Description

The stone skin of the Gothic structures Arms admired was not inanimate but rather vibrant and alive to the artist. He sought not only to depict the physical appearance of his subjects but also to express their character. “A building possesses truly as does a human being, a skeleton, a covering of flesh, and clothing with which both are in turn covered, so also, and most poignantly, does it possess a spirit,” he wrote. “In the work of the great interpreters of architecture . . . men like Meryon, Piranesi, Canaletto, and Bone, it is this expression of the spirit of the subject . . . which makes them such enduring works of art.”