Painting, too, had now an effect to lessen the sphere of sculpture. This art was always preferred by the Christians, as has been shown before, and now, when it had reached most satisfactory heights, it was used in many places where sculpture had before been placed. One important example of this is seen in the decoration of altars; where bas-reliefs had been used paintings were now preferred, and the end of all was that sculpture was limited to monuments and to separate pieces--reliefs or single statues or groups of figures. In some ways this separation of the arts was a benefit to all. Under the old rule sculptors had often been forced to sacrifice their design to the needs of the architecture their work adorned. At other times they were compelled to put aside their own feeling and their artistic ideas as to how a subject should be treated, and suit themselves to such forms as were approved by the particular priest or bishop whose church they decorated. Now, when left to itself, sculpture became more individual in its expression, and far more free and interesting in itself. In the beginning of the sixteenth century the works of Italian sculpture were splendid in the extreme. It was delicate and beautiful; the drapery was made to show the figure and its natural motion, while it added an exquisite grace to the whole; many works of this period were fine in conception, good in their arrangement, and executed in a noble, spirited manner. Some critics believe that during the first four decades of this era Italian sculpture equalled the antique art of the Romans. Others make 1520, or the time of Raphael, the limit to the best epoch of this art; but it is scarcely possible thus to fix an exact bound; the important point is that this excellence was reached, and the regret follows that it could not endure for a longer period.