[Illustration:  TOMB OF THE SON OF ST. LOUIS, ST. DENIS]

Perhaps the most satisfying monument of French Gothic style is the tomb of the elder son of St. Louis at St. Denis.  The majesty of the recumbent figure is striking, but the little procession of mourners about the main body of the tomb is absolutely unrivalled in art of this character.  The device of little weeping figures surrounding the lower part of a tomb is also carried out in an exquisite way on the tomb of Aymer de Valence in Westminster.

Some interesting saints are carved on the north portal of Amiens, among others, St. Ulpha, a virgin who is chiefly renowned for having lived in a chalk cave near Amiens, where she was greatly annoyed by frogs.  Undaunted, she prayed so lustily and industriously, that she finally succeeded in silencing them!

The thirteenth century revival in France was really a new birth; almost more than a Renaissance.  It is a question among archaeologists if France was not really more original and more brilliant than Italy in this respect.  A glance at such figures as the Virgin from the Gilded Portal at Amiens, and another Virgin from the same cathedral, will show the change which came over the spirit of art in that one city during the thirteenth century.  The figure on the right door of the western facade is a work of the early part of the century.  She is grave and dignified in bearing, her hand extended in favour, while the Child gives the blessing in calm majesty.  This figure has the spirit of a goddess receiving homage, and bestowing grace:  it is conventional and monumental.  The Virgin from the Gilded Portal is of a later generation.  Her attention is given to the Child, and her aspect is human and spirited,—­almost merry.  It may be said to be less religious than the other statue, but it is filled with more modern grace and charm, and glorifies the idea of happy maternity:  every angle and fold of the drapery is full of life and action without being over realistic.  There is much in common between this pleasing statue and the Virgins of the Pisani in Italy.

Professor Moore considers the statue of the Virgin on the Portal of the Virgin at the west end of Notre Dame in Paris as about the best example of Gothic figure sculpture in France.  He says further that the finest statues in portals of any age are those of the north porch at Paris.  The Virgin here is marvellously fine also.  It combines the dignity and monumental qualities of the first of the Virgins at Amiens, with the living buoyancy of the Virgin on the Gilded Portal.  It is the clear result of a study of nature grafted on Byzantine traditions.  It dates from 1250.

While sculpture was practised chiefly by monastic artists, it retained the archaic and traditional elements.  When trained carvers from secular life began to take the chisel, the spirit of the world entered in.  For a time this was a marked improvement:  later the pendulum swung too far, and decadence set in.