tine art with its
grave simplicity, down to the last glimmerings of the gothic
art, now declining, and its works lined with an excess of
superfluous ornaments. The byzantine taste prevails in the first
constructions of the chancel and aisles and even somewhat in the
lower part of the nave; higher up, the style in which the ogive
was built extends to the other constructions and finally succeeds
to the former entirely.

The _facade_ of the church, of an imposing magnitude, cannot
be sufficiently admired; the massive walls are hidden by
_clochetoons_, arcades, small pillars and innumerable statues;
these decorations all wrought to great perfection, give to that
part of the edifice a nicety that makes it resemble a work coming
from the hands of a chaser. But how to describe, in the short
space which the limits of this sketch admit, all the details, all
the particular parts of our Cathedral? There is in it such a
profusion, such a richness, that to be properly explored, it
would require volumes. We must therefore limit ourselves to some
brief indications of the most interesting and essential parts[1].
Moreover a description of all the allegorical statues and figures
that adorn particularly the inferior parts of the building, would
be here so much the more superfluous, as an intelligent spectator
may easily understand them. All these fine ornaments are meant to
symbolize the mysteries of Redemption, taken from the principal
facts in Scripture and from the fundamental doctrines of the
christian faith. In this respect the lower tier is the most
remarkable; the middle one has neither the same beauty nor the
same religious signification; the third is the least satisfactory
both as regards execution and artistical conception.

[1] We refer the reader who wishes to study the Cathedral in
all its parts, to the following works: Grandidier, _Essais
historiques et topographiques sur l'eglise Cathedrale de
Strasbourg_, Strasb. 1782, in 8o.--H. Schreiber, _Das Muenster
zu Strassburg_, Freib. 1828, in 8o, avec 11 lithographies gr.
in-fol.--_Vues pittoresques de la Cathedrale de Strasbourg_,
dessins par Chapuy et texte par Schweighaeuser, 3 livr. in-fol.
Strasb. 1827. _La Cathedrale de Strasbourg et ses details_, par
A. Friedrich, 4 liv. gr. in-fol., renfermant 57 planches
accompagnees d'un texte explicatifet historique. We regret to
say that but one number of this fine work has been published
(in 1839).--_Kuns