Page:History of the German people at the close of the Middle Ages vol1.djvu/188

 176 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE its tower, was not only built and roofed, but furnished with fifty-two altars, and all this without any outside help. According to the accounts the building and steeple cost nine tons of gold. In the year 1452 Claus Lieb had the wonderfully beautiful sacristy built at his own cost, and by his request (for in those days it was the privilege of the founder to put up a tablet or his coat of arms), his anvil and hammer were buried in the foundation, and the motto ' Claus Lieb, surnamed the goldsmith,' was engraved over the sexton's door. In the year 1517 the ' Mount of Olives ' was finished near the cathedral. It consisted of three images besides Christ and His three apostles, and cost the donor, Maria Tausendschone (a confectioner), seven thousand guldens. The erection of so many grand churches was due to the unanimity and generosity of all classes, from the richest and highest to the humblest and poorest. Town and country vied with each other in pious emulation of faith and zeal and artistic taste, and this, too, at a time when immense sums were also being generously devoted to establishing foundations for various benevolent objects. In the year 1477 the Pope, in a rescript addressed to the civil authorities of Frankfort-on-the-Main, warns them against allowing the city to ' impoverish itself through over-generosity to the Church.' In ecclesiastical architecture art found a means of clear and vigorous expression. But it by no means confined its powers to the service of the Church. All the departments of life, both public and private, came equally under its beautifying influence. Next to providing worthy temples for the service of