is sort of producer, whose existence tells us less about the
state of art than about the state of society, who would be the worst
navvy in his gang or the worst trooper in his squadron, and is the
staple product of official art schools, is unheard of in primitive ages.
In drawing inferences, therefore, we must not overlook the advantage
enjoyed by barbarous periods in the fact that of those who come forward
as artists the vast majority have some real gift. I would hazard a guess
that of the works that survive from the dark age as high a proportion as
one in twelve has real artistic value. Were a proportion of the work
produced between 1450 and 1850 identical with that of the work produced
between 500 and 900 to survive, it might very well happen that it would
not contain a single work of art. In fact, we tend to see only the more
important things of this period and to leave unvisited the notorious
trash. Yet judging from the picked works brought to our notice in
galleries, exhibitions, and private collections, I cannot believe that
more than one in a hundred of the works produced between 1450 and 1850
can be properly described as a work of art.

Between 900 and 1200 the capital achievements of Christian art are not
superior in quality to those of the preceding age--indeed, they fall
short of the Byzantine masterpieces of the sixth century; but the
first-rate art of this second period was more abundant, or, at any rate,
has survived more successfully, than that of the first. The age that
has bequeathed us Romanesque, Lombardic, and Norman architecture gives
no sign of dissolution. We are still on the level heights of the
Christian Renaissance. Artists are still primitive. Men still feel the
significance of form sufficiently to create it copiously. Increased
wealth purchases increased leisure, and some of that leisure is devoted
to the creation of art. I do not marvel, therefore, at the common,
though I think inexact, opinion that this was the period in which
Christian Europe touched the summit of its spiritual history: its
monuments are everywhere majestic before our eyes. Not only in France,
Italy, and Spain, but in England, and as far afield as Denmark, Norway,
and Sweden, we can see the triumphs of Romanesque art. This was the last
level stage on the long journey from Santa Sophia to St. John's Wood.

With Gothic architecture the descent began. Gothic architecture is
juggling in stone and glass. It is the convoluted r