Искусства и ремесла Средневековья

Sculptшe in Stone

245

agers." In the fil'st place, goldsmiths and ivoгy carvers lшd been making figures 011 а small scalc: tЬeir tradc ,vas gradually expaпded uвtil it reached tl1e ехеснtiов of statues for the oнtside orвament of buildings. Tl1e figures carved Ьу such artists аге inclined to Ье squat, these craftsmen liaving often been haшpered Ьу bcing oЫiged to accommodate tЬeir desigп to tl1eir material, and to treat the human figure to appeal' in spaces of such shapes as circles, squares, and tгefoils. Another class of \vorkers who fiвally turned their attention to statuaгy, were the carveгs of sepulchral slabs: these slabs had for а long time sho,vn the effigies of the deceased. This theory accounts for both types of figures that аге found in English Gothic, - the extrcmely attenuated, and the Ьlunt sqнat statнes. At ,v ells it would sееш that both classes of ,voгkmen were employed, some of the statues being shoгt авd some extremely tall. They wеге execнted, evidently, at diffeгent periods, the fa<;ade being gгadнally decorated, sometimes in groups of several statues, and sometiшes in simple paiгs. TЬis theory, too, lends а fal' greate1· iвte1·est to the west front than the theory that it was all carried out at once, from one intentional design. St. Nicholas, the patron saiвt of Baptism, is hеге rer ·esented, holding а child on his arm, and standing water up to his knees. The ,vater, being treatecl ,.n а very conventioвal way, coiling about the lowe1· liшbs, is so suggestive of tieгs of flat discs, that it has won for this statue the popular ваше of "the pancake