Another difference between sculpture in the North and South is due to the fact that in Italy the work was individual, as a rule, and in France it was the labour of a Guild or company.  In Italy it is usually known who was the author of any striking piece of sculpture, while in France it is the exception when a work is signed, or the names of artisans recorded.  In Italy, then, each piece was made more with a view to its own display, than as a part of a building, while in France statuary was regarded as an integral part of the architecture, and rows of figures were used as commonly as rows of columns in Italy.  It is tragic to think of the personal skill and brilliancy of all these great French craftsmen being absorbed in one general reputation, while there were undoubtedly among them great art personalities who would have stood equally with the Pisani if they had been recognized.

A good deal of flat carving, especially in the interlace and acanthus of Ravenna, was accomplished by commencing with a series of drilled holes, which were afterwards channelled into each other and formed patterns.  When the subsequent finish is not particularly delicate, it is quite easy to detect these symmetrical holes, but the effect, under the circumstances, is not objectionable.

[Illustration:  CARVED CAPITAL FROM RAVENNA]

The process of cutting a bas-relief was generally to outline the whole with an incision, and then cut away the background, leaving the simple elevated flat value, the shape of the proposed design.  The modelling was then added by degrees, until the figure looked like half of a rounded object.  While it is often unpractical to refer one’s readers to examples of work in far and various countries, and advise them instantly to examine them, it is frequently possible to call attention to well-produced plates in certain modern art books which are in nearly every public library.  To understand thoroughly the use of the drill in flat sculpture, I wish my readers would refer to Fig. 121 in Mr. Russell Sturgis’s “Artist’s Way of Working,” Vol.  II.

In a quaint treatise on Belles Lettres in France nearly two centuries ago, by Carlencas, the writer says:  “It is to no great purpose to speak of the Gothick sculptures:  for everybody knows that they are the works of a rude art, formed in spite of nature and rules:  sad productions of barbrous and dull spirits, which disfigure our old churches.”  Fie on a Frenchman who could so express himself!  We recall the story of how Viollet le Duc made the people of Paris appreciate the wonderful carvings on Notre Dame.  All the rage in France was for Greek and Roman remains, and the people persisted in their adoration of the antique, but would not deign to look nearer home, at their great mediaeval works of art.  So the architect had plaster casts made of the principal figures on the cathedral, and these were treated so as to look like ancient marble statues; he then opened an exhibition, purporting to show new discoveries and excavations among antiques.  The exhibition was thronged, and everyone was deeply interested, expressing the greatest admiration for the marvellously expressive sculptures.  Viollet le Duc then admitted what he had done, and confessing that these treasures were to be found in their native city, advised them to pay more attention to the beauties of Gothic art in Paris.