In one of the side portals of this cathedral there is a figure of Christ which was not surpassed by any work of this period. The study of every portion of the figure is so perfect as to surprise us when we remember that anatomy was not then studied by artists as it had been in classic times or as it has been in more recent days. This statue holds an orb in the left hand, and the right hand is uplifted; not only the nails of the fingers, but the structure of all the joints is skilfully indicated. It frequently happens that the reliefs are far more excellent than the statues of mediaeval date. This is so noticeable that it would seem as if the best sculptors preferred to make the reliefs, and that the figures were left to those of less talent. On the pediment at Rheims the Last Judgment is represented in five divisions, and these reliefs are among the most beautiful sculptures of this century. The scene of the Resurrection of the Dead is arranged in two rows of figures; a section of it is here given (Fig. 75). There are twenty-nine of these little figures in the whole subject, and the variety of positions and the naturalness of the various expressions are all that could be desired in any age of art. The forms are in good proportions, and the faces are filled with fear, surprise, hope, and supplication. A volume might be written upon the sculptures of the Rheims Cathedral which would be full of interest to the student of mediaeval art. [Illustration: FIG. 75.--FROM THE NORTH TRANSEPT OF RHEIMS CATHEDRAL.] Critics have compared the progress and life which pervaded the art of the thirteenth century with the spirit of the age of Phidias. The two periods are alike in the fact that the artists of each broke away from the traditions of those who had preceded them, and took up their work with a desire to come nearer to nature. They were alike, too, in the union of architecture and sculpture, and in the fact that all kinds of sculpture were required for the adornment of a single structure. Colossal and full-sized statues, statuettes, reliefs, and a great variety of simply ornamental designs were lavished upon the Christian cathedral, as they had been upon the Greek temple; and in one case as in the other the various groups and scenes represented were intended to show forth religious mysteries, and to illustrate the working of the supreme power which controls the world in relation to human beings.