e richly decorated with
statues and other sculptured ornaments, and the exterior decoration soon
extended to many portions of the edifices. In the interiors, too, the
altars, fonts, choir-screens, and other objects were made of carved
stone or of stucco, which hardened like stone, and were all richly
ornamented with sculpture. A completely new spirit seemed to possess
the artists, who thus found a satisfactory field for their labors, and
the period known as the _Romanesque_ was thus ushered in.

[Illustration: FIG. 74.--FROM THE FACADE OF CHARTRES CATHEDRAL.]

We cannot claim that the works of the twelfth century were free from the
faults of the preceding eras, or were satisfactory to our artistic
sense; but we may say that they show the effect of the new life which
had come into the world, and give unerring promise of the progress which
followed. The same improvement is seen in bronze-casting as in
sculpture; and though to our eyes it still remains crude and ungraceful,
yet by comparing it with the work of the previous century we mark a
hopeful and important change.

Germany, in its different provinces, took the lead in this artistic
progress; but France was not far behind; and, indeed, in the cathedral
of Chartres the first promise was given of the splendid church portals
of the early Gothic style of architecture which followed the Romanesque.
In this cathedral, too, we see for the first time an attempt to make the
head and face a reproduction of nature rather than a repetition of the
classic head, which had come to be so imperfectly copied that it had
degenerated into a caricature. (Fig. 74.)

Other cathedrals at St. Denis, Le Mans, Bourges, and Paris are splendid
examples of the art of this time; and when we remember how Italy took
the lead of these northern countries in later days, it seems strange
that at this era she was far behind them. It is even true that the first
works in Northern Italy which indicated that the awakening which had
come north of the Alps had reached that country were executed wholly or
in part by German artists; but by the end of the twelfth century both
the sculpture and bronze-casting of Italy gave promise of the great
revival of true art which was to come in that home of the arts.

However, it is not possible to connect the art of Italy with that of any
other country in any comprehensive sense. Italian art may be said to
have died out more completely in the beginning of the middle ages