cathedral, which, divesting itself of its stones, soars in ecstatic
flight above the earth.

The crowning achievement of mystical architecture and statuary are here,
at Chartres; the most rapturous, the most superhuman art which ever
flourished in the flat plains of La Beauce.

And now, having contemplated the whole effect of this facade, he went
close to it again to examine its minutest accessories and details, to
study more closely the robes of these sovereigns; then he observed that
no two were alike in their drapery. Some flowed without any broken
folds, in ridge and furrow like the fall of rippling water; others hung
closely gathered in parallel flutings like the ribs on stems of
angelica, and the stern material lent itself to the needs of the
dressers, was soft in the figured crape and fustian and fine linen,
heavy in the brocade and gold tissue. Every texture was distinct; the
necklaces were chased bead by bead; the knots of the girdles might be
untied, so naturally were the strands entwined; the bracelets and crowns
were pierced and hammered and adorned with gems, each in its setting, as
if by practised goldsmiths.

And in many cases the pedestal, the statue, and the canopy were all
carved out of one block, in one piece. What were the men who executed
such work?

It is probable that they lived in convents, for art was not at that time
cultivated or practised but in the precincts of God. And just then they
were in their glory in the Ile de France, the Orleans country, the
provinces of Maine, Anjou, and Berry, for we find statues of this type
in all; still, it must be said that they are not equal to these at
Chartres.

At Bourges, for instance, analogous prophets and very similar queens
stand meditative in, one of the extraordinary side bays where the Arab
trefoil is so conspicuous. At Angers the statues are weather-beaten,
almost ruined, but it can be seen that they were less stately, merely
human; they are no longer chastely slender, fit for Heaven, but earthly
queens. At Le Mans, where they are in better preservation, they vainly
strive to soar above their narrow weed; they lack spring, they are
nerveless, feeble, almost common.

Nowhere do we find a soul clothed in stone as at Chartres; and if at Le
Mans we study the front, of which the scheme is the same as at Chartres,
with Christ enthroned and benedictory between the winged beasts of the
Tetramorph, what a descent we note in the divine ideal! Everyt