Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 1.djvu/189

Rh has a marked German character, and bears a German inscription at the bottom.

One plate is termed 'Usages civiles,' and appears intended to form part of a series, which, if completed, will prove interesting and valuable from the light it will throw on the manners and costumes of the age.

In addition to the plates already enumerated are fourteen others, eight of which represent details of "mosaiques," and the remaining six of "grisailles," collected from the cathedrals of Bourges, Angers, Mans, Clermont-ferrant, Fribourg, Lyons, Soissons, Laon, Rheims, Sens, and Salivsbuiy, from St. Thomas and St. William of Strasbourg, St. Denys, Colmar, and St. Remi at Rheims.

It is almost impossible to speak too highly of the plates in this work, which are by far the most magnificent representations of painted glass which we have yet seen. If we were to make any distinction among the plates, we should say that Nos. 3 and 6 of the full-sized details are the most valuable, as best exhibiting the peculiar character of the shading used in the thirteenth century. All the plates, however, preserve to a wonderful extent the spirit of the originals, and appear to be executed with great fidelity. We could wish that in some of the plates the leading had been more distinctly marked. This point, which is very important, is frequently too much neglected in representations of painted glass. The work acquires an additional value from having specimens of glass selected from different countries.

It is to be hoped that our own artists will derive a useful hint from this publication. A single work, which should attempt to illustrate the whole of the glass contained in this country, would necessarily be imperfect, and, at the same time, too expensive to be within the reach of persons of moderate fortune. But detached publications, representing with care the whole of the glass in any one building, would, we are convinced, be valuable additions to our archæological works, and do much towards propagating a correct taste in glass painting. At the present time, when public attention is so strongly directed towards subjects of this nature, an undertaking, such as we have mentioned, would, if properly executed, hardly fail to meet with deserved success.

We have not met with any thing in the letter-press of this work which throws light on the history and antiquities of glass painting. The subject which occupies by far the largest portion of it, is Christian symbolism; and this is so evidently the favourite topic of the authors, that we were by no means surprised to meet with the avowal (page 175, note), that "these their first researches into the cathedral of Bourges are, in truth, only an introduction to the study of figured symbolism during the middle ages, in its relation with written symbolism."

The symbolism discoverable in the windows is very elaborately treated, and leads to the discussion of more subjects than can be noticed in a brief review. Many of the topics, moreover, are, from their theological cast, little calculated for this journal. All that we can attempt is, to state concisely the general view of symbolism entertained by the authors, and to