514 Oittlines of European History the windows and vaulting. So pointed arches came into general use, and the Gothic is often called the " pointed " style on this account, although the use of the ribs and buttresses is the chief peculiarity of that form of architecture, not the pointed arch. The light from the huge windows (those at Beauvais are fifty to fifty-five feet high) would have been too intense had it not been softened by the stained glass, set in exquisite stone Fig. 189. Grotesque Heads, Rheims Cathedral Here and there about a Gothic cathedral the stone carvers were accus- tomed to place grotesque and comical figures and faces. During the process of restoring the cathedral at Rheims a number of these heads were brought together, and the photograph was taken upon which the illustration is based tracery, with which they were filled (Fig. 185). The stained glass of the medieval cathedral, especially in France, where the glass workers brought their art to the greatest perfection, was one of its chief glories. By far the greater part of this old glass has of course been destroyed, but it is still so highly prized that every bit of it is now carefully preserved, for it has never since been equaled. A window set with odd bits of it pieced together like crazy patchwork is more beautiful, in its rich and jewel-like coloring, than the finest modern work.
