Page:General History of Europe 1921.djvu/358

 262 General History oj Europe been too intense had it not been softened by the stained glass, set in exquisite stone tracery. The stained glass of the medieval cathedral, especially in France, where the glass workers brought their art to the greatest perfection, was one of its chief glories. 431. Gothic Sculpture. As the skill of the architects in- creased they became bolder and bolder and erected churches that were marvels of lightness and delicacy of orna- ment, without sacrificing dig- nity or beauty of proportion. The fagade of Rheims cathe- dral (see cut facing page 258) was before its mutilation by German shells during the World War one of the most ,. famous examples of the Gothic Such grotesque figures as these are very common adornments of Gothic art of the thirteenth century, buildings. They are often used for FIGURES ON NOTRE DAME, PARIS spouts to carry off the rain and are called gargoyles, that is, "throats" (compare our words "gargle" and "gurgle"). The two here represented are perched on a parapet of one of the church's towers with its multitudes of sculp- tured figures and its gigantic rose window (see cut facing page 259), filled with ex- quisite stained glass of great brilliancy. One of the charms of a Gothic building is the profusion of carving statues of saints and rulers and scenes from the Bible cut in stone. The same kind of stone was used for both construct- ing the building and making the statues, so they harmonize per- fectly. Here and there the Gothic stone carvers would introduce amusing faces or comical animals (see cut on following page). In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries Gothic buildings other than churches were built. The most striking and important of these were the guild halls, erected by the rich corporations of merchants, and the town halls of important cities. But the Gothic style has always seemed especially appropriate for churches.