate suavity of modelling.* Fig. 10 is an example 
by Donatello. 
And now again, after an almost unbroken lapse of a couple of 
centuries, really good w T ork is promised us by the present revival visible 
in France and America, but especially in England ; although of course 
a great period would be practically impossible under our social system. 
We notice in each case how the arts as a whole grow and decline 
with the strength of a nation, and also how strong an influence the 
social milieu — the surroundings and sentiment of the age— has upon 
the work of sculptors. Note in this respect the conventionality of 
the Egyptian work, and remember how conventional their life is said 
to have been. Turning to the Greek, we are forced to remember how 
they worshipped perfectly trained athletic strength and grace : the 
gods only more handsome and more strong than the men. Then 
passing swiftly to Gothic, how the devotion and love of: Nature 
displayed take us back to those dark ages when the world was really 
a vale of tears and ignorance: the Church seemed man s only hope, 
and Nature was seen to mirror God’s goodness. Again, after this, 
it is easy to see the Christian spirit pervading the early Renaissance 
work, and the Pagan spirit pervading the late. 
Seeing, then, that surroundings have such an influence, let us fill 
our minds and hearts with the sentiments and ideas of our age, and 
prove how well we can work, having studied the forms and the uses 
io which former workers have put sculpture, and having good 
technique already to our hands. 
Eirst, then, with regard to the forms that architectural sculpture 
may assume, it is evident that different types of buildings necessitate 
* This paper was illustrated by the exhibition of 30 diagrams, of which 12 are 
shown in the jjlates. — Editor . 
