The history of the work of the smiths is therefore one of a decadence of the expression of the material and a very great accession of skill in making the material perform miracles. The admiration of this work therefore depends entirely upon individual point of view, and it can well be conceived that any criticism of marvelous skill may be considered unappreciative and unjustifiable. The fact, however, remains that the smiths during the sixteenth cen
The increasing use in the sixteenth century of thin sheet iron has been mentioned, and the increasing practice of working iron cold in small rods and wires and thin sheets. The locksmiths who began to do more than use the simple lifting lever of the Egyptians in the fourteenth century especially desired to do imitative work. Venice alone was true to the early traditions, and the Venetian grilles even when of cold iron are of great beauty, but
WROUGHT IRON SCREEN, CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, CINCINNATI. O.
CASS GILBERT, ARCHITECT
tury become jugglers of a very exceptional merit. Vasari says that in Florence they aspired so to fashion their work that it was impossible by mere observation to tell whether it was made of iron or of wood or of leather. But the methods of working iron have changed little from the earliest times. The forge, the anvil, the hammers, pincers and shears for. hot metal, and files, bits and saws for cold metal are but little changed. Electricity as a heat producer is the really important innovation.
Germany, which was pre-eminent in iron in the sixteenth century, especially for its well covers, soon followed the example of the Florentine tricksters. In Spain the rejas or grilles before the chapels in the cathedrals are of great beauty, and Spain is especially skilful in the use of long delicate turnings and in the variety and richness both of arrangement and units of the ornamented mailheads in doors, By the seventeenth century ironwork followed architectural fashion, was seldom designed by the smiths,
The increasing use in the sixteenth century of thin sheet iron has been mentioned, and the increasing practice of working iron cold in small rods and wires and thin sheets. The locksmiths who began to do more than use the simple lifting lever of the Egyptians in the fourteenth century especially desired to do imitative work. Venice alone was true to the early traditions, and the Venetian grilles even when of cold iron are of great beauty, but
WROUGHT IRON SCREEN, CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, CINCINNATI. O.
CASS GILBERT, ARCHITECT
tury become jugglers of a very exceptional merit. Vasari says that in Florence they aspired so to fashion their work that it was impossible by mere observation to tell whether it was made of iron or of wood or of leather. But the methods of working iron have changed little from the earliest times. The forge, the anvil, the hammers, pincers and shears for. hot metal, and files, bits and saws for cold metal are but little changed. Electricity as a heat producer is the really important innovation.
Germany, which was pre-eminent in iron in the sixteenth century, especially for its well covers, soon followed the example of the Florentine tricksters. In Spain the rejas or grilles before the chapels in the cathedrals are of great beauty, and Spain is especially skilful in the use of long delicate turnings and in the variety and richness both of arrangement and units of the ornamented mailheads in doors, By the seventeenth century ironwork followed architectural fashion, was seldom designed by the smiths,