“One of the most important works of the epoch [the end of the thirteenth and the beginning of the fourteenth centuries] are the extensive reliefs which cover the choir screen in the interior of the Cathedral of Paris. These are only the remains of the formerly far richer plastic ornament which, in a great measure, fell a sacrifice under Louis XIV. to a vain love of ostentation. The earlier series on the north side contains a crowded representation in an unbroken line of the History of Christ; from the Annunciation to the Prayer at Gethsemane. These representations are vividly conceived, and the style in which they are executed breathes the spirit of the thirteenth century. Perhaps they belong to the end of that century or to the beginning of the next. The reliefs on the south side are different in many points. They continue the History of Christ; and, indeed, the whole was so arranged that the cycle which began at the east passed along the north side to the west end of the choir, and was continued on the lectern,[15] where the Passion, Crucifixion and Resurrection were depicted in front of the congregation, concluding at the south side in a scene moving from west to east. Of the latter scenes, the only ones now in existence are those which extend from the Meeting of Christ as the Gardener with Mary Magdalen to the Farewell to the Disciples after the Resurrection. The artist of these later scenes left his name, in an inscription that has now disappeared,[16] as Jehan Ravy, who for twenty-six years conducted the building of Notre Dame, at the end of which time it was completed under his nephew Master Jehan de Bouteiller, in 1351. Master Ravy evidently thought that he could improve upon his predecessor’s work on the north side; for while the latter had combined the scenes into one unbroken series, he divided his into separate compartments by arcades, so that these later representations, which are still in existence, are separated from each other by small columns. In so doing he followed the general taste of the century, which was inclined to exchange a picturesque character for the calm epic relief of the former period. While, however, his somewhat short figures are certainly superior in correctness to the figures of the north side, owing to his understanding of the physical structure and to the neatness of execution, there is in the figures of the north side a fresher tone of feeling and more grace of action, compared with which the far more constrained attitudes of the later works form an unpleasing contrast, and even occasionally degenerate into commonplaceness. Thus in these works, in spite of all expenditure of artistic care, there is an unmistakable decline of creative power.” [Footnote 15: The Rood-loft.] [Footnote 16: This has been restored, and reads: “C’est maistre Jehan Ravy maçon de Notre Dame par l’espace XXV ans qui commença ces nouvelles histoires, et Jehan le Bouteiller son nepveu qui les aparfaites en MCCCLI.”]