The Spirit Of Gothic Art.

Passing from the catacombs to thc temple sacred to Christian art—¦ " Where through the long-drawn aisle and fretted vault , Tlie pealing antliem swells the note of praise , " — we may observe that in the plan , Christ was figured in various ways ; the choir was inclined to the south , to signify that He bowed His head and gave up the ghost .

The nave represents the body and tho sides which one of the soldiers pierced , considered to be the south , and is constantly the pulpit from which the faithful were reminded to look on Him whom they have pierced . For the same reason the south was considered the most holy . The Old Testament was represented on that side , while the New Testament and the local or national

Hagiology were placed on the north . The same opinions still give value to the south side of the churchyard for burial . At the head of the cross was the chapel of the Virgin , afc the fountain of intercession with the Son . At the foot—the west end— -was the parvis , supposed to be a corruption of Paradise , —that happy station from which

the devout might contemplate the glory of the fabric , which was chiefly illustrated in this front , and whence they might scan the great sculptured picture , the calendar ofthe history ofthe church , illustrative , too , of Christian doctrine . Three largo porticos leading into the church were adorned with statues of the Apostles and holy men who marshal us the way we should . In front is seen

go the genealogy of Christ , the history of the patriarchal fathers , aud the final judgment . _ ¥ e are all pretty well acquainted with the aureola ov nimbus , so commonly shown around the heads of saints . It denotes rest under tbe shield of God . This symbol was used by Pagans around thc heads of their gods and

heroes . The Trinity has its special nimbus . For God the Father it is triangular , or sometimes square , denoting the four elements , earth , air , fire , water . Sometimes the triangle is united to the hexagon , this hexagon denoting among the ancients the four elements . The nimbus for God the Son and the Lamb has three rays , and there are also three rays for the Dove of the Holy

Spirit . The upward aspiring tendency of Christianity is beautifully signified iu the tower and steeple shooting up into the clouds . The progressive life ofthe Christian , is shown as the eye ascends from pinnacle to pinnacle , on to the spire which conducts it heavenward . This steeple or spire is one of the most characteristic

features of Gothic art . Towers" as addenda to temples for worship may date back to Babel . The propylea of Solomon ' s temple was nearly 200 feet in height . They were common to most Eastern nations , but they were for the most part unseemly affairs , calculated to awe , rather than inspire with hope , as does the aspiring spire that forms the crown of Gothic art .

What can be more appropriate than the cock of Peter surmounting the vano , i-eminding the beholder with every breath of heaven the necessity of truthfulness ? The zephyers waft down to us every morning the weakness of humanity , and gently whisper iu our ears , Be true ! There is also something peculiarly charming in the voices that lisually issue from these spires . Who

Would be without the bell , which ever says , — " To call the folks to church in time , — I chime ; AiVlien mirth and joy are on the wing , — I ring ; AVhen from the hoely parts the son ! , — 1 toll ?"

Ifc is thus Ave must read our Gothic art , and such or similar thoughts must arise at the bidding of those who really care to awaken them ,- and so — " Shall memory often in dreams sublime Catch a glimpse of the clays that are over , And , sighing , look through the waves of Time For the long-faded glories they cover . "

I have been induced to enter somewhat largely intothe question of symbolism , not only because it is the life and soul of Gothic art , but because many erroneous ideas are very prevalent respecting it ; many well-meaningpeople , for instance , cannot detach it from what they call " Popery ; " whereas , though in it , it is not of ifc ; all history declares that it did not give birth to it , but that it

found it in being , and naturally adopted it ; for the verynature of all religion will compel men , in some shape ov other , if not in stone , in words , to use symbolism in their worship : and where is the difference ? It must solve itself into a distinction without a difference . It is philosophically and fflsthetically right that thetemple should be a Bible in stone—a lasting witness of

the Christian religion ; that the walls should eloquently express to the mind , through the eye , the living ideas of the resplendent beauty anel perfections of Him whom weworship ; for the eye is as sacred a channel to the soul as the ear , and ought to be accustomed to the same exalted usage . The ancients , both Jews and Pagans , felb that the gods should neither be hymned in the common language of life , nor worshipped in-a hut : could Jovethunder from a hovel , or would the Shekinah illuminatea barn ? No ! Should we not

rather" Make the house where gods may dwell Beautiful , entire , and clean ?" Should not the walls blush with lessons deep and profound for the beholder , without the stigma of idolatry being gratuitously attached ? There is a great distinction between that which withdraws the mind from devotionand that which turns thought inwards and upwards ,

, , and "Excelsior for ever 1 " and that art can have such an influence ou the mind cannot be denied . Let it not for a moment be supposed that we wish to . make an apology for the unblushing Paganism and naked prostitution of art so often seen in continental and peninsular temples—paintings which must fill every rightlyconstituted mind with disgust and horror 1 and when not

these , often with the most deep-felt pity . It is not true , as is often asserted , that " art is admirable , however ifc is represented , " for whenever art becomes a vehicle of torture , either to the feelings or the mind , then ifc is art no longer , but an abortion ; and any body politic which makes use of such to impress the minds of the unlearned and ignorant ought to be denounced as degenerators of

the human race . It is on this ground , chiefly , and not so much on religious grounds , that we consider the fusfcje Catholicism of Borne to have been a ban , not only upon true art , but upon the progress of the peoples ; for

prostituted art can only act as a blight upon any people-The greatest of painters , such as Giotto , Paul Veronese ,, and others , have been employed in puerilities and the grossest absurdities . Let us notice a few of them . Ah Milan , we have a sibyl teaching thc Emperor Augustus the mystery of the Incarnation ; in a church in Venice * the host , attracted by the fervent faith of St . Theresa ,

is shown as flying of its own accord into the open mouth of the saint ; in the Louvre , is a painting representing St . Francis of Assisi preaching to birds ; afc Borne , St . Anthony is shown preaching to fishes ; at Padua , the patron saint of the town is shown convincing an atheist of his error by a little bit of legerdemain , such as throwing a lass from the roof topand instead of breaking ifc

g , splits the marble pavement . Such are some of the puerilities . In the Romish Vatican is a painting by Poussin , representing the martyrdom of St . Erasmus , with his body eufc open , and the executioner pulling out the intestines and winding them on a windlass ; moveover , the clergy have had this exquisite piece of torture done in mosaicto display ifc to public view in Sfc .

, Peter ' s . ' Another painting represents Sfc . Lucy as offering to God , upon a trencher , her own eyes torn from their sockets ; and St . Agatha as offering unto Him her severed breasts . In the Church of San Stefano Eotondo , one of the most interesting in the Christian world , as it