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-Boeufs 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]
POENE 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'oeuvre_. 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.