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Title: The Churches of Paris
Author: Beale, S. Sophia
Language: English
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*** Start of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "The Churches of Paris" ***
THE CHURCHES OF PARIS
[Illustration: NOTRE-DAME FROM THE QUAI DE BERCY.]
THE
CHURCHES OF PARIS
FROM CLOVIS TO CHARLES X
BY
S. SOPHIA BEALE
_Author of "A complete and Concise Handbook to the Museum of the
Louvre" etc_
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY THE AUTHOR FROM ORIGINAL SKETCHES
PHOTOGRAPHS AND ENGRAVINGS
LONDON
W. H. ALLEN & CO LIMITED
13 WATERLOO PLACE SW
1893
_All rights reserved_
WYMAN AND SONS, LTD., PRINTERS, LONDON AND REDHILL.
DEDICATED
TO ONE
WHOSE HELP WAS INVALUABLE
BUT WHO IS NOW
TO US
ONLY A MEMORY
[Illustration]
"La nef vagant dessus la mer galicque
Porte dedens soy richesse inestimable
Justice y est pour patron magnificque
Raison y sert de Lieutenant notable,
Gens de scauoir par œuure treslouable
Sont galliotz qui lamenent a port,
Marchans y ont tresasseure support.
Prebstres, Bourgeois, nobles, Clercz et gen-darmes.
Icelle nef de se'fertile apport,
Cest de Paris le beau blazon des armes."
PREFACE.
In a book of this kind, it is difficult to prevent oneself becoming a
guide, more or less complete. Dates and facts, architectural details and
descriptions, all savour of the handbook; but having determined to keep
to the historical and archaeological, rather than the architectural side
of the churches, I have tried to rake up quaint and legendary lore, and
so add to the interest of an ordinary guide book. I would also pray my
readers to bear in mind that, as the work is not intended to be an
architectural treatise, I have simply walked in the paths of
Viollet-le-Duc and Guilhermy, whenever I have been compelled to describe
the technical details of the churches.
My thanks are due to the Editor of the _American Architect_, for his
courtesy in allowing me to build these ecclesiastical monographs upon
the foundation of some articles which have appeared from time to time in
a condensed form in the Boston (U. S. A.) paper; and also to the Editor
of the _Magazine of Art_, for a similar kindness.
I should also like to acknowledge my indebtedness to the following
authors and their works:
"Histoire de la Sainte-Chapelle." Morand.
"Histoire de Saint-Denis." Dom Millet.
"Histoire de Saint-Eustache." L'abbé Koenig.
"Inscriptions du Diocèse de Paris." F. de Guilhermy.
"Itinéraire Archéologique de Paris." F. de Guilhermy.
"l'Église Saint Julien-le-Pauvre." A. Le Brun.
"Monographie de l'Église Royale de Saint-Denis." F. de Guilhermy.
"Sacred and Legendary Art." Anna Jameson.
"The Early British Church." J. Yeowell.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
SAINT-ANTOINE DES QUINZE-VINGTS 1
LES CARMES DÉCHAUSSÉES 1
LA SAINTE-CHAPELLE 2
SAINT-DENIS 30
SAINTE-ELIZABETH 100
SAINT-ÉTIENNE DU MONT 100
SAINT-EUSTACHE 116
SAINT-FRANÇOIS XAVIER 158
SAINTE-GENEVIÈVE 158
SAINT-GERMAIN L'AUXERROIS 177
CHAPELLE DU CHÂTEAU DE SAINT-GERMAIN-EN-LAYE 189
SAINT-GERMAIN DES PRÉS 190
SAINT-GERVAIS 209
LA TOUR SAINT-JACQUES 213
SAINT-JACQUES DU HAUT-PAS 215
SAINT-JEAN-SAINT-FRANÇOIS 215
SAINT-JULIEN-LE-PAUVRE 215
SAINT-LAURENT 232
SAINT-LEU-SAINT-GILLES 235
SAINT-LOUIS D'ANTIN 237
SAINT-LOUIS EN L'ILE 237
SAINT-LOUIS DES INVALIDES 237
SAINTE-MADELEINE 239
SAINTE-MARGUERITE 243
SAINT-MARTIN DES CHAMPS 244
SAINT-MÉDARD 248
SAINT-MERRI 251
SAINT-NICOLAS DES CHAMPS 256
SAINT-NICOLAS DU CHARDONNET 259
NOTRE-DAME (CATHÉDRALE) 260
NOTRE-DAME DE L'ASSOMPTION 299
NOTRE-DAME DE L'ABBAYE AUX BOIS 300
NOTRE-DAME DES BLANCS-MANTEAUX 300
NOTRE-DAME DES CHAMPS 301
NOTRE-DAME DE LORETTE 302
NOTRE-DAME DES VICTOIRES 303
L'ORATOIRE 303
SAINT-PAUL-SAINT-LOUIS 304
SAINT-PHILIPPE DU ROULE 305
SAINT-PIERRE DE CHAILLOT 306
SAINT-PIERRE DE MONTMARTRE 306
SAINT-ROCH 307
SAINT-SÉVERIN 310
LA SORBONNE 319
SAINT-SULPICE 321
SAINT-THOMAS D'AQUIN 326
L'ANCIEN ABBAYE DU VAL-DE-GRÂCE 326
LA CHAPELLE DU CHÂTEAU DE VERSAILLES 328
LA CHAPELLE DU CHÂTEAU DE VINCENNES 329
SAINT-VINCENT DE PAUL 331
THE CHURCHES OF PARIS.
SAINT-ANTOINE DES QUINZE-VINGTS.
Saint Louis, always careful in helping his suffering subjects, founded
this hospital for the blind in 1260, upon a piece of ground abutting on
the Louvre, now traversed by the Rue de Rivoli. In 1780 the hospital was
transferred to the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, and took up its abode in the
old dwelling place of the Black Musketeers, whose chapel also served as
a parish church. It is a little building of no beauty nor interest,
although a few inscriptions relating to pious foundations still remain
in the chapel, the oldest being dated 1481. One of these tells us of the
institution, in 1667, of a somewhat early Mass by one Marie Lambert,
maid to the queen mother. It was to be said at 4 a.m. in order that the
poor blind people should be able to sally forth a-begging (_d'aller à la
quête_) fortified with the Bread of Life.
LES CARMES DÉCHAUSSÉES
The old church of the barefooted Carmelites in the Rue de Vaugirard was
commenced in 1613, and dedicated to S. Joseph in 1625. It is now served
by the Dominicans. The crypt is the only interesting part of the church,
and is a curiosity, as it contains innumerable bones piled up on every
side, the remains of the ghastly September massacres of 1792. The
frescoes painted by a Liège artist, Bartholet Flamaël, are very much
esteemed. Some of the chapels are richly decorated in the gaudy style of
the 17th century. The altar is embellished by a 14th century bas-relief
in marble representing the Last Supper. A few epitaphs still remain:
that of Cardinal de Beausset, the historian of Fénelon and Bossuet; one
of Cardinal de la Luzerne; and a marble, covering the heart of
Archbishop Affre, who was shot on a barricade in 1848, while
endeavouring to make peace with the insurgents.
LA SAINTE-CHAPELLE.
The origin and foundation of this most lovely example of mediæval art is
so much a part of S. Louis' life that it may not be out of place to give
some account of the Saint's character and habits before proceeding to
describe the history of the chapel.
[Illustration: THE SAINTE-CHAPELLE FROM THE PONT SAINT-MICHEL.]
Louis IX. was pious and practical, and inconvenienced his courtiers as
much by his punctuality and the assiduity with which he conducted his
business, as by his religious duties. These he considered a part of his
daily work, hearing all the canonical offices with the same regularity
as he attended to the grievances of his subjects. Often, like our own
George Herbert, was he found prostrate before the altar wrapped in
prayer. Even Gibbon allowed that he united the virtues of a king, a
hero, and a man--he might have added those of a just judge and a
lawgiver; and Voltaire sums up his character as follows: "Il n'est guère
donné à l'homme de pousser la vertu plus loin." When his more worldly
friends cavilled at his austerities, he made his case good by retorting:
"Si je passais deux fois autant de temps à jouer, ou à courir les bois,
pour m'occuper de la chasse, personne n'en parleroit." As in the case of
nearly all exceptionally good men, he probably owed everything to the
extreme care that his mother had bestowed upon his education--a care
which he repaid by a life-long devotion to her memory. Of good Queen
Blanche's character we get a glimpse in the following touching anecdote.
It is related that one day at Court, the Queen noticed a beautiful youth
with long, fair hair, and asking his name, was answered, "Prince Herman,
the son of the sainted Elizabeth of Hungary." On hearing this, Queen
Blanche rose from her seat, and, gazing at the boy, said to him, "Fair
youth, thou hadst a blessed mother; where did she kiss thee?" Whereat
Herman, blushing, placed his finger on his forehead between his eyes,
and the Queen, reverently pressing her lips upon the spot, looked up to
Heaven and breathed the invocation: _Sancta Elisabetha, Patrona nostra
dulcissima, ora pro nobis._ That a mother so imbued with admiration for
the sainted Elizabeth should have a son who walked in the Hungarian
queen's steps, is not very remarkable in those ages of faith. S. Louis'
faith was simple, loving, and inextinguishable; and so it came about
that when he heard of the Emperor Baldwin II.'s financial difficulties,
he decided to purchase the relics which had been given more than once,
it is said, as pledges for temporary loans. The Emperor's letter upon
the subject would lead one to suppose that it was an act of generosity
to _faire passer_ the relics to S. Louis; but we know that the King paid
very handsomely for them. "Je désire," said the emperor, "ardemment de
vous faire passer cette précieuse relique à vous, mon cousin, mon
seigneur, et mon bienfaiteur, et au royaume de France ma patrie." Other
purchasers seem to have been in the field; for S. Louis only obtained,
at that time, the Crown of Thorns and some portion of the True Cross.
One of his rivals was our Henry III., who in 1247 summoned all his
nobles to London to witness the reception of some of the Holy Blood
which had been brought from the East in a crystal vase, by one of the
Knights Templars. It was sent by the Master of the Templars and
Hospitallers, its genuineness being attested by the Patriarch of
Jerusalem and the abbots of the Holy Land. On the 13th October, being
the feast of S. Edward the Confessor, the King, after prayer and
fasting, carried the reliquary from S. Paul's to Westminster, where it
was deposited in the Abbey church. The Bishop of Norwich preached, and
celebrated mass; and in his sermon took pains to impress upon his
hearers that the Holy Blood was more precious even than the True Cross
possessed by the King of France--an argument which points to one of the
causes of rivalry between the nations during the Middle Ages. Naturally
the assembled prelates accorded indulgences to the faithful who should
visit the shrine; but this much coveted privilege seems to have caused
certain murmurings among some of the assistants; they objected that,
whereas our Lord had ascended into Heaven in the body, He could not have
left His blood upon the earth. But Robert Grossetête, Bishop of Lincoln,
was equal to the occasion, and replied, that Joseph of Arimathea, having
saved it from the precious wounds, more especially from the one in His
side, had given some of it to Nicodemus, and thus it had been treasured
up, and had passed from father to son, until it came into the possession
of the Patriarch Robert of Jerusalem. These disputes seem to have been
pretty common in those days, in spite of the unquestioning faith of the
multitude. In 1357 we read of a squabble which took place between the
Dominicans and the Franciscans, one François Baïle of Barcelona
affirming that the blood being separated from the Divinity of our Lord
was therefore not adorable. Often, indeed, these wranglings became so
violent that the Popes were obliged to interfere in order to settle the
matter.
The bringing home of the relics reads like a royal pageant. They were
carried to Venice by the "Députés de Saint Louis et les ambassadeurs de
l'Empire, accompagnés des plus nobles d'entre les Vénitiens. Le convoi
mit à la voile dans le tems de Noël, saison où la mer est le plus
orageuse. La confidence des Députés éleva leur ame au dessus de la
crainte des périls, et elle fut justifiée; ils arrivèrent à Venise sans
avoir essuyé de tempêtes. Vatace, Empereur Grec, avait détaché plusieurs
galères qui croisoient aux différens détroits où les François devoient
passer, pour leur enlever ce précieux butin. Sa vigilance fut trompée;
Dieu veilloit sur eux."[1]
"Arrivée à Venise la Relique fut mise en dépôt dans le Trésor de la
Chapelle de Saint-Marc. Le roi instruit du succès de la négociation de
ses députés, envoya, ainsi que Baudouin, des Ambassadeurs avec l'argent
nécessaire pour se l'approprier. De leur côté les Marchands François
établis à Venise, plus riches encore des dons de la foi qu'avantagés de
la fortune, ouvrirent leur bourse pour payer la somme stipulée. Les
Vénitiens auroient bien desiré garder cette Relique, mais retenus par la
foi du traité ils la restituèrent quoique à regret."
"Les Ambassadeurs après avoir reconnu les sceaux se mirent en route, et
quoique la saison fût pluvieuse ils n'essuyèrent pas une goutte d'eau.
Arrivés en Champagne, le Roi partit aussi-tôt pour les joindre. Il étoit
accompagné de la Reine, de ses Frères, de l'Archevêque de Sens, de
l'Evêque du Puy, et des Seigneurs les plus distingués de sa cour. II
rencontra la Relique près de Sens; elle étoit enfermée dans une triple
cassette. La première étoit de bois. On l'ouvrit, et on vérifia les
sceaux des seigneurs François et du Duc de Venise apposés sur la
cassette d'argent dans laquelle se trouva un vase d'or, contenant la
Ste.-Couronne. L'ayant découverte on la fit voir à tous les Assistans,
qui fondirent en larmes s'imaginant voir réellement Jésus Christ
couronné d'épines. Puis le Roi mit son scelle sur la cassette. Tant de
précautions écartent assurément tout soupçon d'infidélité."
"Le lendemain la Relique fut portée à Sens dont on avoit tendu toutes
les rues. A l'entrée de la Ville, le Roi et le Comte d'Artois, l'aîné de
ses Frères, la portèrent sur leurs epaules, les pieds nuds. Le Clergé
alla au-devant, et les principaux Seigneurs chargés à leur tour de ce
fardeau honorable la placèrent dans l'Eglise Métropolitaine de
Saint-Etienne. On se mit ensuite en route pour Paris, où la réception de
la Relique se fit avec la plus grande solennité. Tout le Clergé régulier
et séculier fut convoqué à cette cérémonie. Les Religieux de Saint-Denis
dès la pointe du jour se rendirent à l'endroit qui avoit été indiqué
hors de Paris du côté de Vincennes; tous ceux qui assistèrent à cette
Procession marchèrent nuds pieds. On avoit dressé un magnifique reposoir
près de l'Abbaye Saint-Antoine, où la Châsse fut exposée aux yeux du
peuple. Guillaume, Chantre de Saint-Denis, entonna tout ce qui fut
chanté pendant la marche et l'Abbé eut place à la droite de l'Autel,
avec les Archevêques, Evêques et les autres Abbés, tous en habits
pontificaux. Enfin le 18e jour d'Août la Relique arriva, et fut
placée au Palais dans la Chapelle de Saint-Nicolas."[2]
[Illustration]
A medal was struck to commemorate this event, with the legend: HÆC REGIS
REGUM TOTO PRETIOSIOR AURO, and S. Louis kneeling before an altar upon
which is the crown of thorns. As to the particular tree of which the
crown was composed, there was much difference of opinion. Clement of
Alexandria calls it _ex rubo_, a sort of thicket; other writers a
different sort of shrub or bush, called _nerprun_, or wild plum; and
others, the white thorn.
The antiphon used every day in the offices of the Sainte-Chapelle began:
_Ecce Crux et Corona Spinea Arnia Regis Gloriae tibi commendantur_; and
the seal consisted of a cross with the crown of thorns intersecting it,
and on each side a _fleur-de-lys_, with the King's crown at the top.
Having acquired the holy relics, it was most seemly that a shrine should
be constructed wherein they should rest--a shrine worthy the sanctity of
such treasures. And so S. Louis commissioned his architect, Pierre de
Montereau, to build him a chapel which should be a marvel of lightness
and colour, embellished with windows which should glitter like precious
stones, and containing a _châsse_, resplendent with enamels, and gold
and silver--a shrine, as it were, within a shrine. That the architect
was worthy the confidence of his royal master, the chapel testifies to
this day, and Maître Pierre's immortal work remains the most perfect
example of 13th century architecture in France; one might say, the most
exquisite architectural gem which the world has yet seen, or is ever
likely to see.
Pierre de Montereau, or Montreau, as it is sometimes written, lived
eighteen years after the completion of his _chef-d'œuvre_, and
doubtless assisted at some of the splendid ceremonies held in it. He
died March 17th, 1266, and was buried in the chapel of the Virgin
belonging to the religious of S. Germain des Près, where a splendid
monument was erected to his memory. Some of the finest of the buildings
attached to the monastery were his work, and up to the last century a
stone was to be seen over his burial-place, upon which he was
represented with a rule and compass in his hands. His epitaph gives him
the titles of _fleur pleine de bonnes mœurs_, and of _docteur des
architectes_:
FLOS PLENUS MORUM, VIVENS DOCTOR LATO MORUM,
MUSTEROLO NATUS JACET HIC PETRUS TUMULATUS
QUEM REX COELORUM PERDUCAT IN ALTA POLORUM
CHRISTE MILLENO, BIS CENTENO DUODENO
CUM QUINQUAGENO QUARTO DECESSIT IN ANNO.
Another stone recorded the name of his wife Agnes, and on that he is
termed, in old French, mestre Pierre de Montereul. The chapel has
disappeared, and with it all trace of the tombs; but one at Reims,
erected in honour of Hugues Libergier, architect of the celebrated abbey
church of S. Nicaise, who died in 1263, gives some idea of what those of
Pierre de Montereau and his wife must have been.
The first stone of the church was laid by S. Louis in 1245, and three
years later, on the Sunday after Easter, _Quasimodo_, 25th April, 1248,
it was consecrated by the Pope's legate, Eudes de Châteauroux, Bishop of
Tusculum, as the Chapel of the Holy Cross and the Holy Crown. On the
same day, Philippe Berruyer, Archbishop of Bourges, celebrated the like
ceremony in the lower church, putting it under the patronage of the
Blessed Virgin. It seems strange that Joinville should not speak of this
event, and yet it must have been an imposing sight; but he does not once
mention the Sainte-Chapelle in his life of S. Louis. Perhaps this may be
accounted for by what he thus relates: "At Easter-tide, in the year of
grace 1248, I summoned my vassals and retainers to Joinville, and on the
Easter-eve ... was born John, my son, Sire d'Ancarville.... We had
feasting and dancing all that week, in the course of which my brother,
the Sire de Vancouleurs and other rich persons who were there, gave
banquets one after the other on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and
Thursday." And then he goes on to say that he went to Metz on business
before he started for the Holy Land; therefore we may suppose that
private affairs kept him away from Paris, and that not being present
himself at the consecration, he did not consider it necessary to give an
account of the ceremony.
Two charters dated Paris, 1245, and Aigues-Mortes, 1248, respectively
give the terms of the endowment by the king. The number of ecclesiastics
who first formed the college was fixed at twenty-one; five principal
priests or _maîtres chapelains_, each having an assistant chaplain (a
priest), and a deacon, and three beadles who had as many clerks under
them. The number was modified from time to time, during five centuries,
and latterly it consisted of a treasurer, twelve canons, and nineteen
chaplains. The office of treasurer was generally filled by some
important personage, and he had the privilege of wearing the mitre and
other insignia of the episcopate, and of giving the Benediction upon
great festivals; but he was not allowed to bear the crozier.
[Illustration]
The most important event of the 13th century connected with the
Sainte-Chapelle was the translation of some of S. Louis' bones from S.
Denis, in which church they had been laid twenty-seven years previously
upon their arrival from Tunis, where the king had died of fever on the
25th August, 1270. Feeling his last moments to have arrived, he caused
his body to be placed upon a bed of ashes, and wearing the habit of the
third order of S. Francis, his noble spirit passed away. He was
embalmed, according to the fashion of the day; or rather, his bones were
relieved of their outer casements, by boiling in wine and water; other
parts of his body, which it is unnecessary to specify, being given by
his son to the King of Sicily, who placed them in the church of
Monreale, Palermo. The young Comte de Nevers had died just before S.
Louis; and Alfonso de Brienne, Comte d'Eu, son of John de Brienne, King
of Jerusalem, and the Chevalier Pierre, the King's chamberlain, had also
succumbed to the unhealthy climate. The funeral procession set out, and
wended its way towards France under the care of S. Louis' son, Philippe
le Hardi. Arriving at Paris, the bodies were placed temporarily in
Notre-Dame on the 21st of May; and the next day, amidst a large
concourse of people, the procession, consisting of clergy, and
religious, started early for S. Denis, Philippe, reverently bearing his
father's bones, walking like the rest. Up through the city they went,
singing and chanting, and taking much the same route as had been
traversed by S. Denis and his companions, after their martyrdom, as
recorded by the old chroniclers. In an engraving by Boulogne a long
procession of monks and knights is seen issuing from the abbey to meet
another coming from Paris, the king and bishops being dressed in that
peculiar high wind-blown drapery common to pictorial art in the 17th and
18th centuries. S. Louis' bones were placed in a stone coffin and
buried in front of the altar of the Holy Trinity, near the resting place
of the bodies of Louis VIII. and Philippe Auguste. Philippe le Hardi's
wife, Isabelle, and Tristan, Comte de Nevers, were placed on the right;
the chevalier Pierre, who, as chamberlain, had the privilege of sleeping
in the King's chamber, was laid at his feet. In 1292, Henri de
Luxembourg caused the relics to be placed in a silver shrine and
conveyed to the Sainte-Chapelle by the Archbishops of Reims and Lyon;
but after some days they were returned to S. Denis, and it was not until
1306 that Philippe le Bel succeeded in his desire of placing the remains
of his grandfather in the chapel which was so dear to him, that he felt
a _malaise_ each time he heard the divine offices elsewhere. The Bull of
canonization was promulgated by Pope Boniface VIII. in 1297, and the
translation of the king's skull followed nine years later, accompanied
by all the picturesque pomp of the 14th century. The reliquary was in
the form of a gold bust of natural size, enriched with precious stones,
and supported by Angels upon a pedestal which rested upon four
silver-gilt lions. The crown and the collar of the vestment were
decorated with rubies, pearls, emeralds, and sapphires; and around the
socle were representations of the twenty-nine kings of France, and a
Latin inscription giving the date of the work, and the name of the
smith, Master Guillaume Juliani. Such was the _châsse_ which enclosed
the principal relic of S. Louis: "Afin que la présence du Chef de ce
grand roi, qui pendant sa vie avait eu la justice en singulière
recommandation, animat les Juges de ce Parlement à maintenir les loix,
protéger les gens du bien, rendre la justice à ses sujets sans exception
de personne."[3]
L'an mil et trois cens et six ans,
Ot à Paris joie nouvele,
Car li rois mit en sa chapele,
Que S. Loys fist tele faire
Qu'a tout le monde devroit plaire,
Le chief de lui si richement
Et si très-honorablement,
Que par raison de la bel euvre
Que li dons saintuaire queuvre
Le vessel où l'en la mis prisent
Toutes personnes qui l'avisent. (GUIL. GUIART.)
On the 15th May, 1843, an interesting discovery was made in the chapel.
Some workmen, in removing a stone of the pavement of the apse,
discovered a tin box containing the remains of a heart, and a
_procès-verbal_, stating that it had been previously found on the 21st
January, 1803. Although the position of the box (the centre of the apse)
indicated that it had belonged to some distinguished person, yet there
was no clue to its owner, neither inscription, nor name, nor date. The
box, it is true, was in the style of the 13th century; but it seemed
doubtful, that, had the heart been S. Louis', such an important relic
should have been lost sight of, and no record of it given by the
Benedictines at S. Denis in their inventory of the treasures which they
had received from the Sainte-Chapelle. The matter was referred to the
Academie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres, and fully discussed; but
the members could arrive at no decision, and consequently the box was
replaced where it had been found.
While the kings resided in the old Cité, the most brilliant ceremonies
succeeded one another at the Sainte-Chapelle; it was, in fact, the
chapel belonging to the adjoining palace, now the Palais de Justice. The
Queens, Marie de Brabant, second wife of Philippe le Hardi; Marie de
Luxembourg, second wife of Charles le Bel; Jeanne d'Evreux, third wife
of the same Prince; and Isabelle de Bavière, wife of Charles VI., were
all crowned there. The marriage of the Emperor, Henri VII. and
Marguerite de Brabant, and the betrothal of Isabeau, eldest daughter of
Charles VI. with Richard II. of England, were also solemnised in the
chapel. There, in 1332, Philippe de Valois held a great assembly of
prelates and barons, to announce his project of another crusade against
the Infidels--a project which was never carried out. On the feast of the
Epiphany, 1378, King Charles V., the Emperor Charles IV., and his son
Wenceslas, King of the Romans, offered gold, frankincense and myrrh,
after the manner of the three holy Magi. Every time that the sovereigns
convoked an assemblage of the clergy in the palace, the prelates first
went to the chapel and asked the blessing of the Holy Spirit, while
prostrated before the relics. In 1483, when Louis XI. was lying ill at
Tours, he hoped to prolong his life by surrounding himself with the most
sacred relics of his kingdom--so reluctant was this _devôt_ to depart
from our wicked world. The Sainte Ampoule was brought by the religious
of S. Remi from Reims; the canons of the Sainte-Chapelle took the Cross
of Victory and the Rod of Moses out of their treasury, and a grand
procession of clergy and laity was formed on the 1st of August to carry
them from Paris to Plessis-les-Tours. But, alas! to no end; for on the
30th of the same month the poor creature finished his earthly career of
hypocrisy.
Boileau, in his _Lutrin_, gives an amusing account of an unseemly
squabble which took place between the canons of the chapel, and which
was in this wise. On a certain Sunday in 1667, one of the precentors
named Barrin found a huge lectern placed in front of his stall. He
protested against the intruder, and the other canons taking his part, it
was ordered to be removed. But here the treasurer stepped in with
objections, and a whole month was passed in discussions, orders, and
counter-orders; the dispute only being ended through the mediation of
the first president, Guillaume de Lamoignon, who decreed that the
precentor should remain imprisoned behind the lectern an entire morning,
until the end of the High Mass, the treasurer undertaking to remove the
offending piece of furniture before the hour of vespers.
It was the president who suggested this subject to the poet. Boileau had
remarked to M. de Lamoignon that an epic poem could be written upon the
most trivial incident, if only a poet had sufficient imagination to work
it out. "_Faites donc un poème sur le débat de la Sainte-Chapelle. Vous
pourrez l'intituler 'Le Lutrin enlevé,' ou 'La Conquête du Lutrin._"
"_Pourquoi non_," replied Boileau. "_Il ne faut jamais défier un fou; et
je le suis assez, non seulement pour entreprendre ce poème, mais encore
pour le dédier à Monsieur le premier president._"
The result of defying the "fool," who was withal a wit, is a series of
portraits in verse, of the canons, the singers, the precentor, and the
treasurer. The latter was not spared, as may be seen by the following
lines:--
"Dans le réduit obscur d'une alcove enfoncée,
S'élève un lit de plume à grands frais amassée.
Quatre rideaux pompeux, par un double contour,
En défendent l'entrée à la clarté du jour.
Là, parmi les douceurs d'un tranquille silence,
Règne sur le duvet une heureuse indolence.
C'est là que le prélat, muni d'un déjeuner,
Dormant d'un léger sommeil, attendait le dîner.
La jeunesse en sa fleur brille sur son visage;
Son menton sur son sein descend à double étage,
Et son corps, ramassé dans sa courte grosseur,
Fait gémir les coussins sous sa molle épaisseur."
The canons are touched off with an equal vivacity; all their failings
and follies, their idleness and their gluttony, brought into the pure
light of day:
"Parmi les doux plaisirs d'une paix fraternelle,
Paris voyait fleurir son antique chapelle;
Ses chanoines vermeils et brillants de santé
S'engraissaient d'une longue et sainte oisiveté;
Sans sortir de leurs lits, plus doux que leurs hermines,
Ces pieux fainéants faisaient chanter matines,
Veillaient à bien diner, et laissaient en leur lieu
A des chantres gagés le soin de leur Dieu."
And then the "machine" itself, the offending _lutrin_, is described:
"Aussitôt dans le chœur la machine emportée,
Est sur le banc du chantre à grand bruit remontée,
Ses ais demi-pourris, que l'âge a relâchés,
Sont à coups de maillet unis et rapprochés;
Sous les coups redoublés tous les bancs retentissent
Les murs en sont émus, les voûtes en mugissent,
Et l'orgue même en pousse un long gemissement."
The dream of the _Chantre_, perhaps the indirect cause of all the
trouble, in making the man cantankerous, and extra liable to be rubbed
up the wrong way, is no less worth quoting:
"Les cloches dans les airs, de leurs voix argentines,
Appelaient à grand bruit les chantres à matines,
Quand leur chef, agité d'un sommeil effrayant,
Encor tout en sueur, se réveille en criant:
'Pour la seconde fois (dit-il) un sommeil gracieux
Avait sous ses pavots appesenti mes yeux;
Quand, l'esprit agité d'une douce fumée,
J'ai cru remplir au chœur ma place accoutumée.
Là, triomphant aux yeux des chantres impuissants,
Je bénissais le peuple, et j'avalais l'encens:
Lorsque, du fond caché de notre sacristie,
Une épaisse nuée à grands flots est sortie,
Que s'ouvrant à mes yeux, dans son bleuâtre éclat
M'a fait voir un serpent conduit par le prélat.
Du corps de ce dragon plein de soufre et de nitre,
Une tête sortait en forme de pupitre,
Dont le triangle affreux, tout hérissé de crins,
Surpassait en grosseur nos plus épais lutrins:
Animé par son guide, en sifflant il s'élance.
J'ai crié, mais en vain; et, fuyant sa fureur
Je me suis réveillé plein de trouble et d'horreur."
An order of the Conseil d'Etat, dated March 11, 1787, sequestered all
the goods of the chapel, suppressed the chaplaincies and canonries, and
ordained that the services should be continued by the king's ordinary
chaplains. Three years later, the chapel shared the fate of all the
abbeys, chapters, and religious foundations; and soon after, S. Louis'
beautiful oratory was closed. The relics were sent to S. Denis, and the
other objects were dispersed to the National museums. _Propriété
Nationale à Vendre_ was written upon the building, a piece of
information which has only disappeared in our own time. Under the
Directoire a club held its meetings there; and later, it was converted
into a warehouse for corn and flour. Towards 1800, certain ecclesiastics
hired the lower chapel and celebrated mass there, but in 1803 it was
further profaned; the upper chapel was turned into a depository for
judicial documents, and the lower one was given for the same purpose to
the Cour des Comptes. In vain Louis XVIII. and Charles X. endeavoured to
restore the building to its proper use; and it was only in 1837, in the
reign of Louis Philippe, that its restoration was decided upon. MM.
Duban, Lassus, Viollet-le-Duc, and Boeswillwald were commissioned to
undertake the work at a cost of 2,000,000 francs, a sum nearly equal to
the original value of the relics and reliquaries (2,800,000 francs),
while it exceeded by nearly two millions the original cost of the
building, 800,000 francs. The 3rd November, 1849, the work was
sufficiently advanced for the ceremony of the Institution of the
Judicature, when the ancient chants were sung as in former times. Since
then, until quite recently, a mass has always been celebrated in the
chapel, upon the opening of the Law Courts, in the presence of the
judges, barristers, and others who could gain admission. But this
function has lately been abolished, and the keeper now impresses upon
visitors (rather eagerly and unnecessarily), the permission to keep on
their hats. "_Mais couvrez vous, messieurs, ce n'est plus une chapelle,
ce n'est qu'un monument_"!
[Illustration: INTERIOR OF THE CHAPEL.]
The celebration of the _Fête des Fous_ was one of the customs of the
Middle Ages which was very tenacious of life. Although forbidden by the
legate in 1198, it flourished for another 250 years. The Council of
Paris, held in 1212, endeavoured to put it down; but it was only in 1435
that the Council of Basle succeeded in suppressing it, together with
stage plays and other profanities. It was the custom at the
Sainte-Chapelle, upon the Holy Innocents' day, for the boy acolytes[4]
to deck themselves in the canons' copes and vestments, and to sit in
their stalls, one boy bearing the mace carried by the precentor as an
attribute of his dignity. They were also exempted, during a certain
time, from doing homage to anyone. A curious custom prevailed at Easter.
At three o'clock in the morning, the clergy, carrying the Host, went in
procession round the interior of the palace; and by reason of a
foundation of one of the canons, Eustache Picot, under-master of music
during the reigns of Louis XIII. and XIV., only his own compositions
could be sung on the occasion. On Easter day a chronological table of
the principal events and festivals connected with the chapel, with the
date and the age of the King, was attached to the Paschal candle. Other
customs were peculiar to the chapel, as, for instance, on Whit Sunday,
when, during mass, while the Gospel was chanted, an Angel descended from
the vault, holding a silver cruet, from which he poured water upon the
hands of the celebrant. Flowers, roses, wafers, a white pigeon, a
quantity of small birds, and flax for burning, had to be provided by the
Chevecier[5] in memory of the tongues of fire which descended upon the
apostles at Pentecost.
On the Good Fridays of each year the chapel scarcely sufficed to contain
the crowds of sick persons who flocked to it from all parts of the city.
All maladies were supposed to be curable through the virtues of the holy
relics, but specially that known formerly as _le mal caduc_. At midnight
the relic of the True Cross was exposed, and at the same moment the
chapel was filled by the most fearful shrieks of these poor epileptics.
The afflicted threw themselves about, foamed at the mouth, and fell into
convulsions, invoking the aid especially of S. John the Baptist and S.
Spire. The people were convinced every year that some wondrous miracle
had been wrought; but the abuses connected with this nocturnal
exposition were so great that, in 1781, Louis XVI. ordered it to be
discontinued. The relics now shown in the Treasury of Notre-Dame, and
exposed there during Holy Week, are said to be the veritable ones
belonging to the Sainte-Chapelle; but the account of their preservation
after the desecration of S. Denis is so miraculous (almost as much so as
the original finding of the True Cross by S. Helena) that it requires a
large amount of faith to believe in them. The reliquaries were of course
all melted up, even Alexandre Lenoir could not save them. Those at
Notre-Dame are quite modern, although somewhat of the same form.
Another custom peculiar to the chapel was the singing upon Christmas-day
of the hymn "_Noël_," in place of "_O Salutaris Hostia_." The former had
been originally a joy-song, welcoming the kings upon their entry into
Paris; and thus, when our Henry V. entered the capital in 1420, and
likewise Henry VI. in 1431, they were greeted with this exclamation.
[Illustration: INTERIOR OF THE RELIQUARY.]
The kings were not the only persons who profited by the virtues of the
relics; the first president of the _parlement_ was so far privileged
that he could have them brought to him on his death-bed; and on
Quinquagesima Sunday they were exposed at the central window of the
_chevet_ for the good of the public in the street. The _châsse_
containing the relics had no less than ten locks, the keys thereof being
in the custody of the kings until the reign of Louis XIII.; but while
that monarch was at Lyons, a fire broke out in the chapel (26th July,
1630), and the doors of the _châsse_ had to be broken open, a disaster
which led to a change in the custodian, the president of the Chambre des
Comptes being substituted for the sovereign. This worthy lived opposite;
and it was also his duty to keep the relics clean, assisted of course by
a vast number of other presidents and officials. It was the duty, or the
privilege, of the kings to mount the little winding staircase at the
side of the altar, and to exhibit the relics to the people gathered in
the chapel below. S. Louis probably ofttimes walked up the steps on the
left for this purpose (the right-hand staircase is modern); and on Good
Friday, 1423, the Duke of Bedford, as regent of France for Henry VI.,
gave the blessing with the relics. In 1575, on the 10th July, a great
theft took place of a portion of the cross which was frequently shown to
the people (not the piece in the principal _châsse_), and this in spite
of six guards who "_allans et venans toute nuict par icelle, tant pour
la garde des sainctes reliques comme du lieu_." This was looked upon as
a great calamity by many people; but by some of the incredulous was
thought to be a feint of Henri III., who had permitted the relic to be
sent to Italy as security for some money borrowed by that good daughter
of the Church, the Queen-mother, Catherine de'Medici. In 1793 the
destruction of the _châsses_ and the dispersion of the relics was
ordered by the Convention, and carried out by the notorious
constitutional bishop Gobel. We cannot but lament the loss to art of
these reliquaries; whether, reading over the list in full of the relics
given by Canon Morand, we need sigh over their destruction, is another
matter. They had swollen in number since S. Louis' time, and besides a
portion of the true cross, the crown of thorns, and the lance, there was
the rod of Moses, the cross of victory borne by the Emperors of the
East, part of the purple mantle, the reed, and other instruments of the
Passion, the linen with which Our Lord wiped the Apostles' feet, the
sponge, the handcuffs, the holy blood, the Virgin's veil and a piece of
her hair, an imprint of the face of Our Lord, a piece of the Holy
Sepulchre, and the upper part of the head of S. John Baptist. All these
objects, and one or two others which it is needless to mention, were
enclosed in the reliquaries which either stood or hung in the great
_châsse_. But other valuables were kept elsewhere. There existed up to
the reign of Louis XVI. an elegant little sacristy upon the north-east
side, having two storeys, in which were deposited deeds, charters, and
gold and silver vessels for the use of the altar. In it was kept the
splendid agate, now in the Bibliothèque Nationale, representing the
Apotheosis of Augustus, which was absolutely presented to the people as
a _pax_ upon great festivals, until de Peiresc, Councillor of the
Parlement of Provence, about 1619, discovered the mistake, and the
so-called "Triumph of Joseph" became acknowledged to be the "Apotheosis
of Augustus." A careful drawing of the cameo was made by de Peiresc's
friend Rubens, which was engraved by Luc Vosterman of Antwerpen. It was
called in the inventory of the chapel _le Grand Camahieu_ and the _Agate
de Tibère_; it is, indeed, the largest known, and is of most exquisite
workmanship. The whole family of the Cæsars is represented; some on
earth, some in Heaven. The cracks in it are mentioned in the inventory
of 1480, and it is described as: _Item unum pulcherrimum camaut in cujus
circuitu sunt plures reliquiæ._ The cameo is supposed to have been one
of the treasures brought by S. Louis from Constantinople. In 1343,
Philippe VI. sent it to the Pope who had desired to see it, but Charles
V. restored it to the chapel in 1379, and then the chapter made their
possession certain, by engraving upon the socle: _ce camaieu bailla à la
Sainte-Chapelle du Palais, Charles cinquième de ce nom, roi de France,
qui fut fils du roi Jean, l'an MCCCLXXIX_. The Byzantine mounting,
described by Tristan de Saint-Amant, was melted up when the cameo was
stolen, in 1804: _Car les quatres évangélistes sont représentés de part
et d'autre du châssis ou tableau d'or, dans lequel cette pierre est
enchâssée._
[Illustration]
Another antique, an agate bust of Valentinian III.,[6] was metamorphosed
into a S. Louis, and formed the crowning point of the precentor's mace.
The clothing of this bust in silver-gilt drapery, the placing of a crown
of thorns in the right-hand and a cross in the left, show the manner in
which objects of Pagan art were adapted to Christian uses. That S. Louis
should appear as a fat middle-aged man with a clean shaven face and
cropped hair, was an anomaly of no consequence to the Mediæval artists.
Another instance of the same _naïveté_ is the bust of Caracalla which
formerly figured as a S. Peter upon the cover of a book of the Gospels,
now in the department of manuscripts. The cover is of silver-gilt,
Christ crucified with the Virgin and S. John upon either side, the
amethyst bust being placed at the foot of the cross. Upon the other
side is Christ enthroned, and an imitation emerald which no doubt
represents some precious gem that has since disappeared.
[Illustration: THE CHAPEL IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY.]
Some idea of the richness of the contents of the treasury may be formed
by stating that the list of the images, vessels, reliquaries, crosses,
&c., in the last inventory, taken in 1784, occupies twenty pages of
Morand's book. Besides the objects already mentioned we read of a
silver-gilt statue of S. Louis d'Anjou; a fragment of the cup of S.
Martin; a portion of the tunic of S. Louis; an ivory Virgin, and thirty
reliquaries of the 13th and 14th centuries. These were all conveyed to
S. Denis on the 12th March, 1791, in a coach drawn by eight horses, and
guarded by a chaplain and an officer of the king's household, who gave
them over to the Benedictines, then still at the Abbey. In 1793 the
relics trundled back to Paris in a procession which mimicked the former
one, and after being taken to the Convention, they were melted up at the
mint.
The Royal archives were stowed away in two great rooms above the
sacristy of the upper church. When they were first installed there, is
not known; but in 1615, when an inventory was drawn up by Pierre Dupuy
and Theodore Godefroy, there were three hundred and fifty drawers, two
hundred and sixty registers, fifty-two sacks, forty-two shelves, and
fifteen coffers. This inventory consists of eight volumes of manuscripts
in folio. In 1783 the sacristry was sacrificed to the love of symmetry
in the new Cour d'honneur, and the archives were removed to the
Chancellerie du Palais. At the present time some of them are in the
Bibliothèque, but the greater part are at the Archives Nationale in the
Rue Rambuteau.
The state of dilapidation into which the chapel had fallen when the
restoration was commenced, was terrible. The tracery of the windows was
destroyed, the glass was broken and filled up with plaster, the _flèche_
and gargoyles had disappeared, and the interior was filled with shelves
and woodwork for the storage of the archives. But the beautiful
Renaissance staircase of forty-four steps (the scene of Boileau's poem,
the _Lutrin_) had disappeared long before.
The dimensions of the building are as follow:--
Length of exterior 36 mètres.
Length of interior 33 "
Width of exterior 17 "
Width of interior 10.70 "
Height of exterior from the ground of the lower chapel
to the point of the gable of the _façade_ 42.50 "
Height of the _flèche_ to the summit 33.25 "
Height of the vault of the lower chapel under the
key-stone 6.50 "
Height of the vault of the upper-chapel 20.50 "
M. Viollet-le-Duc, in his "Dictionnaire Raisonné de l'Architecture,"
thus describes the building: "De la base au faîte, l'edifice est
entièrement construit en pierre dure de choix, connue sous le nom de
liais cliquart (Portland stone) chaque assise est cramponnée par des
agrafes de fer coulées en plomb, les tailles et la pose sont exécutées
avec une précision rare; la sculpture en est composée et ciselée avec un
soin particulier. Sur aucun point on ne peut constater ces négligences
qui ne sont que trop souvent le résultat de la précipitation." At page
401 of the above work is an explanation of the system of courses
employed by Pierre de Montereau--a manner of strengthening masonry which
was in use before this period (13th century), but which was improved
upon by the great architect of the Sainte-Chapelle. It is very similar
to the system now in use.
The only communication between the lower and upper chapels at the
present time is by means of the small turret staircase, but formerly the
upper church was approached by a wide exterior flight of forty-four
steps. It was reconstructed many times, and the last one, in the
Egyptian style, was dated 1811. The demolition of this is no loss; but
it seems a pity it should not have been replaced by one in better taste,
as the only approach to the upper chapel (except the turret stairs) is
through the corridors of the Palais de Justice.
The first thing that strikes the visitor upon entering is the enormous
size of the windows, which occupy the entire space between the
buttresses, and rise to the base of the roof. All the weight of the
vaulting rests, therefore, upon the exterior buttresses, but not the
slightest inflection has ever taken place. The church is built truly
east and west, the entrance to each chapel being by separate portals.
The only modification the exterior of the building has sustained since
S. Louis' time is the addition of a little oratory attributed to Louis
XI., and the rebuilding of a part of the _façade_ in the 15th century.
The porch of the lower chapel is divided into two bays by a pier, on
which is a statue of the Blessed Virgin, while above in the tympanum, is
a representation of the _Coronation of the Virgin_. The restoration of
this and the entire ornament of the doorway is the work of M.
Geoffroy-Dechaume. The original statue had the reputation of working
miracles; and it is related that when, towards 1304, Jean Duns Scotus, a
celebrated theologian of the University of Paris, was praying at its
feet, it bent its head in approval of the doctrine of the Immaculate
Conception, which that learned doctor was teaching. It has since always
remained in the same position. The portal of the upper chapel is of the
same character as the lower one, but richer in its decoration. It is
nearly all new, for the old ornament had not only been mutilated, but
had been completely chiselled off. The _voussure_ is a mass of
sculptures--single figures, groups, and ornament. The figures are
forty-four in number: Angels carrying the elect to heaven, Angels
censing and bearing crowns, martyrs with the instruments of their
sufferings, and the lost souls surrounded by the flames of hell, the
whole forming a framework to the central subject in the tympanum, the
_Last Judgement_; the work is a marvel of patient study, modelled upon
the portals of Notre-Dame and S. Germain l'Auxerrois, each figure having
been fitted into its place upon the lines of the original wherever any
traces of the old sculptures had been preserved.
[Illustration]
The plan of the church is a parallelogram, terminating in a polygonal
apse. The buttresses reach to the parapet, and terminate in pinnacles
surrounded by gargoyles ornamented with the most grotesque birds and
beasts. The windows of the nave are divided into four lights, with
foliated circles in the heads very similar to those of the Chapter House
at Salisbury. Several _flèches_ have preceded the present one; the first
fell in the reign of Charles VI., the second was burnt in the great fire
of 16th July, 1630; the third was erected by Louis XIII. in the ogival
style of that period, and remained until the 17th century. When it was
destroyed, in 1791, it contained five bells, which had been cast in
1738; the Dauphin, the Duc d'Orléans, the Duc de Chartres, and the first
President of the Chambre des Comptes being their sponsors. The present
_flèche_ was erected in 1853, and is in the style of the 15th century.
It is of wood, covered with lead, and consists of three octagonal
storeys supporting the spire.
[Illustration]
On the lower storey are colossal statues of the twelve Apostles, most of
them portraits, the S. Thomas being that of the sculptor Lassus. The
gables of the upper storey support Angels with the instruments of the
Passion. The crockets of the spire are _fleurs-de-lys_, and the whole is
resplendent with gilding. The summit of the _chevet_ is surmounted by a
huge Angel, in lead, holding a processional cross. There was an idea,
never carried out, of making this statue turn round mechanically upon a
pivot during the twenty-four hours, that it might present the symbol of
salvation successively to all quarters of the city. The masks upon the
pedestal of this figure are all portraits of the artists and workmen
engaged upon the restoration of the chapel, posing as the Kings of
France. The oratory, erected by Louis XI., between the two buttresses of
the fourth bay, upon the south side, is decorated with niches and
corbels of human heads.
The vaulting of the lower chapel is supported by fourteen single-shaft
pillars, surrounded by foliated capitals of various designs. The walls
are decorated with arcading, terminated at the east end by an apse. The
two columns without capitals were added at the same time as the apsidal
tribune in the upper chapel. The decoration is in imitation of the
original 13th century work, some of which, a fragment of an
_Annunciation_, was discovered in removing the remains of some later
work in a style utterly at variance with the architecture, by Martin
Fréminet, painter to Henri IV. and Louis XIII. In 1691 the tracery of
the windows and the stained glass were destroyed and replaced by white
in order to give extra light. Formerly there were seven altars and a
font in the lower chapel, Boileau, whose father had a house in the court
of the palace, being amongst those who were baptised there.
The upper chapel is one of those buildings which one never tires of
admiring. When we wend our way up the turret stairs, and enter it from
the semi-darkness of the crypt, it strikes us as the most exquisite
scheme of colour imaginable. Add to the beauty of the chapel all the
associations which crowd upon the memory--S. Louis' beautiful faith and
noble life, his enthusiasm for God's work and man's welfare; all the
ceremonies and the processions which have taken place there, with the
lights, the flowers, and the incense, and our imagination forms a
picture that no hand could adequately paint. The chapel is composed of
four bays for the nave, and seven smaller for the apse. The vault is
groined and is supported by clustered columns and capitals ornamented
with foliage. The windows occupy the entire space between the supporting
pillars, and are filled with most beautiful stained glass;[7] while
below is an arcade rising from a stone seat. The capitals of the
columns are most exquisitely carved in imitation of the flora of France,
and the quatrefoils between the arches are filled with a kind of
decoration which is as rare as it is effective. The designs were drawn
upon the stone, and the backgrounds filled in with incrustations of blue
glass and gold, the subjects being taken from the lives of the martyrs.
Most of them have been restored; but, very wisely, two or three have
been left in the state in which they were discovered. Between the arches
of the arcades are Angels with outstretched arms, who seem to be
crowning the martyrs in the quatrefoils. At the third bay of the nave on
each side are recesses which formed reserved places for some privileged
persons during Mass; and it is thought that they were probably occupied
by the king and queen, the former on the Gospel, the latter on the
Epistle side. On the south wall is a slanting recess, which formerly
must have served as a chapel, as there was an altar at the end of it
having a painted reredos representing the interior of the great
_châsse_, with all its contents ranged in proper order, and S. Louis
praying before it. It is supposed that Louis XI. may have used this
niche as a place where he could pray without being seen, but in sight of
the altar and the relics.
It has always been the custom at the consecration of a church to place a
cross wherever the sign of the cross had been made by the bishop. The
architect of the Sainte-Chapelle conceived the happy idea of placing the
twelve Apostles as pillars of the Church, supporting these crosses,
which are in the form of monstrances. The pedestals on which the figures
stand are affixed to the pillars, and the statues, like the rest of the
church, are painted and gilt, those of the 13th century being marvellous
examples of the sculpture of that period. After the closing of the
chapel these statues were sent to the Musée des Monuments Français; but
when the Museum was suppressed they were dispersed or broken up. S.
Peter was discovered in fragments at S. Denis, another was given to the
church at Creteil, where it passed as S. Louis, and four were given to
the missionaries for their Calvary at Mt. Valerien. The latter were in
perfect preservation, and the colour had not disappeared. They remained
at the entrance of one of the chapels of the Way of the Cross until
1830, when some senseless vandals threw them down and broke them; but
the fragments were preserved, and are now in the garden of the Hôtel
Cluny, a museum of fragments. The rest were replaced in the chapel, and
are the fourth and fifth on each side facing the altar; all the others
are new.
The pavement is modern incised stone, with incrustations of colour,
representing geometrical patterns, animals, and flowers. In the apse are
subjects--the _Four rivers of Paradise_, and the _Seven Sacraments_ in
the form of rivers. The altar is an exact copy of the original one.
Above it is the tribune and canopy where the relics were exposed, with a
spiral staircase leading up to it;[8] the northern one is ancient, and
was found by Alexandre Lenoir, in the Musée des Petits-Augustins, where
for half a century it had been attached to the _façade_ of the Château
de Gaillon, a 16th century work, now in the court of the Ecole des
Beaux-Arts. On one side of the apse is a very beautiful _piscina_. Part
of the _baldachino_ is ancient, and the rest has been restored from old
drawings.
Formerly several statues occupied places in the chapel; one, a
terra-cotta Notre-Dame de Pitié, by Germain Pilon, which is now in the
chapel of the military school of St. Cyr. A 16th century _jubé_, with
altars attached to it, marked the nave from the chancel. The retables of
these altars (now in the Louvre) were in enamel, signed and dated
Léonard Limousin, 1533, and contain portraits of François I. and his
second wife, Eléonore d'Autriche, sister of Charles V. and of Henri II.
and Catherine de'Medici, all kneeling. The choir was filled with carved
stalls of the time of Henri II. At the four corners of the altar
pavement, Henri III. elevated bronze Angels upon black marble pillars.
On the _retro_-altar was a silver-gilt model of the chapel, three or
four feet high, executed in 1631 by Pijard, goldsmith, and guardian of
the relics. This contained some of the treasures, and was considered a
very fine work of art, costing some 13,000 _livres_. There is an
excellent drawing of the original altar in Viollet-le-Duc's dictionary.
Canon Morand tells us, in his history of the chapel, that the
_ciborium_, which is usually placed in the tabernacle, was here
suspended in front of the altar--probably the _retro_-altar, as in the
engraving of the High Altar in the Canon's book, there is no
representation of it. All the old furniture of the church has
disappeared, the carved stalls, the _jubé_, the altars, and the pulpit.
Upon the subject of letting, or taking money for seats or chairs in
church, the Abbé waxes wrathful. Nothing is more "indécent que de vendre
ou de louer des places à l'Eglise. En Angleterre et en Hollande on est
assis dans les Temples sans aucun frais, et sans être interrompu par les
Mandians, par les quêteurs, ou par les loueurs de chaises; en quoi les
non-Catholiques nous donnent un bel exemple à suivre, si nous étions
assez raisonables et assez désinterressés pour cela." This is a proof
that the letting of pews which prevailed in this country some years ago
was a bad departure from the free-and-open seat system of the last
century; and the picture drawn of the restlessness of a French church,
from the incessant perambulating of the _Suisses_, the _quêteurs_, and
the chair-owners, is as true now as it was in the time of Morand.
[Illustration: THE JUBÉ, SIXTEENTH CENTURY.]
The Canon then goes on to record the want of reverence of the
congregation, how they just _half_ kneel when the bell rings; how they
must needs sit, and even gossip, during the short quarter of an hour
occupied by a low mass; how they take snuff and bear themselves
generally, and then go out and stand about for the greater part of the
day at their business.
S. Louis ordained, in his foundation charters, that the offerings
received by the priests at the altar should be devoted to the reparation
of the glass, and that if it should be insufficient, the necessary funds
should be taken from the Royal Treasury deposited at the Temple. The
restoration of the windows is now complete, this being the work of MM.
Steinheil and Lusson. These artists have done their work so well, and
matched the colours so perfectly, that it is difficult to distinguish
the new from the old. The rose-window is of the 15th century, the others
of the 13th century. The subjects are from the Old and New Testament,
and from the life of S. Louis. Some of these latter are original, and,
as it is probable that the artists assisted at the ceremonies held in
the chapel, it is also probable that the pictures may be true portraits
of the personages represented. The subjects of the rose-window are all
taken from the Apocalypse.
Such is the chapel which was so dear to the King that he felt a
"_malaise_" when he heard divine service elsewhere, and of which the
troubadour Rutebeuf sings the praises in a poem written after the death
of the Saint, entitled, _Les Regrès au roys Loeys_:
Chapèle de Paris! bien ères maintenue
La mort, ce m'est aduis, t'a fet desconvenue
Du miex de tes amys, t'a laissée toute nue
De la mort, sont plaintifs et grant gent et menue."--
(_MS. Bibliothèque Nationale._)
SAINT-DENIS.
Although the Benedictine abbey church of S. Denis is some miles from
Paris, it is so mixed up with the history of the capital that it ought
not to be omitted in a series of "Paris Churches." Moreover, as it is by
far the finest church in, or near, the metropolis, and one of the
grandest examples of French 13th century architecture, no one ought to
grudge the tiresome journey by train or tram in order to see it, even if
his stay in Paris be limited to a few days. The only thing required to
make it perfectly beautiful is new stained glass in the windows of the
clerestory to replace that put up during the early years of this
century, a horrible example of the execrable taste of the period.
[Illustration: THE ABBEY CHURCH FROM THE GRANDE PLACE.]
S. Denis was one of the sacred spots of mediæval Europe--a species of
Christian Mecca. "Si les lieux sont reputez saincts," says one of its
children, Dom Millet,[9] "à cause des choses sainctes faictes ou
aduenuës en iceux, comme ont esté est sont encores, les montagnes de
Thabor et de Caluaire, ou bien à cause des choses sainctes qu'ils
contiennent, comme estoit l'Arche d'Alliance, et le Sancta Sanctorum des
Juifs; je croy qu'il n'y a personne qui n'aduoüe que l'Eglise de S.
Denys en France ne soit vn lieu tres-sainct en toutes ces
considerations, puis qu'elle a esté dediée des propres mains de nostre
Sauueur Jesus-Christ, descendu exprés du Ciel auec vne grande multitude
d'Anges et de Saincts, et qu'elle contient en soy tant des choses
sainctes, et des Reliques si precieuses et rares." It was a poor but
worthy leper who saw this strange vision. He had been left shut up in
the church, when in the dead of night he was startled by a dazzling
light; and then he beheld the Saviour, His Apostles, multitudes of
Angels, and S. Denis and his companions. Our Lord sprinkled the church
with holy water, and S. Denis and his companions served Him; and then He
said to the leper: "_Go and tell le bon roy Dagobort what thou hast
seen._" "_But how can a poor leper penetrate the presence of the King?_"
said he. Then a wondrous miracle was performed; the Saviour touching him
with his finger, made the leper clean. Then he went to the King, and
they all believed.
Not only was S. Denis specially favoured by this miraculous dedication,
but it was privileged by Charlemagne in a charter, as the chief and
mistress of all the churches in the kingdom; and its abbot as the
Primate of all the prelates of France. This great man was allowed to
have six deacons vested in dalmatics whenever he officiated, an honour
conferred upon him by Pope Stephen III. when he consecrated the High
Altar in 753, and at the same time anointed and crowned King Pépin and
Queen Bertrade, and their two sons Charles and Carloman. People, high
and low, from all the ends of the earth, flocked to the famous abbey as
we now rush to the World's Fairs; and the great ones of the earth,
princes, nobles, and ambassadors, considered that they had seen nought
of the civilised world if they had not paid their respects to the relics
at S. Denis. Some went for love, some out of sheer curiosity to see the
riches of the treasury: divers crosses, reliquaries, statues, vases,
chalices, and other vessels for the altars; S. Denis' mitre, chalice,
and rings; the famous head of solid silver gilt, containing his skull,
and presented to the abbey by Marguerite de France in 1360; a wonderful
golden cup enriched with precious stones which had belonged to King
Solomon, and a rock crystal vase from the Temple of the wise man--both
the gift of Charles the Bald. He, being abbot, made it his custom to
attend "the duties of his station at the Abbaye, on the solemn
festivals, passing the day in pious conversation with the monks and in
religious observances." He also made considerable donations,[10] added
to the many lamps which are kept continually burning before the shrines,
and increased the number of wax tapers employed in the services of the
church. Then further, amongst the curiosities, were the nail of a
griffin upon a silver-gilt animal; a unicorn's horn six feet high, sent
by Aaron King of Persia to Charlemagne; the hunting horn of Roland,
nephew of Charlemagne; and the lantern which was used at the betrayal of
our Lord in the Garden, called the Lantern of Judas. The latter was of
copper, embellished by rock crystal, through which the light shone.
(This was also the gift of Charles the Bald). The mirror of the prince
of poets, Virgil, which was of jet; the sword of the _genereuse Amazone,
Jeanne la Pucelle_. Of the beauty of the croziers and pastoral crosses,
the mitres and episcopal rings, Dom Millet's description leaves no
doubt; and of the magnificence of the abbots, and the splendour of their
monastery, we have more than ample evidence. As an old epigram puts it:
Au tems passé du siècle d'or,
Crosse de _bois_, Evêque d'or,
Maintenant changent les lois,
Crosse d'or, Evêque de _bois_.
The Huguenots destroyed many of the church ornaments, ruined chapels,
and worse still, "ces impies la pillerent (S. Denis) et dissiperent
entierement, sans y laisser aucune chose, sinon ce qu'ils ne voulutent
point. Ils ne pouuoient faire pis, sinon mettre le feu par tout le
Monastere, comme ils firent en tant d'autres par la France." It was
supposed that the "Prince de Condé, leur chef," was not present at these
little pastimes of his valiant soldiers, for when he heard what had been
done "il fit pendre vne douzaine, pour monstrer comment il detestoit
leur sacrilege: mais pour cela les pertes ne furent pas reconnettes."
In a _History of the Royal Abbaye of Saint Denis_, published in London
in 1795, we have some curious details connected with the church. "Every
Sunday and Holy Day at mass, the Deacons and Sub-deacons, after having
received the 'precious body of Our Lord,' repaired to a side altar to
suck up through a reed, enclosed in a tube of enamelled gold, the
'precious blood,' according to a very ancient custom adopted in the
church of S. Denis, which is retained without any variation to this
day." Whether this was so, or whether it was the result of the anonymous
writer's imagination, I cannot say, as I find nothing about it in other
books that I have studied.
The same author speaks of the "miraculous silver keys of S. Denis which
they apply to the faces of those persons who have been so unfortunate as
to be bitten by mad dogs, and who receive a certain and immediate relief
by only touching them." Alas, that these keys should have been melted
up; for here was a cure for hydrophobia without any of the vicarious
suffering which M. Pasteur's discovery has caused.
The legend of S. Denis, the patron of France, is exceedingly
picturesque. By some ecclesiastical authorities he is said to have lived
in the 1st century, by others in the 2nd or 4th, but by most he is one
and the same person as Dionysius the Areopagite. Hilduin, abbot of S.
Denis at the beginning of the 9th century, seems to have had no doubt
upon the subject, and in art the Saint and the disciple of S. Paul have
always been looked upon as the self-same personage, although tradition
records the existence of another S. Denis, a bishop of Paris, in the 3rd
century. Dionysius was an Athenian philosopher named Theosophus.
Travelling in Egypt to study astrology with a companion named
Apollophanes, they were surprised by a strange darkness that came over
the heavens, and were naturally much troubled thereby. Returning to
Athens, Dionysius heard S. Paul preach, and thereupon being converted to
Christianity, he understood that the darkness which he had seen at
Heliopolis was none other than that which fell upon the earth for the
space of three hours when the Blessed Redeemer was crucified. Baptised
and ordained priest, Dionysius subsequently became bishop of Athens; and
in some of the writings attributed to him he relates that he travelled
to Jerusalem to see the Blessed Virgin, whom he found continually
surrounded by a dazzling light, and attended by a company of Angels. He
also gives an account of her death at which he was present with certain
of the Apostles. After this, he returned to Athens and was subsequently
present at S. Paul's martyrdom in Rome. Thence he was sent by S. Clement
to preach the Gospel, together with a priest named Rusticus, and a
deacon Eleutherius. Arrived at Paris, an exceeding great city full of
people and provided with all the good things of the earth, they found it
so attractive that it seemed to them another Athens, and so they
sojourned there, teaching the people, who were learned in all things but
the way of truth. S. Denis then sent missionaries into other parts of
Gaul, and into Germany. But these successes were not pleasing unto
Satan, and so he stirred up the nobles against the good bishop, who was
accused before the Emperor Trajan. Some say it was Domitian, but in
either case the result was the despatch of one Frescennius, a
pro-consul, from Rome, with orders to throw Denis and his companions
into prison. This was done, and finding that they would not retract,
they were put to death upon the Hill of Mercury (who was so much
honoured by the Gauls), and which was subsequently called Montmartre
(_Mons Martyrum_).
"Le Saint evêque Denis, et ses deux compagnons, le prêtre Rustique et le
diacre Eleuthère, souffrirent leur mémorable et très-glorieuse passion,
à la vue de la cité des Parisiens, sur la colline qui se nommait
auparavant Mont de Mercure, parce que cette idole y était
particulièrement honorée de Gaulois, et qu'on appelle aujourd'hui le
Mont des Martyrs en mémoire des saints du Seigneur qui accomplirent en
ce lieu même leur martyre triomphal."[11]
Then a stupendous miracle took place. S. Denis not desiring, or not
being permitted, to become food for wolves, took up his decapitated head
in his hands, and walked for the space of two miles, Angels singing by
the way. Accompanied by this celestial body-guard, the Saint marched
over the plains beyond the city, and signified, in some way unrecorded,
that he desired burial where now stands the church dedicated to his
memory. This was accomplished by a pious woman named Catulla, who had
ministered unto the three blessed martyrs in their prison, and who now
laid their mutilated remains in her own field.
Paris formerly, even as late as the last century, contained many spots
sacred to the memory of S. Denis and his three companions. At
Notre-Dame-des-Champs a crypt used to be shown where they preached to
their first disciples. At S. Benoît, now destroyed, there was formerly
an oratory, on the wall of which was an inscription recording that S.
Denis first invoked the name of the Most High on that spot. At S.
Denis-de-la-Chartre was the prison where the martyrs were visited by our
Lord, and where He administered His Blessed Body and Blood to them. At
S. Denis-du-Pas was the ground upon which they suffered their first
tortures; and upon Montmartre the church of S. Pierre records the spot
upon which they were decapitated. The way across the plain from
Montmartre to the place of burial was marked by a succession of crosses,
and the field where the Saint's remains were laid subsequently became
the precincts of the famous abbey.
The first church is said to have been erected before the invasion of the
Franks, but this had fallen into ruins in the 5th century, and it was
through the piety of S. Geneviève and the people of Paris that it was
rebuilt. This Saint, like all good Parisians, held S. Denis in great
esteem; and it was during a visit paid to his shrine that her taper,
maliciously blown out by the arch-enemy, was successfully relighted
through the fervour of her prayers. Gregoire de Tours relates many
wondrous miracles which took place in the new church for the benefit of
the faithful and the chastisement of the wicked.
[Illustration: SILVER STATUETTE FORMERLY IN THE TREASURY.]
But the magnificence with which Dagobert rebuilt and endowed S. Denis
completely eclipsed the work of the maid of Nanterre; and so effectually
was the king looked upon as the founder of the abbey that, up to the
dissolution of the monasteries, the monks celebrated his festival upon
the 19th of January with great solemnity and splendour. It was about the
year 630 that Dagobert undertook the rebuilding of the church, which is
said to have been decorated with precious marbles, magnificent bronze
doors, and gold and silver vessels enriched with precious stones. These
latter, and the shrine of the Saint, as well as the great cross at the
entrance of the choir, were the work of the famous artificer in metals,
S. Eloy, who was also the maker of the shrines of SS. Martin, Germain,
and Geneviève. These, and, in fact, all this great smith's works (as far
as is known) have perished; but his memory is still preserved by
pictures and sculptures representing some of the legendary incidents of
his life. In the Firenze Academy is a picture by Botticelli, and at the
church of Or San Michele is a statue and a bas-relief, both of which
represent one of the great events of the Saint's life. A horse having
been brought to him to be shod, the animal proved restive, and the Saint
being exercised in his mind as to how he should keep the beast still,
bethought him of an excellent plan. He calmly cut off the leg, and
placing it upon his anvil, fastened on the shoe; this done, he replaced
the leg upon the horse, to the amazement of the beast and the
edification of his owner. Another picture, painted for the Company of
the Goldsmiths, represents S. Eloy under the form of Benvenuto Cellini,
presenting a shrine to King Dagobert, who figures in the costume of
François I^er. In 754, Pépin and his queen Berthe, after being anointed
at S. Denis by Pope Stephen II., began the reconstruction of the
Merovingian church which Charlemagne finished and dedicated in 775. From
that year until the 12th century, little is known of the history of the
abbey. Like all churches and monasteries in the north of France, it was
probably destroyed, and its lands laid waste by the invasions of the
Northmen and the disastrous civil wars which characterised the end of
the Carlovingian dynasty, for nothing remains of the magnificence of the
churches of Dagobert and of Charlemagne but a few columns and marble
capitals in the crypt.
[Illustration: TOMB OF HENRI II. IN THE VALOIS CHAPEL BUILT BY PHILIBERT
DELORME.]
The third and present church was commenced by the great Abbot Suger, and
is considered by many French architects to be the earliest example of
Pointed architecture. Suger erected the tower, the portals, the nave,
and the choir in rapid succession, and subsequently the _chevet_ and
chapels; he filled the windows with the most exquisite jewel-like
stained glass, and loaded the shrines and altars with precious stones.
Some of the sacred vessels formerly belonging to the church are now in
the Salle d'Apollon of the Louvre, and testify to the exquisite
artistic taste as well as to the religious enthusiasm of the good abbot.
"_As it is our duty to present unto God oblations of gems and of gold,
I, Suger, offer this vase unto the Lord_," is the inscription upon an
antique sardonyx amphora which he converted into a vessel for the altar.
The dedication of this church took place twice, in 1140 and 1144, but
it was only to remain intact some 70 years. In 1219, the day after the
feast of the nativity of the Virgin, its _flèche_ was struck by
lightning, and a few years after, the church itself was partially
destroyed. Abbot Eudes Clément replaced the wooden _flèche_ by a stone
one, and raised the interior of the apse; and his third successor,
Matthieu de Vendôme, finished the transept and the nave. The chapels of
the nave upon the north side were built in the 14th century, and a few
unimportant additions were made in the succeeding century. Of the
magnificent circular chapel of the Valois erected for Henri II. and
Catherine de'Medici, nothing remains but a beautiful colonnade, now
forming a sham ruin in the Parc Monceau. The chapel was situated upon
the north of the apse, near the steps, and was destroyed during the
regency of Philippe d'Orléans, in 1719.
It is generally supposed that the destruction of churches and the
despoiling of monasteries in France were the work of the enemies of
religion in the form of the "people." But the kings did not hesitate to
rob the church when they could drain no more money out of their
long-suffering subjects. To Francis I.[12] and Louis XIV. the eighth
commandment was no more binding than the seventh; laws, divine or
otherwise, were made for the vulgar herd, not for their most Christian
Majesties; and so, when the "Grand Monarque" saw fit to please Mme. de
Maintenon by founding St. Cyr, he suppressed the abbacy of S. Denis, and
relieved the monastery of the abbot's revenues for an endowment. This
was the beginning of the downfall, and in 1791, the Benedictines were
dispersed after an occupation of twelve centuries. In the memoirs of the
organist attached to the abbey at the time, there is a touching account
of the last mass celebrated by the prior upon the day of departure. But
the church remained intact, and was even made the _dépôt_ of the relics
of the Sainte-Chapelle,[13] after the suppression of the chaplains
belonging to the latter. The _Moniteur_ of 3rd September, 1791, gives an
account of the sittings of the commission of _savants_, established at
the Bibliothèque des Quatre-Nations, for the consideration of the
preservation of works of art. This commission was appointed by the
National Assembly after the passing of the law for the appropriation of
the property of the clergy by _la chose publique_. M. De Larochefoucauld
was the president of this "Commission des Monuments," assisted by many
artists and _connoisseurs_. They first of all chose certain places as
receptacles for the works of art, and then decided what to keep and what
to destroy. The former quarters of the Petits-Augustins became the
museum of tombs and sepulchral sculptures; and to the Capucins, the
Grands-Jésuites, and the Cordeliers were sent the books and manuscripts.
A descriptive catalogue was drawn up by Alexandre Lenoir,[14] who was
appointed curator in 1790. Unfortunately, much was destroyed, as, for
instance, at the abbey of Royaumont, where two Benedictines, Poirier and
Puthod, were sent by the commission to superintend matters. The
mausoleum of the princes of S. Louis' family was "_démoli avec
adresse_," says the _Moniteur_; the coffins were opened "_avec
circonspection_," the ashes taken up with care, and then, ticketed and
sealed, sent to S. Denis. Les sieurs Puthod and Poirier carried off the
remains of seven princes and six monuments, which arrived just in time
to be packed off to the museum of the Petits-Augustins.
Many of the seventy-three abbots, from Dodon, the first (living in 637),
to the last, Jean-François-Paul de Gondi, Cardinal de Retz, were
distinguished for their piety, for their learning, their greed, or their
vices. Amongst them we find the names of Fulrad, Hilduin, Suger, Mathieu
de Vendôme, the Emperor Charles the Bald, the Kings Eudes, Robert and
Hugues Capet,[15] the Cardinals de Bourbon, de Lorraine, de Guise, and
Mazarin. The conventual buildings were all destroyed in the reign of
Louis XV., and during the Revolution the church suffered in the same way
as Notre-Dame and S. Eustache, by being secularized in the most
revolting manner. But if the Revolutionists destroyed and carried away
monuments, the Imperial architects did worse, for they began a
restoration in their own hideous taste and "style"; and it was not until
a few years ago that the old church was restored to its pristine beauty.
Perhaps few churches have seen more changes than the silent walls of S.
Denis have witnessed. The burial place of most of the kings of France,
it was also upon its High Altar that Louis le Gros deposited the
_oriflamme_, the famous standard of France,[16] while some seven
centuries later, its tombs were only preserved from utter ruin by the
wit of Alexandre Lenoir. Even the church itself was threatened with
destruction, and was only saved by an architect seriously suggesting
that it should be turned into a market, the side chapels forming shops.
By turns a Temple of Reason, a _dépôt_ of artillery, a theatre of
acrobats, a flour warehouse, and a granary, its desecration was not
consummated until the glass was removed, and the leaden covering of its
roof converted into bullets. Napoleon saved what remained, and began
restoring it as a resting-place for the defunct members of his dynasty.
The Concordat guaranteed it a chapter, and religious services were
restored.[17] But the 19th century proved as disastrous as wars and
revolutions. Lightning once more brought down the _flèche_ in 1837, and
again in 1846; and scrapings and cleanings carried away all the old
surfaces of the walls. Still, through the talent and learning of
Viollet-le-Duc, it is one of the finest of 13th century churches, and
now that the tombs have all been replaced in their former positions, one
of the most interesting.
[Illustration: THE NORTH-WEST DOORWAY.]
The _façade_ has three doorways, which are rich in the somewhat rude
sculpture of the time of Suger. The subject of the central tympanum and
_voussure_ is The Last Judgment. Christ is pronouncing the last
sentence, surrounded by the dead who are rising from their graves. His
Blessed Mother is interceding for sinners, and Abraham is receiving the
elect into his bosom. The Apostles, and the four-and-twenty elders,
holding musical instruments, and vases for the reception of the prayers
of the just as a sweet-smelling incense, are there, looking on at the
damned tossed into hell. Upon the stylobate of the portal we read the
parable of the Wise and foolish Virgins.
The southern doorway is decorated with the Martyrdom of S. Denis, and
the appearance of our Blessed Lord to the holy martyrs while in prison.
Unfortunately, much of these bas-reliefs is modern.
Some statues on one of the transept doorways are curious examples of how
a fraud may be perpetuated. They represent, without doubt, some members
of the royal house of David, but at some period they were said to be
kings of the Capétien line, and as such, casts were taken and sent to
Versailles, where they figured as portrait statues of Hugues Capet,
Robert, Henri, Philippe, Louis VI., and Louis VII. The capitals of the
columns and the foliage ornament of these portals are vastly superior in
style to the figures.
On each side of the western rose-window are some bands of black and
white marble, after the manner of the churches of Pisa and Genoa,
_souvenirs_, probably, of Suger's travels in Italy. Indeed, he tells us
in the account of his administration that he took much trouble in
preserving a mosaic which he had brought home and placed in the tympanum
of one of the doors. This was unfortunately replaced, in 1774, by a
bas-relief of the meanest possible workmanship.
The interior consists of a nave and two aisles, with a _chevet_ of seven
chapels at the east end, considerably raised above the level of the
nave. Access to these chapels is gained by a flight of steps on each
side of the High Altar, and under them is the royal crypt. The whole of
the east end of the church, the double aisles, with their single-shaft
pillars, the chapels, the vaulting, and the glass, form a mass of
colour, and a most beautiful _coup d'œil_;[18] indeed, there is but
one eyesore in the whole building, the aforesaid series of windows
representing Louis Philippe's heroic deeds. Blue swallow-tailed coats
and white trousers scarcely form a costume which is either effective or
appropriate as designs for church windows.
The wood carving of the stalls is of the 15th century, and was brought
from the abbey of S. Lucien-lez-Beauvais; the inlaid marquetry work at
the backs of the seats is from the Château de Gaillon, built by Cardinal
d'Amboise. Many of the _misérérés_ have the usual quaint conceits which
one sees everywhere. Portions of the old glass were preserved by Lenoir
in the museum of the Petits-Augustins during the stormy period, and were
afterwards replaced in the windows of the apse. They consist mainly of
fragments of a tree of Jesse, and may be found in the chapel of the
Virgin. There are in all eleven lozenge-shaped medallions representing
scenes in the life of Moses, and mystical subjects from the Apocalypse,
bearing inscriptions by Suger. Upon the medallion of the Annunciation,
the good abbot himself is portrayed prostrate before the Blessed Virgin.
In one or two of the other chapels there are a few fragments of the
legend of S. Laurence.
[Illustration: THE LADY CHAPEL.]
Of the early kings of France Dagobert was the first to be buried at S.
Denis, and his memorial tomb (much restored) still stands on the right
of the High Altar. Clovis and Clotilde were buried in the crypt of the
first church erected upon the site of S. Geneviève, then called the
Church of the Holy Apostles. Childebert was laid in the church of the
Abbey of S. Vincent (founded by him), afterwards called S.
Germain-des-Près. Chlodoald was buried at S. Cloud; S. Radegonde, wife
of Clotaire I., at Poitiers; Chilpéric and Frédégonde laid the body of
one of their children in the first church of S. Denis. Besides Dagobert
I., his queen, Nanthilde, and their sons, Sigebert II. and Clovis II.
were buried at S. Denis; and although it is thought that other
Merovingian princes also received burial there, many repose at Chelles,
S. Waast d'Arras, S. Bertin, S. Etienne de Choisy, Metz, Angoulême, S.
Romain de Blaye, Jumièges, and S. Crépin de Soissons. The monuments of
Charles-Martel, Pépin and Berthe, Carloman, Charles the Bald,
Ermentrude, Louis, Carloman, and Eudes were all at S. Denis. Charlemagne
was buried at Aix-la-Chapelle, where the magnificent _châsses_
containing his skull and some of his bones may still be seen. His
descendants were distributed all over Europe: at Köln, Mainz, Prüm,
Regensburg, Loresheim, Oettinghen, Reichenau, Audlau, Verona, Milan, and
Piacenza; those in France, at Metz, Sens, Bourges, S. Laurent, S.
Sulpice, Tours, Angers, Lyon, Portiers, Compiègne, Reims, Péronne, and
Soissons.
[Illustration: URN SCULPTURED FOR THE HEART OF FRANÇOIS I^{er.}]
From Hugues Capet to Louis XV. most of the kings were interred at S.
Denis; but it must be borne in mind that almost all the tombs of the
earlier sovereigns are modern, either wholly or in part. In the 13th
century the strange custom came into fashion of dividing the bodies of
royal personages, and burying the parts in different places. The
Benedictine monks of S. Denis protested against this division of
valuable property, asserting their right to possess the entire remains
of the kings; but the Dominicans and the Cordeliers contested these
claims, and subsequently gained permission for their own churches to
share in the spoil. Later on, other religious orders obtained the same
privileges; and the ladies of Val-de-Grâce were distinguished by the
possession of the hearts of nearly all the royal princes and princesses
from Anne d'Autriche, the founder of the monastery. Naturally, when each
defunct sovereign was divided into three portions--the body, the heart,
and the intestines--great opportunities were afforded to architects and
sculptors; and we thus find three marble monuments with recumbent
figures erected for the remains of Charles V., that at S. Denis
containing his body, while Rouen and Maubuisson respectively possessed
his heart and his _et ceteras_.[19] Francis I.'s heart was placed in an
exquisite urn in the church of the nuns of Haute-Bruyère; while his body
was buried in the grand monument at S. Denis. The urn was the work of
Pierre Bontems, and is now in the same chapel as the tomb, which was the
joint work of Philibert Delorme and Bontems. The beautiful group of the
_Three Graces_, by Germain Pilon, formerly in the church of the
Célestins, and now in the Renaissance Museum of the Louvre, supported an
urn containing the heart of Henri II.;[20] the hearts of the 13th and
14th Louis, enveloped in shrines in the form of silver Angels, being the
property of the church of the Jesuits. The number of monuments erected
at S. Denis to the memory of the families of the sovereigns was small;
and none of them were to be compared, as works of art, to the beautiful
tombs of the Dukes of Bourgogne and of Brétagne at Dijon, at Bruges, and
at Nantes. Most of the princes of the different families, the Condés,
the Contis, the Valois, the Bourbons, &c., had founded chapels or
monasteries where they were afterwards buried; as, for instance, the
Orléans chapel at the Célestins, which was celebrated for its
magnificence.[21]
[Illustration: THE CHOIR AND SANCTUARY.]
None of the monuments of the early kings are anterior to the 13th
century; consequently, even the original portions of the effigies which
remain cannot be looked upon as in the slightest degree portrait
statues. On the other hand, the magnificent tombs in bronze, and the
brasses which adorned them, erected to the memory of Philippe Auguste,
S. Louis, and his father, and which were destroyed centuries ago, were
most probably as valuable as contemporary portraits as they were for
their workmanship; likewise the 13th century effigies which remain are
remarkable for the beauty of their workmanship. Louis IV. was the last
prince who was laid under a simple stone monument. The last tomb erected
was that of Henri II., the sovereigns who followed him having had no
memorials. They were laid together in one great crypt, and when
disturbed by the Revolutionists for the sake of the lead of their
coffins ("of the coffins of our old tyrants let us make bullets to hurl
at our enemies"), there were fifty-four bodies arranged upon iron
trestles side by side, Henri IV.[22] heading the list, and the Dauphin,
elder son of Louis XVI., ending it. The monuments now occupy the same
position that they did before the Revolution; and if we stand upon the
raised platform of the apse behind the High Altar we can gaze down upon
what may be called the history of France, from the artistic point of
view, during four or five centuries. On the left, the 13th century tomb
of Dagobert stands erect; beyond it, the Renaissance mausoleum of
Francis I., one of the _chefs-d'œuvres_ of that grand sculptor,
Philibert Delorme. On the right, the enamelled brasses of the children
of S. Louis and the tomb of Henri II. A mosaic effigy of Frédégonde, the
Orléans monument, and the tomb of Louis XII. by the brothers Juste, of
Tours, complete the list of important works, while all about are
recumbent figures upon arcaded monuments. The resting-places of the
abbots were simply marked by inscriptions or flat slabs. The historian
of the Abbey, Dom Michel Félibien, records the number of thirteen stones
of grand priors with effigies, besides the abbots' tombs.
Among the distinguished men buried at S. Denis were the following:--
Pierre Chambellan, of whom Joinville writes, "Messire Pierre Chambellan
fut le plus loial homme et le plus droicturier que je veisse oncques en
la maision du roi ... l'homme du monde en qui le roy croirit plus"; and
Alphonse, son of Jean de Brienne, King of Jerusalem and uncle of S.
Louis, whose epitaph designates him as "moult saige et moult loial
chevaliers." Both of them died "au service de Dieu et de Monsieur Loys,
roy de France, dessous Cartaige l'an de l'incarnation de Nostre-Seigneur
MCCLXX," and were "enterrés en l'église Monsieur Saint Denis" in the
year MCCLXXI, "le vendredi devant la Penthecoste le jour et l'heure
quand Monsieur le roy Loys fut enterré"; indeed, the old chronicler
says, "aus pieds du bon roys tout en la manière qu'il gisoit à ses pieds
quand il estoit en vie." Pierre accompanied S. Louis in the disastrous
crusade which terminated his reign. No doubt his tomb was of metal,
destroyed with many others long before the Revolution, as for example,
that of the Comte d'Eu, in gilt copper, enriched with enamels, which
succumbed to the greed of the Huguenots.
Close to the tomb of Charles V. were those of Duguesclin, Louis de
Sancerre, Bureau de la Rivière, Arnaud de Guilhem seigneur de Barbazan,
who, before Bayard, was called _le chevalier sans reproche_, and who,
with six others, was victorious over seven English knights in 1404. Near
Duguesclin Charles V. had marked the spot for the burial place of Jean
Pastourel, one of his principal councillors, whose wife was laid at S.
Denis in 1380, but having, sick of the world, retired to the Abbey of S.
Victor towards the end of his life, he desired to be buried there rather
than amidst the splendours of the royal tombs. He was the only civilian
who was offered this much-coveted privilege.
Guillaume de Chastel was another non-royal personage whom it pleased his
master, Charles VII., _pour sa grande vaillance et les services qui lui
avoit faiz en maintes manières_, to bury at S. Denis. The warrior held
the town of Pontoise against the English, and died during the siege,
20th July, 1441. Another _vaillant capitaine de gendarmes_, the
chevalier Louis de Pontoise, fell by the side of Louis XI. at the
assault of the town of Crotoy, and was rewarded by being laid to rest
amongst the Royalties.
Louis XIV. of course accorded burial at S. Denis to his great
commanders. First, the Duc de Châtillon, for his magnificent services.
_Feu nostre très-cher cousin_ was killed at the taking, in 1649, of
Charenton, that peaceful suburb of Paris just outside the Bois de
Vincennes; and the King, wishing to _tesmoigner le ressentiment que nous
avons d'une si grande perte_, honoured the valiant _Duc_ with burial at
S. Denis. The service was to be at the King's expense, which looks as if
the honour were sometimes a costly one to the relatives; and no pomp or
ceremony was to be omitted--such were the instructions of his most
glorious majesty.
The Marquis de Saint Maigrin seems, according to the King's epistle, to
have been of a _valeur extraordinaire, dans toutes les occasions où il
s'est trouvé_; his majesty felt _avec beaucoup de douleur la perte que
nous en avons faite au dernier combat qui s'est fait dans les fauxbourgs
de nostre bonne ville de Paris_; and so he, too, was to rest with the
great ones, socially, of the earth.
Louis seems to have been a sort of complete letter writer; the note in
which he eulogises Turenne might serve as a model for those masters of
style amongst us who delight in long sentences and a scarcity of
full-stops; but, unlike the moderns, "la grande monarque" never gets
involved, he only causes a slight shortness of breath to his readers.
Witness the following page: "Chers et bien amez, les grands et signalez
services qui ont esté rendus à cet Estat par feu nostre cousin, le
vicomte de Turenne, et les preuves éclatantes qu'il a données de son
zèle, de son affection à nostre service, et de sa capacité dans le
commandement de nos armées que nous luy avons confiées avec une
espérance certaine des heureux et grands succès que sa prudence
consommée et sa valeur extraordinaire ont procuré à nos armes, nous
ayant fait ressentir avec beaucoup de douleur la perte d'un aussi grand
homme et d'un sujet aussi nécessaire et aussi distingué par sa vertu et
par sa mérite, nous avons voulu donner un tesmoignage public digne de
nostre estime et de ses grandes actions, en ordonnant qu'il fust rendu à
sa mémoire tous les honneurs qui peuvent marquer à la postérité
l'extrême satisfaction qui nous reste, et le souvenir que nous voulons
conserver de tout ce qu'il a faict pour la gloire de nos armes et pour
le soutien de nostre Estat; et comme nous ne pouvons en donner des
marques plus publiques et plus certaines qu'en prenant soin de sa
sépulture, nous avons voulu y pourvoir en telle sorte que le lieu où
elle séroit, fust un tesmoignage de la grandeur de ses services et de
nostre reconnoissance; c'est pourquoy, ayant résolu de faire bastir dans
l'église de Saint-Denys une chapelle pour la sépulture des rois et des
princes de la branche royale de Bourbon, nous voulons que, lorsqu'elle
sera achevée, le corps de nostredit cousin y soit transféré, pour y
estre mis en lieu honorable, suivant l'ordre que nous en donnerons; et
cependant nous avons permis à nos cousins le cardinal et le duc de
Bouillon, ses neveux, de mettre son corps en dépost dans la chapelle de
Saint-Eustache de ladite église de Saint-Denys, et d'y eslever un
monument à la mémoire de leur oncle, suivant les desseins qui en ont
esté arrestez; c'est de quoy nous avons bien voulu vous donner avis, et
vous dire en mesme temps que nous voulons que vous exécutiez ce qui est
en cela de nostre volonté, en faisant mettre ledit corps dans la cave de
ladite chapelle et en laissant la liberté aux ouvriers de travailler
audit monument jusqu'à son entière perfection. Si n'y faictes fautes;
car tel est nostre plaisir. Donné à Saint-Germain en Laye, le XXIIe
jour de Novembre 1675. _Signé_, Louis. Et plus bas, Colbert. Et sur le
reply: A nos chers et amez les abbé, prieur et religieux de l'abbaye
royale de Saint-Denys, en France."
The projected Bourbon chapel was never built, and the Revolution found
the monument of Turenne in the same chapel, that of S. Eustache, whence
it was trundled out as late as April, 1796, and transported to the
Petits-Augustins; for up to that time Turenne, not being a royal person,
had been left in peace. The demolition of the tombs seems to have gone
on fitfully from 1793 to 1795, as a little diversion between more
exciting events. After the emigration of the nobility in 1790; the
flight of the King to Varennes, and his false swearing to uphold the
constitution in 1792; and his treachery in carrying on a correspondence
with the enemies at the frontier; the popular anger waxed strong, and
led to the storming of the Tuileries on the 10th August,[23] which event
was to be celebrated the next year by the demolition of the tombs of S.
Denis. Louis XVI. had paid the penalty of his crimes; and like his
forerunner, Charles I., had shown that if he did not know how to live,
he at least had learnt how to die; but his ancestors had got off
scot-free. Why should they be allowed to rest peacefully, what remained
of them? Besides, lead was wanted for ammunition; and, just as the
church bells were in requisition for guns, and gold and silver vessels
for coinage, so the leaden coffins and roofs of churches could be melted
up into cannon balls. Imagine the stampede of Parisians along that paved
road that led from Paris to S. Denis. Only the other day, when the trams
were instituted, were those great rough stones taken up. At Versailles
you may still see the like, the paved part of the road very much
curved, with mud paths on each side--side walks for the people, while
the centre pavement was reserved for the quality. They radiate from the
palace, and enabled the "Roi Soleil" to visit his satellites at
Bellevue, the Trianon, Meudon, and S. Germain, without danger of his
lumbering coach sticking in the mire, to which he and his belonged. Many
must have been the journeys from the capital to S. Denis, which the
decree of the Convention sanctioned--journeys accompanied by crowbars
and pickaxes for the better destruction of the tombs. It was a ghastly
idea, but in no wise an exaggerated revenge for the kingly brutalities
perpetrated upon the living bodies of Ravaillac, Damiens, and such like
_canaille_.[24] We have a full account of the whole affair from the pen
of an eye-witness, one Dom Poirier, the custodian of the archives of the
monastery, who was present when the commission carried out the decree of
the Convention of the 31st July, 1793. The report of this commission is
so curious that I will quote it in full. After assigning to the children
of _Louis le conspirateur_[25] the portion of simple citizens, Barrère
continued as to the proposed arrangements to be carried out at "la
Franciade": "Enfin, le comité a pensé que, pour célébrer la journée du
10 août, qui a abattu le trône, il fallait, dans son anniversaire,
détruire les mausolées fastueux qui sont à Saint-Denis. Dans la
monarchie, les tombeaux même avaient appris à flatter les rois.
L'orgueil et le faste royal ne pouvaient s'adoucir sur ce théâtre de la
mort; et les porte-sceptre qui ont fait tant de maux à la France et à
l'humanité semblent encore, même dans la tombe, s'enorgueillir d'une
grandeur évanouie. La main puissante de la république doit effacer
impitoyablement ces épitaphes superbes et démolir ces mausolées qui
rappeleraient des rois l'effrayant souvenir." Thereupon a discussion
ensued. One member suggested that the nation being in peril, and wanting
guns to carry on its defence, a commission should proceed to Franciade,
otherwise S. Denis, in order to commence "l'exhumation des ci-devant
rois et reines, princes et princesses, dont les corps étaient renfermés
dans les caveaux de cette église." Their coffins were to be broken, the
lead and the bronze to be melted up, and sent to the arsenals for
conversion into arms and munitions of war. The former Benedictine Dom
Poirier was nominated commissioner for the Institut, and ordered to be
present at the performance. Some days after, the _Moniteur_ triumphantly
records the commencement of the business. Then there must have been a
lull, for on the 7th September the Conventionnel Lequinio cried from the
Tribune: "Je dénonce l'inexécution du décret qui ordonne l'entière
démolition des tombeaux de nos anciens tyrans à Saint-Denis. Sans doute,
en détruisant ces restes du despotisme, il faut conserver les monuments
des arts; mais il faut qu'au lieu d'être des objets d'idolâtrie, il ne
servent plus qu'à nourrir l'admiration des amis des arts, l'émulation et
le génie des artistes."
The notes taken by Dom Poirier are full of interesting details, told
with a certain _naïveté_; as, for instance, "in the morning, after
dinner, they descended into the tomb." Or "early in the morning they
began the work, but left off while they went to _déjeûner_." It must be
remembered, also (to quote M. Guilhermy), that the destruction "des
tombeaux et l'extraction des corps ont été deux opérations distinctes.
Au mois d'août, 1793, pour célébrer l'anniversaire _de la victoire du
peuple_ (10 août), on fit disparaître de l'église la plupart des
tombeaux et des statues; mais le temps pressait, on ne profana que les
restes déposés dans les massifs des monuments. Au mois d'octobre, on
acheva l'œuvre commencée, en fouillant toutes les fosses et tous les
caveaux qu'il fut possible de retrouver. On n'épargna ni le temps ni les
recherches."
The work went on merrily. Marble tombs were smashed up as effectually as
the bodies, which were thrown into a pit dug upon the site of the
demolished Orléans chapel. Quick-lime helped the business as far as the
kings were concerned, but to the assistants it was of no use; and so
they had recourse to the burning of strong smelling powders, and the
firing of guns, in order to purify the air. Here is one of Dom Poirier's
notes:--
"_Nota._--Rièn n'a été remarquable dans l'extraction des cercueils
faite dans la journée du mardi 15 Octbre, 1793: la plupart de
ces corps étaient en putréfaction; il en sortait une vapeur noire
et épaisse, d'une odeur infecte, qu'on chassait à force de vinaigre
et de poudre qu'on eut la précaution de brûler; ce qui n'empêcha
pas les ouvriers de gagner des dévoiements et des fièvres, _qui
n'ont pas eu de mauvaises suites_."
What say the modern sanitary authorities to that!
The body of Henri IV. was found in a perfect state of preservation;
and he was kept some time in the church lying-in-state, as it were,
while a cast was taken of his face; but it may be noted that Dom
Poirier makes no allusion to the story of a soldier cutting off his
beard and sticking it on his own face.
The names of the princes and princesses were engraved upon little brass
plates attached to the covers of the coffins; and a few years ago three
or four of these brasses were found in the shop of a coppersmith, that
of Louis XIV. having served as the bottom of a stewpan. How are the
mighty fallen!
Let me quote some more of Dom Poirier's jottings:--
_Remarques._--In Charles V.'s coffin they found a crown in silver,
gilt, in a good state of preservation, a hand of justice of silver,
a sceptre 5 feet in length surmounted with acanthus leaves in
silver, exquisitely gilt, the gold possessing all its freshness and
brilliancy. "Ce sceptre était surmonté d'un bouquet en feuillage,
an milieu duquel s'élevait une grappe de corymbe, ce qui lui donne
à peu prés la forme d'un thyrse, tel qu'on en voit dans Monfaucon,
article de _sceptres_; morceau d'orfévrerie assez bien travaillé
pour son époque." (Alexandre Lenoir, _Musée des Monuments
français_.)
"Remarque. Une singularité de l'embaumement du corps de Charles
VII., c'est qu'on y avait parsemé du vif-argent, qui avait conservé
toute sa fluidité. On a observé la même singularité dans quelques
autres embaumements de corps du XIVe et du XVe siècles."
The following may interest some persons:--
"Le mercredi, 16 Octobre, 1793.
"Towards 7 o'clock in the morning the work was continued in the
vault of the Bourbons. They began with the coffin of Henriette
Marie, daughter of Henri IV. and wife of the unfortunate Charles
I., King of England, d. in 1669, aged 60;[26] and continued with
Anne Stuart, her daughter, the wife of _Monsieur_, only brother of
Louis XIV. d. in 1670, aged 26."
The body of Louis VIII., the father of S. Louis, had almost disappeared.
A cross was sculptured upon the lid of the stone coffin; in it was
found a sceptre of rotten wood, and a skull-cap of satin surrounded by a
band of gold woven stuff, forming a diadem. The body had been enveloped
in a winding sheet of gold tissue, some pieces of which were in a good
state of preservation.
_Remarques._--His body thus enveloped had been sewn up in a strong
leather covering.[27] "Il est vraisemblable qu'on ne l'a fait pour lui
que pour que son cadavre n'exhalât pas au dehors de mauvaise odeur, dans
le transport qu'on en fit de Montpensier en Auvergne, où il mourut à son
retour de la guerre contre les Albigeois."
"Ce cuir avait conservé toute son élasticité.... Dans les fouilles de
Saint-Germain-des-Près, on trouva un corps également enveloppé dans un
cuir. (Alexandre Lenoir, _Musée des Monuments Français_.) Nous pourrions
citer quelques autres exemples. Les corps de plusieurs princes de la
maison des Plantagenets, au douzième siècle, furent apportés à Rouen,
cousus dans une enveloppe de cuir; c'étaient ceux de Henry I., de
Henry-le-Jeune, de Richard-Cœur-de-Lion. Hugues de Grantemaisnil,
mort à Londres en 1098, ayant demandé à être inhumé à l'abbaye de
Saint-Évrould, en Normandie, son corps y fut transféré salé, et cousu
dans une peau de bœuf. Enfin on sait que saint Bernard fut enseveli
dans un sac de cuir" (v. B. de Peterborough; Orderic Vital; _Histoire de
Saint Bernard_, &c.) (Guilhermy).
There are notes upon the height of François I., by Alexandre Lenoir:--
"Le corps de François I^{er.} portait une taille extraordinaire et
une structure très-forte; l'un des fémurs de ce prince que j'ai
mesuré portait 53c (20 pouces) des condiles à la tête de l'os."
And upon the beauty of another gentleman's locks: "Le connétable
Louis de Sancerre avait de forts beaux cheveux; lors de
l'exhumation des corps à St Denis, il fut trouvé ayant encore trois
longues tresses d'environ 40 centimètres" (Alex. Lenoir).
The _procès-verbal_ makes no mention of the heart of Cardinal de
Bourbon, nor of the graves of Châtillon and the Marquis de
Saint-Maigrin, nor of the abbots, and grand priors; their remains
probably still rest in the soil under the church, for vaults have
several times been discovered in all parts during the restorations of
the building. It will be seen that the amount of valuables found was not
great: Five silver-gilt and five copper-gilt crowns, two silver-gilt
sceptres, four of copper-gilt, and three of wood; one silver hand of
justice, one silver-gilt, and one broken; (the _bâton d'ebêne_ was
possibly the stem of a hand of justice belonging to Charles le Bel); the
upper part of a crozier; four rings, two silver and two gold; the silver
seal of Constance of Castille bearing the effigy of the princess and an
inscription (now in the Bibliothèque); remains of spindles and distaffs;
four chains of bracelets; two clasps and a silver buckle; a good many
fragments of stuffs, tissues, and embroideries; a winding-sheet of gold
tissue, a silver one; a chasuble; a satin belt; shoes; a Carmelite
habit, and some gold thread. What became of these things, many of them
of no value but for a museum, is not known.
Such was the result of this disgusting entertainment, which was
principally a search for valuables to keep up the struggle for life.
Empty coffers, starving multitudes, an enemy crying at the frontier;
such was the legacy left by the wanton waste of a profligate court, and
a debased race of kings. The terrible revenge which followed did them
little harm; could they have been made to suffer in their life-time, it
would have been better than mauling about their dead bodies and
rummaging in their tombs; but unfortunately the last of the race was the
least guilty, although he had much heartlessness and treachery to answer
for; and had he felt the storm which had been threatening for some time,
the hurricane might have passed over. But selfishness is always blind;
and so the flood carried the poor thing away; and the skeletons, the
lead, the gold and the silver, were all swept into their respective
lime-strewn pits and melting pots. Here is the epilogue. In 1815 the
"Sous-préfet et le maire de Saint-Denis firent élever un tertre couvert
de gazon, de lis et de cyprès sur les deux fosses dans lesquelles
avaient été jetés les restes des rois et des princes." (Gilbert,
_Description historique de l'église de Saint-Denis_.) "On se proposait
d'ériger en ce lieu un monument expiatoire; mais il parut plus
convenable de réintègrer dans l'église les ossements que les deux fosses
contenaient encore." (Guilhermy.)
The metal of the monuments, with the exception of two enamelled brass
slabs which came from Royaumont, was all melted up. In the _Moniteur_ of
14th August, 1792, may be read a list of the tombs destroyed, furnished
by the town of S. Denis. The monument of Charles le Chauve must have
been magnificent. The effigy of the emperor reposed on a slab supported
by four lions. Two Angels censed the defunct; and four bishops sat at
the corners. We know the style of tomb from the description given by
Richer, a monk of Sénone, who wrote a chronicle during the reign of S.
Louis, and who saw it soon after it was set up. Charles had been a great
patron of the abbey and had given it the Holy Nail and a thorn from the
Holy Crown, besides part of the course of the Seine and the domain of
Ruel.
The tomb of "la noble royne de france Marguerite qui fu fame monseigneur
Sainct Loys, jadis roy de France" is engraved in Montfaucon's _Monuments
de la Monarchie française_. The tomb of Arnaud de Guilhem, seigneur de
Barbazan, was canopied, the warrior being represented in full armour.
The whole was in bronze, with an inscription, at the end of which was
the name of the artist: _fait à paris par Jehan Morant_.
The monument of Charles VIII. was of gilt copper. The king's effigy,
praying, was upon the platform, with little Angels at the corners also
kneeling and holding shields. Charles VIII. died of apoplexy, at
Amboise, praying, "_Mon Dieu et la glorieuse Vierge, Monseigneur saint
Claude, et Monseigneur saint Blaise me soient en ayde_." He was a pious
king and had been holding "quelques discours spirituels avec la reyne et
autres assistans," when he was struck down, being only twenty-eight
years of age. His tomb was said to be the finest in the choir. He was
regretted by all his subjects "spécialement de ses domestiques," for he
was generous, magnanimous, and decorated with all kingly virtues. The
queen was much afflicted, and thought she would die of grief, "demeurant
deux jours et deux nuicts sans reposer ny prendre aucun aliment." Thus
Dom Millet. Philippe de Commynes says the chamberlains "le feirent
ensevelir fort richement, et sur l'heure luy commencea le service, qui
jamais ne failloit ne jour ne nuict." For a whole month the chamberlains
and others watched the corpse, the entire expense amounting to
"quarante-cinq mil francs." The tomb was the work of Paganini of Modena,
no doubt one of the "ouvriers excellens en plusieurs ouvraiges comme
tailleurs et painctres" whom the king brought from Naples,[28] together
with a large collection of works of art, for the carriage of which, and
for "la nourriture de XXII. hommes de mestier, de XXXIII. jours à la
raison de XL. sous par jour," the king had to pay his tapissier
ordinaire 1594 livres; the collection weighing 87,000 livres.
[Illustration: MONUMENT OF FRANÇOIS I^{er.}]
Many marble tombs were also destroyed, some canopied, some resting upon
columns, others recumbent, the fragments of which were built up into a
pedestal for a figure of Liberty in the Place d'armes opposite the
church, a barbarous proceeding, surely; but forget not that the slabs
and broken tombs in our old burial grounds are treated much in the same
fashion, and piled up into pyramids to ornament the gardens. The
transportation of what was saved from the wreck to Paris was no mean
work. Think of the huge monument of François I., and about eighty
statues! The Convention had no cash to spend upon art; with its fourteen
armies defending the frontiers, it had enough expense without paying for
the carriage of monuments and such like. And so Lenoir conceived the
idea of stopping the military as they returned with empty waggons.
Arrived in Paris the difficulties did not end. Statues were chopped
about to enable them to fill certain spaces in the museum of the
Petits-Augustins, recumbent figures found themselves standing upright;
fragments of one tomb were taken to decorate another. But taking it all
in all, the museum arranged by Lenoir must have been very imposing. The
magnificent tomb of François I. stood in a chapel of the church, now
occupied by casts of the works of Michael-Angelo. Louis XII. had a place
of honour in another _salle_. But no sooner was all arranged, indeed
before the huge Henri II. monument had been set up, a royal decree of
16th December, 1816, ordered the museum to be closed, the building to be
turned into the École des Beaux-Arts, and all the kings and queens to be
marched back to S. Denis and the other churches whence they came. So
swiftly was the order carried out, that the poor old sovereigns became
still more mutilated; some were stowed away in the cellars, others were
re-erected upon principles of the greatest economy. If the
revolutionists tore down the monuments, the restored monarchists did not
take the trouble to set them up again; and those who went to study art
in the new schools were enabled to see the respect with which Mediæval
art was treated. Statues, canopies, columns, were tossed about anywhere;
until Louis XVIII. decided that they should be reinstated at S. Denis.
Then strange things occurred. The effigies were matched
indiscriminately, and every king was placed by the side of a queen,
whether his own or another's. Hence "singuliers incestes de pierre, et
des adultères de marbre de la pire espèce. On n'imaginerait jamais ce
qui se commit d'immoralités archéologiques sous les voutes obscures de
Saint-Denis."[29] The monuments were all arranged, museum fashion, in
the crypt until our own day, when they were once again removed, and
replaced in their old positions in the church, to be left, let us hope,
at last in peace.
The following is a list of the monuments returned to S. Denis:
Monuments formerly at S. Denis 52
" from S. Germain-des-Près 6
" " Notre-Dame de Corbeil 2
" " S. Geneviève 1
" " S. Catherine-du-Val 2
" " des Cordeliers 3
" " des Jacobins 7
" " des Célestins 12
" " des Minimes 2
" " des Grands-Jésuites 1
" " l'abbaye de Royaumont 6
" " l'abbaye de Maubuisson 2
" " l'abbaye de Poissy 1
" " l'abbaye de Notre-Dame à Soissons 1
" " l'abbaye de Haute Bruyère 1
" " la collégiale de Saint-Cloud 2
" of origin unknown 13
" new or made up of fragments 53
----
167
[Illustration: TOMB OF LOUIS XII., AND COLUMN OF FRANÇOIS II.]
By far the most beautiful tomb is that of Louis XII. "Sur le lieu de la
sépulture de Louis XII. et de la reyne Anne, le roy François leur gendre
et successeur à la couronne, leur à fait dresser un très-somptueux
mausolée de fin marbre blanc, à deux estages, qui est une des belles
pièces de l'Europe, pour ne pas dire la plus belle."[30] Dom Jacques
Doublet and Germain Millet both attributed the work to Ponzio; but
Félibien, reading a passage in a Latin commentary printed by Jean Brèche
in 1550, discovered the true author: "Voyez le monument" (says Brèche)
"de marbre consacré à Louis XII., travaillé avec un artifice admirable
et plein d'élégance, dans notre très-illustre cité de Tours, par Jean
Juste, statuaire du plus grand talent." The discovery of an order for
payment of 400 _écus_ to Juste in a letter from the king to Cardinal
Duprat, sets the matter at rest if the date of Ponzio's arrival did not
also do so.[31] The tomb was taken to S. Denis in 1527; whereas Ponzio
did not arrive in France until about 1530. This way of attributing all
that is good in art to Italy was formerly very common. Even in our own
time all branches of French art were looked upon by our fathers as
frivolous and trivial. Italian Renaissance was trivial enough, but
French Renaissance utterly meretricious. To the insane worshippers of
the "Gothic style," it alone was pure. The sumptuous grandiosities of
Louis XIV. were tolerable, because they aimed at being Classic. The
portico of the Panthéon or the colonnade of the Louvre were considered
fine; but the elegancies of Jean Goujon were wanting in severity. Even
Watteau, though admitted to be graceful, was "meretricious"; Berlioz
amongst musicians was only "noisy and claptrap;" and sculpture and
architecture were criticised in like manner. And yet the designs upon
the tomb of Louis XII., especially the pilasters which support the
canopy, could not be surpassed in beauty by the artists of any country.
Jean Juste, Philibert Delorme, Jean Goujon, Michel Colomb, Jean Cousin,
and Germain Pilon formed a group of men scarcely surpassed by Sansovino,
Riccio, Desiderio da Settignano and the Rossellini. The Italians led the
way, but the French proved themselves very apt pupils.
It is not my intention to describe the tomb of Louis XII., or, indeed,
any of the others, minutely. Descriptions without illustrations are
mostly dry and dreary. Nor have I tried to illustrate the details of
ornament in the churches or their contents--in a book of this size it
would be impossible; my aim has rather been to give the general effect
of their styles; of their everyday appearance; of the life which goes on
in and around them; and of the position, especially in the case of S.
Denis, of their tombs and furniture. A large photograph and a magnifying
glass will show the beauty of the sculpture of the tombs far better than
any drawing of mine; for such subjects photography is unique. But for
artistic effect, for general impressions of buildings it mostly fails,
and all artists will agree with me that, for some reason or other,
photographs of buildings seem generally to have been taken from the
worst point of view, and are nearly always wanting in impressiveness.
[Illustration: TOMB OF HENRI II. AND CATHERINE DE MEDICI.]
Jean Juste had a brother Antoine, and they seem together to have been
the authors of the beautiful tomb of the children of Charles VIII. at
Tours; of the fountain called de Beaune, also at Tours; of the two
monuments of the _famille_ Gaudin; and the tomb of the _général des
finances_, Thomas Bohier. In 1530, one Juste de Just, _tailleur en
marbre_, living at Tours received 102 _livres_ 10 _sous_ from the king
for a Hercules and a Leda. This Juste was probably the same as Jean. The
bas-reliefs round the base of Louis XII.'s tomb represent various
campaigns of the king; the figures at the four corners are the Cardinal
Virtues, those within the arcades are the twelve Apostles. Within are
the king and queen, entirely nude, lying upon a mattress in the last
agony of death; while above, upon the platform, they are praying before
a cushioned faldstool, for their own departed souls. Such is the motive
of this and the other two tombs of the same character, those of Henri
II. and François I^{er.}
The former of these is the work of Germain Pilon, and was originally
placed under the dome of Philibert Delorme's magnificent chapel erected
for the Valois family. It is of marble with bronze figures. The king and
queen pray upon the housetop; at each end are openings through which are
to be seen the figures of the defunct in the sleep of death. The
terrible side of death, which is prominent in the expression on the
faces of Louis XII. and his queen, is here absent; and Catherine is
represented young and beautiful as she appeared at the death of her
husband, whom she survived thirty years. At the four corners are bronze
figures of the Cardinal Virtues; and the kneeling figures of the
sovereigns upon the canopy are also in bronze. The tomb has always been
justly esteemed as a magnificent work, and even Bernini admired it. "_Le
cavalier Bernin_," says Sauval, "_a admiré le tombeau de Valois, qui
voulait ne rien trouver de passable en France_." The Virtues ornament
this tomb also, and present a note-worthy point for Total Abstainers,
the figure of Temperance bears _two_ cups; can this be meant for wine as
well as water? or for two sorts of water, aërated and mineral?
When the tomb was reconstructed it was found that many of the marbles
had antique sculptures upon the back, showing that they had been taken
from works of Classic origin.
The monument of François I^{er.} and Claude de France is the largest of
these splendid tombs. It was erected about 1552 by Philibert Delorme
with the assistance of several sculptors. Pierre Bontems was the author
of the bas-reliefs upon the stylobate and some of the kneeling figures
upon the canopy; Germain Pilon sculptured the statues of children under
the canopy, allegorically representing Fortune, and Ambroise Perret, the
Four Evangelists; while the details of ornament were the work of Jacques
Chantrel, Bastien Galles, Pierre Bigoigne, and Jean de Bourges. The
recumbent figures have been attributed to Jean Goujon, from the
exceptional beauty of the workmanship, but without any positive proof.
The tomb is of white marble, with a little black and grey introduced for
some of the mouldings; the bas-reliefs represent the king's campaigns in
Italy. In the bas-reliefs of the Louis XII. monument many of the
costumes are more Roman than French; but those upon the tomb of François
I^{er.} are treated with more historical truth, and represent the
fashion of the day. The faces of the recumbent statues are beautifully
modelled; that of the queen bearing an expression of the sanctity with
which she was accredited.
[Illustration: COLUMN OF HENRI III.]
S. Denis is rich in columns erected as memorials, often bearing urns
upon the top containing some worthy heart. That of François II. was
formerly at the church of the Célestins. It is the work of Germain
Pilon, and was considered by Sauval and "_les habiles gens_" to be as
beautiful as the "Three Graces" or "Charités" which bore the urn
containing the heart of Henri II. The pedestal is triangular, of white
marble; so, too, are the three little Genii who guard the corners. One
weeps for the defunct; the other two seem to take the matter
philosophically. The shaft of the column is dotted over with flames,
said to be symbolic of the pillar of fire which marched before the
Hebrews; may they not rather mean the flames of purgatory?[32] The gilt
bronze urn which formerly surmounted it, and the winged child holding a
crown, were both consigned to the melting pot. This column was an act of
fraternal homage on the part of Charles IX.
The column of Henri III. was originally erected in the church of S.
Cloud by the secretary of Henri III., Charles Benoise. The shaft is of
red marble, twisted, with ivy twirling round it--the work of Barthélemy
Prieur.
The column of the Cardinal Louis de Bourbon formerly bore the effigy of
the great man, if honours and emoluments can make a man great. He was
naturally a peer; bishop of Laon, of Saintes, of Mans, of Luçon, and of
Tréguier; archbishop of Sens; abbot of S. Denis, of Corbie, of
Saint-Vincent-de-Laon, of Saint-Faron-de-Meaux, of Ainay, of
Saint-Amand, of Saint-Crépin-le-Grand, of Soissons, and of Saint-Serge.
And yet some people profess to be scandalised at the excesses of the
unprivileged classes!
The cardinal was, however, a great patron of art; at Sens and at Laon,
monuments testify to this and all his other magnificences. His body was
buried in the cathedral of Laon; the Benedictines of S. Denis only
having succeeded in obtaining his heart. The column, like many other
beautiful works of art, is by an unknown artist. It is of red marble
with a white alabaster base and capital, which is exquisitely sculptured
with little figures of children bathed in foliage.
The history of some of the recumbent statues of the kings is curious.
Having been made to lie down, they were, after the dispersal of the
Musée des Monuments Français, stuck up against the wall of the crypt;
and others were rebaptised and renamed. Thus, at the museum, Charles V.
and Jeanne de Bourbon became S. Louis and Marguerite de Provence; and so
named, when they were trotted back to S. Denis, they received the homage
of the faithful. To make matters worse, a copy of S. Louis' statue was
sent to Tunis for the church which was built in memory of the saint, and
the head became the authentic type for his portraits. The same may be
said of the false Marguerite; she wears a costume more than a hundred
years too late.
The elaborately enamelled brass slabs of the children of S. Louis, Jean
and Blanche, came from Royaument. The design is rude, but the colouring
good; the figures are in relief upon a ground incrusted in enamel; the
heads and hands, the lions at the feet, and the Angels swinging censers
are of polished brass; while the feet and the draperies are in coloured
enamel. To see these brasses, permission must be obtained from the
architect of the church, as they are upon one side of the High Altar, a
part which is not generally shown to ordinary visitors. The motto upon
the tomb of Jean is as follows:
HIC JACET: IOANNES: EXCELLENTISSIMI LVD
_ovici regis francorum filius qui in etate infancie migra_
VIT AD XPM ANNO GRACIE: MILLESI
MO: DVCENTESSIMO: QVADRAGESIMO: SEPTIMO: SEXTO: IDVS: MARTII
The body of Turenne did not have much peace after it was routed out of
its tomb. Not being royal, it was put aside in a chapel until the
Convention should decide its fate; when thinking so great a man a worthy
object as a specimen of natural history, and deeming it profitable for
students of various "ologies," it was put into a glass case by the side
of stuffed birds, bottled snakes, criminal curiosities, and
monstrosities. Then it was transferred to the Petits-Augustins, where it
found a niche to repose in; but when Consuls reigned supreme, it was
marched with great pomp, with drums and guns and all the paraphernalia
of a military funeral, to the church of the Invalides, where it was
placed in its old house or the remains of it rebuilt--the S. Denis tomb.
The epitaphs of some of the Kings remain, or have been restored:--
ICY GIST LE ROY CHARLES LE QUINT SAGES
ET ELOQUENT FILS DU ROY IEHAN QUI REGNA SEIZE ANS CINQ MOIS ET SEPT
JOURS ET TRESPASSA L'AN DE GRACE MCCCLXXX LE XVI^E JOUR DE
SEPTEMBRE.
ICI GIST LE ROY CHARLES SIXIESME TRES AME LARGE ET DEBONNAIRE FILS
DU ROY CHARLES LE QUINT QUI REGNA QUARANTE ET II ANS UNG MOIS ET
SIX JOURS ET TRESPASSA LE XXI^{E} JOUR DOCTOBRE LAN MIL CCCC VINGT
ET DEUX: PRIES DIEU QUEN PARADIX SOIT SON AME:
CY GIST LA ROYNE ISABEL DE BAUIERE ESPOUSE DU ROY CHARLES VI^{E} ET
FILLE DE TRES PUISSANT PNCE ESTIENNE DUC DE BAUIERE COTE PALATIN
DU RIN QUI REGNA AUEC SOND ESPOUS ET TRESPASSA LAN M: CCCC ET XXXV
LE DERNIER JOUR DE SEPTEMBRE: PRIES DIEU POUR ELLE:
CY GIST LE ROY CHARLES SEPTIESME TRES GLORIEUX VICTORIEUX ET BIEN
SERUY FILS DU ROY CHARLES SIXIESMES: QUI REGNA TRENTE NEUF ANS NEUF
MOIS ET I JOUR ET TRESPASSA LE JOUR DE LA MAGDELAINE XXVII^{E} JOUR
DE JUILLET LA M: CCCCLXI: PRIES POUR LUY:
ICY GIST LA ROYNE JEHANNE DE BOURBON ESPOUSE DU ROY CHARLES LE
QUINT ET FILLE DE TRES NOBLE PRINCE MONS^R PIERRE DUC DE BOURBON
QUI REGNA AU[=ECQ]S SONE ESPOUS XIII ANS ET DIX MOIS ET TSP[=A]SSA
PASSA LA M: CCCLXXVII LE DERN JOUR DE [=FE]UER
CY GIST LA ROYNE MARIE FILLE DU ROY DE SICILE DUC DANIOU ESPOUSE DU
ROY CHARLES VII^E QUI REGNA AUECQ[=S S]OND ESPX ET TRESPASSA LE
PENULTIESME JOUR DE NOUEMBRE LAN MIL: CCCCLXIII: PRIES DIEU POUR
ELLE.
After the restoration of the tombs a tablet was set up to the memory of
Jeanne-d'Arc, bearing the representation of some armour of the 16th
century, and the following epitaph:--
CE QUE ESTAIT LE HARNAIS DE JEHANNE PAR ELLE BAILLE EN HOMMAGE A
MONSEIGNEUR SAINCT DENIS.
Several portraits of the great Abbot Suger existed in Dom Millet's time:
"On voit encores aujourd'huy en la partie supérieure de l'église
Saint-Denis que nous nommons le chevet, une vieille tapisserie où le roy
Louis VII. est représenté avec les habits royaux, et la couronne en
teste, qui donne son sceptre et sa main de justice au susdit abbé Sugere
représenté en habit pontifical, et au-dessus y a une inscription
contenant ceste escriture: Lud. rex franc Suggerium abbatem et
reaedificatorem hujus templi, viceregem constituit, anno 1140. Mais le
tapissier, ou ceux qui ont fourny le mémoire se sont trompez; car ceste
commission ne fut donnée à Sugère que l'an 1147, auquel an le roy partit
de France, au mois d'aoust, pour un voyage de la Terre-Sainte."
"Il y a en ceste royale abbaye plusieurs figures de l'abbé Sugère, deux
desquelles sont en veue à toutes personnes. L'un est sur l'un des
battans de la grande porte de l'église,[33] l'autre en une vitre de la
Chapelle Notre-Dame, en la partie supérieure que nous nommons le
chevet[34]. Il est représenté en tous les deux endroits, non revestu
d'un rochet ou d'un camail, non avec la perruque ou le bonnet carré sur
la teste, mais au plus simple habit et en la plus humble posture, qu'on
puisse représenter un pauvre religieux, scavoir est avec un froc
plissé[35] (approchant fort de celuy dont nous usons maintenant) et la
tonsure monacale, couché à plate terre; en la vitre, devant une image de
la sacrée Vierge, avec ces mots: Suggerius abbas; sur la porte, devant
l'image de Notre-Sauveur, assis à table avec les pélerins d'Emmaüs. Il
n'a en l'une ny en l'autre figure aucune marque qui le puisse distinguer
d'avec le moindre novice de son monastère, sinon la crosse abbatiale
qu'il tient d'une main, pour marque de sa dignité, et pour monstrer que
c'est luy qui est là représenté."
"Or, comme il est très-certain que c'est luy-mesme qui a fait faire ces
figures, aussi est-il très-asseuré qu'il n'avoit garde de les faire
représenter en autre habit que celuy qu'il portoit publiquement et
continuellement, spécialement depuis la réformation; car autrement
c'eust par une hypocrisie trop grossière se sacrifier à la risée de tout
le monde." This description of the portrait is most interesting; we can
see the great abbot as Dom Millet paints him upon the glass which he
himself devised, if he did not absolutely design it.
[Illustration: TOMB OF DAGOBERT.]
The tomb of Dagobert is an enormous canopied structure, originally of
the 13th century, but so much restored that it is practically modern.
Dagobert died in 638, and was embalmed and buried in the church of his
foundation; but of the style of this first tomb we have no knowledge
whatever. Of the existing tomb, the principal part is the legendary
history of the king taken from the "_Gesta Dagoberti_," told in three
alto-reliefs. Below these, the king sleeps upon his left side in a
rather uncomfortable fashion; standing on one side is his wife Nantilde,
or Nantechilde; on the other, one of his sons, Clovis II. or Sigebert.
At the apex of the arch is Our Lord giving the benediction, with SS.
Martin and Denis on each side. These two saints, with S. Maurice, had
the kindness to hear the prayers of Dagobert, when he was held in
bondage by devils, during a voyage in a boat, on the waters of the great
gulf fixed between Abraham and Hades. The story was told by a hermit to
Ansoald, on his way back from Sicily, and by the 9th century had been
worked up into a fact, as it is mentioned in a letter from Louis le
Débonnaire to Hilduin, abbot of S. Denis. May it not have been
originally a dovetailing together of the story of Charon and _le bon roy
Dagobert_, a _mélange_ of Classic myth and Christian legend which was
very common in the early centuries of the Christian era? The sculptures,
although, as regards the drapery, sufficiently graceful, are very
curious and quaint, especially the boat and its contents. The three
saints coming to the rescue, Dagobert pressing the hand of the foremost,
the discomforted demons, and the soul of the king standing upon a napkin
held by S. Denis and S. Martin, are all vigorous to a degree, if
somewhat rude; but the Angels round the _voussure_ carrying censers, are
charming. In the account of the legend given by Guillaume de Nangis,
quoted by Alexandra Lenoir, we seem to have another reading of the
opening part of the story of Job. "Mais monseigneur saint Denis, qui
n'oblia mie son bon amy le roy Dagobert, requist à Nostre Seigneur
Jesus-Crist qui luy donast congié d'aler secourre la dicte ame; laquelle
chose comme Nostre Seigneur luy eust ottroié, sainct Denis s'en ala et
mena avecques luy Sainct Morise et aultres amys que le roy Dagobert
avoit moult honorés en sa vie, et avecques eulx orent des anges qui les
conduirent jusques en la mer, et quant ils vindrent là où les deables
tenoient et ammenoient à grant feste l'ame du roy Dagobert, si le
misrent entre eulx et se combattirent encontre les deables". It was all
done because of _Monseigneur S. Denis'_ love of "_le bon roy_," who had
founded the abbey in honour of the martyr; and if you doubt these facts,
and "ne me croyez, alez à Sainct-Denis en France, en l'église, et
regardez devant l'autel où l'en chante tous les jours la grant messe, là
où le roy Dagobert gist. La verrez vous audessus de luy ce que vous ay
dit, pourtrait et de noble euvre richement enluminée." From this, there
can be no doubt that the whole mass of sculpture was originally
coloured; indeed, a close inspection shows a little still visible in the
folds of the drapery. Lenoir, whose depreciation of Mediæval sculpture
as compared to that of the Renaissance was considerable, speaks of the
draped figures as _pour le style comme pour le goût, comparable aux
belles inventions de Raphaël_.
Upon the platform of the apse is the mosaic effigy of Frédégonde, not
earlier than the 12th century. It is composed of a stone slab of the
form of the early stone coffins. The design is marked out by thin bands
of metal between which are incrustations of very small pieces of
porphyry, serpentine, and white marble. This, like several of the early
tombs, was originally in the abbey of S. Germain-des-Près.
The central part of the crypt was formerly the depository for the
relics--a sort of sanctuary dedicated to S. Démètre. Another part of the
crypt became the burial place of the Bourbon family. All the princes
were buried in vaults underneath their tombs. "Tous le roys, reynes et
autres ensépulturez à Saint-Denys reposent dans les caveaux qui sont
sous leurs tombeaux, sans qu'il y en ait aucun ailleurs, ce que je dis
pour désabuser plusieurs personnes (mesmes des gens de qualité) qui
s'imaginent qu'il y ait une grande cave dans laquelle sont tous les
roys, en chair et en os, et demandent qu'on la leur monstre, dont je me
suis souventefois estonné, veu mesme que plusieurs qui vivent encores
ont peu voir mettre les cinq derniers roys décédéz non en ceste cave
imaginaire, mais dans le tombeau des Vallois, sçavoir, Henry II. et ces
trois fils, et Henry IV., dans le caveau commun des rois, où il est
encore. On en peut dire autant de François I^{er.} et de Louis XII., et
de tous les autres; car quant à la grotte qui est sous le chevet, il n'y
a, ny eut jamais, corps ny sépulture d'aucune personne.[36] The day of
the funeral the body was placed in the vault, "sur des barres de fer,
devant une statue en marbre de Nostre-Dame." There it remained for a
year, after which it was deposited in the tomb of the sovereign's
ancestors. This curious arrangement became a custom by pure accident.
Henri IV. not having signified any desire as to his place of burial, was
left in this vault, "_le caveau des cérémonies_," while his widow and
_les Etats_ discussed the question of erecting a monument; and thus, by
force of habit, the succeeding Bourbons being placed by the side of
Henri, the "caveau" became the mausoleum of the family. But the Bourbons
were a prolific race, and before very long the overcrowding became too
great to admit of any more inhabitants; so upon the burial of
Marie-Thérèse, the wife of Louis XIV., it was decided to tunnel a long
passage to connect it with the central part of the crypt. It was a
difficult and dangerous proceeding: "On perça," says Félibien,
"par-dessous le chevet, à l'endroit où estoit une ancienne chapelle de
Saint-Démètre, un petit corridor de la largeur de trois pieds sur sept
de haut. Les ouvriers voûtoient à mesure qu'ils avançoient; et dans le
poursuite de leur ouvrage, ils découvrirent quelques tombeaux dont on ne
reconnut que celui de l'abbé Antoine de La Haye, par une inscription
qu'on y trouva. Enfin, après avoir poussé environ sept toises et demie,
les ouvriers arrivèrent à l'ancien caveau; de sorte qu'il a été aisé d'y
joindre, par ce corridor de communication, un caveau spécieux qui occupe
aujourd'huy, dessous le chevet, l'ancienne crypte où estoient autrefois
les corps des saints martyrs. La place est de neuf toises de long sur
environ deux toises et demi dans sa plus grande largeur." The new vault
was consecrated the 31st August, 1683. This accounts for the apparent
want of an entrance to the centre of the crypt; as all visitors to the
church are aware, you look through little apertures to the place where a
few post-revolution burials have taken place. I commend all these
particulars, which exemplify the horrors of burial above ground, with
the rifling of tombs and coffins perpetrated by the officers of the
Convention, to the opposers of cremation. Had all these poor royalties
been converted into ashes, no such doings could have taken place. The
entrance to the Bourbon vaults still exists, close to the altar of S.
Maurice, to the right of the High Altar looking eastwards; but visitors
enter by some steps farther east, by the side of the ascent to the apse.
It is a miserably gloomy hole, with a few coffins upon trestles,
shedding their violet coverings. Can any sort of burial equal in horror
this of open vaults?
The statues of the early kings were erected by S. Louis. Ordered by him
as commemorative effigies of his ancestors, it does not seem to have
been within the wit of the 13th century sculptors to vary the
physiognomy of the early sovereigns. Thus there is a strong likeness
between Charles Martel[37] and Pépin, and Louis and Carloman. There is a
curious divergence in the opinions passed upon Louis III. The chronicle
of S. Denis calls him a "_homs plains de toutes ordures et toutes
vanitez_;" whereas the annals of Metz say, "_Tous les peuples des Gaules
pleurèrent sa mort avec une extrème douleur. Il fut en effet homme de
rare mérite, et défendit courageusement et virilement contre les
incursions des payens le royaume qui lui était soumis._" So we see that
it is not only the 19th century which vaunts and cries down a man,
according as he belongs to the political sheep or the goats.
[Illustration]
Carloman, at his eighteen years, has the appearance of a man of forty,
and many years older than his brother. The statue of Charlemagne's
brother Carloman has had a queer history. It was marched to the
Petits-Augustins with the rest, and there christened Charles le Chauve,
but when sent back to S. Denis it was rebaptised Henri I.
Hugues Capet was buried at S. Denis close to his father, the great
Hugues; his last words addressed to his son Robert prove him to have
been possessed of piety, a proper notion of justice, and a large amount
of common sense. "Bon fils, je t'adjure, au nom de la sainte et
indivisible Trinité, de ne pas livrer ton âme aux conseils des flatteurs
et de ne pas écouter les vœux de leur ambition, en leur faisant un don
empoisonné de ces abbayes que je te confie pour toujours. Je désire
également qu'il ne t'arrive point, conduit par la légèreté d'esprit ou
ému par la colère, de distraire ou enlever quelque chose de leurs biens.
Je te recommande surtout de veiller à ce que, pour aucune raison, tu ne
déplaises jamais à leur chef commun, le grand saint Benoit, qui est un
accès certain auprès du souverain juge, un port de tranquillité et un
asile de sûreté après la sortie de la chair."[38] His particular friends
to whom he commends his son are the Blessed Virgin, S. Benedict, S.
Martin, S. Aignan, and SS. Cornelius and Cyprian, and above all S.
Geneviève. Queen Adélaïde, like most Middle-Age ladies, did much
embroidering as she sat up in her tower, and naturally S. Denis was her
first thought. She gave the great statue of S. Martin (I do not know in
what part of the church this was placed) a wondrous cope, embroidered
between the shoulders with a "_Pontife éternel_" and adoring Cherubim
and Seraphim. In the front was the "Lamb of God" and the Four Beasts of
the Apocalypse.[39]
Robert must have profited by the good advice given him by his father,
for we find the monk Helgaud giving him a tremendous panegyric in the
account of his death. "Peu de temps après avoir reçu le saint et
salutaire viatique du corps vivifiant de notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ,
Robert alla au Roi des rois, au Seigneur des seigneurs, et entra heureux
dans les célestes royaumes. Il mourut le vingtième jour de juillet
(1031) au commencement de la journée du mardi, au château de Melun, et
il fut porté à Paris, puis enseveli à Saint-Denis, près de son père. Il
y eut là un grand deuil, une douleur intolérable; car la foule de moines
gémissait sur la perte d'un tel père,[40] et une multitude innombrable
de clercs se plaignait de leur misère que soulageait avec tant de piété
ce saint homme. Un nombre infini de veuves et d'orphelins regrettait
tant de bienfaits reçus de lui. Tous poussaient de grands cris jusqu'au
ciel, disant d'une commune voix: 'Grand Roi, Dieu bon, pourquoi nous
tuer ainsi en nous ôtant ce bon père et l'unissant à toi!' Ils se
frappaient avec les poings la poitrine, allaient et venaient au saint
tombeau, répétaient encore les paroles marquées plus haut et se
joinaient aux prières des saints afin que Dieu eût pitié de lui dans le
siècle éternel. Dieu! quelle douleur causa cette mort. Tous s'écriaient
avec des clameurs redoublées: 'Tant que Robert a régné et commandé, nous
avons vécu tranquilles, nous n'avons rien craint; que l'âme de ce père
pieux, ce père du sénat, ce père de tout bien, soit heureuse et sauvée!
qu'elle monte et habite pour toujours avec Jésus-Christ, Roi des
rois!'.... Dans tout cela, nous avons un grand sujet de douleur, en
voyant qu'un tel et si grand homme repose sans une pierre ornée
d'inscriptions, sans monument, sans épitaphe, lui dont la gloire et la
mémoire ont été en bénédiction à toute la terre." As late as the 16th
century Robert's tomb was enriched with colour, and even now a small
amount remains.
Another king's death, that of Louis le Gros, is recorded by Suger:
"Après avoir reçu en communion le corps et le sang de Jésus-Christ, le
roi rejetant loin de lui toutes les pompes de l'orgueil du siècle,
s'étendit sur un lit de simple toile. M'ayant vu pleurer sur lui qui,
par le sort commun aux hommes, était devenu si petit et si humble de si
grand et si élevé qu'il était, il me dit: 'Ne pleure pas sur moi,
très-cher ami, mais plutôt triomphe et réjouis-toi de ce que Dieu, dans
sa miséricorde, m'a donné, comme tu le vois, les moyens de me préparer à
paraître devant lui.'.... Un peu avant de mourir, il ordonna qu'on
étendit un tapis par terre, et que sur ce tapis on jetât des cendres en
forme de croix; puis il s'y fit porter et déposer par ses serviteurs, et
fortifiant toute sa personne par le signe de la croix, il rendit l'âme
le jour les calendes d'août (I^{er.} août 1137), dans la trentième année
de son règne et presque la soixantième de son âge. Son corps fut à
l'heure même enveloppé de riches étoffes pour être transporté et enterré
dans l'église des saints martyrs."
Suger mentions the finding of the remains of Carloman when they were
about to bury Louis VI., and how the former were removed to a spot
between the altar of the Holy Trinity and that of the Martyrs: "On l'y
déposa donc avec le cérémonial d'usage pour les rois, au milieu de
chants nombreux, d'hymnes et de prières, après lui avoir fait de pieuses
et solennelles funérailles. C'est là qu'il attend d'être admis à jouer
de sa résurrection future, et qu'il est d'autant plus près de se réunir
en esprit à la troupe des esprits célestes, que son corps est plus
voisin des corps des saints martyrs et plus à portée d'en être protégé."
"FELIX QUI POTUIT MUNDI NUTANTE RUINA
QUO JACEAT PRÆSCISSE LOCO...."
"Puisse le Rédempteur ressusciter l'âme de ce roi à l'intercession des
saintes martyrs pour lesquels il avait un si pieux dévouement! puisse
cette âme être placée au rang des saints par celui qui a donné la sienne
pour le salut du monde, notre seigneur Jésus-Christ qui vit et règne,
Roi des rois, et maître des puissances, aux siècles des siècles.
Amen."[41]
Of the burial of Louis VII. the monk Rigord gives some interesting
details: "L'année 1181, le jeudi dix-huitième jour de septembre, mourut
à Paris Louis, roi des Français. Son corps fut honorablement enseveli et
couvert d'aromates dans l'église de Sainte-Marie de Barbeau, qu'il avait
fondée. C'est là qu'en l'honneur de notre seigneur Jésus-Christ et de la
bienheureuse mère de Dieu, Marie toujours vièrge, de saints religieux
célèbrent jour et nuit les offices divins pour l'âme du défunt roi, pour
celles de tous ses prédécesseurs et pour le salut du royaume de France.
C'est aussi dans cette église, et sur le lieu même de la sépulture du
roi, que l'illustre reine des Français, Adèle[42] son épouse et mère de
Phillippe-Auguste, roi des Français, fit construire un tombeau où l'art
le plus exquis avait fait un heureux mélange des matières les plus
brillantes, d'or et d'argent, d'airain et de pierres précieuses. Jamais
chef-d'œuvre aussi étonnant n'avait paru dans aucun royaume depuis le
règne de Salomon." In 1182 Philippe Auguste decreed that a taper should
always be kept alight before the tomb of his father. What became of the
monument is not known. At the Revolution it consisted of a sarcophagus
which had been renovated in 1695 by the Cardinal de Furstemberg, abbot
of Barbeau[43] and prince bishop of Strasburg. When Charles IX. was at
Fontainebleau he had the curiosity to open this latter tomb of Louis.
The body was nearly entire; but the sceptre, some silver seals and
ornaments, were partially destroyed. The king had rings on his fingers
and a gold cross on his neck; "le roi et les princes du sang qui se
trouvèrent là présents, les prirent pour les porter en mémoire d'un si
bon est religieux prédécesseur."[44] One would like to know why
ignorant, poverty-stricken fisher and peasant folk should be
anathematized for robbing the dead after a wreck or a battle, when such
a pious prince as the author of the massacre of S. Bartholomew pilfered
the rings from his ancestor without a word of protest--on the contrary,
his relations and friends "du sang" aided and abetted him. But then, of
course, a few centuries had elapsed in the latter case, and poor Louis
was reduced to a state of dry bones; it was robbing a skeleton, not a
body. In the reign of Napoléon the abbey of Barbeau was converted into a
school for the daughters of members of the Legion of Honour, and in 1817
the remains of Louis VII. were transported to S. Denis.
Why does it happen that children who die young seem to be so superior to
those who survive? Would the Duc de Bourgogne, Philippe, son of Louis
VI., Edward V., or Prince Arthur have made better sovereigns than their
relations who reigned in their stead? Suger gives a picturesque account
of the death of Philippe, "un enfant dans la fleur de l'âge." This
"malheur étrange" happened on the 13th October, 1131. "Le fils aîné du
roi Louis Philippe, d'une grande douceur, l'espoir des bons et la
terreur des méchants, se promenait un jour à cheval dans un faubourg de
la cité de Paris; un détestable porc se jette dans le chemin du cheval;
celui-ci tombe rudement, renverse, écrase contre une pierre le noble
enfant qui le montait, et l'étouffe sous le poids de son corps. Ce
jour-là même on avait convoqué l'armée pour une expédition; aussi les
habitants de la ville et tout les autres qui apprennent cet évènement,
consternés de douleur, crient, pleurent, poussent des sanglots,
s'empressent à relever le tendre enfant presque mort, et le portent dans
une maison voisine. O douleur! à l'entrée de la nuit il rendit l'âme.
Quelle tristesse et quel désespoir accablèrent son père, sa mère et les
grands du royaume! Homère lui-même ne pourrait l'exprimer. On l'enterra
dans l'église du bienheureux Denis, dans le lieu réservé à la sépulture
des rois et à la gauche de l'autel de la Sainte-Trinité, avec tout le
cérémonial usité pour les rois, en présence d'une foule d'évêques et de
grands de l'Etat."[45] Philippe's was the last statue that S. Louis gave
to the church, and the crown and sceptre show that the young prince had
been crowned by his father at Reims during the latter's life--probably
in order to share the duties of kingship.
Although three abbeys were the happy possessors of the remains of
Blanche of Castille (Maubuisson, Lys, and Saint-Corentin-lez-Mantes), no
tomb exists of the sweet mother of S. Louis.[46] Upon the monument at
Maubuisson the queen was attired in the habit of the Cistercian order,
which she assumed in her last moments; the crown was placed over the
veil, the royal robes over the nun's habit, and so she passed away, and
was thus buried. In 1793 various tombs, armorial bearings, and the like
_aliments de l'orgueil_, were transported from Maubuisson to Pontoise;
some were broken, some burnt; golden vessels and silver saints were
thrust into the melting-pot; and Blanche of Castille, with the help of a
prince perhaps, or a warrior, became transformed into an instrument of
war. But the museum of the Petits-Augustins wanted an effigy of the
mother of Monsieur Saint Louis; and so they set up a black marble image
of Catherine de Courtenay, empress of Constantinople and wife of Charles
of Valois, who had lately, and all alone, journeyed from Maubuisson;
and, thinking it a joke to turn a black empress into a white queen, they
wrote upon the slab, in 13th century characters, that it was the true
monument of _Madame la royne Blanche mere de Monsieur Saint Loys_. After
twenty years Madame Catherine-Blanche became divorced from her other
half, and the white queen faded away in favour of the black empress.
One of the most beautiful tombs is that of Philippe, the brother of S.
Louis, which was formerly at Royaumont. The prince lies upon a
sarcophagus, round which are niches filled with little figures of monks,
bishops, and angels, full of character and expression. One of these
represents a king: "On y voyait le cercueil de Louis porté par les
barons de France et par le roi d'Angleterre.[47] Une figure couronnée
porte sur l'épaule un des bâtons; c'est le roi anglais"[48]--proving the
sovereignty of France over England. There is a curious engraving by
Boulogne representing this procession. The church is in the distance; a
string of monks are zigzagging across the plain, and in the foreground
we see this crowned head and others bearing the reliquary; behind are
bishops; the whole in the grandiose style of the 17th and 18th
centuries--drapery flying in the wind, bishops and monks prancing, and
all the faces turned to the spectator. S. Louis had always held the
abbey in most respectful esteem. He visited it before he started upon
his various expeditions; and in 1267, when he had conferred the order of
chivalry upon his son Philippe and sixty other young noblemen, he rode
to S. Denis on horseback to implore the blessing of God, accompanied by
a large concourse of courtiers and princes.
The monuments of the battle of Bouvines came from the church of S.
Catherine-du-Val-des-Écoliers. They are incised stones, coloured and
gilt, bearing the following inscriptions:--
A LA PRIERE DES SERGENS DARMES MONS^R SAINT LOYS FONDA
CESTE EGLISE ET Y MIST LA PREMIERE
PIERRE ET FU POUR LA JOIE DE LA VITTOIRE QUE FU AU PONT DE
BOUINES LAN MIL. CC. ET.XIIII.
LES SERGENS DARMES POUR LE TEMPS GARDOIENT LEDIT PONT ET
VOUERENT QUE SE DIEU LEUR
DONNOIT VITTOIRE ILS FONDEROIENT VNE EGLISE EN LONNEUR DE
MADAME SAINTE KATHERINE ET AINSI FU IL.
Another epitaph to Blanche de France came from the Cordeliers:
ICY GIST MADAME BLANCHE FILLE DE MONSEIGNEUR SANCT
LOYS ET F[EM]E DE MONS. FERDINAND DE LACERDE ROY DE
CASTILLE QUI TRESPASSA DU CEST SIECLE LAN DE [=GCE]
MCCCXX LE DIX SEPTIESME JOUR DE JUN
PRIES POUR LAME DELLE Q. DEU BONNE MERCI LI FACE, AMEN.
When Isabelle d'Aragon died at Cosenza, in Calabria, her husband,
Philippe le Hardi, wrote to the abbot and religious of S. Denis to
commend her soul to their prayers, for her life _était aimable à Dieu et
aux hommes_. Her epitaph begins:
DYSABEL. LAME. AIT. PARADYS, _etc._
Louis XI. was not buried at S. Denis; he desired to be laid in the
church of Our Lady of Cléry, "for which the Heretics (meaning the
Huguenots and Calvinists) had not the same respect which they inviolably
entertained for the holy and royal tombs of S. Denis.[49] But inspired
by the Devil, with an abominable and hellish spirit of rage and
profanation, they tore the king's remains from the tomb, and, together
with the queen's, burnt them and scattered their ashes to the winds.
Thus he who would not let his body rest under the protection of the Holy
Martyers found no rest in the grave."[50]
This monument was of bronze, but another was erected in 1622 by an
Orléans sculptor, Michel Bourdin. La Fontaine described the latter as
follows, in a letter to his wife, dated 1633: "Nous nous arrêtâmes à
Cléry. J'allai aussitôt visiter l'église; c'est une collégiale assez
bien rentée pour un bourg. Louis XI. y est enterré. On le voit à genoux
sur son tombeau, quatre enfants aux coins; ce seraient quatre anges, si
on ne leur avait pas arraché les ailes. Le bon apôtre du roi fait là le
saint homme, et il est bien mieux pris que lorsque le Bourguignon le
mena à Liége.
Je lui trouvai la mine d'un matois:
Ainsi l'étoit ce prince dont la vie
Doit rarement servir d'exemple aux rois,
Mais pourroit être en quelques points suivie.
"À ses genoux sont ses heures et son chapelet, la main de justice, son
sceptre, son chapeau et sa Notre-Dame. Je ne sais comment le statuaire
n'y a pas mis le prévôt Tristan; le tout est en marbre blanc et m'a paru
d'assez bonne main."
This monument suffered some mutilations during the Revolution, the head
being chopped into three pieces[51]; but in 1817 it was repaired. It is,
in style, very similar to the descriptions of the bronze monument of
Charles VIII.
[Illustration: TOMB OF THE HOUSE OF ORLÉANS.]
The tomb of the house of Orléans was erected by Louis XII. in the centre
of the magnificent chapel of the family, in the church of the Célestins.
It contained besides, the statue of Philippe de Chabot, by Jean Cousin;
Germain Pilon's Three Graces; the columns of Anne de Montmorency, of
François II., and of Timoléon de Brissac; the obelisk of the
Longuevilles; the tombs of Rénée d'Orléans, and of the duc de Rohan, by
Michel Anguier. The destruction of this chapel and the dispersal of its
contents was one of the greatest acts of vandalism of modern times;
although a good deal has been preserved, the loss of the rest cannot but
be bewailed.
Charles, duc d'Orléans, was a lettered man and given to verse writing;
he was made prisoner at the battle of Agincourt, and passed more than
twenty years of his life in England. The little porcupine at the king's
feet (upon the tomb) symbolized the order of chivalry which he founded,
and which adopted that animal as its emblem.
The beautiful marble monument of Rénée d'Orléans recalls those of Santa
Croce, and other Italian churches, and it is a magnificent example of
French Renaissance sculpture.
The epitaph to Marguerite de Valois, first wife of Henri IV., attributed
to the queen's authorship, is taken from a manuscript in the
Bibliothèque:
Ceste brillante fleur de l'arbre des Valoys
En qui mourust le nom de tant de puissans Roys,
Marguerite, pour qui tant de lauriers fleurirent,
Pour qui tant de bouquets chez les Muses se firent.
A vu fleurs et lauriers, sur sa tête sécher,
Et par un coup fatal, les lys s'en détacher.
Las! le cercle Royal dont l'avoit couronnée
En tumulte et sans ordre un trop prompt himénée,
Rompu du même coup devant ses pieds tombant
La laissa comme un tronc dégradé par les vents.
Epouse sans espoux, et Royne sans royaume,
Vaine ombre du passé, grand et noble fantosme
Elle traisna depuis les restes de son sort,
Et vist jusqu'a son nom mourir avant sa mort.
The epitaph upon Henri's second wife, Marie de' Medici, is in a very
different style. Marie, after having built the splendid Luxembourg
palace, and filled it with Rubens' sparkling magnificences of colour,
died in exile at Köln:
Le Louvre de Paris vit éclater ma gloire;
Le nom de mon époux, d'immortelle mémoire,
Est placé dans le ciel comme un astre nouveau.
Pour gendres j'eus deux rois, pour fils ce clair flambeau,
Qui par mille rayons brillera dans l'histoire.
Parmi tant de grandeur (le pourra-t-on bien croire?)
Je suis morte en exil; Cologne est mon tombeau!
Cologne, œil des cités de la terre Allemande,
Si jamais un passant curieux te demande
Le funeste récit des maux que j'ai soufferts,
Dis: ce triste cercueil chétivement enserre
La reine dont le sang coule en tout l'univers,
Qui n'eut pas en mourant un seul pouce de terre.[52]
[Illustration: TOMB OF RÉNÉE D'ORLÉANS-LONGUEVILLE.]
Louis XIII., or rather, part of him, was buried at the Jesuits' church;
and Anne d'Autriche erected therein a fine monument sculptured by
Jacques Sarrazin. Two colossal angels in bronze and silver supported a
silver-gilt heart; but its magnificence only made it of greater use to
the mint for coinage.
This good king, the thirteenth of his name, was a great devotee of S.
Denis. He had instituted reform in the abbey by introducing the
congregation of S. Maur; and we are told that he acquired "strength and
spirits in his last illness, as he lay languishing upon his bed, as
often as he thought of S. Denis. At such times he would remark to his
attendants, with a smile of pious serenity, how much he felt himself
reconciled to his near approaching dissolution, and fortified against
all the usual desires of life or dread of death; in a sweet anticipation
of the happiness he should enjoy by reposing near the tombs of the Holy
Martyrs, in whom he placed the most sacred and unbounded confidence."
There is one more exquisite work of art which ought to be mentioned, the
beautiful urn from the abbey of Haute-Bruyère, which contained the heart
of that magnificent profligate, François I^er. It is of white marble, of
perfect form, with the most delicious little Genii sitting on the top.
The bas reliefs represent the Arts and Sciences, Faith, and the Church.
It is the work of Pierre Bontems.
Some of the kings were crowned at S. Denis after having been anointed
and consecrated at Reims; some, like Philippe Auguste, were re-invested
at the abbey. Philippe le Hardi, Charles VIII., Louis XII., François
I^{er.}, and Louis XIII., were all anointed at Reims and crowned at S.
Denis. An account in an old book of the coronation of Louis XIII. is so
quaint, and gives so graphic a picture of some of the manners and
customs of the period, that it is, I think, worth quoting in full.[53]
The description of the magnificent ceremony was extracted from a
chronicle of the reign of Louis XIII., and translated into English a
hundred and fifty years ago:--
"The royall ornaments, which are kept in the _Abbey of_ Saint
Denis, being caryed to Rheims, on the 14th October, 1610, the King
made his entrie into the towne, where his Maiestie was received
with greate pompe and magnificence; the particularities whereof I
am forced, for brevities sake, to omit. The day before the
ceremonie, the King went vnto the Cathedrall, to assist at
Euensong, and to heare a sermon made by Father Coton, vpon the
_diuine_ institution of the _unction of the Kings of France_, and
of confirmation, which he received from the hands of the Cardinall
of Joyeuse, to whom he was presented by Queen Marguerite and the
Prince of Condé.
"On Sunday, the 17th of October, the King sent foure Barons vnto
the Abbey of Saint Remy, to fetch the _holie oyle_. They parted
earlie in the morning, with their Esquires and Gentlemen; either of
them having a banner, with his armes, caried before him, causing a
_white hackney_ to be led, for the Prior of Saint Remy, who was to
carry the said _holie oyle_.
"The Cardinal of Joyeuse, who was to represent the Archbishop of
Rheims, and to doe the office, at the ceremonie, came soone after
into the church, with eight Bishops to assist him, where, attending
the comming of the Peeres, he sat him downe in his pontificall
robes. Two of these Bishops were attired like Deacons, with mitres;
two like Sub-Deacons, with mitres; and foure with copes and mitres.
Soon after arrived the ecclesiasticall Peeres, in their pontificall
robes.... At the same instant there came, from the King's lodging,
the Princes of Condé and Conty ... who were deputed by the King to
hold the places of ... attyred in their robes and coronets,
according to their qualities. Having done their devotions, and
saluted one another, they sent the bishops of Laon and Beauuais to
fetch the King, in their pontificall habits (_having certaine
reliques of the holie Saintes hanging about their neckes_),
conducted by the Master of the Ceremonies; all the Prebendes of
oure Ladies church marching in goodlie procession before them.
Being come to the King's chamber, and finding it shut, the Bishop
of Laon knocked three several times, to either of which the greate
Chamberlaine demanded, '_What would ye?_' The Bishop answered,
'_Lewis the Thirteenth, son to Henrie the Greate_'; whereunto the
Chamberlaine replied, '_He sleepeth_'; then knocking againe, he had
the like answere. But at the third time the Bishop answered,
'_Lewis the Thirteenth, which God hath given us for King_'; then
the door was opened, and the Bishops entered with the cheife
chaunter of Rheims, &c., where they found the King laid on his bed,
_having his shirt slit before and behind_, to receive the holie
Vnction, and uppon it a waistecoat of crimson sattin, _slitted in
like maner_, and thereon a long robe of cloth-of-_siluer_. The
Bishop of Laon having finished a prayer, kissing their hands, they
lifted the King from his bed, with all _shewes of honour_, and then
led him, _singing_, to the church doore. Before him, there marched,
first the greate Prouost, with his archeres; then the Clergie which
had accompanied the two Prelates; the hundrede tall Swissers of his
guard: the drummes, haultbois, and herauldes; the nobilitie; the
great Master of the Ceremonies; the Knights of the Holie Ghoste,
with their great order hong about their neckes, in the middest of
two hundred Gentlemen of the King's house; and _the Scottish
Guards, in their own proper_ habiliments. Before his Maiestie went
the Mareschall la Chastre, _representinge the Constable_, carying a
naked sworde, &c. &c. After some ceremonies at the church doore,
the King approacheth neare untoe the high altar, where he was
presented, by the Bishops of Laon and Chalons, untoe the Cardinal
Joyeuse, who said many prayers, whilest the King was at his
deuotions. After this he was led untoe his seate, with his Noblemen
and officers about him. In the meane tyme, all the religious men of
Saint Remy came solemnlie in procession, being accompanied by the
cheife of the towne, caryinge torches of virgines waxe in their
hands: Their Prior was mounted upon the _white hackney_, having a
foote-cloath of cloath-of-silver, carying the _violl of holie oyle,
in a pixe_, hanginge about his necke, being under a canopie of
cloath-of-silver, borne by foure Monkes. The Cardinall being
advertised of the arrivall of _the said oyle_, hee went, in his
pontificalibus, to meet it, with the eight Bishops which assisted
him, and all the singinge men and quiristeres. But before they
would deliver it unto the Cardinall, they made him (according to
the custome) binde himself to restore it untoe them againe. After
saying a praier, hee shewed the _holie oyle_ untoe the people; and
then set it down vpon the high altar, _with all the Godlie
reuerence_. (The coronation oath and some ceremonies are here
omitted for brevity). The King having taken the oathes, with
inuocation of the name of God, laying his handes vpon the Gospel,
which he kist with greate reuerence. The King's ornaments ... were
layd upon the altar; and on the left hande side, neere vnto them,
stoode the _Prior of Saint Denis_, who hath the keeping of them;
and on the right side stoode the Prior of Saint Remy, _looking
sharplie to the holie oyle_.[54] The Bishops of Laon and Beauvais,
hauing conducted him vnto the altar, Mons. de Belgarde tooke off
his roabe of cloath-of-silver. Being in his waistecoate of sattin,
when the Cardinall had made certaine prayers and blessings, the
Duke of Esguillon put on his buskins, and the Prince of Condé put
on his spurres (in the place of the Duke of Bourgundie) and
presentlie took them off againe. After this, the Cardinall blessed
the royale sworde, it being in the scabberd, and girt the King
therewith, and presentlie ungirted him againe. Then he drew it out
of the scabberd, and kissed it, saying manie praiers, whilest that
the Quier sang certaine anthems. The King kist the sworde also; and
layd it upon the altar, in testimonie of his zeale and affection to
the defence of the holie church. The Cardinall delivered it into
his hande againe; which his Maiestie tooke reuerentlie vpon his
knee, and gave it to the _Mareschall la Chastre_. The Cardinall
returning to the altar, to prepare the sacred vnction, after this
manner: '_Hee drewe out of the forenamed holie violl, with a
needell of gold, a small quantitie of liquor, of the bignesse of a
pease, and mingled it, with his finger, with the holie creme
prepared in the couer of the chalice_.
"This vnction being thus ordered, the tyinges of the King's
garments _were let loose both before and behinde_, by the Cardinall
and the two Bishops; after which his Maiestie kneeled down in his
oratorie, and the Cardinall with him, to crave the assistance of
God for the preseruation of France. The Lettanie being sung, the
Cardinall stoode up, to saye certaine praiers ouer the King, who
was yet kneelinge. Then the Cardinall sett him downe, as in the
consecration of a Bishop, and holding in his hand _the patenne_
whereon the _heavenlie oyle_ was layd, he beganne, with his right
_thumbe_, to anoynte the King, in divers places, _viz._, on the
crowne of the head, on the stomacke, betwixte his shouldere blades,
on bothe shoulderes, and on the bendinges of his armes. The
consecration praiers being ended, the Cardinall, with the two
Bishops, closed vp his shirte, waistecoate, and other garmentes, in
reverence of the sacred Vnction. Then the high Chamberlaine
presented the three habitts accustomed to be worne, in the lyke
ceremonies, viz., a long jackett, representinge a Sub-Deacon, a
surplis for a Deacon, and a _royall cloake_, insteade of a coape,
representinge a Prieste; which ended, the Cardinall _anoynted the
palmes of his handes_, and then put him on _thin_ gloues, lest,
peradventure, hee should touche anie thinge with his bare handes,
for reverence of the vnction, which gloues he blest, and sprinkled
with holie water; the royall ringe being alsoe blest by the
Cardinall (a symbole of loue, whereby the King was wedded untoe his
realme), he put it on the fourthe fingere of his Maiesties right
hande, with all the accustomed ceremonie. This done, hee tooke the
sceptere from the altar, and put it intoe his right hande, for a
mark of the Soueraigne power: then he tooke the hande of Justice,
which hee put into his lefte hande, it being a wande, hauing, on
the top thereof, a hande of mylke white iuorie.
"Then the Chancelloure of France came vp, with his face towarde the
King, and, with a stoute voyce, did call vp the Peeres, according
to their dignities, to assist at the coronation. When as, this
ceremonie being ended, the Cardinall took _the great crowne_ from
the altar, and lifting it with bothe his handes, did poise it over
the King's heade; the Peeres did then come to support them, and the
Cardinall blest it; and then he alone sett the crowne upon the
King's heade, whereuntoe all the Peeres did incontinentlie put
their handes. The Cardinall then said manie praiers, and blest the
King; the which being ended, _hee took him bie the right sleeve_,
and conducted him to his royall throne, the which was builded on
high at the bottome of the quier, forasmuch as that he might be
seene of all the people, holdinge still in his handes the royall
sceptere and rod of Justice. The Queen Regent, the whilst she
beheld all these ceremonies, was sorely disquieted, not being able
to endure, with patience, to see his Maiestie _bare headed_, vnder
the crowne, havinge his capp taken from him; which shewes that
crownes and greatness have their discomodities, as well as the most
ordinarie thinges, and the poorest cottages. The King being come to
his royall throwne, attended bie the Princes, Peeres, and Officers,
according to their degrees, the Cardinall, holding him by the
hande, caused him to sit downe, and praied untoe God to confirme
him in his throne, and to make him invincible and inexpugnable
against his enemies. After which, having sayd a praier, being
bare-headed, he made a low obeysance untoe the King, and kissed
him, saying thrice, with a loude voyce, '_God save the King_'; and
at the laste, he added, '_God save the King eternallie_.' All the
Peeres did the lyke obeysance, one after the other, and _kist_ him,
with the lyke acclamation, and then returned untoe the seates that
were prepared for them on either hand."
[Illustration: RELIQUARY CONTAINING THE HEAD OF S. DENIS.]
The treasury of S. Denis was one of the richest in Europe. Commenced by
the religious enthusiasts of the time of Charlemagne, it increased year
by year, through the donations of the grateful patients who had been
cured, or whose sufferings had been relieved, by the intercession of S.
Denis and his companions. For every wax arm or leg, which we see hanging
up in bunches at the side of a shrine in these days, the ages of Faith
could have produced a valuable plaque, gem, cross, reliquary, or altar
vessel. Thankfulness was then more costly in its expression. Doubtless
poor offerings were also made, but the richness of the churches and
their contents, as compared with the difficulty of obtaining a few
thousands at the present day, shows that gratitude was more practical
than in modern times. Charles le Chauve was a great donor to the
monastery. It was he who gave the magnificent _ante-pendium_, besides
some jewelled Gospels and altar-vessels. Philippe-Auguste bequeathed all
his jewels to the abbey, including a cross of gold valued at 400 livres,
this benefaction being for the maintenance of twenty additional monks;
but his son, Louis, repurchased some of the valuables at the estimated
price of 11,600 _livres_, a little business transaction which was not
unprofitable to the convent. Louis le Gros established the custom of
leaving the royal ornaments to the abbey at the decease of the kings.
Matthieu de Vendôme, one of the regular abbots, gave the marvellous
_chef_ of S. Denis, a gold reliquary in the form of a head, with a
jewelled mitre, and silver-gilt supporting Angels, and a young
Child-angel holding another reliquary containing a portion of the
Saint's shoulder-blade. Gilles de Pontoise, another abbot, presented a
beautiful reliquary, containing the under-jaw of S. Louis--a marvel of
goldsmithy in the form of statuettes of gold, jewelled and enamelled.
The great Suger gave a number of magnificent objects of all kinds; the
huge gold cross, six feet in height, placed over the altar, and another
which stood upon the _grille_ dividing the choir from the nave. These
probably were made at S. Denis, as Suger set up a great school for the
fashioning of gold and silver, as well as for writing and painting; and
so famous did it become, that brethren from other monasteries flocked to
the monks of S. Denis to perfect themselves in these arts.
[Illustration: THE "MASS OF S. GILES" (FRAGMENT).]
There is a representation of Charles le Chauve's _ante-pendium_ in the
picture formerly in the Dudley collection, and now in the possession of
Mr. Edward Steinkopff, and generally known as the "Mass of S. Giles."
The altar stands as at present; on the right we see a portion of the
tomb of Dagobert; and behind are the windows of the apsidal clerestory.
The only difference in the sculptures, as represented in the picture,
and the actual monument, is that the head of Nantilde is bent in the
modern statue, but is erect in the old one; and the feet of Dagobert
seem to have nothing to rest upon. A priest is before the altar; on his
left is a king; behind are some assistants, one holding a tall candle;
and above is an Angel bearing a paper, alluding to the legend, that as
S. Giles was once saying mass before a king with some hidden sin he dare
not confess, an Angel descended with a written pardon. The question is,
Who is the king? May it not be Charles le Chauve, the donor of the
retable? Charles was abbot of S. Denis; and his devotion to the Saint
was so great that he attended the offices of the church on all solemn
days, and passed the rest of the time in pious conversation with the
monks. The crown the king wears is of the time of Charles V., but it has
upon it the Imperial circle, which seems to point to Charles the Bald;
and the later style of the crown may be accounted for, as it has
evidently been copied from one in the treasury of S. Denis (see
Félibien). Moreover, it very much resembles the one worn by Charles le
Chauve in a miniature of a Latin Bible in the Bibliothèque; on the other
hand, the king wears a moustache in the latter, whereas in the picture
he is bearded.
Another question is this, Does the picture represent a mass? It probably
has gained its title as much from being the companion _volet_ to Lord
Northbrook's S. Giles as to the incident of the scroll-bearing Angel.
But there is not the slightest resemblance between the hunting personage
in Lord Northbrook's picture and the king in the "Mass." In the former,
the kneeling hunter appears in a cap, and has no beard; may not this be
Charles Martel? We are told in the legend of S. Giles that the king of
France was one day hunting in the South, near Nismes, when, in the
pursuit of a hind, the hunters came upon S. Giles living hermit-wise in
a cave. Charles Martel was never actually sovereign, although governing
the kingdom; therefore a cap would be an appropriate head covering for
the Maire du Palais. And the dates correspond. S. Giles died in 725;
Charles Martel in 741. Is there any evidence that the S. Denis picture
represents the S. Giles legend? There is no reason why each _volet_ of a
triptich should be decorated with incidents in the life of the same
saint. Again, does the picture represent a mass? There are no lights
upon the altar, which is contrary to the almost invariable custom of the
church from all time. Two lights were used from the earliest period;
whereas a single light, either taper, torch, or lantern, borne by an
assistant kneeling behind the celebrant, generally denotes a communion
of the faithful, after, or out of, mass. It is true there is a picture
by van der Weyden in the National Gallery of the "Mass of S. Hubert,"
with no lights, and there is no doubt about the subject, as the vessels
requisite for a mass are visible upon the altar; but in the "Mass of S.
Giles" there are no evidences of the celebration of mass, except that
the priest is elevating the Host while facing the altar, and reading
from a book placed thereon; whereas at a communion the celebrant turns
his back to the altar when elevating the consecrated wafer. Now may not
the picture represent either the communion of Charles le Chauve, or his
induction as abbot, or his presentation of the retable? I have not lost
sight of the difficulty of the Angel. But if it be really the
sin-forgiven scroll which he holds, there is no reason why this
particular king should not have had a hidden sin, pious man though he
may have been; indeed, that would be a reason for his thinking ill of
himself. And must the subject be necessarily that incident, when we know
that in Mediæval times Angels were constantly in the habit of flying
about with all kinds of objects of celestial manufacture--stoles,
girdles, chalices, crowns, palms, &c. (In van der Weyden's picture,
mentioned above, an Angel is descending with a stole).
These are merely suggestions of a theory, which others, more qualified
than myself, may be able to solve. Suger is said to have added to the
_ante-pendium_ given by Charles le Chauve, and placed it over the altar
as a retable;[55] therefore there would be nothing extraordinary in the
15th-century artist placing Charles kneeling as the original donor, and
Suger celebrating, as the founder of the new altar, or reredos. Has the
abbot Giles de Pontoise, who died in 1325, caused any confusion in
naming this picture? There is another curious resemblance in the crowns
borne by the Angels upon the retable, and the crowns of Guarrazar in the
Hôtel Cluny. The latter are supposed to be of Byzantine workmanship, the
largest bearing the name of Reccesvinthus, king of the Visigoths, who
reigned from 649 to 672. Charles le Chauve died in 823; but, according
to Grégoire de Tours, when Childebert returned from a campaign against
the Visigoths in Spain, he brought away divers gold and silver
treasures, including a gold cross from Toledo; therefore there must have
been an extensive school of goldsmithy in Spain at that time, and Toledo
is the very spot near which the Guarrazar spoils were discovered. Were
they made there some 100 years or so after Childebert's death? Grégoire
de Tours also speaks of the king setting up workshops in the Parvis
Notre-Dame, doubtless in imitation of the Spanish school; and in his
_Notice de l'Orfévrerie_, M. Alfred Darcel points out a similarity
between the Merovingian and the Spanish style of work. "Ce qui ressort
de la plupart des passages que nous venons de citer, c'est que
l'orfévrerie mérovingienne a pour principal caractère l'alliance des
pierreries aux métaux précieux. Ce caractère se retrouve dans
l'ornamentation des couronnes de Guarrazar ... et dans l'orfévrerie
Byzantine." Is it possible, then, that the _ante-pendium_ presented by
Charles le Chauve to S. Denis was made at the workshops set up by
Childebert in the Parvis Notre-Dame, in imitation of those he had seen
at Toledo; and that the workmanship was also an imitation of the Spanish
goldsmithy of a hundred years earlier?
But of all this beauty, of all this wealth, what have we now?
Marvellously little; still, considering the robbers, royal and plebeian,
the fires, the wars, and the undisciplined mobs, we ought to be thankful
that so much has been preserved. That even the great churchmen were not
above suspicion we see by the account of the coronation of Louis XIII.;
the cardinal being obliged "to binde himself" to restore the "holy oyle"
before the monks would let him take it into his hands; and the Prior of
S. Remy, who had the custody of it, standing by and "looking sharplie to
the holie oyle."
Of the few things which remain from the wreck, the following will be
found in the Louvre and the Bibliothèque Nationale, commencing with the
former.[56]
The beautiful Egyptian Amphora of porphyry transformed by Abbot
Suger[57] into an eagle for service as an altar vessel. It is
silver-gilt, and bears an inscription round the bird's neck: _Includi
Gemmis lapis ista meretur et auro--marmor erat sed in his marmore carior
est._[58] Suger himself thus describes it: "Un vase de porphyre,
chef-d'œuvre de taille et de sculpture; depuis longues années il
était sans emploi dans l'écrin; d'amphore qu'il était, nous l'avons
transformé en un aigle, au moyen de l'or et de l'argent, nous l'avons
adapté au service de l'autel, et sur ce vase nous avons fait inscrire
les vers qui suivent."
Another antique sardonyx[59] set by Suger, with a mounting of
silver-gilt filagree and precious stones ornamenting it. Suger's account
of this vase is as follows: "Nous avons acheté, pour le service du même
autel, un calice précieux de sardonyx; nous y avons joint, en guise
d'amphore, un autre vase de la même matière, mais de forme différente,
sur lequel sont ces vers: _Dum libare Deo gemmis debemus et auro--Hoc
ego Sugerius offero vas Domino._".... "Il était de ce sentiment que l'on
doit employer à la décoration des autels tout ce que l'on a de plus
précieux; il disait que si les juifs se sont servis dans l'ancienne loi
de vases et de fioles d'or, pour ramasser le sang des animaux, à plus
forte raison doit-on moins épargner, dans la nouvelle, l'or et les
pierreries pour tout ce qui a rapport au saint sacrifice du corps et du
sang de Jésus Christ." Twenty-four _plaques_ which decorated a book of
the Gospels, in _cloisonné_ enamel, are of the 9th century. Some of them
are ornamented with foliage, others with the four Evangelists. They
belonged to the gold book-cover bearing the legend: _Beatrix me in
honore Dei omnipotentis et omnium sanctorum eius fieri precepit_; which
probably refers to Beatrix, grand-daughter of Hugues Capet and sister of
Robert, king of France, wife of Ebles I., count of Reims.
A 13th century reliquary in _champlevé_ enamel.
The psalter of Charles le Chauve.
[Illustration: VASE DE SUGER.]
The beautiful antique rock-crystal vase, bearing the name of Aliénor
d'Aquitaine. It was given by her to Louis VII., who presented it to
Suger, who, in his turn, offered it to the Saints, as saith the
inscription upon the foot: "_This vase was given by Aliénor to Louis,
her husband. Mitadol gave it to her grandfather, and the King to me,
Suger; and I, Suger, to SS. Rusticus and Eleutherius._"
The paten belonging to Suger's lost chalice. It is a serpentine disc
incrusted with golden fishes.
A rectangular plaque of gold, _repoussée_ and gilt, bearing inscriptions
in Greek.
A statuette of the Blessed Virgin, in silver, _repoussée_, chased, and
parcel gilt and enamelled. The Virgin holds a _fleur-de-lys_, enriched
with precious stones, in her right hand. It was given to the abbey by
Jehanne d'Evreux, in 1334.
A sceptre with a statuette of Charlemagne upon a lily, of the reign of
Charles V.
Another statuette of the Blessed Virgin in silver _repoussée_ and parcel
gilt; with a little rock-crystal reliquary enclosing a piece of the
swaddling clothes.
In the Bibliothèque:
A cameo (sardonyx) head of Augustus, formerly one of the gems of the
reliquary containing the skull of S. Hilary. The reliquary was in the
form of a mitred head, after the manner of that of S. Denis. The
shoulders were vested in a cope, and this cameo set in the centre of the
orphrey. The reliquary was made during the administration of Jérôme de
Chambellan, grand prior from 1583 to 1606, but part of the mounting
holding the pearls and stones seems to be of earlier date. There are
three sapphires and three imitation rubies, separated by six bouquets
composed of three pearls.[60]
A little chalcedony bust of Annius Verus as Bacchus, inscribed: _Verinus
consulis probat tempora._ The bust bears a striking likeness to some
medals and coins of the little son of Marcus Aurelius. It was the custom
of the Roman consuls to send presents upon their appointments; thus, in
sending this bust to a friend, some consul engraved the inscription,
which signifies: _The little Verus will remind you of my consulate._ In
the list by Dom Félibien of the treasury at S. Denis, this is called:
_Tête d'un enfant faite d'une agate orientale._
One of the most precious of the treasures was the Bacchic cantharus,
called the Cup of the Ptolomies. It is a sardonyx cup upon a pedestal,
with handles of vine stalks, and covered with bas-reliefs. It is
supposed to have gained its name from having belonged to Ptolomy XI.,
the husband of Cleopatra, who bore the surname of Dionysos or Bacchus.
From the subjects of the bas-reliefs, it was undoubtedly consecrated to
Bacchus. It has also been called the Cup of Mithridates, as having
perhaps belonged to the celebrated collection of vases formed by the
famous King. Singular though it may appear, this cup dedicated to
Bacchus was given to S. Denis by one of the Carlovingian Kings; was it
some blundering over the names, Dionysos and Dionysius? The gold foot
was added to give it the form of a chalice, says Tristran de
Saint-Amant, and the "grossier distique latin," placed upon this foot,
"était profondément gravé sur l'or et la gravure remplie d'émail de
couleur d'acier braze." The following inscription is easily read in the
engraving in Félibien's history, but not the date: _Hoc vas Christe tibi
mente dicavit tertius in Francos regmine Karlus._[61]
It has been thought that it was Charles the Simple who made the
donation, but Félibien remarks that Charles le Gros as well as Charles
le Chauve were also designated Charles III. In any case, it is known to
have been in the treasury as early as the 9th century. In 1790, it was
placed in the Cabinet de Médailles, but some years after it was stolen
with the great cameo and other valuables. The thieves were arrested in
Holland, and the cup and the cameo restored to the Bibliothèque; but the
mounting of the latter and the foot of the cup had been melted up.
According to a tradition referred to by Marion de Mersan, the queens of
France drank consecrated wine from this cup upon their coronation day.
Another tradition asserts that Henri III., in direful need of money,
borrowed the cup, and pawned it to the Jews of Metz for a million of
_livres tournois_.
A beautiful aqua-marine bust is the authentic portrait of the daughter
of Titus, wife of Flavius Sabinus. It is signed Evodus, the name of a
Greek artist known by two other signed gems. It formed part of the
reliquary known as _escrain_ or _oratoire de Charlemagne_. Félibien
speaks of it thus: "Ce reliquaire n'est qu'or, perles et pierreries. Sur
le haut est répresentée une princesse que quelques uns estiment être ou
Cléopâtre, ou Julie, fille de l'empereur Titus." Some of the stones are
gone, but one of the remaining sapphires is an antique intaglio
representing upon one side a dauphin, and upon the other a monogram
surmounted by a cross of the 5th or 6th century. The letters of the
monogram are ΜΑΘΥ, possibly the initials of the owner, or
the designation of the Virgin: ΜΑΡΙΑ ΜΗΤΗΡ ΘΕΟΥ (_Marie, mère de Dieu_).
[Illustration: STEPS LEADING TO THE APSE.]
The Coupe de Chrosroës I., King of Persia, of the dynasty of the
Sassanides (531-579) is of transparent rock-crystal, engraved with a
representation of the King sitting upon his throne. In the history of
the abbey, published in 1625, by F. I. Doublet, we find this cup
mentioned as having been in the treasury, under the name of Solomon's
cup, for more than ten centuries, "et donnée par l'Empereur et Roy de
France Charles le Chauve." How it got into the hands of the King is not
known. Chrosroës was defeated by Justinian, general of Tiberius
Constantine, Emperor of the East; so that possibly the cup found its way
to Constantinople after the battle. Félibien's description of it is:
"Espèce de sous-couppe d'or ornée de crystaux de différentes sortes de
couleurs. Au milieu l'on y voit un Roy assis dans son trône."
Such are a few of the treasures formerly at S. Denis. The church is
lovely now, garnished only with its tombs and glass; what it must have
been upon a great festival a couple of hundred years ago, or still
farther back, imagination must be left to picture to itself. Even now,
upon the fête of the Saint (October 9th), the effect of the procession,
as it winds up and down the aisles and steps, is very fine, and quaint,
too; for the Suisses wear black hats and feathers, cloaks, breeches, and
stockings, after the style of Lawrence's "Kemble as Hamlet"; indeed,
they seem to be the Dane, according to the courtly painter, personified.
The costume of the boys, also, is different to that of the other
churches. They wear violet cassocks, white cottas, scarlet capes with
yellow edges, and red skull caps. The whole affair, the old canons
bearing the relics, the boys in their quaint attire, the old-world
vergers and beadles, the lights few and far between in the great dim
church, the vistas of arched aisles ending in darkness, and the sparse
congregation, give the impression of some period long before the end of
this prosaic 19th century. The _châsses_ are in their old places upon
the raised apse behind the altar; but they are of no artistic value. The
setting of the jewels is there, but the jewels are gone. The church
remains one of the grandest of its date, but its contents have been
mended, patched, and re-made. Still, it is an exquisitely beautiful
relic, left us by the ages of Faith.
S. Denis still goes barefoot, but not for love. Stern necessity keeps it
so, or thrusts its cold feet into wooden shoes. It carries its red flag
also, and waves it menacingly at all who love peace and quiet. Likewise,
it perambulates in processions; but its relics are rags and hungry
children. From a haven of rest, raised up with perhaps some grains of
foolish superstition; from an artistic centre of all that was beautiful;
from the trysting place of enthusiasts, diluted probably with a certain
amount of bigotry, S. Denis has become faithless, hopeless, and
restless; bigoted in its excessive Communism, unjust in its perversion
of true Socialism, flaunting its Anarchic _oriflamme_ in the face of law
and order. It is a strange contrast; but perhaps the cause and effect
are nearer allied than is generally supposed.
SAINTE-ELIZABETH.
Situated in the Rue du Temple, the church dedicated to the great
Hungarian princess formerly faced the entrance to the grim fortress of
the Templars, where the poor little Dauphin sighed out his infant life.
The church was built for the nuns of the third order of S. Francis, of
which S. Elizabeth was a member; and the first stone was laid in 1628 by
a very different sort of Queen, Marie de' Medici. The exterior, with its
Doric pilastered doorway, and the interior, with its poor glass and
indifferent sculptures, are alike utterly uninteresting; but the white
marble font, bearing the date of 1654, and the woodwork which ornaments
the aisle of the sanctuary, are worth a visit. The latter consists of a
series of little panels representing scenes from the Old and New
Testament in bas-relief, of the end of the 16th century, and are said to
have been originally in a church at Arras. There is nothing in the
building worthy of its patron, that most perfect of saints, whether we
think of her as woman, as queen, or as mother.
"AVE GEMMA SPECIOSA!
MULIERUM SYDUS, ROSA!
EX REGALI STIRPE NATA,
MUNDO LICET VIRO DATA
NUNC IN COELIS CORONATA;
CHRISTO TAMEN DESPONSATA.
UTRIUSQUE SPONSALIA,
SIMUL SERVANS ILLIBATA;
SARAM SEQUENS FIDE PIA,
ET REBECCAM PRUDENTIA,
O DILECTA! O BEATA!
NOSTRA ESTO ADVOCATA,
ELIZABETH EGREGIA![62]
SAINT-ÉTIENNE DU MONT.
[Illustration: SAINT ÉTIENNE DU MONT.]
Upon the summit of the hill which rises up from the Seine, opposite and
on the south side of Notre-Dame, is the church of S. Étienne du Mont.
Some few years ago this "mountain" was an interesting hunting ground to
the archæological explorer and the collector of _bric-à-brac_; but it
has been so cut through by new streets and boulevards that it has almost
been improved out of existence. At the foot of it, in a little street
turning on from the Quai de la Tourelle, is all that remains of the
famous college of the Bernardins, now used by the _sapeurs-pompiers_.
The college was founded by an Englishman, Stephen of Lexington, Abbot of
Clairvaux, in 1244, upon some ground belonging to the rich abbey of S.
Victor; Alphonse, the brother of S. Louis, being the titular founder and
protector of the establishment. The great church, begun in 1338 by Pope
Benedict XII. and Cardinal Curti, to replace the one built by Stephen
Lexington, was never finished, but was considered, in the 14th century,
to be of great beauty. (Pope Benedict, as Jacques Fournier, was
professor of theology in the college.) But more fortunate than the
church, the refectory has remained intact in all its beauty until our
own time, though unfortunately, in 1845, it was sadly mutilated in order
to adapt it for use as a barrack. A portion of the cloister may still be
seen in the Rue de Poissy, a pointed arch built into the modern wall of
a house with square windows in between. It is time the municipality of
Paris or the Society for the Preservation of Ancient Buildings bestirred
itself to restore the few fragments of old Paris which yet remain. The
Revolution did much damage, but often it only put the conventual
buildings to secular uses without destroying them, leaving for later
governments, and those moreover professedly religious, to utterly
demolish the mutilated monasteries and churches, in order to make
straight streets and spacious boulevards, which, beautiful as they are,
do not prevent us from regretting the past.
The convent of S. Geneviève was founded by Clovis, and so extensive were
its lands and dependencies that ere long it drew to it a large
population of workmen and labourers for the cultivation of its land. A
priest, one of the monks of the abbey, was appointed to take spiritual
charge of these people; and from this commencement grew the parish of S.
Étienne. Originally the congregation met and worshipped in the crypt of
the abbey church, which was dedicated to Our Lady; then the chapel was
placed under the protection of S. John the Evangelist, and called St.
Jean-du-Mont. But at the beginning of the 13th century the congregation
outgrew its chapel, and in 1224 the Bishop of Paris authorised the
building of a church by the side of the abbey, to be consecrated to the
memory of S. Étienne, the proto-martyr. This first church, in fact, was
only a part of the abbey; having had no separate entrance of its own, it
could only be entered by a doorway from the choir of S. Geneviève. The
reason for changing its name for the third time was probably the
demolition of a church dedicated to S. Stephen to make space for
Notre-Dame. The memory of the first of martyrs being dear to the
citizens, nothing would be more appropriate than the naming of a new
church to take the place of the old one, although upon a different site.
The first mention of S. Étienne is in the History of Guillaume le
Breton, in the year 1221.
This first church lasted three hundred years, and then again, the
population having increased enormously, S. Étienne was found to be too
small for its congregation, and another and finer church was projected.
In 1491 it was deemed better to rebuild than to patch up and enlarge the
church; but many years passed in projects and delays, and it was only in
1517 that the work was actually commenced. Abbot Philippe Lebel finished
the choir in 1537, and in 1541 the Bishop of Mégare consecrated the
altars in the name of the Bishop of Paris; but that the church was not
finished in 1552, or even in 1563, the diocesan permission to apply the
Lenten offerings to the work is sufficient proof. The _jubé_ was
commenced in 1600, the porches nine years later, and the chapel of the
Virgin (rebuilt) was only finished in 1661. It was Queen Marguerite de
Valois, the lady who so strangely prances about Paris upon a white
palfrey at dead of night in the much-admired controversial opera, who
laid the first stone of the great portal in 1610; and, moreover, she
gave a sum of three thousand _livres_ to aid the work; but what was this
when so much was wanted? All was not complete until 1626, and meanwhile
the alms during Lent were appropriated to the building fund. However, a
glance at a slab of black marble on the north wall of the nave will tell
us that on the 25th February, 1626, the Sunday called Sexagesime, under
the pontificate of Urban VIII., and in the reign of Louis XIII. of
gracious memory, the church and the high altar were dedicated to the
glory of God and of the Virgin Mary by the "_révérendissime messire
Jean-François de Gondi_," archbishop of Paris. Another inscription
informs the reader of a wonderful accident which took place on this
occasion:--
"Et pendant les cérimonies de la dédicace, devs filles de la
paroisse tombèrent dv hauvlt des galleries du cœvr, avec l'appvy
et devx des ballvstres, qui fvrent miraculeusement préservées,
comme les assistants; ne s'étant rencontré personne sovbs les
rvines, vev l'affluence dv pevple qvi assistaient avs dites
cérimonies."
Before the Revolution the _curé_ was always one of the regular canons of
S. Geneviève. At the end of the 16th century he was assisted in his
duties by a community consisting of twenty-four priests. In 1791, when
the parishes of the city were reorganized, it was determined to remove
the relics, the ornaments, and the monuments of the abbey church to S.
Étienne, and to re-name the latter after the maid of Nanterre; but the
decree was never carried out. Reforms and resolutions followed each
other so rapidly that there was no time to put them into execution.
S. Étienne is a cruciform building, very much leaning to the right (as
is so common in old churches), with a nave, two aisles, and nineteen
chapels. The transepts scarcely project beyond the nave. The exterior is
a mass of elegant ornamentation, and on the north side, under the
windows, is a passage which connects the porch of the second bay with
the _charnier_, a sort of cloister, built at the end of the Lady Chapel,
exterior to the church. The enclosure within this cloister was formerly
the little burial ground; the great cemetery being situated in the
square which fronts the church.
[Illustration: SAINT ÉTIENNE AND THE OLD CHURCH OF SAINTE-GENEVIÈVE.]
There is something extremely coquettish and fascinating about the
building, with its high-pitched roof, springing from a Renaissance
façade, and its 15th century tower surmounted by a pepper-box lantern.
The old church of the abbey, which completely joined S. Étienne, has
been entirely swept away to make room for the Rue Clovis; but the
refectory and the tower still form a part of the Lycée Henri IV., a
little turret at the easternmost angle of S. Étienne indicating the
extremity of the monastery's domains.
Above the great doorway is a bas-relief of the stoning of S. Stephen and
the legend: _Lapis templum Domini destruit, lapis astruit_. Right and
left are statues of S. Étienne and S. Geneviève, the two patrons; above
are Angels bearing torches. Upon the pediment is the Resurrection, and
under the lintel we read: _Stephano archimartyro sacrum_. Two Angels
above the great rose window bear the arms of Marguerite de Valois, and
at the summit are the statues of S. Hilary and S. Benedict, patrons of
two churches in the parish, now demolished.
[Illustration: THE SCREEN LOOKING TOWARDS THE CHOIR.]
The interior of S. Étienne is no less singular than the exterior. The
side aisles are nearly as high as the nave, and have enormous windows.
The shafts which support the vault of the nave are of great height, and
the bays are of the same elevation as the side aisles. Above these bays
is a clerestory, the windows of which are as broad as they are high,
with depressed pointed arches. In order to diminish the enormous height
of the bays, the architect conceived a curious device. At about
one-third of the height of the shafts he has thrown a depressed arch
from pillar to pillar, which forms an elevated passage round the church.
It is arrested at the transepts, but taken up again round the choir. The
passage encircling each pillar is just wide enough to enable a person to
walk. These _tournées_, as the old records call the gallery, and the
splendid _jubé_ form a distinctive feature of the church. On the side of
the nave the _tournée_ has an open pilaster balustrade, and at the
entrance of the choir it joins the _jubé_. On each side of this is a
spiral staircase leading up first to the _jubé_ and then, a second
flight to the choir gallery, the former being formed of a single
flying-arch supported by two pilasters. The whole screen is ornamented
with rich carving; an Angel with palm leaves is in each spandrel, and
above all is a huge crucifix, completing this beautiful and original
specimen of French Renaissance, the only _jubé_ which has survived the
17th century restorations. It was the work of a celebrated sculptor
named Biart (_père_). Upon each side of it is a doorway, surmounted by a
sitting figure, listening to the chanting of the Gospel. _Ascende qui
evangelizas Sion. Audiam quid loquatur Dominus meus_, are the words upon
the right. At the left: _Quam dulcia faucibus meis eloquia tua. Levavi
manus meas ad mandata tua._
The pendant bosses of the nave and crossing are exceedingly rich in
ornament--garlands of flowers, Angels' heads, the Symbols of the
Evangelists, rosettes, and armorial bearings. The central boss of the
transept falls 18ft., and has for ornament Angels playing instruments,
the emblems of the Four Evangelists, and a Lamb encircled with thorns
and bearing a crown.
[Illustration: DOORWAY OF THE SCREEN.]
The pulpit was designed by Laurent de la Hire, the painter, and
sculptured by Claude Lestocard. It is a mass of rich carving. A huge
Samson supports the lower part, while upon the canopy are little Angels
of the winged-Cupid tribe, and at the summit a draped Angel with a
trumpet. Samson is sitting upon the lion he tamed with the jawbone of an
ass, and holds the strange weapon in his hand. Sauval remarked that _il
la porte bien_ (the pulpit), and certainly he appears to be doing so
without much effort. The medallions upon the staircase and round the
pulpit represent Evangelists and Doctors, among them Augustin and
Jerome, and scenes from the life of S. Stephen, in which he figures as a
preacher. The Cardinal Virtues go hand in hand in a becoming fashion
with the Theological Ladies: Prudence bearing her mirror, which reflects
the wisdom of the serpent hard by; Justice has her sword; Faith a heart
as well as her cross; Hope leans upon her anchor; Temperance pours out
water from an _amphora_; Courage holds a dangerous weapon of the mallet
order; Charity is surrounded by the most charming of children. All these
statuettes are exquisitely carved. Behind the preacher the Word of God,
bearing the world, blesses those who preach the Gospel in His name; upon
His head the Holy Spirit spreads His wings. Upon the edge of the canopy
little Angels are playing with the crowns destined for the elect; and at
the summit is a larger Angel bearing a trumpet to awake them from their
long sleep. The organ is also a mass of fine carving: S. Stephen stoned;
S. Geneviève and her sheep; the Elders of the Apocalypse; the "Jewish
ladies of the Bible," as a German kindly interpreted, and the Passage of
the Red Sea; above all, our Blessed Lord ascending to Heaven.
When the Abbey of Port-Royal was destroyed in 1710, the body of Racine
was transferred to S. Étienne and placed in the crypt of the Lady Chapel
by the side of Pascal; and in 1808 a Latin epitaph, composed by Boileau,
which was discovered in the pavement of the church of Magny-les-Hameaux,
was also transferred. Ten years later, on April 21st, 1818, a great
function was held in honour of the poet and the author of those
much-loved _Pensées_; the Academy sent a deputation, and one of their
members, the Abbé Sicard, officiated.
EPITAPH ON PASCAL.
PRO COLUMNA SUPERIORI,
SUB TUMULO MARMOREO.
JACET BLASIUS PASCAL CLAROMONTA-
NUS STEPHANI PASCAL IN SUPREMA APUD
AVERNOS SUBSIDIORUM CURIA PRAESI-
DIS[63] FILIUS, POST ALIQUOT ANNOS IN SEVE-
RIORI SECESSU ET DIVINAE LEGIS MEDI-
TATIONE TRANSACTOS, FAELICITER ET
RELIGIOSE IN PACE CHRISTI VITA FUNC-
TUS, ANNO 1662, AETATIS 39º, DIE 19ª
AUGUSTI, OPTASSET ILLE QUIDEM
PRAE PAUPERTATIS ET HUMILITATIS
STUDIO ETIAM HIS SEPULCHRI HONO-
RIBUS CARERE, MORTUUSQUE ETIAM-
NUM LATERE QUI VIVUS SEMPER LATERE
VOLUERAT. VERUM EJUS IN HAC PARTE
VOTIS CUM CEDERE NON POSSET
FLORINUS PERIER IN EADEM SUBSIDIO-
RUM CURIA CONSILIARIUS, GILBERTAE
PASCAL BLASII PASCAL SORORIS CONJUX
AMANTISSIMUS, HANC TABULAM POSUIT
QUA ET SUAM IN ILLUM PIETATEM
SIGNIFICARET, ET CHRISTIANOS AD
CHRISTIANA PRECUM OFFICIA SIBI AC
DEFUNCTO PROFUTURA COHORTARETUR.
Another epitaph in the North aisle of the nave records the virtues and
wisdom of Jacques-Bénigne Winslow, the anatomist and member of the
Academy of Sciences, brought back from his evil and heretical ways by
the preaching of Bossuet. Eustache Lesueur, the somewhat feeble painter
of the Life of S. Bruno, was also buried at S. Étienne. Many other names
adorn the list of those laid to rest in the churches or burial grounds
of the parish: Vigenère, secretary to Henri III., 1598; the surgeon,
Thognet, 1642; Antoine Lemaistre, and Lemaistre de Sacy, brought from
Port Royal in 1710; the botanist, de Tournefort, 1708; Rollin, rector of
the University, who died in 1741, in the Rue Neuve de Saint-Étienne du
Mont, which was re-named after him.
But it is the glass of S. Étienne which is perhaps its chief glory.
Although a great deal has been destroyed and patched up, much remains
which is quite worthy of study, being, as it is, in the best style of
the 16th and 17th centuries, and the work of Jean Cousin, Claude
Henriet, d'Enguerrand Leprince, Pinaigrier, Michu, François Périez,
Nicolas Desengives, Nicolas Lavasseur, and Jean Mounier. But, unhappily,
mendings and patchings have quite destroyed our power of discovering to
which artist the different windows are due. In the _charnier_ there is a
very curious composition, illustrating the allegory of the wine-press;
our Lord lies upon the press in the presence of the Father and the Holy
Spirit, bathed in a sea of blood, which flows from His side, His hands,
and His feet. Underneath, the blood pours down through an opening into a
large cask. Prelates and kings[64] carry to a cellar those barrels which
have been filled with the Sacred Blood by the Doctors of the Church;
while, from under a rich Classic portico, we see the faithful flocking
to confess their sins, and to receive the Holy Eucharist. In the
distance, the Patriarchs are digging the ground and pruning the vines,
while the Apostles gather in the vintage. S. Peter throws the grapes
into a vat, and a chariot drawn by the Ox, the Lion, and the Eagle of
the Apocalypse, and guided by the Angel of S. Matthew, carries the
Divine vintage to the four quarters of the earth. Such is the allegory
of the wine-press, the _Pressoir mystique_, the outcome of the verse of
Isaiah: "I have trodden the wine-press alone, and of the people there
was none with me"; but, unfortunately for the correctness of the
illustration, there is, in this window, a large concourse of people,
great and small in worldly means and wisdom. The window is attributed to
the Pinaigriers. Robert Pinaigrier had painted the subject for the
church of S. Hilaire, at Chartres in 1530; and about a century later
Nicolas Pinaigrier reproduced his father's design, with some
modifications, at S. Étienne.
The emblem of the Precious Blood was adopted by many confraternities of
wine merchants, which led Levieil to think that this window was given to
the church by Jean le Juge, a very rich wine merchant. Sauval speaks of
this subject being represented at S. Sauveur, at S. Jacques de la
Boucherie, at the hospital of S. Gervais, and in the sacristy of the
Célestins; and l'abbé Lebeuf notes a window in S. André des Arcs,
representing Christ crushed like the grapes in a wine-press. The
cathedral of Troyes and the church of S. Foy at Conches still possess
windows of the same character.
* * * * *
The following verses describe this subject in quaint old French:--
"Heureux homme Chrestien si fermement tu crois
Que Dieu pour te sauuer a souffert a la croix,
Et que les Sacrements retenus à l'Eglise.
De Son sang precieux ont eu commencement;
Qu'en les bien receuant toute offence est remise,
Et qu'on ne peut sans eux auoir son sauuement."
_In te Domine Speravi non confundar in aeternum._--PSAL. XXX.
_Non nobis Domine, non nobis sed nomini tuo da gloriam._--PSAL. CXIII.
"Les anciens patriarches
Qui le futur ont sceu
Pour leur Salut ne fu
A cultiuer le Vigne.
"Ce pressoir fut la Venerable croix
Où le sang fut le Nectar de la Vie;
Quel sang celuy par qui le roy des Rois
Rachepta lhomme et sa race asseruie.
"Tous urais Chrestiens le doiuent receuoir
Auec respect des Prebtres de l'Eglise,
Mais il conuient premierement auoir
L'ame constriste, et la coulpe remise.
"Tous les cantons de ce large Vniuers
En ont gusté par les Evangelistes
Edifies ont esté les peruers
Laissant d'Adam les anciennes pistes.
"Dans les Vaisseaus en reserue il fut mis.
Par les docteurs de l'Eglise, pour estre
Le lauement de nos peches commis,
Mesme de ceux qu'on a Venant a naitre.
"Papes, Prelats, Princes, Rois, Empereurs
L'ont au cellier mis avec reuerence,
Ce Vin de vie efface les erreurs,
Et donne a l'Ame une saincte esperance."
This strange design reminds one somewhat of a little chapel near
Partenkirchen, Tyrol. Up the hill is a Way of the Cross and at the
summit a tiny chapel containing a life-size figure of our Lord, behind a
grating. At his feet is a pool of water--I imagine with some miraculous
powers; a cup fastened by a chain allows the passer-by to drink thereof.
But the strange part is the supply of water which comes from our Lord's
wounds, and fills the pool--symbolic of His being the living water, the
well from which whosoever drinketh obtaineth everlasting life. The idea
is somewhat materialistic and startling to the mundane dweller in
cities, but to the simple-minded inhabitants of Tyrol it is full of
poetry.
The oldest glass in S. Étienne is in the upper windows of the apse,
representing the apparitions of Christ, to the disciples on the road to
Emmäus, to the Magdalen, to S. Peter, and to the three Maries. In the
western rose window the Eternal Father is vested in the insignia of the
Pope, that common device of 16th century Ultramontanism. Far better is
the design of a window on the north side of the nave: the Eternal Father
seated in glory, with the book of the seven seals on His knees; the Lamb
opens it, the four-and-twenty Elders sit around, and Angels pour the
Divine anger from chalices upon the earth. The donors were evidently a
large family, for they fill up all the lower part of the window, one
behind the other, devoutly kneeling upon their knees. Some little scenes
from the legend of S. Claude are charming in colour and design; so, too,
are those from the life of the Virgin.
In one of the chapels of the nave we see a family repast, symbolising
the wedding feast of the Gospel. The banquet is prepared, but the guests
are not ready; one is going to fetch his wife, another takes an
excursion to his country house, a third is inspecting a couple of
oxen--but all beg to be excused.
The glass of S. Étienne was given by enthusiastic parishioners; indeed,
so much rivalry took place amongst them, to fill the church with richly
coloured windows, that the authorities were obliged to restrain their
eagerness, and to point out that the bells, the porch, and other parts
of the building required their aid.
It was at S. Étienne that Monseigneur Sibour, archbishop of Paris, was
assassinated in 1857, during the _neuvaine_[65] of S. Geneviève. The
procession had travelled round the church, and was re-entering the nave,
when the assassin, a discontented priest, rushed at the prelate and
stabbed him. He was carried into the presbytery, but died soon after.
The main attraction of S. Étienne is the tomb of S. Geneviève. Long
before the Panthéon ceased to be the church of the maid of Nanterre, it
was to S. Étienne that the faithful journeyed to pray for her
intercession, and to have their belongings laid upon her coffin. Here,
any day, but especially during the octave of her _fête_, you may see
people bringing handkerchiefs, rosaries, crosses, towels, etc., to be
placed in the shrine, in order to carry the Saint's blessing and help to
the sick and the suffering at home. The stone coffin is said to have
been found in the crypt of the abbey church during its demolition in
1801, but whether it be the original one in which Saint Geneviève was
buried in 511 it is impossible to say, as it is so surrounded by
ornamental ironwork that its workmanship cannot be studied; but the
effect of the little chapel containing this _tombeau_, with its lights
and flowers and stained-glass, is very charming, and during the
_neuvaine_, when the church is ablaze with candles, and hundreds of
people _font queue_ to the shrine, it is a sight not easily forgotten.
The history of this _culte_ is elaborately worked out. S. Geneviève was
buried, it is asserted upon pretty good authority, in the crypt of the
old abbey church of the Holy Apostles.
[Illustration: TOMB OF SAINTE-GENEVIÈVE.]
When the Normans overran the country, the monks took up the body of
their patroness, and carried it off to distant parts in a wooden box.
Peace being restored, the religious went back to their abbey and
repaired the various tombs, among others those of S. Prudence and S.
Céran, Bishop of Paris; but the remains of S. Geneviève were not
replaced in the stone coffin in which they had previously been laid. A
splendid _châsse_ was made for their reception, and until the
Revolution, upon every occasion that the good citizens of Paris fell
into any grievous trouble, the reliquary was carried about, up and down
the "mountain," in and out of the tortuous streets, as a means of
gaining the intercession of the patron Saint. And no less honoured was
the empty tomb; the faithful paid their respects to that, after having
visited the _châsse_.
In 1628, when Cardinal de La Rochefoucault began to restore the church,
he covered the crypt with costly marbles. In the centre was the stone
coffin of the Saint raised upon a few steps, enclosed by four columns
and an iron _grille_. Right and left were the tombs of S. Prudence and
S. Céran.
At the Revolution all was dispersed or destroyed, the _châsse_ was
turned into coin, the Saint's bones were burnt on the Place de Grève,
and the tomb broken; but in 1802, when Amable de Voisins became _curé_
of S. Étienne, he obtained permission from the archbishop, M. de Belloy,
to translate the fragments of the stone coffin to S. Étienne, and to
hold the festivals in the Saint's honour in that church.
During the _Neuvaine_ thousands of persons crowd into the church to
visit the shrine, a few in honour, many more in the dishonour of mere
curiosity; and all round the church are to be seen the same class of
itinerant vendors of goods as at the various _fêtes_ and fairs. At some,
they sell gingerbread, pop-guns, and penny trumpets; at others, and
particularly at S. Étienne, their merchandise consists of rosaries,
pious books, medals, and the like; it is a curious combination of the
world and heaven--the flesh in the way of comfits, _vin ordinaire_ and
the devil--religious exercises and _le bon Dieu_. "Vous avez reçu le bon
Dieu, Madame?" "Mais oui, Mademoiselle; et après, nous sommes allés, mon
fils et moi, déjeûner au restaurant Voltaire," is the edifying
conversation one hears in the omnibus. It is all on a par with the
midnight mass and the _Réveillon_; Salvation Army drills, Mr. Howler's
tabernacle, and the popular preacher over the wine vaults. Extremes
meet, and people are much the same all the world over; for one earnest
man or woman, you get a crowd of curiositymongers, whether the
excitement be in Paris, or London, or Trèves, or Ober-Ammergau;
unfortunately, there is not much salt in the earth, either Protestant,
Catholic, or Agnostic. But if the salt is wanting, the waxen arms and
legs and crutches are numerous enough. If you glance at S. Geneviève's
shrine you will see bundles and bundles; and then we scoff. Are not they
evidence that there is some faith left in the world, real earnest,
trustful faith which believes all things, and hopes all things. And why
not? Can anyone say whether it be more silly to take a journey, long or
short, say some prayers, set up some tapers, present some flowers and a
few pence, than to pin your faith upon pills and potions? In the one
case the power of healing is believed to be in the hands of an
all-merciful God who has promised to answer our prayers when so doing
will be good for us; and in the other, it is thought to reside in pills
which are worth twenty times their price, in nostrums which cure and
prevent all the ills to which man is subjected, and in belts and bands
and other such contrivances. The intercession of those who have gone
before is asked by one set of believers; while the others pray Dr.
Faith-Healer to cure them by letter, or Dr. Bread-and-Senna by his
precious compound pills.
But how can S. Geneviève's bones be at S. Étienne when we know they were
burnt on the Place de Grève? is a question answered by the _Moniteur_ of
3 and 4 Frimaire, in the year II. (23rd and 24th November, 1793), which
declares that the body was not entire; and we further know that
previously, in olden time, relics of the Saint were distributed to many
churches, the abbey of Chelles amongst others.
The ordinary offices at S. Étienne are in no way remarkable for
splendour of ritual or of music, but one is worthy of notice--the
Washing of the Feet in Holy Week. In spite of so-called uniformity,
certain functions have a totally different aspect at the various
churches. Take, for instance, the ceremonies of Holy Thursday, the
Washing of the Feet, and the Distribution of the Bread and Wine. At many
churches the priest who performs this function generally passes down in
front of an array of old men and women; each receives a loaf and a
bottle of wine, and that is all. But at S. Étienne it is a very quaint
affair. A square portion of the nave is railed off; within sit the boys
whose feet are to be washed, and upon a table are rows of loaves and
bottles of wine. Then comes the _curé_, a tall, elegant-mannered man,
and kneeling to each, he washes and wipes their feet, and then
distributes the wine and bread. It is a very curious function; seeing
all those boys taking off their boots in the middle of a church is most
extraordinary; and then the quaint expressions, the keen curiosity or
stupid dull gaze, the costumes and the surrounding audience, form a
picture which is eminently quaint and queer.
SAINT-EUSTACHE.
[Illustration: THE OLD FAÇADE.]
S. Eustache, often called by the ancestors of _les dames de la Halle_
Notre-Dame des Halles, though by no means one of the oldest of Parisian
churches, is, after the cathedral, the largest. In plan and arrangement
it is Gothic, while its decorations and details are in the Renaissance
style. It has double aisles, octagonal shafts, round-headed arches, and
curvilinear tracery. It was finished in 1641, having been more than a
century in building; but in spite of this, the original plan was carried
out, and few churches that were so long in course of construction
present so harmonious an appearance. Unfortunately, the west end, the
towers of which were left unfinished, was sacrificed to the stupid taste
of the 18th century; Mansard de Jouy and Moreau being allowed to replace
what an old print shows to have been an interesting _façade_, in keeping
with the rest of the church, by the heavy structure we all know,
because, forsooth, the artistic gentlemen of the day found the original
to be in a "_goût barbare qui choquait les yeux!_"
Père Du Breul (one of the Benedictines of S. Germain des Près), writing
in 1612 in his _Théâtre des Antiquités de Paris_, speaks of the church
as follows: "Ce sera un des plus beaux bâtiments de l'Europe, s'il peut
être parfait comme il a été commencé; car rien n'y manque pour ce qui
est de la perfection de l'architecture, soit pour le haut exhaussement,
les fenêtres et ouvertures, et aussi l'enrichissement des diverses
frises et moulures de toutes sortes et façons. Toutefois, pour la grande
dépense qu'il y conviendrait faire, il est demeuré imparfait jusques à
présent." To meet this _grande dépense_, the chancellor Séquier, and the
_Surintendant de finance_, Claude de Bullion, supplied a considerable
sum.
But a church existed upon the same site long before the foundation stone
of the present building was laid by Jean de La Barre in 1532. Whether
there is any truth in the tradition that the Romans erected a temple
dedicated to Cybele upon the spot during the reign of Julian the
Apostate, based probably upon the discovery of a large bronze head of
the goddess at the entrance to the Rue Coquillière, there is no doubt
that a chapel under the patronage of S. Agnes was built in the early
ages of Christianity, for an account of its foundation is given by
Gilles Corrozet, the first of the historians of Paris. It appears that a
certain citizen named Jean Alais, in consideration of his help in
financial matters, obtained from the king the right to levy a tax of a
penny upon every basket of fish sold in the market. Remorse overtaking
this modern publican, he begged his sovereign to revoke the tax; but the
victims gained nothing by the repentance, as the privilege was accorded
to another citizen, with an augmentation of the tax. Thereupon Alais,
dying of remorse, was buried near the chapel he had founded in expiation
of his sins, at the spot where a stream passed through the market. A
large stone was placed hard by, which served as a bridge in time of rain
and flood--hence, _Pont Alais_.
Thus the legend. But the chapel is mentioned for the first time in
authentic documents of the year 1213, when it is described as situated
on the vast territory belonging to S. Germain l'Auxerrois (the eldest
daughter of Notre-Dame), at a little distance from the cemetery of the
Holy Innocents, upon the road leading from the capital to Montmartre.
Whoever may have been the founder, it is mentioned in this same year
(1213) as a parish, for the _curé_ appealed to the abbot of S.
Geneviève, and the dean of Notre-Dame de Chartres, in the matter of a
squabble between himself and the dean of S. Germain l'Auxerrois. Ten
years later, it is called the church of S. Eustache, in a charter giving
the sentence delivered by the bishop of Paris and two of his canons in
another squabble between Simon, _prestre de l'église Saint-Eustache_,
and the dean of S. Germain, who seems to have been of a combative
temperament. This _curé's_ name figures at the head of the list of
rectors of the church, which ends with another of the same name, the
grand abbé Simon who was seized by the Communists, and all but received
martyrdom with Archbishop Darboy and the _curé_ of the Madeleine,
Duguerry. L'abbé Le Beuf records the increase of population, and the
necessary want of a larger church; consequently some relics of S.
Eustache preserved at S. Denis were brought to Paris, and became the
reason for the substitution of the Roman warrior for the gentle maiden
Agnes as patron of the church. But later, the two Saints were combined
in the patronage, probably from the crypt under the Lady Chapel bearing
Agnes' name--a crypt that would be more truthfully called a cellar, from
the use it is, or was, put to by a neighbouring fruiterer. The lease may
have run out lately, in which case it now belongs to the church; as the
clergy had determined to regain possession as soon as possible.
What appearance the first church presented, we know not, but in 1429 the
high altar was advanced a foot into the chancel, and the altar of S.
Gregory destroyed, to make a passage to the crypt of S. Agnes. In 1434,
the church was enlarged "_pour la multiplication du peuple_"; and again
in 1466, an addition required the demolition of the greater part of a
house in the Rue de Séjour (now Rue du Jour), next to the Hôtel de
Royaumont. Thirty years later the bishop gave the churchwardens a little
piece of ground situated at the corner of Pont-Alais, in the Rue
Montmartre, in order to extend the building still farther.
Here a slight digression may not be out of place to relate the legend of
S. Eustache, whose _fête_ day occurs on September 20th, a day, among
several others, when the church is visited by crowds, some of whom go to
pray, and others to hear the exquisite music for which S. Eustache is
famous. When the 20th falls on a weekday, the festival is transferred to
the following Sunday.
S. Eustache was a Roman soldier and captain of the guards of the
Emperor Trajan. His name in early life was Placidus, and he had a
beautiful wife and two fine sons. He lived in great style, practised all
the heathen virtues, notably those of charity and loyalty, and was not
only a brave warrior, but withal, a great huntsman. Now it happened one
day, while sporting in the forest, that a beautiful white stag appeared
before him, having a cross of radiant light between its horns, and on
the cross an image of the Redeemer. Being astonished and dazzled by the
vision, he fell upon his knees, and lo! a voice came from the crucifix
and cried to him: "Placidus, why pursuest thou Me? I am Christ, whom
thou hast hitherto served without knowing Me? Dost thou now believe?"
And Placidus fell with his face upon the ground and said, "Lord, I
believe!" And the voice said: "Thou shalt suffer many tribulations for
my sake, and shalt be tried by many temptations; but be strong and of
good courage, I will not forsake thee." To which Placidus replied,
"Lord, I am content. Give thou me but patience to suffer!" And when he
looked up again, the wondrous vision had faded away. Then he arose and
returned to his wife, and the next day the whole family was baptised,
Placidus adopting the name of Eustatius.
But it came about as was foretold by the vision. All his possessions
were spoiled by robbers, and his beautiful and loving wife was taken
away by pirates; poverty stared him in the face, and affliction pursued
him. Then one day, as he wandered forth with his children, he came to a
swollen river which he was obliged to cross; and being troubled as to
his means of fording the torrent, he took one child in his arms and swam
across, leaving the other on the bank. Having placed the little one in a
safe nook, he returned for the other; but when in mid-stream he saw a
wolf come out of the forest, and carry off one child, while a lion
appeared upon the opposite bank, and seizing the other babe, carried it
off and made away with it! Then the wretched father tore his hair and
gave way to weeping and lamentations; but remembering his promise to
suffer for Christ's sake, he dried his tears and prayed for patience and
resignation. So he came to a village where he lived peacefully for
fifteen years by the labour of his hands; but at the end of that time,
the Emperor Adrian being on the throne, sent out messengers to all parts
of the Empire to seek for Placidus, as he had need of him; and at length
they found him, and he was restored to his former position, and led his
troops to victory. But although the Emperor loaded him with honours and
wealth, his heart was sad for the loss of his wife and children.
Meanwhile the latter had been rescued from the jaws of the wolf and the
lion, and his wife had escaped from the hands of the pirates; so it came
about, after many years, that they all met again and were re-united; and
Eustace said in his heart: "Surely all my sorrows are now at an end."
But it was not so; for the Emperor desiring to celebrate a mighty
victory over the Barbarians by a great sacrifice to the gods, and
Eustace and his family refusing to offer incense, they were shut up in a
brazen bull, and a fire being kindled under it, they all perished
together. Such is the legend, which, like all the stories of the lives
of Saints and early martyrs, shows forth the steadfastness with which
they clung to their faith, and the simplicity with which they practised
the virtues of fortitude, patience, resignation, and courage. There is a
certain similarity between the legend of S. Eustace and that of S.
Hubert; but in art they are easily distinguished, as the former is in
Classic or warrior costume, and the latter is represented either as a
huntsman or a priest. Pictures of S. Eustace are not uncommon; in the
Pitti Palace there is one by Soggi; and somewhere I have seen one by
Domenichino. The traditional date of the martyrdom of S. Eustace is 118,
which is much earlier than that of the other patron of the church, the
simple maiden Agnes, who suffered in 304, and whose _fête_ day is
January 21st. The legend of this Saint is one of the most authentic, and
one of the oldest, being mentioned by S. Jerome, in the 4th century, as
popular throughout the world. Hymns and homilies had been written in her
honour from the earliest times; and her youth and beauty, added to her
innocence, had combined to invest her person with a charm and a
fascination which few of the Saints possess.
Agnes was a Roman maiden of thirteen, filled with all the good gifts of
the Holy Spirit, having loved and followed Christ from her infancy, and
being withal most beautiful, when the son of the Prefect passed her way.
Whether the name was given to her because of her lamblike innocence or
otherwise, is not recorded. The young man no sooner beheld her than he
loved her passionately, and asked her in marriage. But Agnes repelled
him, even though he came laden with gold and gems, and costly ornaments;
and, unlike poor Gretchen, she cried: "Away from me, tempter! for I am
already betrothed to a lover who is greater and fairer than any earthly
suitor. To him I have pledged my faith, and he will crown me with jewels
compared to which thy gifts are dross.... The music of His divine voice
has sounded in mine ears; He is so fair that the sun and moon are
ravished by His beauty, and so mighty is He that the Angels are but His
servants."
Hearing these words the youth naturally felt consumed by jealousy and
rage; and he went home, only to fall ill of a fever, and to be sick
almost unto death. The wise medicine men immediately discovered the
cause, and told the Prefect that the illness being unrequited love,
their potions could avail nothing. Then the great man questioned his
son, who replied: "My father, unless I can take me Agnes to wife, I
die." Now the Prefect, Sempronius, loved his son tenderly, and so he
went weeping to Agnes' parents, and besought them to intercede for the
youth. But Agnes made the same answer, and Sempronius was much angered
that she should prefer another to his son, and asked who this great
prince might be to whom Agnes was betrothed. And some one said: "Knowest
thou not that the maiden hath been a Christian from her infancy; and her
husband of whom she speaks is none other than Jesus Christ?" When the
Prefect heard this, he rejoiced greatly, for he knew he could force
Agnes to marry his son, by threats of imprisonment; for an edict had
gone forth against the Christians. And so he sent for Agnes, and told
her that since she was resolved not to marry, she must enter the service
of the goddess Vesta. But Agnes replied: "Thinkest thou that I, who
would not listen to thy son, who is yet a man and can hear and see and
move and speak, will bow down to vain images, which are but senseless
wood and stone; or, what is worse, to the demons who inhabit them?"
When Sempronius heard this he fell into a fury; he loaded Agnes' limbs
with chains, and threatened her with death; and as nothing would
prevail, he ordered her to be exposed to the most degrading outrages;
but being stripped of her garments, she fell on her knees and prayed,
and immediately her hair became so thick and long that it formed a
complete covering. Then, although the onlookers were dismayed, they shut
her up in a chamber, and left her. And suddenly she saw a bright and
glistening garment, with which she clothed herself, praising God and
saying: "I thank thee, O Lord, that I am found worthy to put on the
garment of Thine elect!" And the whole place was filled with miraculous
light, brighter than the sun at noonday.
Then the young man thought that if he visited her, Agnes would give way;
but as soon as he entered her chamber he was struck blind, and fell into
convulsions. And the mother and father appearing, and falling into
lamentations and weeping, Agnes was moved with compassion, and prayed
that their son might be restored to health; and her prayer was granted.
Then Sempronius would have saved Agnes; but the people caused a tumult,
and cried out that the maid was a witch and a sorceress, and therefore
worthy of death. And so she was judged and thrown into the fire; but the
flames, refusing to touch her, severely scorched the executioners, which
still more irritated Sempronius and the people. Then the wicked Prefect
commanded the executioners to slay her; and she, looking up to Heaven,
yielded up her pure spirit to her God. And it happened that when her
friends were one day praying at her tomb, in the cemetery on the Via
Nomentana, she appeared unto them arrayed in white, with a lamb whiter
than snow. And she said: "Weep not, dry your tears, and rejoice with
exceeding joy; for me a throne is prepared by the side of Him who on
earth I preferred to all others, and to whom I am united for ever in
Heaven." And having thus spoken, she vanished.
As we have seen, the devotion paid to S. Agnes is of so early a period
that it is quite possible the first chapel in the Halles dedicated to
her memory may date back to the 8th or 9th century; but nothing
authentic is recorded before the 13th century, and no part of the
present church of S. Eustache and S. Agnes is earlier than the 16th
century, when it was commenced during the reign of François I^{er.}
L'abbé Le Beuf gives the name of the architect as Charles David, and
undoubtedly one of that name was attached to the church, as the fact is
recorded upon an epitaph. But as he died in 1650, at the age of
ninety-eight, he must have been born in 1552; and, the church having
been commenced in 1532, this David could only have been a master of the
works, carrying out the design of some predecessor. A theory has been
propounded that this may have been Dominico da Cortona (Boccadoro), the
architect of the Hôtel de Ville, or one of his pupils, who followed him
from Italy; the evidence brought forward being the similarity of some of
the details of the two buildings. S. Eustache was commenced, as we have
seen, in 1532, the Hôtel de Ville in the following year; but beyond this
and a resemblance between the niches for statues of the two edifices,
there is absolutely no evidence for the supposition, and the name of the
architect of S. Eustache remains a hidden mystery. That he was an
accomplished artist, a man having an eye for great effects, with a
first-rate sense of proportion, the church bears witness, although it
has had its detractors ever since it was finished. Too Gothic for the
men patronized by Louis XIV., its Renaissance element shocked the
artistic taste of their successors; called a _barbarous style_ by the
first, because of its Gothic plan, its Renaissance detail was
_pernicious_ to the æsthetic instincts of the latter. It is amusing to
read Mr. Dibden's opinion of the church in his _Picturesque Tour_,[66]
as it is that of a cultured traveller, and probably is an example of the
judgment passed upon S. Eustache by the artists of his day. "Next in
importance to S. Gervais is the Gothic church of S. Eustache; a perfect
specimen, throughout, of that adulterated style of Gothic architecture
(called its restoration!) which prevailed at the commencement of the
reign of Francis I. Faulty, and even meretricious, as is the whole of
the interior, the choir will not fail to strike you with surprise and
gratification. It is light, rich, and lofty. This church is very large,
but not so capacious as S. Gervais, while its situation is, if possible,
still more objectionable." How the good parson could compare the two
churches, apparently to the advantage of S. Gervais, seems
extraordinary; for no unbiassed person can fail to be impressed by the
beauty of the proportions of S. Eustache, its length and height, its
effective choir, and its grand, but simple, altar. With the exception of
its glass chandeliers, all the furniture and accessories are in keeping
with the building; there is nothing tawdry, nor in bad taste; and it
lends itself more effectively than even Notre-Dame to processions and
grand ceremonials.
[Illustration: SAINT-EUSTACHE FROM THE HALLES CENTRALES.]
After its commencement the building seems to have struggled on for eight
years; when, for want of funds, it remained stationary until 1552,
although some of the altars had been consecrated by the Bishop of Mégare
sixteen years previously. In 1552 it was helped on again by Lenten
offerings, in return for dispensations to consume butter and milk. How
much these dispensations produced, and how long the funds lasted, we
are not informed; but civil war and religious troubles stopped the works
again, and it was not until 1624 that they were resumed. Both Sauval and
du Breul speak of the choir having been commenced in that year, and the
latter's description of it is interesting as showing its original form.
"Le chœur est un des plus beaux et un des plus grands de Paris après
celui de Notre-Dame, large, spacieux, garni de quatre rangées de
chaises; l'autel est fort haut en forme de frontispice, enrichi de six
colonnes de marbre, d'un riche tableau au fond et d'un tabernacle ample
et grand de bois ciselé et doré. Toute la clôture de ce chœur est
composée de piliers de cuivre et de marbre. Au derrière est un autre
autel de bois où l'art de la menuiserie n'est pas épargné, non plus que
l'or et le marbre, et dans cet autel est le sainct ciboire où repose le
saint Sacrement." Of the west front, the destruction of which, with two
chapels erected by Colbert and decorated by Mignard, is the cause of the
disproportion of length to height, Du Breul thus speaks: "Le portail est
fort massif, illustré d'ouvrages et ciselures de pierre. Au-dessus de la
grande porte par dehors est une galerie environnée de balustres; au deux
coings de ce portail sont commencées deux grosses tours. En celle de
main droicte sont les cloches. Aux deux costés de devant sont les images
de pierre de Saint Eustache et de Sainte Agnès, patrons de la dite
église et au dehors un assez ample parvis entouré de piliers." Writing a
century later Piganiol de la Force only speaks of this part of the
church. "Il était formé par six piliers buttants d'environ trente pieds
de saillie au delà du pignon, dont deux aux encoignures de dix pieds
d'épaisseur; deux autres de treize pieds servaient à soutenir la poussée
des arcades intérieures qui exigeait une grande solidité. Ces quatre
piliers formaient trois travées; dans celle du milieu était la porte
d'entrée; les deux autres avaient été construites pour porter deux
tours, et dans leur intérieur M. Colbert avait fait construire deux
chapelles, l'une pour les mariages et l'autre pour les fonts."
The church was finished and consecrated by Jean de Gondy, first
archbishop of Paris, on the 26th April, 1637. Round the altar were ten
statues, which, according to the taste of the day, were portraits of
contemporaries, although representing sacred personages. They were by
Jacques Sarrazin. Louis XIII. was the embodiment of S. Louis; Anne
d'Autriche and the future _Grande monarque_ were allowed to represent
the Blessed Virgin and her Child. Above these were the patron saints.
It must be remembered by critics who find fault with the disproportion
between length and height of S. Eustache, that an entire bay of the nave
and two chapels were demolished with the west front, thus reducing the
length. One of the chapels, erected at Colbert's expense, must have been
of value artistically, certainly more so than the present west front
which was substituted; for Mignard's frescoes are immortalised by
Molière in his _Gloire du Val-de-Grâce_. They represented the Heavens
with the Almighty surrounded by Angels, the Circumcision, and the
Baptism of Christ:
"Colbert, dont le bon goût suit celui de son maître,
A senti même charme et nous le fait paraître.
Ce vigoureux génie au travail si constant,
Dont la vaste prudence à tous emplois s'étend,
Qui du choix souverain tient par son haut mérite
Du commerce et des arts la suprême conduite,
A d'une noble idée enfanté le dessein,
Qu'il confie au talent de cette docte main,
Et dont il veut par elle attacher la richesse
Aux sacrés murs du temple où son cœur s'intéresse (St-Eust.).
La voilà cette main qui se met en chaleur;
Elle prend les pinceaux, trace, étend la couleur;
Empâte, adoucit, touche et ne fait nulle pose.
Voilà qu'elle a fini: l'ouvrage aux yeux s'expose,
Et nous y découvrons aux yeux des grands experts
Trois miracles de l'art en trois tableaux divers."
The other chapel was decorated by Charles de Lafosse, a pupil of Lebrun,
and the painter of the dome of the Invalides. The subjects were God,
surrounded by the four Evangelists, blessing Adam and Eve, and the
marriage of the Virgin and S. Joseph. These chapels were erected
respectively for baptisms and marriages.
The present west front, ugly and lumbering though it be, with its Doric
portal and Corinthian gallery, had a royal prince to usher it into the
world, no less a personage than the Duc de Chartres, Philippe-Egalité.
Had it been built up in front of S. Nicholas du Chardonnet, or any
church of that period, it might have passed muster; but tacked on to S.
Eustache, it is completely out of place. Were the _curé_ privileged to
give the Papal benediction, said an 18th century critic, this porch
might have some use; but its only merit is that it was built upon a
sufficiently large scale to save it from insignificance. Let us turn to
the south door, constructed under François I^{er,} but much restored
since the last siege. Never completely finished, as regards statues and
other ornament, it was so terribly knocked about by the Communists, that
niches, tracery, corbels, and glass had to be renewed; but perhaps, had
it not suffered so much destruction in 1871, we should never have had
the opportunity of admiring it in its completed beauty.
[Illustration: PART OF THE SOUTH DOOR.]
The doors are divided by a pier surmounted by a figure of the Virgin and
Child under an elaborately carved canopy, which stands out upon the
plain, undecorated lintel. In three little niches under these figures
are statuettes representing Faith, Hope, and Charity. In the _voussure_
above the window are niches for some fifty statuettes, which are still
wanting; on either side are statues of Joachim, S. Anne and two Angels
bearing censers. The niches are formed of pilasters with a pediment, and
capitals composed of little canopies mixed with acanthus leaves. All the
details, the fantastic figures upon the stylobate, the ornament of the
pilasters, and the canopies, are in the best style of the Renaissance.
Two rows of arcades lead up to the rose window, flanked on each side by
graceful turrets. In the centre of the gable is a smaller rose,
surmounted by a stag's head with a crucifix between the horns, emblem of
the conversion of the warrior Saint. A curious sundial is fixed to the
wall between the two arcades; and at the intersection of the transepts
and nave is an open-work turret. Between the chapels are Composite
pilasters supporting the cornice; the capitals are enriched with masks,
Angel's heads, monograms, and divers emblems; in one case the double L L
crowned, in another, foliage, animals, and Genii. Flying buttresses
support the nave, choir, and transepts; and a multitude of gargoyles,
fantastic in design, representing men, women, and children, with foliage
terminations, and mostly winged, surround the pilasters of the aisles.
On one of these is the date 1629.
The building, which blocks up a part of the chapel of Our Lady, was
another excrescence of the reign of Louis XIV., and the work of Moreaux;
it is used as a treasury and vestry. Above the chapel of the Virgin is a
belfry erected in the 17th century, surmounted by a cross and the ship
of the city of Paris. The bell weighs 2,500 kilogrammes. It was
preserved by the Revolutionists in consequence of its usefulness; but a
shell from Montmartre on the 25th of May, 1871 (during the Commune), set
fire to the steeple. The blaze was soon extinguished, but not before it
had done a considerable amount of harm. The north door is of later date,
1640. It has two turrets, in one of which is a staircase leading up to
the presbytery. S. Eustache, costumed as a Roman warrior, guards the
doorway upon the central pillar; while S. Denis bearing a palm, and S.
Geneviève with a lamb at her feet, keep watch upon each side. The socles
are ornamented with the Cardinal Virtues of Prudence, Courage, Justice,
and Temperance, which were discovered some years ago, hidden behind a
shop for the sale of religious books and images which obstructed the
entrance to the passage. The capital of one of the pilasters upon this
side of the church is well worth attentive study. In the midst of some
foliage is a child bearing a basket of fruit, and on each side are two
young and beautiful Genii forming a sort of buttress to the abacus.
On entering the church the effect is most impressive, and upon any great
festival, or during the evening services of the Adoration Perpétuelle,
when the whole east end is ablaze with candles, few churches can compare
with it in grandeur. Nowhere else is to be found such a curious
combination of styles, with a more harmonious result. The architect's
ambition must have been to prove that two styles so opposed to each
other in every respect were capable of being united with the best
effect. The Renaissance of S. Eustache seems to give new life to the
dying Gothic, by marrying its pilasters, its columns, and its Greek
pediments to the pointed groining and arches.
Like the generality of early churches, S. Eustache leans a little to the
right; whether in consequence of some peculiarity of the ground, or
symbolically of the drooping of the head of the Saviour upon the cross,
we cannot tell. There are double aisles on each side, and adjoining them
a series of chapels, the depth of which varies, as the church is wider
at one end than at the other. All the arches are round with the
exception of those of the apse, which are pointed. The entire church is
88 _mètres_ 48c in length, and 42 _mètres_ 74c in width. The
height of the nave is 33 _mètres_ 46c. The clerestory is filled with
stained glass by Cartaux, of elegant design and harmonious colouring. In
some of the details, as for instance the corbels, we see the same ideas
that flitted across the brains of the Mediæval sculptors--namely, that
of carving masks representing heads of devils and monsters, some
grinning, some scowling, all more or less hideous and _bizarre_.
The _banc d'œuvre_, a sort of pew erected opposite the pulpit for the
clergy and Monsieur le Maire and his assistants during sermon, is a
_chef-d'œuvre_ of Renaissance sculpture in wood. Its design is the
glory of S. Agnes, the young martyr being represented kneeling upon the
summit of the entablature, with outstretched arms; Angels descend with
palms in their hands to give her the crown of life. Below, between the
Ionic columns, two other Angels support a medallion, which a third hangs
to the roof of the arch. Upon this medallion a crucifix is carved, the
figure of which is in plaster; for, unfortunately, time and wanton
destruction have done their work upon the ornament, a good deal of it
being now only of stucco. Upon the side panels were the monograms of the
two patrons interlaced (if I remember aright); these were taken down, or
covered up, some few years ago, to give place to marble slabs recording
the names of all the _curés_ of the parish, from Simon, _prestre de
l'église_ in 1223, to l'abbé Simon, one of the actors in the tragedy of
the Commune, which he survived only a few years. Owing to the luck of
the back of the pew being decorated with a medallion upon which are the
Roman _fasces_ crowned with laurel leaves, the men of the First
Revolution left it intact--the emblems were Republican; that was enough.
The _banc_, which cost the Regent Orléans 20,000 _livres_, was executed
by Lepautre from the drawings of Cartaux. One would imagine, thereby,
that the Duke was a benefactor to the church; but if he gave with one
hand, he took away with the other, and being a great connoisseur in
matters artistic, he determined to get possession of a picture belonging
to the church, painted by Valentin, of S. James kneeling. Being unable
to persuade the _curé_ to give it up, we may infer he sent his
emissaries (in other words, hired thieves) to carry it off, and put a
copy in its place. The whole affair was studiously planned and carried
out; but the church authorities compelled the royal pirate to pay them
20,000 _livres_ in compensation.
The pulpit, with its canopy, is a handsome specimen of carving, with
figures of Faith, Hope, and Charity on three medallions. It replaces the
old pulpit which was executed from drawings by Lebrun. The organ case is
as beautiful as the instrument it encloses. Put up in 1854,
architecturally, it is in the style of the church itself. The lower part
consists of a gallery of Corinthian columns and arcades, united by a
balustrade which follows the curves of the stone tribune upon which it
rests. The case is ornamented at the top with figures of Saul
brandishing a javelin and David holding his harp, with which he hopes to
calm the King's anger--emblem of the power of music to humanise evil
men's passions. In the centre stands S. Cecilia, with her organ and
palm--the martyred patroness of the divine art. These statues are by the
eminent sculptor, M. Guillaume. The frieze is a series of winged
Cherubim; and in various parts are griffins, harpies, birds, chimeras,
swans, spitting serpents, and little birds and lizards--a whole army of
strange creatures, subdued by the sweet strains of the _Voix céleste_.
The great boss which descends from the centre of the transept is nine
_mètres_ long, composed of colossal Angels holding the cross; other
bosses are also remarkable, having emblems of the Holy Spirit,
monograms, little Angels, and heads of Seraphim. The rose of the south
transept is the older of the two; the window below it has for subject
the Birth of Christ, which occupies the five upright divisions and the
six hexagons of which the window is composed. Upon the pier, between the
two parts of the south door, stands a Gothic statue which belonged to
the earlier church, the pedestal being ornamented with charming little
statuettes. On each side of the transept are figures of the Apostles,
and bas-reliefs in enamelled terra-cotta of the patrons of music, S.
Ambrose and S. Gregory the Great. Here, too, are frescoes painted by
Signol of The Entombment; with the Four Evangelists, and the Cardinal
Virtues. In the north transept is a statue by Delaplace of the
patroness, and wall paintings by Signol, to correspond with those of the
south transept, the principal subject being The Way of the Cross.
One remarkable feature of the church is the placing of a corbel under
the capitals of the pilasters. Those in the choir are of winged
Cherubim, while in the rest of the church various grotesque monsters,
human and animal, figure in their stead. The glass in the east end bears
the date 1631 and the name of Solignac, a _verrier_ totally unknown to
fame, but an "_artiste distingué_," as our neighbours say, when nothing
more flattering suggests itself to their minds and lips. S. Eustache
figures upon the central light, under a colonnade in perspective, and
upon each side of him are the four Latin Fathers and the twelve
Apostles. Above our heads we see a rich groined roof, and a boss which
is more wonderful than beautiful. Groups of Angels' heads and numberless
Cherubim sitting upon clouds are interlaced with a large crown; the
whole being about ten _mètres_ in length.
In 1795, upon the suppression of the convent of the Canonesses of
Picpus, S. Eustache, for a consideration of 5,000 _francs_, gained
possession of the nuns' beautiful stalls, which have since been a
notable part of the church, especially the _misereres_ and the curious
little stools upon which the _enfants de chœur_ sit.
The pavement and the altar are modern; the former, of various coloured
marbles, having been laid in 1869. The altar is raised upon five steps;
in the centre is the tabernacle under a domed _baldachino_, the whole
being in white Paros marble, designed by M. Baltard. All the sculptures
are enriched by gilding. In the centre is the _Sacrifice of the Lamb_,
with grapes and corn encircling it. On each side, the symbols of the
four Evangelists--the Angel, the Lion, the Ox, and the Eagle; the bull
in which S. Eustache was immolated; the ropes and chains, a sword, some
palms and lilies, all suggestive of S. Agnes. The _baldachino_ having
been found to be out of proportion to the rest of the altar, a pilaster,
destined to hold pans for burning incense, was placed at each extremity;
but the effect of the whole is good, nay, even beautiful, in spite of
the want of proportion. The doors of the tabernacle, in gilt bronze, are
chased with great care and elegance. Before the Revolution, a bas-relief
said to have been sculptured by Daniele da Volterra,[67] representing
_The Entombment_, formed the reredos. The gates of the choir are
composed of modern ironwork, by M. Calla, of excellent design.
Under the west door is a white marble bust of Chevert, a warrior whose
deeds and virtues may be read upon his epitaph, composed by d'Alembert:
CY-GIT
FRANÇOIS CHEVERT
COMMANDEUR, GRAND'CROIX DE L'ORDRE DE SAINT-LOUIS,
CHEVALIER DE L'AIGLE BLANC DE POLOGNE,
GOUVERNEUR DE GIVET ET DE CHARLEMONT,
LIEUTENANT GENERAL DES ARMÉES DU ROY.
SANS AYEUX, SANS FORTUNE, SANS APPUY,
ORPHELIN DÈS L'ENFANCE,
IL ENTRA AU SERVICE A L'AGE DE XI ANS,
IL S'ÉLEVA A FORCE DE MÉRITE,
ET CHAQUE GRADE FUT LE PRIX D'UNE ACTION D'ÉCLAT.
LE SEUL TITRE DE MARÉCHAL DE FRANCE
A MANQUÉ NON PAS A SA GLOIRE
MAIS A L'EXEMPLE DE CEUX QUI LE
PRENDRONT POUR MODÈLE
IL ÉTAIT NÉ A VERDUN SUR MEUSE, LE 2
FÉVRIER 1695. IL MOURUT A PARIS,
LE 24 JANVIER 1769.
_PRIEZ DIEU POUR LE REPOS DE SON AME_
The picture of the Martyrdom of S. Eustache, hard by, is by Simon Vouet,
and was the gift of Louis XIV. Sold during the Revolution, it was bought
by Cardinal Fesch, at whose death it was purchased by M. Moret, for
presentation to the church.
It will be seen that the outer wall of the church is oblique, and,
consequently, that the first two chapels are not deep enough even to
contain an altar. In 1849, when some repairs were going on, it was
discovered that the chapels had all been painted and gilt, and duly
smeared over, after the fashion of our forefathers, with sundry coats of
whitewash. These being removed, enough of the original decoration
remained to restore it to its former splendour, which was done under the
superintendence of M. Baltard. The chapel of the Virgin was painted by
M. Dénuel, the others by M. Séchaut, while the renewing of the sculpture
was the work of MM. Gallois and Poignant.
The first chapel, called that of the City of Paris, being too shallow
for an altar, has the following inscription engraved in golden letters
upon a black marble slab:--
"L'an mil six cent trente sept, le vingt-sixième jour d'avril, deuxième
dimanche d'après Pasques, cette église, ayant été rebastie de fonds en
comble, a été de nouveau desdiée et consacrée avec le maistre autel
d'icelle, à l'honneur de Dieu, soubs l'invocation de la bienheureuse
Vierge Marie et des bienheureux martyrs sainct Eustache et saincte Agnès
et de sainct Louis, confesseur, jadis roy de France, par révérendissime
père en Dieu, messire Jean-François de Gondi, premier archevêque de
Paris, conseiller du Roi en ses conseils, commandeur de ses ordres et
grand maistre de chapelle de sa Majesté. Ce requérant, vénérable et
discrète personne maistre Estienne Tonnelier, presbstre, docteur en
théologie et curé de la dicte église, avec haut et puissant seigneur
Mons. P. Séguier, chevalier, chancelier de France, M. Maistre Gratien
Menardeau, conseiller du roi en la cour du Parlement, honorable Jean
Bachelier et Charles Gourlin, marchands bourgeois de Paris, au nom et
comme Marguilliers de l'œuvre et fabrique d'icelle église. Et a ledit
sieur Archevêque donné indulgence en la forme ordinaire de l'église à
tous ceulx et celles qui visiteront annuellement la dicte église, le
deuxième dimanche d'après Pasques, jour et feste de la dédicace
d'icelle."
This chapel is decorated with the arms of the city of Paris, the
ship[68]; and upon each of the others will be found the arms of the
founders.
The chapel of Calvary was founded by the Counts of Castille, and was
originally dedicated to S. Peter. It contains a crucifix, _souvenir_ of
a mission preached in 1825, and was the burial-place of François and
Nicolas de Castille, _conseillers du roi_, who died in 1630 and 1634
respectively. In the chapel of S. Cecilia may be seen a little fresco in
a very good state of preservation, representing the titular Saint
holding the sword of her martyrdom, and S. Leonard. Sold in 1604 to
Claude de Montescot, treasurer _des parties casuelles_, it was
originally known by the name of S. Claude. Buying a chapel seems to
have been the custom; and we find that of the Holy Innocents costing
1,100 _livres_ to the Chantereau-Lestang family. The fresco was painted
in 1850 by M. Barre, and relates to S. Joseph, to whom the chapel was
dedicated some twenty years ago. The sculptures are of the time of Louis
XIII.
In the chapel Des Ames du Purgatoire, founded by the Gentian family in
honour of the Holy Sepulchre, reliquaries may be seen containing a
portion of the Sepulchre, and of the column upon which Our Lord was
bound during the flagellation--so said Cardinal Patrizzi, who has
authenticated the relics. More beautiful, and at least as authentic, are
the frescoes by M. Margimel, representing the _Descent into Hades_.
Moses and David are seen with other Old Testament worthies, the group of
Adam and Eve with their children being particularly happy in its
treatment. Below, of course, are purgatorial flames and a bruised
serpent, with the inscription _Ecce agnus Dei, qui tollit peccatum
mundi_. The opposite picture is less satisfactory, it is a conventional
reading of the Eternal Father pitying the sufferings of the Son, who is
attached to the pillar between weeping Angels. The elegant Renaissance
re-table, and a statue by Chartrousse of a mother clasping a cross, with
the text: _Bienheureux ceux qui pleurent, parce qu'ils seront consolés_,
complete the contents of this chapel. The vaulting is very graceful, and
is supported by corbels. The altar is a carved wood representation of
_Christ upon the Mount of Olives_. The founder of this chapel or chantry
was a descendant of Jean-Jacques Gentian, who saved the life of Philippe
le Bel at the battle of Mons in 1304, for which act Gentian was allowed
to incorporate the lilies into his arms. He died in 1305, and was buried
on this spot in the old church; his descendant, a master merchant, was
buried in the chapel in 1578.
It is curious to see how these chapels have changed names, and the why
and wherefore. For instance, the first one in the _chevet_ was
consecrated in 1608 to the Three Kings, the original founder being
Guillaume Morot, one of the king's councillors and _contrôleur des
finances_. Then it passed into the hands of the Puysieux family. In 1780
it was called the chapel of S. John the Baptist, in memory of
Jean-Baptiste Fleuriau, chevalier d'Armenonville, keeper of the seals,
who died at Madrid, and was transported to S. Eustache for burial.
Charles Fleuriau, count de Morville, a minister, was buried here in
1732. These d'Armenonvilles inhabited an hotel in the Rue Jean-Jacques
Rousseau, which has been swallowed up by the post office. The hide
merchants held the meetings of their guild in this chapel. In 1843 it
was dedicated to the Sacred Heart, and is decorated by M. de Larivière
to celebrate that article of faith, the four personages who accompany
Our Lord being Pope Clement XIII., the zealous devotee of the _Sacré
Cœur_; the blessed Marie-Marguerite Alacoque, of the order of the
Visitation, and the discoverer of the miracle at Paray-le-Monial; the
reverend father La Colombière, who defended the apparition against the
unbelievers; and Monseigneur de Belzunce, bishop of Marseilles, who, in
putting the city under the protection of the new dogma, saved it from
the effects of a grievous pestilence, by causing the immediate retreat
thereof to less favoured purlieus. In the next chapel we come upon more
relics. The Rouillé family, and the Lecouteulx de Canteleu, founded it,
and dedicated it to S. Margaret; but after the Revolution, S. Joseph was
called in as patron, and as S. Agnes required a special altar, this was
once more changed in name, and made over to her good protection in 1850.
Or possibly the acquisition of her relics required a resting-place
fitted specially for them. They consist of three fingers of the Saint
from the abbey of S. Corentin, near Septeuil, and a pretty large portion
of one of her ribs from the cemetery of S. Priscilla at Rome, given by
Marie-Félix des Ursins, Duchesse de Montmorency, Supérieure de la
Visitation de Moulins. The picture over the altar is attributed to
Titian or Giordano; the modern frescoes are by M. Vauchelet: the
_Martyrdom of S. Agnes_, in which one executioner is thrown down by the
rush of flames, while the other, avenging himself upon the innocent
victim, cleaves her head asunder with a sword.
When Archbishop Sibour verified the relics of S. Anne, in 1853, a chapel
was dedicated to her, displacing Notre-Dame de Pitié, S. Adrien, S.
Hubert, and S. Jacques. One would imagine, that is, the blasphemer might
imagine, that saints would not take it well when they are deposed and
supplanted, but possibly, being in higher realms than ours, they see the
insignificance of such proceedings. The frescoes are by Lazerges.
It was in the west chapel, that of the Holy Angels, that the 17th
century mural paintings were discovered. So completely were they
enveloped in whitewash, that they escaped the vandalism of the last
century. The Duval family founded the chantry. They seem to have had
various posts under the government. Nicolas was a councillor in 1542;
Jérôme in 1543; Jean was a receiver of taxes and the payer of members of
Parliament, besides being a councillor in 1584; another Nicolas was
councillor in 1585; Tristan was lord of Fontenay; François, ambassador
at Rome; and Catherine's husband, Christophe Harlay, was Seigneur de
Beaumont, président of the parliament, and father of the président
Harlay. The fresco representing the _Triumph of S. Michael over the
revolting Angels_ is by M. Cornu. Above the altar is another fresco of
_Christ in Glory_, with S. Lucretia and S. Radegonde, queen of France,
and afterwards a nun at Poitiers, kneeling at His feet. The Saints
appear with the donors, aforesaid, clad respectively as _chevalier_,
priest, and _bourgeois_. Here were buried Marguerite Duval, Jean Lesecq,
and a Seigneur de Bridevalles, Nicolas Lesecq, who was the king's
chafe-wax, and sealer of the chancellery, and who, worthy man, left
twelve _sous_ to the organist, and three to the bellows blower.
Françoise-Madeleine Lesecq, who lived in the Hôtel de Gesvres, Rue
Coq-Héron, since incorporated into the Caisse d'Epargne, was also buried
here.
[Illustration: THE CROSS BEARER OF S. EUSTACHE.]
Formerly, before Louis XIV. admitted them to the Louvre, the Guild of
Painters and Sculptors held its meetings in the Rue Trainée, and its
_fêtes_ and funeral masses in the chapel of S. André in S. Eustache; in
consequence of which the king, to do honour to the Academy, allowed its
rector, Antoine Coysevox, to add the royal lily to his arms, and to
place them in this chapel, thus honouring Coysevox at the same time as
his fellow sculptors and painters. The guild was founded by Lebrun, and
held its meetings at the Sieur Martin de Charmois' house. This Seigneur
de Lauré was secretary to Marshal Schomberg; and full of zeal for art
and artists, was the author of the scheme of a guild. Signed by Lebrun,
Sarazin, Perrier, Bourdon, de la Hire Corneille, Juste d'Egmont,
Vanolstat, Hause, de Guernier, Errard, Van-Mol, Guillier, and Eustace
Lesueur, the petition was presented to the king, and supported by
chancellor Séguier and de la Veillière, it obtained the royal assent.
Like our later foundation, the Academy made several moves before it was
finally settled. First in Charmois' house, it migrated to the Hôtel
Clisson, Rue des Deux-Boules, where it held its meetings until the
squabbles of the rival artists subsided, and accommodation was found for
the members at the Louvre. Most appropriately, the decoration of this
chapel was given in 1850 to Isidore Pils, one of the great painters of
the latter part of this century, so well known by his _Battle of the
Alma_, the _Mort d'une Sœur de Charité_, and _La Prière à l'Hospice_.
The subjects are from the life and death of the titular saint, Andrew;
on one side, his crucifixion upon the transverse cross which bears his
name; upon the other, Angels bearing him to heaven. In the latter, a
more delicious little group of children, _soi-disant_ Angels, has rarely
been painted, even by that master of chubby and graceful babies,
Prud'hon. Pils, says M. l'abbé Koeneg[69] loved children, and he
certainly painted them as none but a lover of childhood could have done.
The chapel Richelieu was founded by the great cardinal, and is the
burial place of the Vrillière family, whose hotel is now the Banque de
France. The door close by is called the _Porte de la Miséricorde_ by
reason of its paintings, which represent the _Seven Works of Mercy_.
They are by M. Biennourry.
The Chapelle des Catéchismes is a very ancient foundation, having been
erected in the old church by Louis d'Orléans, the brother of Charles
VI., in honour of S. Michael. Two centuries later, the Orléans family
sold it to Président Forget, and a chapel was built out of it to serve,
first as a sacristy, and then as a room for confraternities to hold
their meetings in. The staircase is very elegant, with its handsome
wrought-iron _grille_ and balustrade of the time of Louis XVI. The
chapel seems to be used now as a boys' vestry, and the effect of the
acolytes in their red cassocks and white albs passing up or down this
beautiful flight of steps is picturesque in the extreme. S. Eustache is
one of the few churches in Paris which has not adopted the Roman use as
regards the dress of the acolytes, who still wear the long alb plaited
or trimmed with lace, and the sash, red, white, or pale blue, according
to the season. Years ago, before the Parisian rite was superseded by the
Roman, there were many little differences in the ritual; to wit, the two
precentors sitting near the chancel _grille_, vested in copes, and at
certain times during mass marching up and down the choir. Then again, on
great festivals, six men holding censers stood in a row, and throwing
them up, knelt upon one knee to catch them. The effect of this during
Benediction was grand in the extreme; the Roman practice of two boys
gently swinging the censers bearing no comparison to the Parisian. The
Lady chapel, known as Notre-Dame de Bon-Secours, served in the 17th
century as the assembling place of various charitable societies, and
notably of the Société de Bons-Secours, which was so much patronised by
the _noblesse_ and the rich tradespeople. The chapel is in the same
style as the side ones, and is a mass of colour, the decorations being
by M. Dénuel. The frescoes were originally undertaken by Ary Scheffer,
who, perhaps fortunately for posterity, was so long working out his
subject that he gave the matter up, Couture taking his place. But great
artist as he was, Couture was hardly the man to decorate a church; his
work and his sympathies were so eminently Classic in style, that it is
difficult to feel that his paintings illustrate pages of Gospel history
and legendary lore. There is no more religious sentiment in Couture's
work than in the Eclectic decadence of Italy, or the 18th century French
school. Many persons object to our latest group of religious painters;
but the feeling expressed in the pictures of M. Lhermitte, of
Bastien-Lepage, of Mr. C. Pierce, of M. Dagnan-Bouveret, and even in M.
Béraud's _Crucifixion_, to say nothing of Herr Uhde's work, is far more
religious than in many, one might almost say, in most of the frescoes
and pictures by modern artists in the various churches. Sentimentality
is not religious sentiment, and cast-up eyes do not necessarily express
devotion. Again, the light is so bad in this chapel that it is very
difficult to judge of Couture's work, even from the æsthetic point of
view; and therefore we cannot think this picture equal to the grand
_Romains de la Décadence_ in the Louvre. The altar is a handsome
specimen of the reign of Louis XIII., but the statue which surmounts
it, by Pigalle, has the usual sentimental character of 18th century
sculpture. A _plaque_ informs the faithful that it was blessed by Pius
VII. in 1804; but, unfortunately, a pope's blessing will not turn a
piece of marble into a fine work of art.
The chapel of S. Louis de Gonzague was the property of the Colbert
family, and contains the tomb of the great minister. The monument was
executed from a design by Lebrun, and, although of the usual type of
that period, it is not without a certain grandeur. A black marble
sarcophagus supports the kneeling figure of Colbert, arrayed in the
robes of the order of the Saint-Esprit. The hands, joined in prayer, are
exquisitely modelled. The expression of the face is fine, and the flow
of the draperies is well executed. At the foot of the monument are
figures of Religion by Tubi and Abundance by Coysevox; the latter a good
example of the sculptor's style. This was one of the monuments saved
from the Vandal mob in 1792, by Lenoir, who marched it off to the museum
of the Petits-Augustins, where it remained until 1801, when it was
returned to S. Eustache.
More relics are to be seen in the next chapel, those of S. Pierre
l'Exorciste, a saint who suffered in the neighbourhood of Rome, having
obligingly dug his own grave previously to being beheaded. The
authenticity of the relics are vouched for by the sign manual of
Cardinal Caprara. One requires faith to believe in the authenticity of
these, or any other relics; not that one doubts their preservation by
loving hands after the martyrdoms, but there is a great gulf of time
which is not easily bridged over. Take, for instance, the relic of the
True Cross kept at Notre-Dame. It is not at all improbable that the
cross might have been preserved by the friends of Our Lord; and the same
remark applies to many of the other relics with which S. Louis and
others adorned the Sainte-Chapelle--the Spear, the Handcuffs, the Crown
of Thorns, even the linen stained by the precious blood. That the
Apostles, or S. Joseph of Arimathea, or Nicodemus, or S. Mary and her
sister Martha, would have done their best to gain possession of these
relics of their dear Master, is not only possible, but probable. We are
all relic-mongers at heart; our forefathers gathered together the
remains of saints and martyrs; we ourselves keep locks and curls of
hair, babies' teeth, bits of clothing, rings, and photographs. Where is
the difference? If the lost first-born's only tooth is precious to its
mother, why should not S. Holocaustus' toe-nail be equally so to those
who live in the Saint's parish or commune? We have Charles I.'s hair,
and Queen Elizabeth's stockings; and there is no reason why a thousand
years hence they should not still be in their cases. But if a great
upheavement took place, such as the siege of Jerusalem, or the first
French Revolution, the saving of such relics would be difficult,
although not by any means impossible. Take the finding of the True Cross
by S. Helena early in the 4th century. If this be true, it is by no
means impossible that it was preserved up to the time of S. Louis. Nor
is it impossible that someone connected with the church of S. Denis
should have secreted the relic before the desecration of the tombs in
1793. Rumours precede acts; and having a valuable relic, why not hide it
away when dangers lurk in the distance? But if so, why did not this
person preserve the vessels in which the relics were kept? Why not have
buried all those costly chalices, crosses and reliquaries? Why have left
them to be seized upon by profane hands and melted up, if there were
time to save their contents? But the chief difficulty is to account
reasonably for the gap between the Crucifixion and the finding of the
Cross; and it requires such a long bridge of faith to traverse this
space of three hundred years that one feels reluctantly obliged to take
the "Invention" of the Cross in its most literal sense.
The arms over the chapel of the Sainte-Madeleine are those of France
_barré_, commemorating the foundation (in the old church) by Charles,
Comte de Valois, duc d'Angoulême, a natural son of Charles IX., that
most excellent Christian king and zealous son of the Church, who
persecuted and slaughtered heretics for the good of their souls, thereby
converting them (in the next world) from the error of their ways, and so
covering his own multitudinous sins and wickednesses. There is a
handsome confessional of carved wood, period Louis XV., in this chapel;
and in the next, the relics of S. Vincent de Paul are enclosed in a fine
Louis XIV. _châsse_. Lest any reader doubts the correctness of my
translation, let me give the list of these relics in the original. "Les
reliques de St. Vincent de Paul se composent d'une image teinte du sang
du saint prêtre retrouvée légèrement coagulé quand on a ouvert son
tombeau, de deux médailles formées de sa chair et de ses os mis en pâte,
d'une parcelle de sa chair, de fragments de son suaire, de la soutane
qu'il portait de son vivant, de la soutane dont il a été retrouvé vêtu
dans sa bière, enfin d'un morceau de cette bière. Le tout est muni du
cachet de la Mission et accompagné de quatres authentiques signés par
MM. les supérieurs de Saint-Lazare." This and the S. Madeleine are the
oldest of the chapels, and are both architecturally fine, with
wrought-iron _grilles_ of elegant and cunning workmanship. The paintings
(1634), attributed to Simon Vouët or his Italian pupils, represent
scenes in the life of S. Anne, to whom the chapel was originally
dedicated by Anne de Monsigot, dame de Bourlon, who may be seen humbly
sitting upon the stairs of the temple, with her two children standing by
her side; while above, the high priest Zachariah is receiving the
Blessed Virgin, who is presented by her mother and father. Very
beautiful are the Angels bearing the instruments of the Passion, which
are painted upon the eight compartments of the ceiling.
The founder of the chapel of S. Geneviève was one Jehan Brice, a
merchant, whose desire that it should be richly decorated was carried
out by the widow, Guillemette de l'Arche, in 1546, who is said to have
been the heroine of a tale, which has been made familiar to us through
the Italian opera of _La Gazza Ladra_. It appears that an old MS. in the
possession of M. Boblet gives the list of foundation masses in the
parish, and amongst them is one entitled _La Pie Voleuse_, which was
said daily for the poor servant unjustly accused of stealing the spoon,
found later on in the roof of the church. But the unwonted hour fixed
for the mass, 4 a.m., and the name thereof, seem rather to point to the
magpie than to the maid. May not the mass have been for the thief rather
than for the innocent damsel? And was it not made thus early to assure
the attendance of all the feathered tribes (who are wont to rise
betimes), and to be unto them at once a warning and a duty paid to their
cousin-german, the mean and wicked magpie? A _Tobias and the Angel_, by
Santi di Tito, belonging originally to Louis XV., and ascribed to Andrea
del Sarto, is of a certain interest. The frescoes, taken from the life
of S. Louis in the chapel bearing his name, are amongst the best in the
church. M. Barrias has thrown much grandeur into his subject, _S. Louis
carrying the Crown of Thorns to the Sainte-Chapelle_; but no one has so
thoroughly depicted the ascetic beauty of the King, his true piety and
unflinching faith, as M. Olivier-Merson in the wall-paintings of the
corridor of the Cour de Cassation, in the Palais de Justice. In all the
works of the latter painter the truest religious sentiment is invariably
to be found; and if he errs upon the side of ugliness, is it not an
infinitely smaller fault than the sentimental upturned eyes and radiant
beauty of the German religious painters of the Cornelius and Hesse
schools?
The tribune over the sacristy door was put up by the Duchesse d'Orléans,
Adélaïde, the mother of Louis Philippe, in 1778, that she might enjoy
privacy when she was present at the offices. It is a noble example of
the finished style of Louis XVI.
Amongst the treasures of S. Eustache are an ivory crucifix in the
sacristy: a bone of the patron Saint, from the cemetery of S. Priscilla,
given in 1660 by Pope Alexander VII. to Sieur Chauvin; a tooth, formerly
in the church of S. Jacques-l'Hôpital; and some bones of S. Eustache and
his wife and children, said to have been formerly amongst the treasures
of S. Denis; but I find no record of them in Dom Millet. The frescoes in
the chapel of the patron Saint were painted by M. le Hénaff, in
imitation of those found in the catacombs of Rome, the painter having
copied the incorrect drawing as well as the fervent feeling of the early
painters.
One or two more pictures by Vouët may be seen; and in the chapel of the
Redemption are the frescoes of M. Glaize, one of the few painters who
seems to have understood the spirit in which a church should be
decorated.
[Illustration: L'ADORATION PERPÉTUELLE AT SAINT-EUSTACHE.]
S. Eustache was a royal parish up to the great crash at the end of the
last century; its domain extended from the Chaussée des Gaillons to the
Rue S. Denis, and being in the centre of the great world, it was very
fashionable. Hard by were the royal palaces, and the new and "magnifique
bastiment de l'hostel royal dit des Tuileries lez Paris, pour ce qu'il y
avoit anciennement une tuilerie audict lieu," the _chef-d'œuvre_ of
Philibert Delorme, built by order of Catherine de' Medici to outrival
the Château d'Anet, erected by the same great artist for the irregular
queen, the lovely Diane. Not far from the Place Royale, and in the
centre of a nest of hotels belonging to great and noble personages, S.
Eustache became the praying-place of the living and the burial-place of
the defunct notabilities. The great ministers of Henri III., Louis
XIII., and Louis XIV. lived in the parish: the Duc d'Epernon, in the Rue
Platrière (now Jean-Jacques-Rousseau, by reason of the sage having
occupied the 4th _étage_ of No. 49, in the year 1770); Cardinal
Richelieu, in the Rue St.-Honoré, au Palais-Cardinal, otherwise the
modern tourist's hunting-ground, the Palais-Royal; and Mazarin, the Rue
Neuve-des-Petits-Champs. The _curés_ were naturally much in vogue as
confessors and directors to these high personages and their swarms of
followers and appendages--men and women. One of the rectors, preaching
in 1537, before the King (François I.), the Cardinal de Lorraine,
brother of the Duc de Guise, the Cardinal de Tournon, and ladies and
gentlemen of the court, seems to have been shaky in his theology,
according to some of his hearers, but _estonnant de vérité_, quoth
others. Even the royal mind itself was unquiet for several days, but
upon persuasion by the Cardinals it became reassured.
It was a time of troubles, civil and religious. The church work was
stopped, and horrors were around, for in 1558 a poor student, denounced
as a Lutheran by an old zealot of the weaker sex, was dragged out of the
church and massacred upon the steps. But to return to Messire Jean
Lecoq, the aforesaid _curé_. In the choir is his tomb, where he was
buried with several of his relatives. His epitaph, bearing his arms
_d'azur au coq d'or_, is as follows:
_Nobilis venerabilis D. Magister Joannes Lecoq._
_Hujus ecclesiæ pastor_--1568.
ANT. LECOQ, SEIG. D'ESGRENAY ET DE CORBEUIL (frère du curé), 1566.
F. PAJOT, SEIGNEUR DE BURY, mari D'ESTIENNETTE LECOQ, 1563
F. PAJOT, SEIG. D'AUTEUIL, LEUR FILS, 1583.
A story is told of this reverend _curé_ by Bonaventure Déperriers, in
his _Joyeux Devis_, which, if not authentic, is characteristic of the
times. A certain popular actor and head of a wandering dramatic company,
one Jean de l'Espine, called _Pont-Allais_, was one day beating his drum
near the church, to announce the commencement of his entertainment.
Within the church the _curé_ was preaching, but alas, his voice could
not be heard above the rattle outside. Exit the preacher from his
pulpit. He hurries out, and addresses the comedian upon the stage of his
booth: "How can you dare to strum while I am preaching?" "And how can
you dare to preach while I am drumming?" retorted the actor. The _curé_,
enraged at this impudent reply, broke the drum; but Jean _Pont-Allais_,
with the swiftness of a man of action, seized the priest, and popping
the drum upon his head, pushed him into the church. Whether the
discourse was continued, with or without the _coiffure_, history does
not relate. Jean Lecoq died in 1568.
René Benoist, born at Angers, and a member of the school of theologians
calling itself the Société Royale de Navarre, was, when quite young,
the confessor of Marie Stuart, whom he followed to Scotland. Upon the
death of the queen he became _curé_ of St. Pierre-des-Arcis, and
afterwards of S. Eustache. At the commencement of his career he was a
_Ligueur_, and by reason of his great influence was nicknamed _le roi
des Halles_. In 1588 he pronounced a funeral oration upon the
assassinated Guises at Blois:
Escouté, peuple, dit-il, par Isaïe: _Auferam a vobis fortem et
virum bellatorem, judicem et prophetam._ Quand Dieu veut punir un
peuple, il oste les personnes généreux et le conseil, car comme
disait Cicéron en son premier des Offices: _Non valent arma foris
nisi sit consilium domi._ Nous avions tous les deux en ce bon
prince le duc de Guise: il était fort comme un Samson, prudent et
advisé comme un Salomon.... Les anciens disaient un exercite estre
plus fort quand le chef est lion que quand les soldats sont lions
et le chef cerf.... Cette balafre qu'il portait, c'était en
conservant la religion et l'état en France qu'il l'avait endurée.
Cela devait faire peur aux méchants, _non est vulnus aversum sed
adversum_. Faut des hommes vaillants, balafrés, qui ne fuient pas
et ainsi que Notre Seigneur a porté ses cicatrices au ciel pour
montrer ce qu'il avait enduré ainsi il a porté sa balafre pour le
témoignage de sa vertu. II ne faut pas perdre courage, la maison en
est seulement escornée. (Then he concluded thus:) Prions Dieu pour
les échevins d'icelle, qu'ils aient la crainte de Dieu et une bonne
prudence. Ce mot d'échevins veut dire chefs de la ville, _sicut
capita Urbis_. Je les compare aux quatre parties qui conservent la
santé de l'homme et aux quatre éléments qui sont les choses les
plus nécessaires au monde. Paris a pour ses armes un navire qu'est
_Mare populi_, ceux là sont les pilotes; ils quéront à Dieu qu'il
leur donne son saint Spérit, mais surtout à eux et à nous l'union,
faut que Civitas soit Civium unitas.
However, going over to the enemy, like many a better man, Benoist became
the butt of l'Estoile:
_De trois B B B garder se doit on,_
_De Bourges, Benoist et Bourbon._
_Bourges croit Dieu piteusement,_
_Benoist le prêche finement,_
_Mais Dieu nous gard' de la finesse_
_Et de Bourbon et de sa messe._
Another preacher of the time, Master Rose, gave Benoist the nickname of
_le Diable des Halles_; but nevertheless he remained faithful to the
king's party, and controverted those who refused to receive the royal
heretic, even if he were to be converted. These views of the _curé_,
coming to the ears of the Duc de Mayenne, caused Benoist to be sent for
when the time came for Henri to abjure Protestantism, and he was present
at S. Denis on the memorable 25th of July, 1592, when the king heard the
mass which he bargained for the city of Paris.
This, of course, angered the Ligueurs yet more, and one said publicly
that Benoist deserved to be hanged; and a poor woman of the parish (one
of the forerunners of the celebrated "Dames de la Halle" who more than
once defended their _curés_ at all costs) was mauled and mangled by a
Spanish soldier for having stood up for her parish priest and pronounced
him a worthy man. Later on, being named bishop of Troyes by the king
(whose confessor he became), the Ligue refused him obedience. Benoist
was not only a fervent politician; he was also a writer of no mean
merit, a learned preacher, an erudite theologian, and, above all, a
friend beloved of his parishioners. He left his mark upon the church,
embellishing the great door with a representation of his patron S. René,
and composing an anthem, which was performed upon his _fête_ day. Some
authorities, Launoy to wit, give the number of his works as 154, Niceron
159. He was forty years at S. Eustache, and ten years dean of the
Faculty of Theology. He died on the 7th March, 1608, at the ripe old age
of eighty-seven, and just two years before the assassination of Henri,
which took place at the very doors, one may say, of S. Eustache, in the
Rue de la Ferronnerie.
After the death of René, Benoist's successor, we find the "Dames de la
Halle" coming to the fore and asserting their importance. It appears
that the appointment by the archbishop of a new curate (I use this term
in its proper sense: the occupier of a cure) to succeed M. Tonnellier,
led to a three day's revolt. The nephew of the latter, having been
promised the cure by his uncle, opposed the new appointment, and,
assisted by the market women, repulsed the soldiers--sent them flying,
says tradition. However that may be, there was a vast commotion, which
lasted three days, and was only ended by a species of armistice. "Les
Dames de la Halle" consented to send a deputation to the queen (although
it is not very apparent what her majesty could do in the matter), and
after giving an account of the cause of the trouble, the envoy went on
as follows:--
Notre curé qui est mort était si bon, si humain que nous l'avons
tous pleuré. En mourant il a désigné son neveu pour son successeur
et l'on a voulu nous en donner un autre. Ce n'est pas juste,
n'est-ce pas, madame la Reine? Les Marlin, voyez-vous, depuis bien
longtemps, sont curés de Saint-Eustache, _de père en fils_, et les
paroissiens n'en souffriront pas d'autre.
The curious argument advanced by the deputy in favour of Marlin no doubt
amused the queen, and she promised to do what she could. But "Les Dames"
would have no evasive answers; they wanted their curate and intended to
have him; and so, on their return, chains were put across the streets,
barricades were commenced, and the revolt waxed stronger. At this
juncture, the archbishop gave way, and the nephew was installed amidst
enthusiastic cries of _Vive l'archevêque! Vive la reine!_ While upon the
church some wag placarded a notice: _Avis. Le curé de Saint-Eustache est
à la nomination des Dames de la Halle._
This little tale seems to have been the origin of the romantic story
trumped up in 1783, in which Marie Antoinette is said to have given a
flower-girl her bracelet in recognition of some interview between them;
which story was added to and amended later on, to the effect that the
queen, upon her way to the guillotine, recognising the girl by her
bracelet, betrayed her, and thus inadvertently caused her arrest and
execution.
This Marlin was curate when Louis XIV. made his first communion at S.
Eustache, that being his parish church at the time he was living in the
Palais-Royal with his mother. Louis' last wife was also a parishioner of
S. Eustache before her marriage with Scarron. As Frances d'Aubigné she
seems to have been as much of a _dévote_ as in her later days, for she
arose at midnight, and attended matins at two of the clock. At that time
she was in receipt of alms from a charitable lady of the parish, and her
extraordinary career had scarcely commenced.
Funeral orations abounded at S. Eustache. In 1666 Anne of Austria was
eulogised by a celebrated preacher, père Sénault, in no mild terms:--
Souffrez que je vous dise que si elle a vaincu la douleur et la
mort, si elle a procuré la paix à l'Europe, si elle a heureusement
gouverné l'Etat pendant sa régence, si elle a obtenu des enfants du
Ciel, ce n'a été que parce qu'elle se confiait en Dieu et qu'elle
l'a obligé de faire cent miracles en sa faveur parce qu'elle
espérait en sa bonté, _spera in eo et ipse faciet_.
Ten years later a greater preacher, the eloquent Fléchier, was called
upon to sing the praises of Turenne, all the world following in the
train of the king to hear him:
Quelle matière fut jamais plus disposée à recevoir tous les
ornements d'une grave et solide éloquence, que la vie et la mort de
très-haut et très-puissant Prince Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne,
vicomte de Turenne, maréchal général des camps et armées du roi et
colonel général de la cavalerie légère? Où brillent avec plus
d'éclat les effets glorieux de la vertu militaire: conduite
d'armées, sièges de places, prises de villes, passages de rivières,
attaques hardies, retraites honorables, campements bien ordonnés,
combats soutenus, batailles gagnées, ennemis vaincus par la force,
dissipés par l'adresse, lassés et consumés par une sage patience;
où peut-on trouver tant et de si puissants exemples que dans les
actions d'un homme sage, modeste, libéral, désintéressé, dévoué au
service du prince et de la patrie, grand dans l'adversité par son
courage, dans la prospérité par sa modestie, dans les difficultés
par sa prudence, dans les périls par sa valeur, dans la religion
par sa piété.
Yet another celebrated orator, Massillon, was often heard at S.
Eustache, and in 1704, preaching upon the small number of the elect, so
terrified were his hearers that they all rose as one man, when he
pronounced the words of the Supreme Judge. A lesser man, who rose to be
a Cardinal, perhaps more by intrigues than anything else, was Guillaume
Dubois. He was born at Brives-la-Gaillarde in 1657, and coming to Paris,
he entered, while still quite young, the service of the _curé_ of S.
Eustache. Thence he obtained engagements as tutor to the great
personages of the neighbourhood; entering the house of the Duc de
Chartres, he managed to obtain the abbey of Saint-Just, in the diocese
of Beauvais. A grand monument by Coustou was erected to his memory in
the church of S. Honoré, with an epitaph composed by Couture, which
seems to be a slight satire upon the worldly-minded who love the rich
things of this nether world. After giving the titles of the defunct, the
lines go on: "_Quid autem hi titulis nisi arcus coloratus et fumus ad
modicum parens Viator, stabiliora, solidioraque bona mortuo apprecare,
etc., etc. Mais que sont ces dignités? nuages brillants, fumée qui
s'évapore. Passant, demande à Dieu pour ce mort des biens plus stables
et plus solides._"
S. Eustache is still famous for its processions, and few churches are so
fitted for grand ceremonial; but what are the functions of to-day
compared with those of the 18th century? Here is an extract from the
archives giving an outline of the procession upon the Fête Dieu, 20th
June, 1716, during the minority of Louis XV.:--
Several lacqueys bearing torches.
Footmen of M. le duc de Charot with lights at the top of their
weapons.
Sixteen footmen of M. le Comte de Toulouse.
Six pages of my lord count.
The preceptor of the pages of M. the duc d'Orléans, the Regent, in
long cassock and surplice; their tutor bearing a taper; twelve
pages of His Royal Highness, and two sub-tutors.
The banner of the confraternity of the Holy Sacrament.
The cross of the clergy of S. Eustache.
An officer bearing a cushion for His Royal Highness.
The _Suisses_ armed, carrying halbards upon their shoulders and
torches in their hands, the officers at their head accompanied by
drums and fifes.
The dais of the Holy Sacrament, borne by high personages.
The _curé_ under the dais.
Monseigneur le duc d'Orléans carrying a taper, preceded by several
officers of his house, and two chaplains in surplices.
An officer bearing a bouquet of His Royal Highness.
Forty of the body-guard, the councillor of Parliament, and the
churchwardens.
A coach belonging to His Royal Highness, followed by eight guards
on horseback.
The archers of the town bringing up the rear.
The watchmen of Paris arranged in a line from the church door to
the Hôtel de Soissons, on both sides of the Rue Coquillière, with
flags and officers at their head; drums to be beaten when His Royal
Highness arrives at the church in his coach, and on his return.
In 1736 the _reposoir_[70] in the Palais-Royal was constructed from the
design of Servandoni, the architect of S. Sulpice; and its importance
attracted multitudes of curiosity-hunters from all parts of the town.
In 1729 Jean-François-Robert Secousse succeeded his uncle, and was the
author of a pamphlet which he gave away to his parishioners entitled:
_Lettre d'un Curé à N---- au sujet des Spectacles._ His successor,
Jean-Jacques Poupart, was for some time confessor to Louis XVI. and
Marie Antoinette. When the storm arose, he took the oath to the
Constitution; but, finding the lengths to which it carried him, he
retracted, went into hiding, and administered to his flock in secret.
During the early years of the Revolution, no church suffered more than
S. Eustache. Situated in the midst of a populous district, it became the
scene of untold horrors. But it was also the resting place for
Mirabeau's body on its way to the Panthéon, on the 4th April, 1791; and
had nothing worse than the funeral oration by Cerutti, pronounced from
the _banc-d'œuvre_,[71] taken place, the sacrilege would have been
but small. Trouble was looked for in the following May, when the
hairdressers' assistants caused a service to be said for the great
orator; but instead of the church being invaded by 10,000 persons, as
was expected, a poor 600 were all that put in an appearance, and these
were well conducted. Not so the Women's Club which was held in the
building, if Lamartine's _Histoire des Girondins_[72] is to be trusted:
La société révolutionnaire siégeait á Saint-Eustache; elle était
composée de femmes perdues, aventurières de leur sexe, recrutées
dans le vice, où dans les réduits de la misère, ou dans les
cabanons de la démence. Le scandale de leurs séances, le tumulte de
leurs motions, la bizarrerie de leur éloquence, l'audace de leurs
pétitions importuna le Comité de Salut Public, qui ferma le club.
On peut juger par là ce qu'il devait en être de la pauvre église.
Près de là siégeait aussi le fameux club de la rue Mauconseil.
Another club for women, founded by an actress named Lacombe, was
dissolved after a speech of Robespierre's, in which we find that "Cette
réunion de vraies sans-culottes ne saurait durer plus long-temps, parce
qu'elle prête au ridicule et aux propos malins."
In 1793 the Feast of Reason was celebrated with as much profanity and
indecency here as at Notre-Dame, as witness Mercier's account, told in
the forcible language of Carlyle:
The corresponding festival in the church of S. Eustache offered the
spectacle of a great tavern. The interior of the choir represented
a landscape decorated with cottages and boskets of trees. Round the
choir stood tables overloaded with bottles, with sausages,
pork-puddings, pasties, and other meats. The guests flowed in and
out through all doors; whosoever presented himself took part of the
good things; children of eight, girls as well as boys, put hand to
plate, in sign of Liberty; they drank also of the bottles, and
their prompt intoxication created laughter. Reason sat in azure
mantle aloft, in a serene manner; cannoneers, pipe in mouth,
serving her as acolytes. And out of doors (continues the
exaggerative man) were mad multitudes dancing round the bonfire of
chapel-balustrades, of priests' and canons' stalls; and the
dancers--I exaggerate nothing--the dancers nigh bare of breeches,
neck and breast naked, stockings down, went whirling and spinning,
like those Dust-vortexes, forerunners of Tempest and
Destruction.[73]
S. Eustache was re-opened for divine service sooner than many of the
other churches, M. Poupart coming out of his hiding in June, 1795; but
he had to share his church for some time with the philanthropists and
the municipal councillors, who held their meetings there upon certain
days. And the church was, moreover, but four walls and a roof; nearly
all the contents had vanished. The altars, the bronze statues, the
pulpit, the pictures, the tombs, the slabs and epitaphs, all but the
_banc-d'œuvre_, had gone to the museum of the Petits-Augustins;
happily, for otherwise they would have gone into the fire.
In 1804, Pius VII., dragged to Paris by Napoleon to perform the
coronation ceremony, was invited to visit S. Eustache and bless a statue
of the Blessed Virgin; which he did with "_une bonté paternelle_." The
occasion naturally called forth all the ceremonial of which the church
was capable: _Suisses_ (beadles), vergers, _MM. les maires_, and _MM.
les marguilliers_, magistrates, _juges de paix_, clergy, M. le curé
Bossic, and his eminence the cardinal archbishop. His Holiness was
received at the church door by the archbishop, M. de Belloy, and divers
other bishops and dignitaries of church and state; who had to submit to
hearing a Latin oration by the _curé_. The music was brilliantly
executed by a large choir, and the ceremonial of an imposing character;
peculiarly touching was the moment when the archbishop, an old man of
ninety-six, who had to be supported by two prelates, mounted the steps
of the altar, and presented the linen cloth to his Holiness for wiping
his hands. After mass a reception took place in one of the chapels, and
a number of the faithful had the honour of "kissing the papal slipper,"
says the account of the ceremony signed by a number of the dignitaries
present.
Among the celebrities buried in the church or the burial-ground hard by
are the following: Bernard de Girard, Seigneur du Haillan, historian,
who died in 1610; Marie Jars de Gournay, the adopted daughter of
Montaigne, and the editress of his essays; Vincent Voiture, poet and
wit, who died in 1650; the Academician François de la Motte-le-Vayer;
the poet Isaac Benserade; another Academician Furetière; the graceful
music-maker, Rameau; the painter, Lafosse; a superintendent of finance,
Claude de Bullion (a curiously appropriate name); Phélippeau, duke of la
Vrillière; the chancellor d'Amenonville; a peer and marshal, François
d'Aubusson de la Feuillade, who worshipped his king, the fourteenth
Louis, and elevated a wondrous monument to his glory, the prancing steed
and man in the Place des Victoires; and a medicine man of the same king
a member, too, of the Academy, Martin Cureau de la Chambre, aged
seventy-five when he died in 1669. The physician is said to have been
the consulter-general of the king, and they carried on a secret
correspondence, in which the former thought that the sovereign would
"_court grand risque de faire à l'avenir de mauvais choix de
ministres_," if he survived Cureau. The last curate buried in the church
was Poupart, in 1796.
What is now the market of S. Joseph was formerly the burial-ground
dedicated to that Saint. It belonged to the parish of S. Eustache, and
in 1630 Chancellor Séguier built a chapel therein at his own expense.
Here Molière and La Fontaine were buried, but the monuments were carried
off to the museum of the Petits-Augustins, where they remained until
1818, when they were re-erected at Père-la-Chaise. Molière was also born
in the parish, at a house, since pulled down, which occupied the site of
the corner of the rue St. Honoré and the rue du Pont Neuf, formerly de
la Tonnellerie.
The following epitaphs used to be in the church, and are interesting;
the two first for their quaintness; the last as a record of an architect
of S. Eustache, if not the original builder:
BARTHÉLÉMI TREMBLET, SCULPTEUR DU ROY, DÉCÉDÉ A L'AGE
DE 61 ANS, EN 1629.
Louvre me donna l'être et Paris la fortune.
J'eus l'honneur d'être au roy, St. Eustache a mes os;
Passant, au nom de Dieu, si je ne t'importune,
Durant ce mien sommeil, pries pour mon repos.
* * * * *
Le monde n'a ésté à _Françoise
Gallois_ que passage à l'éternité;
Elle y a demeuré comme toujours
Preste d'en sortir, Les XXIII années
De son âge, n'ont estées qu'innocence,
Les quarte de son mariage, que paix
Et concorde, les vertus furent ses
Exercices, la piété son contentement,
La crainte de Dieu la conduite de
Sa vie qu'elle finit le XXVIIe Aoust
MDCXVI. Si chrestiennement,
Que _Richard Petit_, son mary,
Conser secrét, du roy, M. et C. de
Fr. ne console l'affliction de son
Absence que par la souvenance
De sa mort.
* * * * *
Cy-devant git le corps
D'honorable homme _Charles David_, vivant sujet du Roy
Es-œuvres de maçonnerie, doyen des jurés et bourgeois
De Paris, architecte et conducteur du bâtiment de l'Eglise
De céans, lequel après avoir vescu avec _Anne Lemercier_
Sa femme l'espace de 53 ans, il décéda le quatrième jour
De décembre 1650 âgé de 98 ans.
S. Eustache has suffered much of late years by fire and the doings of
wicked men. In 1844 fire attacked the organ, and smoke and water
destroyed a great portion of the church. L'abbé Duguerry, who was shot
in 1871 by the Communists, was _curé_ at the time of the conflagration;
and in order to rebuild the organ, he instituted a lottery, and appealed
for aid to the whole country. Ten years later the new organ was built,
and inaugurated under a new _curé_, Gaudereau, Duguerry having been
appointed to the Madeleine. It was an exquisite instrument, of delicious
tone and with a large number of stops. But alas! during the Commune it
suffered again, several bombs having exploded in the church. Glass was
smashed, organ pipes pierced, and a great deal of damage done to the
roof; and it was several years before the church was restored to its
pristine beauty. In 1879 the organ was finished, having been
reconstructed and very much enlarged by J. Merklin, under a committee of
organists and musicians; other instruments may be larger, but few are so
beautiful in tone. Several of the Paris organs are fine, and the French
school of organists is of all the least conventional. One is not bored
by Rinck and his fellows; one does not hear choruses by Handel intended
to be sung, or solos by the same master upon flute and clarionet stops
with a poor tum-tum accompaniment, or sonatas written for the pianoforte
or violin. That, to some of us, peculiarly irritating form of
composition, the fugue, is rarely heard (except at the Madeleine), and
Batiste, I think, must have held them in holy horror as did Berlioz,
and, was it Chopin? Many a time for years I heard Batiste "touch" the S.
Eustache organ, and surely no more divine sounds (if organ notes can be
divine?) have ever been drawn from an instrument than when he played
some soft, tender, pathetic melody upon the _voix céleste_ or _vox
humana_ with accompaniment upon the far-off stops and tremolo; it was,
in effect, what one might conceive a chorus of Angels accompanying some
beautiful human voice. I know all the principal Paris organs, and most
of them have been played upon by distinguished musicians; I also heard
Lefebure-Wély frequently in former days; but no one seemed to equal or
to excel Batiste in taste. His soft passages were perfection; and when
he made the instrument thunder forth in all its _fortissimo_, it was
grand in the extreme. Such an admiration had I for the musician, that I
looked upon him as an invisible master, and my enthusiasm led me one day
to waylay him as he came down the stairs. Query, if one admires an
artist or an author, a poet or a musician, is it wise to see him in the
flesh? Some painters and pianists, some violinists or singers, have been
appropriately built, so to speak. Nature, sometimes unassisted, more
often aided and pruned, has turned out bodies which are fitted to become
the cases of distinguished minds. But everyone knows instances of actors
and actresses who are nought minus their war-paint; of painters who
might be grocers, and of poets as un-ideal in appearance as any publican
or butterman. On the other hand, there are exquisites behind the
counters, ethereal-looking butchers, and poetic vendors of cooked ham
and beef. It is as if nature had made a number of bodies and minds, and
shuffling them like a pack of cards, had tossed them together without
any thought or heeding. Such seemed to have been the case with Batiste,
for he was the exact model of the French Mossoo so dear to _Punch_--the
Mossoo one so rarely sees out of that sportive periodical. Nevertheless,
the soul within that commonplace body was able to peal forth in most
sublime sounds which touched the hearts of all who heard them. Batiste's
was essentially emotional playing of the highest order. Never shall I
forget the thrill which went through the crowd when he played Chopin's
"Funeral March" at the funeral of the dear old _curé_, l'abbé Simon--the
very type of the courteous, fine-gentleman priests of other days,
without their vices. When, years ago, the abbé Simon and Duguerry his
friend, sat side by side, their finely chiselled features and longish
hair, their elegant manner, and courteous bearing, reminded one of the
portraits of Fléchier, Massillon and Bossuet.
It may interest musicians to know the composition of the S. Eustache
organ, and as many of the stops are French, I may as well give them in
their original names. It has four manuals, and 72 stops; 4356 pipes and
20 pedals.
Grand Orgue 54 notes, 16 stops.
Positif 54 " 14 "
Récit expressif 54 " 16 "
Clavier Bombarde 54 " 11 "
Pédales 30 " 15 "
----
TOTAL 72
1ST MANUAL.--GREAT ORGAN.
ft. ft.
1 Montre 16 10 Nasard 2
2 Montre 8 11 Doublette 2
3 Flûte à pavilion 8 COMBINATION STOPS.
4 Bourdon 8 12 Furniture et Cymbale 3
5 Flûte harmonique 8 13 Cornet 8
6 Viole de Gambe 8 14 Trompette 8
7 Gemshorn 8 15 Clarinette 8
8 Rohrflûte 4 16 Clairon 4
9 Prestant 4
2ND MANUAL.--CHOIR ORGAN.
ft. ft.
1 Montre 8 9 Clochette 1
2 Bourdon 8 COMBINATION STOPS.
3 Keraulophone 8 10 Plein jeu 2
4 Flûte harmonique 8 11 Clarinette 16
5 Bourdon 16 12 Cromhorn 8
6 Flûte harmonique 4 13 Trompette 8
7 Fugara 4 14 Clairon 4
8 Doublette 2
3RD MANUAL.--SWELL ORGAN.
SOLO STOPS.
ft. ft.
1 Viole de Gambe 8 9 Trompette harmonique. 8
2 Voix céleste 8 10 Clairon 4
3 Bourdon 8 JEUX DE FOND.
4 Piccolo 1 11 Bourdon 16
5 Basson-Hautbois 8 12 Principal 8
6 Voix humaine 8 13 Flûte harmonique 8
COMBINATION STOPS. 14 Flûte octaviante 4
7 Cornet 8 15 Prestant 4
8 Trombone 16 16 Flageolet 2
4TH MANUAL.--SOLO ORGAN.
ft. COMBINATION STOPS.
1 Bourdon 16 ft.
2 Gambe 16 7 Cornet 16
3 Gambe 8 8 Bombarde 16
4 Salicional 8 9 Trompette 8
5º Quintaton 8 10 Cor anglais 8
6º Dulciana 4 11 Clairon 4
PEDALS.
ft. ft.
1 Principal 32 9 Flûte 4
2 Flûte 16 COMBINATION STOPS.
3 Sous-Basse 16 10 Bombarde 32
4 Contrebasse 16 11 Bombarde 16
5 Grosse Flûte 8 12 Basson 16
6 Quinte 12 13 Basson 8
7º Violoncelle 8 14 Trompette 8
8º Bourdon 8 15 Clairon 4
COMBINATION STOPS FOR THE SWELL.
SOLO | ANCHES | FONDS
TREMOLO | TREMOLO | TREMOLO
COMBINATION PEDALS.
1 Tonnerre.
2 Tirasse du 1er clavier sur le
pédalier.
3 Tirasse du 2me clavier sur le
pédalier.
4 Tirasse du 3me clavier sur le
pédalier.
5 Tirasse du 4me clavier sur le
pédalier.
6 Réunion du mécanisme des
jeux du 1er clavier sur le
levier pneumatique.
7 Accouplement du 2me clavier
sur le 1er.
8 Accouplement du 3me clavier
sur le 1er, à l'unisson.
9 Accouplement du 4me clavier
sur le 1er.
10 Accouplement du 4me clavier
sur le 3me.
11 Accouplement du 3me clavier
à l'octave grave sur le
1er clavier.
12 Forte général.
13 Introduction des jeux de
combinaisons du pédalier.
14 Introduction des jeux de
combinaisons du 1er clavier.
15 Introduction des jeux de
combinaisons du 2me clavier.
16 Introduction des jeux de
combinaisons du 4me clavier.
17 Expression sur le 3me clavier
récit.
No one should omit visiting S. Eustache on S. Cecilia's day (November
22), when a grand mass is always performed, with full orchestra, in aid
of the Society of Musicians; and indeed, any Sunday the music is quite
well worth hearing, and the ceremonial is the finest in Paris. At the
same time much has been lost by the substitution of the Roman for the
Parisian rite, which took place in 1876. In the former, two acolytes
swing the censers; in the latter, four or six acolytes standing in a row
threw them up on high six times, the last time catching them while
kneeling on one knee. As has been said, the grand effect of this use can
never be forgotten by those who saw it.
The church owes the new marble pavement to its good _curé_ l'abbé Simon,
one of the heroes of the Commune, and, almost, one of its victims. So
much has been related (and with justice) against the _Communards_, that
an incident connected with S. Eustache ought not to be forgotten. The
day the abbé Simon was arrested he had three thousand _francs_ in his
pocket, which were destined to pay for the pavement of the choir. Of
course upon his arrival at the prison they were given up to the police,
and were not restored when the _curé_ was released through the
intervention of his _chères paroissiennes, les Dames de la Halle_, who
went _en masse_ to demand his freedom. On Easter Monday, however, Raoul
Rigault's secretary went to the sacristry, asked M. Simon if the money
had been returned, and finding that it had not, he left the church, to
return in an hour's time, with the three thousand _francs_ intact.
In the south transept is a little Gothic statue of S. John, and on the
wall is a sad memorial of the names of all the hostages who suffered
death under the Commune, headed by the archbishop (Darboy) and the
_curé_ of the Madeleine, Duguerry, who was formerly _curé_ of S.
Eustache.
S. Eustache, like most large churches, looks grandest in the evening,
when the altar is ablaze with lights, and long vistas fade away into the
darkness; but under all conditions it is a splendid church, a mass of
harmonious colouring from floor to ceiling. At the evening services
during Lent, it is seen to advantage; or again on Christmas Day at
vespers, when it is resplendent with lights; those curious and
unchurchlike glass chandeliers filled with candles, and clusters of gas
jets round the walls.
Another great day is Good Friday, when Rossini's "Stabat Mater" is
performed. It is always beautifully rendered, but for three-fourths of
the crowd which assembles--and the church is always crammed--for most of
the people it is a mere performance. So is the midnight mass on
Christmas Day. Religious enthusiasm carries one away upon one or two
occasions; the sentiment is exquisite; the emotions which are aroused
are of the purest, and we feel almost that we are by the veritable
manger listening to the heavenly Host: "Glory to God in the Highest."
But alas! human beings are but mortal; and so upon experience we find
that the crowds who attend the mass do so mainly as a pastime before the
_réveillon_; that is the function of the night; eating and drinking,
junkettings and merrymakings; and just a little church-going to fill up
the time until the hour of feasting commences. Cardinal Manning in his
wisdom saw this many years ago, and stopped the practice of saying
midnight mass, a measure he probably regretted as much as any of us; for
apart from its being a very ancient custom, it is a most poetic idea,
appealing strongly to our best emotions and our most vivid imagination.
SAINT-FRANÇOIS XAVIER.
Until quite lately, the only church in Paris dedicated to the memory of
the great Jesuit was the little chapel belonging to the Missions
Étrangères in the Rue de Bac. The first stone was laid in 1683 by the
archbishop of Paris, in the name of the king. It is a double chapel with
a flight of steps leading from the lower to the upper church.
SAINTE-GENEVIÈVE (LE PANTHÉON).
As we walk up the Rue Soufflot and see the great domed Panthéon facing
us in its Classic glory, it is difficult to realise that the space
occupied by the modern building is but a small portion of what was
formerly the domain of the important abbey of S. Geneviève belonging to
the Augustinian canons. When the religious orders were suppressed in
France, Paris contained nine abbeys: S. Geneviève, S. Victor, belonging
to the Augustins; S. Germain des Prés to the Benedictines; Val des Grâce
to the nuns of S. Benedict; Port-Royal, Pantemont, l'Abbaye aux Bois,
and S. Antoine to the Cistercian nuns; and the Cordelières to the order
of the Poor Clares. An inspection of a pre-Revolution map of the city
shows us that a large part of it was swallowed up by these abbeys and
other monastic lands and properties.
[Illustration: SAINTE-GENEVIÈVE FROM THE RUE SOUFFLOT.]
The foundation of the abbey of S. Geneviève was due to the desire of
Clovis to celebrate his victory over the Visigoths in the plains of
Vouillè. Having overrun a great part of Gaul, and annexed it to the
kingdom of the Franks, what was more natural than that he should offer
his thanks for robbery, violence, and slaughter, by the building of a
church upon the hill overshadowing his Palais des Thermes? He dedicated
it to S. Peter and S. Paul, and put it under the charge of some monks
who were succeeded later on by secular canons, and eventually in the
12th century, by regular canons of S. Augustin. Clovis died ere the
church was terminated, but Queen Clotilde was able to carry the work on,
and it became the resting place of both sovereigns, as well as of the
children of Clodomir, who were done to death by their loving relatives
after the manner of some modern Africans. In the 11th century, the
church was put under the patronage of S. Geneviève in consequence of the
numberless miracles performed at her tomb, for the maid of Nanterre had
been laid to rest in this church. The legend of S. Geneviève is
picturesque in the extreme, affording endless subjects for the artist,
as witness the wall paintings in the modern church. Born in 421 at
Nanterre, a little village situated upon the plain over which the fort
of Mt. Valérien now frowns, she was employed, as are many of her
compatriots of the present day, in tending sheep. A graceful, if
somewhat affected picture by Guérin, represents her with a distaff in
her hands. When about seven years old, S. Germain, bishop of Auxerre,
passed through Nanterre on his way to Britain. A crowd assembled to
receive the good bishop's blessing, and among them were S. Geneviève and
her parents. _La pucelette_ was already famed for her piety and
humility, and S Germain, wise man, had no sooner cast his eyes upon her
than he became aware of her future glory; and finding that she desired
to be a handmaiden of Christ, he hung round her neck a small coin marked
with the symbol of the cross, thus consecrating her to God's service.
Many were the miracles which she wrought by prayer, even in her
childhood; as for instance, when her mother, being struck blind for
boxing her little Saintship's ears, recovered her sight through the
prayers of the daughter. Some say that Geneviève prayed for her hasty
parent after a year and nine months had elapsed; but surely it is better
to believe that the prayers were unanswered for that length of time,
than that the daughter, whose intercession was so efficacious, should
have omitted to help her mother for so many months.
At fifteen, Geneviève renewed her vows, but remained with her parents
until their death. She then took up her abode with an old kinswoman in
Paris, where, from her piety and devotion, she became the subject of
disputes between those who venerated her as a saint, and others who
considered her sanctity and benevolence mere hypocrisy and sham piety.
And so it came about that at night, when she kept her vigils, the arch
enemy, not content with putting into the hearts of men the desire to
slander and vilify the godly maiden, set himself to worry her, by
extinguishing her candle. But she had a tinder-box in her faith and
prayer, and so she was never left in darkness. This is a favourite
subject of the old artists; one frequently sees the Saint holding her
taper, while a demon is blowing it out, sometimes using a pair of
bellows, as at the doorway of S. Germain l'Auxerrois, S. Nicholas, and
other French churches; and it is obvious that the legend grew out of the
promise that God never leaves those in darkness who pray for light. So,
too, the holding up of the re-kindled taper in the face of the fiend,
and his consequent flight, symbolises the Light of the World chasing
away evil. Another legend relates that when a storm overtook her and
some friends on their way to S. Denis, and blew out their tapers, an
Angel descended to relight them in answer to Geneviève's prayers.
The Saint was a sort of early Jeanne d'Arc, inasmuch as she delivered
the city from its enemies; but Geneviève depended only upon her prayers;
and yet, simply by these means, she caused the Huns, who were besieging
Paris under Attila, to flee. On another occasion, when the city was
invested by Childéric, she took command of some boats which were sent up
the river to Troyes for succour, and brought them back laden with
provisions. When the city was taken, Geneviève was treated with great
respect by Childéric, and it was through her influence that Clovis and
his wife, Clotilde, were converted to Christianity, and the first
Christian church was erected in Paris.[74] Geneviève died at the ripe
old age of eighty-nine, and was buried in what was then called the
church of SS. Peter and Paul; and it was in consequence of her
miracle-working tomb that the patronage of the church was given over to
her, the Apostles falling into complete oblivion. Among these miracles
was a cessation of a terrible visitation of the plague called the _mal
ardent_, which raged in Paris in the reign of Louis le Gros; hence the
dedication of a church to S. Geneviève-des-Ardents, situated near the
cathedral, and long since destroyed.
Most painters of modern times have depicted the Saint as a shepherdess,
somewhat after the Chelsea china pattern, and a few have given her the
suggestiveness of the nymphs of Boucher. Watteau's is a charming
picture, but the graceful maiden scarcely comes up to our ideal of the
pious little peasant girl of Nanterre. Guérin's is pure and refined, if
somewhat affected, but one feels inclined to hail our old friend with
the fiend behind her puffing or blowing the bellows as a more worthy
reading of the character of S. Geneviève. In the church of S. Merri
there is a very curious picture representing the maid surrounded by her
sheep, and enclosed by a circle of huge stones after the manner of those
at Stonehenge.
The legend of feeding the besieged Parisians is said to be the origin of
the _pain bénit_ of the Paris churches, a custom peculiar to the old
Parisian rite, and almost the only one kept up since that use was
superseded by the Roman, some few years since. This blessed bread is a
large _brioche_ offered by some of the parishioners, and brought into
church in procession during the offertory. It is usually piled up on a
stage and decorated with flowers and lights, the whole being carried on
the shoulders of acolytes. Preceded by the beadle and donor, it is taken
to the altar and sprinkled with holy water; some prayers are said, the
donor is presented with a pax to kiss, and the procession then returns
to the sacristy, where the bread is cut up and put into baskets, which
are then carried round the church, and the _brioche_ distributed among
the congregation. One often sees strangers refuse this, thinking it
something peculiarly popish; indeed, I was once assured by a friend that
he had been offered the Sacrament, "which of course he had refused." But
we may be certain that if the _pain bénit_ were considered so
exceedingly holy, promiscuous strangers would not get the chance of
partaking of it. It rather figures a sort of amicable meal after the
manner of the early Agapæ, and is a very pretty ceremony; besides, it is
always refreshing to witness any little peculiarity in ritual, instead
of the dull uniformity which recent papal decrees have enforced over
western Europe.
In the 9th century S. Geneviève became the patron of the abbey; and some
of the capitals of the church of that period are now in the court of the
École de Beaux-Arts. In the 13th century the church was rebuilt, but
gradually falling into decay, it was condemned in the reign of Louis
XV., and demolished in 1801-7 to make way for the Rue Clovis. When the
crypt was destroyed a large quantity of stone coffins, medals, pottery,
shields and lances of Gallo-Roman and Mérovingian workmanship were
found.
The early capitals mentioned above are rude in treatment, and the
personages, Adam and Eve, and other Old Testament worthies, are coarse,
but the scraps of ornament are quaint, and the carving of the foliage is
vastly superior to that of the figures. The crypt of the church was the
largest of any in Paris, and being the burial place of so many holy and
regal persons, was interesting in the extreme; but to the men of the
18th century what mattered it that 13th century work should be swept
away? The street was required as a short cut, a deviation of five
minutes more or less had to be rectified; and so all that remains of the
abbey church is its tower. But from the ruins many precious fragments
were saved. The stone coffin of S. Geneviève was carried off to S.
Étienne hard by, and there enveloped in a gorgeous shrine; which,
besides being a work of art, had the advantage of being portative, and
so could be marched about when processioning was resorted to as a remedy
for city troubles. In the _Statistique Monumentale de Paris_, published
by Albert Lenoir, may be seen some plates representing this motley crew
of fragments. Portions of stone coffins, sculptured with crosses and
monograms, were sent to the museum of the Petits-Augustins, but do not
seem to have survived the dissolution of the collection; they were
similar to those at the Hôtels de Cluny and Carnavalet.
The reliquary of the Saint was in the form of a church, and was executed
by order of the abbot, Robert de la Ferté-Milon, in 1242. The craftsman
was one of the most cunning goldsmiths of the city, Bonnard. It
contained 193 marks of silver and 7-1/2 marks of gold; and kings,
queens, and commoners vied with each other to cover it with precious
stones. Marie de' Medici crowned the front with a mass of diamonds; and
Germain Pilon was engaged to sculp a group of four women standing upon a
marble pedestal to support the _châsse_. This graceful work of art was
all that was saved in 1793: being of wood it was of little value to a
starving and poverty-stricken mob. Or, had the municipality any
reverence for it as an art treasure? Certain it is that, whereas the
reliquary was melted up into coin, and the jewels sold, the part which
was really the most precious was saved, and is now in the Renaissance
Museum of the Louvre. But in spite of the value and beauty of the
_châsse_, the _Conventionel_ Grégoire, in his report, gives 21,000
_livres_ only as the sum obtained by its destruction.
Some of the monuments of the church were saved; that of the Cardinal
François de la Rochefoucault, abbot of S. Geneviève, and High Almoner of
France, who died in 1645, sculptured by Philippe Buister, being placed
in the chapel of the Hospital for Incurable Women, of which he was the
founder. The statue of Clovis, renewed in the 12th century, is now at S.
Denis, owing to the accident of its having been replaced in the 17th
century by a superior one in white marble, which was destroyed in
1793.[75] Another tomb, that of a chancellor of Notre-Dame de Noyon,
who died in 1350, is now in the École des Beaux-Arts. The monument of
René Descartes was less fortunate, for, after having been transferred to
the museum of the Petits-Augustins, it was dismembered, and dispersed or
destroyed; but the remains of the great philosopher were re-buried at S.
Germain des Prés.
Some of the conventual buildings remain and form part of the Lycée Henri
IV. The tower is Romanesque at the base and pointed at the upper
stories--14th and 15th century respectively. The cloisters and refectory
form part of the school buildings, but they have been much modernized.
The latter is an elegant structure of the 13th century, and now serves
as the school chapel. In the sacristry is a large stone statue of the
patroness (13th century) which formerly formed part of the central
pillar of the principal doorway of the abbey church; it represents her
with a demon on one shoulder blowing out her candle, and an Angel on the
other relighting it. What was formerly the library is a series of
galleries upon the plan of a cross, with a cupola at the intersections.
It is no longer used for this purpose, all the books having been placed
in the new building on the other side of the square.
"Contiguous to the Sorbonne church there stands, raising its
neatly-constructed dome aloft in air, the Nouvelle Eglise Ste.
Geneviève, better known by the name of the Panthéon. The interior
presents, to my eye, the most beautiful and perfect specimen of Grecian
architecture with which I am acquainted. In the crypt are the tombs of
the French warriors. From the gallery running along the bottom of the
dome, the whole a miniature representation of our S. Paul's, you have a
sort of panorama of Paris, but not a favourable one. The absence of
sea-coal fume strikes you very agreeably, but I could not help thinking
of the superior beauty of the panorama of Rouen from the heights of St.
Catherine."[76] This "perfect specimen of Grecian architecture" owes its
birth, it is said, to Madame de Pompadour; and if this be so, it must
have been one of the last of that lady's contributions to art, as she
died in April, 1764, the foundation stone being laid in the following
September. It is curious how artistic the French kings' handmaidens
were, and, with the exception of the daughters of the house of Medici,
how little we owe to the queens in the way of fine works of art. Whether
this particular handmaiden obliged the king to decide upon the
rebuilding of the old church, which had been tumbling into decay for a
long period, or whether it was the king's fright lest he should fall ill
again if he did not propitiate the Saint who had cured him of a sinking
fever, it is impossible to decide. Very likely it was the king's own
fears. He had all but died at Metz; he had appealed to the patroness of
Paris; she had answered his prayers, somewhat unwisely perhaps, in the
interest of his hapless subjects; and in sheer gratitude, thus proving
himself far more honest than many a holier and more godly man, he
decided that the much-talked-of church should be set going, and that it
should be worthy of the maid of Nanterre. And so it is. Soufflot was the
architect, and his design is one of the happiest of its class. But what
a strange life the church has had! And what an extraordinary jumble of
Christianity and philosophy the great dome has witnessed! Emblems of the
Roman Republic and the religion of Christ stand side-by-side. Cardinals
repose in the crypt by the side of Voltaire and Jean-Jacques. At one
time masses are said for the repose of the souls of defunct Christians;
at another, funeral allocutions are delivered by laymen. And the
chopping and changing about! Scarcely finished in 1791, the
Constitutional Assembly decreed that the new church should become a
Temple of Fame, and be known as the Panthéon. The cross was taken down
from the summit of the dome, the inscription, _Aux grands hommes, la
Patrie reconnaissante_, was substituted for _D.O.M. Sub invocatione
sanctae Genovefae sacrum_; and under the peristyle was written:
_Panthéon français, l'an III. de la Liberté_. The words of the report
issued, describing the changes to be adopted in the building, are in the
accustomed grandiloquent language of the First Republic: ... "en un
moment où tout doit contribuer à renforcer dans l'ame des citoyens
toutes les sensations que l'enthousiasme de la liberté fait puiser dans
l'amour de la Patrie, &c." Mirabeau, Marat, and Lepelletier
Saint-Fargeau were laid to rest in the crypt.
[Illustration: THE PANTHÉON FROM CHARENTON.]
One of Napoleon's first acts was to decide that "l'église
Sainte-Geneviève serait rendue au culte, conformément à l'intention de
son fondateur, sous l'invocation de Sainte Geneviève, patronne de
Paris." But it was also to preserve the destination ascribed to it by
the Constituante, that of being the burial-place of senators, officers
of state, dignitaries, officers of the Legion of Honour, and of citizens
who had rendered eminent service to their country. The divine offices
were to be conducted by the canons of Notre-Dame, and to this end they
were increased by six members. With the restoration of Louis XVIII. all
homage to "great men" disappeared, and the old inscription was restored.
Baron Gros was commissioned to paint the dome with the Apotheosis of S.
Geneviève, a work described by an old writer in not over flattering
terms: "On one of the cupolas of the dome, which is surrounded by a
colonnade of Corinthian pillars, is painted the Apotheosis of St.
Geneviève. Her saintship is in the costume of a shepherdess, breathing
all peace, all happiness, all immortality. Nothing of earth is in her
composition. Beside her is Louis XVIII. and little winged angels. They
are very busy--the angels--in scattering flowers about the saint. Above
her is Louis XVI. and his queen, as elegant as she was upon the
threshold of Versailles, and Louis XVII., all surrounded by celestial
glory. Before her are the persons the most illustrious of each race;
Clovis, who looks very savage; St. Clotilde, very pretty; Charlemagne,
very heroic; and St. Louis and Queen Margarite, who look very pious....
The floor of this temple, incrusted with various-coloured marble, is
very remarkable and very beautiful. It is exclusively occupied by
Voltaire and Rousseau, at opposite extremities. Who would have thought
that these two champions of Infidelity, who were refused Christian
burial, would one day have assigned to their remains the first church of
France, and one of the first in Christendom, as their mausoleum? I
wonder if Jean-Jacques, in his prophetic visions, foresaw this? Why did
they not lay them at the side of each other, that we might all learn how
vain are the jealousies, the petty competitions and animosities of men
so soon to come to this appointed and unavoidable term of all human
contentions? It was once the custom of these old countries to multiply a
man by burying him piecemeal,--his heart at Rouen and his legs in
Kent,--because the world was then on short allowance of heroes; but
modern times have reversed this practice; and Bonaparte has laid up
together a whole batch of them in the basement of this church, for
eternity, as you lay up potatoes in your cellar for winter. Here are the
names graven overhead in a catalogue, on the marble, of men famous for
giving counsel to the Emperor (who never took any) in the Senate, and of
men who gained a great deal of celebrity by having their brains knocked
out on the fields of Austerlitz and Marengo. When Marat was deified by
the Convention he was interred here in 1793, and in 1794 he was
disinterred and undeified, and then thrown into his native element, the
common sewer, in the Rue Montmartre--to purify him."[77]
In 1830 another _bouleversement_ took place, and the law of the
Constituante was promulgated once more; but inasmuch as some former
heroes had found their way, through change of opinion, into the sewers,
it was decreed that nobody's ashes should be considered worthy of burial
in the national Walhalla until ten years had elapsed from the time of
death. Thus citizens could be turned into _les grands hommes_ in a
comparatively short period, as compared to the years often required for
beatification or canonization. The second Republic also busied itself
with lowering the cross, and replacing the inscription _Aux grands
hommes, la Patrie reconnaissante_. It was used as an ambulance during
the 1848 troubles, but restored to divine service by that devoted son of
the Church, Louis-Napoléon, soon after his iniquitous massacre of the
people in the streets of the city; and then, having endowed himself with
Imperial honours, he obtained the aid of the archbishop to create a
number of chaplains to serve at the altar of S. Geneviève. The decree of
1851, which took "ultérieurement des mesures pour régler l'exercise
permanent de culte catholique," only lasted nineteen years. When the
city was besieged, the permanency of the services exploded like the
bombs from Mont Valérien, and the crypt became a powder-magazine. The
church was shored up, the windows were bricked, and the interior was
filled with some 30,000 bundles of straw, as a precaution against the
enemy's artillery. But the German invasion left the building as it found
it, and the troubles in the immediate future were the work of the Comité
central. The soldiers were replaced by National Guards, who began their
occupation by industriously sawing off the arms of the crosses upon the
pediment, and at the summit of the dome, and converting the emblems of
Christianity into flagstaffs for the red flag of the Commune. From the
26th March until the 24th May it waved aloft in all its pride; but upon
the latter day it saw the church occupied by the Versaillais, who
entered just in time to save the building from the vengeance of the
Fedérés, who had threatened it with fire. Like all the other churches
and public buildings, the Panthéon suffered far more from the shells of
the Communists than from those of the enemy; and it took some years
before all the repairs were executed, and "_le plus beau gâteau de
Savoie qu'on est jamais fait en pierre_"[78] was restored to its former
condition. Some few years ago the Republic suppressed the chaplains, and
re-converted the church into what the Parisian press fondly calls "their
Westminster"; and the next _grand homme_ who was laid in "the most
lovely _gâteau de Savoie_" was, oddly enough, Victor Hugo himself. He
was buried there immediately after his death; but it is not likely that
posterity will ever wish to reverse our judgment of the poet's
greatness, or look upon him as anything but one of France's noblest
sons.
The sculptures of the pediment, representing that sentimental personage
La Patrie accompanied by Liberty and History, are by David d'Angers. La
Patrie is throwing crowns about to its great men; Liberty is fabricating
the crowns, and History is religiously writing up the names, that there
may be no mistake. Civilians stand on the right, _messieurs les
militaires_ are relegated to the left, while several young men and
youths are labouring vigorously in order to attain in the future their
right to be amongst the elect. It is no case of Angels and scales, no
weighing of good and bad deeds; the services of Madame la Justice are
not even required; it is simply Patriotism which selects and serves up
for glory those who have deserved well of their country. The bas-reliefs
of the peristyle are by Nanteuil. Here La Patrie, holding a palm in one
hand, is guiding with the other one of her sons who has died in her
service; while Renown is puffing away at a trumpet to herald forth the
deeds of this devoted hero. In another bas-relief Art and Science are
honouring the country by their works; a warrior is, one knows not why,
refusing the crown tendered to him; and a woman, representing Study and
Intellect, is propounding the advantages of Education to the mothers who
have brought their children to Madame la Patrie. The bronze doors are
the work of Destouches, and recall, in style of ornamentation, those of
Ghiberti at Florence.
The interior is, no doubt, grand. Originally lighted by windows in the
walls, it is now somewhat dark and sombre, suitable to a temple for the
repose of the dead. The walls have been covered with paintings, which
partially relieve the dull monotony of the stone; but a building devoid
of sunlight must of necessity be gloomy in a city the sky over which is,
for half the year, grey and colourless.
Although the first of the 425 steps leading to the summit of the dome is
upon the level of the top of the towers of Notre-Dame, the view is not
nearly so interesting as from the latter. There is no river winding at
our feet, and none of those guardian monsters who gaze at the city from
the heights of the cathedral.
The decoration of the interior is now almost completed, and, whether for
good or for evil, it is irrevocable. It was not probable that so
artistic a nation as the French would allow such a building to remain in
an incomplete state; they would rather run the risk of perpetuating
failure than leave the work undone. We English are different. S. Paul's
is double the age of the Panthéon, and we are still squabbling over its
decoration; we hang up designs and drag them down again, we lay out
enormous sums in the embellishment of the altar, and then we spend ever
so much more in trying to circumvent our neighbours, and get rid of the
ornament. It is a fate not necessarily peculiar to our country or this
city, because at Brompton a magnificent church has been designed, built,
and decorated in a few years, a model of refinement, beauty, and
grandeur. But the embellishment of S. Paul's is attempted by spurts
only, and up to the present time has left much to be desired.[79] That
may perhaps be an advantage; if nothing is done, there can be nothing to
regret. But the French have acted otherwise, and the Panthéon
embellishment is almost an accomplished fact.
With one or two exceptions, the painting of the church has been confided
to artists with reputations, wearers of the palm-embroidered coats; the
procession of decorators being led by Baron Gros and Gérard, who covered
the dome with pictures in the false, pretentious style of the First
Empire, leaving it a glowing mass of bad taste, as a warning to their
successors. Baron Gros was a great painter, an early naturalist, as
witness his _Battlefield of Eylau_, in the Salle des Sept Cheminées of
the Louvre. There is an amount of realism in the painting of the dying
and the dead, of the snow and the "man of bronze," that is not surpassed
by the realists of the day. But when he set to work upon Saints and
Angels, he must fain idealise and sentimentalise; and so, instead of
having a S. Geneviève in modest dress as befits a village maiden, we see
a sprawling lady in flowing garments of silk and satin, receiving her
guests of kings and queens in a cloudy apartment of the seventh heaven.
The first, or one of the first walls attacked by the decorator was
Alexander Cabanel's. Here we have the _Great works of S. Louis_ treated
in the academic fashion. Learned in composition and refined in style,
with a good deal of historical truth in costume and character, it is
nevertheless crude and harsh in colour, unharmonious, stagey, and
completely undecorative. The best of the panels is _S. Louis learning to
read at his mother's knee_, which has a certain pathos in the fair
child's expression.
_The Coronation of Charlemagne by Leo III. in the old basilica of S.
Peter_, by Henri Lévy, looks as if it had lost its way, or had been
taken to the Panthéon until a suitable dwelling could be found
elsewhere. Like Cabanel's _S. Louis_, it is neither Classic, nor
Mediæval, nor Modern--simply weak and smooth, respectable and historic,
after the manner of the Delaroche school. It is a pity, for, in other
hands, these subjects would have been a treasure. Think of the charming
frescoes by Olivier-Merson in the gallery of the Cour de Cassation of
the Palais de Justice, how exquisite is the simplicity of the boy king,
and the grave beauty of his mother. The _Coronation of Charlemagne_ is
composed as an academician would be sure to conceive the subject. A
flight of steps, with the emperor sitting at the top; churchmen and
laymen adoring, and an Angel swooping down with a crown. At the bottom
of the steps, a warrior standing with sword and shield, and a sitting
monk instructing some children from an open book.
Completely opposed to these works are the panels of Puvis de Chavannes,
one of the first decorative artists of our time. His painting is vague,
and somewhat foggy; his figures are clumsy, thick of ankle, neck, and
wrist, but otherwise attenuated to the last degree; and were it not that
the far-off people are smaller than those near the spectator, no one
would know that they are on different planes, for of aërial perspective
there is none. Yet there is a certain purity of sentiment about this,
as in all M. de Chavannes' work, which is almost Archaic. The very
dulness of the surface and the opacity of the medium employed render
these pictures a suitable wall covering for Soufflot's grandiose
classicality. The treatment is dignified, poetic, refined, but at the
same time intensely modern and realistic--witness a hen and chickens
picking up some grain in the foreground, and the charming vistas of
landscape background. The colour is tame, and all the members of the
Geneviève family are remarkable for plainness, not to say ugliness of
face and clumsiness of figure; but the feeling which pervades the whole
work is that of a sort of Pagan Renaissance, suitable to Soufflot's
"_gâteau de Savoie_."
[Illustration: PUVIS DE CHAVANNES (FRAGMENT).]
The first of the series, properly entitled _La jeunesse et la vie
pastorale de Sainte-Geneviève_ represents the maiden praying, while a
woodcutter and his wife are looking on. The centre and principal
compartment is occupied with the discovery by S. Germain of her little
saintship, surrounded by her father and mother and a small and admiring
crowd. On the left, boatmen are contemplating the scene from the river
bank, while upon the right is an old man trying to bend his knee to
receive the good bishop's blessing. A youth, sick unto death, and a poor
little beggar are being led to the man of God, and two women hurry up
from milking to see what is going on. The Seine flows through the
pastures of Nanterre, and Mont Valérien smiles down upon the company,
not having yet learned the art of war. This is all delightfully pastoral
and _naïve_. The little maid's face, as she looks up at the good
bishop, is sweetness itself; the parents bend their heads, and a
neighbour holds up her wee swaddled babe; but the _ensemble_ is marred
by the parrot-like profile of S. Germain and the general ugliness of the
company. Ugliness is a veritable passion with Puvis de Chavannes, a
gospel which he never loses faith in, a partner allied to eccentricity
in all his works.
In another panel we see Faith, Hope, and Charity watching over the
child's cradle, by which is a lamb, the emblem of innocence, purity, and
the pastoral life. Above is a frieze of saints, illustrating the
national religious history of France; SS. Paterne of Vannes, Clément of
Metz, Firmin of Amiens, Lucien of Beauvais, Lucain of Beauce, Martail of
Limoges, Solange of Berry, Madeleine and Marthe of Provence, Colombe of
Sens, Crépin and Crépinien of Soissons, Saturnin of Toulouse, Julien of
Brioude, Austremoine of Clermont, Trophime of Arles, and Paul of
Narbonne.
The picture by Th. Maillot is equally wanting in aërial perspective, but
instead of an obscuring fog overwhelming the good citizens of Paris who
are pouring down the "mountain" with S. Geneviève's _châsse_, a glaring
sun cuts out the figures from the background. The scene represents a
procession through what is now the market of the Place Maubert. It was
the 12th of January, 1496; so says a manuscript in the Bibliothèque
Nationale. Rain had been pouring down incessantly for an unnatural
period, although there was then no Eiffel tower upon which to lay the
blame. What was to be done? Clearly an appeal must be made to the patron
Saint, and her intercession supplicated to stay the flood. And so the
bishop, the abbot, and the canons regular and secular, trudged
barefooted down the _montagne_ bearing the _châsse_ containing the
relics of the maid of Nanterre. An account of the event is given in a
letter from Erasmus to his friend Nicholas Werner. The sage was ill of a
fever at the time, but that did not prevent him from taking part in the
procession, and we easily recognise his familiar physiognomy in the
foreground of M. Maillot's work. "Il y a trois mois qu'il pleut ici,
sans cesse. La Seine étant sortie de son lit, a inondé la campagne et la
ville. La châsse de Sainte Geneviève a été descendue et portée en
procession à Notre-Dame. L'évêque, accompagné de son clergé et du
peuple, est venu au-devant. Dans cette auguste cérémonie, les chanoines
réguliers, précédés de leur abbé marchant nu-pieds, conduisaient les
reliques et quatre porteurs en chemise étaient chargés de ce précieux
fardeau. Depuis ce temps le ciel est si serein qu'il ne peut l'être
davantage."
The bishop is represented with a gilt mitre, the abbot wears a white
one. Behind them are the provosts, the military, the magistrates, the
canons, and the people, the procession terminating with the king's
drummers and trumpeters. The crowd of people seem to be walking, or
rather tripping down a very perpendicular street, to cross a zigzag
wooden bridge with no side rails. The horizon is close to the top of the
frame, so that the _châsse_ appears to be falling off the shoulders of
the men who are carrying it, and the people seem to be stepping down a
steep incline. The colour is bright, and the costumes are picturesque,
the whole picture having the effect of an early Flemish work, or of a
page torn out of an old manuscript; so early is it in style that it is
as incongruous in its place as would be a van Eyck, or a van der Weyden.
Imagine Raffaello and Michael Angelo decorating S. Peter's after the
manner of Giotto, Botticelli, or Ghirlandajo, and you have no greater
incongruity than Maillot's fresco in S. Geneviève. Placed in S. Germain
l'Auxerrois, or Notre-Dame, the picture would be in keeping with the
architecture; in the Panthéon one feels that the decoration preceded the
building.
Totally different in style, but equally out of keeping with the
building, are the noble pictures of J. P. Laurens, _The last moments and
the funeral of the Saint_. The artist has endeavoured to depict the
semi-barbarous Gallo-Roman period. S. Geneviève, old and dying, is
surrounded by women who are bringing their children to receive her last
blessing. Rich and poor, nobles and serfs, old men and children, matrons
and young girls, priests and soldiers--all are tearful at their
approaching loss. Splendidly drawn and full of vigour and dramatic power
(which are the characteristics of all M. Laurens' works) the pictures
are somewhat black in colour; and, by reason of their very strength,
they look completely out of harmony with the cold, grey purity of this
Classic temple. M. J. P. Laurens is a grand artist, a lover of dramatic
effect and movement, but in the _Death of S. Geneviève_ he is subdued
and reposeful. The grouping of the figures round the bed of the Saint,
the wistful gaze of the children, and the prayerful expression of the
mothers, are all most truthfully rendered; but might not the Saint have
had a little more beauty; might she not have been a little idealised?
M. Bonnat's _Martyrdom of S. Denis_ is well known. The Saint, just
decapitated, clutches at his head; upon the block blazes a nimbus of the
sun tribe; above is an Angel, hurrying down with a palm and crown;
general consternation is depicted upon the faces of the assistants, as
might be expected. It is a masculine work, full of power, but over
dramatic and heavy in colour.
Of J. E. Delaunay's work we can form no idea yet awhile; he began it,
but death cut him off too soon, and another must finish it. One of
France's greatest artists, the painter of the _Peste à Rom_ in the
Louvre, is not likely to have failed in his designs for the Panthéon.
Baudry was also commissioned, but he, too, went all too soon, or we
might have had some panels which would have been fit _pendants_ to those
of Puvis de Chavannes.
The _Return of Clovis from Tolbiac_, by M. Joseph Blanc, is also
academic and correct; superb in drawing, and sober of colour, its chief
interest is in the fact that it contains contemporary portraits--Gambetta,
Arago, Lockroy; and Coquelin figuring as a monk.
Jeanne d'Arc is no more fortunate here than elsewhere; it seems as if
she were an impossibility in art. When one contemplates the number of
painters, sculptors, poets, and musicians who have essayed her history
and sung her praises, one is appalled by the results. One of the most
sublime pages of history; the finest character among heroines; the
grandest of women, of patriots, and of dreamers; the most modest, the
most saint-like, the most unselfish of warriors, _la Pucelle_ seems to
oppress everyone who tries to depict any scene from her life. Perhaps
the greatest success of modern times is Frémiet's fine Renaissance
statue in the Place des Pyramids. Very beautiful also is
Bastien-Lepage's _Jeanne_ as a whole; but the figure does not possess
the nobleness which one attaches to the militant maiden. Certainly M.
Lenepveu's compositions form no exception to the general failure of
Jeannes d'Arc. The maid is tied to the stake surrounded by a goodly
assemblage of faggots; one monk reads, another flings a cross into her
hands--as if the poor maid had objected to the cross! Soldiers are all
about, and old Rouen at the back is picturesque with its gabled houses,
and the cathedral in the distance. A man is just seizing a torch, and
you know the end is near; but you are not impressed; you either do not
care, or you do not realise the horror. But it is popular with the
populace, and so serves one purpose for which it was painted--that of
pointing a moral of patriotism and unselfish devotion almost unique but
for the recent example of Garibaldi.
Last, but not least, charming in design, refined, and quite in harmony
with the style of the building, are the mosaics of A. E. Hébert, which
are among the best works of the artist, and quite exempt from the
affectation and sentimentality which, somewhat too often, mar his
pictures. These compositions occupy the apse. In the centre _Le Christ
montre à l'ange de la France les grandes destinées du peuple dont il lui
confia la garde_. Below this are the words: _Christus vincit, Christus
regnat, Christus imperat._ At the side of the Saviour is the Blessed
Virgin interceding for France; near her, the patroness, clad as a
shepherdess, with a lamb under her arm, is praying for the city under
the symbol of a ship. Above are the following subjects, _The baptism of
Clovis by S. Remi in the presence of S. Clotilde_; _S. Louis seated
between Justice and Power_; _Jeanne d'Arc listening to the voices_.
[Illustration: LA JEUNESSE DE SAINTE-GENEVIÈVE, PUVIS DE CHAVANNES.]
The ornamental framing of the several pictures has been executed by a
master of decorative art, the late V. Galland. The borders are formed of
garlands of flowers in a low scale of colour, which are divided at
regular intervals by tablets bearing inscriptions and monograms. On the
whole, the decoration of the Panthéon gives little encouragement to
other nations who are desirous of covering large surfaces of wall in
their public buildings. The art seems to be lost; for if the greatest of
the French painters have, from one reason and another, failed to produce
an harmonious scheme of decoration, who is likely to succeed? At best,
the church presents a sort of _pot-pourri_. No schools are so dramatic
as the French; and yet these wall paintings fail to impress us in the
same way as do those, for example, of the Riccardi Palace, by Benozzo
Gozzoli. It is probably the religious spirit which is wanting. We can
draw better and paint better than the early Italian or Flemish
artists--but the sentiment is lacking; and thus, whether we turn to
Paris or München, to Berlin or London, we find the decoration of large
buildings, and particularly of churches, more or less a failure. Perhaps
the worst examples are the terribly dismal, cold, maudlin Nibelung
series at München, compared to which the Panthéon is Raffaelesque. Had
Puvis de Chavannes been allowed to do the whole church, the result would
have been certainly more harmonious, and possibly more edifying; but
though gaining in harmony, the frescoes might possibly have lost in
variety. Sometimes too much of a good thing results in a wearisome
monotony.
Sculpture will also be represented later on by a group of the
Revolution, by Falguière; and doubtless we shall have monuments to
Victor Hugo, Rénan, and other _grands hommes_, from their grateful
country. Let us hope the decoration may always be as Catholic as
heretofore; for S. Louis, Clovis, Geneviève and Jeanne d'Arc form as
much a part of the history of France as do Voltaire, Mirabeau, Danton,
and Dumouriez. We may not care to sing the "Marseillaise" with Camille
Desmoulins, and we may wish we could forget the fourteenth Louis and all
the Napoléons; but it is as foolish to deny their influence upon the
nation as to sponge out the fact recorded on a door-head that
Louis-Napoleon joined the Louvre and the Tuileries.
SAINT-GERMAIN L'AUXERROIS.
Between the years 420 and 430, the ancient British church became
infected with the heresy of Pelagianism, "which budded forth afresh into
this island," as Camden says; and the orthodox clergy, being unable to
stay its progress, sent to Gaul desiring assistance. Thereupon a synod
of the Gallican church was held, and it was determined to send
Germanus, bishop of Auxerre, and Lupus, bishop of Troyes, to confute
the heretics. The date assigned to this event by Prosper, a contemporary
writer (and also Camden), is 429; but he makes no allusion to Lupus,
whose participation in the mission rests upon the evidence of
Constantius of Lyons, the biographer of S. Germanus. This Lupus was a
brother of Vincent of Lerins, a famous teacher, and the author of _A
Defence of the Catholic Faith_, a book which was of much use to Cranmer
and Ridley at the time of the Reformation. The meeting appointed for the
public disputation with the Pelagians is supposed to have taken place at
Verulam, now S. Albans, Hertfordshire, in 429; and according to the
Venerable Bede's account, the heretics came to the council in great
pomp, and advocated their cause with much "inflated rhetoric." But to no
end. Germanus and Lupus silenced them with overwhelming arguments, and
they were utterly discomfited. Bede's account is so quaint, and shows so
great a difference between a 5th and a 19th century council that it is
worth while to quote it in full: "An immense multitude was there
assembled with their wives and children. The people stood round as
spectators and judges; but the parties present differed much in
appearance. On the one side was divine faith, on the other human
presumption; on the one side piety, on the other pride; on the one side
Pelagius, on the other Christ. The most holy priests Germanus and Lupus
permitted their adversaries to speak first, who long took up the time
and filled the ears with empty words. Then the venerable prelates poured
forth the torrent of their apostolical and evangelical eloquence. Their
discourse was interspersed with scriptural sentences, and they supported
their most weighty assertions by reading the written testimonies of
famous writers. Vanity was convinced, and perfidiousness confuted; so
that at every objection made against them, not being able to reply, they
confessed their errors. The people, who were judges, could scarce
refrain from violence, but signified their judgment by their
acclamations."
It is worth noting that at this time the _people were the judges in
matters theological_. Rather a different state of things from that which
now prevails at Rome and other places; but perhaps a return to primitive
custom might not tend to increase peace, or help us out of our
theological troubles.
[Illustration: SAINT-GERMAIN AND THE MAIRIE.]
When the meeting of the synod was over, Germanus and his companion
seemed to have helped the Britons in a war against a wandering
contingent of Pagan Saxons and Picts, and by a simple stratagem, worthy
of a better cause, routed the enemy. Germanus assembled the British
troops in a hollow surrounded by hills, and enjoined his followers to
shout "Alleluia" three times. This they did, and the echo taking up the
sound, produced such an effect upon the enemy that they took flight for
fear of the multitude which they thought had come out against them. The
battle took place, as Constantius relates, "when the sacred days of Lent
were at hand, which the presence of the divines rendered more solemn,
insomuch that those instructed by their daily preaching flocked eagerly
to the grace of baptism. For the great multitude of the army was
desirous of the water of the laver of salvation. A church formed of
interwoven branches of trees is prepared against the day of the
resurrection of our Lord, and though the expedition was encamped in the
field, is fitted up like that of a city. The army wet with baptism
advances, the people are fervent in faith, and neglecting the protection
of arms, they await the assistance of the Deity. In the meantime, this
plan of proceeding, or state of the camp, is reported to the enemy, who,
anticipating a victory over an unarmed multitude, hastened with
alacrity. But their approach is discovered by the scouts; and when,
after concluding the solemnities of Easter, the greater part of the
army, fresh from their baptism, were preparing to take up arms and give
battle, Germanus offers himself as the leader of the war." Such is
Constantius' account of the opening of the battle, which may be
completed with Fuller's: "God sent a hollowness into the hearts of the
Pagans; so that their apprehensions added to their ears, and cowardice
often resounded the same shout in their breasts, till beaten with the
reverberation thereof, without striking a blow, they confusedly ran
away; and many were drowned for speed in the river Alen, lately the
Christians' font, now the Pagans' grave. Thus a bloodless victory was
gotten, without sword drawn, consisting of no fight, but a fright and a
flight; and that 'Alleluia,' the song of the saints after conquest
achieved, was here the forerunner and procurer of victory; so good a
_grace_ it is to be said both before and after a battle."
Although this "Alleluiatic victory," as we have seen, is related by Bede
(who copied it from Constantius) and Fuller, it does not appear that the
Welsh MSS. take any notice of it, and its truth is doubted by Dr.
Whitaker in his _Ancient Cathedral of Cornwall_; but, says Mr. Yeowell,
"that a battle was fought at Maesgarmon, in the parish of Mold,
Flintshire, under circumstances which were afterwards improved into a
miracle, is not improbable; and there are names of places in that
neighbourhood which show that the district has, for some reason or
other, been tenacious of the memory of S. Germain."[80] Pelagius himself
was a Welshman given to travel--he visited Italy, Africa, and even
Palestine; and it was at Rome that the evil communications of one
Rufinus, a man deeply imbued with the principles of Origen, corrupted
his good faith in regard to the doctrine of original sin. But the
heresy appears to have been introduced into Britain by Agricola, a
Gallic bishop, and Celestius.
After this victory the good bishop returned to his own country; but in
447, the Pelagians again becoming aggressive, he took a second journey
to Britain, and this time not only baffled the heretics, but banished
them. "News is brought out of Britain," says Constantius, "that the
Pelagians' perverseness is again diffused by a few preachers. The
supplications of all are once more conveyed to this most blessed man
that he would come and preserve the cause of God, which he had formerly
won. With this petition he hastily complies, being delighted with the
labour, and willingly spending himself for Christ." This time Germanus
was attended by one of Lupus' scholars, "a man of all sanctity, who,
being then consecrated bishop of Trèves, was preaching the word of life
to the inhabitants of Germania Prima." On their arrival, they were again
met by a great multitude, whom they blessed; and then preaching the word
of God, discomfited the heretics and banished them from the island.
Germanus seems to have reformed the British Church, and modelled it upon
the Gallican; for it was about his time, and no doubt through his
influence, that parochial churches were founded in country places; the
rural populations having previously depended upon missionaries from the
towns and monasteries for their spiritual teaching. But in 442, the
council of Vaison, in Gaul, decreed that presbyters should be attached
to country parishes as well as to the city churches.
Germanus is thought by some authorities to have introduced the Gallican
liturgy into Britain; he certainly established schools of learning,
colleges and monasteries, where study was the principal work
accomplished. During the Roman occupation of the country, there were no
doubt professors of Greek and Latin in all the chief cities, possibly at
London, York, and Caerleon; for it is not probable that the edict of
Gratian, which required all the chief cities of the Empire to maintain
such professorships, should not have been in force in Britain. But after
the withdrawal of the Roman legions, it became difficult to keep up
these professorships; and hence the foundation of monasteries, as
schools of learning for the training of youths for the service of the
Church, was suggested by Germanus; and to this end he consecrated
Dubricius archbishop of Llandaff, and Daniel bishop of Bangor, besides
appointing Iltutus to a place which took his name--Llan Iltut. The
former founded colleges at Hentland-on-the-Wye (where he had a thousand
pupils), and Llancarfan, or Llanfeithin, Caerworgorn, and Caerleon. The
word _bangor_ in Welsh is simply a name for any college; and towards the
end of the 5th century all Christian societies began to assume that
epithet, _ban_, high; _côr_, circle or congregation. The word is written
variously (in MSS.), "Ban Cor," "Banchor,"and "Bangor." Bangor Garmon,
or the College of Germanus, at Llanveiltrin, in Glamorgan, was founded
by him in 460. The congregation instituted by the Emperor Theodosius in
Caer Worgorn having been destroyed by the Irish in the middle of the 5th
century, was restored by Germanus, who placed Iltutus over it. This is
now called in Welsh, "Llanilltyd Vawr," in Glamorganshire. According to
the Triads, it contained no less than two thousand four hundred members,
one hundred being employed every hour in order that the praise and
service of God might be continued day and night without intermission.
Gildas, the historian, and Talhaiarn, the bard, are said to have been
educated there; and S. Cadvan and S. Padarn, the companions of S.
Germanus, were among the members of the college until their appointment
to similar work elsewhere. The College of S. Cadoc was also founded
under the direction of Germanus and Catog, who preferred a life of study
and religion to succession to his father's principality.
Little is known of the internal regulations of these colleges, but the
discipline instituted by S. Columba, about a hundred years later, was
very severe. Religious offices were held three times during the day, and
as often during the night. Each day office consisted of prayers and
three psalms, and in the night ones, from October to February, the monks
were to chant thirty-six psalms and twelve anthems at three different
times; but on Saturday and Lord's Day nights, twenty-five psalms and as
many anthems. That such training raised up a set of men who went by the
names of "_Ordo Apostolicus_," "_Ordo Divi Colombæ_," is not
astonishing, although by themselves they were called "_Famuli Dei_," the
servants of God.
That S. Germanus was a remarkable man there is no doubt, as we also owe
the discovery of S. Geneviève to his foresight; for when he saw her at
Nanterre, on his way to Britain, he was so impressed by her piety that
he consecrated her to the service of God.
The church in Paris was probably founded in commemoration of some
miracle performed by the bishop during his sojourn in that city, perhaps
by his namesake S. Germain of Paris, who held the memory of his brother
of Auxerre in great esteem and veneration. That its origin was very
ancient is shown by the record of certain gifts from King Childebert and
Queen Ultrogothe. It was probably a round church in its early days, as
in 866, when it was pillaged and destroyed by the Normans, it was called
S. Germain-le-Rond, and it must have been in that edifice that S.
Landry, bishop of Paris, was buried. Formerly a chapter composed of a
dean, a precentor, thirteen canons, and eleven chaplains, served the
church, and it ranked immediately after the cathedral; but in 1744, its
chapter was merged into that of Notre-Dame, and it became a simple
parish church.
[Illustration: SAINT-GERMAIN, FROM AN OLD ENGRAVING.]
The Quai and Place de l'École, situated near S. Germain, owed their
names, as early as the 13th century, to a public school of great
celebrity, which was established about, or soon after, the time of
Charlemagne. S. Germain was rebuilt by King Robert, and again in the
12th century, to which period the tower belongs. The principal door, the
choir, and the apse are of the 13th century; the porch, the greater part
of the _façade_, the nave and aisles, and the chapels of the _chevet_,
are of the 15th and 16th centuries. The cloister which surrounded the
church has disappeared, as also the dean's house which stood in the
space between the church and the Louvre. It was in traversing the
cloisters of S. Germain that Admiral Coligny was shot, and it was the
great bell of this church which gave the signal for the massacre of S.
Bartholomew. S. Germain was the parish church of the Louvre and the
Tuileries, and some of the royal children were baptised there; and many
a time the kings went there in great state to perform their paschal
duties.
The portico projects in front of the three principal West doors, and is
the work of Master Jean Gaussel. It was constructed in 1435, and is a
mass of very beautiful carving. Some of the corbels are examples of the
grotesque imagery of the period. The interior was decorated with
frescoes some years ago, but they are in a parlous, peeling, condition.
Two of the statues are old, S. Francis of Assisi, and S. Mary of Egypt
holding the three little loaves which nourished her in the desert. The
central doorway is of the 13th century, the two side ones are of the
15th. The whole is decorated with statues of various Saints--amongst
others S. Germain, S. Vincent, and S. Geneviève holding her candle,
which a hideous little demon is trying to extinguish. Round the
tympanum, the subject of which is the Last Judgment, are the Wise and
Foolish Virgins, the Apostles and the Martyrs. Abraham sits on one side
holding a napkin on which are three little souls; while upon the other
is a cauldron from the lower regions containing three lost souls (one
mitred), and two horrible demons--one tormenting a soul with a whip, the
other throwing a poor creature into the flames, having already torn his
flesh into shreds. The gargoyles are peculiarly grotesque: a grinning
savage is being ejected from the jaws of a hippopotamus; a man carries a
hooded ape on his shoulders; and a showman is making a monkey dance. A
corbel shows us a quantity of rats persecuted by a cat--the rats being
the wicked who encumber the earth; the cat, the demon who awaits their
souls.
[Illustration: INTERIOR OF SAINT-GERMAIN L'AUXERROIS.]
The plan of the church is cruciform; the entire length is 240 ft., and
the width at the transepts 120 ft. The interior is very plain, that is
to say, what remains of the old church after the embellishments of the
renovating architects of 1745. These gentlemen fluted the pillars of the
choir, and converted the mouldings of the capitals into garlands and
flowery festoons, giving the whole a grandly Classic appearance.
Happily they left the arches pointed, instead of filling them in with
round-headed ones as at S. Séverin; and, likewise, we may be thankful
that the nave was not "improved," and that the bosses and the ornament
of the Lady Chapel were allowed to remain in their primitive beauty.
Among the subjects of the bosses may be cited a S. Christopher crossing
a torrent with the infant Christ on his shoulder; and a S. Germain in
episcopal vestments, painted and gilt, may be seen upon an openwork
ground in the Lady Chapel.
In 1744 the choir was enclosed by a magnificent screen, the combined
work of Pierre Lescot and Jean Goujon;[81] but the _curé_ and
churchwardens, upon the suppression of the chapter, lost no time in
destroying this work of art, in order to open up the east end of the
church to the congregation--not the only case of its kind.
Had the modern improvers of the church only pulled this down they might
have been forgiven, but they did not rest until they had appointed an
architect named Bacarit to "purify" the church of its "_barbarie
Gothique_." Unfortunately for the reputation of the academicians of
1745, the project submitted to, and approved by them, appears to us, so
far as it was carried out, to be a decided _barbarie Classique_; and
even in the beginning of this century, when the Empire had introduced a
sort of _pseudo_-Classic style, and made it fashionable, people of taste
were no less severe upon the re-dressing of the old pillars and capitals
in Greek garments: "Nearer to my residence, and of a kindred style of
architecture, is the Church of S. Germain Auxerrois. The west front is
yet sound and good. Nothing particular strikes you on the entrance, but
there are some interesting specimens of rich old stained glass in the
windows of the transept. The choir is completely and cruelly modernised.
In the side chapels are apparently several good modern paintings; and
over an altar of twisted columns, round which ivy leaves apparently
composed of ivory are creeping, is a picture of three figures in the
flames of purgatory. This side chapel is consecrated to the offering up
of orisons 'for the souls in purgatory.' It is gloomy and repulsive.
Death's heads and thigh bones are painted in white colours upon the
stained wall; and in the midst of all these fearful devices I saw three
young ladies intensely occupied in their devotions at the railing facing
the altar."[82]
The chapels of the _chevet_ have niches in the wall surmounted by
round-headed arches, and containing statues. There are in all thirteen
chapels, but four of them have been converted into a sacristy and the
north door, the exterior of which is a good specimen of Renaissance
work.
The abbé Lebeuf attributed some of the glass of the choir to the
commencement of the 14th century, but not a vestige of this remains;
there is nothing earlier than the two following centuries. Here also the
good gentlemen of the 18th century "improved" much; the church was dark
and gloomy, and so, forsooth, the stained glass of the nave was taken
out, and the colour, and golden _fleurs-de-lys_ of the vaults and
columns, were scraped off or whitewashed over. Thus was lost the history
of S. Germain which formed the subject of the windows. But happily the
rose-windows of the two transepts, four lights in the south aisle and
two of the north aisle, still remain; but these being only of the 16th
century, are consequently not in the best taste. Some have Gothic and
some Renaissance surroundings, but the colour is, if rather bright,
clear and rich. Unfortunately, time has obliterated many of the heads
and hands; but enough remains to make out the subjects. In the north
rose, the Eternal Father, in a Papal tiara, is surrounded by Angels,
Cherubim, Martyrs, and Confessors; amongst whom may be recognised SS.
Catherine, Vincent, Margaret, Agnes, Martha, Germain, and King Louis.
Above and below are the four Fathers of the Latin Church. In the north
transept the subjects are taken from The Passion, The Acts of our Lord,
Scenes in the Life of the Patriarch Abraham, a gentleman donor
accompanied by his sons, and a lady followed by her daughters, a S.
Peter, and S. Anne instructing her daughter, and patronising another
donor. In the southern rose, the Holy Spirit descends from Heaven in the
form of a dove; The Blessed Virgin and The Apostles receiving light from
above, with enthusiastic expressions upon their visages. In the southern
transept: The Incredulity of S. Thomas; The Ascension; The Death of the
Virgin; and The Assumption. Above, the Coronation of the Virgin and a
well, recalling the attribute "Well of living water" given to her by
the Fathers. There are a great many modern windows, but except those in
imitation of the glass in the S. Chapelle, by MM. Lassus and Didron,
they are of little artistic value. M. Lassus was the architect who
superintended all the later restorations and decorations.
The chapel of the Blessed Virgin is a little church in itself, with
stalls, organ, pulpit, screen and altar, all richly decorated. The
reredos is the tree of Jesse which surrounds the Virgin with its
branches. This is in stone, of the 14th century, and comes from a church
in Champagne. Some restorations in 1838 brought to light a curious 16th
century wall painting, representing a cemetery with the graves giving up
their dead to the sound of the Angels' trumpets. Three statues were also
found of the same date as the chapel, and serve as the retable of the
altar: they represent the Blessed Virgin sitting, and S. Germain and S.
Vincent (who are united in all the decorations of this church), standing
on each side of her. The _banc-d'œuvre_ was executed in 1648 by
Mercier, from drawings by Lebrun. It is handsome in its way, and
excellently carved, but utterly out of keeping with the rest of the
church. It is composed of Ionic columns supporting a huge baldachino;
and probably looked its best when it was filled with royal personages on
high festivals and state occasions. Another exquisite example of wood
carving may be seen in the chapel of Notre-Dame de Compassion, forming
the retable. It belongs to the latest Gothic period, and is covered with
a multitude of figures, representing the Genealogy and History of the
Virgin, and the Life and Death of Christ. This came from a Belgian
church. The organ, pulpit, and stalls are part of the old furniture, but
are not remarkable in any way.
S. Germain was formerly a museum of tombs of the 16th and 17th
centuries; but the only remaining ones are the recumbent marble figures
by Laurent Magnier, of Etienne d'Aligre, and his sons, both chancellors
of France, who died respectively in 1635 and 1677; two statues and
several marble busts which belonged to the mausoleums of the house of
Rostaing, formerly situated in S. Germain, and in a chapel of the
monastery of the Feuillants; and an epitaph of a lady of Mortemart,
Duchess of Lesdiguières, who died in 1740.[83] Under the church is a
crypt full of bones, symmetrically arranged as in the catacombs: it was
excavated in 1746-7 as a burial place for the parishioners.
Amongst the tombs of a crowd of courtiers and statesmen were those of
Malherbe, the poet; André Dacier, the _savant_; the painters Coypel,
Houasse, Stella and Santerre; the sculptors Sarazin, Desjardins, and
Coyzevox; the medallist Warin; the goldsmith Balin; the engraver Israël
Sylvestre; the architects Louis Levau and François Dorbay; the
geographer Sanson; and the Comte de Caylus, the distinguished antiquary;
but they have all disappeared. The grandest tomb was that erected by
Charles V. to his jester. Says Sauval, in his _History of Paris_ (which
was not published until after his death, in 1670): "Charles ne s'est pas
contenté d'avoir des fous et des plaisants; il leur a encore dressé des
mausolées, presque aussi superbes que celui du connétable Du Guesclin.
Car j'apprends des registres de la chambre des Comptes, qu'il en fit
enterrer un dans l'église de Saint-Germain l'Auxerrois. Sur une grande
tombe de marbre noir était couchée de côté une figure peinte et grande
comme nature, dont la tête et les mains étaient d'albâtre, les cuisses,
les jambes, les pieds et le corps de marbre blanc, et qui servit de
modèle au mausolée qu'il fit faire en 1375, à Thévenin, autre fou, dans
l'église de Saint-Maurice (de Senlis), par Hennequin de la croix." But
even in the time of Sauvel this curious work of art was no more.
A few fragments of former monuments have found a quiet resting-place in
the Louvre, in the Renaissance Museum. Calvin lived near S. Germain; and
at the dean's house, between the Louvre and the church, a celebrity of
another kind died suddenly on Easter-Eve, 1599--"la belle Gabrielle
d'Estrées." The Maréchal d'Ancre (Concini) was also buried at S. Germain
after his assassination; but the body was torn from the grave the next
day by an infuriated mob, who drew it through the street on hurdles,
then hung it, and finally burnt it.
SAINT-GERMAIN-EN-LAYE.
The Château of S. Germain has existed since the time of Charles V., and
has received additions during the reigns of François I., Henri II.,
Henri IV., and Louis XIII. It was given over to James II. of England,
and in the church is his monument, gazed at, if bronze eyes can
penetrate stone walls, by M. Thiers, who sits in an arm-chair outside.
[Illustration: THE CHAPEL OF THE CHÂTEAU OF SAINT-GERMAIN.]
SAINT-GERMAIN DES PRÉS.
The Abbey of S. Germain-in-the-fields, of which nothing remains but the
church and the abbot's palace, was, after Notre-Dame, the oldest
foundation in Paris. It dates back to the earliest period of the French
monarchy, and its history is interwoven with that of some of the best
and noblest sons of France. The Saint to whom this church is dedicated
was an early bishop of Paris, and must not be confounded with S. Germain
of Auxerre, whose legend is described on page 178.
The foundation of the abbey was in this wise. Childebert I. having made
a second expedition against the Visigoths in Spain, returned in 543 with
much loot of various kinds: S. Vincent's tunic; a rich gold cross
ornamented with precious stones, from Toledo; some vases which had
belonged (so said tradition) to King Solomon; and a quantity of
chalices, patens and golden covers for the Gospels. What could be more
natural, in the 6th century, than to consult a holy man as to the future
destination of such valuables? Accordingly, Childebert communed with S.
Germain on the subject, and the bishop suggesting the foundation of a
church as a fitting home for the treasures, the king laid the first
stone amid the green fields and woods of what is now the densely
populated Faubourg S. Germain. The enclosure extended from the Rue Jacob
on the north, to the Rue Ste. Marguerite on the south, while upon the
east and west the boundaries were the present Rue Lachaudé and the Rue
Bonaparte. The buildings within the precincts were very numerous, almost
forming a city in themselves, enclosed by walls and surrounded by a moat
filled by the waters of the Seine. There were three gates: the
Petit-Bourbon, Ste. Marguerite, and St. Benoit. The church was
originally dedicated to the Holy Cross and S. Vincent, the consecration
taking place upon the very day of Childebert's death in 558.[84] It was
cruciform in plan; the roof, which was covered with plaques of gilt
copper, was supported by enormous marble columns; the walls, decorated
with paintings upon gold grounds, were pierced with numberless windows;
and the pavement was laid in mosaic. At the end of the church was the
chapel of S. Symphorien, which in 576 became the burial-place of good
Bishop Germain, and was subsequently the scene of many wondrous and
miraculous cures, so many indeed that the original patrons, S. Vincent,
S. Symphorien, and the Holy Cross, drifted into almost complete
oblivion; and S. Germain, getting the credit of the cures, became the
acknowledged and chief patron of the famous abbey. Before the foundation
of S. Denis by _le bon roy Dagobert_, S. Germain served as the
burial-place of the Mérovingian kings and their consorts. Thus, during
the 6th and 7th centuries, the following princes were interred there:
the Kings Childebert I., Chérebert,[85] Chilpéric I., Clotaire II., and
Childéric II.; the queens Ultrogothe, Frédégonde, Bertrude, and
Bilihilde; the sons of Mérovée, Clovis, and Dagobert; the princesses
Chrodesinde and Chrotberge, daughters of the first Childebert. Some of
these tombs were opened in the time of Dom Bouillart (1655), who gives
an account of the performance in his _Histoire de l'Abbaye_. The bodies
were swathed in shrouds of silk and other precious stuffs; some of them
reposed on beds of odorous herbs, others were surrounded by phials of
aromatic scents. The coffins were of stone, without any exterior
ornament, and contained, besides the bodies, fragments of drapery, of
crossbelts, and foot gear.[86] Some of these stone coffins may be seen
at the Hôtel Carnavalet, which, besides having been the dwelling-place
of Madame de Sevigné, is most interesting on account of its unique
collection of curiosities. But we have been anticipating.
When the abbey was finished, S. Germain sent to its namesake, S.
Symphorien at Autun, for some monks to serve it. At first they followed
the rules of S. Anthony and S. Basil; but shortly after the foundation,
they joined the order of the great legislator of the monks of the west,
S. Benedict. In the 17th century a second reform took place, and they
adopted the rule of S. Maur; and it was after this return to primitive
discipline that the monks of S. Germain became famous throughout Europe
by the works of Jean Mabillon, Bernard de Montfaucon, and other members
of their order. The abbots were formerly all-powerful, exercising
spiritual and temporal jurisdiction over the whole Faubourg S. Germain;
but jealousies occurring there as elsewhere, between the ecclesiastical
and the lay element, and squabbles arising between the bishops and the
mitred abbots, it came about that the kings, uniting their forces with
those of the bishops, were enabled to restrict the power of the abbots
to the immediate precincts of their abbey. Among the famous persons who
bore the dignity of abbot of S. Germain were Hugues Capet, Jean Casimir,
King of Poland, several princes of the House of Bourbon, and many
cardinals.
When the Normans swooped down upon France, Paris was their goal, and the
monasteries and churches their desire. Over and over again they came;
pillaging, burning and destroying all they could not carry off. Once in,
or near Paris, S. Germain lay at their feet; its fame, its riches, its
magnificence, made it a mark for attack; and upon one occasion, when
King Eudes had driven out the barbarians, all that was left of church
and monastery was a heap of ruins. But Morard, the twenty-ninth abbot,
who ruled the community from 990 to 1014, undertook the entire
restoration, or rather the rebuilding of the abbey; and it is to him
that we owe the oldest portions of the nave of the actual church.
Whether Morard left the work unfinished, or whether the monks resolved
to improve upon his design, we know not; but about a hundred and fifty
years later we find the choir being rebuilt upon a plan of great
magnificence.
Situated as it was, amidst what was termed the _Pré-aux-Clercs_, the
resort of students and other bellicose persons, it became necessary to
guard against assaults and incursions, by surrounding the monastic
buildings with fortified walls and a moat, strong gates and
watch-towers, from whence to keep an eye upon dangerous neighbours.
Later, when students at the University had become more civilized, when
danger of civil war had faded away, and the Huguenots had been
suppressed, streets took the place of the moat, and houses occupied the
site of the fortifications. At the commencement of the last century the
monks built several large houses from plans by Victor d'Ailly, for
artisans and labourers; but for the privileges obtained by living within
the abbey precincts they paid a heavy rental. These habitations formed
the Rues Childebert, Ste. Marthe, Cardinale, Abbatiale, and de
Furstemberg--all within the walls. Originally there were two cloisters
situated to the north of the church, but with the exception of a portion
of the larger one, which has been converted into dwelling-rooms, they
have been completely destroyed. The round arches and Doric pilasters
belong to the 17th century; the older part, which was built by Abbot
Eudes, was cut through and improved away, for the completion of the Rue
de l'Abbaye. The same streets, and the houses thereof, have also to
answer for the destruction of the refectory, the chapter-house, the
great sacristy, and the Lady Chapel, to which the little cloister gave
access. The refectory was a large hall constructed during the life of
Abbot Simon by the celebrated architect of the Sainte-Chapelle, Pierre
de Montereau. It was filled with stained glass bearing the arms of
France and of Castille, some fragments of which may be seen in the
church. The stone statue of Childebert, that stood at the entrance
gorgeous with painting and gilding, is now in the Renaissance Museum of
the Louvre. Dom Jacques Bouillart, describing the refectory as built
between 1239-44, speaks of this statue as "apparently modelled upon a
more ancient one."[87] De Montereau was also the artist-builder of the
chapel of the Virgin, commenced under abbot Hugues d'Issy, who died in
1247, and finished under Thomas de Mauleon, who resigned his dignities
in 1255. This chapel had but one rival, the _chef-d'œuvre_ of its
architect; but all authorities speak of the beauty and gracefulness of
the Lady Chapel, and its similarity to the Sainte-Chapelle in style and
plan. When the great architect died, in 1266, the then abbot Gérard de
Moret, desiring to perpetuate the memory of him who had done so much to
beautify the convent, caused a magnificent tomb to be erected in the
chapel of his creation. Pierre was represented with a rule and compass
in his hand, and the epitaph describes him as _Flos plenus morum_ and
_Doctor latomorum_.[88] Gérard be Moret was the builder of the chapter
house, an oblong edifice divided into two naves by a row of four central
columns, paved with encaustic tiles and illuminated with stained glass.
Passing behind the church down the Rue de l'Abbaye, is the abbot's
palace, a handsome stone and redbrick building erected by the Cardinal
de Bourbon, about 1586. At the summit of one of the pavilions is a
figure of a woman bearing the arms of the founder upon an escutcheon.
Fragments of the chapel of Our Lady, columns, capitals, gargoyles,
balustrades, and other remains of ornament which were found in a garden
hard by, have been placed in the grounds of the Hôtel Cluny; but the
statue of the Virgin and Child, which was formerly upon a pier, was sent
some years ago to S. Denis.
The gaol was rebuilt in the 17th century, and was flanked by four
turrets. It was the scene of many horrors from time to time, the abbots
possessing the power of punishing as well as of trying criminals; and
during the Revolution it was filled with priests and nobles, who
suffered for the crimes of their forefathers, as well as for their own,
being the scene in 1792 of the hideous September massacres. It was
afterwards used as a military prison, and in 1854 was pulled down. The
library was justly celebrated for its manuscripts, printed books, and
other objects of value; but was destroyed by fire at the commencement of
the Revolution.
[Illustration: SAINT-GERMAIN DES PRÉS.]
The only part of the church which contains any remains of Childebert's
structure is the apse, into the triforium of which are built some early
white marble capitals and some various coloured marble shafts; but
inasmuch as they have been painted over, all interest in them is
destroyed.
The earliest part of the present church dates from the beginning of the
11th century, the choir and apse from the second half of the 12th
century. The best view of the apse with its flying-buttresses is to be
obtained from the garden of the abbot's palace; but since the clearing
away of the houses which formerly were almost built on to the church,
and the planting of gardens round it, the view is very picturesque from
any point. An insignificant 17th century porch leads to the west door,
which is underneath the tower, and has, in its tympanum, a much
mutilated bas-relief of _The Last Supper_. The tower has been so much
restored and renovated from time to time that little of the original
remains. It has a high, but stumpy spire covered with slates. Dom
Bouillart relates that on the 2nd November, 1589, Henri IV. mounted to
the top of it (accompanied by only one ecclesiastic) to examine the
situation of Paris; and, continued the monk, "He afterwards walked round
the cloisters, and without speaking one word, departed." Of the other
two towers which were formerly at the angles of the choir and transepts,
nothing remains but the bases, which were considered necessary for the
support of the church. It seems that they were pulled down about 1822,
to save the expense of their restoration! a piece of vandalism which
destroyed the originality of the building and the _raison d'être_ for
its nickname of "_l'Église aux Trois Clochers_."
The building is 265 feet long, 65 feet broad, and 59 feet high. The nave
is divided into five bays, the choir into four, and the apse into five;
but these latter are much narrower than those of the nave. In the 17th
century, the timber roof of Abbot Morard gave place to a stone vault,
the transepts were rebuilt, and the nave much altered; but quite
recently it has been restored to its primitive condition and decorated
with frescoes by Hippolyte Flandrin. The church having been used during
the Revolution as a saltpetre manufactory, the corrosive waters had so
undermined the foundations of the pillars that they were obliged to be
supported by enormous scaffoldings while the bases were repaired.
The choir and the apse are surrounded by square and polygonal chapels.
The lower arches are round, the upper pointed; the intermingling being
in no way inharmonious. Most of the present capitals are copies of the
twelve remaining original ones which were transferred to the garden of
the Hôtel Cluny; but they are of very inferior workmanship. The subjects
treated are various: Angels, Saints, the Lamb of God, Daniel surrounded
by the lions, priests celebrating the Holy Mysteries, Samson breaking
the jaw of the lion. The old capitals are rough, but full of character,
whereas the modern ones are utterly devoid thereof. A few of the old
ones may be studied embedded in the walls of the aisles; the subjects
being: The Visitation, The Birth of Christ, Warriors costumed as Roman
soldiers, Syrens, male and female, surrounded by fish, interlaced
serpents, hippopotami holding smaller beasts between their paws, and
other quaint imagery peculiar to the Romanesque period. In the Hôtel
Cluny may also be seen the upper part of an early ivory crozier
belonging to the abbey, which was found in a coffin during some
excavations in 1854--and some fragments of stone coffins. The choir,
beautiful in its vigorous simplicity, remains as the 12th century left
it. It was dedicated by Pope Alexander III., on the 21st of April, 1163;
and on the same day Hubald, bishop of Ostia, assisted by three other
bishops, consecrated the apsidal chapels. On entering the church at the
west end, and looking towards the altar, it will be seen that the
building deviates considerably from a straight line, which M. Guilhermy
ascribes rather to difficulties of construction, which always occur when
a new building is placed amongst older ones of which it is to be a part,
than to the legend which attributes this arrangement (so common in
Mediæval churches) to the position of our Lord upon the Cross. S.
Étienne du Mont is even more out of a straight line--it turns more than
any church I have seen. The columns resemble those of Notre-Dame in
their massiveness. All the arches of the choir and chapels are round,
but those of the apse and clerestory are pointed. The capitals of these
choir pillars are all worthy of study, being in the best style of the
period, and full of the quaint symbolism of the Middle Ages: human heads
of a grotesque style, lions, harpies, birds pecking vigorously at the
heads of men and women, griffins, and winged animals. The bases are all
ornamented with foliage; but between the second and third chapels on the
south side is an example of ornament which is probably unique, viz., two
slippers, one embroidered and one plain, evidently those of a bishop or
abbot.
[Illustration: A CAPITAL OF THE CHOIR.]
The original High Altar, renovated in 1704, has been destroyed since
1792, up to which time it had existed in all its pristine beauty and
splendour. The frontal was of gilt copper, with silver-gilt figures
under canopies; and upon the retable rested the _châsse_ of S. Germain,
a magnificent specimen of smithcraft enriched with precious stones. It
was made in the time of Abbot Guillaume III., about 1408 or 1409, and
contained twenty-six marks two ounces of gold, 250 marks of silver, 260
precious stones, and 197 pearls. One would like to know what became of
so many gems. Six of the cipolin columns of the baldachino, which were
brought from the ruins of a Roman town upon the African coast in the
reign of Louis XIV., are now doing duty in the gallery of paintings of
the Louvre. The tomb of S. Germain, which was the scene of so many
miracles and wonders, has been suppressed and covered up by the
pavement. It was sunk below the level of the church, near the fourth
column of the choir on the north side, and for centuries was a favourite
spot for prayer and meditation. The chapel of S. Symphorien, at the end
of the nave on the south side, is modern, having been consecrated by the
great teacher, S. François de Sales, on the 27th April, 1619; the
monument which marked the first burial-place of S. Germain being no
longer in it. The chapels of S. Marguerite and of S. Casimir, in the
transept, are ornamented with marble columns. That of the Blessed Virgin
is modern, and in wretched taste; and the High Altar, the first stone of
which was laid by Pius VII., is equally out of keeping with the rest of
the church.
In an apsidal chapel are some fragments of 13th century glass,
representing SS. Anna and Joachim, The Annunciation and the Marriage of
the Virgin. In the south side of the nave is a large marble statue,
called Notre-Dame la Blanche, given in 1340 by Jeanne d'Évreux to the
Abbey of S. Denis. Placed at the Revolution in the Musée des
Petits-Augustins, it was afterwards transferred to S. Germain. The
marble statue of S. Marguerite is by one of the brothers of the convent,
Jacques Bourlet; and that representing S. François Xavier is by Coustou
the younger. The following tombs were partially restored in 1824: Jean
Casimir, King of Poland, who, having renounced his throne, became abbot
in 1669, and died in 1672 (the kneeling figure is by Marsy, the
bas-relief by Jean Thibaut, of the Congregation of S. Maur); Olivier and
Louis de Castellan, killed in the service of the king in 1644 and 1669
(the figures and medallions are by Girardon); William Douglas,
eighteenth Earl of Angus, who died in 1611, and his grandson James
Douglas, killed in 1645, near Douai, aged twenty-eight. The epitaphs,
which the Academy set up in 1819 to the memory of Nicholas Boileau, of
René Descartes,[89] of Jean Mabillion, and of Bernard de Montfaucon,
which were formerly at the Musée des Petits-Augustins, were placed here
on the dispersal of that museum. Boileau reposed formerly in the
Sainte-Chapelle, and Descartes at S. Geneviève. What remained of the
royal tombs was transferred to S. Denis. Of the riches of the Treasury
nothing whatever was saved; it was all pillaged and dispersed.
The whole church has been painted in polychrome; red shafts and gilded
capitals, a blue-and-gold starred vault. All round nave, transepts, and
choir, just below the clerestory, are the exquisite frescoes by
Flandrin, one of the few 19th century religious painters who has shown
the possibility of uniting the sentiment of the early Florentine and
Flemish schools with the, in some respects, superior knowledge of the
modern. His work is so purely religious, and yet so essentially modern,
that one wonders whence he drew his inspiration. There is nothing of the
Archaic in his pictures; his figures are never attenuated, and yet the
sentiment is as full of piety as in the work of Angelico: it is as if
the Frenchman had drunk in the beauty of form of the Greeks, and
amalgamated it with the faith of the Early Christians. And yet there is
none of the false sentimentality of the modern school, the Saints who
simper, and the milk-and-water misses bearing palm branches and crowns,
and calling themselves martyrs. Flandrin's is essentially a masculine
type of art; it is powerful as well as graceful, vigorous as well as
refined. His Saints and Angels have all the sweet expression of those of
Fra Angelico and Filippo Lippi; while they are as perfectly modelled as
a Greek Apollo, or the figures of Buonarroti and Raffaello. But Flandrin
was not ashamed of calling himself a believer in the doctrines and
mysteries of the Christian faith, and in the Biblical subjects which he
was called upon to illustrate. The man who considered religious painting
to be "the height of Art, and the most worthy employment of genius," and
who wrote upon the door of his studio, "Thou, Lord, hast made me glad
through Thy work, I will triumph in the works of Thy hands," could not
have been, as a Christian, on a much lower level than Fra Angelico, who
is said to have painted while assuming the attitude of prayer. Flandrin
was the favourite pupil of Ingres, and won the Grand Prix de Rome of
1832. Humble-minded, gentle, courageous, he worked for love rather than
for fame or money. His early struggles when he first arrived in Paris
from his native place were terrible. He lived in a veritable garret with
his brother, sacrificing anything in order to work at painting. Often in
winter they went to bed at 5 o'clock in the afternoon to escape the cold
of their attic. Their dinner was frequently some fried potatoes bought
at stalls in the streets and squares; and it is probably to the
privations endured for love of art that his bad health and early death
may be attributed. But his enthusiasm carried him on; and he lived long
enough to count his sacrifices as nothing compared to his successes. He
stands out in this 19th century an example to all artists, and as the
one man who can be compared to the blessed monk of Fiesole.
Like so many artists, he had to surmount many a home obstacle; and,
being the fourth of a family of seven children, with two brothers
devoting themselves to their father's calling, it is no wonder that the
good mother wished Hippolyte to try some trade by which he could live.
The father had been ambitious; but had been obliged to give up _genre_
for miniature painting. The boys, however, plodded on, and sketched all
that came in their way, which seems to have been mainly soldiers; and
when a sculptor named Fayatier, happening to see their drawings, gave
them a little encouragement, the mother's opposition melted, and they
entered the studio of Magnin at Lyons. There and at the Beaux-Arts, they
remained seven years, selling drawings and lithographs wherewith to gain
a little nest-egg to enable them to go to Paris, the goal then, as now,
of ambitious students. It was little enough, but the journey, being
taken upon foot, the whole hoard was reserved for household expenses and
lessons. Once in the capital, the brothers resolved to put themselves
under M. Ingres, if he would allow them, and so encouraging was his
welcome, that a friendship soon sprang up between master and pupils.
Many traits in Ingres' character which came out in the history of the
Flandrins' early artistic career prove him to have been sympathetic to
the highest degree; and not a little pleasant is it to find that, when
he heard of his pupils' forced asceticism, he exclaimed, "And I was
taking their money!" Indeed, there are many anecdotes which prove as
much the love of the master for the pupils as the devotion of the pupils
for the master. He was inconsolable when Hippolyte failed to gain the
_Prix de Rome_. "You have no notion how hard it is for a young man's
hopes to be dashed to the ground!" he said to his wife; and he spoke of
him as the "Lamb which had been slaughtered." He knew that it was
unjust, and he felt the injustice as much as if it had been done to
himself.
The account Hippolyte gives his brother Auguste of the whole affair is
most touching.[90] "_Mon bon ami, mon cher_ Auguste, I have experienced
the last trial in competing for the _Grand Prix_, but it has been
dreadful! The subject was a figure in painting, three feet high. I
executed it, and yesterday was the day of the decision. I was satisfied
with myself, and was hopeful, _mais tu verras_. M. Ingres, M. Guérin, M.
Granet, and three other members of the Institute, on entering the
exhibition hall, wished to place me first. _Mais non_: M. Gros and his
party carried it otherwise; and instead of _first_, I have been voted
_last_. M. Ingres, in despair, at length left the room, protesting with
all his might against the proceedings of the meeting; and I have not
been received. You may imagine what I felt when I heard I was
excluded.... I dared not call upon M. Ingres; still I could not reproach
myself; my figure was far the best; I can say so without pride. At last,
in the evening, I determined to go. I found him at dinner, but he ate
nothing. Several members of the Institute had come to comfort him, but
he would not be consoled. He received me with, "Behold the lamb they
have slaughtered!" ... And all this with the accent of a heart so deeply
moved that tears filled his eyes. He made me sit at his table, dine
with him, and at last embraced me as a father would his son. I went away
and was comforted. Oh! what do not I owe to this man who has already
done so much for us, and who, on this occasion, has perhaps done
more.... But sometimes regret seizes me, for this would have been the
means of taking a great step.... And then it was the only way to show my
gratitude to M. Ingres; for to you, my brother, I can say that my good
master had founded great hopes on my picture." The next year the same
difficulties (want of money to pay for models, &c.) made him almost give
up the idea of competing; but getting some portraits to do, and knowing
that his master was keen upon the matter, he sent in his name. One of
his sitters happened to be a _gen-d'arme_, whom he had promised to paint
for 30 fs. When the portrait was finished, the man was so pleased that
he said to the painter, "_I promised you 30 fs., but here are 35 fs.!_"
Flandrin often said that he never was so pleased as when he received
those additional 5 fs.
But a greater enemy to work than poverty appeared--cholera, the scourge
of 1832. One of the competitors for the _Prix de Rome_ died on his way
to the school, and Hippolyte was attacked. He struggled against it, and,
weak though he was, he went on working; but at length he had to give
way, and for a whole month he was in bed. A few days before the time for
sending in the pictures, he returned to work, and managed to finish his
subject, which was at once pronounced as having the _Grand Prix_. At
Rome, Flandrin was in his element; he studied the great masters, and
drank in all their wisdom, working almost entirely upon religious
subjects. Even Ary Scheffer, then at the height of his fame, felt the
extreme beauty of his young rival's art. "No, I know nothing, nothing at
all," he said to Hippolyte, on seeing the latter's picture of _Jesus
with the Little Children_.
Flandrin's first commission for Church decoration was in his native
city, S. Severinus of Lyon; his second, S. Germain; but his greatest
work was the mural painting of S. Vincent de Paul, which he accomplished
some years later.
On the 21st of March, 1864, Flandrin died at Rome of small-pox, whither
he had gone for his health. He was buried at Père-la-Chaise; but the
funeral service was held in the church he did so much to embellish; and,
two years after, his friends placed a monument by M. Oudine to his
memory, upon the wall of the north aisle. It is composed of white
marble, four columns supporting a pediment, and resting upon a freize.
Below the bust is an epitaph which is little in keeping with the man or
the place:
À HIPPOLYTE FLANDRIN.
SES AMIS, SES ELÈVES, SES ADMIRATEURS, LYON, 22 MARS,
1809,--ROME, 21 MARS, 1864.
Not one word of what he loved above all things, his home, his country,
his art, and his God; and yet his friends, his pupils, and in fact
everyone acquainted with him, must have known that such a man would have
liked a few words upon his tomb which would have borne witness to the
depth of his religious feelings. Here is an extract from a letter to his
eldest brother which breathes through it his piety and his love of home:
"You cannot imagine how I long to see you and embrace you, as well as
the mother and father. Almost every night I fancy myself at Lyon, and
yesterday I was really angry with Paul (his brother, helper, and
fellow-student), because he awoke me just at the moment when I thought I
was kissing you. I was crying for joy.... Remember that we agreed to
pray for each other every evening. I never fail to do so, and I feel
sure our poor mother never forgets: she loves us so much, and she is so
far off. _Pauvre père, la bonne mère, vous n'êtes plus entournés par
tous vos enfants._"
The choir was the first part of S. Germain which was decorated, and it
is the most successful, the nave pictures being somewhat flat, and faded
in colour; but without the use of gold it was impossible to make the
subjects effective with the bright polychrome surroundings, and Flandrin
justly considered that the nave should be subordinate in splendour to
the choir and sanctuary. On the right and left of the commencement of
the choir are two large compositions: Christ entering into Jerusalem,
and The Way of the Cross, both upon gold grounds. Above these are the
twelve Apostles clothed in white, and the allegorical Virtues; and
higher still are the founders of the church, Childebert and S. Germain,
with the patron S. Vincent, Queen Ultrogothe, and abbot Morard. All
these works are full of intense feeling, and the group of the Blessed
Virgin and S. John have rarely been surpassed, from the pathetic point
of view, by any religious painter. There is a certain modernness about
them; the figures seem to emphasize the human element in our Lord's
person, the sympathy, the love, and the sorrow; there is no weak
sentimentality depicted--and yet the treatment adheres to the
conventional traditions. The richness of the gold around, too, enhances
the beauty of the compositions, and makes them almost as gorgeous as
mosaics.
The frescoes of the nave occupy the space between the arches and the
clerestory windows--in all, twenty compositions. The subjects are taken
from the history of our Lord, and the corresponding Old Testament types.
The two pictures forming one subject in each architectural division,
show how perfectly the arts of painting and architecture may be made to
harmonize, to be welded together as it were, although seven centuries
separate the builder from the decorator. Except for a certain modernness
of style, Flandrin might have lived and worked with the original
architect, for his plan is that so often seen in the works of the
Mediævalists, as for instance in the _Biblia Pauperum_.
In the first arcade on the left, on entering the church, we see The
Annunciation and the Burning Bush, and under the window the text:
"_Domine mitte quem missures es_" (Exodus iv. 13). The characteristic of
the first of these pictures is the simplicity of the Virgin's
expression, as she hears the Angels' message. Next comes The Nativity
and its type, The Fall, with the legend, _Per hominem mors, per hominem
resurrectio_ (1 Corinthians xv. 21). The figures of Adam and Eve are
excellent examples of the purity of form so commonly found in Flandrin's
work. The Nativity is treated in the conventional manner, except that
three Angels watch the child and its mother (who lie upon a rustic bed);
while behind them, a Seraph bears a banner upon which is written:
"_Gloria in, Excelsis Deo._"
This is followed by The Adoration of the Magi and Balaam, the text
being: "_Habitantibus in regione umbrae ... lux orta est_" (Isaiah ix.
2). The Old Testament subject depicts the moment when Balaam, taken to
the top of Pethor by Balak, blesses instead of curses the enemy. Before
them is the altar; around them are the princes of Moab, angry and
threatening; in the background are the tents of the children of Israel.
The victims are ready for the sacrifice, but to the astonishment of the
king and his followers, Balaam lifts up his voice and blesses those he
was brought to curse. _How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy
tabernacles, O Israel!_ This is one of the finest of the series.
In The Baptism we see the ascetic figure of S. John the Baptist pouring
water upon Our Lord's head, while three Angels kneel upon the bank of
the river, doing homage. Above is the descending dove and the verse:
_Erit Sanguis Vobis in Signum_ (Exodus xii. 13). In the Passage of the
Red Sea, the majestic figure of Moses stands upon the shore, his hair
and drapery blown by the wind. He raises his hand, and the waters close
over the Egyptians, while the Israelites lift up their voices in
triumphant songs, Miriam leading them to the sound of the timbrel: _Sing
ye to the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his
rider hath he thrown into the sea._
The Institution of the Eucharist is treated from the purely Roman
Catholic point of view. Our Blessed Lord is standing, holding up the
wafer for adoration, while He places the other hand upon His side,
symbolical of the gift of the sacred heart combined with His precious
body. The Apostles form two groups, one on each side: _Novi Testamenti
Mediator est_ (Hebrews ix. 15). The Old Testament type is Melchizedek
appearing to Abram: _And Melchizedec King of Salem brought forth bread
and wine; and he was the priest of the most high God._
The next pictures, close to the choir, are badly lighted, but both are
very fine. The Treason of Judas, and Joseph sold by his Brethren: _Pro
salute vestra misit me Deus_ (Genesis xiv. 5).
And now we come to a subject into which Flandrin threw all his
strength--The Crucifixion--which is not inferior in feeling to the great
Angelico in the Convent of San Marco at Firenze. The divine expression
of the dying Saviour, the heart-rending sorrow of the Mother, and the
passionate grief of the Magdalen, are all exquisitely portrayed. So,
too, The Sacrifice of Isaac, which is its type, is full of pathos and
true religious sentiment. _Proprio filio non pepercit_ (Romans viii. 32)
is the text.
In the treatment of Jonah, the type of The Resurrection, the painter has
avoided what must always be a difficulty--the great fish. Those who saw
this _tableau_ years ago at Ober-Ammergau must remember that even the
good souls of that village could not divest the subject of the ludicrous
element, and they did well, in 1890, to omit it. But Flandrin has got
over the difficulty by making his prophet walking upon a beach, with
waves breaking upon the shore around him. He has been ejected from the
whale, and is giving thanks for his deliverance. _Signum Jonæ Prophetæ_
(Matthew xii. 39).
_That the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs and of the same body, and
partakers of his promise in Christ by the Gospel_, is the legend of the
charge to Peter. _Gentes esse cohaeredes ... promissionis in Christo_
(Ephesians iii. 6). In the foreground kneels S. Peter, to whom Our Lord
gives the keys of heaven and hell: but the rest of the Apostles stand
around, and form part of the group: _Feed my sheep._ The type is The
Dispersion of the Nations subsequent to the building of Babel; and
Flandrin has most graphically described the wonder and amazement of the
crowd, who, not being able to converse any longer, leave the town and
scatter themselves over the face of the earth.
[Illustration: ADAM AND EVE.]
Above the frieze of subject-pictures are numerous personages in the
panels which surround the windows, all from the Old Testament: Adam and
Eve, Jacob Blessing his Children, Job, Samson, Aaron, Joshua, Miriam,
Deborah, Judith, and ending with John the Baptist. Adam and Eve are,
perhaps, the finest of these figures. Adam stands erect, thoughtful,
repentant, and ashamed; but his clasped right hand seems to indicate
steadfastness of purpose to retrieve the past. Eve abandons herself to
sorrow, and leans upon her husband's shoulder as if resolving in the
future to depend upon him. The treatment is at once almost Classic in
its simplicity, and realistic in its naturalism; the only discordant
note being a something in the way in which Eve's hair falls upon her
forehead, an echo, as it were, of the model, and the ugly fashion of
dressing the hair peculiar to the thirties and forties, which so often
shocks us in the Nymphs and Venuses by Etty, and gives them an unclothed
appearance.
Formerly, judging from Dibden's account of the church, there was great
display in the religious functions at S. Germain: "The immediate
vicinity of S. Germain is sadly choked by stalls and shops--the West
front has been cruelly covered by modern appendages. It is the church
dearest to antiquaries, and with reason. I first visited it on a Sunday,
when that part of the service was performed which required the fullest
intonations of the organ. The effect altogether was very striking. The
singular pillars of which the capitals are equally massive and
grotesque, being sometimes composed of human beings, and sometimes of
birds and beasts, especially towards the choir--the rising up and
sitting down of the congregation, and the yet more frequent movements of
the priests--the swinging of the censers--and the parade of the vergers,
dressed in bag wigs, with broad red sashes of silk, and silk
stockings--but above all, the most scientifically-touched, as well as
the deepest and loudest toned organ I ever heard--perfectly bewildered
and amazed me! Upon the dispersion of the congregation--which very
shortly followed this religious excitation--I had ample leisure to
survey every part of this curious old structure, which reminded me,
although upon a much larger scale, of the peculiarities of S. Georges de
Bocherville and Notre-Dame at Guibray. Certainly, very much of this
church is of the twelfth century, and, as I am not writing to our friend
N., I will make bold to say that some portions of it yet 'smacks
strongly' of the eleventh."
I cannot say that I have ever noted much ceremonial, or any fine music,
at S. Germain. Times have changed probably; certainly, its chief beauty
now is the building itself--its grand architecture and beautiful
decoration.
SAINT-GERVAIS-SAINT-PROTAIS.
[Illustration]
There can be no doubt that the quaint inscription informing "les bonnes
gens" that the church of _Messeigneurs Saint Gervais et Saint Prothais_
was dedicated in 1420, refers to an earlier building than the present
one. The Saints were twin-brothers, and are represented here as
elsewhere, vested as deacons, although there is no evidence in their
history of their having been in holy orders. The full inscription is as
follows:--
BONNES GENS PLAISE
VOUS SAUOIR QUE CESTE
PRESENTE ESGLISE DE
MESSEIGNEURS SAINT GERVAIS ET
SAINT PROTHAIS FUT DEDIÉE LE
DIMÂNCHE DEUANT LA FESTE DE
SAINT SIMON ET SAINT JUDE, L'AN
MIL QUATRE CENS ET VINT PAR LA
MAIN DU REUEREND PERE EN DIEU
MAISTRE GOMBAUT, EVESQUE D'A-
GRENCE, ET SERA A TOUSJOURS LA
FESTE DE LA SAINTE DÉDICACE LE
DIMÂNCHE DEUANT LA DICTE FESTE DE
SAINT SIMON ET SAINT JUDE. SI
VOUS PLAIS Y VENIR, GANGNIER LES
GRANS PARDONS ET PRIEZ POUR LES
BIENS-FAICTEURS DE CETTE ESGLISE ET
AUSSI POUR LES TRESPASSEZ. PATER
NOSTER AUE MARIA.
The twins were discovered as martyrs by S. Ambrose at Milano, when, in
387, he was desirous of founding a new church. The people called upon
him to consecrate the building by placing some holy relics therein; and
he, good bishop, was only too eager to gratify their wish. And so he had
a dream, or a trance, or something between the two; for, while possessed
of this desire to gratify the piety of his children, he, like a good
shepherd, went to the church of S. Nabor and S. Felis to pray for his
sheep; and as he knelt, he saw a vision of two beauteous young men
clothed in white, standing with S. Peter and S. Paul. And it was
revealed to S. Ambrose that these two young men were holy martyrs, whose
bodies had been buried where he knelt. So he called his clergy-folk, and
they all searched, and found two bodies of gigantic size separated from
the heads, with much blood, and some writing recording their names. They
were Gervasius and Protarius, who had suffered martyrdom under Nero.
Having been sent bound to Milano, together with Nazarus and Celsus, they
were brought before Count Artesius and accused of being Christians. Upon
being commanded to sacrifice to Artesius' idols, they refused and were
condemned, Gervasius to be beaten to death with lead-loaded scourges,
Protarius to be beheaded. Thus they died, and a good man named Philip
took up their bodies, and buried them in his own garden, where they
rested until discovered by S. Ambrose. On the second day of the
discovery, the bodies were borne with great solemnity to the Basilica;
and many persons, touching the pall which covered the Saints, were cured
of divers diseases, and of evil spirits. One man who had been blind for
many years, Severus by name, and who had lived upon the alms of the
wealthy, obtained permission to touch the bones of the holy martyrs, and
was restored to sight; and then all the people rejoiced, for the man's
infirmity being well known to everyone in the city, there could be no
doubt that the cure had been effected through the intercession of the
blessed saints. And this being so, S. Ambrose laid their bones under the
altar, saying: "Let the victims be borne in triumph to the place where
Christ is the sacrifice; He upon the altar, who suffered for all; they
beneath the altar, who were redeemed by His suffering!" Then came the
Arians, and scoffingly accused S. Ambrose of bribing Severus and others
to aid and abet him in his miraculous performances; but the bishop
defeated their wicked ways, and the church was dedicated to the twin
brothers. S. Ambrose was buried in the same church, and subsequently its
name was changed to that of Sant' Ambrogio Maggiore. In Italy the
brothers were held in little repute as time went on; but S. Germain,
bishop of Paris, having in 560 carried some of their relics to France,
they became exceedingly popular, and the patrons of several cathedrals
and parish churches, besides being favourite subjects with some of the
French school of painters, Le Sueur, Philippe de Champagne, and Nicholas
Poussin.
In the History of S. Germain by Fortunat, a church dedicated to the twin
brothers is mentioned, the door of which, when the good bishop desired
to enter the building, flew open of its accord. S. Germain entered the
church, and after much praying, restored his sight to a blind man, and
worked other wondrous miracles through the intervention of the martyrs.
The present church is of Pointed and Classic architecture, the portal
and _façade_ being in the latter style.[91] Louis XIII. laid the first
stone in 1616, Jacques de Brosse being the architect. A not very
favourable, but tolerably just, opinion is passed upon it by our old
friend Dibden:
"The next Gothic church to Notre-Dame in size and importance is that of
_S. Gervais_, situated to the left, in the Rue de Monçeau. It has a very
lofty nave, but the interior is exceedingly flat and divested of
ornaments. The pillars have scarcely any capitals. The choir is totally
destitute of effect. Some of the stained glass is rich and old, but a
great deal has been stolen or demolished during the Revolution. There is
a good large modern picture in one of the side chapels to the right, and
a yet more modern one much inferior on the opposite side. In almost
every side chapel, and in the confessionals, the priests were busily
engaged in the catechetical examination of young people previous to the
first Communion on the following Sabbath, which was the Fête Dieu. The
Western front is wholly Grecian--perhaps about 200 years old. It is too
lofty for its width--but has a grand effect, and is justly much
celebrated. Yet the situation of this fine old Gothic church is among
the most wretched of those in Paris. It is preserved from suffocation
only by holding its head so high." The last remark is no longer
applicable, as the church is now quite disencumbered from secular
excrescences.
The interior is cold, dull, and dreary, almost the only part that
relieves its monotony being the organ tribune, which is quaintly
ornamented with Angels and Corinthian columns, a device of the 17th
century. The statues of the Saints upon the altar are the work of
Bourdin, a sculptor of the 17th century. The six candelabra and the
cross of gilt bronze, belonging formerly to the abbey church of S.
Geneviève, are among the bronze _chefs-d'œuvre_ of the 18th century.
The stalls are finely carved, and bear various designs upon their
bas-reliefs; but especially notable are the little histories upon the
_misereres_: a writer at his desk; an architect measuring some blocks of
stone, accompanied by his workmen; a baker putting his bread in the
oven; a man stooping down with a fool's cap on his head; the
vinedressers in a vat; a Genus sleeping upon a grave with his head
resting upon a skull; two men squabbling; a shoemaker at his last,
surrounded by a fine collection of foot-gear; two men roasting; a Syren,
a crowned Salamander, a grotesque animal, a lion, and a pig gobbling in
a gluttonous fashion; and finally a man in a boat traversing a river.
Some of the glass is fine, but much has been destroyed; and only the
other day the Anarchists did their best to demolish the little which
remains. In the choir the story of Lazarus, and the Pilgrimage to Mont
Saint-Michel, were painted by Robert Pinaigrier, as well as the windows
of the Lady Chapel; and another great _vitrier_, Jean Cousin,
embellished S. Gervais with some beautiful golden-toned glass--The
Martyrdom of S. Laurence, The Good Samaritan, and The Judgment of
Solomon. On one fragment of the latter is the date 1531. The story is
told most quaintly; Solomon sleeps surrounded by his books; and it is
thus that he drinks in the wisdom which the Queen of Sheba, in the next
panel, comes to enjoy.
Among the other subjects, we see S. Peter baptising Cornelius,
surrounded by divers Scripture events. In the Lady Chapel a Tree of
Jesse has survived, and also the Legend of S. Anne, attributed to
Pinaigrier; but the latter is filled in with much that is
modern--clever, but wanting in the vigorous drawing of the old glass
painters, and the glorious transparency of the colours. One of the old
panes shows us the Virgin weaving a curtain for the Temple, and being
fed by an Angel. In this chapel there is a remarkable boss which
descends from the vault. If is 6ft. in diameter, and falls 3ft.; and
although iron has been used in its fabrication, it is, notwithstanding,
a wonderful piece of masonry of the brothers Jacquet. It is a mass of
carving--emblems of the Blessed Virgin; a fortified town (the Tower of
David), and the Morning Star; attributes found in the offices of Our
Lady.
A good many distinguished people were buried at S. Gervais: Scarron,
more celebrated as having been the first husband of the notorious Mme.
de Maintenon than for his writings; that excellent, but insufficiently
appreciated painter, Philippe de Champaigne; Ducange, the antiquarian
and historian; the chancellors Le Tellier, Louis Roucherat and Charles
Voysin; archbishop Le Tellier of Reims, son of the chancellor and
founder of the library of S. Geneviève; and the poet Crébillon, author
of _Rhadamistus_, _Electra_, _Catiline_, and other tragedies. The only
monument which remains is that of Le Tellier, who reposes in white
marble upon a black marble mattress, with allegorical figures watching
over his slumbers. It was the work of Mazeline and Hurtrelle, members of
the Academy, but not otherwise celebrated, as is occasionally the case.
In one of the chapels of the nave is a 13th century bas-relief of Our
Lord receiving His mother's soul as she expires, surrounded by the
Apostles; a fine old picture painted upon wood, of various scenes from
the Passion, formerly attributed to Albrecht Dürer, but more probably by
some master of the Flemish school. Many of the pictures by Lesueur,
Bourdon, and Philippe de Champaigne, formerly in this church, are now in
the Louvre.
LA TOUR SAINT-JACQUES.
This tower is all that remains of the church of S. Jacques de la
Boucherie, which had to be demolished to make way for the Rue de Rivoli.
It was commenced in 1508, and finished in 1522. The figure of S. James
upon the little turret, and his friends the Evangelistic animals, by
Rauch, were thrown down in 1793; but in 1836, when the municipality
saved the tower by purchasing it, the statues were repaired and
replaced. The church contained many tombs and slabs, some of which have
found a home in the Hôtel Cluny. One of the most famous persons buried
at S. Jacques was Nicholas Flamel, a member of the University, and
librarian, who died in 1417, leaving large sums of money to the church.
His effigy, and that of his wife, were to be seen kneeling at the
Virgin's feet in the tympanum of the porch. He was venerated as their
patron by the alchymists, for having, as was affirmed, discovered the
philosopher's Stone; and several times his house in the Rue des
Écrivains was rummaged in order to find some indication of his secret.
His funeral tablet has the following epitaph engraven upon it, and is
numbered 92 in the collection of the Hôtel Cluny:
[Illustration: TOUR SAINT-JACQUES, LOOKING TOWARDS THE HÔTEL DE VILLE]
FEU NICOLAS FLAMEL JADIX ESCRI
VAIN A LAISSÉ PAR SON TESTAMENT À
LEUSORE DE CESTE ÉGLISE CERTAINES
RENTES ET MAISONS QU'IL AVOIT
ACQUESTÉES ET ACHETÉES À SON VI-
VANT POUR FAIRE CERTAIN SERVICE
DIVIN ET DISTRIBUCIONS D'ARGENT
CHASCUN AU PAR AUMOSNE TOU-
CHANS LES QUINZE VINS: LOSTEL DI
EU ET AULTRES ÉGLISES ET HOSPITEAUX
À PARIS.--SOIT PRIÉ POURS LES TRÉPASSÉS.
The Tour S. Jacques is an excellent example of what may be done with the
remaining portions of demolished buildings. As it stands, surrounded by
gardens, it is a most beautiful object, an oasis in the desert of
streets, and trams, and omnibuses, a quiet spot where children may
skirmish, and mothers can sit in the open air and knit their stockings.
Why cannot we do likewise in London? If churches must be felled to the
ground, why cannot we leave their towers as a centre to the
burial-ground gardens, or remove and re-erect them in our parks? We
might with advantage follow the example of Paris, both in the
preservation of the old tower of S. Jacques, and in the arrangement of
the garden of the Hôtel Cluny, where, also, fragments of churches are
set up as ornaments.
It was from the top of the tower of S. Jacques that Pascal made certain
experiments of the density of the air; and in memory of this, his
statue, in white marble, was placed under the porch.
SAINT-JACQUES DU HAUT-PAS.
In no way remarkable, this church need only be mentioned as having been
built between 1630-1684, in the Italian fashion. It is in the street of
the same name.
SAINT-JEAN-SAINT-FRANÇOIS.
Founded in 1623, in the Rue Charlot, as a chapel for the Capuchins, S.
Jean contains a statue of S. Francis of Assisi, by Germain Pilon, and a
S. Denis, sculptured by Jacques Sarazin for the Abbey of Montmartre, by
order of Anne d'Autriche.
SAINT-JULIEN LE PAUVRE.
In a little back street not far from S. Séverin is the old church of S.
Julien, a fragment only of its former self, and all that remains of the
ancient priory. Its locality is described in Guillot's _Dict. des Rues
de Paris_, which gives a description in verse of the principal houses
and streets in the city at the end of the 13th century, as follows:--
Puis la rue de Saint-Julien
Qui nous gart de mauvais lien,
M'en revins à la Buscherie
Et puis en la Poissonnerie.
And it appears that "il y avait jadis, près du Petit-Pont et la prison
du Petit-Châtelet, une ruelle appelée ruelle du Carneaux,[92] qui
conduisait au marché au poisson d'eau douce." This fish-market evidently
occupied the site of the old annexe of the Hôtel-Dieu, and doubtless was
in great requisition when the priory was inhabited by its fifty
brethren.
Some years ago, when S. Julien was used as the chapel of the Hôtel-Dieu,
it formed a picturesque object from the hospital garden, and no doubt
was often a great comfort to some of the patients, who found within its
walls a peaceful spot where they could be alone, and out of turmoil of
sick wards and their accompaniments. But when the old hospital was
pulled down, the church's very existence was threatened, and for some
years it seemed as if Paris would have one more vandalism to lament.
Happily its demolition was prevented, and it has been restored to God's
service, for the use of members of the Greek branch of the Church.
[Illustration: INTERIOR OF SAINT-JULIEN.]
Many were the Julians canonized by the Early Church, and it is difficult
to say to which saint this edifice was dedicated, although the fact of
the relics of S. Julien de Brioude, who was martyred in 304, having been
placed upon the left-hand side of the High Altar, seems to point to him
as the patron. S. Julien was born at Vienne in Dauphiné about 270, and
became a distinguished soldier in the Roman army; but having embraced
Christianity, he was beheaded during the reign of Diocletian in 304, at
Brioude in Auvergne, where he had taken refuge from his persecutors.
There his remains were discovered by S. Germain d'Auxerre in 431, and
forthwith the town became celebrated for the many cures performed at its
miraculous well. "_Est enim ad hunc fontem virtus eximia_," said S.
Grégoire of Tours; and Sidonius Apollinaris, who died in 489, also bears
witness to the Saint's burial place in a letter to a friend who was
travelling in Auvergne: "_Hic te suscipiet benigna Brivas Sancti quae
fovet ossa Juliani._" S. Grégoire, in his life of the Saint, gave a list
of the churches dedicated to his memory; and although S. Julien le
Pauvre is not enumerated, it would seem that it must have been one of
them, as he speaks of lodging in a house attached to the little
basilica, when he came to Paris, and called it S. Julien the Martyr:
"_His diebus Parisius adveneram et ad Basilicam Beati Juliani martyris
metam habebam._"
[Illustration: CHAPEL OF THE SOUTH AISLE.]
Another S. Julien was a confessor, and first bishop of Mans. He was a
Roman by birth, and upon being consecrated, was sent by Pope Clement to
convert the Cenomans. He arrived at Suindinum (Le Mans) while the town
was besieged and deprived of water. Entering it, he caused water to
spring from the ground, and henceforth the well was called
_Sanct-nomius_, or fountain of S. Julien. The bishop worked in his
diocese over 40 years, and then retired to S. Marceau, where he died in
117, his decease being revealed in a vision to his first convert, a
Gaul, surnamed _Le Défenseur_, who caused the Saint's body to be carried
back to Le Mans, and buried with great pomp at Notre-Dame du Pré. In 840
it was translated to the cathedral, where many miracles were wrought. S.
Julien is generally represented destroying a dragon, symbolizing
paganism, or accompanied by a young girl carrying a pitcher of water, an
allegory of the miraculous well. This connection of different Saints of
the same name with wells is curious, and makes it difficult to decide
the patronage of S. Julien le Pauvre; for there also are two wells, one
the so-called "miraculous," just outside the eastern apse of the church,
and another outside one of the windows of the 17th century _façade_. If,
as many authorities think, the old 13th century west front occupied a
space in advance of the present one, this well may have been originally
inside the church, an arrangement frequently adopted by Mediæval
architects, and still existing in some of our old churches. There is one
of exquisite beauty in the south aisle of Regensburg Cathedral, and at
Coutances there are two in the transepts. S. Germain des Prés also had
its miraculous well, but it is now closed up. There is yet another one
at the corner of Rues S. Jacques and S. Séverin, which formerly bore the
name of Julien, but is now re-christened S. Séverin. It was
re-constructed in the 17th century and bore the following inscription by
the poet Santeuil:
DUM SCANDUNT JUGA MONTIS ANHELO PECTORE NYMPHÆ,
HIC UNA E SOCIIS VALLIS AMORE SEDET.
Which is prettily rendered by d'Amaury Duval: "Tandis que les nymphes,
haletantes, montent vers le sommet de la montagne, l'une d'elles, éprise
de la beauté du vallon, y fixe sa demeure."
The third saint who disputes the patronage of this particular church is
S. Julian Hospitator, who watches over travellers, ferrymen, boatmen and
travelling minstrels. He was a nobleman much given to the chase, and one
day, while pursuing a deer, the frightened creature turned round, and
cried out, "Thou followest me, thou who wilt one day kill thy father and
mother."[93] Thereupon Julian rushed away to a far country, where he was
made a knight, and much honoured by the king. But his parents, grieved
at his loss, set off to try and find him, and coming to his castle, they
made themselves known to his wife, who put them in their son's chamber,
and left them for the night. In the morning she went to early mass to
give thanks for this great mercy, and during her absence, Julian,
finding the old people in his room, and not recognizing them in the dim
light of dawn, turned upon them and slew them, as it seems, somewhat
hastily. Then Julian resolved to depart and devote himself to some good
work; but his wife would not let him go alone, so they journeyed until
they came to a great river, where many people were drowned in trying to
ford it, and there they set up a hermitage and a hospital, and a ferry
boat for travellers free of charge. One day, when a leper presented
himself, Julian not only ferried him over, but carried him in his arms
to his own bed, and tended him with the aid of his good wife. And in the
morning the leper arose, transformed, and saying, "Julian, the Lord hath
sent me to thee; thy penitence is accepted, and thy rest and that of thy
wife is near at hand," vanished out of their sight. And shortly after,
both Julian and his wife fell asleep.[94] The Cathedral of Rouen
possesses a window presented by the company of _bateliers-pêcheurs_ in
the 14th century, upon which this legend of the ferry is represented.
[Illustration: BAS-RELIEF OF THE FERRY.]
There can be little doubt that the church was originally dedicated to
Julian the Martyr, as recorded by Grégoire de Tours, and that later the
_culte_ of the other two Julians was added; particularly as we find upon
one of the houses of the Rue Galande, which abuts upon one side of the
church, a curious 13th century bas-relief of this very legend of the
ferry. S. Julian and his wife are rowing the boat, apparently in
opposite directions, and standing up is the passenger, no other than Our
Lord Himself, as we see from the cruciform nimbus. Is it not probable
that at some time, when repairs were going on, this bas-relief was
removed from the church, and does not the situation of S. Julien le
Pauvre, or _des_ pauvres, close to a river and a fish-market, seem to be
further proof that the Hospitator was one of the later patrons of the
church? There are said to be nearly sixty[95] saints of this name, and
as a proof of their popularity in France, we find no less than one
hundred and sixty-two villages called after them. In Spain they were
still more popular. Saint-Julien le Ménétrier, or des Ménétriers, was a
hospital founded in 1330 by Jacques Grare and Huet le Lorrain, for
fiddlers, jugglers, and acrobats. It was situated near the Rue S.
Martin. One of the attributes of S. Julian Hospitator is a mask. He is
thus seen on some of the windows at the cathedrals of Chartres and
Rouen, the latter of the 14th century. His name also seems to have had
virtue in it as an expletive, for in the _Chronique des Ducs de
Normendie et des Rois d'Engletierre_ the following exclamation occurs:
"_'Par Saint Julian!' dist Hubiers Gautiers li bons archevêsque de
Chantorbire_ (Canterbury)."
S. Julien was also invoked by travellers:
(Saint Ylaire) saint Juliens
Qui héberge les Crestiens,
was a rhyme of the _Moustiers de Paris_, written in 1270; and a document
of 1325 upon the _Churches and Monasteries of Paris_ thus confirms the
usefulness of S. Julien-le-Pauvre:
Or m'en iray outre le pont
Pour des autres moustiers trouver
Que l'on ne puisse réprouver,
Quar s'en mon dit faille de rien,
Premiers trouverez saint Julien
Le Povre, et bien ai regardé
Que maint compagnon a gardé
De mort, ce n'est pas mesprison
Et d'estre en vilainne prison;
Il les héberge et si les tence
De héberger a la poissance.
The early history of S. Julien is similar to that of all the other
churches of Paris. Destroyed in 886 by the Normans,[96] it fell into lay
hands, but was rebuilt in the 12th century, and became the property of
Etienne de Vitry and Hugues de Monteler, who, in consequence of a vow
made during sickness in the Holy Land, gave it over to the monks of
Longport, near Monthéry, who rebuilt the church and erected a priory for
fifty brothers.
The 13th and 14th centuries were periods of great intellectual activity.
Students flocked to Paris from all parts of Europe, and the left bank of
the Seine became a colony of colleges. According to Victor Hugo, there
were no less than forty-two in 1465.[97] S. Julian was in the midst of
these schools, and in the streets surrounding it were dwellings for the
students of the various nationalities. The little Rue du Fouarre takes
its name from _fourrage_, the straw upon which the students sat during
the lectures; and so large was the attendance in 1535, that the
authorities were obliged to erect two gates to prevent the circulation
of carriages during the lessons. Brunetto Latini, Dante Alighieri,
Petrarca, and Rabelais, were among the students of the Rue du Fouarre;
the three last referring to it in their writings. Dante, especially,
mentions his old master Sigier de Brabant in his _Divinia Commedia_:
_Essa la luce eterna de Sigieri_
_Che, leggendo nel vico degli Strami,_
_Sillogizo' invidiosi veri._ (_Il Paradiso_, canto x.)
The poet also bears witness to the violent discussions which took place
in the street, and adds that he found comfort in going to S. Julien to
say his prayers. Ambroise-Firmin Didot speaks of Dante living in the Rue
du Fouarre, _in vico stramineo_; and Mézières adds his testimony: "Il
est allé chercher la science à Bologne et entendre à Paris, dans la Rue
du Fouarre, de la bouche de Sigier, ces leçons hardies qui effrayaient
ces contemporains."
The colleges and dwelling-houses of the students, together with the
buildings of the priory, formed a small town. In an old plan of the
church, and its dependencies in the precincts, during the 14th century,
we find a number of most curious names attached to the houses: Maison
d'Angleterre, de la Hure, de Picardie, de Normandie, de l'Ymaige
Notre-Dame, du Paon, de l'Escu de France, de la Nef[98] d'Argent, du
Sabot, du Soufflet vert, du Papegaut, des Carneaulx, des Deux Cygnes,
des Lyons, de la Heuze, des Trois Boittes, des Quatre filz Hémon, de la
Corne de Daim, du Lièvre cornu, de la Cuiller, des Trois Canettes, du
Poing d'or, de la Main d'argent, du Turbot, les Étuves de la Queue du
Reynard, l'Escouvette d'or, and la ruelle du Trou-Punais; la maison des
Sept-Arts, à la nation d'Angleterre; les Escolles du Cheval Rouge à la
nation de Picardie, et la maison de la Corne de Cerf; these are only a
few of the names. Many of the houses were demolished quite recently to
make way for the Rue Monge. Much as I love Paris and admire it, I
sometimes wish a new street were not obliged to proceed upon its way in
a perfectly straight line, thereby destroying all that comes in its
path. A remnant of the houses attached to S. Julien may be seen in the
Rue Galande, No. 42, _maison de la Heuze et de Saint-Julien_--the
bas-relief of the old portal, mentioned above.
For several centuries the old church was the seat of the general
assemblies of the University; and by a decree of Philippe le Bel, the
Provost of Paris was obliged to go there every two years, to take an
oath to observe the privileges of the students, who were under his
jurisdiction. He bore the title of _Conservateur de l'Université_ with
much pride; but he must have had a troublous life, for the students were
always quarrelling with the citizens; and in the reign of Charles VI.,
the then Provost, Hugues Aubriot, rebuilt the Petit-Châtelet (which was
close to S. Julien), in order to defend the city against the nocturnal
incursions of the scholars. To such a pass had matters come in 1601,
that the Parliament issued the following decree: "La court a faict
inhibitions et défences aux dicts escolliers porter espées et dagues sur
le quay de la Tournelle ny commettre aucune insolence." There were
several classes of students, _Boursiers_ and _Pensionnaires_
(_Convicteurs ou Portionnistes_) living with the masters; _Caméristes_,
rich young men who lived without control and were only provided with
teaching and firing; _Externes libres_, or _Martinets_, troublesome
students who gained their name because they rarely appeared before the
Principal except for punishment with the rod or _martinet_; and the
_Galoches_, who lived out of college (_externes_), and were named after
the clogs (_patins_ or _galoches_) with great nails which they wore to
keep their feet dry in traversing the muddy or snowy streets. These were
often older men whose presence at lectures flattered the professors. Up
to the 16th century, S. Julien was also the scene of the election of the
Rector of the Faculty of Arts, _Rector Magnificus de l'Alma Parens_; and
upon these occasions, notably in 1524, the students seemed to have
amused themselves, after their kind, by breaking doors and windows,
wrenching knockers, and such like playful imbecilities. The next year
Parliament decreed that the elections should take place elsewhere; the
new localities chosen being, first the Mathurins, and then the College
Louis le Grand.
The University of Paris was established in 1200, but the word was not
commonly used until the time of S. Louis. In the time of Philippe
Auguste there were three schools in Paris, at Notre-Dame, and at the
abbeys of S. Victor and S. Geneviève. Naturally to keep so many students
in order was no easy task, and we can easily understand that upon every
excuse, every small discontent of the citizens, the scholars were only
too glad to help in the scrimmage. They were at first classified in
nations, or Société de Maîtres; thus in 1169 we read of la nation de
France, surnamed _Honoranda_; la nation de Picardie, _Fidellissima_; la
nation Normande, _Veneranda_; and la nation d'Angleterre,
_Constantissima_. In the "town and gown" rows between students and
citizens, the members of the University were only amenable to the
Provost of Paris, who gloried in the title of _Conservateur de
l'Université_; and when this gentleman found the gownsmen in the wrong,
the University suspended its lectures.
But S. Julien was not simply the centre of the University; it was also
the head-quarters of many guilds and corporations, such as the
Confraternity of Notre-Dame-des-Vertus, the Paper-makers, the
Ironfounders, and Roof-tilers.
Even before the Revolution, church property was not entirely exempt from
taxation. The abbeys and other ecclesiastical communities possessed
enormous privileges; but they were not enjoyed without certain
obligations, as witness requisitions from the sovereigns to furnish
supplies to carry on their little warlike pastimes. Sometimes the amount
was sent in money, but more often in kind; a few silver saints, some
golden shrines, and so on. S. Julien possessed a good revenue in the old
days, but in the 16th century the priory had begun to decline in
position and in wealth. The colleges moved up the "mountain" of S.
Geneviève; teachers and scholars deserted the old quarters; the houses,
which had been the greatest source of revenue, had begun to fall into
decay; and the priors became indifferent to their business affairs, and
were often absentees. At last things became so bad that, in 1643, a
prior named E. Thiboust had to be deposed, and replaced, nominally by
Pierre de la Valette, practically by Pierre Méliand, who accused his
predecessor "d'avoir laissé dépérir l'église depuis l'an 1612 qu'il
était entré en jouissance du prieuré. Et pendant cette jouissance, qui a
duré 18 ans, le sieur Thiboust a laissé tomber une grande partie de
l'église en ruine." Not only did prior Thiboust allow the buildings to
fall into decay, but he must have kept back part of the revenues; for
the next step was a petition to the King's _procureur-général_ to beg
him to oblige Thiboust to pay 16,500 _livres_, the repairs requisite
having been estimated at that sum by the King's judges Villedo and
Monnard. But notwithstanding this, Thiboust took upon himself to grant a
lease to Nicolas Brossier and Edme Porrion for a certain stone quarry
situated at Croix Faubin; and although the King confirmed Méliand in the
priory, the audacious Thiboust pleaded youth at the time of his
appointment, and subsequently shuffled out of payment of the whole sum.
[Illustration: THE SANCTUARY.]
The church was in a parlous state when prior Méliand began his repairs.
The roof was in a miserable condition, with a temporary covering over
the altar to keep out the rain and the door was almost in the last state
of decay; so Messire Claude Menardeau was called in (he was a councillor
of the King's, and a _commissaire_), and he decided "que des réparations
seraient faites au plus tôt, d'autant que l'églize despérit
journellement par la pluye et autres injures du temps, qui y tombent,
comme en plaine campagne." Unfortunately the master mason, Bernard
Roche, to whom the work was given, began by destroying the Gothic west
front and portal, to make room for lodgings for the ecclesiastics. Then
we read of plasterings, and a new front with pediment and Ionic columns,
and all the Classicisms so much beloved in the 17th and 18th centuries.
In 1655 the priory and its possessions were made over to the Hôtel-Dieu;
and thenceforth, until the demolition of the old building a few years
ago, it was used as the hospital chapel. But previous to this, Cardinal
Mazarin had turned over an annual payment of 2,500 _livres_ to the
Hôtel-Dieu from the revenue of his abbey of Saint-Étienne at Caen, and
in his capacity of abbot in chief of the order of Cluny, he made a
bargain which put an end to the independence of S. Julien. The prior was
to resign, and all the revenues of the convent were to go to the
establishment of a convalescent hospital; the Hôtel-Dieu undertaking, in
return, to carry on Divine service in the church, and to fulfil the
conditions of the different foundations belonging to it. At this time,
1660, the property of S. Julien consisted of thirty-eight houses and
gardens in the neighbouring streets, besides certain lands in the
Faubourg S. Jacques, at Montmartre, at Vitry, Villeneuve and Versailles,
together with revenues in kind--corn and fodder, and donations made at
burials; altogether amounting to about 2,400 _livres_.
It appears that the misfortunes of S. Julien were not over when it lost
its independence, for Louis Roche required payment for his various
"improvements," and so the poor church had to sell its plate. Nor could
services be held there without the permission of the archbishop, as the
_curé_ of S. Séverin seems to have objected: "Défense lui (the chaplain
of S. Julien) est faite de célébrer des messes hautes, de faire l'eau
bénite, la bénédiction du pain, de reçevoir offrande, faire quête,
chanter l'office et le salut, ni même exposer le Saint-Sacrament en
ladite église, sans la permission de Son Eminence."
In 1705 an inventory of the furniture, vestments, and plate was taken,
and a very poor collection it seems to have been; indeed, at that time,
even the hospital revenues were only about a sixth of the expenses. The
inhabitants of Paris had largely increased, and famines and wars had
brought many of them to the Hôtel-Dieu; so full was it that seven or
eight patients were packed into one bed, which, even considering the
width of an 18th-century sleeping place, must have been rather
unpleasant crowding.
[Illustration: EXTERIOR OF SAINT-JULIEN.]
At the Revolution, the revenues passed over to the State, and God's
House was converted into the "House of Humanity." The old church became
a salt warehouse, the _asile_ was pulled down, and it was only in 1826
that S. Julien was restored to its right use.
The first time I visited the church was before the Franco-German war,
when I was taken over the hospital by one of the Augustinian sisters.
Two or three patients were there pouring out their sorrows, or giving
thanks for mercies received. Outside, in the garden, were a few more
sitting about among the trees, making a charming picture, such as Fred
Walker would have delighted in. All this is now changed, and the sisters
are gone with the old hospital buildings and the quaint covered
bridge--a second _Ponte Vecchio_. Whether the poor have gained anything
by being nursed by lay-women instead of religious, we cannot say; but no
one will deny that the sisters were devoted to their work--kindly,
patient, sweet-tempered, of the same spirit as when, in the old time,
they not only nursed, but "au plus fort de l'hiver," they broke the ice
of the river, "qui passe au milieu de cet hôpital, et y entrer jusqu'à
la moitié du corps pour laver les linges." It was in S. Julien that the
White Sisters took the veil, and devoted themselves specially to the
service of God and the care of His poor.
The Miraculous Well and some of the foundations are all that remain of
the first Carlovingian church; the arcades of the nave and some of the
columns date back to the commencement of the 12th century, but the rest
of the building belongs to the end of that period. The tower, like the
portal, was improved away by Master Bernard Roche, and the old bell has
at present to content itself with a little pointed roof as a covering.
Its inscription is dated, and is in French:
✠
J. H. S.
MARIE SUIS NOMMÉE PAR M. JEAN BOURLON, CONSEILLER DU ROY
ET GREFFIER EN SA CHAMBRE DES COMPTES, ET PAR DAME MARIE
PAJOT, FEMME DE M. ALEXANDRE REBOURS, CONSEILLER DU ROY
EN SON CONSEIL D'ÉTAT ET PRIVÉ, ET PRÉSIDENT DE LA COUR DES
AYDES DE PARIS ET V^{E} DE BARTHÉLEMY TOUSSAINCT MOUSSIER
GOUVERNEUR DE L'ÉGLISE DE CÉANS DELAUNAY.
1640.
The plan of the church was originally a nave and aisles of six bays,
each terminating in an apse, but in 1675 two bays were demolished with
the entire west end, to make room for a forecourt. (It is said that, of
all the churches of Paris, the two which stand most truly East and West
are Notre-Dame and S. Julien.) Although parts of the interior have
suffered from "improvements" and neglect, the two bays of the choir and
the apsidal terminations have lost nothing of their original beauty. The
single-shaft pillars, recalling upon a small scale those of Notre-Dame,
the clustered columns which support the vault, and the little columns of
the windows; the capitals, the bosses, and the mouldings are all in the
best style of the end of the 12th century. The sculpture of the details
is treated with the greatest care, and the ornamentation of the capitals
(about one hundred and fifty in all) has all the variety of foliage and
imagery so dear to the Mediæval artists. The most curious example is on
the south side of the choir. Springing from a mass of foliage are four
figures of birds with female heads, bodies of feathers, outspread wings,
and clawed feet. Some of the foliage is the acanthus, but still more
represents the water plants which probably, in those early days, grew in
the Seine; for it must be remembered that the sculptors of the Middle
Ages were in the habit of taking their inspiration from the types of
Nature which surrounded them. It is curious that one of the capitals in
Notre-Dame, in the same position (the south side of the choir) is almost
identical with the one just described. On the right side of the altar is
the _piscina_, which is said to communicate with the Miraculous Well;
the water having been held in great veneration, people came to fetch it
from far and near.
[Illustration]
The church contains no monuments of any artistic value. A curious
bas-relief with a very long inscription was erected to the memory of
_Honorable et sage Maistre Henry Rousseau, jadis avocat en Parlement,
seigneur de Chaillaut (Chaillot) ... lequel trépassa l'an 1445 le IXe
jour de novembre_. _Dieu en ait l'âme. Amen._ The defunct left money to
endow masses, and also for the Hôtel-Dieu. He is represented enveloped
in a winding-sheet, addressing a prayer to our Lord, which is written
upon a streamer. The words in italics are lost:
Peccavi super numer [_um arene maris et multiplicata sunt peccata
mea_] non sum Dignus videre altidinem [_Celi pre multitudine
iniquitatis mee [=qm] irrita_] ram tuam. Et malum coram te feci
[=qm] ini [_[=qu]it[=ate] mea ego cognosco et_] delictum meum Coram
me est semper. Tibi soli pecca [_vi ideo deprecor_] majestatem tuam
Ut tu deleas iniquitatem meam miserere mei [_secundum mag[=n]a
misericordia_] tuam.
The epitaph is in Gothic letters, and in an excellent state of
preservation. Above the bordering we read:
Cy devant gist honorable homme et sage maîstre Henry Rousseau,
Jadis advocat en Parlement, seigneur de Chaillaut et de
Within the framing:
Compans en partie, lequel dès son vivant a fondé en cest hostel
trois messes Par chascune sepmaine qui sont et doivent estre dites
et célébrées à l'autel et Chapelle de Mons. S. Loys, jadis Roy de
France, située et assise au milieu de cest Ostel, aux jour de
Mercredi, Vendredi et Dimenche. Cest assavoir au mercredi De
Requiem, au vendredi de la Croix et au dimenche de la Solennité du
jour, où A la voulenté du célébrant, et en la fin de chascune messe
qui ne serait ditte De Requiem, le célébrant est tenu de faire
mémoire des Trespassez et pour ce Faire a fondé le dit Deffunct et
donné à cest hostel XII livres de Rentes que il ou ses hoirs
Doivent faire admortir, situées et assises sur une maison et
estuves assises à Paris Devant le Palais, à l'image Saint Michel,
et, pour avoir la sépulture en cette chapelle
Below the border:
a donné la somme de cent francs que aussi en son vivant il a payiez
en six Livres Parisis de Rente assises sur plusieurs maisons à
Paris declaires ès, _Lettres_ sur ce _faictes_, tout pour le salut
de son âme et des âmes de ses père et mère, parents et amis, lequel
trépassa l'an 1445 te IXe jour de novembre.
Dieu en ait l'âme. Amen.
The bas-relief was originally coloured, and at the corners of the border
were armorial bearings. The slab was formerly in the church of S. Blaise
and S. Louis, which was destroyed in 1765, and which belonged to S.
Julien, only having been separated from it by a narrow passage. It is
supposed to have been either a refectory or a private chapel. In 1476
the masons and carpenters of Paris made it the seat of their guild, and
built the portal in the Rue Galande; in 1684 it was reconstructed.
Another monument, or rather statue, by Bosio, of Antoine de Montyon, was
removed from the old Hôtel Dieu when it was pulled down, and placed over
the last burial-place of the philanthropist. Originally interred at
Vaugirard, M. de Montyon's body was afterwards placed under the
peristyle of the hospital, where it remained until the demolition. M. de
Montyon is principally known by his _prix de vertu_ given annually by
the Immortals of the Institut. But he left other legacies for prizes: to
whomsoever should discover the means of rendering certain industries
less unhealthy; to a poor French subject who should write a book the
most conducive to morals; for the advancement of medical science or
surgery; also for the poor who require aid on leaving the Paris
hospitals. All the prizes are distributed by the Academy, and the whole
sum left amounted to some seven millions of francs, a considerable
fortune seventy years ago (1820) when M. de Montyon died. The principal
prize, _pour l'action la plus vertueuse_, generally falls to the lot of
some obscure person, who has passed years of self-sacrificing devotion
to the old, the sick, or the poor; virtuous actions, in M. de Montyon's
opinion, being those unrecorded works of love and charity which are done
in simple homes, without excitement or glamour; works which become great
because of their very monotony and which prove the patience and
unselfishness of the true Christian.
À LA MEMOIRE
D'ANTOINE J. B. ROBERT AUGET DE MONTYON,
BARON DE MONTYON,
CONSEILLER D'ÉTAT,
DONT L'INÉPUISABLE BIENFAISANCE
ET L'INGÉNIEUSE CHARITÉ
ONT ASSURÉ
APRÈS SA MORT, COMME DURANT SA VIE,
DES ENCOURAGEMENTS AUX SCIENCES,
DES RÉCOMPENSES AUX ACTIONS VERTUEUSES,
DES SOULAGEMENTS À TOUTES LES MISÈRES HUMAINES.
NÉ LE 23 DEC. 1733.--MORT LE 29 DEC. 1820.
ICI REPOSE SA DÉPOUILLE MORTELLE
TRANSPORTÉE DE LA COMMUNE DEMEURE DES MORTS
À L'ENTRÉE DE L'ASILE DES PAUVRES, SOUFFRANTS ET SECOURUS,
COMME À SA PLACE LÉGITIME,
PAR LA PIEUSE RECONNAISSANCE.
DE L'AUTORITÉ MUNICIPALE ET DE L'ADMINISTRATION DES HOSPICES
AUXQUELLES SE SONT ASSOCIÉES
L'ACADÉMIE FRANÇAISE ET L'ACADÉMIE DES SCIENCES,
XXVI MAI M.D.CCC.XXXVIII.
M. de Montyon was a remarkable man, in that he refused the exalted
office of Keeper of the Seals offered him by Louis XVI., for fear of his
moral character deteriorating: "Dites à Sa Majesté que je suis confus de
ses bontés. Si je fais un peu de bien dans la place que j'occupe, c'est
que je ne suis pas en évidence. En acceptant celle que l'on me propose,
je serais exposé à toutes les intrigues, à toutes les cabales de
l'envie; je n'aurais peut-être ni le talent ni la force nécessaires pour
y résister; dans le doute, je dois m'abstenir."
SAINT-LAURENT.
There is nothing in the present somewhat spick-and-span church to recall
its former state in the 6th century. The patron of Nürnberg, of the
Escorial, and of Genoa; the young martyr, who from the earliest
beginnings of Christian art has been one of its most popular subjects;
the saintly deacon, who, as painted by Fra Angelico, charms us by his
expression of sweet sanctity, and who, when depicted by the disciples of
horrors, makes us shudder and close our eyes--S. Laurence, the deacon,
has always been a favourite, and many are the churches dedicated to him.
He was a native of Osca or Huesca, in Aragon, and acted as deacon
(although a priest) to Sixtus II., bishop of Rome, in the middle of the
3rd century. He had the care of all the precious vessels of the church,
and of the money. Times were bad, and Sixtus was denounced as a
Christian; then Laurence, following the example of S. Stephen,
petitioned the good bishop to allow him to share the captivity. Before
Sixtus died he ordered Laurence to distribute all the money and treasure
amongst the poor, and predicted his disciple's martyrdom as worse than
his own. Laurence went about the city and distributed the alms, which,
when the tyrant heard thereof, caused him so much anger that he thrust
the deacon into prison, where he converted his gaoler. But the Prefect
ordered him to give up his treasure. Then Laurence gathered together the
poor and the sick, and presented them to the Prefect; and he being
enraged, concocted a new and terrible torture. He made a sort of
gridiron bed, upon which the young deacon was laid, and fire being
placed underneath, the victim was roasted to death. "Seest thou not, O
thou foolish man, being roasted on one side, thou shouldst turn me over,
that the other be well cooked," are the words recorded to prove his
steadfastness. Then he lifted his eyes to Heaven, and said, "I thank
Thee, O my God and Saviour, that I have been found worthy to enter into
Thy blessedness"; and so he passed away into bliss, and was buried in
the Via Tiburtina.
[Illustration: SAINT-LAURENT.]
Grégoire de Tours speaks of a monastery of S. Laurence in Paris; and S.
Domnole, bishop of Le Mans, who died in 581, had been previously its
abbot. This abbey has long since disappeared, and been lost to memory;
and the parish, which since the 13th century has taken its place, became
a dependency of the priory of S. Martin. The _façade_ of the present
building is no older than 1622; the nave and transept were erected in
the 16th, the choir and apse in the 15th century. A niche containing a
statue of S. John Baptist is commendable, and some of the details of
corbels, gargoyles, cornices, and other exterior decoration are quaint
and often grotesque: little beasties jumping about in foliage; small
children in fool's caps tumbling about in grotesque attitudes; one
little imp being whipped by the schoolmaster; Angels with animal
continuations; a hunter shooting arrows at a salamander, and divers
other monstrosities.
The interior is cold and uninteresting, the bosses being the best part
of the decoration. They are of all manner of devices: S. Nicholas
blessing his children; crowns, garlands, Angels' heads; foliage and
draperies, and a mass of ornament and little personages--the Virgin and
Child, S. John Baptist with his cross, S. Laurence and his gridiron, the
scenes from the Passion, and many other conceits.
The apse has been disfigured, after the manner of S. Séverin and S.
Germain l'Auxerrois, by Corinthian columns, pilasters, monograms, and
trophies--the work of Lepautre. The _jubé_ has gone, and divers other
Gothic "excrescences," and the church remains a grand example of the
last century barbarism. Well has Victor Hugo described those gentlemen,
so-called artists, who fell down and worshipped Fashion, as set by its
18th century votaries: "Les modes ont fait plus de mal que les
révolutions. Elles ont tranché dans le vif, elles ont attaqué la
charpente osseuse de l'art; elles ont coupé, taillé, désorganisé
l'édifice, dans la forme comme dans le symbole, dans sa logique comme
dans sa beauté. Et puis, elles ont refait; prétention que n'avaient eue,
du moins, ni le temps, ni les révolutions. Elles ont effrontément
ajusté, de par _le bon goût_, sur les blessures de l'architecture
Gothique leurs misérables colifichets d'un jour, leurs rubans de marbre,
leurs pompons de métal: véritable lèpre d'oves, de volutes,
d'entournements, de draperies, de guirlandes, de franges, de flammes, de
pierre, de nuages, de bronze, d'amours replets, de chérubins bouffis,
qui commence à dévorer la face de l'art dans l'oratoire de Catherine de
Médicis, et le fait expirer, deux siècles après, tourmenté et grimaçant,
dans le boudoir de la Dubarry."
SAINT-LEU-SAINT-GILLES.
About the year 600, the town of Sens was besieged by Clotaire's general,
Blidebodes, and grievous was the pain and suffering to which the
inhabitants were subjected. But the bishop, Lupus,[99] Leu, or Loup was
a holy man, and while the warriors fought he passed his time in prayer.
Then he bethought him of a little stratagem. Ostensibly for the object
of collecting the citizens for prayer, he set to, and vigorously pulled
the church bell. The crowd rushed from all parts of the town, and
following the example of their spiritual father, they threw themselves
on their knees. Presently came the news that the siege was raised; at
the sound of the bell, the enemy had fled precipitately. This, all but
miracle, may be accounted for by the fact that bells were first
introduced into France about this time (615); and if Clotaire's
soldiers, coming from the north and west, had never heard any before,
they may have felt much the same sort of terror as was said to have been
instilled into the natives during the Ashantee war by the Scottish
bagpipes.
Considering that the church has two patrons, it ought surely to be in
some way remarkable; but the fact is, it is a very insignificant little
building, and devoid of beauty of any kind. It formerly belonged to the
Abbey of S. Magloire from which it was separated by only a small space
of ground; the abbey having been situated in the Rue S. Denis, and the
church in what is now the Boulevard Sebastopol. The latter must have
been built in the 13th century, as the abbé Lebeuf found a notice in the
archives of S. Magloire to the effect that some little bells had been
placed in S. Leu. The church has been so repaired, so cut about (the
east end was lopped off when the new boulevard was pierced); it has been
so mutilated and travestied, that little remains of the old building.
Some of the bosses are elegantly and curiously carved. We see S. Giles
and his hind, and S. Loup in episcopal vestments; the 17th century
marble bas-reliefs illustrating the Passion; quaint emaciated bodies
and large heads are the characteristics of the crowd.
In one of the chapels, the first on the south, is a curious picture
commemorating a terrible event, which led to a miracle. The inscription
reads thus:
CETTE IMAGE A ESTÉ FAITE L'AN 1772
EN L'HONNEUR DU SIGNALE MIRACLE ARRIVÉ À PARIS À LA RUE AUX
OURS PAROISSE DE ST. LEU ST. GILLES LE 3^{ME} JUILLET L'AN 1415
EN MEMOIRE DE QUOY.
LES BOURGEOIS DE LA DITE RUE TOUS LES ANS À PARCIL JOUR
BRULENT L'EFIGIE
DU MALFAICTEUR QUI MALHEUREUSEMENT FRAPPA L'IMAGE DE LA
SAINCT
VIRGE DE LA QUELLE SORTIT DU SANG ET FUT PUNI PAR ARREST DE LA
COUR DE PARLEMENT COME IL EST REPRÉSENTÉ CY DESSOUS.
The picture represents the Virgin and Child sitting under an elegant
baldachino, the curtains of which are borne by Angels, who are holding,
at the same time, a crown over the head of the holy mother. The
following description by Père Du Breul[100] gives the story of the
miracle:
"Le troisième du mois de juillet 1418, veille de sainct Martin,[101]
Bouillant, un soldat ou goujat sortant d'une taverne qui estoit dès lors
en la rue aux Ours, désespéré d'avoir perdu tout son argent et ses
habits à jouer, jurant et blasphémant, frappa furieusement d'un couteau
une image de la Vierge Marie qui estoit au coin de ladite rue. Laquelle
image rendit du sang en abondance; de quoy estant advertie la justice,
il fut mené par devant l'image, fut frappé d'escourgées depuis six
heures du matin jusques au soir, tant que les entrailles luy sortoient,
et eut la langue percée d'un fer chaud. Au mesme lieu, tous les ans et à
tel jour, on fait un feu pour souvenance de ce miracle.... Audit lieu se
voit encores une image de Nostre Dame enfermée d'un treillis, auprès de
laquelle, contre la parvy, le jour que ce faict ledit feu, l'on attache
une tapisserie où est représenté l'histoire susdite."
Horrors of this kind were common enough in the 14th and 15th centuries;
indeed, when we think of Damiens' tortures, even the 18th century was no
more humane or decent. In the account of the Black Death in 1348, when
500 persons were buried daily, and Jews were tortured and burnt for
poisoning the people (as the populace affirmed), an order of Philippe
IV. was issued that all blasphemers should have their lips or tongues
cut off, as a sanitary measure to dispel the plague. It is curious that
such doings should be commemorated in a church dedicated to S. Giles,
that gentle hermit who screened the wounded hind from its pursuers, and
gave an eternal reproof to the votaries of the hunt. One can imagine
what the hermit-Saint would have thought of thus torturing a man, being
not only the protector of hunted animals and woodlands, but also of
those specimens of human misery, the lepers. Yet for many years the
hideous cruelty described above was celebrated as a sort of Guy Fawkes
festival, with fireworks, and mannikins of gigantic size, which were
marched about the neighbourhood to the terror of all the youthful
inhabitants.
SAINT-LOUIS D'ANTIN.
Little need be said of the church which formerly belonged to the
Capuchins who were transferred from the Faubourg S. Jacques to the new
quarter of the Rue d'Antin in 1783. The church was built by Brongniard,
but is of no importance whatever. It now forms a part of the Lycée for
those connected therewith who do not find science and literature all
that is requisite to their souls' weal.
SAINT LOUIS EN L'ILE.
This church stands upon the little island of the same name, and was
commenced by Louis Levau in 1664; Gabriel Leduc continued the work, and
Jacques Doucet finished it in 1726. Men are said to be happy if they are
minus a history. Not so churches; without it they are anything but
interesting. And so we will pass on from the second S. Louis, just
noting some of the modern woodwork as respectable.
SAINT-LOUIS DES INVALIDES.
Built by Libéral Bruant from 1671 to 1679, this church has a certain
grandeur, and could the dome be seen from it by taking away the
intervening partition of ugly painted glass, it would be very imposing.
The latter, the burial-place of Napoleon and of some of his generals,
contains also monuments and statues of other military heroes. This part,
the cupola (or Tombeau as it is generally termed), was built by Jules
Hardouin Mansard, and dedicated by the Cardinal de Noailles in 1706. The
exterior is very fine, and, with its gilding, forms a beautiful landmark
for all parts of the city and suburbs. The interior, if somewhat
pompous, and over addicted to yellow glass, is nevertheless very grand;
and the general effect of the magnificent baldachino over the altar
(just such an arrangement as was wanted in S. Paul's), and the subdued
light, make a decidedly striking _coup d'œil_.
[Illustration: LE TOMBEAU DE NAPOLÉON.]
The statues of Charlemagne and of S. Louis are by Coyzevox and Nicolas
Coustou; the cupola was painted by Charles de Lafosse and by Jouvenet.
The statue of Turenne, which has at last found a resting-place, after
having been shunted about since its departure from S. Denis, is the work
of Tuby and Marsy. In the centre, under the beautiful dome, is
Napoleon's tomb, sunk some feet below the surface.
In the chapel proper are rows of flags of all nations suspended from
each side of the roof; but beyond these there is little that is
picturesque except during the military mass on Sunday morning. Then,
when the pensioners line the aisle, bearing their swords and halberds;
when the drums beat at the Elevation, and the old men present arms, the
effect is both grand and intensely pathetic. Formerly the military band
played throughout the offices; now the duty is done by the organ.
LA SAINTE-MADELEINE.
If good materials and excellent workmanship can make a building
interesting, assuredly the Madeleine ought to be so. Commenced in 1764
as a church, its fate was somewhat similar to that of S. Geneviève, for,
in 1806, Napoleon, then busy in Posen, sent his orders that it should be
finished as a Temple of Glory. The pediment was to bear the following
inscription:--"L'empereur Napoléon aux soldats de la grande armée;" and
the 5th article of the decree was thus composed: "Tous les ans, aux
anniversaires des batailles d'Austerlitz et d'Iéna, le monument sera
illuminé, et il y sera donné un concert précédé d'un discours sur les
vertus necessaires au soldat, et d'un éloge de ceux qui périrent sur le
champ de bataille dans ces journées memorables.... Dans les discours et
odes, il est expressément défendu de faire mention de l'empereur."
Pierre Vignon carried on the work, and the building grew into a
magnificent temple, planned upon the Maison Carrée of Nismes. The
results of Waterloo turned it again church ways, but it was not finished
until 1842. The bronze doors are perhaps the best work of Baron de
Triqueti; and the group of the Magdalen over the altar may be no more
mundane and meretricious than is usual in Marochetti's performances. The
picture in the vault over the altar is a jumble by Ziegler of sacred and
secular personages, from the Magdalen and her Master down to Napoleon
the arrogant. It is supposed to be an allegory of the history of
Christianity, which Clovis introduced to France, and Napoleon patted on
the back by means of the Concordat. The most important position in the
picture is occupied by the last-named brigand--the poor Pope even being
in a secondary place, somewhat inferior to the imperial eagle. The group
in the baptistry is by Rude; the one opposite, in a chapel dedicated to
marriage, by Pradier. It was in the Madeleine that some of the
Communards were massacred in 1871. At the end of the struggle, about 300
of them were driven into the church; and there, before the altar where
their victim, the abbé Duguerry had officiated, they were mown down in
terrible retribution, with no more mercy shown them than they had
accorded to the hostages.
In the interior fittings of the church, no expense has been spared, and
what it lacks in beauty as regards sculpture and painting it possesses
in its marble walls and its carved woodwork. The pulpit is an excellent
piece of modern wood-carving; the details of the ornament are in the
best style; and so are most of the worshippers; for it is one of the
fashionable churches of Paris. There, especially at the lazy mass (as
the old writer has it, "la messe des paresseux," which was said at "la
plus haute heure du matin," at "unze heures,") you see "_des mondaines_"
by the dozen; only the lazy eleven o'clock has become one in the
afternoon. What in the world would the old chronicler have said to the
swarms of fashionables who just save their souls by hurrying off after a
comfortable _déjeuner_ to those one o'clock masses? But there is a
mixture at the Madeleine; old ladies of the _noblesse_; _nouveaux
riches_; a few soldiers who like the music; half-a-dozen husbands who go
as a duty to their wives; an old Bretonne gorgeous in chains and muslin,
and velvet bodice; and two or three black women, charming in the yellow
silk handkerchiefs which swathe their heads. It is a mixture, and what
brings them? Probably the music, for at no church in Paris, and few
elsewhere, do you hear such refined, soft, emotional strains as there.
Sometimes the boys' voices are not of the best; but the artistic taste
with which they sing is always there. S. Roch has a reputation for its
choir, gained many years ago by its execution of the masses of Mozart
and Haydn; but it no longer deserves it. S. Eustache also is celebrated
for its music. But there is a special tone about that of the Madeleine
one meets with nowhere else; it aims at raising one's soul from the
earth upon which it is supposed to grovel; it certainly never interrupts
prayer or disturbs thought. Even on Good Friday, when the old _Passione_
by Haydn, or the new one by Dubois, is performed, refinement, not
clatter, is the distinguishing characteristic. If only some of our
London organists would take a leaf out of the Madeleine music-book! Just
think of the noise at a certain West-end church, which is the model of
all that ritual should be. From its foundation, what we all loved was
the refinement of its music; it was the exponent of Gregorian chants and
Plain song. Now the most elaborate compositions are performed for the
edification and vanity of the choir. Church music ought certainly to be
an aid to prayer, not a disturbing force; but what else can it be, when
organ and choir are all shrieking Haydn's Imperial Mass, or Beethoven in
C, and each man or boy is trying to get the mastery? It is a bitter duel
between organ and voices. All the great masters' masses are sung at the
Madeleine; but you can devote yourself to your own prayers all through
them without being disturbed, if you so wish. Moreover, one hour
suffices in Paris for what in London endures an hour and a half, or
more. And is not the long, elaborate _credo_ answerable for the
objectionable Roman practice of sitting through the greater part of it?
Of course church music should be of the most perfect kind; but
perfection is sure to be greater where less is attempted; and the mere
repetitions of words, and the placing of the accent upon the wrong note
in the English translation, make these elaborate masses unsuitable in
our churches.
[Illustration: PÈRE HYACINTH PREACHING AT THE MADELEINE.]
The ceremonial at the Madeleine always gives strangers the impression of
having been over-rehearsed. The black-clothed beadles walk about with
measured steps, particularly the frog faced one; the _Suisses_ in their
cocked hats leisurely saunter about with their halberds looking the
essence of flunkeyism, and never issue from their stereotyped expression
of importance and unmixed boredom, except upon occasions when a
foreigner fails to kneel at solemn moments. Why need the good Protestant
remain sitting when the bell rings, feigning a kneeling posture by a
sort of zigzag attitude? Up comes the _Suisse_, and shaking the back of
his chair, tries to jerk him out of it. Why not stand, if rags of popery
and scarlet women prevent you kneeling? Or why go at all, if you cannot
do at Rome as Rome does? I confess to feeling a sensation of distress,
and am much upset when that chair-tipping begins. And the worst of if is
that, although the victim is innocent of what lies in store for him, we,
who know the ways of the _Suisses_, anxiously anticipate the fatal
moment. Sometimes, too, the British-born struggles to look pious, while
he furtively reads his Baedeker, never dreaming that the benighted
foreigner knows that Classic by its blood-red exterior. We are a great
people, and are justly proud of our institutions; but we should be no
less great if we had a little more respect for other folks, and other
folks' manners and customs.
It is curious how the church beadle varies. At the Madeleine he is pure
flunkey. His cocked hat is high and broad, like the old Bumble of our
childhood; he is whiskered, but not bearded; he has an arrogant way with
him as he precedes the priest who makes the collection; and as he
carries the bag into which the alms are emptied from time to time, he
looks the essence of important officialism. Likewise, when he demands,
in a commanding voice, "Pour les pauvres, _s'il_ vous _plait_!" few
persons would say him nay. Not so the _Suisses_ of S. Eustache; they
have the military air; the cocked hat is low, and worn as by the
Marshals of France. Such are they also at S. Roch, and at both churches
they salute at the Elevation, _à la militaire_.
It has always seemed to me that the author of _Monsieur, Madame et
Bébé_, pictured the Madeleine in his scenes of Madame at church; at all
events I have often seen the like. She kneels on her velvet-covered
_prie-Dieu_, and tells her beads; and then, between a _Pater Noster_ and
a new batch of _Ave Marias_, she turns round to a neighbour, "Ah! chère
madame, comment allez vous? et monsieur votre mari? Et la chère petite
Bébé?" "Merci, chère baronne, mon mari ne va pas trop mal; il a la
migraine, voilà tout. Et Bébé, c'est un ange; elle est ravissante, le
petit chou. Mais moi, je souffre, oh, comme je souffre! je suis
tellement éreintée que.... Je vous salue Marie, pleine de grâce."....
"How adorable is the Madeleine," said Dibden; but he meant its exterior
at twilight, when the lights spring up on the neighbouring boulevards.
And so it is in its way; but its way is to some of us not the most
beautiful way.
Many are the functions which take place there; marriages and funerals by
the score. At the latter, it affords ample room under its portico for
that terrible French custom which forces all the family of the deceased
to stand by the door and receive the condolences of their friends and
acquaintances. How do they ever survive it? And why do they not rebel
against the conventionality, and give it up? Because they are at once
the most conventional of nations, added to the most revolutionary. The
funeral terror is greater in France that here at home; it is one of the
few things in which we are ahead of our neighbours. We do not waste
quite so much upon putting our friends underground, although we too are
compelled to pay twice as much as we ought. But in some respects the
French are far more decent. Men raise their hats at passing funerals,
and I have never seen the undertakers sitting in the open car when
returning from the cemetery; an indecent proceeding like the one
immortalized in _Figaro_. "Mon Dieu! What strange people, ces Anglais!
When they return from a funeral, the friends of the deceased ride upon
the top of the hearse with their legs hanging over it!"
One of the beauties of the Madeleine is the flower-garden at its feet,
and the tree-planted boulevards which surround it. How pleasant it is to
be able to sit down in the air upon a warm evening; would that we could
do likewise! Here, sunset is the last moment when we can breathe the air
of most of the parks, without perpetually tramping round and round upon
our weary legs. But in Paris we may sit and gaze upon the buildings by
moonlight if we like; and certainly, that is the most flattering time
for the Madeleine. Its portico, lighted up by the moon with the dark
shadows thrown behind it, has a decidedly grand appearance.
SAINTE-MARGUERITE.
The church, dedicated to
_Mild Margarete, that was God's maid;_
_Maid Margarete, that was so meke and mild,_
is not of much importance. The popularity of S. Margaret was so great in
the Middle Ages that it seems strange so little notice has been taken
of her in Paris. Only think what a lovely dragon the sculptor of the
monsters upon the towers of Notre-Dame would have contrived! We have
only to look upon them to picture to ourselves the dreadful worm.
Maiden Margrete tho (_then_)
Loked her beside,
And sees a loathly dragon
Out of an hirn (_corner_) glide:
His eyen were ful griesly,
His mouth opened wide,
And Margrete might no where flee,
There she must abide.
Maiden Margrete
Stood still as any stone,
And that loathly worm,
To her-ward gan gone,
Took her in his foul mouth,
And swallowed her flesh and bone.
Anon he brast--(_burst_)
Damage hath she none!
Maiden Margrete,
Upon the dragon stood;
Blyth was her harte,
And joyful was her mood.[102]
The church of S. Marguerite is in the Rue S. Bernard, Faubourg S.
Antoine. The chapel of the Souls in Purgatory is a curious composition
by Louis, dated 1765; and still more curious was the burying, in 1737,
of the tomb of Antoine Fayet, one of the _curés_, because of the
indecent nudity of the white marble Angels, a piece of astounding
prudery in that peculiarly indecent period of French history. Some
pictures illustrative of the life of S. Vincent de Paul are remarkable
from the truthfulness of the portraiture; they were formerly in the
Lazarists' Church. A marble _Descent from the Cross_, designed by
Girardon, and sculptured by his pupils Le Lorrain and Nourrisson for the
church of S. Landry, found its way to S. Marguerite in 1817, where it
accompanies another _Descent_ painted upon wood, and very excellent in
its way.
SAINT-MARTIN DES CHAMPS.
Situated upon the east side of a square which lies between the Rue S.
Martin and the Boulevard Sabastopol is the Conservatoire des Arts et
Métiers, formerly the rich priory of S. Martin. As its name indicates,
it used to be surrounded by fields and gardens; now it is an oasis of
antiquity, built up upon every side but the square with huge modern
houses. Its old walls enclose a museum; its chapel contains hydraulic
machines, and its refectory is a public library. One of the twenty or
more turrets which surmounted the wall at intervals still remains; but
the chapel of S. Michel, which old Nicolas Arrade founded in the 13th
century as a tomb-house for himself and his descendants, the
chapter-house, the tower, the Lady-Chapel, and several statues of royal
personages, have all been demolished--not by Revolutionists, but by the
latter-day monks, who also saw fit to rebuild their cloisters, and
ornament them with handsome Doric columns. These acts of barbarism were
perpetrated some hundred and fifty years ago. But in spite of adversity,
S. Martin still gives us some idea of a conventual foundation, and in
Paris it is the only one which has survived improvements by friend and
foe. It still has its gate leading into a large courtyard, with church,
refectory, and a portion of the cloisters.
Although the priory ranked after all the abbeys of Paris, it was
well-nigh as important, and as rich. The prior enjoyed a revenue of
45,000 _livres_, and had the right of nomination to sixty benefices,
twenty-nine priories, and many curacies and chapels.
The legend of S. Martin bestowing half his cloak upon a beggar is well
known, and a frequent subject for painters. But he was given to other
works of mercy, and one, healing the leper, is said to have taken place
upon the site of this particular convent. S. Martin is the patron of
soldiers. Born in the reign of Constantine the Great, at what is now
Stain, in Hungary, Martin early became a Christian, but his parents
being Pagans, he was not baptized until comparatively late in life. His
father was a Roman soldier and tribune, and the son was enrolled in a
cavalry legion. Obliged to leave his native country for Gaul, we find
him in the year 332 quartered at Amiens; and here it was that he
performed the act which has made him so famous in literature and
art--the cutting of his cloak in two to clothe a starving beggar. His
namesake, Martin Schoen, gives him such a voluminous mantle that one
feels the act of cutting it in half to have been that of a
highly-practical mind--enough for you, and enough for me. But other
painters, on the contrary, depict the cloak as of such very small
dimensions that one can only marvel that the Saint did not give it all
to the beggar; for a portion of the garment could scarcely have
benefited either party. This act brought him, however, praise from
Heaven, and he hastened to receive baptism, being then twenty-three
years of age. At forty he left the army, and was elected Bishop of
Tours; and again we read of a similar story of clothing the naked, this
time with his sacerdotal vestment during the celebration of mass.
S. Martin founded several churches and monasteries, and many more were
dedicated to him after his death. Marmoutier, near Nantes, was a very
celebrated convent; and in England there are a great many churches of
which he is the patron. S. Augustine, when he came to Britain, found a
chapel in the neighbourhood of Canterbury, which had been dedicated to
S. Martin as early as the 5th century, and there he baptized his first
converts. The church is certainly one of the earliest in England, and
the font cannot be later than the 11th century; but whether it be the
identical one at which King Ethelbert stood to be baptized in the 7th
century is considered doubtful. Still, though much restored from time to
time, the building retains numbers of Roman bricks incorporated into its
walls; and that Queen Bertha worshipped in a church upon the same spot,
or close by, is certain, tradition also pointing to a stone coffin in
which she lies.
To return to S. Martin, the legend relates that when he was entering
Paris, as Bishop of Tours, he met a wretched leper at the gate, and,
filled with compassion and love, he embraced him, and thus healed him of
his leprosy. This was the act which King Henri I. commemorated by
founding the priory in 1060. His son Philippe I. dedicated the church in
1067, placing the new foundation under the patronage of the abbot of
Cluny, of which monastery S. Martin des Champs was the third daughter.
Its domains originally consisted of several acres of land, which, as
time went on, became more and more valuable; and probably, in
consequence of its great wealth, it was governed by a long succession of
illustrious men; at first regular, and subsequently, titular abbots, of
which class was his eminence the Cardinal Richelieu.
It is owing to the cession of the last of the turrets, built by prior
Hugues IV. to the town in 1712, and to the erection of a fountain at
its base, that we now possess this fragment of the old wall. The
principal gate, dating 1575, and ornamented with statues of the two
royal founders, was unfortunately demolished at the same time.
The church belongs to two distinct periods. The nave was built about the
middle of the 13th century, and is without aisles or pillars. It is
lighted by pointed windows, and covered by a pointed timber roof. The
choir and apse belong to the middle of the 12th century, and are
peculiar in their arrangement. The choir is raised from the nave, and
round it on a lower level are double aisles, divided by clustered
columns which support the vaulting. Thus, the choir is approached from
the nave by steps in the usual manner; but to enter the apsidal chapels
one has to descend three or four steps from the nave. There are a few
fragments of tombs with effigies of the priors, and some mutilated stone
coffins. All the rest of the contents of the church have disappeared; it
is in fact, architecturally, an empty shell. The statue of the Blessed
Virgin sculptured in wood, and held in great veneration by the faithful
worshippers at S. Martin, was taken to S. Denis. The whole building has
been gorgeously decorated in colour, and, if restored to its proper use,
would be, after the Sainte-Chapelle, the most interesting church in
Paris; but the desecration grates upon our religious sentiments, and the
noise of the machinery in motion distracts one's nerves. The study of
architecture is not rendered easier by the rattle of a dozen or more
steam engines, compared to which the confusion of tongues must have been
a very small clatter.
Tradition gives Pierre de Montereau as the architect of the refectory,
which is a _chef-d'œuvre_ of the 13th century. It is an oblong
building with seven tall, elegant, single-shaft pillars down the centre,
dividing it into two equal parts longitudinally. Upon the side walls are
an equal number of columns reaching about half-way down, and supported
by foliated corbels to match the capitals; the vault, springing from
these and the pillars, divide the length into eight bays. The windows
consist of two lights surmounted by a rose; but upon one side they have
been blocked up. The reading pulpit, which is built into the wall, is a
beautiful specimen of its kind. It is lighted from the back by three
little windows, and approached by a staircase in the wall, with open
arcading to give light upon the refectory side. The building has been
decorated with colour, and a painting representing S. Martin dividing
his cloak, mediævalized by M. Steinheil--the whole sufficiently
harmonious.
[Illustration: THE REFECTORY.]
The rest of the buildings are modern, or have been modernized; most of
the destruction having been perpetrated by the monks, who, like all
authoritative Paris of the last century, had Classicism on the brain. At
S. Martin, as at S. Nicolas des Champs, S. Germain l'Auxerrois, and S.
Séverin (not to mention other churches), Doric columns have taken the
place of the old work--they must have been sculptured by the hundred.
The chapel of the Virgin, the chapter-house, the old cloister, which,
according to Piganiol de la Force, had not the like in Paris, and the
statues of divers Kings and Saints, were all swept away to make room for
modern improvements; but the refectory was left intact, and having been
used as the library, the transformation of the convent into a museum has
affected it less than the chapel. As we pass into it from the outer
world of trams and omnibuses, with all the _va-et-vient_ of a great
city, we seem to be suddenly transported into the olden time--into a
world which, if not a better, was certainly a more artistic and a
quieter one.
SAINT-MÉDARD.
The French S. Swithin shares with his brethren on the opposite bank of
the Seine, _les frères Gervais et Protais_, a predilection for drenching
us on and after his _fête_ day; so that, what with S. Médard's 8th of
June, S. Gervais' and S. Protais' 19th June, and S. Swithin's 15th July,
we who live upon our respective sides of the ditch may reckon upon a
good three weeks of wet, over and above the forty days, if unhappily it
rains upon the earlier of those unlucky festivals.
S'il pleut le jour de Saint-Médard,
Il pleut quarante jours plus tard;
S'il pleut le jour de Saint Gervais et de Saint Protais,
Il pleut quarante jours après.
But if S. Médard was vindictive in his ways, he compensated us for his
downpours by inventing that handy instrument without which life would be
unbearable. The French say that an Englishman goes to bed in his hat,
clutching his umbrella, which is a polite way of reproving him for his
peculiar and insular practices; but how could he live without his
umbrella? and kind Médard, foreseeing the state of dampness to which our
northern atmosphere was leading us, turned to account an accident which
befel him. In was in this wise. On a certain hot day in a certain hot
summer, Médard and his friends went a picnicing, when suddenly a storm
disturbed their innocent junketings. All were thoroughly soaked through
from head to foot, with the exception of the host, who suddenly found
himself protected from the rain by the outspread wings of an eagle which
hovered over his head. This was the birth of the umbrella, which, as
everyone knows, is of French, and not of oriental origin. In Belgium the
rainy Saint is one Godeliève; in Germany the character is undertaken by
the Seven Sleepers, showing the wisdom of the Teuton in slumbering
through his miseries. Amongst the flowers, the moneywort is dedicated to
S. Médard.
At the commencement of the last century, Jansenist pilgrimages and
divers miracles took place at the little church, curing those suffering
from convulsions; young girls had fits which gave them "comical
twitchings of the nerves. Some would bark all night, and others leaped
about like frogs. Sister Rose sipped the air with a spoon, as your
babies do pap, and lived on it forty days; another swallowed a New
Testament, bound in calf. Some had themselves hung, others crucified,
and one, called Sister Rachel, when nailed to a cross, said she was
quite happy. In their holy meetings, they beat, trampled, punctured,
crucified, and burnt one another without the least sentiment of pain."
All this was done under Louis XV., and attested by thousands of
witnesses, until at last the archbishop, by means of a strong military
guard, put an end to the folly. Thereupon some wag wrote upon a wall:
De par le roi défense à Dieu
De faire miracle en ce lieu.
Large packages of the earth were exported to work miracles in the
provinces and in foreign countries. One of these marvellous cures is
related, scoffingly, in a song of the Duchesse de Maine:
Un décrotteur à la royale,
Du talon gauche estropié,
Obtint par grace speciale
D'etre boiteux de l'autre pied.[103]
The church of S. Médard is in the Rue Mouffetard, and originally the
ground belonged to the abbey of S. Geneviève. At first the monks only
erected a small chapel, which they placed under the protection of the
great Bishop of Noyon, who was the friend and chancellor of the early
Mérovingian Kings. In the 12th century the chapel is designated as a
church in the bulls of the popes, and up to the Revolution it was served
by the regular canons of the abbey.
The church is of no importance, dating only from the 15th century. The
pillars are without capitals; but, as in many of the other churches, the
keystones and bosses are elaborately carved. Some of them represent the
Annunciation, the Visitation, the Descent of the Holy Spirit, and other
Scriptural subjects, besides monsters, griffins, and garlands of
foliage. In one of the chapels a little glass of the 16th century
remains; and a retable, upon which a Notre-Dame de Pitié is painted, is
also worthy of note.
In 1784 an architect named Petit-Radel conceived the idea of
transforming S. Médard into a modern temple of Jupiter, with not much
success. Doric and Corinthian columns, palms and personages, adorn the
sanctuary and the _chevet_. Better are the fragments of old glass which
are interspersed with the new in some of the windows; a S. Fiacre,
patron of cabs and coaches, a Holy Family, S. Michael, a Calvary, and
many Angels; but they are the merest scraps of former grandeur. The
chapel of the Virgin was built by the "artist" who mutilated and
distorted the choir, and is in the same grandiose style. The
academician, Olivier Patru, and Pierre Nicole, the theologian, were
buried at S. Médard.
SAINT-MERRI.
At the bottom of the Rue S. Martin, close to the Rue de Rivoli, is a
spot which, during the ages of faith, was much reverenced for its
miracle-working powers. In the 7th century, the whole district was a
forest, and doubtless the King and courtiers hunted there; for are we
not told that the Louvre, hard by, was in early days but a royal
hunting-box. As is well known, Paris, the Lutetia of the Gauls,
consisted only of the present Cité, the island upon which stands the
cathedral. All around were forests, well stocked with game (animals more
or less wild); and here and there, probably, small outlying settlements
which we should now call villages and hamlets.
In the midst of the wood stood a little chapel dedicated to S. Peter,
which was as much surrounded by trees and shrubs as the present church
of S. Merri is by streets and houses. Adjoining this chapel was a cell,
or hermitage, and it was there that S. Merri, and his disciple, S.
Frodulphe, sojourned when on their way from Autun to the shrines of S.
Denis and S. Germain. S. Merri was abbot of Autun, but he seems to have
been glad of a change to the great city; for so it befel, that instead
of returning to his abbey, he stayed in this little wooded retreat,
undisturbed by aught but the singing of the birds and the sighing of the
trees, for the space of three years. Then, on the 29th of August, about
the year 700, he died, and was buried in the chapel. Many and wondrous
were the miracles wrought at his tomb; and so famous did it become that
S. Peter's patronage was forgotten, and the church was looked upon by
the people as being under the exclusive protection of S. Merri.
About the end of the 9th century, a redoubtable warrior, Eudes de
Fauconnier, desiring to celebrate his part in the expulsion of the
Normans from the neighbourhood, erected a new church on the site of the
little chapel, or in its immediate neighbourhood. This was dedicated to
the two saints, S. Merri being placed before S. Peter. When this church,
in its turn, was demolished in the time of François Ier, the remains
of the founder were found in a stone coffin, the bones of his legs and
feet being still shod in his gilt leathern boots. The coffin was
re-buried in the choir, and an inscription placed upon a white marble
slab: _Hic jacet vir bonae memoriae Odo Falconarius, huius ecclesiae,
ora pro eo._ In the opinion of the abbé Lebeuf, this Odo was the famous
warrior who with Godefroi defended the city against the Normans in 886.
The surname _Falconarius_ may come from Odo having been made the King's
falconer, or from the kind of lance which he used, _falco_, because it
was bent; just as Charles, the grandfather of Charlemagne, was known by
the surname of Martel. The gilt leather boots denote a personage of the
9th century; similar _chaussures_ may be seen in miniatures of the
Carlovingian period. One of the monks of S. Germain des Prés, Abbon, has
celebrated the heroic deeds of Odo, and testified to the ability of the
surgical instrument makers of the 9th century:--
UNA DIES ISTUM VOLUIT SIC LUDERE LUDUM,
HIS DUCIBUS, GODOFREDO NEC NON ET ODONE;
BELLIGERI FUERANT UDDONIS CONSULIS AMBO.
IDEM ODO PRAETEREA OPPOSUIT SE SAEPUIS ILLIS
ET VICIT JUGETER VICTOR. HEN! LIQUER UT ILLUM
DEXTRA MANUS BELLO QUONDAM, CUJUS LOCA CINXIT
FERREA, PENE VIGORE NIHIL INFIRMIOR IPSA.[104]
S. Merri was made into a parish church in the 12th century, and in the
early years of the following century it became collegiate. It was called
the third daughter of Notre-Dame, a title given to churches which were
served by the clergy of the mother church, its chapter consisting of a
_chefcier_, who filled the position of the _curé_, six canons, and six
chaplains.
The present church was commenced in 1520 or a few years later, and
finished in 1642; the architects adhering to the original plan, without
any change of style, which is not often the case in churches that were
so long in course of construction. The beautiful west front is a mass of
rich ornamentation; its three portals, the pinnacles, corbels, niches,
etc., being carved with various conceits--animals, human heads, flowers,
vine-leaves, and so on, one little head having a cap such as is worn by
the peasants of Auvergne. The statues, large and small, are modern,
having been put in position in 1842, replacing those destroyed during
the Revolution. Those round the _voussure_ are copied from one of the
portals of Notre-Dame, and consequently are two centuries too early for
the church. Another blunder of the modern architect is the placing of a
demon in the centre at the point of the arch, where the Mediæval artists
invariably put the figure of Christ or of Our Lady. The lower part of
the tower is contemporary with the church, but the upper stories have
been rebuilt in the 17th century, and consist of Renaissance arches and
shafts. Upon the opposite side is a little turret of open woodwork, and
from the roof some old gargoyles stretch themselves out. The church is
cruciform; unfortunately it is partly hidden by the Presbytery and other
buildings. Indeed, like many Continental churches, it is so built about
by surrounding houses that one only gets a view of it here and there. It
is extraordinary that in such a city as Paris this is tolerated. At S.
Germain l'Auxerrois there is (or was, not long ago) an extraordinary
little wooden hut (presumably the dwelling of the sacristan) built in
between the buttresses of the east end, and completely filling up two
windows of the apse. The whole erection being in wood, it could easily
be taken down; for it is only supported on great wooden piles, and
approached by a sort of ladder. Such a state of things only exists in
Catholic countries, and the more Catholic--as, for example, Belgium--the
more complete is this sort of desecration.
The havoc made in the interior of the church by the 18th century
architects is deplorable. Windows have been destroyed, piers have been
stuccoed over, and pointed arches turned into round ones. The pillars
are late Perpendicular, or rather Flamboyant, shafts without capitals;
and round the nave, between the arches and the clerestory, runs a little
frieze of foliage and quaint birds and beasts, a feature which is not
common. All the bosses of the choir and apse are very richly decorated,
and the vaulting is good, but both the choir and the _chevet_ have been
sadly "improved." About 1753 the brothers Slodtz were commissioned to
convert the thirteen pointed arches of the choir into round ones, and to
encase the pillars in panellings of stucco, which was marbled and gilt,
the last bay being profusely decorated with golden sun-rays. One of
these unfortunate brothers, Michel-Angelo by name, designed the pulpit,
a mass of palm-tree decoration, surmounted by a female figure of
Religion; and to place this wondrous production, a whole bay of the nave
had to be demolished. The year following three chapels were destroyed to
make room for the new square, barn-like Chapel of the Communion; which,
besides being beautified by the Slodtz brothers' sculptures, was further
embellished with a picture by Charles Coypel. The modest sum paid to
these miserable, so-called artists, for hacking the church to pieces,
was 50,000 _écus_.
[Illustration: SAINT-MERRI; NORTH-WEST DOOR.]
The crypt is most interesting, and is said to have been a reproduction
of the original one which contained the tomb of S. Merri. It was used
for some time as a workshop by the cleaners of the church, and was the
depository of brooms, brushes and lamps. It has a stumpy central column,
from which spring the ribs of the vault, the capital being ornamented
with vine-leaves. It is square, and divided into four parts. A few
remains of recumbent tombs can be seen in the pavement; but of the
monuments of Arnaud de Pomponne, ambassador of Louis XIV., and of Jean
Chapelain, the author of _La Pucelle_, nothing remains. The crypt, with
its solid central pillar, resembles that in the Louvre of the time of
Philippe Auguste, which has lately been brought to light.
Much of the old glass has gone, the central portion of each window
having been taken away, to throw more light upon the marbled stucco.
What remains is in good 16th century style, the work, probably, of
Héron, Jacques de Paroy, Chamu, and Jean Nogare, whom Levieil records to
have been the artists employed. The subjects are from the history of SS.
Peter, Joseph, John the Baptist, and Francis of Assisi; but it is most
difficult to follow the designs, as not only are there the gaps of plain
glass, but what was taken out has been used for repairing the other
windows. Still a few subjects can be traced; the Raising of Lazarus; an
Angel bringing food to the Virgin as she works in the temple; the
Magdalen preaching to the people from a pulpit; the Beheading of S.
John. In one of the chapels the history of Susannah figures--also Joseph
and Jacob, and other Old Testament worthies. Three persons, identical in
form and features, represent the Holy Trinity; they hold each other's
hands in a circle, upon which is inscribed, _Ego sum alpha et omega,
primus et novissimus_. On another window are the Sybils carrying the
emblems of the Nativity and the Passion, the Cradle, a lantern, the
Scourge, and the Cross.
The church possesses a very curious holy-water stoop of the time of
Louis XII. It is about three feet high, more like a baptismal font than
a stoop in size; it is octagonal, and stands upon a pedestal with a
square base. The upper part is decorated with the arms of France and of
Bretagne, and the instruments of the Passion. A small amount of carved
woodwork of the Renaissance period remains--fragments of sculptured
columns, pilasters, children, birds, and trophies. But a most
remarkable picture of the 16th century arrests the visitor's attention
as he saunters round the aisles, _S. Geneviève_ sitting in a sort of
Druidical circle surrounded by her flock of sheep--a rare combination of
mystic Paganism and Christian legend.
A mosaic tablet of the _Virgin and Child_ now in the Hôtel Cluny (No.
1795) was formerly in this church. It was given by Jean de Ganay, first
president of the Parliament. Piganiol de la Force gave the continuation
of the inscription as "_Opus magistri Davidis_, Florentini, Anno
M.CCCC.LXXXXVI." Jean de Ganay went to Italy with Charles VIII., and
took part in the campaign of 1494 and 1495, and for some time he was
chancellor of the kingdom of Naples; but as he was not first president
until 1505, the mosaic must have been sent to Paris subsequently to his
sojourn in Italy. His epitaph runs thus:
CY GIST LE CORPS DE NOBLE CHEVALIER
JEAN DE GANNY DE FRANCE CHANCELIER
ET ZELATEUR DE LA CHOSE PUBLIQUE.
TARDIF À NUIRE ET PREST À CONSEILLER
DU BIEN DAUTRUY CAR CESTOIT LE PILLIER,
PHILOSOPHAL VRAY ARISTOTILIQUE,
POURTANT HUMAINS UN CHACUN SE APPLIQUE
PRIER JESUS PAR MESSES ET PAR DITS
QUIL LUY PARDONNE ET DONNE PARADIS.
OBIIT ANNO 1512.
M. de Sommerard attributes this mosaic to David Ghirlandajo.
SAINT-NICOLAS DES CHAMPS.
[Illustration: PORCH OF SAINT-NICOLAS.]
The patron saint of children, of schoolboys, of poor maidens and
travellers, of merchants, and, above all, of pawnbrokers, was popular in
Paris as elsewhere, and thus we find three churches dedicated to him. S.
Nicolas was a performer of stupendous miracles. Thus it happened that
during a time of famine, while he was visiting his flock, he discovered
that a certain disciple of the Evil One murdered little children, and,
cannibal-like, feasted on them. And so audacious was this fiend in human
shape, that he impudently served up the dismembered limbs of a young
babe for the good bishop; who, seeing this wickedness, went to the tub
where the children's remains were being salted down, and making the sign
of the cross over them, the babes all stood up. This is a favourite
subject in art; and not the least beautiful of all the saints and
martyrs in the processional frieze in S. Vincent de Paul is Flandrin's
conception of S. Nicholas.[105] Why the Saint's three balls, which seem
to have been purses given to three poor maidens, should have become the
sign of pawnbrokers, seems doubtful. Perhaps simply as being emblems of
gold lent by merchants to impecunious customers. The story of the
children is probably an allegory of the conversion of sinners, the tub
being the baptismal font and the wicked host, the evil state in which
all men are born. S. Nicholas is also the guardian of property, and in
that form figures upon the windows of the cathedral of Chartres. The
Saint's image was stolen by a Jew, and placed in guardianship over his
treasures. Then came robbers, who carried off the property, which, the
Jew discovering, led to the chastisement of the bishop's effigy. But S.
Nicholas was equal to the occasion, and reproving the Jew, ordered the
robbers to restore what they had stolen; and when the Hebrew saw the
miracle, he became converted, he and his whole house. This, too, may be
the reason for S. Nicholas' patronage of pawnbrokers, who are many of
them, indeed most of them, Jews.
In the 12th century S. Nicolas des Champs was but a chapel built upon
the domain of the priory of S. Martin. Two centuries later it was
rebuilt; but in the 16th century, being too small for its parishioners,
it was widened by turning the chapels of the nave into an aisle, and
erecting fresh chapels outside it. Later on it was again enlarged, until
it has become one of the longest of the Paris churches.
The _façade_ in the Rue S. Martin is in the Flamboyant style, and not
without some beauty, with its pinnacles and turrets, its niches and
statuettes; but the most striking part of the church is the
richly-sculptured doorway in the Rue Aumaire, a mass of niches, figures
of Angels, and Flamboyant ornament of the most elaborate kind--birds,
baskets of flowers, borne by pious little personages, and every kind of
foliage, reminding us of the works of Germain Pilon.
The interior shows the change of style from shafts without capitals to
the latest development in the way of Doric columns. The High Altar is
ornamented with Corinthian columns, some stucco Angels by Jacques
Sarazin, and a picture of _the Assumption_ by Simon Vouet. The best
picture in the church is M. Bonnat's early work of _S. Vincent de Paul_.
An old panel of a _Calvary_ is a very good specimen of one of the
unknown artists of the 16th century.
A few celebrities were buried in S. Nicolas; the _savant_ Guillaume
Budé, who died in 1540; the philosopher Pierre Gassendi; the historians
Henri and Adrien de Valois; and Mdlle. de Scudéry; but their monuments
have vanished. On the pavement are some stones bearing the names of
Rochechouart, Crillon, Labriffe, Potier de Novion, Mesmes, and several
others.
Here is one of the many curious epitaphs:
LE CIEL L'ESTIMENT TROP POUR LA
LAISSER PLUS LONTEMPS MORTELE,
LAISSANT A SON ÉPOUX UNE FILLE
POUR GAGE DE LEUR ÉTROITE ET
INMORTELE AMITIÉ, DANS LAQU'ELLE
IL SURVIT POUR PLEURER LE RESTE
DE SES JOURS SA DURE SEPARATION
D'AVEC CETTE CHERE ÉPOUSE, QUI ÉTOIT
RECOMANDABLE, PAR SA TRES GRANDE
DOUCEUR, SA VIE PURE ET INOCENTE,
ET SA PRUDENCE AU DESUS DE SON
AAGE, QUI LUY ONT OUVERT LE
CHEMIN DE L'IMORTALITÉ.
REQUIESCAT IN PACE.
In the 16th century the acolytes of Notre-Dame celebrated their
well-known _fêtes_ at S. Nicolas, performing various antics _en route_;
but as their disorderly conduct was great, and the "_facéties_"
practised led to divers troubles and various abominations, the ceremony
resolved itself latterly into a simple Benediction which the _enfants de
chœur_ chanted in honour of their patron.
SAINT-NICOLAS DU CHARDONNET.
This is an ugly church, with traditions going back to the 13th century,
but with nothing thereof now to be seen, in the Rue S. Victor. The
present building dates from 1656 to 1709. A picture by Lebrun, of _The
Miracle of Moses_, adorns one of the chapels; and the tomb erected by
him to his mother's memory, by Tuby and Callignon, is to be found in
another. Lebrun's own tomb is by Coyzevox; Jérôme Bignon's, by Girardon.
There are also pictures by Le Sueur, Coypel, Corot, Desgoffes, and
Mignard.
Suzanne Butay, widow of Lebrun, was a generous body, and left a number
of legacies to the poor of the parish, and divers other church
institutions, which are recorded thus:
LADITE DAME SUZANNE BUTAY VEUVE DUDIT FEU S^R LEBRUN PAR
SON TETA^{MT.}
OLOGRAPHE DE XIII SEPTEMBRE MDCXCVI RECONNU DEVANT VATRY, ET
TORINON NOT^{RES}.... A LEGUÉ AUX PAUVRES HONTEUX, ET
AUX PAUVRES MALADES DI CETTE
PARROISSE LA SOME DE DEUX MIL LIVRES UNE FOIS PAYÉ, PLUS A
LEGUÉ MIL LIVRES DE RENTE
À AYDIR À MARIER DE PAUVRES FILLES, ET À METTRE EN APPREN-
TISSAGE DE PAUVRES GARÇONS NÉS DANS LA PARROISSE....
NOTRE-DAME.
Sauval likens the island upon which the cathedral stands to a ship:
"L'ile de la cité est faite comme un grand navire enfoncé dans la vase
et échoué au fil de l'eau vers le milieu de la Seine;" and perhaps the
Ship of Paris upon the Gallic sea may have owed its origin as the city
arms to some idea of this sort.
[Illustration: VIEW FROM THE SOUTH TOWER.]
The origin of Notre-Dame is enveloped in mystery. Whether its first
bishop, S. Denis, or Dyonesius, was the Areopagite converted by S.
Paul's preaching at Athens, and sent by S. Clement to preach the Gospel
to the Parisians, or whether he was another personage of the same name
who was sent into Gaul in the 3rd century and martyred during the
persecutions under Decius, it is impossible to say, as there is no
evidence of any value. Certain it is, however, that the first bishop of
Paris bore the name of Denis, and that he suffered martyrdom with his
two companions Rusticus and Eleutherius, on the summit of the hill now
called Montmartre. Tradition went so far as to point out the spot where
they first gathered their followers together--the crypt of Notre-Dame
des Champs; also the prison where Our Lord appeared to them and
strengthened them with His Holy Body and Blood, at S. Denis de la
Chartre; the place, at S. Denis du Pas, where they suffered their first
tortures; and, lastly, Montmartre, where they were beheaded. But, with
the exception of the latter, all these holy spots have disappeared. So,
too, have the crosses which marked the route taken by the Saint, when he
carried his head to the place chosen for his burial, at S. Denis. An
ancient church covered the remains of the three Saints until the present
splendid building was erected in the reign of Dagobert I.
[Illustration: NOTRE-DAME FROM THE PLACE DU PARVIS.]
[Illustration: ARCHBISHOP DARBOY.]
Under the Roman dominion, Paris was comprised in the fourth Lyonnaise
division, of which Sens was the metropolis. Hence the bishops of Paris
acknowledged the archbishop of Sens as their primate, until 1622, when,
at the request of Louis XIII., Pope Gregory XV. raised the see to an
archbishopric. The succession has consisted of one hundred and nine
bishops and fifteen archbishops, eight of whom have been raised to the
dignity of Cardinal. Besides S. Denis, six have been venerated as
Saints: Marcel, in the 5th century; Germain, in the 6th century; Céran,
Landry, and Agilbert in the 7th, and Hugues in the 8th century. No less
Saints, although uncanonized, are the three martyrs of our own
time--Sibour, who was stabbed by a discontented priest in the church of
S. Étienne-du-Mont; Affre, who was shot upon a barricade in 1848, while
negotiating with the insurgents, and whose last words pronounced him a
true follower of his Master: "Puisse mon sang être le dernier versé!"
and Darboy, the liberal-minded and large-hearted, who was shot as a
hostage by the fanatics of his own party. In former times the entry of
the new bishop into his episcopal city was accompanied by much gorgeous
ceremonial. All the municipal officers, mounted on horses, went to meet
him at the Abbey of S. Victor. Thence they processioned, accompanied by
the bishop, seated on a white palfrey, to the church of S. Geneviève,
from which he was chaired by his vassals to the Rue Neuve-Notre-Dame,
where he was met by the dean and canons of the cathedral, and after
taking an oath upon the Gospels to uphold the privileges of the church,
and to observe the engagements entered into by his predecessors, he was
installed, and received the homage of the chapter. Mass was then said,
and at the conclusion, the prelate was conducted to his palace, where he
gave a sumptuous entertainment to all who had assisted at the
ceremonies.
In 1674 Louis XIV. conferred the lands of S. Cloud, Creteil,
d'Ozouer-la-Ferrière, and d'Armentières upon the archbishopric, a
donation which was valued in the last century at a revenue of 140,000
_livres_. The old episcopal palace was situated between the cathedral
and the river, and the whole must have been an imposing mass of
buildings; but what remained of it twenty years ago was mostly
18th-century work, with the exception of a fragment of the chapel which
was consecrated by bishop Maurice de Sully at the end of the 12th
century.
The chapter of Notre-Dame was one of the most important in the Kingdom.
Its revenue amounted to 180,000 _livres_, and its jurisdiction extended
beyond its own clergy and officers, to the Hôtel-Dieu, and the churches
which were called _les filles de Notre-Dame_. These were the collegiate
bodies of S. Merry, the Holy Sepulchre, S. Benoit, and S.
Étienne-des-Grès. Four other colleges, S. Marcel, S. Honoré, and S.
Opportune, bore the title of _filles de l'Archevêque_.
Of the cloisters not the slightest vestige remains to determine their
position or size. What was latterly termed the _cloître_ was only a
collection of narrow tortuous streets, with two or three houses and
doorways which may have dated from the 15th century. One of these houses
bore the reputation of having been the abode of Canon Fulbert, the uncle
of Héloïse; but it could only have been built upon the site of the
original one, which may possibly have existed in the 12th century, as
some Roman foundations were discovered when it was demolished a few
years ago. The _enceinte_ of the cathedral enclosed two churches, S.
Aignan and S. Jean-le-Rond, and a garden at the eastern end of the
church, which the chapter called _Le terrain_, but to which the people,
in their original lingo, gave the name of _Motte aux Papelards_.
The cathedral is now open on all sides, and the _coup-d'œil_ is fine
when seen from the Place du Parvis-[106] Notre-Dame, or from the garden
at the east end; but to obtain these fine views many buildings of
interest have been sacrificed,--the cloisters, the churches of S.
Jean-le-Rond and S. Christophe, the episcopal palace, the oldest parts
of the hospitals of the Hôtel-Dieu and Les Enfants-Trouvés, and the
chapel constructed in the 14th century by Oudart de Mocreux.
[Illustration: THE EAST END, FROM THE GARDEN.]
It may not be uninteresting to give the number of religious institutions
in the city of Paris before the end of the last century: 12 chapters;
59 parishes; 4 abbeys for men, and 6 for women; 11 priories; 124
monasteries and communities; 90 chapels (exclusive of those in
Notre-Dame); and 5 hospitals; in all, 311 ecclesiastical establishments.
When it is considered that all these corporate bodies possessed lands,
were all exempt from direct taxation, and enjoyed other privileges, the
storm that brought about their suppression is not to be wondered at,
however much we may regret the results from an artistic point of view.
Even at the commencement of the 18th century the suppression of a
certain number of convents and the demolition of several churches was
determined upon; but it was not until the Revolution burst that the main
destruction took place. Had there been more men of the type of the
_citoyen_ Chaumette, who saved the sculptures on one of the doors of
Notre-Dame by affirming that the astronomer Dupuis had discovered his
planetary system therein, there would have been less loss to art to
lament. As it is, the only remnant of all this ecclesiastical wealth
besides Notre-Dame is a portion of the priory of S. Martin des Champs
(occupied at present by the Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers), 12
parish churches, the Sainte-Chapelle, and the little church of S. Julien
le Pauvre, which belonged to the old Hôtel-Dieu. These are the only
buildings which have come down to us from the Middle-Age or Renaissance
periods.
Some remains of altars dedicated to Jupiter, of the time of Tiberius,
which were found under the choir of the cathedral, and are now in the
Palais des Thermes, seem to suggest that the Christian church was built
upon the site of the Roman temple, or that the latter was converted into
a church by the early Christians, as at Rome, Ravenna, and other places.
The earliest authentic record of a Christian church in Paris is in the
life of S. Marcel, where it is related that at the end of the 4th
century one stood at the Eastern extremity of the island of the Cité.
This is supposed to have been rebuilt by Childebert I. at the instance
of S. Germain, for it is not probable that the building described by
Fortunat, bishop of Poitiers, as rich in marble columns, glass windows,
and magnificent ornaments, could have been the original edifice. Indeed,
a discovery, made in 1847, seems to prove this. During some excavations
which were made in the Place du Parvis it was found that some Roman
houses had been demolished to make way for the foundations of
Childebert's church; and, together with the Roman remains, were marble
cubes which formed the pavement, three columns in Aquitaine marble, and
a Corinthian capital in white marble. The Christians of the 5th century
adhered in their church architecture to the style of building adopted by
the Romans for their basilicas; in fact, in many cases the secular
basilica was adapted to the purpose of Christian worship. Hence it is
but probable that Childebert looked to Rome for the design of his
church. These remains are in the museum and gardens of the Hôtel-Cluny.
From the 6th to the 12th centuries there is no record of Notre-Dame, but
Grégoire de Tours and d'Aymoin, towards the end of the 6th century,
speak of two churches close together, but distinct from one another--the
one, S. Étienne, to the south of the present church; the other, S.
Marie, towards the north-east. A rather doubtful tradition attributes
certain works of construction in the church to bishop Erchenrad I.
during the reign of Charlemagne. But it is known that in 829 the
celebrated Council of Paris was held in the nave of S. Étienne; and in
857 the other church, S. Marie, was burned by the Normans, the bishop,
Énée, only being able to save the former church. In the 12th century,
archdeacon Étienne de Garlande, who died in 1142, made some important
restorations to Notre-Dame, and Suger, the great abbot of S. Denis, gave
it a stained glass window of great beauty--probably similar to those in
his own church. So, too, the early Capétien monarchs frequently visited
this _nova ecclesia_ (as it was called to distinguish it from S.
Étienne), and presented it with valuable ornaments.
We now come to the building of the present church. Maurice de Sully, the
seventy-second bishop (1160-96), had scarcely mounted his episcopal
throne when he determined to rebuild his cathedral by joining the two
existing churches, and upon his epitaph in the abbey church of S. Victor
he was accredited as the builder of Notre-Dame.
Bishop Maurice was the son of a poor woman named Humberge, who lived in
a humble cottage on the banks of the Loire, under the shadow of the
feudal castle of the Sullys; and, like many of the Churchmen of those
times, he seems to have had only one parent; at all events his father
was unknown, and consequently Maurice was obliged to go from _château_
to _château_, and from convent to convent, to beg for bread and alms,
for himself and his mother.
[Illustration: ONE OF THE MONSTERS OF THE TOWERS.]
On April 21st, 1163, at the instance of Abbot Hugues de Moneçaux, Pope
Alexander III. consecrated the recently-constructed apse of S. Germain
des Prés; and it is also affirmed that he laid the first stone of the
new cathedral in the same year. In 1182, the High Altar was consecrated
by Henri, the pope's legate, and three years later, Heraclius, patriarch
of Jerusalem, who had come to Paris to preach the third crusade,
officiated in the choir. Geoffrey, son of Henry II. of England, and
Count of Bretagne, who died in 1186, was buried before the altar of the
new cathedral, and towards the end of the century the wife of
Philippe-Auguste, Isabelle de Hainault, was laid near the same place.
When Maurice de Sully died, the church could not have been completed, as
he left 5,000 _livres_ towards the leaden roofing of the choir. Indeed,
the western _façade_ was only commenced towards the end of the
episcopate of Pierre de Nemours, 1208-19, although the work had been
continued during the time of his predecessor, Eude de Sully, 1197-1208.
According to l'abbé Lebeuf, the remains of the old church of S. Étienne
were demolished towards the end of the year 1218 to make room for the
southern part of the _façade_, and, amongst other finds, were some
fragments of the Saint's tomb.
It is probable that the West front, as high as the gallery which
connects the two towers, was terminated about the time of the death of
Philippe-Auguste, 1223; and that the rich appearance of this _façade_
decided the reconstruction of the portals of the transepts.
An inscription at the base of the southern porch attests that on the
second day of the Ides of February, 1257, Master Jean de Chelles
commenced this work in honour of the mother of Christ, S. Louis being
then king of France, and Renaud de Corbeil, bishop of Paris; and, in
spite of certain documents amongst the archives, there is no doubt that
the little _Porte Rouge_ and the first chapels on both sides of the
choir belong to the same period and were the work of the same architect,
for they are quite similar in style and are built of the same stone.
[ILLUSTRATION: PÈRE LACORDAIRE]
The history of Notre-Dame is in a great measure the history of France.
It was there that the _Te Deum_ was sung after successful battles, and
where the standards which were taken from the enemy were suspended
during the continuance of the wars. There, too, in the early part of the
13th century, S. Dominic preached from a book given him by the Blessed
Virgin, who appeared to the Saint after an hour's silent meditation,
radiant with beauty, and dazzling as the sunlight. Some fifty years ago,
the cathedral, and, indeed, all Paris, was stirred by the _conférences_
held there by one of S. Dominic's own children, Père Lacordaire, who,
with his friends Lamennais and Montalembert, made an effort to free the
Roman branch of the Catholic Church from the fungi which had grown on to
it, an effort which was as fruitless as that undertaken by his
predecessor Savonarola, 400 years before him.
[Illustration: NOTRE-DAME AT SUNSET.]
On Easter Eve, the 12th April, 1229, the Count of Toulouse, Raymond
VII., was absolved of the crime of heresy in Notre-Dame. As the old
chronicler Guillaume de Puylaurens relates: "Et c'était pitié de voir un
si grand homme, lequel par si long espace de temps avait pu résister à
tant et de si fortes nations, conduit nu, en chemise, bras et pieds
découverts, jusqu'à l'autel."
Here is a pleasant little example of some of the doings of the "good old
times": Pierre Bonfons tells us that in 1381 the _prévôt_ of Paris, one
Hugues Aubriot, accused and found guilty of heresy and other crimes,
was, through the instrumentality of the University, "presché et mitré
publiquement au Parvis-Notre-Dame, et après ce, condamné à être en
l'oubliette au pain et à l'eau."
On the 27th November, 1431,[107] the child, Henry VI. of England, was
crowned King of France in the choir of the cathedral. But the pomp of
this ceremony was soon effaced, for, on the Friday in Easter week, 1436,
a _Te Deum_ was sung to celebrate the retaking of Paris by the troops of
Charles VII.
In the 13th century the Feast of the Assumption was celebrated with
great pomp; the whole church was hung with valuable tapestries, and the
pavement covered with sweet-smelling flowers and herbs; but two
centuries later, grass from the fields of Gentilly seems to have
sufficed to do honour to Our Lady on her _fête_ day.
The same custom prevailed here as at the Sainte-Chapelle and other
churches, of letting fly pigeons, and throwing flowers and torches of
flaming flax from the windows in celebration of the descent of the Holy
Spirit on the Day of Pentecost; and every year, on the 22nd March, the
chapter went in procession to the church of the Grands-Augustins, where
a mass was sung in memory of Henri IV.'s entry into Paris in 1594.
[Illustration: PIERRE DE FAYET.]
The original design of the church did not comprise the chapels which
flank the nave and somewhat spoil the effect of the exterior. In this
respect, the cathedral of Paris cannot be compared to those of Reims and
Chartres, which have no chapels between the buttresses. They were added
to Notre-Dame in 1270, Jean de Paris, archdeacon of Soissons, having
bequeathed 100 _livres_ for their construction. The chapels of the
_chevet_ were finished at the end of the 13th or beginning of the 14th
century. An inscription at the entrance of one of them, S. Nicaise,
placed upon the pedestal of a statue of Simon Matiffas de Buci, recorded
that this chapel and the two next were founded by the bishop in 1296,
and that the others were added subsequently. This precious relic was
discovered at S. Denis among a number of others from different churches.
One of these gives the name of Canon Pierre de Fayet[108] as the donor
of 200 _livres_ towards the _histoires_ which surround the choir, and
some new glass; and another gives the names of the sculptors of these
same _histoires_, the Masters Jean Ravy and Jean le Bouteiller, who
carved them in 1351. It must be remembered that the great churches of
the Middle Ages were more the work of the people than of the nobility,
and thus we find that the armorial bearings upon old glass or upon the
pedestals of statues are mostly those of the different trades-guilds,
such as the bakers, the butchers, the woollen-drapers, the furriers, the
shoemakers, and the like. These, either as individuals or as corporate
bodies, enriched the old churches in money or in kind.
It must not be forgotten that the great churches of the Middle Ages
were, in a sense, the schools of the period. The people, not being able
to read, were instructed through the medium of sermons and stage plays;
they saw the histories of Saints, the story of the Gospel, and legendary
and historical matter carved in wood or stone upon all sides of them,
and they learnt their moralities by picture tales and clerical
discourses. Art was literally the handmaid of Religion, and the great
teacher; and being enriched by divers gifts, the churches became
receptacles for all kinds of treasures. Guillaume Durand, in his
_Rational des Divins Offices_, speaks of rare things, such as stuffed
crocodiles, ostrich eggs, and skeletons of whales, besides gold and
silver vessels, _intagli_, and _cameii_, as attractions for the people,
on the principle that he who comes to see may stay to pray. Churches
were, in fact, museums, and places in which to transact business; the
naves constantly being thus used.
Notre-Dame has two towers at the west end, and a _flèche_ over the
intersection of the nave, choir and transepts. This is modern; and why?
Because, in 1787, an architect was found who considered it well to
"amputate" the old one. Listen to Victor Hugo: "Un architect de bon gout
l'a amputé, et a cru qu'il suffisait de masquer la plaie avec ce large
emplâtre de plomb, qui ressemble au couvercle d'une marmite"--doubtless
that strange species of turret so common in London, familiarly termed a
pepper-box.
The western _façade_, though not so rich as that of Reims, is
nevertheless exceedingly beautiful. It is divided into three parts in
its width, and into four stories in its elevation.
Here is what our old friend Dibden says of it in his time: "Of
Notre-Dame, the West front, with its marygold windows, is striking both
from its antiquity and richness. It is almost black from age" (would it
were so now!)--"but the alto-relievos, and especially those above the
doors, stand out in almost perfect condition. These ornaments are rather
fine of their kind. There is, throughout the whole of this West front, a
beautiful keeping, and the towers are _here_ somewhat more endurable,
and therefore somewhat in harmony. Over the North transept door, on the
outside, is a figure of the Virgin--once holding the infant Jesus in her
arms. Of the latter only the feet remain. The drapery of this figure is
in perfectly good taste, a fine specimen of that excellent art which
prevailed towards the end of the XIIIth century. Above is an
alto-relievo subject of the _Slaughter of the Innocents_. The soldiers
are in quilted armour. I entered the cathedral from the Western door,
during service-time. A sight of the different clergymen engaged in the
office filled me with melancholy, and made me predict sad things of what
was probably to come to pass! These clergymen were old, feeble,
wretchedly attired in their respective vestments, and walked and sung in
a tremulous and faltering manner. The architectural effect of the
interior is not very imposing, although the solid circular pillars of
the nave, the double aisles round the choir, and the old basso-relievo
representations of the Life of Christ upon the exterior walls of the
choir, cannot fail to afford the antiquary very singular satisfaction.
The choir appeared to be not unlike that of S. Denis." Notre-Dame should
be visited by lovers of plain song. To hear forty men and boys chant
Gregorian tones, with _ad libitum_ accompaniments upon a small organ, is
a treat not to be forgotten. And note, the _small_ organ, for the large
one at the end of the nave is only used for voluntaries; thundering
accompaniments to the voices being unknown in Paris.
[ILLUSTRATION: NOTRE-DAME DURING SERMON.]
All the six doors of Notre-Dame bear distinctive names--the Porte du
Jugement, the Porte de la Vierge, and the Porte Ste. Anne, at the west
end; the Porte du Cloître, the Porte St. Marcel and the Porte Rouge, at
the east end. Each of these is divided into two openings by a central
pier, supporting a figure and surmounted by a tympanum; over which is a
deep _voussure_, peopled with sculptures innumerable. Tradition formerly
recorded a flight of thirteen steps rising to the west front; but the
excavations made in 1847 proved this to have been a mistake. If steps
existed anywhere, they were probably on the side of the episcopal palace
near the southern tower and leading down to the river. At the same time
there is no doubt that the church would gain in effect were it raised
above the roadway as is the case at Amiens. At present it is even a
little lower than the _place_, but allowing for the rising of the ground
during seven centuries, it is quite possible that the cathedral
originally had not the sunken appearance it has at present. In the
niches upon the great buttress are tour figures; S. Denis and S. Étienne
at the extremities, and two women crowned in the centre. These represent
a very common conceit of the Middle Ages, the Church and the Synagogue,
the one triumphant, the other defeated.
Above the portals is the gallery of the Kings of Judah, the ancestors of
the Virgin, and perhaps typical of the sovereigns of France. The gallery
of the Virgin is still higher, and upon it in the centre stands the
queen of Heaven with attendant Angels, Adam and Eve being above the side
doors. Higher still we come to the tower galleries presided over by
delightful monsters of various zoological tribes. Nothing gives a
visitor to Notre-Dame a better notion of the richness of its sculptures
than mounting to this gallery, whence he obtains a full view of the roof
and the towers, with their numerous pinnacles, crockets, finials,
gargoyles and statues.
Unfortunately the great central portal was hopelessly wrecked by
Soufflot in 1771 in order to increase its width for processions; it is
one of the many examples which prove the fact that the "stupidity of
man" has done more harm to old buildings than time or even disastrous
riots and revolutions. In 1773 and 1787, so-called restorations, by
architects who ought to have known better, still further mutilated the
church.
[Illustration: THE ROOF AND FLÈCHE.]
[Illustration: ANIMALS ON ONE OF THE TOWERS.]
Listen to Victor Hugo once more: "Il est difficile de ne pas soupirer,
de ne pas s'indigner devant les dégradations, les mutilations sans
nombre, que simultanément le temps et les hommes ont fait subir au
vénérable monument, sans respect pour Charlemagne, qui en avait posé la
première pierre, pour Philippe-Auguste, qui en avait posé la dernière.
Sur la face de cette vieille reine de nos cathédrales, à côté d'un vide
on trouve toujours une cicatrice. _Tempus edax homo edacior_: le temps
est aveugle, l'homme est stupide." Sixty years have passed since this
was written, but the great poet lived to see a restoration which he
probably sighed over as much as over the mutilations of former times.
Viollet-le-Duc did his work better than most restorers; but of the old
church nothing remains but the shell--even the surface of the stone has
been scraped and scrubbed, giving the building as new an appearance as
that of the churches of S. Augustin and La Trinité. Hugo's words in
1832, directed against the architects of Louis XIV. and Louis XV., apply
equally to those of our time: "Si nous avions le loisir d'examiner une à
une avec le lecteur les diverses traces de destruction imprimée à
l'antique église, la part du temps serait la moindre, la pire celles des
hommes, surtout des hommes de l'art." The great destruction occurred
between 1699 and 1753. Louis XIV., the great destroyer of men and of
their works, in order to carry out the "_Vœu de Louis XIII._", made
away with the old carved stalls, the _jubé_, the cloisters, the high
altar with its numerous _châsses_ and reliquaries, its bronze columns
and silver and gold statuettes, the tombs, and the stained glass. In
1771, the statues above the great west doors disappeared when Soufflot
began his evil work of widening them. Another great loss to the church
was the destruction of the statue of S. Christopher, a huge colossal
figure as celebrated in the Middle Ages as the relics of the
Sainte-Chapelle. It stood at the entrance of the nave, and was the work
of Messire Antoine des Essarts in 1443, in gratitude to the saintly
giant for having saved him from the Burgundians. Miracle-working
Virgins, Philippe-Auguste posing as S. Simon Stylites, and two bishops
of Paris, likewise upon columns, were amongst some of the former
treasures. Whether three great figures in wax of Gregory XI., his niece,
and nephew, which tumbled into decay in 1599, are equally to be
regretted, is doubtful; but the description of an equestrian statue
which stood in the nave, the man in armour, and the horse in emblazoned
trappings, sounds fascinating. It was a Louis VI., or a Philippe le
Bel--who knows? Perhaps the latter, erected as a thank offering to Our
Lady for the victory at Mons, for Philippe founded solemn commemorations
of that battle at Notre-Dame, at Chartres, and at S. Denis. But in spite
of this evidence, Père Montfaucon pronounced in favour of Philippe de
Valois, who rode into the church equipped and armed to give thanks for
the victory of Cassel, and fulfil a vow made in front of the enemy. This
same Philippe's effigy also rode a stone horse upon the _façade_ of the
Cathedral of Sens.
Du Breuil cites some quaint verses explaining the dimensions of the
church, which were written upon a picture hanging near the statue of S.
Christopher by the doorway:
Si tu veux sçauoir comme est ample
De Nostre-Dame le grand temple:
Il a dans œuure, pour le seur,
Dix et sept toises de haulteur,
Sur la largeur de vingt et quatre;
Et soixante cinq sans rabattre,
A de long. Au tours hault montées
Trente quarte sont bien comptées,
Le tout fondé sur pilotis,
Ainsi vray que ie le te dis.[109]
When the revolutionary period began, little remained to be done in the
way of destruction, but that little the votaries of Reason did pretty
well as regards everything pertaining unto royalty; for to be just, we
must remember that anything that could be construed into philosophy or
art was spared. In August, 1793, it was decided that eight days should
be allowed for the destruction of the "_gothiques simulacres_" of the
kings upon the portals. Later on the Saints were ordered to share the
same fate, but Citizen Chaumette, as we have seen, stepped in and saved
the sculpture by assuring his colleagues that the astronomer Dupuis had
discovered his planetary system on one of the portals. Thereupon the
Citoyen Dupuis was put upon the council for the preservation of public
buildings, and in consequence much was saved from complete and hopeless
destruction. We all know how a goddess of the class so dear to the kings
of old, a vulgar Gabrielle or Pompadour in sabots and a Phrygian cap,
was set upon the altar and worshipped in derision, a ceremony followed
by others that "we leave under a veil which appropriately stretches
itself along the pillars of the aisles--not to be lifted aside by the
hand of history."[110] Robespierre and his friends must have been
utterly wanting in a sense of humour, or they never would have
instituted these curious ceremonies. In an old print[111] representing
the great Feast of the Supreme Being upon the Champ de Mars, we see the
President of the Convention in a fine blue coat, and bearing an enormous
bouquet of flowers, discoursing to the multitude; and, after burning the
statue of Atheism, sticking up Wisdom in its place. Young girls in the
inevitable white of church processions, beadles, and singing men, with
all the paraphernalia of the dethroned ecclesiastical pomp, are
depicted: but only one man seems to have seen how ludicrous it all was:
"_Tu commence à nous ennuyer avec ton Être Suprême!_" said he to
Robespierre, somewhat profanely.
[Illustration: HÔTEL-DIEU AND NOTRE-DAME]
The prelates and sovereigns who succeeded to these stormy days
endeavoured to restore Notre-Dame; but the ignorance which prevailed at
the commencement of the present century with regard to Gothic
architecture rather added to the destruction than mended it; and it was
not until the Christian art and Liberal Catholic revivals led by
Montalembert and his friends that a thorough and rational restoration of
the church was commenced by the eminent architects, Viollet-le-Duc and
Lassus.
The central portal is a mass of wonderful sculpture. The lower part of
the stylobate bears lozenge-shapen compartments enclosing roses and
lilies. Above this are the _Virtues and Vices_,[112] the former being
figures of women bearing their emblems; the latter, little scenes
describing each particular vice. It is interesting to see that the
Virtues should be portrayed as women, Guillaume Durand giving the reason
that they are men's nursing mothers; but Eve, having been supposed from
all time to have been man's temptress, how comes it that the Mediæval
sculptors exempted her and all other women from personifying the vice,
for example, of curiosity? Courage our first mother undoubtedly had, and
so this virtue on the front of Notre-Dame is represented by a woman with
a shield bearing a lion. Equally certain is it that Adam was mean and
cowardly, and so we find Cowardice painted as a man running away
terror-stricken from a harmless hare. Amongst the vicious we see Judas
in despair, an iniquitous Nero, an impious Mahomet, and a funny little
Nimroud throwing a javelin at the sun, symbolic of that great warrior's
attempt to build a high tower in order to attack Heaven itself.
Above the Virtues and Vices are the Twelve Apostles, placed over the
Virtue which in their lives they especially displayed. Nothing in these
sculptures was done without a purpose; thus S. Paul stands over Courage,
and S. Peter above Faith; indeed the whole doorway was designed to carry
out a particular idea, and to illustrate the main doctrines of Christ,
whose statue stands upon the central pier, giving the benediction to all
who enter.
[Illustration: ONE OF THE PINNACLES.]
On each side of the doorway are _the Wise and Foolish Virgins_, and in
the tympanum, which is divided into three zones, is _the Resurrection of
the Dead_. Souls are being weighed; and under one scale a mean little
demon may be seen pulling it down with a hook, in case the poor soul's
sins should not be sufficient to weigh it down. It may be noted that the
Mediæval theologians evidently considered the nails which pierced our
Blessed Lord's body of more honour than the tree unto which he was
bound; for here we see an Angel holding the cross with bare hands, while
another envelopes the nails in a napkin. In the _Voussure_ are rows of
personages; the lower ones belonging to the Judgment, the upper ones to
the Resurrection. Then come the Angels, Prophets, and Doctors of the
church (taking precedence at Notre-Dame of the Martyrs, by reason of
Paris being a great seat of learning). Following them are the Martyrs
and Virgins.
Didron[113] gives an account by an Armenian bishop of a visit to Paris
in 1489-96, in which he describes these sculptures exactly as they now
appear, and speaks of the beauty of their colouring and gilding.
The sculptures of the other two doors are of the same character as the
Porte du Jugement, but the subjects are taken severally from the
histories of the Blessed Virgin and of S. Anne. In the Porte de la
Vierge, the _Mother and Child_ hold the central place, and in the
tympanum are the _Assumption_ and the _Glorification of the Virgin_. In
the stylobate are saints, a conspicuous one being _S. Denis carrying his
head_, with Angels upon each side, to prevent anyone damaging his
headless body. In the bas-reliefs, amongst other subjects is an almanac
in stone representing the earth and the sea, the twelve signs of the
Zodiac, and the occupations, mostly agricultural, of each of the months.
Corresponding to these are the idlings of the season. The industrious
man is warming himself by the side of his well-cured hams and sausages;
the idle man is sitting enveloped in fur, enjoying a sleep by the fire.
For April we see a personage with two heads, one asleep and one awake;
and, showing that the climate was much the same in the 13th century as
it is now, we see one side of him clad in the airy costume of our first
parents, while the other is well wrapped up in warm raiment. May only
wears pyjamas, while June prepares for a bath. The signs of the Zodiac
follow the ecclesiastical year, which up to the reign of Charles IX.
commenced at Easter. The custom of carving them on the exterior of
churches is a very ancient practice, as it may be seen on the Catholicon
at Athens, which is as old or older than the time of Justinian. Nearly
all the great churches of France possess them. On S. Denis there are
three: one is mosaic; another, a bas-relief on the exterior; and the
third, an incised stone upon the pavement of one of the apsidal chapels.
The Porte S. Anne is the oldest of the three portals, and the sculptures
being the most ancient of the church, it has been assumed that they were
brought from an older edifice. The central figure is _S. Marcel_, ninth
bishop of Paris, who died in 436. He is here seen standing upon a
strange and venomous beast with a tail ending serpent-wise, issuing from
a winding sheet--the vestment of an unfortunate rich and wicked woman
whom the beast had consumed in punishment for her vices. Marcel, in
spite of this just retribution, seems to have pitied the poor soul, and
went forth to the forest to reprove the dragon; who, listening to the
holy man's words, became repentant and showed his contrition by bending
his head and flopping after the Saint for the space of three miles,
wagging his tail like a dog. But S. Marcel could not forgive him. "Go
forth," said the Saint, "and inhabit the deserts, or plunge thyself into
the sea"; which he seems to have done, for no more was ever heard of the
monster from that day forth.
The tympanum is ornamented with the _History of Joachim and Anna_, the
_Marriage of the Virgin_ and the _Budding of S. Joseph's staff_. Angels
and a kneeling king complete the composition; the latter probably being
Louis VII., the friend of Suger and the father of Philippe-Auguste, as
he is presenting a charter of donations and privileges. On the other
side is a bishop, bearded, mitred, and vested, but unlike the king, the
prelate stands; he is probably the builder, Maurice de Sully. The older
part of this doorway is similar in some respects to the _façade_ of S.
Denis. Abbot Suger, its builder, had only been dead about ten years when
Maurice de Sully reconstructed the cathedral; and we see in the figures
upon the Porte S. Anne the same Romanesque character as at S. Denis.
The beautiful ironwork of the doors of Notre-Dame are worthy their
reputed origin; they are said to have been finished in a single night by
his Satanic Majesty in consequence of the dilatoriness of Biscornette
the blacksmith. The legend has probably grown from the design of a part
of the ironwork, a little man with horns and the tail of a fish, who
sits upon the branch of a tree. It appears that Biscornette was charged
to forge the ironwork of the doors in a given time; but finding himself
behind-hand in his work, he determined to call in the aid of the Devil.
This personage arrived, put on the leathern apron, and set to work so
vigorously that by dawn it was finished. Biscornette thanked his
assistant, who politely, in recognition of the blacksmith's gratitude,
presented him with his horns. Popular opinion always held that
Biscornette could not forge the central door by which the Blessed
Sacrament passed; and that a curse rested upon that of S. Anne, as it
was never opened; but in these latter faithless days it has been found
to do so as easily as the others. The sculptures of the tympanum of the
Porte du Cloître represent the _Legend of S. Theophilus_, the deacon,
who lived in the 3rd century. This Saint was troubled in his mind, and
abjured Christianity through the instrumentality of a Jew; thereupon he
fell into the hands of the Father of Lies, and we see him on his knees
between the hoofs of the demon. But he was reinstated in the good books
of his bishop, in spite of the tempting whisperings of a little demon by
his side. Then the Virgin enters upon the scene, and tears up the
contract signed by S. Theophilus with his blood; and the demon enraged
has the impertinence to seize the raiment of the Virgin, in order to
profane her. But Theophilus is forgiven, and the bishop displays the
contract, which is now hallowed by the episcopal seal, and upon which is
written in Gothic letters: _Carta Theophili_.
At the foot of the Southern _façade_ is the inscription which gives the
name of the architect and the date of the church:
ANNO. DNI. M. CC. LVII. MENSE. FEBRVARIO. IDVS.
SECUNDO. HOC. FUIT INCEPTUM, CRISTI. GENITSIS, HONORE.
KALLENSI. LATHOMO. VIVENTE. JOHANNE. MAGISTRO:
John de Chelles was wise in his generation, for had he not thus taken
care of his own reputation, we should have known nothing about him,
there being no record of any other works by him. Chelles, the place of
his birth, was celebrated for the abbey founded by S. Bathilde; and like
Montereau, Bonneuil, and Lusarches, which gave birth to some of the most
famous architects of the 13th century, it was situated in the diocese of
Paris. The beautiful little Porte Rouge is of the end of the 13th
century. In the tympanum a king and queen are represented kneeling at
each side of our Lord and His Mother, very probably S. Louis, and his
wife, Marguerite de Provence.
Formerly, in front of the grand portals there was a pillory, described
by Père Du Breuil in the 16th century as raised upon a platform. The
culprit knelt upon this with a paper, stating his offence, affixed to
him; and then he stayed _longtemps mocqué et injurié du peuple_. Du
Breuil lamented that this object of the spiritual justice and power was
no longer to be seen at the abbey of S. Germain.
[Illustration: LA PORTE ROUGE.]
The interior of Notre-Dame is imposing, though somewhat heavy in
character; and although the nave and choir were sixty years in
construction, there is scarcely any difference in style, except in the
details. There is a certain clumsiness about the great round shafts of
the nave, but the carving upon the angles of the plinths and of the
capitals helps to relieve this effect. Most of the capitals are
ornamented with examples of the flora of Parisian fields. At the west
end is a gallery now occupied by the great organ, but which formerly was
the stage upon which miracle-plays were performed. The choir is by far
the most beautiful part of the church; and being filled with stained
glass, it has not that painfully cleaned-up appearance which is the
result of over-restoration. Some parts of it, the bays which separate
the side-aisles from the crossings, are of the 14th century; and the
little Angels blowing trumpets which surmount the archivolt are
beautiful specimens of sculpture of that period. The capitals of some of
the choir columns being the oldest in the church (the early part of the
12th century) are very rich in the quaint style of decoration delighted
in by Mediæval artists--masses of foliage, with heads of grotesque
animals peeping out, and biting off the leaves and flowers. One capital
(between the seventh and eighth southern chapels) is interesting as
showing the transition between the use of personages and animals, and
that of foliage only, which was customary in the later period. The
subject is very unecclesiastical, as was so often the case in the 12th
and 13th centuries--two Harpies, male and female, with human heads and
bird bodies, issuing out of the foliage. Much of this is treated in the
most realistic manner, and we find specimens of the oak, the ivy and the
trefoil.
In many of the chapels are double _piscinæ_. From one, the water in
which the priest washes his hands _before_ mass, is ejected by a pipe;
from the other, used _after_ mass, the water descends into the ground.
They are both ornamented with carved canopies.
The Lady chapel, or chapel of the Compassion, and the two on either
side, are painted and gilded, a good deal of the old colouring having
survived as a guide. There is some good carving, and in front of the
tabernacle hang seven lamps of elegant design. These, added to the
beauty of the old stained glass, make this end of the church by far the
most beautiful part.[114] The chapel also contains an inscription,
bearing the name of the founder, bishop Simon Matiffas de Bucy, who died
in 1304. In the chapel of S. George is the fine marble statue of the
martyred archbishop Darboy, shot in 1871 by the Communists.
[Illustration: FOUNTAIN IN THE LITTLE CLOISTER.]
[Illustration: TWO OF THE ALTO-RELIEVOS WHICH SURROUND THE CHOIR.]
The alto-reliefs alluded to above, by Jean Ravy and Jean le Bouteiller,
are supported upon an arcade of clustered columns and pointed arches
fixed against the back of the stalls. Formerly they were continued
across the _jubé_ and all around the choir; but unfortunately, when the
sanctuary gates were constructed, these sculptures were sacrificed. The
subjects are: 1, the Visitation; 2, the Appearance of the Star of
Bethlehem to the Shepherds; 3, the Nativity; 4, the Adoration of the
Magi; 5, the Massacre of the Innocents; 6, the Flight into Egypt; 7, the
Presentation in the Temple; 8, Christ disputing with the Doctors; 9, the
Baptism of Christ; 10, the Marriage in Cana; 11, the Entry into
Jerusalem; 12, the Last Supper; 13, Christ washing S. Peter's Feet; 14,
the Mount of Olives, The mysteries of the Passion and Resurrection were
on the _jubé_, the destruction of which we owe to the Cardinal de
Noailles. On the South side the subjects are of later date (14th
century): 1, Christ appearing to the Magdalen; 2, to the Three Maries;
3, the Apostles running to the Sepulchre; 4, the Journey to Emmaüs; 5,
Christ appearing to the Disciples; 6, to S. Thomas; 7, to S. Peter on
the Sea of Tiberias; 8, another Appearance to the Disciples; 9, the
Charge to preach the Gospel in all Lands. Jean Ravy was represented
kneeling with joined hands in the last of these alto-reliefs. The whole
was finished by Jean le Bouteiller in 1351; and it is recorded that a
part was a votive offering in honour of God, of the Virgin Mary, and of
Monseigneur S. Étienne, given by Guillaume de Melun, Archbishop of
Sens--one of two bishops of the name who occupied the see in 1317-29 and
1344-96 respectively. The sculptures are all coloured and gilt, and a
very good cast of them may be seen at the Crystal Palace.
The choir remained intact until 1638, when Louis XIII., putting his
kingdom especially under the protection of the Blessed Virgin,
registered that unfortunate vow that he would consecrate the sanctuary
of Notre-Dame to the fulfilment of it. "_Afin que la postérité ne puisse
manquer à suivre nos volontés à ce sujet, pour monument et marque
incontestable de la consécration présente que nous faisons, nous ferons
construire de nouveau le grand autel de l'église cathédrale de Paris,
avec une image de la Vierge qui tienne entre ses bras celle de son
précieux fils, descendu de la croix, et où nous serons représentés aux
pieds du fils et de la mère, comme leur offrant notre couronne et notre
sceptre._" Louis XIII. died in 1643, before he was able to carry out his
marvellous design; but unfortunately, his son, Louis XIV., was only too
ready to embellish buildings in the miserable taste of his time, and so
the altar is disfigured by a _Descent from the Cross_ by Nicolas and
Guillaume Coustou, and a pair of kneeling kings (the 13th and 14th
Louis) by Coysevox. In themselves these sculptures are fine examples of
the art of the period, but they and the eight bronze Angels by Cayot,
Vanclève, Poirier, Hurtrelle, Nagnier and Anselme Flamen, are all
equally out of place in a 13th century church. The bas-reliefs of the
altar were by Vassé, and Du Goulon was the sculptor of the beautiful
woodwork representing scenes from the life of the Virgin. The altar was
destroyed in 1793, in order to erect a symbolic "_montagne_" upon "_les
pompeux débris de l'antique imposture_." The present one was
reconstructed in 1803, _the Entombment_, in gilt copper, from designs by
Vanclève, being conveyed from the chapelle des Louvois, in the old
church of the Capuchins in the Place Vendôme. The cross and candelabra
belonged to the cathedral of Arras before the Revolution; and the
beautiful bronze lectern, as exquisite in design as in workmanship, is
signed and dated, "Duplessis 1775." The statue of the Virgin, on a
pillar at the entrance of the choir, had the reputation of working
miracles. It was thrown down at the Revolution, but was found later at
S. Denis and replaced in Notre-Dame. Such is the history of the statue,
but whether it is the identical figure, it is impossible to say. In any
case it is mainly of the same date as the church, which cannot be said
of the reliquaries in the treasury, that are also supposed to have
survived the Revolution.
[Illustration: PART OF THE STALLS.]
The choir is raised three steps above the transepts. The two arches
which separate the side aisles from the crossings show evidences of a
later style. As we have seen, many sculptures were saved by the deputy
Chaumette, and by Alexandre Lenoir, as works of art worthy of
preservation; but unfortunately, reliquaries were of more value as
metal, and most of them passed through the melting-pot into coinage for
the bankrupt National treasury. The reliquaries shown at the cathedral
are mostly modern imitations of those which were formerly in the Ste.
Chapelle. One, however, is said to be the veritable _Croix Palatine_.
This is a double-armed gold cross of Byzantine workmanship, formerly
belonging to S. Germain-des-Prés, to which church it was left in 1684 by
Anne of Cleves, princess of Mantua and of Montferrat, widow of Edouard
von Baiern. The prince received it from Jean Casimir, King of Poland,
when he took refuge in France; it having been given to a King of Poland
in the 12th century by Manuel Comnenus, Emperor of Constantinople. The
princess and her daughter, the Duchess of Brunswick, attested to having
seen the cross upon one occasion encircled by flames and coming out of
the fire unhurt. In 1793 the constitutional _curé_ took the cross and
preserved it until his death in 1827, when he remitted it to the
archbishop of Paris. The inscription is in Greek and covers the length
and the two arms: _Jesus Christus cruci affixus qui exaltavit hominum
naturum, scribit Comnenus Manuel coronatus._ The following are some of
the enormous number of valuables which formerly filled the treasury. In
the inventory of 1763 there were no less than four busts and two statues
in gold, silver-gilt, and jewelled; six silver reliquaries, two of gold,
and five of silver-gilt; a gold cross attributed to S. Eloi, six
silver-gilt crosses, and a whole closet full of silver candlesticks;
besides a number of chalices, patens, ciborium, pax, censers, cruets,
and other vessels for the altar; but very few were anterior to the 16th
century. Of these the following remain: the Holy Crown from the S.
Chapelle (imitation); the Holy Nail from S. Denis, given to Charlemagne
by Constantine V., placed in the treasury of Aix-la-Chapelle, whence it
was carried by Charles le Chauve to France; the golden cross of the
Emperor Manuel Comnenus, 12th century, which was bequeathed by the
Princess Anne de Gonzague to the monks of S. Germain des Prés in
1683;[115] two silver-gilt chalices of the 13th century; the relic of
the True Cross sent in 1109 to Galon, bishop of Paris, by Anseau,
precentor of the church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem;[116] the
crozier of Bishop Elides de Sully, of wood and copper; the crucifix
belonging to S. Vincent de Paul, which he presented to Louis XIII. upon
his death-bed; the "discipline" of S. Louis; portions of this king's
raiment; and the _soutanes_ of archbishops Affre, Sibour, and Darboy.
The high altar as originally arranged had brass bars at the sides from
which hung draperies. Behind it was another altar, that of the Holy
Trinity, or _les ardents_ raised so that it could be seen above the
first one. Steps led up to this, and between them was a depository
called the _conditoire_, where all the sacred vessels used at mass were
kept. There was no tabernacle; as in most churches in the old times, the
host was enclosed in a ciborium which hung in front of the altar. A
figure in alabaster of the Virgin surmounted the _autel des ardents_.
Above all were three rows of _châsses_, one above the other, as it were
upon shelves, containing relics of S. Gendulphe, S. Séverin, S. Germain,
bishop of Paris, S. Justin, S. Lucain, S. Ursula's young friends, and
other martyrs. The reliquary of S. Marcel was behind the high altar,
resplendent in gold and pearls and precious stones, an elaborate and
beautiful work of art, by, said tradition, S. Éloi, the bishop of Noyon;
but unfortunately, it was too valuable to escape the melting-pot, and
its 436 marcs worth of gold found their way into coin of the Republic.
[Illustration: STEPS IN THE LITTLE CLOISTER.]
The church was rich in glass up to the year 1741, when a demon in human
shape, one Levieil, the author of a treatise upon the art of
glass-painting, set to work to re-adorn Notre-Dame. He describes the
matter himself; what he found and what he transformed. In the choir and
the apse the windows were ornamented with colossal figures 18 ft. high,
representing bishops, vested and bearing pastoral staves, without the
usual crook termination. A border of lozenge-shapen coloured glass
framed the figures and filled up the divisions of the compartments.
These windows Levieil dated no later than 1182, and he adds that there
were many fragments of much older glass, probably emanating from the
ancient basilicas, which preceded the present church, interspersed
between the _grisaille_ of the 12th century. In the tribune of the choir
were windows given by a little personage whose effigy knelt at the
bottom of one, Michel de Darency by name, chaplain of Saint-Ferréol, who
died in 1358. The abbot Suger also gave some of the glass in the
tribune, resembling that of his own church, S. Denis, which is so rich
in resplendent sapphire blue. In some of the chapels were subjects such
as _the Beheading of S. John Baptist_, a king and queen, possibly
Philippe le Bel and Jeanne de Navarre, kneeling. All this, or most of
it, was improved away, or re-arranged into floriated borders and
armorial bearings upon white glass. A little remains of the 14th
century: some small Angels holding the instruments of the Passion, a
Pelican and its chicks, a Christ draped in red, and a little figure of
the Virgin. This is all in the _chevet_. But the glory of the church is
the glass of the rose-windows, which continue the subjects portrayed
upon the sculpture of the doors over which they are placed. In the
western rose the Virgin is in the central compartment, crowned and
bearing a sceptre; on her left arm is the infant Christ giving the
benediction. The twelve prophets surround her, and we see again the
Signs of the Zodiac, and the work special to each month during the year.
Virtues and Vices, Judges, Priests, Prophets, and Kings of Judah; Saints
and Martyrs with the instruments of their martyrdom, or palms, decorate
these exquisite windows, masterpieces of the art; equal to the windows
of Metz and Strasburg, and contemporary with the stone walls which
surround them.
Formerly the pavement was a mass of tombstones, erect or prostrate,
bearing portraits of the defunct in brass or marble; but Louis XIV.'s
architects thought well to improve many of them away, and substitute a
marble pavement costing 300,000 francs. Many brass tombs had been melted
up with the lectern some years previously. Among the celebrities who had
formerly either effigies or epitaphs in the choir were the following.
Princes and Princesses: Philippe, Archdeacon of Paris, son of Louis VI.,
1161; Geoffroy, duc de Bretagne, son of Henry II. of England, 1186;
Isabelle de Hainault, first wife of Philippe-Auguste, 1189; Louis,
dauphin, son of Charles VI., 1415; Louise de Savoie, mother of François
I^{er.}, 1531 (only her heart was buried here); Louis XIII., 1643.
Bishops of Paris: Eudes de Sully, 1208; Étienne II., called Tempier,
1279; Cardinal Aymeric de Magnac, 1384; Pierre d'Orgemont, 1409; Denis
Dumoulin, patriarch of Antioch, 1447. Archbishops of Paris: Pierre de
Marca, 1662; Hardouin de Péréfixe, 1671; François de Harlay, 1695; and
an archbishop of Sens, who was also High Almoner of France, Renaud de
Beaune, who died in 1616.
The few statues which are now in the church are modern: the marble
monument by Pigalle, of the Comte d'Harcourt; of Cardinal de Belloy
giving alms to a woman and child, by Deseine; and those of the three
murdered archbishops, Sibour, Affre, and Darboy, who are buried in the
crypt. The epitaph of Monseigneur Affre is as follows: _Le bon pasteur
donne sa vie pour ses brebis.... Que mon sang soit le dernier versé._
[Illustration: GARGOYLES.]
The bells of Notre-Dame were justly celebrated; but of the thirteen
which were formerly in the towers, only one remains, the great
_bourdon_, heard all over the city on great occasions; as, for instance,
on Holy Saturday, when at High Mass, during the _Gloria_, it peals
forth, giving the signal for all the other church bells to break their
forty-eight hours' silence. It was given by Jean de Montaigu[117] in
1400, who named it Jacqueline, after his wife Jacqueline de La Grange;
and in 1686 it was refoundered and re-baptised--Emmanuel-Louise-Thérèse,
in honour of Louis XIV. and Marie-Thérèse of Austria.
The exterior decoration of Notre-Dame is very rich. Gargoyles, monsters
of the most grotesque type, called also _tarasques_ and _magots_, are
there, encircling the towers, and disputing their importance with the
Angel of the Judgment. The monsters stand, as they did centuries ago,
gazing down upon Paris and its doings for good or for evil. Think of the
events they have witnessed from the burning of fifty-four Templars in a
slow fire by Philippe IV., to the horrors of the Commune. They must have
seen the flaming villages and _châteaux_ during the Jacquerie, and
witnessed those useless _sorties_ during the last war, when the
Parisians vainly endeavoured to escape from the city and gain one of the
outside army corps. They seem to look down in scorn upon humanity,
whether in the form of the coronation of Henry VI. of England, so mean
an affair that "un bourgeois qui marierait ses enfants ferait mieux les
choses," or the misery of the famine of 1419-21. "Vous auriez entendu
dans tout Paris des lamentations pitoyables, des petits enfants qui
criaient, 'Je meurs de faim.' On voyait sur un fumier 20-30 enfants
garçons, filles, qui rendaient l'âme de faim et de froid. On enterrait
100,000 personnes. Des bandes de loups courraient les campagnes et
entraient même la nuit dans Paris pour enlever les cadavres." And all
the ages through, the brutes have had the same expression of scorn, of
spite, of diabolical ugliness, that one feels it to be a comfort that
they are fixed safely to the gallery of the towers, out of the way of
working mischief.
Amongst the great ceremonies which have taken place in the cathedral
are: The marriage of Marie Stuart with François II., of France, in 1552;
the marriage of Henri of Navarre and Marguerite de Valois upon a
platform erected outside the great porch, to prevent Protestant
contamination of the church. This was upon the eve of S. Bartholomew,
the 18th August, just six days before the great work of massacre on the
24th. The coronation of Napoléon by Pope Pius VII., in 1804; the
marriage of the Duc du Berry, and the baptism of the Duc du Bordeaux
(Comte de Chambord) in 1816; the funeral of the Duc d'Orléans, son of
Louis Philippe, in 1853; the marriage of Louis-Napoléon in 1853; the
baptism of his son in 1857, and a certain number of episcopal
consecrations.
[Illustration: DEMON WATCHING THE FIRES OF THE COMMUNE.]
There was a great procession organized in 1590, during the siege of
Paris by Henri IV. Sermons were preached against "Le Béarnais," the
clergy took up arms, and the pope's legate promised the palm of
martyrdom to all who fell in the holy cause. The day after the first
assault, the procession took place. The principal heroes of the League,
after shaving head and face, marched first, vested in "_camail and
rochet_," and bearing sword and "_partisan_." Then came a number of
monks in order of battle, shouldering their axes and arquebuses, "dans
un accoutrement moitié religieux et moitié militaire qui avait quelque
chose de burlesque et de terrible à la fois. L'Eglise militante chantant
des hymnes entremêlées de salves de mousqueterie. Ils défilèrent devant
le legat, qui les traita de vrais Machabées; pour que quelques-uns
mériterent à la défense des remparts." But it did not save them from
starvation.
[Illustration: NOTRE-DAME BY MOONLIGHT.]
There was at one time a mass said for the idle at "la plus haute heure
du matin. Ainsi qu'en d'aucunes paroisses de Paris, il y a la messe
d'unze heures." This was suppressed in 1722 by the Cardinal de Noailles,
archbishop of Paris. It was founded by the kindly regular canon, Jean Le
Moyne, and its revenues were applied to the _bénéficiers machicots_ and
_clercs du matins_. The _machicots_ were officers of the church of
Notre-Dame inferior to the _bénéficiers_, and superior to the simple
wage-singers. The word _machicotage_ "se dit de certaines additions des
notes, suivant une merche diatonique avec lesquelles on remplessait dans
le plain chant les intervalles du tierces et autres." A number of corona
hang from the vault, and in the crossing of the transepts is a huge one
recalling that of Hildesheim. When lighted during the services of Holy
Week, just giving a gentle diffused glimmer, the effect is very fine;
never, indeed, are these great churches so grand as at the evening
services. The mass of men sitting in the nave (it is reserved for them),
the deep roar of their voices as they sing the _Miserere_, the intense
silence during the eloquent discourses of Père Monsabré or some other
Dominican, the procession, dimly lighted, of old canons in every stage
of decrepitude, the small boys, followed by a crowd of the most
unharmonious specimens of humanity, carrying tapers, are elements
forming a picture which is uniquely picturesque. In the old days before
the war, the graceful, sweet-expressioned archbishop, bending to this
side and that, while the faithful kissed his episcopal ring and received
his blessing, added to the beauty of the scene. Had we known what was in
store for him, it would have added also to the pathos.
NOTRE-DAME DE L'ASSOMPTION.
This building may be described as a dome and a portico, built from 1670
to 1676, by Charles Erard, director of the Academy of France at Rome,
and decorated by Charles de la Fosse. The cupola is graceful, and if it
were as well decorated as the Allerheiligen church of the palace at
München, or the Apollinarus-Kirche at Remagen on the Rhine, it would be
an imposing edifice; as it is, it seems under a cloud, and is only used
as a _succursale_ or _dépendance_ of the Madeleine. It belonged to the
convent of Augustinian nuns, now turned into barracks, but still showing
a few remains of the cloister. It is strange that no one in these days
should desire to build a round church under a dome ablaze with mosaic
decoration. It might have a sanctuary as at Aix-la-Chapelle for the
Divine offices, with a pulpit in the dome, which would have the
advantage of being placed so that all the congregation could see the
preacher. I am thinking at this moment of the beautiful Russian church
in Paris, which is gorgeous with colour and gilding. Such a building
upon a large scale, built in the sumptuous style of the Brompton
Oratory, of marbles and mosaic, and in the form of the church of the
Assumption, would be a refreshing change from red brick and Doulton
tiles, which seem to be inseparately mixed up with elaborate ritual,
and are as infallibly correct as clothing for an Anglo-Catholic service
as is chocolate colour for dressing up _pseudo_-Grecian temples
surmounted by pepper-box turrets, which delighted the architects at the
beginning of this styleless century.
NOTRE-DAME DE L'ABBAYE AUX BOIS.
If I say that the little church and cloister, which are all that remain
of a monastery of Cistercian nuns, built in 1718, are situated in the
Rue de Sèvres, hard by the Bon Marché, my readers will immediately
picture their whereabouts. At the beginning of this century, the Abbaye
became a genteel boarding-house for fashionable ladies who played at
being weary of the world; but, although they retired into a monastic
building, their _monde_ followed them; and thus we find Madame Recamier
receiving her admirers in her cloistered _salon_, and listening to their
philosophical sophistries while she elegantly reclines upon a satin sofa
with straight legs and curling arms.
NOTRE-DAME DES BLANCS-MANTEAUX.
When the white-mantled religious, the servants of Mary, came to Paris
about the year 1258, they set up housekeeping in the street which is now
named after them, the Rue des Blancs-Manteaux. Everyone who has been to
Florence knows the chapel of the Annunziata, where during mass one day,
the general of the Servites, Filippo Benozzi, saw a vision of the Virgin
sitting in a chariot, and heard her voice calling upon him to draw near,
and join himself to her servants, who, some fifteen years earlier, had
banded themselves together. There were seven of them, all of noble
family, and they gained their name from their especial devotion to the
Virgin. As they wandered out to the church of the Annunciation to sing
their _Angelus_, the women and children used to point at them and cry
out, "_Guardate i Servi di Maria_"; and so, when they formed themselves
into a community, they became known as the "Servi" or "Serviti." Benozzi
was a medicine man of benevolent disposition, who, tired of witnessing
suffering (perhaps of operations performed without anæsthetics), gave up
his work, and retired, like another S. Benedict, to Monte Senario. His
power in smoothing down the ruffled-up backs of the Tuscans in their
many family squabbles was so great that he became a renowned moral
healer; and in 1285, when he died, his order was flourishing all over
Italy and France. It was soon after his beatification, about 1671, that
Andrea del Sarto was called upon to decorate part of the cloisters of
the Annunziata; and, as a result, we have the lovely Madonna del Sacco.
At the end of the 13th century the hermits of Saint-Guillaume replaced
the Servites at the monastery of the Blancs-Manteaux, and in 1618 the
house was united to the Reformed Benedictines who erected a new church.
The habit of the monks was then changed to black, but as the name of
Blancs-Manteaux was still retained, the people called the fathers _les
mal nommés_. The conventual buildings are now occupied by the
Mont-de-Piété, another kind of service of the poor, in the shape of
official and honest pawnbroking. If anyone wishes to study character,
let him go into the great hall, and look at those rows and rows of
physiognomies sitting upon the benches awaiting their turn to be served.
Young, old, poor, and, apparently, rich, all go there for loans upon
their goods; and you may pile upon the mountain anything you like, from
a bundle of rags to a diamond butterfly.
NOTRE-DAME DES CHAMPS.
Legendary history records an assemblage of the first Christians of
Lutetia in the fields where now runs the Rue S. Jacques, listening to
the preaching of S. Denis, and strengthening themselves against the
persecution which loomed in the distance. And legend further relates
that a chapel was built upon this spot. But leaving the realms of
tradition, we find an authentic account of a church in the 8th century
which, in the next hundred years, was served by the Benedictine monks of
Marmoutier. This remained the headquarters of a priory for about six
hundred years. In 1604, Cardinal Bérulle introduced the Carmelite order
as reformed by S. Theresa, and the nuns began to rebuild. The church
they left intact with its 13th century porch, and its great statues of
S. Denis, Moses, Aaron, David, and Solomon. This building disappeared,
and a modern one arose in its stead, more to the West; but the crypt is
supposed to be under the level of the street; and according to the abbé
Lebœuf, a second subterraneous burial-ground of Gallo-Roman origin
was discovered still lower down, with fragments of tombstones, slabs,
pottery, and the like. The present church contains a few _débris_ of
its former grandeur, a statue by Sarazin, of Cardinal de Bérulle, being
the principal one.
The monastery was celebrated, during the 17th century, as the asylum of
many distinguished ladies who sought a refuge from their troubles;
amongst others, of the blessed Sœur Louise de la Miséricorde, who
died there in 1710, in the odour of sanctity. In her mundane career this
_Madeleine da la Cour_ was Mdlle. de la Vallière, and she is said to
have posed to Le Brun for his terrible picture of _La Madeleine
pénitente renonce à toutes les vanités de la vie_, which was painted for
M. de Camus as an adornment of this Carmelite church. It is now in the
Louvre, which it in nowise adorns. Lebrun, as a decorative artist,
painting allegories and battles, is bearable; but his religious pictures
are only gross exaggerations of the Italian Eclectics. This Madeleine de
la Vallière is in a tortuous state of agony at the thought of the
vanities she enjoyed. With eyes turned up, with her flowing locks, and
swathed in rich satin garments, which are blown by a gust of wind coming
in at the open casement on the top of a cloud, she looks thunder-struck;
it is astonishment at the discovery of her sinfulness, revealed by the
heavens opening, and the Divine voice addressing her. Surely the
moderns, the Bérauds, the Lhermites, the Dagnan-Bouverets, Uhde,
Hitchcock, Pierce, and their followers, have far more religious feeling,
although they clothe their personages as Parisian workpeople, and paint
their Madeleines, like Henner, in the pastures (apparently) of the Bois
de Boulogne--backgrounds, considering the subject, not altogether
inappropriate.
NOTRE-DAME DE LORETTE.
An utterly uninteresting exterior encloses some good mural paintings by
Orsel, Périn, and Roger. The church was completed in 1836 by Lebas, and
were the weather always bright, the interior would not fail to impress
the visitor; but it is too dark for a Northern clime, and it is
therefore difficult fully to appreciate the frescoes. That over the
altar is by Picot; the subjects from the life of the Virgin are by
Dubois, Langlois, Vinchon, and Hesse; the choir is the work of Delorme;
_the Presentation in the Temple_, and _Christ disputing with the
Doctors_, are by Heim and Drolling. They are all inspired by a reverent
feeling for the subjects, and are resplendent with gold.
NOTRE-DAME DES VICTOIRES.
Louis XIII. laid the first stone of this church in 1629, and dedicated
it to Our Lady of Victory, in memory of the famous battle of La
Rochelle. It was part of the convent of barefooted Augustins, who were
nicknamed the Little Fathers, by Henri IV., on account of the diminutive
stature of some of the friars, and consequently the church was as often
called Notre-Dame des Petits Pères as Notre-Dame des Victoires. Pierre
Lemut was its original architect; and before it was completed, in 1740,
by Cartaud, two other architects, Libéral Bruant and Gabriel Leduc, lent
their aid. The cupola is decorated with an Assumption; pictures by
Vanloo adorn the choir, and other chapels contain some by Perrault.
Those by Vanloo represent the thanksgiving of the King and the Cardinal
for the mighty victory aforesaid, the taking of La Rochelle. But the
interest of, or the objections to, the church, according to the point of
view from which we start, consists in the innumerable _ex-voto_ tablets
which cover the walls, and proclaim the answers to prayers by mothers,
wives, husbands, sons, fathers, and daughters. They are emblems of the
faith which saves. But would not the same earnest prayers, put up on
other spots, produce the same results? Is it not a narrow notion that we
are more likely to be heard in the Place des Victoires than in the
Halles? Such is not the view of the _dévots_ and _dévotes_, as the
statue of the Virgin proclaims, for it is hung all over with costly
jewels and ornaments; and whatever time of the day we may enter the
church, we find it almost filled with troubled souls who come to gain an
indulgence at its privileged altars, which are to those of a different
sort of mind examples of what to avoid. For those persons having
leanings to superstition, let me commend this church as an antidote; to
others, it is neither æsthetically interesting nor, from a religious
point of view, particularly edifying. To musicians it has one
attraction, as being the burial-place of Jean-Baptiste Lulli, the
charming fiddler, who died in 1687, and whose bronze statue by Cotton is
in the transept.
L'ORATOIRE.
Built for the Oratorians, this elegant circular church is now given
over to Protestant gloom of the least decorative order. It was
constructed by François Mansard, and dedicated to Notre-Dame-des-Anges
in 1634, upon the site, some authorities say, of the Hôtel of Gabrielle
d'Estrèes; it may therefore be said to have passed from the good
Gabrielle, through the better fathers, to the best Protestants; or,
contrariwise, from the bad Demoiselle to the worse Catholics, and, worst
of all, Calvinists. However, now all is calm, and passions have
subsided; and a fine statue of Admiral Coligny is fixed to its wall,
facing the scene of his murder on that fearful feast of bloodshed which
S. Bartholemew must have been scandalized to find attached to his name.
SAINT-PAUL-SAINT-LOUIS.
In the Rue Saint-Antoine is the old church of the Jesuits, gorgeous in
marbles, gilding and stucco, as is the wont of the architects employed
by those wary fathers. It was built from the designs of François Derraud
from 1627-41. The remains of the conventual buildings are now occupied
by the Collège Charlemagne. The expenses of the building were defrayed
by Louis XIII. and Richelieu, who celebrated his maiden mass there. It
was the second cupola erected in Paris, the first being that belonging
to the Carmelite church. It is Italian in style, the _façade_ being very
similar to that of S. Gervais, recalling the Gesu and S. Ignacius at
Rome, and is adorned with statues of S. Louis, by Lequesne; of S.
Catherine, by Auguste Préault; and of S. Anne, by Etex. Bourdaloue and
archbishop Huet of Avranches are buried there, and in a crypt below lie
the Jesuits who have died in the convent from its foundation until the
suppression of the order. The numerous monuments were swept away at the
Revolution: a rich sculptured coffer for the heart of Louis XIII., and
another by Coustou le jeune, containing Louis XIV.'s heart. The
tabernacle was of silver gilt, but it is no more. The only contents now
of any interest are a picture representing the abbey of Longchamps,
attributed to Philippe de Champaigne, and a fine work by Delacroix,
_Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane_. Although his first known picture,
it is an example of his splendid colouring and grand composition. Victor
Hugo's first child was born in the parish, and baptized at S. Paul's,
and to commemorate the event the poet presented two holy-water stoops,
in the shape of shells, very beautiful in design.
SAINT-PHILIPPE DU ROULE.
"This church presents you with a single insulated row of fluted Ionic
pillars, on each side of the nave; very airy, yet consequential, and
even imposing. It is much to my taste, and I wish such a plan were more
generally adopted in the interiors of Grecian-constructed churches. The
choir, the altar ... the whole is extremely simple and elegant. Nor must
the roof be omitted to be particularly mentioned. It is an arch
constructed of wood, upon a plan originally invented by Philibert
Delorme--so well known in the annals of art in the sixteenth century.
The whole is painted in stone-colour, and may deceive the most
experienced eye. This beautiful church was built after the designs of
Chalgrin, about the year 1700, and is considered to be a purer
resemblance of the antique than any other in Paris. Perhaps the
principal front may be thought to be too close or servile a copy. It was
erected upon the site of an ancient Gothic chapel, of which latter the
author of the three quarto volumes of Parisian topography has given a
vignette from the only known design of it, in aquatint, but very
indifferent. This church, well worth your examination, is situated in a
quarter rarely visited by our countrymen, in the Rue du Faubourg du
Roule, not far from the barriers."[118]
I give this criticism of S. Philippe because it shows how taste has
changed in architecture, as indeed in all else. From most persons' point
of view the church is quite uninteresting; indeed the only object in
going there is, except to a certain number of fashionables, to hear some
celebrated preacher. It was from the pulpit of S. Philippe that Père
Didon poured forth those eloquent and learned discourses, stocked with
liberal ideas, which brought him into disgrace and forced retirement,
until quite recently.
It is curious, too, that the quarter should have so changed. It is now
the centre of the English and American colonists, and withal well filled
with persons who delight in the one o'clock mass. It is so convenient;
they can saunter in after _déjeuner_, say a few prayers, step into their
carriages again, and go straight off to the races. Perhaps S. Augustin
has bereft S. Philippe of some of its fashion; but it has still plenty
to spare; it may be said to swarm with elegant _toilettes_, and not much
else in the way of beauty. Let us walk on.
SAINT-PIERRE DE CHAILLOT.
"Chaillot, très ancien village de la banlieue de Paris érigé en
faubourg, sous le nom de la Conférence, par arrêté du conceil du mois de
Juillet 1659. Le nom de ce faubourg lui fut donné à cause de la porte de
la Conférence, située sur la rive droite de la Seine, vers l'extrémité
de la terrasse du jardin des Tuileries."
The apse of this church is the only part that is old; the rest is
Italian, and very poor of its kind, which makes the groined vault of the
apse all the pleasanter to contemplate. Lately a new chapel has been
added on in the Avenue Marceau, something between a Swiss _châlet_ and a
_café_, all ablaze with gilding and tawdry decoration.
The abbey of Sainte-Perrine de Chaillot was founded by Philippe le Bel
about 1300, in the forest of Compiègne for the canonesses of the order
of S. Augustin; and in 1646 it was transferred to La Villette. Later,
the monastery was united to another community of the same order which
was established at Chaillot in 1659. In 1760 the abbey ceased to exist,
and the buildings gradually disappeared, with the exception of a few
fragments belonging to some school buildings. Augustin's sisters may
still be seen at Chaillot, working in the parish of S. Pierre, and
observable by their quaint head-gear and their quainter clogs worn over
spotless white stockings. By the way, why do Anglican sisters and nurses
wear long gowns trailing about the wards of our hospitals? Are they not
possibly receptacles for the germ and microbe population?
SAINT-PIERRE DE MONTMARTRE.
The first church of S. Peter is said to have been founded by Louis VI.
and Alix de Savoie his wife, upon the site of a still older edifice; and
its most remarkable event in those early days was the presence of S.
Bernard at its consecration. Little remains earlier than the 15th
century, except two _verd antique_ columns and some of the pillars of
the choir. Upon a slab may be read an inscription bearing upon the
martyrdom of S. Denis and his companions, who suffered here upon the
mountain; and in the open ground outside is a Calvary to which the pious
world resorts. A splendid new church dedicated to the Sacré Cœur is
being built hard by, to which a vast number of processions and
pilgrimages now industriously and toilfully wend their way.
SAINT-ROCH.
Built by Jacques Lemercier, after the first-stone-laying by the _Grand
Monarque_, this church became fashionable and much affected by the great
ones of the City. Bossuet lived hard by in the Rue S. Anne, and was
placed in the church he had often preached in, previously to being
removed to his cathedral of Meaux. Another celebrity, Marie Anne de
Bourbon, Princesse de Conti, daughter of Louis and his handmaiden La
Vallière, was buried in the chapel of the Virgin; and the sculptors
François and Michel Anguier also found their rest here.
The portico was commenced in 1736 from the designs of Robert de Cotte.
It is in no wise beautiful; but it is celebrated as having been the
scene of the terrible 13 Vendémiaire An IV. (5 October, 1795). In the
"_cul-de-sac Dauphin_" against the church walls the "young bronze
Artillery Officer" set his guns. "The firing was with sharp and sharpest
shot; to all men it was plain that there was no sport."[119] In a couple
of hours it was all over; insurrection quelled; and the "Whiff of
Grapeshot" proved so successful that it became the active power in
subsequent doings of the dynasty of the "Man of bronze."
S. Roch is a vast edifice mainly conspicuous by its ugliness; but it
contains much furniture that is worth noting. Over the altar is a fine
crucifix by Michel Anguier, formerly in the Sorbonne. The group of the
Nativity brought from Val de Grâce is by François Anguier.
Saint-Jean-en-Grève has contributed the Baptism of Our Lord, by Lemoine;
the Latin Fathers were sculptured for the Dome of the Invalides; the
figure of S. Roch on the right of the choir is by one of the Coustou
brothers; a dying Christ by Falconet. The bust of Lenôtre, by Coyzevox,
was part of a monument; so was the statue of Cardinal Dubois by
Guillaume Coustou. Mignard was buried here and has a memorial bust by
Desjardins. Medallions also abound: the Maréchal d'Asfeld, the Duc de
Lesdignières, the Comte d'Harcourt, and the Duc de Cérqui; also a
monument to Maupertius, l'abbé de l'Epée; and an epitaph to Pierre
Corneille. Madame de Feuquières, in white marble, was treated after the
manner of the kings and queens at S. Denis. Lemoine made her kneeling at
her father, Mignard's feet; some one improved upon this, and turned her
into a Madeleine at the foot of the cross.
[Illustration: A SISTER OF SAINT-ROCH.]
Behind the choir is the chapel of the Virgin, with the Crucifixion
lighted up after the manner of that terrible tomb at Windsor erected to
the memory of the Princess Charlotte; but they vie with each other in
popularity from the many sightseers who pass by. There is also an
entombment which, on Good Friday, is visited by thousands of people; and
in the chapel of the S. Sacrament, a reproduction of the Ark of the
Covenant with the Mercy Seat and the Cherubim--about the most
interesting part of the church; it is I believe, used as the tabernacle.
"S. Roche is doubtless a very fine building, with a well proportioned
front and a noble flight of steps; but the interior is too plain and
severe for my taste. The walls are decorated with unfluted pilasters,
with capitals scarcely conformable to any one order of architecture. The
choir, however, is lofty, and behind it, in Our Lady's chapel, if I
remember accurately, there is a striking piece of sculpture of the
Crucifixion, sunk into a rock, which receives the light from an
invisible aperture, as at S. Sulpice. To the right, or rather behind
this chapel, there is another--called the _Chapel of Calvary_--in which
you observe a celebrated piece of sculpture, of rather colossal
dimensions, of the entombment of Christ. The dead Saviour is borne to
the sepulchre by Joseph of Arimathea, St. John, and the three Maries.
The name of the sculptor is _Deseine_. Certainly you cannot but be
struck with the effect of such representations--which accounts for these
two chapels being a great deal more attended in general than the choir
or the nave of the church. It is, right, however, to add, that the
pictures here are preferable to those of S. Sulpice, and the series of
bas-reliefs, descriptive of the principal events in the life of Christ,
is among the very best specimens of art, of that species, which Paris
can boast of."[120]
The music at S. Roch gained much renown some years ago, and although it
is not now in any way remarkable, its reputation is still great. People
assure you that the best music in Paris is at S. Roch. True, we may hear
the masses of Haydn and Mozart very fairly performed there; but neither
voices nor organ equal the refinement of the Madeleine. In one respect,
however, we may prefer S. Roch. The boys sit upon their little stools in
the choir, and when they have to sing, group themselves with the singing
men round a huge lectern, which stands out in the centre of the chancel.
Thus they stand before the old noted service book, and in their
picturesque costume of red cassocks, white albs, and blue or red sashes,
they form a most picturesque _coup-d'œil_, very different from the
other churches. At the Madeleine the choir sits behind the altar, and
you hear the singing from invisible voices,--very charming if you did
not see the boys in their _collégien_ uniform pass round before the
commencement of the service; but this gives a somewhat theatrical
effect. At S. Roch the grouping of the men and boys and the double
basses round the lectern gives the whole affair such a delightfully
old-world appearance that it is most refreshing, and the effect of the
huge service-book, with its plain-song notation up above the heads of
the boys, takes one back hundreds of years. That S. Roch was much
esteemed in the early years of the century our American's letter shows.
His criticism of the sermon might apply very well to many a one in this
year of grace, more especially here at home. The French preachers almost
always speak well, and are eloquent, even if their matter be
indifferent, dull, or twaddly. Englishmen unfortunately despise the
manner, and think their hearers ought to be content with good matter
only; and so it comes about that in a life-time only two or three great
preachers stand out in one's memory--a Henry Parry Liddon and a Samuel
Wilberforce. However, the "American," is of a diverse opinion.
"Yesterday, being Sunday, I went to S. Roch's; I had the luck to hit
upon the fashionable church; but the preacher was the _god of dulness_.
The world, he says, is growing worse and worse; our roguish ancestors
begot us bigger rogues, about to produce a worse set of rogues than
ourselves. The Antichrist is already come. If he had said the antichrist
of wit, anybody would have believed him, and yet this is the very pulpit
from which the Bossuets and Bourdaloues used to preach. The church was
filled almost entirely of women; one might think that none go to heaven
in this country but the fair sex" (or perhaps the men require no help,
he might have added). "The worshippers seem intent enough upon their
devotions, but the wide avenues at the sides are filled with a crowd of
idle, curious, and disorderly spectators. Give me a French church; one
walks in here booted and spurred, looks at the pretty women and the
pictures, whistles a tune if one chooses, and then walks out again. They
have not spoilt the architectural beauty (!) of S. Roch's by pews and
galleries. The walls are adorned splendidly with paintings; and here and
there are groups of statuary, and the altar being finely gilt and
illuminated, looks magnificently. When I build a church I shall decorate
it somewhat in this manner. It is good to imitate nature as much as one
can in all things; and she has set us the example in this. She has
adorned her great temple, the world, with green fields, and fragrant
flowers, and its superb dome the firmament with stars."[121] The
trotting about at S. Roch is the same to this day, which makes it the
least restful of churches.
SAINT-SÉVERIN.
The church of S. Séverin is particularly interesting as showing a
gradual development from the 13th to the 16th century. Founded upon the
site of an oratory by Henri I. in 1050, it was first rebuilt at the end
of the 11th century.
[Illustration: SAINT-SÉVERIN FROM THE TOWERS OF NOTRE-DAME.]
There were two saints of this name; one, the founder of the Abbey of
Châteaulandon, who miraculously cured Clovis I. of some sickness by
placing his chasuble upon him; and the other, the patron of this church,
a monk, or rather a hermit, who lived during the reign of Childebert I.,
in a cell near Paris, and was of course much given to prayer and
supplications, and other pious exercises. Considering the brutal
manners and customs of the early sovereigns and their companions, it is
a blessed sign that human nature, even in those dark ages, was not
completely diabolical; and to find that some men and women cared for
other matters than fire and sword and pillage. S. Séverin was one of
these more peaceful souls; and so well did he preach his pacific faith,
that S. Cloud, or Clodoaldus, the grandson of Queen Clotilde, became one
of his disciples, and received the religious habit of the Benedictine
order from him. S. Cloud was the youngest of the sons of Chlodomir, one
of three brothers who suffered from the murderous inclinations of wicked
uncles. What brigands they all were! Imagine a woman being asked in all
seriousness whether she preferred death or the tonsure for her
grandchildren. No wonder monasteries and convents flourished, for where
else was there any culture, enlightenment, civilization, or even safety
to life and limb? And yet Clotilde must have had some reason for her
passionate answer, "Better they were dead than shaven monks!" for she
must have foreseen that such an exclamation could only lead to
assassination, and thus we find that S. Cloud alone of the brothers
escaped death, and became a shaven Benedictine.
S. Séverin was probably buried near the oratory, and what would be more
natural than that the disciple should consecrate the spot to the memory
of his master? In 1050 Henri I. gave the patronage, which had been up to
his reign in the hands of the kings, to the then Bishop of Paris,
Imbert. At the end of the 11th century, it became an enormous parish,
extending almost over the whole of the southern part of the city. It is
now the centre of the Italian legion, models, organ-grinders, white-mice
men, and plaster-image vendors; and it is a pretty sight on Sundays and
_fête_ days to see the church packed with emigrants from the sunny South
decked out in all the splendour of their holiday attire. How a group of
people can alter the whole aspect of a building, was once demonstrated
to me in S. Paul's cathedral. Walking down that dismal and gloomy nave
upon an afternoon to which the same adjectives might be appropriately
applied, it seemed suddenly to become bright and light by the entrance
of a group of three or four Italian women with their children, dressed
in the familiar, and upon any other human beings, hideously crude
violet, emerald-green, and raw-blue coloured garments; colours which are
totally wanting in beauty and harmony of themselves, but allied to the
snow-white chemises and trimmed with gold braid, and partially covered
with silver ornaments, they seemed to drop into harmony with the church,
and to completely change the general appearance of the melancholy
background, as even a ray of sunshine fails to do completely. S. Paul's
is so essentially Italian that its usual congregations, clad in blacks
and browns, form an utterly inharmonious foreground to the architecture,
and give one the idea that the building is _dépaysé_.
The present church of S. Séverin was re-built in the 13th century, in
great part by money obtained by indulgences, which Clement VI. in 1347
accorded to the generously inclined among the faithful. In the next
century this system was revived, and the churchwardens, with shrewd
foresight, bought up more ground, with a view to the enlargement of the
building. The first stone of the new part was laid in 1489, the chapel
of S. Sebastian being built three years later. In 1490 the chapel of the
Conception, which was situated near the east end, was demolished to make
way for the lengthening of the north aisle. Five years later, Jean
Simon, Bishop of Paris, consecrated the new portions of the church,
including the high altar, and several of the chapels of the _chevet_. In
1498 the chapels on the south side were commenced by Micheaul le Gros;
the sacristy and treasury being added in 1540, and the chapel of the
Communion in 1673, to make an entrance to which the chapel of S.
Sebastian had to be destroyed. Thus for four hundred years, more or
less, the church was undergoing constant change and development. Then
began the downward path, commencing with the destruction of the _jubé_
and the "ornamentation" of the sanctuary to suit the taste of the
devotees of Classic art. Originally, many of the Paris churches had
_jubés_ (rood-screens), but the only one now remaining is that of S.
Étienne du Mont. A brass attached to one of the pillars gives the names
of the donors of the screen, Antoine de Compaigne (illuminator) and his
wife Oudette.
Were it not for the elegant little tower and spire, few persons would
know of the existence of S. Séverin. It is out of the beaten track,
beyond Notre-Dame and the "monuments" of the Faubourg S. Germain. It has
to be hunted up; but it is well worth the trouble, and any one visiting
the remains of the Roman amphitheatre of Lutetia, in the Rue Monge (now
laid out as a public garden) can see S. Séverin at the same time.
The portal is profusely carved and bears an inscription upon the
stylobate (the letters of which are of the 13th century), giving the
various duties of the grave-diggers, amongst others the cleansing of the
vaults of the roof as well as the lower part of the church on the feast
of S. Martin, in order to be tidy for the dedication festival which fell
two days later. As in many other churches, there are two lions on each
side of the arch, probably the supports formerly of some heraldic
shields. This, no doubt, is the origin of the formula, which terminates
certain ecclesiastical judgments pronounced at the threshold of the
temple, _Datum inter duos leones_. The tympanum bas-relief has been
restored. It represents the charity of S. Martin, who is one of the
patrons of the church, and whose mutilated mantle, or a portion of it,
has been one of the cherished relics of S. Séverin since the 14th
century. There is also a chapel dedicated to the venerable bishop of
Tours, which was formerly completely covered with _ex voto_ horse-shoes,
the gifts of thankful travellers; for S. Martin having been on horseback
when he divided his cloak, became the patron of the travelling
community. The western _façade_ is composed of portions of the portal of
S. Pierre-aux-Bœufs in the Cité, which was demolished in 1837, and
is, the little which has been left unrestored, of the 13th century. S.
Pierre was situated in the Rue d'Arcole; the only fragment remaining
being a _bas-relief_ fixed against the wall of the house which occupies
the site of the church, representing an _Ecce Homo_ surrounded with the
emblems of the Passion. Above the porch of S. Séverin are an open work
gallery, a rose window and a cornice upon which a party of little
animals are playing among some foliage, all in _Flamboyant_ style. The
statue of the Virgin is quite modern. The whole of the chapels, as well
as the greater part of the nave, are of the 15th and 16th centuries; but
the first three bays of the nave are of a totally different style; the
form of the arches and of the windows shows the craftsmanship of the
13th century artists. Birds and beasts, natural and grotesque, form
gargoyles, shooting the rainwater from their open mouths. At the
north-west end of the chapels, an elegantly carved canopied niche
encloses the patron Saint, and near him is an inscription inviting the
passers-by to pray for the souls of the departed
_Bonnes gens qui p cy passes_
_Pries Dieu pour les trespasses._
The last word has been mutilated.
The interior consists of a nave and double aisles. The triforium is very
similar to that of Westminster Abbey church; but at the commencement of
the apse, the 13th century arches were filled in with round-headed ones,
Cupid-like Cherubs being placed between the two to "ornament" the
intervening space, and the pillars converted into marbled pilasters.
[Illustration: INTERIOR OF SAINT-SÉVERIN.]
Some of the capitals and corbels of the south aisle are most
droll--prophets, flying Angels, and divers kinds of animals, all more
or less grotesque, after the manner of the _miserere_ seats at Wells
cathedral. During the reign of Henri IV. Sibyls, and Prophets,
Patriarchs and Apostles, were painted by one Jacques Bunel on a gold
ground above the arches of the nave; but happily they have disappeared.
It was Mlle. de Montpensier who caused the marbling of the choir to be
undertaken in 1684, and who also bore the expense of the baldachino of
the altar, employing the sculptor Tubi to carry out the designs of
Lebrun.
[Illustration: SAINT-SÉVERIN.]
In the side aisle, on the south, is a little door leading through a
garden, formerly the graveyard, to the _presbytère_. This, in summer,
forms a charming little picture. In one of the side chapels (Notre-Dame
de l'Espérance) is a 15th century wall-painting of _The Resurrection of
the Dead_; and in the chapel of the chevet a _Preaching of John the
Baptist_, also in fresco. In the apse are a series of fluted and spiral
columns. The bosses are many of them ornamented with figures--the
Annunciation, S. Anne and S. Joachim at the golden gate, a Holy Face,
and a chalice surmounted by the host.
A number of distinguished persons were buried at S. Séverin: Étienne
Pasquier, an eloquent _Avocat-Général_ under Henri III. who was mainly
instrumental in causing the exclusion of the Jesuits from the
University, and who died in 1615; the brothers Saint-Martre, celebrated
men of letters living at the beginning of the 17th century; and Moreri,
the author of the _Dictionnaire Historique_, who died in 1680.
There are only three ancient epitaphs remaining--that of Nicolas de
Bomont, who died in 1540; Guillaume Fusée, president of the Parliament
of Paris, and of his wife, Jeanne Desportes, who made several pious
foundations in 1521; and Jean Baptiste Altin, _conseilleur au Châtelet_,
who died in 1640. The first, Nicolas Bomont, his wife, and fifteen
children, are represented as pigmy personages praying at the foot of the
Crucified. The emblems upon the Altin slab have been borrowed from the
Roman catacombs; and the epitaph is as follows:
ALTINI PECCATORIS OSSA
HIC JACENT,
PIE JESU MISERERE EIUS
TU VIATOR PRECARE PRO EO
VIX [Symbol] AN [Symbol] PLU [Symbol] JUNIVS
A [Symbol] C [Symbol] DIONYSIANO MDCXL [Symbol]
SENATOR FOIT IN CASTELL [Symbol] PAR [Symbol]
PŒNE QUADRAGEN [Symbol]
VALE VIATOR ET VALERE
MANES IOBE
A modern tablet states that the first confraternity established in
France under the patronage of the Immaculate Conception was founded at
S. Séverin in 1311, but the chapels used by the association have
disappeared.
The church contains no furniture of any value artistically, except
perhaps, the organ and wrought-iron gallery, erected in 1747 to replace
an earlier instrument of 1512; the original organ, given in 1358 by
Maître Regnaud de Douy, the master of the parish schools, is described
as _une bones orgues et bien ordenées_.
A good deal of the stained glass is of the 15th and 16th centuries, and
bears the figures and arms of the donors (some of whom appear by their
long robes to have been magistrates), accompanied by their wives and
families. The subjects are the usual ones taken from the New Testament,
or from the lives of the Saints; but a few are somewhat out of the
beaten track, as for instance: Two families of numerous members
accompanied by, or superintended by S. Peter and S. Andrew; S. Michael
clad as a warrior bearing a shield upon which are emblazoned the arms of
France; S. Geneviève holding her demon-extinguished taper which an Angel
relights; S. Anthony with his staff and bell, and holy fire under his
feet, which is in dangerous proximity to his faithful porkling; and
lastly, S. Thomas of Canterbury celebrating mass, while his murderers
fall upon him with their swords. One of the chapels of S. Séverin was
dedicated to the memory of the martyred archbishop.
[Illustration]
Several modern artists have decorated the side-chapels--Alexandre Hesse,
Cornu and Flandrin; but the student of the latter painter must go to S.
Vincent-de-Paul and S. Germain-des-Prés to fully appreciate this great
master of religious art.
The symbols upon the slab mentioned above are very similar to those
found in the cemetery of S. Marcel which occupied the site of the abbey
of S. Geneviève. In the Breviary of Paris we read, in the office for the
Translation of S. Marcel, that his body was put in a chapel, _aedicula_,
named after S. Clement, and from which the Saint had driven out an
enormous serpent. Coming from a neighbouring wood the monster had seized
upon the remains of a rich woman who had been a great sinner, and was
regaling himself therewith, when Marcel came to the rescue, and chasing
him away three miles, forbade him ever to return. This miracle was
popular upon the churches of Paris, and is still to be seen on the
centre pier of the Porte S. Anne of Notre-Dame and in the _voussure_ of
the Porte Rouge.
On the slab at S. Séverin are the doves with olive branches and the
sacred monogram. Below, the Lamb is standing upon the earth, from which
flow the rivers of Paradise, Pison, Gihon, Hiddekel, and Euphrates,
typical, according to S. Ambrose, of the Cardinal Virtues, Prudence,
Strength, Courage, and Temperance. The epitaph is written between the
doves and the Lamb.
LA SORBONNE.
[Illustration: TOMB OF CARDINAL RICHELIEU.]
[Illustration: THE OLD SORBONNE.]
Another institution which owes its initiative to S. Louis is the
Sorbonne, actually founded in 1250 by Robert de Sorbon, a canon of
Paris, for sixteen poor students in theology. The present church is a
fine example of 17th century Classicism, such as the world of that day
affected. Jacques Lemercier was the architect, and the great Cardinal
the pay-master, and between them they certainly turned out a very
respectable piece of work with a certain sense of grandeur, and a very
fine dome, the first that figured in Paris. It was built between 1635
and 1659. Within, is the marble tomb of Richelieu, the work of Girardon
(1694) from the design of Lebrun. The great man reclines gracefully upon
a couch supported by a figure of Religion, and a weeping lady of Science
at his feet. It has not the feeling of the Renaissance sculpture, and
although Religion forms a principal part of the composition, it is
purely and simply a secular design. It might be the memorial of a Pagan,
and it would be just as appropriate in a town hall, a garden, or a
theatre; but that perhaps gives it the more fitness as the monument of
so singular a churchman and so farcical a Christian. The wary Cardinal
turns up his face and piously gazes at Heaven as if that were his only
thought; he appears overwhelmed with holiness and sanctity, a veritable
Pecksniff arrayed in the gorgeous robes of a prince of the holy Roman
Church. But artistically, the composition is fine, far finer than many
of the works of the 17th century; and one feels that could the figure
rise, it would move about with the same grace as that portrayed in the
noble portrait of the great statesman by Philippe de Champaigne in the
Louvre. As posthumous retribution for his crimes and vices, Richelieu's
head was chopped off into three pieces in 1793, and remained
fragmentary until 1861, when they were patched together. The church
also contains a painting by Hesse of little value, _Robert de Sorbon
présentant à S. Louis de jeunes élèves en théologie_, and some statues
by Romy and Bure.
SAINT-SULPICE.
"Yonder majestic portico forms the west front of the church called S.
Sulpice.... It is at once airy and grand. There are two tiers of
pillars, of which this front is composed; the lower is Doric, the upper
Ionic; and each row, as I am told, is nearly forty French feet in
height, exclusively of their entablatures, each of ten feet. We have
nothing like this, certainly, as the front of a parish church, in
London. When I except S. Paul's, such exception is made in reference to
the most majestic piece of architectural composition which, to my eye,
the wit of man hath yet ever devised. The architect of the magnificent
front of S. Sulpice was Servandoni; and a street hard by (in which Dom
Brial, the father of French history, resides) takes its name from the
architect. There are two towers--one at each end of this front, about
two hundred and twenty feet in height from the pavement; harmonising
well with the general style of architecture, but of which that to the
South (to the best of my recollection) is left in an unaccountably if
not shamefully unfinished state. These towers are said to be about one
toise higher than those of Notre-Dame. The interior of this church is
hardly less imposing than its exterior. The vaulted roofs are
exceedingly lofty; but, for the length of the nave, and more especially
the choir, the transepts are disproportionally short, nor are there
sufficiently prominent ornaments to give relief to the massive
appearance of the sides. These sides are decorated by fluted pilasters
of the Corinthian order, which for so large and lofty a building have a
tame effect. There is nothing like the huge, single, insulated column,
or the clustered slim pilasters, that separate the nave from the side
aisles of the Gothic churches of the early and middle ages.
"The principal altar between the nave and the choir is admired for its
size and grandeur of effect, but it is certainly ill-placed; it is
perhaps too ornamental, looking like a detached piece which does not
harmonise with the surrounding objects. Indeed, most of the altars in
French churches want simplicity and appropriate effect, and the whole
of the interior of the choir is (to my fastidious eye only, you may add)
destitute of that quiet solemn character which ought always to belong to
places of worship. Rich, minute and elaborate as are many of the Gothic
choirs of our own country, they are yet in harmony and equally free from
a frivolous and unappropriate effect. Behind the choir is the chapel of
Our Lady, which is certainly most splendid and imposing. Upon the
ceiling is represented the assumption of the Virgin, and the walls are
covered with a profusion of gilt ornament which, upon the whole, has a
very striking effect. In a recess above the altar is a sculptured
representation of the Virgin and Infant Christ in white marble, of a
remarkably high polish; nor are the countenances of the mother and child
divested of sweetness of expression. They are represented upon a large
globe, or with the world at their feet; upon the top of which, slightly
coiled, lies the "bruised" or dead serpent. The light in front of the
spectator, from a concealed window (a contrivance to which the French
seem partial), produces a sort of magical effect. I should add that this
is the largest parochial church in Paris, and that its organ has been
pronounced to be matchless.
"This magnificent church is the production of several periods and of
several artists. Anne of Austria laid the foundation stone in 1636,
under the superintendence of Levau. Levau died shortly afterwards, and
was succeeded by Gittard and Oppenard. The finish was received by
Servandoni, who, in the West front, or portico, left all his
predecessors far behind him. The church was dedicated about the middle
of the last century. The towers are the joint performances of Maclaurin
and Chalgrin; but the latter has the credit of having rectified the
blunders of the former. He began his labours in 1777; but both the South
tower, and the _Place_, immediately before the West front, want their
finishing decorations."
[Illustration: A PROCESSION IN SAINT-SULPICE.]
I have quoted this long dissertation by Dibden because I do not think a
better description of the church could be given; but the writer is wrong
in some of his details. The church was commenced in 1646, not '36, the
first architect being Christophe Gamart. The finishing stroke was put by
Jean Servandoni, the funds being provided by means of a lottery started
by the energetic _curé_ Languet de Gergy. I cannot endorse Dibden's
praise of the chapel of the Virgin by De Wailly, the surrounding
paintings by Vanloo, and the Slodtz brothers' decorations. It is all
very splendid with gold and marbles, and the statue by Pajou is looked
upon as a _chef-d'œuvre_. The cupola, with an Assumption painted by
Lemoine, is graceful; but the effect of light is theatrical to the last
degree, and the whole chapel is wanting in dignity and the religious
feeling without which a building fails as a Christian church. Another
statue of the Virgin, a Notre-Dame des Douleurs, by Bouchardon, a great
tomb of the _curé_ Languet de Gregy, by Michel-Ange Slodtz, and the
pulpit given in 1788 by the Maréchal de Richelieu, are all very
grandiose, but fail utterly to impress one; whereas the two shells
serving as holy-water stoops, given to François I. by the Republic of
Venice, are charming examples of pure Renaissance sculpture. The general
effect of the church, by its enormous size alone, is exceedingly grand;
but, being entirely of stone, it is cold and colourless. An Italian
edifice wants Italian materials, which is the reason that the Brompton
Oratory is so highly satisfactory, and perhaps the most magnificent
example of Italian architecture on this side of the Alps. The details of
glass, furniture, pulpit, &c., in S. Sulpice are utterly uninteresting,
with the exception of the mural paintings by Delacroix in the chapel of
the Holy Angels, which are splendid examples of the great artist's work.
The subjects are: _Saint Michel triomphant de Lucifer_; _Héliodore
terrassé et battu de verges_; and _La lutte de Jacob et l' Ange dans le
désert_. In the west chapel, dedicated to the souls in Purgatory, are
pictures by Heim; and in the other chapels, works by Abel de Pujol,
Vichon, Lafon, A. Hesse, Drolling, and Guillemot. In the crypt, used as
a chapel for catechising, are the statues of S. Paul and S. John
Evangelist, by Pradier.
The organ is an enormous instrument by Cavaillé-Coll. It possesses 118
stops, 5 manuals, 20 composition pedals, and some 7,000 pipes.
Exquisitely played by M. Widor, one is carried away from the
unsympathetic surroundings, particularly when the Seminarists form in
procession and pour out the solemn old Gregorian tones, the beauty of
which no one can understand unless they have been heard by a mass of
men's voices and accompanied by an organist who understands harmonizing
with taste. The organ here, as at all the Paris churches, is at the west
end of the nave, and is only used for voluntaries and solo performances,
never to accompany voices, for which purpose a small instrument is
always placed close to the choir, either at the side or behind the
altar. This is a much better arrangement than our modern one of having a
huge organ in the chancel thundering away and drowning the voices. Of
course it necessitates two organists, but the gain in refinement is
worth the outlay; and there is no reason why the choirmaster, who would
accompany the singers, should necessarily be a first-rate player.
Although there are no remains of an earlier building, there was a parish
church upon the same site as S. Sulpice as early as the 12th century;
this was enlarged under Louis XII. and François Ier.
[Illustration: SAINT-SULPICE FROM THE LUXEMBOURG GARDEN.]
A brass slab incrusted in the pavement of the south transept indicates
the meridian in a direct line towards the north--an obelisk. When the
weather is fine, the midday sun shines through a little opening in the
window of the south transept, and strikes the middle of the _plaque_ in
Summer, and the top of the obelisk in the Winter solstice. This meridian
was established in 1743 by Henri Sully and Lemonnier, to fix the Spring
equinox and Easter Day.
SAINT-THOMAS D'AQUIN.
This is another church for the smart people, but not the _nouveaux
riches_, rather the old _noblesse_ of the Faubourg S. Germain--tall,
lean old gentlemen, with fine aquiline noses and _distingué_ figures;
and old ladies in sober black, much lace and old-fashioned grey curls.
There was a story told in one of the newspapers of a lady wanting an
anniversary mass said at S. Thomas, but, the price being 10 fr., she
could not afford it. "Eh bien, madame, vous pouvez en avoir à S. Pierre
du Gros-Caillou pour 7 frs. 50 c." I cannot vouch for the truth of the
tale; but it is well-known that masses for the dead could not possibly
be said in sufficient number in the city churches except by uniting many
heterogeneous souls, which would not be pleasant to those who wish to
spare no expense, and to run no chances of failure as regards the future
of their dear relatives and friends; and so commemorative and
anniversary masses are farmed out, like the poor babies, to country
priests; which has the double advantage of aiding the departed souls and
of augmenting the miserable stipends of the unfortunate provincial
_curés_, who have to be "passing rich" literally upon forty pounds a
year--_and fees_, which are no small items in certain places. The system
of stretching out an income by fees is terrible. So much for weddings
and burials at the High Altar; so much less at a side one; a little more
at the altar of the Blessed Virgin than at that of S. Holobellou, and so
on; by which means the _curés_ of the rich churches, the Madeleine, S.
Augustin, La Trinité, S. Thomas, S. Philippe and the like, multiply
their incomes to an enormous extent. This is not the only country where
equalization of the incomes of the clergy is desirable.
S. Thomas formerly belonged to the Jacobins; the conventual buildings
are now used for the museum of artillery. The church was commenced in
1683, but only finished in 1740. The portal was designed by brother
Claude, a religious of the monastery; the ceiling of the choir was
painted in 1724 by Lemoine, and represents the Transfiguration.
L'ANCIEN ABBAYE DU VAL DE GRÂCE.
When Hannah of old obtained her desire, she dedicated her son to God's
service in the Temple; but Anne d'Autriche, under the same
circumstances, went further, and built the church and founded the
monastery of Val de Grâce, in the Rue S. Jacques. It it not often that
the gratitude of sovereigns takes so magnificent a form. The Benedictine
nuns of the monastery of Val Profond, which had been established near
Bièvre le Châtel since the 13th century had been removed by the Queen to
the Hôtel du Petit-Bourbon some years previously; but she did not
commence the new buildings until she became regent. The little King laid
the first stone of the church in 1645, François Mansard being the first
architect; Jacques Lemercier continued the work, and Pierre Lemuet,
Gabriel Leduc, and Duval finished it. The abbey is now a military
hospital.
The decoration of the church points to the Birth of Christ as
symbolising the birth of Louis XIV., in future years, known as the "Roi
Soleil." In the great courtyard is a statue in bronze of Larrey,
Napoléon's great army surgeon, by David d'Angers, the celebrated
sculptor. The dome is exceedingly elegant, but the church below is, like
the Invalides, too small as a basement. Both buildings give the
impression of an elongated dome, and nothing else; hence they look far
better from a point which hides the lower part of the buildings. The
pavement is laid with rich marbles, and the baldachino, supported by six
twisted columns, recalls that of S. Peter's. "If you wish to see the
prettiest fresco painting in all Paris, you must go in here, and look up
at the dome; the chapels, too, are full of virgins, and dirty little
Angels." Why dirty, I know not; but the praise of the painting in the
dome is not exaggerated. It is a mass of figures, a whole hierarchy of
Saints adoring the Trinity, and Anne d'Autriche, introduced by S. Louis,
presenting the model of her church. Like all Mignard's work, it is
grandiose rather than grand, with exaggerated attitudes and
hurricane-blown garments. In the chapel of the Communion are some works
by Philippe de Champaigne.
Many were the royal hearts placed in neat little golden and silver-gilt
boxes, which formerly adorned the church. It was privileged to entertain
these appendages of Bourbon bodies, but the Revolution made light of
them, and carried off the casings. Poor hearts, alive or dead, they were
not worth much, except for their settings.
LA CHAPELLE DU CHÂTEAU DE VERSAILLES.
Consecrated in 1710, this chapel is, like the whole palace, an example
of exquisite workmanship. Not a bolt or a hinge but is of the best
bronze, exquisitely designed and gilt. We may not admire the style, but
all Mansard's subordinates turned out the best work they could produce.
Can anything be more worthy of praise in this respect than the
staircases of the palace, resplendent with different coloured marbles,
or the magnificent Salle des Glaces? The same may be said of the
chapel. As a church it may fail; it certainly inspires no feeling of
religion; but as a building it is magnificent.
[Illustration: CHAPEL OF THE CHÂTEAU DE VERSAILLES.]
The Kings sat in the gallery, and in consequence of the holiness of S.
Louis, they were allowed a privilege only accorded to ecclesiastics--that
of kissing the paten at mass; and when they received the Holy Sacrament,
they were presented with as many wafers as there had been Kings in
succession to Clovis--a custom which had come down from the time of
Louis le Débonnaire, as a safe-guard against poison, Louis having been
poisoned by a consecrated wafer.
LA CHAPELLE DU CHÂTEAU DE VINCENNES.
The beautiful chapel attached to the castle of Vincennes was begun in
1379, by Charles V., but was only finished by Henri II., who adorned the
interior, and especially the glass, with the interlaced H. and D., which
figure upon everything of the period, without the slightest shame. The
apse contains glass by Jean Cousin, an exquisite Last Judgment.
At once a royal residence and a prison, the Château de Vincennes has a
long history to recount. It was much beloved by S. Louis; he lived
there, and delivered his judgments sitting under an oak in the forest.
It was there also that he received those precious relics from the
Emperor Baldwin, deposited for a time at the convent of the Minimes; and
from Vincennes also the departure for those unhappy Crusades took place.
Louis X., Philippe V., Charles IV., and our own Henry V. died there;
Charles IX. and Mazarin died there; and Henry IV. was imprisoned there.
So was Mirabeau, who passed his time in composing _L'Essai sur les
lettres de cachet et les prisons d'Etat_. Diderot was also a prisoner;
and the Duc d'Enghien was shot within its precincts. Like the Bastille
it had its _lettres de cachets_, and although less notorious, it was
probably no less dark in its tales of legal and regal crimes. But for
all that its woods were favourite hunting-grounds, a part having been
enclosed by Philippe-Auguste to receive the stags and roebucks sent by
Henry II. of England to his most Christian majesty.
Vincennes was also the birthplace of the Sèvres porcelain manufactory,
started by one Charles Adam in 1745: but this is guide-book information,
with no bearing upon the Paris churches. Let no one, however, visit the
Chapel at Vincennes without sauntering into the wood, which is quite the
equal, if not prettier than the Bois de Boulogne. You may pick violets
and enjoy a splendid view of the Seine and the Marne meandering among
the valleys; but you will not enjoy _le monde_, which does not venture
so far east of the Champs Elysées. If you require fashion, go not east
of the Louvre.
[Illustration: THE CHAPEL OF THE CHÂTEAU DE VINCENNES.]
SAINT-VINCENT DE PAUL.
Whether we consider this church from the architectural or the decorative
point of view, it is quite worthy of its titular Saint, and is one of
the grandest of modern churches to be seen anywhere. It is built on the
plan of the early Roman basilicas. Begun by Lepère in 1824, it was
finished from designs by Hittorf. The situation is fine, and the step
and slopes leading up to it are at once grand and original. The subject
in the tympanum is by Nanteuil, representing S. Vincent de Paul
surrounded by Sisters of Charity and Angels.
S. Vincent de Paul was the founder of the picturesque grey Sisters we
all know so well by their pretty flapping headgear, and of foundling
hospitals in France. He was born in 1576 at Puy in Gascony, and being of
a contemplative disposition, full of piety and sweetness, was fitted,
his father thought, for the religious life; and so he was sent to a
convent of the Cordeliers near by, and assumed the Franciscan frock at
the age of twenty. For ten years he studied, and then an incident
occurred which settled his destiny. Going to Marseilles to transact some
business, and returning by sea, the bark was attacked by African
pirates, and S. Vincent, with the others on board, was bound and sent
into slavery at Tunis. Vincent spent two years in captivity, passing
from one owner to another, when, one day, being asked by his master's
wife to sing to her, he burst into tears, chanting, "By the waters of
Babylon we sat down and wept," and "_Salve Regina_." But the songs or
the preaching converted the woman, and then her husband; which being so,
they all escaped and landed at Aiguesmortes. Vincent went to Rome, and
then to Paris, where he pleaded the cause of the wretched galley-slaves
of Marseilles. We all remember the grand picture by Bonnat, of S.
Vincent taking the place of a slave and having the fetters put upon him.
I forget its exact name; it was exhibited, in London some years ago, and
is now in one of the churches. The Saint began his good work by visiting
the prisons or _dépôts_, whence the criminals were forwarded to the
galleys. There he saw "des malheureux renfermés dans de profondes et
obscures cavernes, mangés de vermines, atténués de langueur et de
pauvreté, et entièrement negligés pour le corps et pour l'âme." S.
Vincent then took up the cause of the street girls, and finally he
instituted the Order of Sisters of Charity, nuns "qui n'ont point de
monastères que les maisons des malades, pour cellules qu'une chambre de
louage, pour chapelle que l'église de leur paroisse, pour cloître que
les rues de la ville et les salles des hôspitaux, pour clôture que
l'obéissance, pour grille que la crainte de Dieu, et pour voile qu'une
Sainte et exacte modestie, et cependant elles se préservent de la
contagion du vice, elles font germer partout sur leurs pas la vertu."
Such was S. Vincent's idea when founding the Sisterhood, and such the
Sisters are to this day, eminently practical, whether in their work or
their quaint costume, which is short enough to clear the muddy street
pavements, a model to most nurses in or out of hospital. They move with
the world, but are not of it.
[Illustration: SAINT VINCENT DE PAUL; FROM AN OLD ENGRAVING.]
S. Vincent is generally represented carrying one babe and holding
another by the hand, typical of his founding la Maison des Enfants
Trouvés, which was the outcome of his first plan of gathering up
children in the streets and placing them with his Sisters. Such an
accumulation of little outcasts did he obtain that a special house had
soon to be founded.
Nor was S. Vincent out of his element at Court, for he was friendly with
Cardinal Richelieu, and attended Louis XIII. in his last moments. He
died, in 1660, at S. Lazare, and was canonized in 1747; but, in the
words of the people, he was "l'Intendant de la Providence et Père des
Pauvres." When the fine new church, dedicated to S. Vincent de Paul, was
built, Hippolyte Flandrin was at the height of his reputation. He had
decorated S. Germain-des-Prés with exquisite pictures, telling the whole
story of the Redemption from the Old and New Testament; the churches of
S. Paul at Nismes and S. Martin of Lyons were no less great successes.
But the frescoes of S. Vincent were to be the painter's crowning work.
The church has a feature in common with S. Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna,
namely, a long flat wall space on each side of the nave and the west
end, supported by pillars, and, in the case of the Paris church, forming
a gallery. This it was that Flandrin was commissioned to cover with
frescoes; and just as he had gone to the Roman catacombs for his
inspiration for the Romanesque church at Lyons, so he looked to Ravenna
for his designs for the Paris basilica. There is great similarity of
idea in the two processions, and if S. Apollinare carries off the palm
for its gorgeous mosaic, it must give way to S. Vincent in beauty of
form and spirituality of design. Few, if any, churches can show
pictures so full of beauty as this procession to Paradise (the
"Christian Panathenæa" it has been called), a magnificent army of
sufferers who have gained the crown. There they walk with stately steps,
a hundred and fifty men and women, carrying their emblems and their
palms; and yet there is no repetition; each one has his own
individuality, his own idiosyncrasy.
M. Ingres was the first artist invited to undertake the work, then
Delaroche; but happily, both of them declined, and Picot accepted the
commission. The 1848 Revolution broke out and interrupted the work; then
the new administration, struck with the beauty of the frescoes of S.
Germain, wished to give over the decoration of S. Vincent to Flandrin.
Naturally this great artist did not relish ousting a brother brush, and
so a compromise was arranged; Picot chose the choir, and the frieze of
the nave was left for Flandrin.
[Illustration: S. GREGORY AND S. LEO, BY FLANDRIN.]
The procession of men is on one side, that of women upon the other, both
being marshalled into Paradise by Angels bearing crowns for the elect.
These stand on each side of the sanctuary, symbolic of Heaven: "_Beati
misericordis, Beati qui persecutionem patientur propter justitiam._"
Beginning with the Apostles, we see SS. Peter and Paul as the pillars of
the Church and the two great preachers of Christianity. S. Matthew and
S. John follow, accompanied by the rest of the twelve. Then come the
Holy Martyrs, beginning with S. Stephen looking up at the "Son of Man
seated on the right hand of God." S. Pothinus and S. Eustace lead the
group of soldier martyrs, ended by S. Christopher bearing the Infant
Christ upon his shoulders. Then follow the doctors of the Church: S.
John Chrysostom, "the golden mouthed"; S. Jerome; S. Augustin, of Hippo;
and S. Leo, said to be a portrait of M. Ingres. Of these I give slight
sketches, as they seem to be peculiarly fine in expression.
The Bishops and Confessors follow, a notable figure for refinement and
dignity being S. Nicholas with his three little chubby boys; S. Joseph
bears the carpenter's rule instead of the palm, and a lily, emblem of
chastity. Charlemagne, sainted, and S. Clodoald, his kingly robes being
covered by the monk's habit, are followed by S. Roch, S. Francis of
Assisi, S. Dominic, and a crowd of others it is impossible to mention.
[Illustration: S. NICOLAS, BY FLANDRIN.]
Turning round we see first the Virgin-Martyrs, S. Cecilia bearing her
harp, S. Ursula and her friends, S. Agnes, S. Geneviève, and S. Zita
bearing her pitcher, one of the most beautiful of Flandrin's women.
Interspersed, after the manner of the Ravenna mosaic, are palm trees
dividing the groups. After the Virgins the Holy Women march along: S.
Felicitas with her six little children is a charming group; S. Anne, old
and feeble, walks with S. Elizabeth leaning on the boy S. John Baptist;
S. Monica is alone, her son being amongst the doctors; S. Helena rests
upon the cross, and is followed by the gentle Elizabeth of Hungary
carrying bread, and S. Clotilde resting upon the shoulder of the young
S. Clodoald.
The penitents follow: S. Mary Magdalen leading the group, S. Mary of
Egypt, S. Thais burning her rich garments, and S. Pelagia trampling upon
her worldly goods. The Holy Households follow: S. Eustache, S. Julian,
and other heads of families who were converted by their wives, and whose
children they dedicated to God.
Below the organ is the "Mission of the Church." S. Peter and S. Paul are
teaching the nations. In the centre is an altar with the sacred monogram
and a nimbed cross; S. Peter is on the left, holding the keys and
preaching to the Western nations. A father and mother kneel at his feet
and present their children that they, too, may be converted.
On the right is S. Paul, clasping his sword and announcing the glad
tidings to the Eastern nations: Jews, Persians, Greeks, Arabians, and an
African bearing his war arrows.
For beauty of form, purity of sentiment and spirituality, untainted by
the least spark of sentimentality, which is the bane of most modern
religious painting, this work of Flandrin's may be classed as the finest
of our time. It is treated in the conventional manner; there is no
intense realism such as we find in the work of Laurens, Lhermitte or
Hitchcock, but neither is it inane, effeminate, or affected, as are the
pictures of Ary Scheffer, Hesse, and a crowd of disciples of Overbeck
and Cornelius. The latter called the frieze an example of a true
Renaissance, and M. Ingres, who had helped his favourite pupil in
analysing the details, looked upon it as a revival of true religious
art, a vivification of the Old Masters. "Do you suppose it is to make
copyists of you that I send you to copy the great masters? I wish you to
get the juice of the plant and to plunder the bee." This Flandrin did.
He studied the art of Memlinc and Van Eyck, of Fra Angelico and of
Raffaello, but the feeling was his own. He went on his way calmly,
thoughtfully working out his ideas in faith and prayer, scorning the
world and indifferent to its inhabitants, and thus his painting is as
instinct in religious sentiment as that of Angelico, while his mastery
of drapery and his management of its folds are not surpassed by the
Greeks themselves; indeed, he united Greek beauty of form with Mediæval
purity of sentiment.
Flandrin's only weak point was his colour, but in the frieze it is
sufficiently harmonious, owing to the flat gold backgrounds. In drawing
he was perfect, never hesitating, never altering; beginning as he meant
to finish, without any experiments, or changes in the designs he had
sketched out.
Nor must Picot's part in the decoration of S. Vincent de Paul be
overlooked. His _Christ sur un trône_, with the patron Saint at His feet
adoring, is quite in keeping with the frieze, by the younger painter.
The wood-work of the church is finely carved, and, indeed, all the
details of the building are magnificent, making it a glorious example of
the perfect unity of the allied arts--architecture, painting, and
sculpture; an example that is almost unique in modern times.
INDEX.
A.
Academy of Painters, 136.
Agnes, S., Legend of, 120.
Alleluiatic Victory, 180.
Anne d'Autriche, 147, 322, 327.
Anselme, 80.
Antoine, S., 1.
Apollinaris, S., 217.
B.
Barrère, 53.
Benoist, Curé of S. Eustache, 144.
Benozzi, F., 300.
Biscornette, Legend of, 283.
Blanc, J., 175.
Blanche of Castille, 2, 79.
Blancs-Manteaux, N. D. de, 300.
Boïleau, N., 12, 200.
Bonnat, 258.
Bontems, P., 47.
Bouillart, Dom, 197.
Bouteiller, J. le, 272, 286.
C.
Cabanel, A., 171.
Cameo, "Apotheosis of Augustus," 19.
Carlyle, T., 150, 279, 307.
Carmelites, Church of the, 1.
Champaigne, P. de, 213, 304, 327.
Chapelle, S., 2.
" Ceremonies at, 11, 16, 17.
" Treasury of, 21.
Chapel, Valois, 38.
Charles VIII., Tomb of, 58.
" le Chauve, 40, 58, 90.
Chavannes, P. de, 171.
Chelles, Jean de, 268, 284.
Clotilde, S., 158, 161.
Clovis, 158, 163.
Colbert, 125, 126, 139.
Columns, Memorial, 66, 67.
Coustou, 238, 307.
Coysevox, 189, 238, 259, 307.
D.
Dagobert, Tomb of, 49, 70, 71.
Darboy, Archbishop, 156, 262, 286.
David d'Angers, 169, 327.
Delacroix, 304.
Delaunay, J. E., 175.
Delorme, P., 49, 65.
Denis, S., 30.
" " Abbots of, 40.
" " Crypt of, 72.
" " Legend of, 34.
" " Tombs at, 44, 49, 50, 61, 74, 75.
" " Treasury at, 32, 89, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98.
Descartes, R., 200.
Dibden, T. F., 123, 165, 186, 208, 211, 273, 305, 309, 321.
Du Breuil, 125, 278.
Duguerry, L'abbé, 157.
E.
Early kings of France, Burial of, 44, 74, 192.
Elizabeth, S., 100.
Eloy, S., Legend of, 37.
Epitaphs, 7, 68, 69, 80, 83, 108, 132, 152, 164, 200, 214, 228, 229,
230, 231, 236, 252, 256, 259, 260, 317.
Étienne, S., 100.
Eudes de Fauconnier, 251.
Eustache, S., 116.
" " Legend of, 118, 119.
" " Organ of, 154.
F.
Félibien, 49, 73, 85.
Flamaël, B., 1.
Flamel, N., 214.
Flandrin, H., 197, 201, 318, 334.
Fléchier, 147.
François, Ier, Tomb of, 46, 49, 59, 65, 85.
François, S., 215.
" " Xavier, 158.
Fredégonde, Queen, 49, 72.
G.
Galland, V., 176.
Gaussel, J., 184.
Gems in Bibliothèque, 20.
Geneviève, S., Abbey of, 102, 103, 158.
" " Church of, 158.
" " Legend of, 159.
" " Tomb of, 112, 114.
Gérard, 170.
Germain, S., of Auxerre, 159, 178, 179, 180, 181.
Germain, S., l'Auxerrois, 177.
" " en Laye, 189.
" " des Prés, 190.
" " Tomb of, 199.
Gervais, S., 209.
" " Legend of, 209.
Gilles, S., 235.
Girardon, 320.
Glass, Stained, 23, 109, 111, 112, 130, 187, 194, 199, 212, 292, 317.
Goujon, J., 186.
Grégoire of Tours, 161, 191, 234, 266.
Gros, Baron, 170.
H.
Hébert, A.-E., 176.
Helgaud, 75.
Henri II., Tomb of, 49, 64, 65, 66.
" IV., 49, 73, 197.
Hugo, V., 234, 273, 275, 277.
Hugues Capet, 75.
Hulduin, Abbot, 35.
I.
Ingres, 336.
J.
Jacques du Haut-Pas, S., 215.
Jacques, Tour S., 213.
Jansenists, 249.
Jean, S., 215.
Joinville, 49.
Julian Hospitator, S., 219, 220, 221.
Julien de Brioude, S., 216.
Julien the Confessor, S., 217.
Julien le Pauvre, S., 215.
Juste, J., 49, 61, 63.
L.
L'Abbaye au Bois, N. D. de, 300.
Lacordaire, Père, 268.
Lamartine, 150.
Laon, Inventory of the Treasury of, 39.
L'Assomption, N. D. de, 299.
Laurens, J. P., 174.
Laurent, S., 232.
" " Legend of, 232.
Lebrun, 259, 302, 320.
Légende dorée, 219.
Lenepveu, 175.
Leu, S., 235.
Lévy, H., 171.
Louvre, 47, 95.
Louis d'Antin, S., 237.
" des Invalides, S., 237.
" en l'Ile, S., 237.
" VI., le Gros, 76.
" VII., 77.
" IX., S., 2, 4.
" " " Burial of, 9, 80.
" XI., 81.
" XII., Tomb of, 49, 61, 62.
" XIII., 85, 86, 303, 304.
" " _Vœu de_, 277, 289.
Louis XIV., great generals of, 50, 51.
Louis XV., 165.
Lulli, 303.
Lupus, S., 235.
Lutrin, Le, 12.
M.
Madeleine, S., 239.
Maid and the Magpie, The, 141.
Maillot, T., 173.
Maintenon, Madame de, 147.
Marcel, S., Legend of, 282.
Marguerite, S., 243.
" de Valois, 83.
Marie de' Medici, 83, 85.
Martin des Champs, S., 244.
" S., Legend of, 245.
"Mass of St. Giles," 90.
Massillon, 148.
Médard, S., 248.
" " Legend of, 249.
Merri, S., 251.
" " Legend of, 251.
Mignard, 125, 259, 307, 327.
Millet, Dom, 31, 61, 69, 72.
Mirabeau, 149, 329.
Molière, 125.
Montereau, P. de, 194, 195, 247.
Montyon, A. de, 231.
Music, 153, 240, 309, 324.
N.
Nangis, Guillaume de, 71.
Nefs or Navettes, 223.
Nicolas des Champs, S., 256.
" S., Legend of, 258.
Nicolas du Chardonnet, S., 259.
Notre Dame, Cathedral of, 260.
" " Ceremonies at, 270, 296.
" " de l'Assomption, 299.
" " de Lorette, 302.
" " des Champs, 301.
" " des Victoires, 303.
" " Tombs of, 294.
" " Treasury of, 291.
O.
Oratoire, L', 303.
Oriflamme, L', 41.
Orléans, Tomb of the House of, 82, 83, 84.
P.
Panthéon, 158.
Paris, University of, 224.
Pascal, B., 108, 109, 215.
Paul, S., 304.
Philippe, brother of S. Louis, 79.
Philippe, S., 305.
Pierre de Chaillot, S., 306.
Pierre de Montmartre, S., 306.
Pilon, G., 47, 65.
Pils, 137.
Pius VII., Pope, 151.
Poirier, Dom, Notes by, 54, 55, 56.
Pressoir Mystique, 110.
R.
Rameau, 151.
Ravy, J., 272, 286.
Relics, 4, 5, 6, 17, 18, 19, 139, 142.
Renaissance Museum of Louvre, 47, 132, 186, 188, 189, 211, 271.
Richelieu, Cardinal, 319.
Rigord, 77.
Robert, King, 75.
Robespierre, 279.
Roch, S., 307.
Rochelle, La, 303.
S.
Sauval, 109, 189, 260.
Scarron, 213.
September massacres, 1, 195.
Servandoni, 321.
Servites, 300.
Séverin, S., 310.
" " Legend of, 311.
Sibour, Archbishop, 112, 262.
Simon, L'Abbé, 129, 156.
Sorbonne, La, 319.
Soufflot, 165, 275.
Suger, Abbot, 37, 69, 76, 77, 78.
" Vase of, 95.
Sully, Bishop Maurice de, 266.
Sulpice, S., 321.
T.
Thomas d'Aquin, S., 326.
True Cross, Relic of, 4, 5, 6, 17.
Turenne, 51, 68, 147, 238.
V.
Val de Grâce, 45, 326.
Vallière, Mlle. de la, 302.
Valois, Marguerite de, 83.
Vase of Suger in Louvre, 95.
Versailles, 328.
Vincennes, 329.
Vincent de Paul, S., 321.
Voragine, J. de, 219.
W.
Winepress, Allegory of the, 110, 111.
Y.
Yeowell, J., 180.
* * * * *
The following typographical errors have been corrected by the etext
transcriber:
it seemed doutful=>it seemed doubtful
manifying glass will show=>magnifying glass will show
pour an cune raison=>pour aucune raison
monk Helgand giving him a tremendous=>monk Helgaud giving him a
tremendous
specieux qui occupe aujourd'huy=>spécieux qui occupe aujourd'huy
pour ancune raison,=>pour aucune raison,
regrettait tant de bienfaits réçus=>regrettait tant de bienfaits reçus
événement, consternés de douleur=>évènement, consternés de douleur
bienheureux Denis, dans le lieu resérvé=>bienheureux Denis, dans le lieu
réservé
Incldudi Gemmis lapis ista meretur et auro=>Includi Gemmis lapis ista
meretur et auro
See Notice de Émaux et de l'Orfévrerie=>See Notice des Émaux et de
l'Orfévrerie
simple stratagem, worthy a better cause, routed the enemy.=>simple
stratagem, worthy of a better cause, routed the enemy.
but the dicipline instituted by S. Columba=>but the discipline
instituted by S. Columba
sort of pseudo Classic style=>sort of _pseudo_-Classic style
now in the Renaissancé=>now in the Renaissance
in little rupute as time went on=>in little repute as time went on
plorer tres amèrement et à dire=>plorer très amèrement et à dire
père et mére, parents et amis=>père et mère, parents et amis
S'il pleut le jour de Saint-Medard,=>S'il pleut le jour de Saint-Médard,
façade was only commenced towards the end of the episcopate=>_façade_
was only commenced towards the end of the episcopate
One enterrait 100,000 personnes.=>On enterrait 100,000 personnes.
like another S. Benendict, to Monte Senario.=>like another S. Benedict,
to Monte Senario.
so was the statue of Cardinal Dubois by Gillaume Coustou=>so was the
statue of Cardinal Dubois by Guillaume Coustou
but a great deal ha been stolen or demolished during the Revolution=>but
a great deal has been stolen or demolished during the Revolution
suc-succession to Clovis=>succession to Clovis
prominient ornaments to give relief=>prominent ornaments to give relief
saison ou la mer est le plus orageuse=>saison où la mer est le plus
orageuse
Ou le sang fut le Nectar de la Vie;=>Où le sang fut le Nectar de la Vie;
De Requiem, au vendredi de la Croix et au dimenche de la Solennité du
jour, ou=>De Requiem, au vendredi de la Croix et au dimenche de la
Solennité du jour, oú
tapisserie ou est représenté l'histoire susdite=>tapisserie où est
représenté l'histoire susdite
* * * * *
FOOTNOTES:
[1] I suppose no apology is needed for giving my quotations in the
original language. Now that everyone is a good French scholar, it is
obviously unnecessary to spoil good work by translations.
[2] _Histoire de la Sainte-Chapelle._ Morand, canon of the chapel.
[3] The bust was given to the chapel by Philippe le Bel in 1304.
Another, of silver-gilt, containing the upper part of the head, used to
be at the Abbey of Poissy. The little church of la Montjoie rejoices in
a portion of the sainted king's hand, enclosed in a 14th century
reliquary; and the cathedral of Meaux possesses a chalice said to have
belonged to him.
[4] The _enfants de chœur_ of the S. Chapelle seem to have been employed
in singing elsewhere for the _divertissement_ of the King: "Les Enfans
de Chœur de la Sainte-Chapelle illec disoient de beaux virelets,
Chansons et autres Bergerettes, moult mélodieusement."
[5] The _Chevecier_, or _Chefcier_, was the official who had charge of
the altar, the linen, the vases, the ornaments, &c., and who took care
of the sacristy and its contents. The treasurer usually held the two
offices.
[6] It has also been designated as Titus, and Constantine the Great. It
is without doubt of the 4th century (Chabouillet).
[7] "Vin de la couleur des vitres de la Sainte-Chapelle."--(_Old
proverb._)
[8] _Pour deniers paiés à Jehan de Lille, orfèvre, pour j siège qu'il
fist du commandement du Roy pour séoir de lez les saintes reliques en la
Saincte Chapelle de Paris-iiij escus. (Comptes royaux.)_
[9] Religious, Benedictine of the convent (congregation) of S. Maur,
Order of S. Benedict.
[10] All the river Seine from the _ru de Séve_ (Sèvres) near S. Cloud,
to S. Germain-en-Laye.
[11] Hulduin, abbot of S. Denis, commencement of 9th century, who took
possession the same day as that upon which Charlemagne died.--_Les
Areopagitiques._
[12] See the Inventory of the Treasury of Laon, from which we cull the
following: In 1523, when François I. wanted money to carry on his war
against Charles V. and Henry VIII., we read in _Journal d'un Bourgeois
de Paris_, his manner of getting it. "Le roy envoya aussi quérir trois
ou quatre appostres d'or qui estoient ès-reliques en l'église épiscopale
à Laon, en Picardie, dont il y en avoit douze, mais les aultres
n'estoient que d'argent, parquoy furent délaissez; et valloient iceux
III. ou IIII. appostres environ quatre mille escus; et fit ce le roy
pour subvenir et ayder en ses guerres de Picardie qu'il avoit contres
les Anglais." Louis XIV. also, when his star had paled a little, put
various cathedral chapters under contribution; the church of Notre-Dame
de Liesse sending silver to the royal treasury to the amount of 28,600
livres.
[13] See pages 18, 19.
[14] _Musée des Monuments Français._
[15] It seems that one object in electing the king as abbot was to have
some lay element in the chapter, and thus disarm the enemies of the
Church. Charles le Chauve was abbot for about sixteen years; he chose
his provost, treasurer, and dean, and gave into their keeping all the
working of the monastery, with the exception of the military contingent,
which was given over to the _maire_ or _avoué_. Adjoining the abbey was
a palace for the use of the kings.
[16] The _oriflamme_, or _enseigne_ derived its name from being made of
scarlet silk, and covered with flames of gold. When it was to be taken
from its depository, the king and princes first went to Notre-Dame and
offered up some prayers to the Blessed Virgin; then they proceeded to
the abbey, where, after being solemnly received by the religious, they
descended ("_sans chaperon et sans ceinture_") into the crypt, where the
bodies of the holy martyrs lay, and where the _oriflamme_ was kept. The
abbot then delivered the flag into the king's own hands, and the king
presented it to the Count de Vesin, who carried it to the altar. The
standard-bearer was always a _Chevalier_ of undoubted loyalty, courage,
and piety. Previously to receiving the charge, he confessed his sins,
obtained absolution, received the Holy Eucharist, and took a solemn oath
to be faithful to his trust, and never to suffer the flag to be torn
from his hands, except at the cost of his life. But at the battle of
Rosbec it mysteriously disappeared. And to think that the red flag is
now the emblem of all that is Revolutionary, Communistic, and Anarchist!
Perhaps if the Government gave it the old name, we might see it burnt in
the Place de la République.
[17] The Chapter formerly consisted of a _Primicier_, _Chanoines
évêques_, non-resident; and Canons residentiary. The office of
_Primicier_ was, I think, abolished only a few years ago, and now the
chapter simply consists of canons in residence.
[18] How fine the effect must have been when the great cross of S. Eloy
stood upon the _grille_, shutting off the nave from the choir! It was of
gold, enriched with precious stones and pearls.
[19] This custom of dividing bodies is of very ancient date, and was
sanctioned by the church in order that the remains might benefit, by
their miraculous powers, as many places as possible. Sometimes the
superiors of divers monasteries agreed to exchange "a rib of one saint
for a cubit bone of another, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth,
&c." At other times these fragments had to be purchased for very
considerable sums.--_History of St. Denis._
[20] The original urn was cast in bronze by Benoist Boucher from the
design of Domenico da Firenze, who also designed the relief on the
pedestal.
[21] Some of its sculptures are now in the Renaissance Museum of the
Louvre. The recumbent alabaster statue of Philippe de Chabot, by Jean
Cousin; a white marble column and three Genii, by Etienne Lehongre, from
the tomb of Louis de Cossé, duc de Brissac, and of his brother, J. A. de
Cossé; a column with allegorical statues, &c., in bas relief, by Prieur
Barthélemy, from the monument erected for the reception of the heart of
Anne de Montmorency; sepulchral Genii, by Jean Cousin, from the tomb of
Philippe de Chabot; a Fortune, by the same sculptor and from the same
tomb; sepulchral monument of the Ducs de Longueville, by François
Anguier; and the recumbent statue of Anne de Bourgogne, daughter of
Jean-sans-Peur, wife of the Duke of Bedford. In the same museum of the
Louvre is a bas-relief from S. Denis of the 14th century with traces of
colour, the subject being the three martyrs, SS. Denis, Rusticus, and
Eleutherius.
[22] Henri IV. also abjured "his accursed heresy" at S. Denis.
[23] That Louis XVI. was not simple weak-minded and vacillating, but
treacherous and double-faced, there can be little doubt. A print
exhibited at the Exposition Historique de la Révolution, held in the
Salle des Etats of the Tuileries in 1889, represents the opening of an
iron closet after the slaughter of the 10th of August, and the display
of numberless documents--letters to Pitt, asking for help to reinstate
the monarchy; plans and projects for a counter-revolution; and
correspondence to and from the _emigrés_ and foreign princes.
[24] The _procès verbal_ of these villainies, giving the most hideous
and disgusting details, and the names of the distinguished persons who
were present at the entertainments, were to be seen and read in the
prison department of the Centenary Exhibition of 1889, together with
accounts of some of the doings within the walls of the Bastille in the
happy days when _lettres de cachet_ were kept ready signed for
distribution.
[25] See note, page 52.
[26] Bossuet's panegyric upon the queen reads like a satiric ode: "Elle
va descendre à ces sombres lieux, à ces demeures souterraines pour y
dormir dans la poussière avec les grands de la terre, comme parle Job;
avec ces rois et ces princes anéantis, parmi lesquels à peine peut on la
placer, tant les rangs y sont pressés, tant la mort est prompte à
remplir ces places."
[27] Alexandre Lenoir made a coloured drawing of the body at the time,
representing the entire skeleton wrapped up in white stuff embroidered
in gold.
[28] Philippe de Commynes.
[29] Guilhermy.
[30] G. Millet.
[31] In the Cathedral of Dol the remains of a monument by Juste are
signed: _Magister Johannes cujus cognomen est Justus et Florentinus_,
possibly indicating that the Justes were of Italian origin (Giusto).
[32] Through the flames of purgatory, we attain the crown. See page 62.
[33] Unfortunately, this being metal, was melted up in 1793.
[34] This still exists.
[35] This is curious as showing the antiquity of the fashion of plaiting
surplices which is customary in France.
[36] Dom Millet.
[37] "Ensépouturé fut en l'église Saint-Denis en France à cui il avoit
donnez maint biau don, mis fu en costé le mestre autel en un riche sarcu
d'alebastre." (Chronicle of S. Denis.) And yet, soon after Charles's
death, S. Eucher is supposed to have seen, by revelation, the sufferings
of the Maire du Palais in Hell, where for his sins he was precipitated
before the Day of Judgment. The tomb was opened in the presence of
Bishop Eucher, Boniface the legate, and Fulrad, abbot of S. Denis, when
behold! a great dragon jumped out, and the coffin had the appearance of
having been burned.
[38] Helgaud, _Vie de Robert le Pieux_.
[39] Idem.
[40] Robert was abbot of S. Denis.
[41] Suger, _Vie de Louis-le-Gros_.
[42] Adèle ou Alix, daughter of Thibaut le Grand, comte de Champagne,
third wife of Louis VII.
[43] Near Melun.
[44] Mézeray.
[45] _Vie de Louis-le-Gros._
[46]
"If zealous love should go in search of virtue,
Where should he find it purer than in Blanche?
* * * * *
Such as she is, in beauty, virtue, birth,
Is the young Dauphin every way complete."
_Shakespeare. King John._
[47] Millin, _Antiquités Nationales_.
[48] Le corps de Saint-Louis fut porté une partie du chemin depuis
Saint-Denis par Henri III., roi d'Angleterre, et par les barons de
France et d'Angleterre sur leurs épaules, cérémonie qui est représentée
sur le tombeau, où le prince est couvert d'un drap d'or bordé d'une
bande d'étoffe bleue, semée de fleurs de lis d'or, la tête soutenue par
le roi saint Louis, et les pieds par le roi d Angleterre.--P. Anselme,
_Histoire de la Maison de France_.
[49] This does not quite agree with Dom Millet's account of the Huguenot
depredations already given upon page 33.
[50] He could not have found much more rest at S. Denis, for which he
had a great respect, although he desired to be buried at Cléry. Many a
time this king perambulated from Paris to S. Denis barefooted, for he
held the Saint to be the "Holy Protector of his dominions, the Guide of
his councils, and the Guardian of his soul."
[51] This was a sort of posthumous decapitation. Cardinal Richelieu's
statue at the Sorbonne was treated in the same way.
[52] There is a queer story told by Félibien of Marie's desire to
possess some marbles left at S. Denis, after the building of the Henri
II. tomb by Catherine de' Medici. Marie was about to build her a house,
and she demanded of her son permission to carry off the marbles; but the
monks objected, and appealed to the Parliament. The king, however,
having quarrelled with his mother, was not sorry to make peace at
another's cost, so he commanded the monks to deliver the marbles; but
the latter were not to be conquered so easily, and another appeal was
made which ended as fruitlessly as the first, and the poor convent
eventually lost its marbles.
[53] "History and description of the Royal Abbaye of St. Denis, and of
the vast riches which have been accumulating for ages in the celebrated
abbaye. Extracted from the records of S. Denis," London, 1795.
[54] The holy oil was brought from heaven by a dove, in the very same
phial in which it is kept. It has continued unwasted and unimpaired from
the time of Clovis, for whose use it was sent, A.D. 500.
[55] Viollet le Duc, who attributes the picture to van Eyck, states that
the cross was given by Suger (it is engraved in Félibien). In the
_Dictionnaire raisonné d'Architecture_, le Duc has engraved the altar.
Dom Doublet also gives a minute description of the gold retable with its
ornaments of precious stones. The reliquary behind was destroyed by the
Huguenots.
[56] _See Notice des Émaux et de l'Orfévrerie_, by Alfred Darcel.
_Gemmes et Joyaux_, by Barbet de Jouy. _Handbook of the Louvre_; S.
Beale.
[57] In the Salle d'Apollon; one of the centre cases.
[58] Suger was abbot from 1122 to 1151.
[59] Salle d'Apollon, centre case.
[60] _Catalogue des Camées_, by M. Chabouillet.
[61] O Christ, Charles III. of the name upon the throne of France
consecrates this cup to thee!
[62] From a German breviary, printed at Nürnberg, 1515, quoted by Mrs.
Jameson: _Sacred and Legendary Art_.
[63] President of the court of Clermont. He gave up his appointment to
devote himself to the education of his son.
[64] Sauval professed to see the portraits of Pope Paul III., of Charles
V., of François I^{er.}, and of Henry VIII., in some of the numerous
worthies.
[65] The eight days (octave) devoted to her festival.
[66] Thomas Frognall Dibden, F.R.S., S.A.: _Picturesque Tour in France
and Germany_, 1821.
[67] This is now in the Renaissance Museum of the Louvre, but it is no
longer attributed to D. da Volterra.
[68] See page vii.
[69] _Histoire de Saint-Eustache._
[70] An altar erected at various points along the route taken by the
procession, at which a pause is made for prayer, and the benediction
given.
[71] The pew for clergy and officials during sermon.
[72] Vol. vii. p. 35.
[73] Carlyle, _French Revolution_, vol. III. p. 194.
[74] Hincmar (Archbishop of Reims, 9th century) tells us that S. Remy,
who was at Reims at the time, received a spiritual revelation from the
Holy Spirit, at the very moment of Clovis' death.
Many early sculptures and frescoes commemorate the life and deeds of
Clovis, at Reims, at Rome, and at Siena, but they are all of much later
date than the king.
Grégoire of Tours gives a picturesque account of the last days of
Clotilde: "La reine Chrotechilde après la mort de son mari, vint à
Tours: et là servant Dieu dans la basilique de Saint-Martin, avec une
grande chasteté et une extrême bonté, elle demeura en ce lieu tous les
jours de sa vie, et visita rarement Paris.... Pleine de jours et riche
en bonnes œuvres, elle mourut à Tours du temps de l'évêque Injuriosus.
Elle fut transportée à Paris, suivie d'un chœur nombreaux qui chantait
des hymnes, et ensevelie par ses fils, les rois Childebert et Clotaire,
dans le sanctuaire de la basilique de Saint-Pierre, à côté du roi
Clovis. Elle avait construit cette basilique où repose aussi la très
bienheureuse Geneviève."
[75] The finding of the statue of Clovis was the reward of well-doing.
The Cardinal de la Rochefoucault, desiring to honour the old king and
the founder of the abbey, set up a fine marble image in the place of the
old stone one "_mangé et difformé d'antiquité_" This the Revolution
destroyed; but the old stone statue, which was shunted to the crypt, was
found later on, and sent to S. Denis--an illustration of the exaltation
of the humble; in this case, a clumsy gentleman with long hair, with his
feet upon a feeble-looking lion. Although not contemporary with Clovis,
the work and design prove it to be not later than the 12th century. A
Latin epitaph once accompanied the statue in its old resting-place:
HIC EST illustrissimus rex Ludovicus qui et Clodoveus ante
baptismum est dictus
Francorum rex quintus sed verus christianus qui ab Anastasio
imperatore consul et Augustus est creatus
Hunc sanctus Remigius baptisavit et in baptismate ejus angelus
ampullam sacri chrismatis detulit
Vi Aquitania arianos expulit et totam illam terram usque ad
montes Pirenaeos subjugavit
Huic per Viennam fluvium cervus miræ magnitudinis viam
ostendit
Post quem rex ac milites vadum transierunt et in ejus adventu
muri Angolismae civitatis corruerunt
Alamanniam Tornigiam et Burgundiam tributarias fecit et terram
adjacentem transivit
Parisiis sedem regni constituit ecclesiam istam fundavit in
honore apostolorum Petri et Pauli
monitis sanctissimae et non satis commendandae Clotildis uxoris
suae et beatae Genovefae
quam sanctus Remigius dedicavit in qua post laudabilia opera
Rex sepultus est
A quatuor filiis suis regibus Theodorico Clodomiro Childeberto et
Clotario
Anno Domini V. XIII regni sui XXX.
[76] Dibden
[77] _The American in Paris, 1838._
[78] Victor Hugo.
[79] Of Mr. W. B. Richmond's work, undertaken since the above was
written, it is as yet impossible to form an opinion.
[80] _Chronicles of the Ancient British Church._ James Yeowell.
[81] Some of the bas-reliefs by Jean Goujon are now in the Renaissance
Museum of the Louvre: a Deposition from the Cross and the four
Evangelists, the latter having been discovered in 1850, embedded in the
wall of the staircase of No. 4, Rue S. Hyacinthe-S.-Honoré.
[82] Dibden.
[83] The fine recumbent statues of Louis de Poncher, _conseilleur et
receveur-trésorier du roi François Ier_, and his wife Roberte
Legende, now in the Renaissance Museum of the Louvre, were formerly in
S. Germain.
[84] "Après avoir," says Grégoire of Tours, "été longtemps malade à
Paris, le roi Childebert y mourut et fut enseveli dans la basilique de
Saint-Vincent qu'il avait lui-même construite." The bones of Childebert
and of his queen, Ultrogothe, were deposited (in 1656) in the centre of
the choir. The religious placed them in a new marble tomb, and
surmounted it with the antique one which had been repaired in the 11th
century, when the church was restored by abbot Morard and his
successors. Ultrogothe was a French S. Elizabeth: "Elle était la mère
des orphelins, la consolatrice des pupilles, la bienfaitrice des pauvres
et des serviteurs de Dieu, le secours des moines fidèles."
Another lady much vaunted by Grégoire de Tours was Ingoberge, the widow
of Chérebert. She called in the aid of Grégoire in her last moments, and
made many donations to churches; and what was better, "elle donna la
liberté à beaucoup de personnes." She was a woman "d'une grande sagesse,
vouée à la vie religieuse, assidue aux veilles, aux prières, aux
aumônes."
[85] In 1704, a tomb was found which Montfaucon, a Benedictine of the
congregation of S. Maur, considered to be that of Chérebert, but the
General of the order would not consent to its being opened. However, in
1799, less reverent hands searched the spot, found the coffin, and
opened it, only to discover a skeleton vested in a tunic and mantle, its
feet shod in leathern shoes, and by its side the fragments of what may
have been a crozier, thus proving the remains to have been those of an
abbot rather than of a sovereign, but whether of the 6th or the 9th
century it was impossible to decide.
[86] "Les tombeaux les plus considérables furent ceux du roy Childéric
II., de Bilihilde, son épouse, et du jeune Dagobert, leur fils, qui
furent tuez par Baudillon, dans le forêt de Liori. On trouva ces
tombeaux dans le chœur." In cleaning the coffin "Childre rex" was found
engraved by the side of the head.
[87] "L'on a placé à la porte du réfectoire une statue de pierre qui
représente Childebert, laquelle a été faite apparemment sur le modèle
d'une autre plus ancienne. Elle est haute de cinq pieds et demi.
Childebert a une couronne ornée de trèfles et une sceptre en la main
dont l'estrémité d'en haut est cassée. Il a une robe qui descend jusqu'à
la cheville du pied; sa ceinture est ornée, d'espace en espace, de
petites roses façon d'orfévrerie; son manteau, qui ne le couvre que par
derrière, est attaché au devant par un cordon qu'il tient de la main
gauche; ses souliers, pointus par le bout, sont échancrés en ovale par
le dessus, depuis la moitié du pied jusqu'à la ligature."
[88] The entire epitaph will be found upon page 7.
[89]
DESCARTES DONT TU VOIS ICY LA SÉPULTURE,
A DESSILLÉ LES YEUX DES AVEUGLES MORTELS,
ET GARDANT LE RESPECT QUE L'ON DOIT AUX AUTELS,
LEUR A DU MONDE ENTIER DÉMONTRÉ LA STRUCTURE.
SON NOM PAR MILLE ESCRITS SE RENDIT GLORIEUX;
SON ESPRIT MESURONT ET LA TERRE ET LES CIEUX,
EN PÉNÈTRA L'ABISME, EN PERÇA LES NUAGES.
CEPENDANT COMME UN AUTRE IL CÈDE AUX LOIS DU SORT,
LUY QUI VIVROIT AUTANT QUE CES DIVINS OUVRAGES,
SI LE SAGE POUVOIT S'AFFRANCHIR DE LA MORT.
[90] See _Les Lettres et Pensées d'Hippolyte Flandrin_, par II.
Delaborde.
[91] The statues of the four Evangelists were the first important works
of Simon Guillain, the sculptor of the fine bronze figures of Louis
XIII., Anne d'Autriche, and Louis XIV. as a child, which adorned the
Pont au Change, and which are now in the Renaissance Museum of the
Louvre.
[92] The word is probably derived from _créneaux_, as the battlements of
the Petit-Châtelet abutted upon one side of the street.
[93] In the quaint old French of the _Légende Dorée_ of Jacques de
Voragine: "_Tu me suys, toi qui occiras ton père et ta mère."_
[94] "Tout aussitôt, il apprend de sa femme, qui revenait de la messe,
qui il a tué."
"Et quand il ouyt ce, il fut à bien peu demy mort et commenca à plorer
très amèrement et à dire:
"'Las! chétif, que feray-je, car j'ay occis mes très doulx père et mère,
et ores est la parole du cerf accomplie.
"'Adieu, ma très aimée sœur, car je ne reposerai, dores en avant, devant
que je sache que Notre-Seigneur aura recue ma pénitence.' Elle lui
répondit: 'Loin de moi, ô mon très affectionné frère, la pensée de
t'abandonner: puisque j'ai partagé tes joies, je partagerai aussi tes
souffrances et ta pénitence.'
"Et alors, sa femme et lui s'en allèrent ensemble delez (_vers_) un
moult grand fleuve, où moult de gens périssaient, et firent un hospital
en ce désert pour faire pénitence et pour porter oultre tous ceulx qui y
voudraient passer, pour recevoir en hospital tous povres.
"Et moult de temps après ce, quant Julien se reposait tout lasse,
environ minuyt, que la gelée était griesve, il ouyt une voix qui plorait
piteusement, et appelait Julien pour passer, à voix piteuse.
"Et quant il se leva tout esmeu, il trouva icelluy qui mourait de froit,
il le porta en sa maison, et alluma du feu, et se estudia à le chauffer,
et comme il ne le pouvait eschauffer nullement, il se doubta qu'il ne
défaillit par froit, et le porta en son lict, et le couvrit
dilligemment. Et, un peu après, celui qui lui était apparu comme malade
et lépreux monta très resplendissant ès cieulx et dit à son oste:
'Julien, Notre-Seigneur m'a envoyé à toi et te mande qu'il a receu ta
pénitence, et tous deulx reposerez en Notre-Seigneur dedans un peu de
temps.' Tantost celluy s'évanouit (_disparut_). Et lors, un peu après,
Julien et sa femme, pleins de bonnes œuvres et d'aulmônes, reposèrent en
Notre-Seigneur."--_Légende Dorée._
[95] L'abbé Guérin: _Les Petits Bollandists._
[96] So terrible were the Northmen, so outrageous the atrocities which
they committed, that the canons of S. Geneviève chanted a line in their
Litanies: "_A furore Normannorum, libera nos, Domine._"
[97] In 1648, there were 50 colleges, 16 hospitals, and 190 churches and
convents for the education of a population of 232,030 inhabitants.
[98] _Nefs_ or _Navettes_ were vessels in the shape of boats used by the
church for incense--hence incense-boat. Later on, they took the form of
complete ships, with ropes, yards, &c., often upon wheels, and placed in
the centre of the table at banquets. They contained spices, wine,
drinking-cups, and spoons, in order to guard the guests against that
bugbear of the Middle Ages, poison.
[99] There was another Lupus, bishop of Troyes, who accompanied S.
Germain of Auxerre to Britain, to confute the Pelagian heretics.
[100] A Religious of the abbey of S. Germain des Prés.
[101] The summer festival of the Saint, being the day of his ordination,
and also of his translation, 4th July.
[102] Metrical legend in the Auchinleck MS. quoted by Mrs. Jameson.
[103] _The American in Paris._
[104] De Bellis Parisiacae urbis (M. F. de Guilhermy, _Inscriptions_).
[105] See page 335.
[106] From time immemorial, the space to the West of the church was
called _Parvis paradisus_, the terrestrial paradise which led by the
celestial Jerusalem.
[107] This is the date given by Mézeray. Hénaut gives it as the 17th
December.
[108] This slab is now in the Renaissance Museum of the Louvre. It is
dated 1303, and bears the following inscription: "Maitre Pierre de
Fayet, chanoine de Paris, a donné deux cens livres parisis pour aider à
faire ces histoires et pour les nouvelles verrières qui sont sur le
chœur de céans." In the account of the church in 1763, the slab is thus
described: "Avant la construction du nouveau chœur (par le roi Louis
XIV.) on voyait autour de l'ancien chœur et en dedans les histoires de
l'Evangile et des Actes des Apôtres en statues de pierre isolées avec
des inscriptions au bas, et au-dessous l'histoire de la Génèse en
bas-relief. A côté était un chanoine à genoux, dont la mort arriva en
1303, aussi ce bas-relief avait cette inscription derrière lui: 'Messire
Pierre Fayet'.... Mais depuis la construction du nouveau chœur, on a mis
sa statue à la porte collaterale, vis-à-vis la porte rouge."
[109] _Théâtre des Antiquités de Paris._
[110] Carlyle.
[111] Exhibited at the Exhibition of Documents relating to the
Revolution, held at the Tuileries in 1889.
[112] The twelve Virtues, according to Hermas, are Faith, Temperance,
Patience, Magnanimity, Simplicity, Innocence, Peace, Charity,
Discipline, Chastity, Truth, and Prudence. The counting of twelve
Virtues lasted a long time, for we find in 1454 at a _fête_ given at
Lille by the Duc de Bourgogne, Philippe le Bon, that twelve Virtues
dressed in crimson satin danced at the ball with the many knights who
were present. They were the great ladies of the town; and perhaps the
knights personated the Vices, as they were not improbably able to do
with a considerable amount of truth.
[113] _Annales archéologiques._
[114] For a detailed account of the cathedral see Viollet-le-Duc's
_Dictionnaire raisonné d'Architecture_.
[115] This passed through miraculous adventures at the Revolution and
was restored to the cathedral by M. de Quélen.
[116] Its preservation is said to have been in this wise. Louis XVI.
sent it to S. Denis to be in safe keeping, and in 1793 it was offered by
the Convention to the municipality. Thence it passed into the hands of
M. Bonvoisin in 1804, and in 1808 it was placed in its present crystal
reliquary by Cardinal de Belloy.
[117] Jean de Montaigu, beheaded in 1409, was a councillor, grand master
of the palace, and brother of Gérard, 95th bishop of Paris.
[118] Dibden.
[119] Carlyle.
[120] Dibden.
[121] _American in Paris._
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