he eyes of the Saviour were made of large carbuncles; you can
understand that this would give an expression quite the opposite of that
gentleness and peace which we look for in the face of the Redeemer. In
truth, there is so much of the grotesque and even barbarous element in
many of these works, that we can but ridicule while we recognize the
industry and care which was expended upon them. It is also difficult to
understand how the feeling for art and the practice of it which had
attained to such perfection among the ancients could have died out of
the world so completely, for in these mediaeval days it existed nowhere
on the face of the earth.

About the beginning of the eleventh century bronze casting came to hold
an important place in the art of Germany, and as architecture now
received more attention, and bronze gates, and occasionally bronze
figures of bishops and other church dignitaries, were used for the
decoration of church buildings, we may say that bronze works made the
medium through which sculpture in connection with architecture was again
brought into use. At Hildesheim there is still a bronze gate at the
principal entrance to the cathedral, which was cast in 1015, and in
various places in Germany, France, and Northern Italy works of this kind
are seen which belong to the eleventh century, while a bit of stone or
wood sculpture of this period is very rarely met.

The twelfth century brought about a great change in sculpture and its
uses. This century was a period of remarkable activity in every
department of human life. The Crusades were then preached, and armies of
zealous Christians went forth to redeem Jerusalem from the power of the
Pagans; in this century all the institutions of chivalry flourished; the
nations of the world had more intercourse with each other than had
before existed; commerce was extended into new channels; men were more
individual and thought more independently for themselves than they had
done hitherto; and, in short, human intellect all over the Western world
seemed to be awakening from a long, deep sleep, and to be inspired with
strength and activity.

With all the other changes there came revivals of architecture and
sculpture, which went hand in hand, and in the beginning can scarcely be
separated from each other. The early Christians had been content with
the decoration of interiors; now the exteriors received much attention,
and the portals or entrances to the churches wer