Romance in Metal Work 
between her and harm ? And the fact alone that 
her guardian angel had been so skillfully wrought 
into the handle of the lock would surely forbid unlaw¬ 
ful entry and fortify her courage. And so I could 
go on giving you example after example, when in the 
best periods of art men did not scorn the highest 
thought and fancy to even the smallest things; and I 
cannot imagine that then they thought to show their 
skill and care, and that appeal to the emotions was 
making too much of things so small. We certainly 
are not more artistic or keener lovers of the beautiful 
now than when every clerk could converse on art. 
and cities celebrated the masterpieces of their 
artists by pageants, and allotted special taxes for 
the triumphs of architecture. Why should we raise 
the contention now 
I have shown you in a way the influence which 
was at work amongst the metal workers of the 
Greeks and Romans, the Gothic period and the 
masters of the Renaissance. I will now endeavor to 
trace the influence which inspired later times. We 
have passed through the philosophic calm illustrated 
by the metal work of the Greek, the pride of the 
Roman in his magnificence and extravagance for 
FIGURE 9 
263 
