The Nave before the Bombardments.
Completed about 1230, the Nave—now entirely destroyed—was regarded
before the war as one of the best examples of the harmonious simplicity
of early 13th century Gothic architecture.
The central vault was about 103 feet in height.
The bays were divided by columns flanked on the side facing the grand
nave by a small engaged shaft. On their fine capitals, decorated with
four rows of crockets or foliage, rested the large arches of the
ground floor, and the groups of five small columns which supported the
springing of the pointed arches of the vault.
The large arcades were surmounted by a shallow triforium and high
double windows with dividing mullions.
The wide, lofty aisles with windows gave additional light to the body
of the church. Their vaulting was pointed and terminated at the last
bays in chapels built for the most part in the 18th century.
In the second bay of the north aisle, a gallery (_B on plan_), the
remains of the old cathedral cloister, gave access to a large chapel
(Chapelle des Œuvres) with two naves of three bays. It was the old
chapter-house, built in the 13th century, by prolonging the west front
but completely remodelled in the 19th century.
[Illustration: THE NAVE BEFORE THE BOMBARDMENTS.]
[Illustration: COLLAPSE OF THE PILLAR, FEBRUARY 1915.]
[Illustration: SOUTHERN AISLE AND TRIFORIUM, NOVEMBER 1918.]
The destruction of the Nave and fall of the Pillar.
Early in February 1915, a projectile, entering by a hole made by a
previous shell in the wall of the south aisle, struck the second column
(_A on plan, p. _18) on the left of the main nave, which was broken in
two about 13 feet from the ground (_photos pp. _20–21). The upper part,
with the capital and courses supporting the springing of the vault,
gave way, dragging down in its fall a portion of the vault and of the
wall at the back of the triforium.
The ruins accumulated rapidly. By the end of March, the roof of
the grand nave and of the north aisle, which the broken pillar had
sustained, collapsed. The whole of the triforium, the large window, the
flying buttress outside, the framework, and the roofing of the bay of
the aisle also gave way. An enormous breach was made in the cathedral,
and the floor of the nave was covered with a shapeless mass of broken
stones, which increased during the following months.
[Illustration: THE GREAT NAVE AND NORTHERN AISLE, NOVEMBER 1918.
_Behind the two standing pillars is seen the base of the pillar which
collapsed in Feb. 1915. The fall is shown on p. _20.]
[Illustration: THE FALLEN VAULTING LEFT BARE THE DAMAGED FRAMEWORK OF
THE ROOF.]
[Illustration]
[Illustration: BREACH IN THE NAVE, NOVEMBER 1918.]
The fall of the Vaulting.
The vaults of the remaining bays, already weakened, could not withstand
the renewed bombardments. One after another they crashed to the ground,
with the exception of those of the first and seventh bays. Everywhere
else, pieces of broken or disjointed framework, supporting a completely
ruined roof, are exposed to view (_photo above_).
Several of the large windows on the north side have also fallen in and
all the stained-glass has been smashed.
The Final Ruin.
[Illustration: THE NAVE, AUGUST 1918.]
The bombardments of 1918 destroyed the nave beyond hope of repair.
Several large pillars collapsed and a considerable portion of the upper
part of the side walls, large arches and triforium fell in to the
right and left.
Three bays near the west front, with their large arches and the aisles
were completely destroyed. All this masonry fell inside the nave,
forming across its entire breadth a heap of debris more than 19 feet
high and about 33 feet long.
Fragments of vaulting, bases of pillars, stones from the roof,
were mixed in shapeless chaos with a quantity of architectural and
sculptured motives, notably the beautiful capitals and the key-stones
of the vault, mostly broken. And on this heap of ruins the roof-timbers
of the framework, deprived of all support, fell by degrees in their
turn.
The old harmonious construction of the nave is now to be seen only in
the bays nearest the transept.
The Chapelle des Œuvres was struck several times. The most serious
damage was caused during the first bombardments of 1914 by a shell
which exploded on the roof of the gallery (_B on plan p. _18, _photo
below_) which leads to the chapel. Penetrating the roof and the
framework, it caused the vault to fall in, broke the arches, and
shattered the stained-glass of the chapel windows.
[Illustration: GALLERY GIVING ACCESS TO THE CHAPELLE DES ŒUVRES, NOV.
1918.]
[Illustration: SOUTH ARM OF TRANSEPT. _See the exterior, p. _29.]
South Arm of the Transept.
The bombardments have spared the south arm of the transept, a marvel of
grace and simplicity, built about 1175, by Bishop Nivelon of Chérisy.
It is the oldest and also the least elevated portion of the cathedral.
The arm of the transept ends in a semi-circle (a peculiarity which it
shares with those of the old Cathedral of Noyon and numerous Rhenish
churches) and is surrounded by an ambulatory.
In style it differs distinctly from that of the rest of the building,
and presents the distinguishing features of primitive Gothic.
The triforium—which elsewhere consists only of a narrow gallery—is
here double. It comprises a story of high, wide, arched tribunes,
grouped three and three, surmounted by a narrow passage with graceful
colonnettes.
The main vault is supported by six pointed ribs which intersect in a
central key-stone ornamented with six angels.
The south arm of the transept is lighted by three series of windows.
Small semi-circular bays are cut in the wall of the ambulatory. The
galleries are lighted—except on the right, which is ornamented with
rose-windows—by tierce-point windows in groups of three. There is a
final row of high tierce-point windows, also in groups of three, above
the triforium.
Some of the capitals are masterpieces of ornamental sculpture. Their
decoration consists either of the foliage characteristic of Romanesque
capitals (acanthus leaves) or of projecting crockets,—one of the
earliest examples of this distinctive ornament of Gothic capitals.
On the east side of the south arm of the transept there is a
two-storied polygonal chapel (_C on plan, p. _18) of the same period.
The key-stone of the vault of the lower chapel represents two angels
carrying the _Agnus Dei_ on a cloth. The upper chapel, in which the
Treasure was formerly kept, communicates with the galleries.
The Choir and Apse.
The choir, where, on the completion of the south arm of the
transept, Bishop Nivelon of Chérisy continued the building of the
Cathedral (1200–1212), is one of the earliest examples of Pointed
Gothic—so-called on account of the sharp outline of the arches. A
notable characteristic of this is the transformation of the wide
galleries of the triforium into a narrow gallery, which gives greater
importance to the wide arches of the ground floor and to the high
windows of the upper story.
Its general plan is similar to that of the nave, built immediately
afterwards: lofty wide arches, narrow triforium, high windows (but
without mullions, forming a single bay), and pointed vaults of
rectangular plan.
The Choir is flanked by side-aisles, off which open, on each side four
rectangular chapels with groined vaults.
The second chapel of the aisle has an inscription recording the date on
which the Canons took possession of the Choir:
_Anno milleno biscenteno duodeno hunc intrare chorum Cepit grex
canonicorum tercio idus maii._
(In the year 1212, on the third Ides of May, the Canons first took
possession of the Choir).
[Illustration: THE CHOIR.
_On the left and at the back sand-bags protected the art treasures._]
The south side-aisle communicates with the chapel attached to the south
arm of the transept by a 15th century vaulted corridor (_D on plan p.
_18) in which there is a fine 16th century statue of the Virgin and
Infant seated.
The two side-aisles continue round the semi-circular apse, forming
an ambulatory surrounded by five shallow radial chapels. The central
chapel is consecrated, as usual, to the Virgin. The pointed vaults of
the chapels unite with those of the ambulatory, eight pointed ribs
meeting in the same key-stone.
The choir, scarcely touched by enemy fire up to December 1916, suffered
more serious damage then and in January 1917.
Shells pierced the vault in two places and also penetrated several
parts of the triforium wall, breaking the arches. In the apse, portions
of the vault were injured and parts of the 13th century stained-glass,
which it was not possible to remove from the high windows, were damaged.
The vital parts of the choir escaped serious damage, and it was
possible during the second half of 1917, to carry out temporary repairs
after the retreat of the Germans. At the same time, in order to make
the choir—as well as the transept, which had also escaped serious
injury—once more available for public worship, a partition was built
shutting off the nave (_photo p. _24).
This protective partition shielded part of the building very
effectively in 1918, when the Choir and Transept escaped serious damage.
Most of the fine 13th century stained-glass windows were removed in
1915 to a place of safety.
They were originally taken from the church of Saint-Yved-de-Braines and
inserted during the 19th century in the high windows of the apse and
those of the Lady Chapel.
Thanks to the protective measures taken, the interior decoration of
the choir escaped injury. It dates from the 18th century and comprises
a high altar of marble, surrounded by a wrought-iron railing, and
flanked by two marble statues of the Virgin and the Angel Gabriel,
depicting the Annunciation. Two consoles of carved and gilded wood with
marble tops, complete this group. The stalls only are 17th century.
The North Arm of the Transept.
The north arm of the transept, flanked by aisles, shows the same
arrangement as the nave, but ends in a straight wall (late 13th
century) which was ornamented in the 14th century. A clerestory gallery
joining the triforium of the side walls, and carried on small, light
columns, is built against this wall. Above are pierced a row of bays
and a fine rose-window containing old stained-glass.
During the war, a fine picture by Rubens (1635), painted for the
Franciscan Fathers in return for their having nursed him through an
illness contracted at Soissons, was removed from the north arm of the
transept to a place of safety. This picture, which represents the
Adoration of the Shepherds, has a fine frame of carved and gilded wood
of the Regency period.
The bombardments did little damage to the north arm of the transept and
to the intersection of the transepts. The worst injury was the falling
in of one of the vaults of the north arm, and the breaking of the
arch-band uniting two of the large pillars of the transept.
The art treasures.
In addition to the works of art preserved in the choir and transept,
the Cathedral possesses a fragment of a 16th century _tapestry_, all
that remains of a large piece devoted to the legend of Saint-Gervais
and Saint-Protais, which, before the War, hung in the north aisle of
the nave.
[Illustration: WOODWORK IN THE SOUTHERN AISLE.]
Before the War, at the entrance to the nave on each side of the main
portal, were memorial =statues= of two abbesses of the ancient abbey of
Notre-Dame, represented kneeling, with folded hands, in the costume of
the period: _Henriette de Lorraine d’Elbeuf_, abbess from 1660 to 1669,
and _Gabrielle-Marie de la Rochefoucauld_ (1683–1693).
_Photographs of these two statues are given below._
In the sacristy are preserved fragments of flamboyant style =woodwork=,
a 17th century =chalice= of finely chased gilt silver, a magnificent
=Crucifix= by _Girardon_ and a fine =reliquary= in gilt copper (1560),
representing the plan of Soissons with its battlemented walls and
churches of the period. (_See p. _3).
[Illustration: HENRIETTE DE LORRAINE D’ELBEUF]
[Illustration: GABRIELLE-MARIE DE LA ROCHEFOUCAULD
_Funeral Statues to two Abbesses of the old Abbey of Notre-Dame._]
[Illustration: SOUTHERN ARM OF TRANSEPT.
_See the Interior, p. _25.]
Side façades of the Cathedral.
The exterior of Soissons Cathedral is remarkable for the great
simplicity of its lines and its well-balanced construction.
The high vaults are supported by two super-imposed 13th century
flying-buttresses, which are supported on one side by powerful
abutments and on the other by small engaged columns, the capitals of
which are decorated with crockets. (_See photos, pp. _20, 22, 24).
Against the straight wall which ends the north arm of the transept are
14th century radiating arcades (_p. _30). This wall is pierced by a
large rose-window set in tierce-point arch. It ends in a gable with
14th century ornament, and is flanked by two bell-turrets, one of which
was destroyed. (_Photos, pp. _30 _&_ 31).
To the east of the north arm of the transept, obstructing the first
window of the choir aisle, is a 14th century portal with a sharply
pointed gable, supported by two buttresses (_photo opposite_). The
higher finish and greater adornment of 14th century decorative art
is clearly to be seen here: sharply pointed gables ornamented with
trefoil over the portal and buttresses, and intricately carved bouquets
of foliage on the capitals, replacing the hooked crockets of the
preceding century.
[Illustration: DOORWAY OF THE NORTHERN ARM OF TRANSEPT.]
[Illustration: NORTH FRONT.
_Choir and North Arm of Transept, Nov. 1918. See description, p. _29.]
=The Exterior of the Cathedral= (_Nov. 1918_).
The bombardments seriously damaged the side façades of the cathedral.
All the stone-work, bays, flying-buttresses and abutments, and all the
roofing and framework collapsed as far as the first bays of the nave.
The building is, so to speak, cut into two unequal parts throughout its
entire width, by an immense gap. (_Photo p. _31, _Panorama p. _14).
[Illustration: THE FIRST SHELLS TO HIT THE MAIN ROOF.]
The rounded arm of the transept and the south end of the choir suffered
comparatively little. On the other hand, the bombardments seriously
injured the chevet and the north front of the choir. The upper part
of one of the high windows in the apse was struck. A buttress of
the Lady Chapel was badly broken, while two unexploded shells are
embedded in the damaged stone-work of a neighbouring buttress. On the
north front of the choir most of the abutments were damaged and the
flying-buttresses which support it, more or less injured.
[Illustration: NORTH FRONT. _North Arm of Transept, Nave and Chapelle
des Œuvres, Nov. 1918._]
The roofing was ruined and the framework broken. The north arm of the
transept, especially the gable, was also somewhat damaged. One of the
turrets surrounding it was broken off (_Photo above_).
However, the north front of the nave suffered most (_photo above_).
In addition to the opening made at the west end, the stone-work and
roofing were injured throughout their entire length. Only the last
two windows next the transept retained their mullions, the others
being more or less completely destroyed. Of the flying-buttresses and
abutment-piers, very little remains standing.
[Illustration: THE CHAPELLE DES ŒUVRES.
_Seen from the corner of the Rues de la Buerie and Jaulzy, Nov. 1918._]