es, and called
by Michelangelo "kneeling windows," on account of the bulging shape
of the lower parts.

One famous iron worker carried out the law of the Guild both in
spirit and letter to the extent of insisting upon payment in advance!
This was Nicolo Grosso, who worked about 1499. Vasari calls him
the "money grabber." His specialty was to make the beautiful torch
holders and lanterns such as one sees on the Strozzi Palace and
in the Bargello.

In England there were Guilds of Blacksmiths; in Middlesex one was
started in 1434, and members were known as "in the worship of St.
Eloi." Members were alluded to as "Brethren and Sisteren,"--this
term would fill a much felt vacancy! Some of the Guilds exacted
fines from all members who did not pay a proper proportion of their
earnings to the Church.

Another general use of iron for artistic purposes was in the manufacture
of grilles. Grilles were used in France and England in cathedrals.
The earliest Christian grille is a pierced bronze screen in the
Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.

In Hildesheim is an original form of grille; the leaves and rosettes
in the design are pierced, instead of being beaten up into bosses.
This probably came from the fact that the German smith did not
understand the Frankish drawing, and supposed that the shaded portions
of the work were intended to be open work. The result, however,
is most happy, and a new feature was thus introduced into grille
work.

[Illustration: WROUGHT IRON FROM THE BARGELLO, FLORENCE]

Many grilles were formed by the smith's taking an iron bar and,
under the intense heat, splitting it into various branches, each
of which should be twisted in a different way. Another method was
to use the single slighter bar for the foundation of the design,
and welding on other volutes of similar thickness to make the scroll
work associated with wrought iron.

Some of the smiths who worked at Westminster Abbey are known by
name; Master Henry Lewis, in 1259, made the iron work for the tomb
of Henry III. A certain iron fragment is signed Gilibertus. The iron
on the tomb of Queen Eleanor is by Thomas de Leighton, in 1294.
Lead workers also had a place assigned to them in the precincts,
which was known as "the Plumbery." In 1431 Master Roger Johnson
was enjoined to arrest or press smiths into service in order to
finish the ironwork on the tomb of Edward IV.

Probably the most famous use of iron in Spain is in the stupendous
"_r