ECCLESIASTICAL ARCHITECTURE. CATHEDRAL. MONUMENTS. RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES.
THE ABBEY OF ST. OUEN. THE CHURCHES OF ST. MACLOU, ST. VINCENT, ST. VIVIEN,
ST. GERVAIS, AND ST. PAUL.
I have now made myself pretty well acquainted with the geography of Rouen.
How shall I convey to you a summary, and yet a satisfactory, description of
it? It cannot be done. You love old churches, old books, and relics of
ancient art. These be my themes, therefore: so fancy yourself either
strolling leisurely with me, arm in arm, in the streets--or sitting at my
elbow. First for THE CATHEDRAL:--for what traveller of taste does not doff
his bonnet to the _Mother Church_ of the town through which he happens to
be travelling--or in which he takes up a temporary abode? The
west-front,[36] always the _forte_ of the architect's skill, strikes you as
you go down, or come up, the principal street--_La Rue des Carmes_,--which
seems to bisect the town into equal parts. A small open space, (which
however has been miserably encroached upon by petty shops) called the
_Flower-garden_, is before this western front; so that it has some little
breathing room in which to expand its beauties to the wondering eyes of the
beholder. In my poor judgment, this western front has very few elevations
comparable with it[37]--including even those of _Lincoln_ and _York_. The
ornaments, especially upon the three porches, between the two towers, are
numerous, rich, and for the greater part entire:--in spite of the
Calvinists,[38] the French revolution, and time. Among the lower and
smaller basso-relievos upon these porches, is the subject of the daughter
of Herodias dancing before Herod. She is manoeuvering on her hands, her
feet being upwards. To the right, the decapitation of St. John is taking
place.
The southern transept makes amends for the defects of the northern. The
space before it is devoted to a sort of vegetable market: curious old
houses encircle this space: and the ascent to the door, but more especially
the curiously sculptured porch itself, with the open spaces in the upper
part--light, fanciful and striking to a degree--produce an effect as
pleasing as it is extraordinary. Add to this, the ever-restless feet of
devotees, going in and coming out--the worn pavement, and the frittered
ornaments, in consequence--seem to convince you that the ardour and
activity of devotion is almost equal to that of business.[39]
As you enter the cathedral, at the centre door, by descending two steps,
you are struck with the length and loftiness of the nave, and with the
lightness of the gallery which runs along the upper part of it. Perhaps the
nave is too narrow for its length. The lantern of the central large tower
is beautifully light and striking. It is supported by four massive
clustered pillars, about forty feet in circumference;[40] but on casting
your eye downwards, you are shocked at the tasteless division of the choir
from the nave by what is called a _Grecian screen_: and the interior of the
transepts has undergone a like preposterous restoration. The rose windows
of the transepts, and that at the west end of the nave, merit your
attention and commendation. I could not avoid noticing, to the right, upon
entrance, perhaps the oldest side chapel in the cathedral: of a date,
little less ancient than that of the northern tower; and perhaps of the end
of the twelfth century. It contains by much the finest specimens of stained
glass--of the early part of the XVIth century. There is also some beautiful
stained glass on each side of the Chapel of the Virgin,[41] behind the
choir; but although very ancient, it is the less interesting, as not being
composed of groups, or of historical subjects. Yet, in this, as in almost
all the churches which I have seen, frightful devastations have been made
among the stained-glass windows by the fury of the Revolutionists.[42]
Respecting the MONUMENTS, you ought to know that the famous ROLLO lies in
one of the side-chapels, farther down to the right, upon entering; although
his monument cannot be older than the thirteenth century. My attachment to
the bibliomanical celebrity of JOHN, DUKE OF BEDFORD, will naturally lead
me to the notice of his interment and monumental inscription. The latter is
thus;
_Ad dextrum Altaris Latus_
_Jacet_