if invented by a man of genius, may be justified by its results.'

It is not possible to inspect glass which is actually in position, closely enough to determine with precision where and to what extent the process, explained by Mr. Holiday, has been employed by Cousin. It is, however, probable that the magical 'shot' effects, in which Cousin shows us,-as in the windows of Sens and Fleurigny,-coloured stuffs gleaming with interwoven golden patterns, are produced by this device: a gem-like radiance is obtained in these passages which break up and spread the more positive values of the unbroken colours in their neighbourhood.

But the tendency of Cousin's practice in general was certainly not in the direction of enlarging the resources by which full effects of deep and gorgeous colour might be attained. The work of his predecessors, the work of those who, like Pinaigrier, belonged to a somewhat earlier epoch, shows in this respect a compass hardly to be extended, and a depth of tone not to be surpassed. The task which it fell to Cousin to perform was the transposition of already existing harmonies into another key, into a key which accorded with the prevailing sentiment of the epoch. The strong and forcible colour of earlier masters took in his hands an infinite transparency, a clearness hitherto unknown. This was the quality in Cousin's glass which called forth especial remark from Cicognara; he

says, 'I suoi chiari e oscuri sono inventati ed eseguiti colla preziosità dei disegni i più gentili, non offuscando il vetro che quanto basti a toglierne la lucida trasparenza come se fosse lievemente arruotato' (ground).

The special character thus acquired stands in direct relation to the general tone and scale of colour which marks all French art produced during the latter half of the century. The impressions by which Cousin's work is biassed, correspond with those which take shape under the hands of Léonard Limosin, which give a sharper edge of refinement, an accent of more delicate choice, to the latest period of Palissy's pottery, and which seem to attain their most abstract form in the colourless passion which quickens the threading lines, the magic fantasies, of the ware of Oiron. The grisaille glass-paintings of Anet were the ultimate expression by Cousin of the same predilections.

It is true that De l'Orme himself claims the credit of having suggested their employment at Anet: 'Les vitres,' he says, 'que j'y ai fait faire sont les premières qui ont étés vues en France pour l'émail blanc.' This statement is, however, in all probability one of those boastful exaggerations which De l'Orme was in the habit of making. The windows of Écouen, executed some ten years before those of Anet, were also, if we may judge from fragments still remaining in the church, of 'émail blanc,' though possibly not produced by precisely the same technical process. Some suggestion

as to the means to be employed may have come from De l'Orme, but any prolonged examination of Cousin's coloured glass will show that he was inevitably tending towards the production of monochrome effects. The. tones become clearer and clearer, the stain more and more delicate, until at last the sunshine passes, softened but not obscured, through moving groups and delicate lines of ornament which reveal themselves to us in a flood of crystal light.

Tradition says of Cousin that he was a réformé. Félibien quotes this, and adds, 'I never heard anything else but good of him, so I do not believe this malicious accusation.' But to be Huguenot in France in the sixteenth century was not mere fanatical singularity, but to share the desire for ecclesiastical and social reform felt by all thoughtful and deeply-cultured men. There are traces everywhere in Cousin's work which show that he was a man both thoughtful and of a culture far deeper than was common to the peintre ymagier of his day. He makes us feel to a remarkable extent the strength and dignity of his personal character, and in this respect does in some small measure recall that mighty spirit, the great Michel Angelo, whom he admiringly emulated and to whom he has been with unpardonable exaggeration sometimes compared.

A turn also of haughty independence seems to individualise his position as compared with that of other

artists of the same day. Although his reputation was great, and seems to have far outstripped that enjoyed even by François Clouet, Cousin seems never to have been taken into the Court service, nor to have been employed on any of the royal works. M. Didot has indeed tried to find a sign of Court favour in the supposition that he executed the decorations of Rouen and Sens for the triumphal entries of Henri II. and his son, Charles IX. But from the preface to the volume, in which the rejoicings at Rouen are set forth at great length, it is plain that the artists to whom work was entrusted on these occasions were selected, and paid, by the town council of the city in which the ceremony took place. The King and the Court had no voice in the preparations made for their reception, and it is therefore impossible to argue that Cousin must have stood high in the royal favour from the fact of his being concerned in the pageants of Rouen and Sens. Throughout Cousin's long life his work was dedicated, as he himself in clear and forcible French dedicated his book, 'neither to king nor princes, as is customary, but to the public.'

69

CHAPTER II.

ENGRAVING ON WOOD.

A cette époque de la renaissance des lettres anciennes, le même mouvement se faisait sentir dans les arts du dessin. Des hommes de talent, à la tête desquels se fit remarquer Jean Cousin, imaginèrent d'enrichir ou d'illustrer les ouvrages des écrivains de leur temps par des gravures en bois.-VIOLLET LE DUC.

The

THE title page of Antoine Verard's edition of Ovid's Metamorphoses, 'La Bible des Poëtes,' printed at Paris in 1493, has an ornamental border. The foliating lines which curve along the margin, enclose two wide-winged angels, whilst from the folds of an opening flower issues the half-length figure of a woman. two angel forms are not without a certain conventional grace, an empty grace devoid of any touch of character or feeling, but the woman is an impression received fresh from life, given back to us with a distinct individuality. The interest of the designer has centred on this portrait, and its lines are impregnated with the keen flavour of actual existence, so that the image stands out from the mannered prettiness of the attendant angels, though it shows no trace of the author's initiation into the inner mysteries of art, and