The Fine Arts In Connection With The Church.

periences of the many , and also by means of the most unsparing criticism , it succeeded iu getting us to build tolerably decent churches , i . e ., churches which , as regard the exterior , looked very like old ones . Not that it required any particular talent on the part of the architect to do so , for the

directions for a regulation church are very plain , ancl may be easily found by an attentive perusal of the Ecclesiologist ; and , indeed , so easy has the subject become , that I venture to say that almost any young architect of the present clay who has been two years in an office , can design his regulation church . Another great occupation was the restoration of old churches . I do not

know whether I ought properly to call this a restoration or a destruction , for so much injury has been clone under this pretended restoration , that I do not hesitate to declare that we have lost a great deal more than we have gained under this head . There is really no more difficult problem in the

whole practice of architecture than that of restoration for , a man to succeed thoroughly in it , must be not only versed iu modern and ancient construction , but must also be an antiquarian and something ? of an artist . Yet how often " do we hear

of young men just out of their apprenticeship , and with good connexions , beginning life with the one or two churches to build , and five or six more to restore . Of course , the new churches do not matter very much ; for , as I said before , church building is the sole tiling taught in an office ; but

it is a very different thing as regards the restored churches , in each of which we stand a chance of losing some landmark in the history of architecture . So often , indeed , has this happened , that , as a general rule , when one hears of a church having been restored , it is hardly

worth going to study from . What really is wanted in the restoration of a church , is to do as little as possible . Keep it together if it is possible . If an aisle or tower is tumbling' down , rebuild it , using as much of the old materials as possible , and inserting a small inscription to record the

fact . Should there be any money to spare , employ it in a work of art as good as you can get for your money , i . e ., one stained glass window , a dossel , or a painting on a wall or roof ; but then get it good , and let it tell some story—in fact , let it be such that an * artist would think it worth his

while to turn out of his way to look at it . As it is , we fill our churches with stained glass which a future generation will probably break to pieces ; and if ever we do see a piece of sculpture , we may be sure that it is of the most mild description . The figure tells no story , for they have no

expression in their faces , and do not appear to know what to do with their hands . Their hair , also , is most carefully arranged , and their noses aud other features are of the most regular and unmeaning description . But to return to the new church . As I said before , the exterior is generally very like an old one , and that old one of the village type ; it

is only very lately that we have become aware that town and village churches require very different modes of treatment . But suppose we open the door , and go inside—what do we see ? Generally nothing at all beyond a mass of seats and a- few inferior stained-glass windowsand very happy

, indeed are we if these latter clo not positively offend the eye by their raw colouring , to say nothing of their bad drawing . The walls are plain plaister , and the roof looks like a scaffolding , so thin and ° meagre is it . Now , in the edifices up to the fourteenth century , I very much question

whether that desideratum of ecclesiologist-s , an open roof , ever obtained in churches . Look at ancient twelfth and thirteenth century buildings that have not been restored , and you will find an hexagonal ceiling - , the said ceiling in many places replacing the old boarding ; but in some poor

places , as in the litttle Sussex chui-ches , it may just as likely have beeu original . In many instances the ceiling was even flat , or very slightly canted , as at Peterborough , Jesus College , Cambridge , and , I believe , Adel Church . Now , this boarding was useful in two ways ; it afforded a sur face for decoration , and it kept the church cool in summer and warm in winter . There was also a

small window hig h up in the gable , to ventilate the air between the ceiling and roof . In our modern open roofs we have just the reverse ; they are frightfully hot in summer , and cold in winter . & o into a church after a Sunday afternoon ' s serviceand observe how close it smells . Our modern

, architects put the little window in the gable because they find it there in the old examples but with them it is of no earthly use but to afford light where light is not wanted , ancl to show the thin scantling - of their timbers .

Another important point is the treatment of tho walls . No one in his senses supposes that all the Mediaeval churches were decorated in brilliant gold and colours , like the Sainte Chapelle of Paris , or St . Stephen's at Westminster . Yet they were painted , and iu this manner tho rubble of the walls was dubbed out to a plain surface ; the angle jambs of windows and doors were made of stone , because that was the best and most durable

material for the purpose . The whole of the walls was then covered with a coating of gesso ( whiting and size ) one-eighth of an inch thick , which was gradually thinned off as it approached the stone jambs , which were covered with only a thin coating of itso they did not show as stone . Upon

, this gesso the artist painted his subjects with a red outline and shaded them up with black and red and yellow , using white for the high lights . It should be remembered that these colours were

not used pure except in little bibs , but were broken up with white and with one another . The seas of diaper we see in modern churches were unknown to the old artist , who , when he did employ diaper , did so only as a background , or to fill up a space unoccupied with anything more ini-