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.