Page:Charles Moore--Development and Character of Gothic Architecture.djvu/327

Rh some fragments of stained glass dating from the middle of the twelfth century; and the Cathedral of Chartres retains, in almost perfect condition, some magnificent specimens of a somewhat later  date in the same century. Among these last is the well-known Jesse window, which may be taken as an example of the best work of the time, or indeed of any time, for this art hardly advanced in any respect after the twelfth century, though it retained its high character nearly to the end of the century following. Fig. 191, a figure from this window, will afford an illustration of its character. The design is produced, for the most part, of pure pot-metal, while white glass is introduced here and there to heighten the effect in draperies and in ornaments. Each piece of glass is of one even colour, another piece has to be inserted wherever a different colour is wanted, and each separate piece is encompassed by its sustaining framework of lead. On various parts of the design thus wrought out of many small fragments the necessary details are drawn with the brush charged with the neutral pigment. By this means a simple suggestion of shading is given, though nothing like real modelling is ever, at this epoch, approached. The figures are small, rarely more than two and a half or three feet high, and the separate pieces of glass, of which the design is composed, are rarely more than six inches in greatest dimension.

The Cathedral of Chartres is almost unique in its wealth