They were not content to repeat or simply refine what they had learned from a previous generation. They tackled new problems, and even in dealing with old ones, felt free to discard traditional solutions and venture new ones of their own. Their aim was not simply novelty. Masters set ever more exacting standards of technical competence for each other and for their students, preparing the way for more dramatic accomplishment in the future. Medieval architecture through the 14th century remains a source of awe for European visitors who marvel not only at the technical skill and craftsmanship which produced the great cathedrals and town halls but are awed by the unsurpassed beauty of those great structures.
Historians take for granted the backdrop of intellectual and artistic disciplines.
The connection between medieval architecture and medieval learning has not gone unnoticed. Art and Scholasticism is the title of an early work by Jacques Maritain, a work that gained for its young author almost instant acclaim. Yet I know of no contemporary author who has made the connection between the impoverished anti-metaphysical philosophy of our day and its debilitating effect on the arts. The exception may be found in passing comments on the proletariat art of the 20th century, i.e., the banners, bas relief, and statuary commissioned by socialist regimes. There is a certain materialistic crassness which need not detain us.