Columns, arabesque ceilings charged with gilding, light pieces of
sculpture applied on blue and violet grounds, imitating cameo, china,
or enamel; every thing excites astonishment, and concurs in calling
to mind the first epoch of the regeneration of the arts in this
country.
The ideas of the amateur are enlivened in this brilliant apartment:
they prepare him for the gratification which he is going to
experience at the sight of the beautiful monuments produced by the
age, so renowned of Francis I. There, architecture predominates over
sculpture; here, sculpture over architecture.
The genius of RAPHAEL paved the way to this impulse of regeneration:
he had recently produced the decorations of the Vatican; and the
admirable effect of these master-pieces of art, kindled an enthusiasm
in the mind of the artists, who travelled. On their return to France,
they endeavoured to imitate them: in this attempt, JEAN JUSTE, a
sculptor sent to Rome, at the expense of the Cardinal D'AMBOISE, was
the most succcessful.
First, we behold the mausoleum of LOUIS D'ORLÉANS, victim of the
faction of the Duke of Burgundy, and that of his brother CHARLES, the
poet. Near them is that of VALENTINE DE MILAN, the inconsolable wife
of the former, who died through grief the year after she lost her
husband. As an emblem of her affliction, she took for her device a
watering-pot stooped, whence drops kept trickling in the form of
tears. Let it not be imagined, however, that it was on account of his
constancy that this affectionate woman thus bewailed him till she
fell a victim to her sorrow.
LOUIS D'ORLÉANS was a great seducer of ladies of the court, and of
the highest rank too, says Brantome. Indeed, historians concur in
stating that to a brilliant understanding, he joined the most
captivating person. We accordingly find that the Dutchess of Burgundy
and several others were by no means cruel to him; and he had been
supping tête-à-tête with Queen Isabeau de Bavière, when, in returning
home, he was assassinated on the twenty-third of November 1407. His
amorous intrigues at last proved fatal to the English, as you will
learn from the following story, related by the same author.
One morning, M. d'Orléans having in bed with him a woman of quality,
whose husband came to pay him an early visit, he concealed the lady's
head, while he exhibited the rest of her person to the contemplation
of the unsuspecting intruder, at the same time forbidding him, as he
valued his life, to remove the sheet from her face. Now, the cream of
the jest was, that, on the following night, the good soul of a
husband, as he lay beside his dear, boasted to her that the Duke of
Orleans had shewn him the most beautiful woman that he had ever seen:
but that for her face he could not tell what to say of it, as it was
concealed under the sheet. "From this little intrigue," adds
Brantome, "sprang that brave and valiant bastard of Orleans, Count
Dunois, the pillar of France, and the scourge of the English."
Here we see the statues of CHARLES VI, and of JANE of Burgundy. The
former being struck by a _coup de soleil_, became deranged in his
intellects and imbecile, after having displayed great genius; he is
represented with a pack of cards in his hand to denote that they were
first invented for that prince's diversion. The latter was Dutchess
of BEAUFORT, wife to the Duke, who commanded the English army against
Charles VII, and as brother to our Henry IV, was appointed regent of
France, during the minority of his nephew, Henry V.
Next come those of RÉNÉE D'ORLÉANS, grand-daughter of the intrepid
Dunois; and of PHILIPPE DE COMMINES, celebrated by his memoirs of the
tyrant, LEWIS XI, whose statue faces that of CHARLES VII, his father.
The image of JOAN OF ARC, whom that king had the baseness to suffer
to perish, after she had maintained him on the throne, also figures
in this hall with that of ISABEAU DE BAVIÈRE. The shameful death of
the Maid of Orleans, who, as every one knows, was, at the instigation
of the English, condemned as a witch, and burnt alive at Rouen on the
30th of May 1430, must inspire with indignation every honest
Englishman who reflects on this event, which will ever be a blot in
the page of our history. Isabeau affords a striking example of the
influence of a queen's morals on the affections of the people. On her
first arrival in Paris, she was crowned by angels, and received from
the burghers the most magnificent and costly presents. At her death,
she was so detested by the nation, that in order to convey her body
privately to St. Denis, it was embarked in a little skiff at
_Port-Landri_, with directions to the waterman to deliver it to the
abbot.
The superb tomb of LEWIS XII, placed in the middle of this apartment,
displays great magnificence; and his statue, lying at length, which
represents him in a state of death, recalls to mind that moment so
grievous to the French people, who exclaimed, in following his
funeral procession to St. Denis, "Our good king Lewis XII is dead,
and we have lost our father."
The historian delights to record a noble trait of that prince's
character. Lewis XII had been taken prisoner at the battle of St.
Aubin by Louis de la Trimouille, who, fearing the resentment of the
new king, and wishing to excuse himself for his conduct, received
this magnanimous reply: "It is not for the king of France to revenge
the quarrels of the duke of Orleans."
The statue of PIERRE DE NAVARRE, son of Charles the _Bad_, seems
placed here to form in the mind of the spectator a contrast between
his father and Lewis XII. The tragical end of Charles is of a nature
to fix attention, and affords an excellent subject for a pencil like
that of Fuseli.
Charles the _Bad_, having fallen into such a state of decay that he
could not make use of his limbs, consulted his physician, who ordered
him to be wrapped up from head to foot, in a linen cloth impregnated
with brandy, so that he might be inclosed in it to the very neck as
in a sack. It was night when this remedy was administered. One of the
female attendants of the palace, charged to sew up the cloth that
contained the patient, having come to the neck, the fixed point where
she was to finish her seam, made a knot according to custom; but as
there was still remaining an end of thread, instead of cutting it as
usual with scissars, she had recourse to the candle, which
immediately set fire to the whole cloth. Being terrified, she ran
away, and abandoned the king, who was thus burnt alive in his own
palace.
What a picture for the moralist is this assemblage of persons,
celebrated either for their errors, crimes, talents, or virtues!