lly follows that in this vast
amount of artistic work there is no equality of excellence; some of the
statues are like those of an earlier date: some are too tall and
awkward; others too short and rotund; but there are many elegant
figures, full of grace and dignity, with the drapery falling in natural
folds, and an air of life and freedom of movement about the heads quite
unknown before this time.

In one of the side portals of this cathedral there is a figure of Christ
which was not surpassed by any work of this period. The study of every
portion of the figure is so perfect as to surprise us when we remember
that anatomy was not then studied by artists as it had been in classic
times or as it has been in more recent days. This statue holds an orb in
the left hand, and the right hand is uplifted; not only the nails of the
fingers, but the structure of all the joints is skilfully indicated.

It frequently happens that the reliefs are far more excellent than the
statues of mediaeval date. This is so noticeable that it would seem as if
the best sculptors preferred to make the reliefs, and that the figures
were left to those of less talent. On the pediment at Rheims the Last
Judgment is represented in five divisions, and these reliefs are among
the most beautiful sculptures of this century. The scene of the
Resurrection of the Dead is arranged in two rows of figures; a section
of it is here given (Fig. 75).

There are twenty-nine of these little figures in the whole subject, and
the variety of positions and the naturalness of the various expressions
are all that could be desired in any age of art. The forms are in good
proportions, and the faces are filled with fear, surprise, hope, and
supplication. A volume might be written upon the sculptures of the
Rheims Cathedral which would be full of interest to the student of
mediaeval art.

[Illustration: FIG. 75.--FROM THE NORTH TRANSEPT OF RHEIMS CATHEDRAL.]

Critics have compared the progress and life which pervaded the art of
the thirteenth century with the spirit of the age of Phidias. The two
periods are alike in the fact that the artists of each broke away from
the traditions of those who had preceded them, and took up their work
with a desire to come nearer to nature. They were alike, too, in the
union of architecture and sculpture, and in the fact that all kinds of
sculpture were required for the adornment of a single structure.
Colossal and full-sized statues, stat