crux of the interplay of the senses. For it was in this interplay 
that all lattice or sense ratio  was formed that let light through. 
The “literal” level which was thought to possess all the 
meanings was such an interplay. “We then discover that what 
we should now call exegesis, which is based on a study of the 
text and of biblical history, in its widest sense, belongs to the 
‘literal exposition.’”

     In The Study of the Bible in the Middle Ages , Smalley cites 
from Carolingian Art  by R. Hinks: “It is as though we were 
invited to focus our eyes not on the physical surface of the 
object, but on infinity as seen through the lattice . . . ; the 
object . . . exists—as it were—merely to define and detach a 
certain portion of infinite space, and make it manageable and 
apprehensible.” Smalley then comments (p. 2): “This 
description of ‘pierced technique’ in early northern art is also an