The ancient and medieval architecture of India: a study of Indo-Aryan civilisation

76

THE ORIGIN

OF GOTHIC

ART

the fairy shafting

of Gothic vaults

and their widely

spaced

supports would have

crumbled into dust

under the immense

weightwhichthesemighty,

close-setpillarsofthe

Sanghawere

designedtouphold.

Buttheromanticspiritwhich

informed theart of

Indian

Buddhistbuilderswasthespiritofthe

Gothic cathedrals,and

Gothic artwas

thegiftofIndo-Aryansto

theirbrothercrafts-

men in theWest. In itspristine splendour

the chapter-house

of
Kirl^ must

havebeenoneofthegrandestplaces

ofworship

evermadebythe handsofmen.

It iseasyto followthejourneyofthe Lotus

of theGood

LawfromIndiaintoChina,andthenceinto Korea andJapan;

buthow theartofKirldandAjantipassed intowestern Asia,

and thence into Europe, to blossom again in the glorious

cathedrals of France, is a fascinating chapter in the world's

romancewhichremainstobe written.

It musthavebeenpartlythroughthe craftsmenwho fol-

lowed theAsiatichordeswhichoverranEurope continuallyfor

manycenturies after the beginning of the Christian era, and

partlythroughthecontactofEastandWestinthelongstruggle

ofthe

Crusades.

But

this

muchiscertain,thatEastmetWest

verylongago

in

the fellowship of art, andwhen a great art

impulsecomesagainin
EuropeandinAsiathemeeting-ground

will bethe same.

Andwhen thatromance

ofreal life iswritten,onechapter

ofitmaytell how,after Charles
Martel hammeredthe Moors

on thebattlefieldofToursand
drovethem from thefairfields

of France, many of Abdur
Rahman's craftsmen remained
as

captivesordeserters to thewinning
side—forcraftsmenwere

non-combatants,oftenunwillingly

pressedintomilitaryservice

;

and how, settling down in
their new adopted country
and

workingsidebysidewiththeir
brother-craftsmen oftheLatin

race, they helped to build those
splendid abbeys which were