If the amphitheater of Nismes strikes the spectator with an idea of
greatness and sublimity, the Maison Carré enchants him with the most
exquisite beauties of architecture and sculpture. This fine structure,
as is evidenced by the inscription discovered on its front, was built by
the inhabitants of Nismes, in honor of Caius Cæsar, and Lucius Cæsar,
grandchildren of Augustus, by his daughter Julia, the wife of Agrippa.
It stands upon a pediment six feet high, is eighty-two feet long,
thirty-five broad, and thirty-seven in hight, without reckoning the
pediment. The body of it is adorned with twenty columns engaged in the
wall; and the peristyle, which is open, with ten detached pillars that
support the entablature. They are all of the Corinthian order, fluted
and embellished with capitals of the most exquisite sculpture: the
frieze and cornice are much admired, and the foliage is esteemed
inimitable. The proportions of the building are so happily blended, as
to give it an air of majesty and grandeur, which the most indifferent
spectator can not behold without emotion. To enjoy these beauties, it is
not necessary to be a connoisseur in architecture: they are indeed so
exquisite that they may be visited with a fresh appetite for years
together. What renders them still more interesting is, that they are
entire, and very little affected, either by the ravages of time, or the
havoc of war. Cardinal Alberoni declared this elegant structure to be a
jewel which deserved a cover of gold to preserve it from external
injuries. An Italian painter, perceiving a small part of the roof
repaired by modern French masonry, tore his hair, and exclaimed in a
rage, “Zounds! what do I see? Harlequin’s hat on the head of Augustus!”
In its general architectural effect, as well as in all its details of
sculpture and ornament, the Maison Carré of Nismes is ravishingly
beautiful, and can not be paralleled by any structure of ancient or
modern times. That which most excites the astonishment of the admiring
spectator, is to see it standing entire, like the effect of enchantment,
after such a succession of ages, subjected as several of them were, to
the ravages of the barbarians who overran the most interesting parts of
Europe.
In the progress of many centuries, the Maison Carré has been used as a
Christian church, and also for many ordinary purposes, some of them of
the lowest character. The fine Corinthian columns of this building have
been much corroded by time, and two that were contiguous, were mutilated
in the flutings to make more room for the passage of a farmer’s cart
when the temple was used as a barn or stable; and, to afford more
accommodations, walls were built up between the columns of the portico.
In the eleventh century it was used as town-house, or _hôtel de ville_.
When attached to the Augustine convent it was employed as a sepulcher;
and in the days of terror, the revolutionary tribunal held its meetings
here. The building is at present occupied as a museum. It contains many
interesting objects, especially Roman antiquities: the pictures are not
remarkable. There is in it a beautiful mosaic pavement taken up entire
from a Roman house. This temple is supposed to have been only the center
of a much larger building, extending with wings and long colonnades to
the right and left, whose foundations have been discovered.