Here, neither do insignia of triumph call to mind the afflicting
scenes of war, nor do emblems of conquest strike the eye of the
travelled visiter, and damp his enjoyment by blending with it bitter
recollections. Vandalism is the only enemy from whose attacks the
monuments, here assembled, have been rescued.
This Museum, which has, in fact, been formed out of the wrecks of the
revolutionary storm, merits particular attention. Although it was not
open to the public, for the first time, till the 15th of Fructidor,
year III (2nd of September 1795), its origin may be dated from 1790,
when the Constituent Assembly, having decreed the possessions of the
Clergy to be national property, charged the _Committee of Alienation_
to exert their vigilance for the preservation of all the monuments of
the arts, spread throughout the wide extent of the ecclesiastical
domains.
The philanthropic LA ROCHEFOUCAULD, (the last Duke of the family), as
President of that committee, fixed on a number of artists and
literati to select such monuments as the committee were anxious to
preserve. The municipality of Paris, being specially entrusted, by
the National Assembly, with the execution of this decree, also
nominated several literati and artists of acknowledged merit to
co-operate with the former in their researches and labours. Of this
association was formed a commission, called _Commission des
Monumens_. From that epoch, proper places were sought for the
reception of the treasures which it was wished to save from
destruction. The _Committee of Alienation_ appointed the _ci-devant_
monastery of the _Petits Augustins_ for the monuments of sculpture
and pictures, and those of the _Capucins, Grands Jesuites,_ and
_Cordeliers_, for the books and manuscripts.
By these means, the monuments in the suppressed convents and churches
were, by degrees, collected in this monastery, which is situated in
the _Rue des Petits Augustins_, so named after that order of monks,
whose church here was founded, in 1613, by Marguerite de Valois,
first wife of Henry IV.
At the same period, ALEXANDRE LENOIR was appointed, by the
Constituent Assembly, director of this establishment. As I shall have
frequent occasion to mention the name of that estimable artist, I
shall here content myself with observing, that the choice did honour
to their judgment.
In the mean time, under pretext of destroying every emblem of
feudality, the most celebrated master-pieces were consigned to ruin;
but the commission before-mentioned opportunely published
instructions respecting the means of preserving the valuable articles
which they purposed to assemble.
The National Convention also gave indisputable proof of its regard
for the arts, by issuing several decrees in their favour. Its
_Committee of Public Instruction_ created a commission, composed of
distinguished literati and artists of every class, for the purpose of
keeping a watchful eye over the preservation of the monuments of the
arts. The considerable number of memoirs, reports, and addresses,
diffused through the departments by this learned and scientific
association, enlightened the people, and arrested the arm of those
modern Vandals who took a pleasure in mutilating the most admired
statues, tearing or defacing the most valuable pictures, and melting
casts of bronze of the most exquisite beauty.
Among the numerous reports to which these acts of blind ignorance
gave birth, three published by GRÉGOIRE, ex-bishop of Blois, claim
particular distinction no less on account of the taste and zeal which
they exhibit for the advancement of literature and the fine arts,
than for the invective with which they abound against the madness of
irreligious barbarism. This last stroke, aptly applied, was the means
of recovering many articles of value, and of preserving the monuments
still remaining in the provinces.
In these eventful times, LENOIR, the Conservator of the rising
museum, collected, through his own indefatigable exertions, a
considerable number of mausolea, statues, bas-reliefs, and busts of
every age and description. No sooner did a moment of tranquillity
appear to be reestablished in this country, than he proposed to the
government to place all these monuments in historical and
chronological order, by classing them, according to the age in which
they had been executed, in particular halls or apartments, and giving
to each of these apartments the precise character peculiar to each
century. This plan which, in its aggregate, united the history of the
art and that of France, by means of her monuments, met with general
approbation, and was accordingly adopted by the members of the
government.
Thus, throughout this Museum, the architectural decorations of the
different apartments are of the age to which the monuments of
Sculpture, contained in each, belongs; and the light penetrates
through windows of stained glass, from the designs of RAPHAEL,
PRIMATICCIO, ALBERT DURER, LE SUEUR, &c., the production of the
particular century corresponding to that of the sculpture.
Come then, let us visit this Museum, and endeavour to discriminate
the objects which may be most interesting both to the artist and
historian. We first enter the