urch of St. Lorenz in Nuremberg. "Nothing could
well be more delightful than the impression which you receive on
entering it; the beauty of the dark brown stone, the rich hues of the
stained glass, the right relation of tone value, to use a painter's
term, between the structure and the lights--the sombre blazoned shields
which cluster along the walls, the succession on pier beyond pier of
pictures powerful in colour and enhanced by the gleaming gold of
fantastic carven frames, above all the succession of picturesque objects
in mid-air above you, a large chandelier, a stately rood-cross, and to
crown all, Veit Stoss's masterpiece, the Annunciation, rich with gold
and colour; all these things conspire to produce a whole, delightful and
poetic, in spite of much that invites criticism in the architectural
forms themselves." Still more interesting is the word-picture of the
great Cathedral of Cologne, "a monument of indomitable will, of science,
and of stylistic orthodoxy ... its beautiful rhythm, its noble
consistency and unity, its soaring height, rivet the beholder's gaze";
and yet, the building, in spite of all, does not entirely convince: "the
kindling touch of genius" seems to be wanting.

Take, finally, this description of Albert Duerer: "He was a man of a
strong and upright nature, bent on pure and high ideals, a man ever
seeking, if I may use his own characteristic expression, to make known
through his work the mysterious treasure that was laid up in his heart;
he was a thinker, a theorist, and as you know, a writer; like many of
the great artists of the Renaissance, he was steeped also in the love of
science.... Superbly inexhaustible as a designer, as a draughtsman he
was powerful, thorough, and minute to a marvel, but never without a
certain almost caligraphic mannerism of hand, wanting in spontaneous
simplicity--never broadly serene. In his colour he was rich and vivid,
not always unerring in his harmonies, not alluring in his
execution--withal a giant."

With this tribute to a great predecessor we must leave these Discourses,
which need, to be properly appreciated, to be studied as a whole; as
indeed they form Leighton's deliberate exposition of his whole
principles of Aesthetics. In working this out, Discourse by Discourse,
he was not content to rely upon convenient literary sources, or
previously acquired knowledge of his subject; but undertook special
journeys, and spent long periods, abroad, to procure his