of the Virgin on
the Gilded Portal. It is the clear result of a study of nature
grafted on Byzantine traditions. It dates from 1250.

While sculpture was practised chiefly by monastic artists, it retained
the archaic and traditional elements. When trained carvers from
secular life began to take the chisel, the spirit of the world
entered in. For a time this was a marked improvement: later the
pendulum swung too far, and decadence set in.

A favourite device on carved tympana above portals was the Last
Judgment. Michael with the scales, engaged in weighing souls, was
the tall central figure, and the two depressed saucers of the scales
help considerably in filling the triangular space usually left
over a Gothic doorway. At Chartres, there is an example of this
subject, in which Mortal Sin, typified by a devil and two toads, are
being weighed against the soul of a departed hero. As is customary
in such compositions, a little devil is seen pulling on the side
of the scale in which he is most interested!

One of the most cheerful and delightful figures at Chartres is
that of the very tall angel holding a sun dial, on the corner of
the South tower. A certain optimistic inconsequence is his chief
characteristic, as if he really believed that the hours bore more
of happiness than of sorrow to the world.

There is no limit to the originality and the symbolic messages
of the Gothic grotesques. Two whole books might be written upon
this subject alone to do it justice; but a few notable instances
of these charming little adornments to the stern structures of
the Middle Ages must be noticed here. The little medallions at
Amiens deserve some attention. They represent the Virtues and Vices,
the Follies, and other ethical qualities. Some of them deal with
Scriptural scenes. "Churlishness" is figured by a woman kicking
over her cup-bearer. Apropos of her attitude, Ruskin observes that
the final forms of French churlishness are to be discovered in
the feminine gestures in the can-can. He adds: "See the favourite
print shops in Paris." Times have certainly changed little!

One of these Amiens reliefs, signifying "Rebellion," is that of a
man snapping his fingers at his bishop! Another known as "Atheism"
is variously interpreted. A man is seen stepping out of his shoes at
the church porch. Ruskin explains this as meaning that the infidel
is shown in contradistinction to the faithful who is supposed
to have "his feet shod with the p