228 Sculpture of the Romanesque Period. to be supposed that the art of statuary sprang at once into the important position it occupied in the completed Romanesque and Gothic styles : the artists of the early middle ages had much both to learn and to unlearn, but the renewal of its natural connection with architecture was a step in the right direction, and in every branch of plastic art a great improvement was noticeable alike in the treatment of figures, drapery, or foliage. At first there was a certain want of harmony between the buildings and their decorative sculptures, but as time went on, and the sister arts became more fully assimilated, their com- bination produced an impression of rhythmical beauty such as neither could have acquired without the other. We find Germany taking the lead in this onward move- ment. To the early part of the twelfth century belongs the famous relief on the Extern Stone, at Horn, in West- phalia, which is a remarkable work representing the Descent from the Cross. The composition is full of energy : the attitude of the Virgin supporting the droop- ing head of her dead Son well expresses mental agony, and the figure of St. John, though stiff, harmonizes well with the rest of the group. Saxony is rich in architectural sculptures of this period ; the best are perhaps the figures on the northern portal of the church of St. Godehard at Hildesheim, belonging to the middle of the twelfth century, and the figures of Christ and the Virgin in the choir of the church of St. Michael's, also at Hildesheim. In Bavaria the huge columns in the crypt of Freising Cathedral must be noticed as a specimen of the fancy which prevailed in that district for weird combinations of men and animals. It is covered with reliefs by a
