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'oeuvre 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 [Greek: MATHY], possibly the initials of the owner, or
the designation of the Virgin: [Greek: MARIA MÊTÊR THEOU]
(_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.]